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The younger children have lower IQs because mom runs out of resources to make people as time goes on. This is a well-known and easily solvable phenomenon. Edit

The younger children have lower IQs because mom runs out of resources to make people as time goes on. This is a well-known and easily solvable phenomenon. Edit: I am the oldest of 11, and would not trade the experience for anything. It's wonderful, and made me more knowledgeable, since we were unschooled, and would study different topics and compare cliff notes. Still the only reason I know anything about quantum mechanics.

pkoird 3y ago
I'm sorry but what? Do you have any references for this?
- rpmisms 3y ago
  Sure. Omega-3, a critical ingredient for having smart kids, is depleted during pregnancy, and few women supplement enough to fully replenish. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3046737/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3046737/
  - halfmatthalfcat 3y ago
    Aren't prenatal vitamins (which include omega-3) essentially prescribed by default nowadays?
    - rpmisms 3y ago
      Yes, which is why OP's study based on data from the 1950s is already problematic. However, a fixed cocktail of supplements isn't ideal. Some people actually get their bloodwork done and concentrate on what they really need.
  - uncletaco 3y ago
    This study doesn’t at all say what you originally claimed about moms “running out of resources as time goes on” when it comes to birth order and IQs. Either you missed the point or you honest to god don’t care about spreading disgusting misinformation.
    - rpmisms 3y ago
      Actually, it does, but only if you have reasonable reading comprehension. How is what I'm saying "disgusting misinformation"? I'm very interested in what precisely you're angry at.
  - potatosalad21 3y ago
    This article is about diet. Where is the source that says that women have stored reserves of omega 3 that are depleted with measurable impacts on later born children?
    - rpmisms 3y ago
      I'm sorry, do I need to post a biology class in here too? I can post the study about how women with bigger butts have smarter children due to higher Omega-3 availability, and the study detailing the depletion during pregnancy, and the study I already posted on Omega 3 in the diet. Or, the idea that building a human depletes resources could be relatively uncontroversial, because duh.
      - uncletaco 3y ago
        Please post those studies I want to seem something.
    - nradov 3y ago
      Omega-3 stays in your body for only about 6 months and must be continuously replenished. This can be an issue over the course of a single pregnancy. But it's not something that gets progressively depleted over multiple pregnancies.
- QuarterReptile 3y ago
  This is obviously real, and timelines/effects differ. How could growth in utero not matter? And how could pregnancy not deplete resources? That depletion can be reduced and managed, but it happens. I would suspect that most women are anemic by third trimester, just to pick an easy one. Even keeping on weight while breastfeeding can be challenging, to look at an even coarser metric. All of this is pretty consistent with the general unlikelihood of getting pregnant within one year or , sometimes, up to 18 months postpartum, amd you'll often see 3 year spacing as an ideal target. Obviously, that spacing requires that you start having kids pretty early or continue pretty late if you want a large family. Seeking published results about this is hard because, first, social science and therefore observational studies with results that can readily be disputed; and second, this is one of those "shaming mothers" things that gets tabled or not suggested as research in the first place.
  - nradov 3y ago
    The actual data indicates that while gestational anemia is a significant problem, it doesn't impact most US women. The majority of US residents get adequate dietary iron, and prenatal vitamin supplements also contain iron. The problem is more severe in developing countries. https://doi.org/10.3945%2Fajcn.117.155986 https://doi.org/10.3945%2Fajcn.117.155986
    - rpmisms 3y ago
      Considering that OP's study is from the US in the 40s through 60s, gestational anemia probably factors in. Also, anemia is a single deficiency. How many more opportunities for deficiency are there? Hundreds?
swozey 3y ago
You have 10 siblings and didn't attend any schools? What is the range of careers/skills everyone has? Any pods, like 3 of the youngest all learned the same skill together and went with that, like 3 engineers?
- rpmisms 3y ago
  I'm a software engineer, I have a couple brothers in permaculture design, one is a gunsmith, and the rest are too young to be sure yet. Plenty of shared knowledge, like gunsmithing is a hobby of mine, but he took it seriously. Still no real "pods". I'd classify us as classically educated. We had somewhere around 5000 nonfiction books in the house, and most of us had read a significant chunk of them. Nobody has a bachelor's, but I suspect that'll change with some of the younger ones who are more patient. Edit: Some of us did do real school. I paid my way through an Associate's degree at 13 because I was bored. Also online classes, apprenticeships, stuff like that.

pkoird 3y ago

I'm sorry but what? Do you have any references for this?

rpmisms 3y ago
Sure. Omega-3, a critical ingredient for having smart kids, is depleted during pregnancy, and few women supplement enough to fully replenish. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3046737/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3046737/
- halfmatthalfcat 3y ago
  Aren't prenatal vitamins (which include omega-3) essentially prescribed by default nowadays?
  - rpmisms 3y ago
    Yes, which is why OP's study based on data from the 1950s is already problematic. However, a fixed cocktail of supplements isn't ideal. Some people actually get their bloodwork done and concentrate on what they really need.
- uncletaco 3y ago
  This study doesn’t at all say what you originally claimed about moms “running out of resources as time goes on” when it comes to birth order and IQs. Either you missed the point or you honest to god don’t care about spreading disgusting misinformation.
  - rpmisms 3y ago
    Actually, it does, but only if you have reasonable reading comprehension. How is what I'm saying "disgusting misinformation"? I'm very interested in what precisely you're angry at.
- potatosalad21 3y ago
  This article is about diet. Where is the source that says that women have stored reserves of omega 3 that are depleted with measurable impacts on later born children?
  - rpmisms 3y ago
    I'm sorry, do I need to post a biology class in here too? I can post the study about how women with bigger butts have smarter children due to higher Omega-3 availability, and the study detailing the depletion during pregnancy, and the study I already posted on Omega 3 in the diet. Or, the idea that building a human depletes resources could be relatively uncontroversial, because duh.
    - uncletaco 3y ago
      Please post those studies I want to seem something.
  - nradov 3y ago
    Omega-3 stays in your body for only about 6 months and must be continuously replenished. This can be an issue over the course of a single pregnancy. But it's not something that gets progressively depleted over multiple pregnancies.
QuarterReptile 3y ago
This is obviously real, and timelines/effects differ. How could growth in utero not matter? And how could pregnancy not deplete resources? That depletion can be reduced and managed, but it happens. I would suspect that most women are anemic by third trimester, just to pick an easy one. Even keeping on weight while breastfeeding can be challenging, to look at an even coarser metric. All of this is pretty consistent with the general unlikelihood of getting pregnant within one year or , sometimes, up to 18 months postpartum, amd you'll often see 3 year spacing as an ideal target. Obviously, that spacing requires that you start having kids pretty early or continue pretty late if you want a large family. Seeking published results about this is hard because, first, social science and therefore observational studies with results that can readily be disputed; and second, this is one of those "shaming mothers" things that gets tabled or not suggested as research in the first place.
- nradov 3y ago
  The actual data indicates that while gestational anemia is a significant problem, it doesn't impact most US women. The majority of US residents get adequate dietary iron, and prenatal vitamin supplements also contain iron. The problem is more severe in developing countries. https://doi.org/10.3945%2Fajcn.117.155986 https://doi.org/10.3945%2Fajcn.117.155986
  - rpmisms 3y ago
    Considering that OP's study is from the US in the 40s through 60s, gestational anemia probably factors in. Also, anemia is a single deficiency. How many more opportunities for deficiency are there? Hundreds?

swozey 3y ago

You have 10 siblings and didn't attend any schools? What is the range of careers/skills everyone has? Any pods, like 3 of the youngest all learned the same skill together and went with that, like 3 engineers?

rpmisms 3y ago
I'm a software engineer, I have a couple brothers in permaculture design, one is a gunsmith, and the rest are too young to be sure yet. Plenty of shared knowledge, like gunsmithing is a hobby of mine, but he took it seriously. Still no real "pods". I'd classify us as classically educated. We had somewhere around 5000 nonfiction books in the house, and most of us had read a significant chunk of them. Nobody has a bachelor's, but I suspect that'll change with some of the younger ones who are more patient. Edit: Some of us did do real school. I paid my way through an Associate's degree at 13 because I was bored. Also online classes, apprenticeships, stuff like that.