Why Are There So Few Successful Half Asians?

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I am not known for being uncontroversial. OK, I am known for being controversial. Controversy is daily bread and butter in science. Take it easy and view it simply as opportunities to collect interesting stories to tell your grandchildren.

Nope, I did not invent the title. I googled with that sentence, and guess what? Found a video with almost identical title. Here it is. (Warning: expletive laden.)

"Why Are There So Few Successful Half Asians with White Fathers?"
https://youtu.be/kKXgvHgwmqk


This dude has a blog, too. Just the URL would make your head spin.
https://longingfordeath.wordpress.com/

Now, what do half-Asians have anything to do with autism? Well, there is this CNN news that you have already forgotten, or chosen to forget.
http://www.cnn.com/2014/05/27/justice/california-elliot-rodger-wealth/
...The divorce documents also confirmed that Elliot Rodger was diagnosed with Asperger syndrome, a form of autism, when he was 7. "Elliot has special needs," his mother said in a sworn statement. "He is a high functioning autistic child."

None of these reading materials are for the faint of heart.

What's my point?

I am international enough that, safe to say, have seen it all. Lived with a temporary roommate briefly in my graduate school. One day a friend asked me: hey, what about your black roommate? I scratched my head: "Black roommate?" Heck, I did not even know my Brazilian roommate was black, by American standard.

Sure, I have tons of friends that marry across cultures. That's not my point here. My point is: the Eurasian male, young adult issue is a real issue, there is no denying about it. But as soon as you dig into it, you see all the parallel with raising autistic children.

Why are these Eurasian male youngsters so consumed with relationship issues, in the first place? Why aren't they talking about the latest robotic technologies, or doing discoveries in genetics, or solving the Poincare conjecture like Grigori Perelman?

Another thing: why is that so many Eurasian youngsters are on the spectrum?

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The desire of parents to make their children to fit into a societal ideal has pushed these children to the brink of insanity. Matter of fact, some even went over the brink.

Think about that. And think about how you want to raise your children.

I don't really see the connection between your two sources. I know a few, adult Eurasian people that are quite successful. Writers, photographers, doctors, finance people, etc. I don't think this one guy's experience speaks for everybody who is half Asian. I also know quite a few autistic children (as my son is in a school program, and some other programs for autistic children), and the only half Asian autistic child I know is my kid. I also know many half Asian kids. Again, the only kid of the half Asian kids I know that is on the spectrum is mine. My other, half Asian, son does not have relationship problems.

I find this comparison weird and offensive.

I think the OP would be proven wrong based on the experiences of real people.

I read the blog url and I don't understand the prejudice people have against half Asians. Even female Asians don't want to be with Asians or half Asians

I see it as the "marrying up" Fariy Tale." It takes years of hard work to do useful stuff in math and science.
These folks just want to marry up into a better social class. There is a grain of truth in that they probably do know someone that married up into a better economic situation. But, they conveniently overlook the fact that these people often did more than just look pretty--they learned a lot so that they would actually be the intellectual equals of their partners.

Who do you mean when you say: "these folks"? Young Eurasian males?

Then it shouldn't be any problem for you to name 10 successful half-Asian people (with white father), as the "Eurasian Writer" blogger has requested.

I will start with one: Harry B. Harris Jr., Commander, United States Pacific Command. Japanese mother, white American father. That was my wife's contribution to the list. You can complete the other 9 names.

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I have been in the world of science and technology in the last 30 years. I have encountered people from virtually all types of minorities. Women, yes. LGBTQ, yes. Black/Afro-American, yes. Hispanics, yes. Physically challenged, yes (including a blind Python programmer in the early days of Internet, who would put to shame all able-bodied parents here who cannot learn to make one single cartoon video clip). Muslims/Buddhists, yes. Half-Asians with white father, ...., urgh..., really not sure. I can't even name one person, let alone find one single half-Asian scientist/engineer (with white father) that could serve as an inspirational role-model for younger children. (I have a few good Eurasian scientist friends, but their fathers are Asian. Also, they are not American.)

To me, that's a glaring problem.

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Children are born like a blank sheet of paper. Success or failure is largely result of their upbringing process. I don't believe children of any kind of background have primordial sins of any kind. You can complain all you want about your family background, but remember somewhere in the world, a blind person learned to write computer programs by using his ears, while some others complained that their life is so miserable because they can't get a date of their liking.

So the question is: what went wrong in the upbringing of Eurasian children (particularly white fathers)? Until we figure out this question, like the "Eurasian Writer" blogger says, Elliot Rodger and so many others that he has mentioned in one of his videos would be "just the beginning."

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Autism to me is a gift. Yes, I do see many Eurasian children on the spectrum. If anyone gets offended by that, I scratch my head.

There is no such problem. I am married to an Asian woman. One son runs his own video production business. Another son is an IT supervisor. The other son is a respiratory therapist.

Among my wife's relative are several "Hafu" doctors, nurses, lawyers and engineers. Even more attend the church we go to.

Now, maybe you just have not met many successful half-Asian people, and maybe you have simply set your standards too high for any normal half-Asian to meet. My standards for success are simple: university degree, no police record, employed, no mental health issues, and generally sociable.

Successful half-Asian people do exist, and there seems to be a lot of them.

Mainly because parents are full of s**t... George Carlin, man, that guy nails so many things spot-on.

The problem is in the dumb-ass parents who never question nor teach to question so-called authority...

I think kraftiekortie was responding to my post, in which I said I knew a few (actually more than a few) half Asian people who were quite successful, and then went on to describe the various successful fields the half Asian people I know are in.
You did not respond to my post, only kraftiekortie's reply. Maybe since my response did not support your sweeping generalizations about half Asian males, you chose to ignore it.

In your original post, you cite a man who has a huge chip on his shoulder about his own experience being a half Asian male, then you cite an article about a murderer who happens to be half Asian, and diagnosed on the spectrum (I will add that this murderer also had other diagnoses besides Autism), and you claim that these two things prove your theory about all (or most) half Asian males. I think this is ignorant, at best, and racist, at worst. Please do not use your own, isolated, individual experience of the world as a platform to support negative opinions about a whole race of young men. This is what racist people do.

I do not find your report that there are "so many" half Asians on the spectrum offensive, I just do not think it is true. I find unsupported claims as "truth" offensive, and racism.

Yes, it seems that these Young Eurasian males seem to be obsessed with marrying into a higher standard of living. Of course, the idea isn't really workable the way it is for females--it actually makes economic sense for a young female to sacrifice years of workplace life to raise kids at home while the successful male makes all the money--the US tax code even encourages this. Trying to flip it around runs into the biological necessity of the female having to stop work for childbirth--at least how it is presently done. And I'm sure they are all looking for the beautiful and wealthy female who is also young--good luck with that--though I think I heard about someone like that working for a non-profit years ago...

Today, with social media and the web, their wish is even harder than it used to be, as women share their horror stories.

All the eurasian people I know are successful, like scientists, doctors, lawyers.
Some of them have white fathers, and some have asian fathers.

Then it shouldn't be any problem for you to contribute a few names.

Here is a second name:
Bobby Murphy, Filipino-American billionaire businessman, co-founder of Snapchat.

2 down, 8 more to go.

Frankly, this one was found by "Eurasian Writer" himself.

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My wife actually went through most of the blog articles by the "Eurasian Writer." She is a bit like you, trying to look at the bright side of things. But I must say that, it's very depressing to look at all the articles of the guy. It's good education, though. Of course, I believe the guy put up a lot of theatrical effects in his writing. But the guy is reasonable, he cites references. He seems to have edited some images. In other words, he does his research. Most importantly, he is not alone, he talks to his peers. He is also married.

Here is just one snippet of what he has found:
https://longingfordeath.wordpress.com/2016/04/06/mixed-race-whites-and-asians-show-significantly-greater-risk-for-considering-suicide-us-institute-of-health/


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That all too many half-Asians are "invisible" is a fact. There are surely successful half-Asians. That statistically this is a real issue, is indisputable. The question is, what do you do about it?

As a person has observed and commented in his blog, a blog like the Eurasian Writer's won't solve anything. People will continue to do what they do.

These kids focus too much on the popularity game, and validate their existence based on opinion of others. It all reminds me of Richard Feynman's book titled: "What do you care what other people think?" In this forum I've been called all kinds of names, ha ha. But here I am, collecting stories to tell my grandchildren. Happiness is a choice, and that has been known for thousands of years. I wish these Eurasian kids know about all that.

As for concrete things: between (a) socialization and (b) skills, it's more clear than ever to me which direction to go. Raise your children from the angle of skills, not from the angle of socialization. We've made all too many mistakes in these last 73 years, time to stop.

Skills, not socialization. That's how we can get these children out of their mess. Look at the cases of Bobby Murphy and Harry Harris. Then you'll understand how to raise these children to be successful Eurasians.

This is ridiculous. You don't expect people to type the names of people they know, do you? Also, unless you happen to be very close to someone it is considered very rude to ask them if they are mixed race and then ask them which parent is what race?

And what would complying with your request even mean? Would you change your mind about whatever it is you think is wrong with growing up with an American father and a mother of Asian descent? I don't even understand what that point could be. There are troubled youth of every possible ethnic background, for all sorts of reasons.

Elliot Rodger, in particular, was a part of an misogynist group of men, who felt entitled to women's affection, who were resentful due to lack of success in the dating world. I don't think we need to blame his ethnicity or his neurological status for his actions. Do aspies have particular challenges dating? Of course some do, because it is a social endeavor, and aspies can struggle with it.

Are you arguing that Eurasians with white fathers are especially prone to autism and that makes them troubled? Even if that genetic combination was shown statistically to have a higher rate of autism, I am not sure if you understand what you are implying by saying that the results of this combination are especially troubled. Doesn't this conflict very strongly with what you usually say about autistic people being fine.

I really do not get your larger point.

Edited to add: I reread your last post and you seem to be saying the issue is that they are concentrating on socialization too much. Is that your main point? I don't think Eurasians with a white father are more socially pressured than the rest of us. Is that your main point, that you think the American fathers are pushing socialization more in that particular context? I am still very confused by what you are saying, and it is very unclear.

I wonder it the OP is speaking particularly about half Asian people who are well known? Famous? If so, it should be made more clear. When I think about what it means to be successful, I don't think of fame or people who are household names. The first thoughts I have are people who have done well in their chosen career. Of course, there are many ways to be successful.

Also, eikonabridge, as a scientist (as you say you are), I am really surprised that you are so easily influenced by one blogger, and one case of a half Asian murderer that you would accept them as hard proof of some larger issues about all half Asian young males. I would think that you would (if you suspected truth) investigate a lot further. You seem to be already firm in your opinion. You are making gross generalizations with very little evidence. You claim that boys with white fathers and Asian mothers are all only focused on certain relationship issues, do not achieve success, are not using their time well, etc.

Here is how the word "racism" is defined: "the belief that all members of each race possess characteristics or abilities specific to that race, especially so as to distinguish it as inferior or superior to another race or races." Your claims are racist. Your original post breaks two of the wrongplanet posting rules. You posted a video with profanity, and you posted racist content.

I am sure you will ignore this post. I think you will only respond to posters you have an easier time responding to. Or maybe this is just my own personal experience.

Rae Dawn Chong, with whom I had a big crush on in the 1980s, is at least 1/4 Asian.

She's the Cat's Meow!