Maybe it's because I'm a first-born myself, but this study didn't cause any anxiety about family dynamics and inherent unfairness for me. My parents have long insisted (and I agree from my own experience) that IQ doesn't really matter - definitely not beyond the vague lines of below, above and average intelligence, and maybe not even then. A difference of a mere three points? That's nothing.

Missing from the silly uproar over this study is any mention of Howard Gardner's work on the seven intelligences, despite vague allusions to such implications: older children might have higher IQs, but younger children tend to be more creatively successful; most of the staggering paradigm shifts in our society have been instigated by younger children. Not to mention that the IQ rule (or any other birth-order rule) is not hard and fast -- it is only predominant across an entire population (in Norway).

Our society requires all sorts of people, and a person with a low IQ can have just as fulfilling and "successful" a life as any genius. We can't all be philosopher kings, nor should such a society be desirable.