Study on I.Q. prompts debate on family dynamics »
Posted By JamesMarcus 2 years ago in FamilyThe new evidence that eldest children develop higher I.Q.'s than their siblings has intensified the debate over two of the most stubborn questions in social science: What are the family dynamics that enhance intelligence? And can they--and should they--be changed?
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JamesMarcus
James Marcus is a writer, translator, critic, and editor. He is the author of Amazonia: Five Years at the Epicenter of the Dot-Com Juggernaut and ...
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KSUmarksman2 years ago
I don't know about our IQs but my kid brother is smarter than me academically.
However, in practical areas of life he is like "the absent minded professor".
I am still in the top % of my school and university in scholarly performance, although inferior to my brother's performance. However, I am better organized in real life whereas he is better organized in academics.
More than anything I think this is due to the fact that the eldest child gets piled with responsibilities so they have to "grow up" faster. More of the older child's mental "resources" go towards learning to take command and be a good leader.
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libsRfunny2 years ago
I out did older brother and sis in academics by a long shot. They'd agree: they are no smarter than me and likely less so.
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justgotmarried2 years ago
This may be accurate on the average, however let me just say that my older sister is not the brightest academically person in the world. She does have some street smarts though, so I am proud of her for that. Alls I remember when I was a kid is that I was in Calc and she was struggling with algebra. We were both seniors at the same time. I think sports and socializing were more important to her. But even so, my IQ is a recorded 40 points higher then hers and she is two years older then me.
Now having said all that I she was the one who used to come home and teach me what she learned in school when she was in kindergarten and 1st grade, so I do owe her a lot of gratitude for making me love math. I was reading at 3 and doing multiplication at 4. I started kindergarten when I was 4, and I was 16 as a senior in high school.
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MiraJane2 years ago
your sister teaching you what she learned in kindergarten and first grade is probably why you were able to surpass her later on.
My theory is that parents, grandparents, etc. have more time to spend with the oldest child. As more children come along, there is less time and money.
Plus the younger kid gets the hand me down educational toys with the missing pieces. And the more kids in the family, the more pieces that are missing by the time number five or six comes along. poor youngest!
That all being said, same thing in my family. The older sisters taught the three younger ones to read before kindergarten. We were always at least three grades ahead of everyone else in our class.
It really doesn't matter what the IQ number is. What matters is how much one uses their intelligence. Some people with a high IQ are idiots. Other people with lower IQs use every single point and go farther.
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marshx2 years ago
I have 3 older brothers and i wouldn't say their smarter than i am, academically i've done better.
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farmerman2 years ago
I thought it was "politically incorrect" to even mention the letters IQ. If we can make valid comparisons to family members using IQ, is is also valid to make comparisons to different races or ethnic groups, using IQ?
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nu20072 years ago
except that you will get sued for making "racist" comments because you make statements on certain aspect about race which can bring hurtful feelings, so it is "race"-ist. Too bad siblings do not signify any difference in social status, you can't make any discriminatory claims about that.
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Worldview2 years ago
Isn't G. W. the oldest of the Bush children . . . so much for that argument.
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Formidable2 years ago
Answer this. I was first born and have an extremely high IQ, but it took me until I was almost thirty to realize how smart my parents were.
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WCFIELDS2 years ago
"...evidence that eldest children develop higher I.Q.'s"
This is no mystery. The First born has the highest likelihood of being the actual child of the "Father". The second, third, fourth, etc. has a very high likelihood of having been "sired" by the Gardner, Preacher, Pool Man or Mailman.
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shead2 years ago
IQ is one thing, but there are many who believe in multiple intelligences. Such as:
Emotional Intelligence (EQ), Physical Intelligence, Spiritual Intelligence and Social Intelligence.
And concerning Social Intelligence. Let's face it: people with high IQs don't necessarily have a high degree of social ability.
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yinyangbaby2 years ago
I thought IQ wasnt about how much you know, but how well you are able to cognitively able to process things...obviously this would mean that you'd have to know some things scholastically but if youre unable to apply them, what good is it. And ppl i think have all different kinds of IQ's and none of them are in perfect balance, somebody is going to do one thing better than another. I think when it comes to scholastic intellect ppl judge it negatively, because let's face it, if youre REALLY smart its enviable, and usually that opens a lot of doors and means a lot of success, they dont have to play well in the sandbox w/others they got the goods to get the job done and get it done well.
Isnt there another intelligent for when youre are real artistically inclined?
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cronuslord2 years ago
It's really funny to me that there's a news story about what causes I.Q. to develop faster in a country where the medium I.Q. is 100.
Intelligence has nothing to do with what order you were born, it has to do with how you are taught from an early age. The brain is a device of conditioning, adjusting according to stimulus. Influencing a higher I.Q. comes from influencing a curiosity in learning.
I have an I.Q. of 165, my younger brother brother has the same. Age has nothing to do with it.
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acdnc2 years ago
Perhaps the word you seek is median CronusLord.
Interestingly, the IQ tests of 3 decades ago are now "too dumb" for our current population: indeed on those tests the national IQ scores were creeping upward.
I do recall a study published about 5 yrs ago documenting this and if I recall correctly, the current scores were "re-adjusted" so that the average scores have returned to 100...
While I respect your views that age or birth order are not important variable, I do think it is interesting to notice that in this publication it appears that this is a new finding, which, pending replication may be something we can learn from.
Interesting conversations above. Thanks!
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yinyangbaby2 years ago
Me and my bro tested ourselves in high school and we were both at 120 which looks to be well above the average woo-hoo!! im gonna keep eating my wheaties!!
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palamaComment removed: User banned.
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TOtheMOON2 years ago
I think it is a waste of time to know what your IQ is. Does it automatically make someone more intelligent because they have a 136 IQ? Smart people are those who use what they have got and strive for more, regardless their IQ. Dumb people don't use what they have and do nothing with their lives. The numbers are useless.
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cronuslord2 years ago
Does it automatically make you more intelligent? Yes, it does. I.Q. doesn't gauge how much you know, it gauges your ability to acquire and retain knowledge, and it guages your processing ability concerning that knowledge. You're right, a high I.Q. that isn't used is a waste. But it doesn't change the fact that it does make you more intelligent. It's not a matter of moral ethics, it's a matter of scientific fact.
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curley-zark2 years ago
The book "Born To Rebel" makes the case for almost all revolutionary jumps forward for the human race have been made by laterborns. Firstborns have too much respect for authority to ever rebel against the status quo (required for new paradigms). What mommy & daddy told firstborns was right and therefore authority is never to be questioned. Then the firstborn tries to force these authoritarian ideologies on siblings and the laterborns rebel for the rest of their lives!
Supposedly, the Knights Templar sent their firstborn into the church where unquestioning respect for authority bolsters church traditions. Templars sent their secondborn son into the military where questioning authority and onesself might keep one from charging off into a trap, taking your men and perhaps your nation with you...
How many in the current administration besides George W. are firstborn authoritarians with high IQ and no sense at all?
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moxxxxxxxxxx2 years ago
IQ is just one type of intelligence. There are different types of intelligences. Social,language, logical,musical,spatial, intrapersonal. You can have a high IQ but no social awareness, inability to speak in public, no common sense, inability to keep a beat, play a sport or even know your own feelings and thoughts. Success in America isn't all related to IQ. Parents are much better served to be taught how to determine what type of intelligence their child has and help the child develop in those areas.
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cronuslord2 years ago
IQ isn't a type of intelligence, it's a measurement of intelligence. What you're talking about is knowledge. Knowledge and intelligence aren't the same thing. IQ means Intelligence Quotient, your ability to acquire and retain knowledge, and your processing speed in its appliction.
And success in America isn't related to IQ at all. It's not even related to talent. It's related to money and social status.
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Tigra2 years ago
Genetics may play a role in the retention of information and knowledge, but that myth of older siblings having a higher IQ is hogwash. I have an IQ of 136 and my older sister does not. It's up to an individual to gain and retain knowledge, and also age and experience can account for the hogwash study findings. In my opinion, a 22 yr old person with as much knowledge as a 52 yr old should be automatically given a higher IQ score.
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curley-zark2 years ago
I'm reading a book called, "I Am A Strange Loop". The author included four pages he wrote when he was ten years old as the prologue. It reminded me of a paper I wrote in college at 20 years of age.
The author published his first book at 27 years of age and got a Pulitzer for it. This sort of stuff will put an earthly tug on your high IQ self image, unless you are a wing nut, circling some narrow-minded ideological planet, beyond gravity, or so you believe. Re-entry for you will be a long, burning, self denying bitch! "But, ... My Southern Baptist church (and/or perhaps Aristotle & Aquinas) gave me all the wisdom I will ever need..."
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eviln3d2 years ago
Well in an attempt to save the government billions of dollars in grant money to pay goof ball scientists to figure it out... I'll gladly tell you the simple reason.
The first child gets 100% of the parents time and attention during his early life. Any child after that (unless the first child has died) will get less time and attention.
Gee... pretty damn simple if you think about it - but I guess we'll still see scientists and professors yammering for money to figure out what is common sense.
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curley-zark2 years ago
"Common sense", like "Politically Correct", is a term people think they understand, but when overused, is shorthand for "I've been bamboozeled by politically motivated, corporate sponsored, BS" and really don't know what I'm talking about at all.
Does it make you feel good to use the term "goofball scientists"? By doing so you have joined the giant corporate impetus to completely discredit real science which we will need to advance, rather than devolve into the stupid consumers giant corporations and their paid politicians/media encourage us to be. They may very well win, if you don't gather a much deeper understanding of wisdom (not intelligence) - on you own. Can the internet save us?
Most all of the junk science you see on TV is corporate generated BS, not real science. Real science is good for you. It's our leaders that are misleading us.
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eviln3d2 years ago
Uh... "rambling idiot" is a term I use for folks that yammer on about nothing that sense to anyone... it is time to use it... rambling idiot.
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curley-zark2 years ago
Research says "Coffee is bad for you". New research says, "Just the smell of Coffee is good for you". New research says, "Coffee is bad for you". "This is your brain on drugs!" New research says Government Research is bad for you, but coffee is good!"
On and on, back and forth, until the public loses faith in science and clings to the only thing left... "great" big corporations.. "great" big politicians... there to help us... even the one's who say they'll save us from worthless government research then give our taxes to worthless corporate research. Both sides are screwing us in oh so many ways! The one that has undermined us all, the most, is the drug war. It has caused a thousand times more damage than it ever saved! Follow the money...
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ILian12 years ago
I always thought my older sister got all the brains in the family. She was an achiever, I was a dreamer. At age 38, I took two IQ tests on a lark, I was invited to join Mensa and Interetel, the top 2% and 1% respectively. I served on the board of directors of Intertel for six years. I have learned that IQ was originally designed to predict academic potential, not intelligence, wisdom, knowlege, personality or anything tangible. I like to say it is a test of how well you can take multiple guess tests, and not much more. I do find that people with high IQs understand my puns, like to party, most don't take themselves too seriously and can be the gargbage man or Bill Gates. Some fit in socially and others are misfits in general society. That's it in a nutshell. Oh, my sister doesn't qualify for either society.
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jumpmaster2 years ago
I get a kick out of people who are hung up on IQ numbers. The only people that I run across who place an importance on IQ numbers are typically those in acedamia or government employment.
I guess it makes them feel good. Kind of a one-time achievement that they can milk their entire lives. Meanwhile the doers (sp?) are out there making things happen.
It is reassuring that the achievers don't stand around at cocktail parties all puffed up about an IQ test they took 20 years ago.
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innocent-bystander2 years ago
When my oldest was an only child she was happy she says. As soon as her cute brother came along he stole the spot light. So she used her "smarts" to get attention. She talked for him. Cut him off and became an A student. When he became an A student it pushed her. So she became "the athlete" to him because she was bigger and then he grew up. Then she became the artist: singer, dancer, actor and painter. He is trying his hand at it. Next she wants to start her own business or be a CEO. Attention drives children.
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