But aren't "created equal", and "set up with equal conditions" two entirely different discussions? While I'd personally assume "birth order effects" if a thing

But aren't "created equal", and "set up with equal conditions" two entirely different discussions? While I'd personally assume "birth order effects" if a thing would be almost entirely nurtured based, that's not what OP was saying, at least not entirely. > The differences could be societal- perhaps first-borns are treated with more care by their parents, or they could be biological- perhaps the hormonal changes in a pregnant woman are different for each successive child, or they could be something else entirely No one brought it up directly, but I can't help but think that some of this thread has undertones of the Damore discussion, which drives the argument from: Societal changes we could make - to - these things (sorta kinda maybe based on pseudoscience) might not be societal and shouldn't be addressed (or at least not in the way they currently are). I tend to be strongly in the former camp, which it sounds like you could be too. But let's not conflate those two separate conversations. Race and gender has a profound effect on your prospects, but not in a way we can't fix.