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The boy who knew too much: a child prodigy

This is the true story of scientific child prodigy, and former baby genius, Ainan Celeste Cawley, written by his father. It is the true story, too, of his gifted brothers and of all the Cawley family. I write also of child prodigy and genius in general: what it is, and how it is so often neglected in the modern world. As a society, we so often fail those we should most hope to see succeed: our gifted children and the gifted adults they become. Site Copyright: Valentine Cawley, 2006 +

Thursday, July 08, 2010

Ainan's uncanny attention to detail.

Ainan has always been observant. Just how observant has become clear in recent conversations.

Ainan has been watching Transformers Revenge of the Fallen. He enjoys this for reasons that are probably quite beyond Michael Bay. Ainan has taken to analyzing the most minor detail of this film: gesture, by gesture, word by word, action by action, frame by frame, he comments on it...from memory. Then he shows me what he means. In doing this he has noticed quite a few errors in the film - even basic continuity errors. He is very perceptive at this: much more so than whoever edited this particular work together. Perhaps he could make a good living, on the side, watching films and then writing a list of all their problems.

What amazes me about all of this is that what Ainan notices often occupies just a few frames of the screen: he picks up on the most minor issues, he notices every flaw, every nuance, every intended effect and every unintended result. In one example, for instance, he pointed out that in one frame, a transformer was beginning to use its right foot to crush an enemy, in the next cut, we see the same robot has just crushed the said enemy with his left foot. Ainan saw this in the rapid blur of the Transformers battles. Anyone who has seen the film will know what I mean when I say "rapid blur". He seems to have an internal view of the film, which he plays back to himself, noticing every little problem. Perhaps he does: perhaps he sees it all in his inner eye and is able to reflect on it. It certainly seems that way when he talks about it: he seems to be seeing it as he speaks.

Of course, this degree of and detail of observation skill are very useful in many more important issues than watching a film. They could make him a very good scientist - or if his interests develop in another way, artist. After all, one of the best observers in history, was no other than Leonardo da Vinci. So, observation skill is not a minor gift, but a very important substrate on which many other achievements can rest.

I can't say at this time what use Ainan might put this observation skill to, but I can say this: whatever he does, I am sure it will astonish people, who actually get the chance to hear him speak and think on his feet. For, in some ways, there is no more surprising a thing, than to just listen to what he actually manages to notice. For me, however, I am used to this kind of thing from him, but to many, who have not, it would be a real shock.

Happy looking at the world, Ainan. I hope you continue to see in it, what others miss. Perhaps that will be one pillar of who you become, one day: actually seeing, truly, what is in the world.

(If you would like to learn more of Ainan Celeste Cawley, 10, or his gifted brothers, Fintan, 6 and Tiarnan, 4, this month, please go to:
http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2006/10/scientific-child-prodigy-guide.html

I also write of gifted education, child prodigy, child genius, adult genius, savant, megasavant, HELP University College, the Irish, the Malays, Singapore, Malaysia, IQ, intelligence and creativity.

My Internet Movie Database listing is at: http://imdb.com/name/nm3438598/
Ainan's IMDB listing is at http://imdb.com/name/nm3305973/
Syahidah's IMDB listing is at http://imdb.com/name/nm3463926/

Our editing, proofreading and copywriting company, Genghis Can, is at http://www.genghiscan.com/

This blog is copyright Valentine Cawley. Unauthorized duplication is prohibited. Use only with permission. Thank you.)

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posted by Valentine Cawley @ 7:45 PM  5 comments

Monday, July 05, 2010

Top 10 countries for child prodigy.

Google Trends provides a list of the top 10 countries for interest in child prodigy. This is a listing of the relative density of searches from various places, for child prodigy. It is, therefore, a measure of what the populace of those countries are interested in.

I would like you to take a moment to write down what you think this list of the top 10 places interested in child prodigies would be. Please do so. (By the way the search summary is from 2004 until the present, so it is a very significant snapshot of interest in the phenomenon of prodigiousness).

Right. Now which did you think was the number one country in the world for interest in child prodigy?

The answer is, tellingly, Singapore.

I said, "tellingly" because Singapore is one of the world's most competitive societies, educationally: every parent wants a super bright, super successful child. Most parents push their children there (we don't) in ways that are most disagreeable. The child is forced to study endless hours, to practice deep into the night and to endure many hours per week of extra tuition. It is a system designed to turn every child into a drudge for academic work. So, in that society, it is no surprise that there should be so much interest in child prodigies. Unconsciously, or otherwise, the child prodigy is somewhat of an ideal for Singaporean parents.

The other societies in the list were:
2) Malaysia
3) Philippines
4) United States
5) New Zealand
6) India
7) Canada
8) Australia
9) Ireland
10) United Kingdom

Note that the search density in Singapore was twice that of Malaysia and the search density in the UK was a small fraction of that of Singapore. So, Singapore is, by far, the winner in this "competition".

(This trend is even more interesting when the listing for interest, city by city, is looked at. On that listing, Singapore is still no.1 in the world in interest in child prodigies - but Austin Texas is no. 2 and ALL the other 8 places in the top 10 are American cities. This shows great interest, in parts of the United States, for prodigies, exceeded only by that of Singapore. It is, perhaps, no coincidence that both countries are very competitive.)

What is most interesting about this result is that, although the people of Singapore, as a nation, are very interested in child prodigy, the government of Singapore, as embodied by the education system, is not. We found great opposition to the provisions we needed from the education system, in Singapore. It was very difficult to work with the Gifted Branch of the Ministry of Education. In the end, we decided that it would be easier to get Ainan what he needed, elsewhere - and so it has proved.

So, this is another example in which the government of Singapore is out of sync with its people. Singaporeans are enamoured of child prodigies...but the PAP is not. The state of Singapore does little to support prodigies and quite a lot to oppose them. How interesting it is, therefore, to see the contrast between the government's position and the irrefutable tale of Google Trends.

(If you would like to learn more of Ainan Celeste Cawley, 10, or his gifted brothers, Fintan, 6 and Tiarnan, 4, this month, please go to:
http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2006/10/scientific-child-prodigy-guide.html

I also write of gifted education, child prodigy, child genius, adult genius, savant, megasavant, HELP University College, the Irish, the Malays, Singapore, Malaysia, IQ, intelligence and creativity.

My Internet Movie Database listing is at: http://imdb.com/name/nm3438598/
Ainan's IMDB listing is at http://imdb.com/name/nm3305973/
Syahidah's IMDB listing is at http://imdb.com/name/nm3463926/

Our editing, proofreading and copywriting company, Genghis Can, is at http://www.genghiscan.com/

This blog is copyright Valentine Cawley. Unauthorized duplication is prohibited. Use only with permission. Thank you.)

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posted by Valentine Cawley @ 10:00 AM  3 comments

Sunday, July 04, 2010

Tiarnan's effort at typecasting Daddy.

Yesterday, Tiarnan, four, asked me to join him in a play fight with his brothers. He did it in his own wordless way, by taking my hand, and giving it a little tug, as I sat before my computer. I knew what he wanted so I rose to join him.

I went downstairs with him. As we walked outside, where Ainan and Fintan were waiting with their "guns" - actually rubber band projectors - he said to me: "I am Juggernaut, and you are Blob."

Ah. No doubt that was perfect casting his eyes. I know I am big, compared to him, but to be cast as Blob (a very large, corpulent but strong man, in the Marvel superhero Universe) was somewhat disconcerting, though charming, too, in a way, since he proposed it in all innocence.

"This is how Blob attacks.", he said, to me, in the manner of an exuberant teacher, impassioned by his own lessons. He then instructed me as to how Blob took on his enemies.

I watched his energetic motions, carefully and then followed him out into the garden.

If "Blob" he wanted me to be, Blob I would be. It would have been nice, however, if he had chosen a somewhat slimmer character for me to impersonate. Then again, I must outweigh him many fold, so to him, it probably seemed a fair casting decision.

So, I joined the smallest Juggernaut in the world, as a somewhat uncertain Blob, in the battle for the garden.

It was fun...but it did give me pause as to how my little son sees me. (I am a mere waif, besides the Blob depicted in Marvel. Long I hope to remain so).

Note: I use the term "typecasting" only because Tiarnan likes to put me in the roles of very large characters. I am not, in fact, all that large and so it is not true to type for me. However, I wished to reflect, Tiarnan's view of me. He is very small...so to him, I suppose, I am a great mound of a man, indeed.

(If you would like to learn more of Ainan Celeste Cawley, 10, or his gifted brothers, Fintan, 6 and Tiarnan, 4, this month, please go to:
http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2006/10/scientific-child-prodigy-guide.html

I also write of gifted education, child prodigy, child genius, adult genius, savant, megasavant, HELP University College, the Irish, the Malays, Singapore, Malaysia, IQ, intelligence and creativity.

My Internet Movie Database listing is at: http://imdb.com/name/nm3438598/
Ainan's IMDB listing is at http://imdb.com/name/nm3305973/
Syahidah's IMDB listing is at http://imdb.com/name/nm3463926/

Our editing, proofreading and copywriting company, Genghis Can, is at http://www.genghiscan.com/

This blog is copyright Valentine Cawley. Unauthorized duplication is prohibited. Use only with permission. Thank you.)

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posted by Valentine Cawley @ 4:22 PM  4 comments

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