JustinShovelain comments on Open Thread: March 2010, part 2 - Less Wrong

4 Post author: RobinZ 11 March 2010 05:25PM

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Comment author: JustinShovelain 14 March 2010 08:23:08AM *  5 points [-]

Poll: Do you have older siblings or are an only child?

karma balance

Comment author: JustinShovelain 14 March 2010 08:24:25AM 35 points [-]

Vote this up if you are the oldest child with siblings.

Comment author: JustinShovelain 14 March 2010 08:23:32AM 14 points [-]

Vote this up if you have older siblings.

Comment author: JustinShovelain 14 March 2010 08:23:46AM 12 points [-]

Vote this up if you are an only child.

Comment author: steven0461 31 March 2010 11:47:22PM *  3 points [-]

I'm pretty sure that in the general population, there are at least as many people with older siblings as there are people with only younger siblings. But in this poll, it's 6 vs 19. That looks like a humongous effect (which we also found in SIAI-associated people, and which this poll was intended to further check). I could see some sort of self-selection bias and the like, and supposedly oldest children have slightly higher IQs on average, but on the whole I'm stumped for an explanation. Anyone?

ETA: Here's a claim that "it is consistently found that being first-born is particularly favourable to high levels of scientific creativity". See also this.