How Birth Order affects you

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Everyone takes it personally when it comes to birth order. 

Children and parents alike are profoundly affected by the constellations of siblings.. But that doesn’t mean the effects of birth order are as clear or straightforward as we sometimes make them sound. Indeed, birth order can be used to explain every trait and its precise opposite. I’m competitive, driven — typical oldest child! My brother, two years younger, is even more competitive, more driven — typical second child, always trying to catch up! 

“Too many parents are haunted by experiences both good and bad that they identify with their birth order,” said Dr. Peter A. Gorski, a professor of pediatrics, public health and psychiatry at the University of South Florida. And that might lead them to classify their own children according to birth order, he went on, which in turn can lead to a sense of identification or even rejection and to “self-fulfilling prophecies.”

“Birth order doesn’t cause anything,” (says) Frank J. Sulloway, a visiting scholar at the University of California Berkeley Dr. Sulloway said. “It’s simply a proxy for the actual mechanisms that go on in family dynamics that shape character and personality.”

Now, of course birth order played into my patients’ patterns, but so did gender and birth spacing and, above all, temperament. 

"I wouldn’t discount the impact of birth order,” Dr. Gorski told me. “It sets up the structure of one’s place in relation to others from the beginning, as we learn how to react to people of different ages and different relationships.” 

Perri Klass writing in the New York Times

 

Articles of Interest about writing, journalism, fakes & more – July 30

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***WRITING & READING

How to Sell Books in 2020: Put Them Near the Toilet Paper

Four-year-old lands book deal for his 'astonishing' poetry

8 Writers on Finding a Literary Agent

Writing Historical Fiction As History Repeats Itself

The Physical Traits that Define Men and Women in Literature

***GRAMMAR 

Man faked death to avoid jail but typo gave him away

Did Rutgers University Declare Grammar ‘Racist’?

***JOURNALISM 

Publishers and Journalists on TikTok

Choi criticizes journalists for tweets about Jefferson statue issue

Prosecutor: No time for evidence against arrested reporter

A Judge Said Federal Officers Can’t Arrest Or Use Force Against Journalists In Portland

Press freedom incidents have surged during police protests

Law enforcement tear gasses, throws flash-bangs at high school journalist covering Portland BLM protests

***FAKES & FRAUDS

This clever Netflix scam attempts to steal your credit card information

How dubious psychology techniques have been misused in criminal investigations

Fake Signs Warning Campers Of Satanic Cult Activity, Animal Sacrifice Pop Up Around Big Bear Lake

Twitter bans 7,000 QAnon accounts, limits 150,000 others as part of broad crackdown

Why Conspiracy Theorists Think FEMA Is Building Camps to Imprison Americans

17 Fascinating Facts About Conspiracy Theories 

Testing of a tool for detecting image duplication shows it has potential but also triggers false alarms

***CORONAVIRUS CONSPIRACY THEORIES

25% in US see at least some truth in conspiracy theory that COVID-19 was planned

Snopes and coronavirus rumors: Debunking website can’t keep up with the misinformation 

Coronavirus: 'Deadly masks' claims debunked 

'COVID parties’ are a pandemic urban legend that won’t go away

Local TV stations across the country set to air discredited 'Plandemic' researcher's conspiracy theory about Fauci 

Coronavirus: Conspiracy Theories (John Oliver video)

An FBI hostage negotiator explains how to persuade people to wear masks

***SOCIAL MEDIA  

Facebook can see your web activity. Here's how to stop it 

The US is 'looking at' banning TikTok

***LANGUAGE

People are sharing common phrases that no longer reflect the action and it's eye-opening

***PRIVACY & SECURITY  

Rite Aid deployed facial recognition systems in hundreds of U.S. stores

Face masks are screwing up facial recognition software

***PRODUCING MEDIA

Some of the winners of this year's iPhone photography awards

Final Cut Pro X review

AP to equip all visual journalists globally with Sony Imaging products

Boy tells his dad 'I'm so proud of you'

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Sunk Cost Fallacy

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We all have seen the sunk cost fallacy in action at some point, whether it be sitting through that bad movie because we have already paid for it or finishing that awful book because we were already halfway through. Everyone has been in a situation where they ended up wasting more time because they were trying to salvage the time they had already invested. A sunk cost, also known as a retrospective cost, is one that has already been incurred and cannot be recovered by any additional action. The sunk cost fallacy refers to the tendency of human beings to make decisions based on how much of an investment they have already made, which leads to even more investment but no returns whatsoever. Sometimes, hard as it is, the best thing to do is to let go.

A way to save yourself from this cognitive bias is by focusing on future benefits and costs rather than the already lost past costs. You have to develop the habit, hard as it is, of ignoring the previous cost information.   

Rahul Agarwal writing in Built in

Recent Articles about Data Science

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Articles of Interest about the virus & schools - July 27

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***THE VIRUS 

Confusion Reigns Nationwide Amid Conflicting Coronavirus Rules

College gyms, workout equipment are covered in antibiotic-resistant bacteria

Which mask works best? We filmed people coughing and sneezing to find out

***VACCINES 

Every Single COVID-19 Vaccine In Development, Tracked  

Confusion spreads over selection of priority groups for Covid-19 vaccines 

***HIGHER ED SPORTS & THE VIRUS

Rutgers quarantines football team after six more positive tests for coronavirus 

Entire Michigan State football team in quarantine after positive COVID-19 tests

***THE FALL SEMESTER 

‘I see a disaster in the making.’ Professors slam reopening plans at Illinois colleges amid COVID-19 crisis, prompting some schools to reverse course

Legal Expert: Don’t sign COVID-19 liability waivers

Colleges are walking back reopening plans — but can they keep campus employees safe?

Database shows the plans for the fall of about 2,000 colleges 

Colleges Spent Months Planning For Fall, But A COVID-19 Surge Is Changing Everything

***FALL PLANS AT SPECIFIC SCHOOLS 

Historically Black public college in St. Louis, has shut down its campus after eight administrative employees tested positive for COVID-19 

Pepperdine University To Conduct All Fall Classes Online

California colleges, fearing enrollment loss this fall, are trying hard to bond with students this summer

Clemson University said that it, too, would begin the fall term online Aug. 19 but planned to bring students back to campus a month later, on Sept. 21. 

New Mexico governor asks colleges to postpone fall sports

UC Berkeley fall semester will be online for all students

Clark Atlanta University, Morehouse College, Spelman College move to virtual learning for fall semester

Wash State moves classes online for fall due to coronavirus

***LIVING ON CAMPUS THIS FALL 

Concerns are growing among students and faculty members about plans by some colleges to keep residence halls at full capacity this fall

Some colleges invite a fraction of their students to live on campus this fall. But is that approach truly safer?

***K-12 

Gallop Survey of what teachers think about returing to the classroom

Schools are moving toward closing for the fall. That is not their fault. ($)

Some Countries Reopened Schools. What Did They Learn About Kids and Covid? 

We asked 20 medical experts whether they're sending their own kids back to school. Here's what they had to say

Florida lawyers offering free living wills to teachers returning to school during the pandemic

Face it. Most kids are not going to school next month

Here's What Science Says About How Safe it Really is to Reopen Schools in the Pandemic

Parents turn to "pods" as a schooling solution

Here’s what dozens of educators across Illinois say about schools reopening

***LAYOFFS & FURLOUGHS

Colleges Move to Lay Off Faculty as COVID-19 Decimates Budgets

Cal State Univ system chancellor expects future furloughs because of revenue reductions

***HIGHER ED 

Cal State Approves Ethnic Studies Requirement

Cal Poly ethnic studies experts oppose new CSU course requirements. Here’s why

***COLLEGE FINANCE

Higher ed faces pressure from students to cut tuition 

This Chart Predicts Which Colleges Will Survive the Coronavirus

***HIGHER ED IN COURT

Parents Of Special Education Students File Lawsuits Over Poor Remote Education

Judge orders Lincoln University president reinstated

***TEACHING ONLINE 

Just add blank slides: a simple remote teaching idea

Higher ed institutions are using Otter's AI technology to transfer lectures into notes

Survey hints at long-term impact of spring pivot to remote learning

***WORKING FROM HOME

How to ask your boss to let you work from home: Advice from experts ($)

***ONLINE CHEATING 

200 students accused of cheating on Statistics final at NC State University

Is technology the best way to stop online cheating? No, experts say: better teaching is.

Chegg's Biggest Challenge: How To Clamp Down On Cheating And Account Sharing

Don't underestimate cheating in online courses (letter) 

***ACADEMIC LIFE 

Edgewood College reinstates 6 laid-off professors

Two teens charged with murder in death of missing U.S. professor

Former University of North Carolina Wilmington professor who resigned amid controversy found dead in his home

Adjunct Professors: Jobs Are Low on Pay and Health Benefits With High COVID Risk 

COVID Crisis Endangers Adjunct Professors 

San Diego State considers a policy on revoking emeritus status when retired professors hurt the university's reputation 

***CHRISTIAN SCHOOLS  

PacWest, Point Loma Nazarene postpone fall sports to 2021

Cal Lutheran University will not play contact sports in the fall

Southwest Baptist University announces blueprint for fall classes

Azusa Pacific will conduct fall semesters online

Tennessee Christian college revokes student’s admission after learning he’s gay

***RESEARCH 

Are replication rates the same across academic fields?

The best time to argue about what a replication means? Before you do it 

***RESEARCH FRAUD 

Time to address Wiki-Plagiarism

It’s Time to Get Serious About Research Fraud

Fake journals in the age of fake news: the dangers of predatory publishing

How to Identify Flawed Research Before It Becomes Dangerous

***COVID-19 RESEARCH

Validate the integrity of research data on COVID 19 

An immunization program against the COVID-19 infodemic 

Retracted coronavirus papers

COVID-19 pandemic shakes up the world of scientific publishing

***STUDENT LIFE 

Colleges Are Getting Ready to Blame Their Students

NC college requires COVID-19 tests for $129. Students could get stuck with the bill

Fraternity chapter suspended for a statement on ties to Confederacy

Articles of Interest about the virus & religion - July 23

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***THE VIRUS 

Herd Immunity Response To COVID-19 Pandemic Can Be Problematic

Can You Become Reinfected With Covid-19? It's Very Unlikely, Experts Say ($) 

Open Courses teach the basics  of contract tracing 

Growing Body Of Evidence Suggests Masks Protect Those Wearing Them, Too

***RELIGION & THE VIRUS 

After a Tennessee church became a superspreading hotspot, its pastor says he should have made everyone wear masks

Communities Struggle To Decide Whether To Resume In-Person Worship

Hundreds of kids exposed to COVID-19 at Dallas-Fort Worth church camp, parents say

***RELIGION  

J. I. Packer, ‘Knowing God’ Author, Dies at 93

Christian author Matthew Paul Turner comes out as gay, announces divorce

Manning-Up America's Evangelicalism (opinion)

Canadian pastor fired after coming out as transgender during sermon on Zoom

***POLLS ABOUT RELIGION  

70 Percent of Evangelical Churchgoers Say 'People Are Basically Good,' Poll Shows

People’s thoughts on whether belief in God is necessary to be moral vary by economic development, education and age

***RELIGION & RACIAL ISSUES

Young Asian American Christians Are Finding Their Voice on Racial Justice

Why Black Christians are bracing for a 'whitelash'

***DENOMINATIONS

Teen abuse victim sues prominent Southern Baptist church

Atlanta Church Splits With SBC for Downplaying Racial Issues

America is seeing a surge in anti-Catholic vandalism 

***MEGACHURCHES 

Bank forecloses on Megachurch founder's estate 

This Megachurch Used Its Sunday Service to Spread QAnon Conspiracy Theories

Atlanta megachurch cancels in-person services until 2021