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One grew up initially with no other sibling around and was an only child, while the other has always had an older sibling around and never been an only child. T
by simonh 5y ago
One grew up initially with no other sibling around and was an only child, while the other has always had an older sibling around and never been an only child. The experience of having an older sibling is completely different to the experience of having a younger sibling. The two are inevitably treated differently by their parents in some ways due to the age difference.
If they go to the same school one of them had to go in ‘cold’ while the other went somewhere familiar they had heard the older sibling talk about and had probably visited before, where the teachers already knew the elder sibling and knew some of their friends.
It’s a very different experience and situation to live in.
- sillysaurusx 5y agohttps://twitter.com/paulg/status/773140615068606464?s=21&t=v6VnjDFCkIH4OfKnqBk1xw https://twitter.com/paulg/status/773140615068606464?s=21&t=v... https://twitter.com/paulg/status/1364302749307928580?s=21&t=v6VnjDFCkIH4OfKnqBk1xw https://twitter.com/paulg/status/1364302749307928580?s=21&t=... Not to outsource my thinking, but it’s not my idea. I only noticed the effect once he pointed it out, and then it seemed obvious. The refutation to this is three children. If it was true that someone’s character wasn’t inborn, then we should see consistent effects on a middle child on average. But middle children seem equally random. My wife’s sister is an introvert and her other sister an extrovert, and it’s hard to square that with upbringing. I predict in the future embryo selection will become a new cultural battleground. We’re having a daughter nine months after June, and we know this because it’s now possible to select which gender you want during IVF. It seems a matter of time till the introversion genes are similarly selected for.
- c22 5y agoPeople think 'oh, same parents, same environment...' but this seems patently impossible. Untill someone figures out double-blind parenting the confounding factors are endless. I've seen parents that claim they treat their kids "exactly the same," but they really don't.