Smart poll

[Sand]

An only child? The middle child? The baby of the family?

[walto]

Baby of three boys, and both my brothers have had more distinguished academic careers than I had.

But I'm younger than they are!

[hornplayer]

I'm the Elder... possibly the smarter, but she got better grades.

Exceptional? you bet!

[Jazzzoline]

I’m the first born from my biologic mother

In my adoptive family I’m the second

And yeah, i'm the smarter

[Gerardo A]

I also read this today (at BBC World), Sand. First born here (and first grandson of both my father's and mother's families), we're four brothers in total.

[Gary Sisco]

First born.

[Surfer]

First born. I kicked my brother's ass intellectually and physically all the way through school.

[GoodSpeak]

First born here.

[stonemonkts]

Peruse the list so far of first borns.

All dumb as stumps.

[stonemonkts]

I was the surprise baby, ten years after they had their second (my sister).

[GoodSpeak]

Originally Posted by stonemonkts

Peruse the list so far of first borns.

All dumb as stumps.

You must have been the whiner of the brood, huh.

[Vince Kargatis]

Originally Posted by stonemonkts

Peruse the list so far of first borns.
All dumb as stumps.

All for one and one for all!

[stonemonkts]

fixed.

Originally Posted by GoodSpeak

You must have been the winner of the brood, huh.

[gonzo]

so called baby of family, 2 boys 2 girls.

[Jimmy Cantiello]

Second born of seven. The first born was practice, they got it right the second time, tried five more times and found out they couldn't improve on the second born.

[clinthopson]

Only child, which meant I got away with murder.

The flip was that I was the sole caregiver for my mother in her last years.

[Gary Sisco]

When my father was dying, he had to use a bedpan to pee, of course, not being able to get up. One day it was my uncle (second born) and my brother (third born) there with him. My brother says to my uncle, If he has to piss, you're dealing with it. My uncle says, Why? You're his son. My brother says, So what? You're his brother.

When the time came, my uncle split.

[Sandi22]

Rich always says his brother is an only child.

[Monte Smith]

Second born here and, while brilliant, much the dumber of a set of two if the intangible intelligences called "luck," "chutzpah" and "fashion sense" are factored into the equation. Also my parents raised me to believe that I was not a natural child of los Esmitz-Monte but a foundling left curbside by a couple called the Farthingtons. "Farthington" because it has the word "fart" in the name--an anecdote of much hilarity in la casa Esmitz-Monte. I believe there are some families where the comparative intelligences of children according to birth order is an exercise unrewarding of its tedium.

[Tom Storer]

Second of two. I'd have to say my brother is smarter than me. But I have a whole cosmopolitan je ne sais quoi that he doesn't.

[Gary Sisco]

My brother's a third-born and in most things that matter, he's a lot smarter and more talented than I am. He's built, on Nantucket, a whole buttload of multimillion dollar houses, with the finest carpentry. He builds wooden boats, now. He built his own house, by himself, every single thing that one guy can do alone. What work was left, he called in all of his chips with people he'd helped build their homes on his days off through the years, for a long weekend to finish the house. And they did. My mother cooked for the lot of them. He makes his own fly rods to custom standards. He lives to fish, as our father did, and has his elder years plan well in hand. He owns a second piece of land in Maine (apart from the one where his house is) where he's going to build a summer fishing camp. When he sells his current house, he's going to use the bread to buy a dump in Florida, so he can fish year 'round, migrating up and down the coast. His wife's such a good worker and bookkeeper her boss on Nantucket kept her on the payroll to work over a computer from Maine.

I'd never have the brains and talent required to get all of that up and successfully running.

Already talked about my sister (second born) the high school drop out who worked her way through nursing school and university, top of class in both.

[tippy]

I am positive that I am not smarter than my youngers though I was better student (tres obedient) and I am more responsible which comes with the territory. If it were true though and I had 3 more IQ points, I'd give 'em all back to reduce my neurotic q score.