are you a firstborn?

[porcy62]

Just for the record: it's a research based on IQ tests of norvegian army between 1967 and 1976. Not a worlwide sample I dare to say.

My empirical experience among friends with two or more children is that, a part the language, (the second born usually starts speaking a little later), the second born is smarter and more precocious. At least in early ages.

BTW I am a firstborn and I am a living proof of my thesis, in fact my sister has something smarter and better to do then loosing time in a forum like this.

[medjuck]

No, but my wife is. I'm never going to hear the end of this.

[Alexander]

Doesn't prove anything, but I do find it interesting to note that both my wife and I are first borns. We both graduated from private liberal arts colleges and have advanced degrees. My younger brother (4 1/2 years younger) never graduated from high school. He lives in a cabin in the woods of Vermont (or New Hampshire) and does odd jobs. My sister-in-law (two years younger than my wife) has an Associates Degree in graphic design.

This is not to say that my wife and I are "better" or "smarter" than our siblings, but I do think it's interesting that neither of them went as far as we in terms of education.

My daughter is an only child and is VERY smart. Just finished first grade. Her report card was largely "exceeds standards." (her school doesn't do letter grades for the lower grades)

[Alexander]

I'm the oldest of two (seperately & 4 years apart) adopted children. What our actual "birth order" is remains a mystery. So what does that mean?

Just an interesting note on adoption. When I was growing up, I didn't know any kids who were adopted (if they were, no one ever talked about it). The first person I met who had been adopted was in high school. My daughter, on the other hand, belongs to a circle of friends (roughly six kids) in which she is one of the ONLY kids who was not adopted.

[Jazzmoose]

I'm a firstborn, but my sister says it just means that I hit senility first...

[sidewinder]

in fact my sister has something smarter and better to do then loosing time in a forum like this.

Hmm - sounds familiar.

[ejp626]

I'm the oldest. My mother always thought that my brother had a little bit more raw intelligence, which annoyed me to no end, though we both are above average. But that I was far more driven, as well as being willing to channel it into conventional channels. Thus, I ended up with a PhD (and 2 Masters in other fields) and he has an MBA.

[paul secor]

My wife and I are both firstborns. Some years ago, my wife actually did a thesis on this subject, using earlier studies and data. She says that everything she read agreed with this study. My own feeling is that people do what they do and become what they become, and I don't have any interest in studies like the one in the article.

[mtodde]

first born & first grandchild

[porcy62]

It appears that most of us are firstborn. That's made Organissimo the smartest jazz forum on the web...or at least we could have been high rank officials in Norvegian Army.

[alocispepraluger102]

even aloc is a firstling.

[Dan Gould]

Doesn't prove anything, but I do find it interesting to note that both my wife and I are first borns. We both graduated from private liberal arts colleges and have advanced degrees. My younger brother (4 1/2 years younger) never graduated from high school. He lives in a cabin in the woods of Vermont (or New Hampshire) and does odd jobs. My sister-in-law (two years younger than my wife) has an Associates Degree in graphic design.

I'm number three out of four. In order:

My sister has a bachelors and Masters in Architecture.

My older brother left Miami University without graduating.

I received a BS from Florida State and a Masters from Washington University in St. Louis in Political Science.

My younger brother received a Bachelors from Vanderbilt and graduated Law School at William & Mary.

I have no idea about IQ scores but its pretty obvious that we're all pretty bright and well educated, and its my younger brother who got into the most elite schools.

[The Magnificent Goldberg]

I don't think education is a good measure of intelligence. I left school at 16 with 4 "O" levels - in today's terms, that's pretty well without qualifications.

I tend to agree with Paul - you do what you do and you become what you become. And that's more about you than your family.

MG

[Shawn]

Only child.

[Herb]

I'm a first born (or rather, first surviving child, first born arrived stillborn), also. I have a younger brother that did not do as well as I did in either school or life. Of course, he was shy - because I tormented and intimidated the holy hell out of him while we were growing up!

[jazzbo]

Hey Herb, that's interesting, also being a first surviving child. It's sometimes a little weird when I think of it, for me possibly because that child was going to have my name. . . .

[Herb]

Interesting possibility, mine was a "sister", though. Mom never told me the details, but she went to term and was born dead, perhaps strangled by the umbilical cord?

[Kalo]

A firstborn, here.

My seven years younger brother is sort of a firstborn as well, as the first child of my stepfather and my mom.

He's definitely more successful than I am, and likely smarter (PhD in Nuclear Engineering and works for the National Academy of Science).

[Niko]

firstborn, lost my last bit of faith in IQ tests when my brother got 275 points in one - not that he isn't clever but 275... he studies law so he will never get to know his limitations (same for my even younger sister) (as a mathematician i know them too well to consider myself especially smart; although there have been two or three treasured instances where i really saw a thing a few seconds (not more) quicker than people who are obvious geniuses)

[Epithet]

he studies law so he will never get to know his limitations

So that's it.

[Niko]

he studies law so he will never get to know his limitations

So that's it.

my experience with talented people who study, for instance, law is that they become extremely selfconfident; one might argue however that at 275 he wouldn't have encountered limitations anywhere (or was it 235? above 200 it certainly was)