An academic named Freddie deBoer writes at Substack about how kids perform in school.
The brute reality is that most kids slot themselves into academic ability bands early in life and stay there throughout schooling. We have a certain natural level of performance, gravitate towards it early on, and are likely to remain in that band relative to peers until our education ends. (snip) Most everybody stays in about the same place relative to peers over academic careers. The consequences of this are immense, as it is this relative position, not learning itself, which is rewarded economically and socially in our society.
Say what you will about eugenics; today's conventional wisdom is that it is hateful and evil. As a society, for five thousand years China has given the high performers deBoer writes about preferred places in society where they have better access to nutrition, healthier environments, and occupations that are less physically risky. As a result the children of those so chosen have had better chances of survival.
It is not surprising that today ethnic Chinese average higher scores on IQ tests than any other group. As a society they have been breeding for this trait for thousands of years. Maybe the eugenics was intentional, perhaps it wasn't. In any event, the result is as indicated. I'm not certain why nobody talks about this. (full disclosure - I am not Asian)
Afterthought: Natural selection (evolution) works.
