The author points out something he may not have even intended: that parenting might not matter at all, despite the raging discussions about which parenting style is better.
In fact, lots of research on twins and adopted children suggests that parenting matters very little in shaping a child's personality and skills, while biology and peer groups matter a lot. Identical twins turn out quite similar regardless of whether they grow up in the same family, while adopted siblings are as different as any random people. (Check "How the Mind Works" by Pinker for a great overview.) People have a hard time accepting this, since most would like to believe that they have a power to shape their children, but this does not make it any less true.
> the Immigration Act of 1965... didn't just abolish racial quotas, it also created preference categories for science, math and engineering-trained immigrants to come over.
Ah, so Asian immigrants to the US are far from an unbiased sample of their original populations! This explains a lot more than bitter fights over parenting.
This is an argument that is hard to convey convincingly in a comment, but for those who are curious (including those who call "BS"), I recommend reading:
From what I could tell, the links you posted are no evidence to the contrary.
First, child abuse is beyond what most would call "parenting"; that term is mostly applied to things like strictness with respect to school homework, video games, pressure to choose certain careers, etc. My argument was that those of us that care about giving their children the best should not sweat too much over where precisely to draw the lines, because the effect of these decisions on the child's personality and life outcome is minimal.
Second, it is very possible that the same genes that increase the chance of a person being a child abuser also increase the chance of their child being, say, an alcoholic or criminal.
"Lulu handed me her 'surprise', which turned out to be a card,"
writes Chua in her explosive new memoir... "More accurately, it was
a piece of paper folded crookedly in half, with a big happy face on
the front. Inside, 'Happy Birthday, Mummy! Love, Lulu' was scrawled
in crayon above another happy face. I gave the card back to Lulu. 'I
don't want this,' I said. 'I want a better one – one that you've put
some thought and effort into. I have a special box, where I keep all
my cards from you and Sophia, and this one can't go in there.' I
grabbed the card again and flipped it over. I pulled out a pen and
scrawled 'Happy Birthday Lulu Whoopee!' I added a big sour face. …
'I reject this.'"
I would certainly call that child abuse, although I suppose Chua would call it "parenting"? To coerce Lulu into piano practice, Chua prevented her from using the washroom, and withheld food and affection until she could perform to her mother's satisfaction. That would qualify as abuse according the Adverse Childhood Experience Study. A lot of child abuse is rationalized by the perpetrator as just "strictness".
In fact, lots of research on twins and adopted children suggests that parenting matters very little in shaping a child's personality and skills, while biology and peer groups matter a lot. Identical twins turn out quite similar regardless of whether they grow up in the same family, while adopted siblings are as different as any random people. (Check "How the Mind Works" by Pinker for a great overview.) People have a hard time accepting this, since most would like to believe that they have a power to shape their children, but this does not make it any less true.
> the Immigration Act of 1965... didn't just abolish racial quotas, it also created preference categories for science, math and engineering-trained immigrants to come over.
Ah, so Asian immigrants to the US are far from an unbiased sample of their original populations! This explains a lot more than bitter fights over parenting.