Prefer Distant, High‑Variance Immigrants

Cowen suggests two filters: keep strict admission standards and then rank applicants higher if they come from populous countries with high cognitive variance (e.g., China, India, Russia) and, all else equal, from more distant countries. The rationale is that such pools yield more outliers and ambition, while distance counters gravity‑driven convenience migration and may aid assimilation. — This reframes skills‑based immigration from trust/IQ/degree proxies to variance and distance, potentially redefining how the U.S. targets scarce visa slots.