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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 +

Saturday, February 19, 2011

A natural film critic.

Watching films with Ainan can be an instructive process. He doesn’t just sit there and watch, as most eleven year olds would – he scrutinizes the film in minute detail, tearing it down to its essential components and analyzing just how the Director put it all together.

In a way, it is a bit uncanny how much Ainan sees in a film. It makes me realize that he is finely attuned to what is happening around him. He sees very deeply into things. However, this habit of his does cause problems, for him – and for anyone who is watching, with him.

“How many movie producers are there in the world?”, he asked, whilst viewing Inception, recently.

“Why?”, I wondered.

“ I just want to know how come I have never seen a film that I can’t find flaws in.”

He had spent the first ten or twenty minutes of watching Inception, pointing out little things he had noticed, which he regarded as less than perfect film-making. His observations came so quickly, that I didn’t really have time to absorb them, so I can’t note them here. However, he was very intense, as he spoke and very focused on the slightest minutiae of the work in front of him.

He not only noted flaws, but he did something else very interesting. He compared shots used and techniques deployed, ACROSS films, of Christopher Nolan. He was reviewing, in his mind, all the Christopher Nolan films he had watched and noting where and how similar shots had been used, in each one. I am not sure that many people would be able to do that – that they would be able to recall the films in sufficient detail to compare them, shot for shot, technique for technique in their mind’s eye – but that is what Ainan was doing.

He essentially summarized the habits of Christopher Nolan, the shots and techniques that formed his style, by his on the fly comparison of films. I just listened, not being equipped by similar knowledge of the films to be able to comment.

Rather than give the details of his comments, it is more enlightening to tell you how it feels to listen to him do this. The question that comes to mind, as he rattles on is: “How does he do this?”, “How is it possible?” The only answer that comes to me is that he must have, within himself, a completely searchable, detailed record of each of the films he has watched – and that he is able to scan them for similarities and differences and identify patterns – all with no real apparent effort. There is no other way that he could do what he does, when he watches movies, since he is able to compare existing movies, with movies he watched long ago – and do so with accurate insight and telling comment.

Should he decide not to be a scientist, he could easily be gainfully employed as a devastatingly perceptive film critic. Incidentally, I was once a film critic on my own arts and entertainment magazine – so it is warming to see him to take to the same activity, without prompting. Perhaps, however, the world’s film-makers might be safer were he not to do so – for I am sure of this: Ainan would reveal every problem with their technique, style and choices, that they ever make. Many would, no doubt, rather he didn’t do that – though the wise some, would find it helpful to their future work, to be so examined.

In the meantime, I am quite happy to listen to Ainan show me what he sees in the filmic world. Quite often, he sees things I doubt whether anyone else has ever noticed before. It is refreshing.

(If you would like to support my continued writing of this blog and my ongoing campaign to raise awareness about giftedness and all issues pertaining to it, please donate, by clicking on the gold button to the left of the page. To read about my fundraising campaign, please go to: http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2011/01/fundraising-drive-in-support-of-my.html and here: http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2011/01/fundraising-drive-first-donation.html

If you would like to read any of our scientific research papers, there are links to some of them, here: http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2011/02/research-papers-by-valentine-cawley-and.html

To learn more of Ainan Celeste Cawley, 10, or his gifted brothers, Fintan, 7 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.

There is a review of my blog, on the respected The Kindle Report here: http://thekindlereport.blogspot.com/2010/09/boy-who-knew-too-much-child-prodigy.html

Please have a read, if you would like a critic's view of this blog. Thanks.

You can get my blog on your Kindle, for easy reading, wherever you are, by going to: http://www.amazon.com/Boy-Who-Knew-Too-Much/dp/B0042P5LEE/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&m=AG56TWVU5XWC2&s=digital-text&qid=1284603792&sr=8-1

Please let all your fellow Kindlers know about my blog availability - and if you know my blog well enough, please be so kind as to write a thoughtful review of what you like about it. Thanks.

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 @ 2:08 PM  6 comments

Friday, February 18, 2011

A memory of the TSA.

Americans have come to loathe, in many ways, the changes that have had to be made to their society, in the wake of the 9/11 terrorist attacks. One of those changes was the founding of the TSA (Transport Security Administration), to look after transport security, specifically, the airports. The question is, do these changes improve security or are they an illusion?

I recall travelling to America after 9/11. I was passing through one of the New York area airports (I forget which, whether it be Newark or JFK) and it was my turn to have my bag checked.

I duly loaded my bag up into the machine and waited for judgement to be passed on it. However, I found myself rather surprised at the behaviour of the TSA staff. Rather than paying attention to the screens in front of them, that were revealing the contents of my bag, to them, they just stood there, chatting amongst themselves. No one was doing their supposed job, at all.

“Excuse me,” I began, at a comfortable volume.

They ignored me and carried on chatting.

“EXCUSE ME!”, I said, rather more loudly, to the oblivious TSA staff. “Why aren’t you looking at the screens?”

Something dark entered their faces, as they realized they were being criticized.

One of them said something to me, but it was so badly pronounced, so mangled by an incompetent use of the tongue, that I have no idea, to this day, what they were trying to say to me. It didn't look good, however. I carried on, nevertheless.

“By not doing your jobs, you are putting everyone at risk. Why aren’t you checking the bags properly?”, I said, firmly, but not so impolitely as to stir them further.

They stood still, looking at me for a moment, and one of them just dismissed me with a wave of the hand and, again, said something incoherent, but which I gather was to get me to move along.

I could see I wasn’t getting anywhere. I moved along, took my bag and left. As I departed, I cast a glance behind me and saw the TSA staff standing there, continuing to talk amongst themselves. My words had been nothing more than an irritant to them. They had not changed their behaviour at all.

Now, I learnt something from this. It seems to me that simply creating a body to take care of transportation security and actually taking care of transportation security are two completely different things. I have no doubt at all, that anyone could have smuggled anything past those chattering TSA staff. They were being completely inattentive to their role. They also were clearly unaware of the critical importance of what they had been tasked to do. Lives depended on their competent performance – yet, for them, gossip was more important than plane loads of innocent passengers.

If this level of staff competence is common across the TSA, then it is doubtful whether America is any safer because of the creation of this body. The only thing that is certain about the TSA is that it has made the lives of every traveller less convenient, and less pleasant. Other than that, its supposed effects on security are likely to be limited.

Admittedly, my experience was but one incident. However, even that was one experience too many. It shows that the TSA staff are not under enough oversight and are not monitored for competent performance, in the way that they should be. Then again, that doesn’t surprise me. A lot of what America does seems to be an indication of a once great nation in decline. I think the TSA is just another symptom of many an underlying problem.

A thought occurs to me, however. If every traveller monitored the behaviour of security staff and reported them, when they seemed not to be doing their jobs, perhaps their competence would improve. The travellers themselves can do the monitoring that the organizations are not doing. So, the next time you travel, do keep an eye on the security staff…and don’t be afraid to speak up if they are not doing their jobs properly. One warning: keep it reasonably polite, otherwise they might just respond by abusing their powers on you.

(If you would like to support my continued writing of this blog and my ongoing campaign to raise awareness about giftedness and all issues pertaining to it, please donate, by clicking on the gold button to the left of the page. To read about my fundraising campaign, please go to: http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2011/01/fundraising-drive-in-support-of-my.html and here: http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2011/01/fundraising-drive-first-donation.html

If you would like to read any of our scientific research papers, there are links to some of them, here: http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2011/02/research-papers-by-valentine-cawley-and.html

To learn more of Ainan Celeste Cawley, 10, or his gifted brothers, Fintan, 7 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.

There is a review of my blog, on the respected The Kindle Report here: http://thekindlereport.blogspot.com/2010/09/boy-who-knew-too-much-child-prodigy.html

Please have a read, if you would like a critic's view of this blog. Thanks.

You can get my blog on your Kindle, for easy reading, wherever you are, by going to: http://www.amazon.com/Boy-Who-Knew-Too-Much/dp/B0042P5LEE/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&m=AG56TWVU5XWC2&s=digital-text&qid=1284603792&sr=8-1

Please let all your fellow Kindlers know about my blog availability - and if you know my blog well enough, please be so kind as to write a thoughtful review of what you like about it. Thanks.

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 @ 7:01 PM  1 comments

The silence of the gifted.

The gifted are, in my view, a remarkably silent bunch. By this, I mean, that they don’t seem to speak out, enough, to seek what they need from society. Nor do they speak enough of how they view and experience the world and what the issues might be that they face. In general, it seems, the gifted suffer in silence. They do little to help themselves compared to what they could be doing to help themselves. At least, that is how it looks in Asia, to me.

Yet, as I look around on the internet, I get the feeling that the gifted, everywhere, are a rather subdued bunch. By this I mean, they don’t seem to be as vocal or as visible as most minorities are. There, I have said it, I have called the gifted a “minority” group…and that is just what they are. What surprises me is that all other minority groups seem to have a greater presence in society, a greater voice. The gifted just seem to disappear. It is as if they are hiding in a corner, somewhere.

Now, there is a very clear reason for this. The reason is very clear to me, because I have experienced it quite a bit, on this blog. If a gifted person ever speaks out, and I mean EVER speaks out, they will note something that might surprise them, at first. There are people out there, who will try to shout them down. There are people who will write highly offensive, even profoundly deranged, letters, that are so over-written, that they seem to scream abuse. There are, quite simply, a lot of people who seem to wish that the “gifted” just didn’t exist at all. So, to speak out as a gifted person, or on gifted issues, is to open oneself up to attacks from those who seem to oppose the gifted.

This makes life difficult for the parents of any gifted child. Parents who are aware of the way some people react to the gifted, must, therefore, try to proceed, very discretely, to seek help for their child (or children). They proceed, almost invisibly, to reach out to education providers. They try not to draw attention to themselves. They try to achieve their aims, without anyone really noticing. This is, of course, all very well. The problem, however, is that, if one is invisible, the very same education providers may easily choose to ignore the parents and their gifted children. It is easy to get stonewalled. The alternative, is, however, even more perilous. If one steps out into the open, as a parent of a gifted child, to try to seek an appropriate education for them, it can be rather hellish. There are people out there who will, essentially, hurl abuse at the parents of the gifted child – and sometimes even at the gifted child themselves, as if offended by their very existence. Others, not so violently, but equally damaging, will decry the “special treatment” of the gifted child and call for nothing to be done, for it would not be “fair” to do anything for the child. Thus it is, that stepping out into the open, may not, in fact, improve the child’s educational chances, but will court negative reactions, from all sorts of quarters.

Gifted parents seem to know this. If you read forums on giftedness and message boards, you will note something very strange. The parents, there, usually use pseudonyms for themselves and codenames for their children, or simple letters. They never identify themselves. They obscure personal details. They try to communicate to other parents of gifted children, without ever letting themselves be known. They proceed, in some ways, like spies: ever secret, ever cloaked, ever mysterious. To my mind, they behave like a hunted minority. It is rather saddening to observe, actually. All one has to do, is to watch not what they say, but the way they say it. They are ever disguised. You would think you were reading the words of a persecuted minority – perhaps the Jews in Nazi Germany, for instance. No-one ever seems to step out into the open. Those who do are rather brave, in this context because, clearly, the others seem to think there is something to fear, something to be avoided, in such openness. Though, I must point out, I have never seen anyone openly identify themselves or their family, on such boards. It is only the occasional one who appears in the media, who is identified. The rest of the gifted world proceeds in total anonymity.

This behaviour of the gifted community cannot have emerged without reason. The fact that they behave as if they must hide themselves and their nature, from general view, does show that the gifted are not entirely understood, or accepted, or perhaps, even welcome. Perhaps they face envy or incomprehension in their own communities. Perhaps they don’t want their children to be known as gifted, in case it makes them outsiders, or makes them victims of jealousy. Perhaps they act as they do because they have experienced genuinely unpleasant situations in their own lives, because of their giftedness. One, or several of these reasons must apply, for it is strange that a whole community should behave like this. They would not do so without concrete reason.

The silence of the gifted is a symptom that the gifted are not universally welcome, tolerated or accepted. It is not evidence, as some might argue, that nothing is wrong – it is proof that something is not right. If the gifted felt secure in their position in society, many would feel comfortable to identify themselves on forums and message boards. That none do, is a worrying sign. The gifted clearly feel marginalized or insecure, in some ways. This is not how it should be. Now, the irony of this situation is quite clear – for there is only one way that the gifted can ever truly be accepted, by all and take their fullest place in society: that is if some among them, speak out, consistently, over time, so as to educate the public that there are such people in their community, that they are different, but that these differences are good, acceptable and helpful for the society around them. The gifted are able to contribute significantly to their communities. However, not all of them shall, if they grow up feeling a need to hide themselves away. Some gifted people never contribute in the way that they could, because they learn that they should “dumb down” to “fit in”. No-one should have to do that, just to be accepted. Everyone should feel free to be themselves, without risk of censure. Sadly, many gifted people don’t feel free to be themselves, openly, in public. They fear what people will think and how they will react to them. So, they learn to appear dumber and more ordinary than they really are. They pretend not to know when they do. They live lives false to themselves, just so that others will like them. They fear that to show their true thoughts and feelings, would be to lose them all these “friends” they have won by their pretence. What they fail to realize, though, is that no-one can live a life of fulfillment, if it means that one’s true self must be hidden and denied. These people will only be truly happy if they are honest and open about themselves. Should this cost them “friends”, then so be it. The friends that remain will truly be friends and that is what counts. The others are just a waste of time.

Many people have written to me, since I started blogging. Many of them are very pleasant, interesting and interested. Their words have been, at times, comforting, enlightening, refreshing. I have, in turn, tried to help them, with my own advice, in whatever ways I can. Sometimes, however, I receive comments from people whose very sanity I could not vouch for. Their words are harsh, aggressive, offensive, cruel, frequently paranoid, and consistently incomprehending. They simply don’t “get” my blog. They don’t understand why I write it. They don’t see the value in it. Sometimes, they don’t even believe a word of it. They seem to think I am making it up. They cannot accept that there are people in the world like the ones I write of. Not only that, but they are angry that I should write of such things and such people – as if, their existence, would somehow be threatening to them, or personally offensive. Some of these comments are so unpleasant, that they put me off writing for days on end. They are sickening to read. Yet, through receiving them, I understand why the gifted are often so secretive on the internet – and why they are relatively silent in society. They have reason to be. To step out into the open, is to discover that the world is filled with madmen, whose agenda appears to be to deny the existence of the gifted – or, at least, to taunt them, decry them and frustrate them in any way that they can.

All of this behaviour calls to mind how geniuses have so often been treated in history. Most people recall the names of history’s geniuses, but few people know the details of their lives. Too often, these lives were filled with much conflict, much hostility, little welcome and much incomprehension. These geniuses often spent their lives battling against those who opposed their every thought. Their lives must have been far from comfortable, or even pleasant at times. It is that kind of life, perhaps, that the gifted are seeking to avoid, by adopting their habitual secrecy and discretion, and living lives of relative silence.

Yet, such secrecy, discretion and silence prevent the fullest expression of a gifted person’s gifts. None of history’s geniuses won out by being as they are. So, the gifted must choose a quiet, but not entirely fulfilled life, though a safe one, or a more open, potentially more fulfilled one, with all the risks attendant on being out in the public. That is a choice that each individual must make. Only those of a particular type of personality are likely to be suited to the more public life. All others would find it uncomfortable. I am not about to advise which one should choose – for that is up to each individual, or gifted family. However, everyone should be aware of the consequence of those choices and act knowing, beforehand, what might happen as a result. At least, then, one’s decisions can be informed by knowledge.

I intend to continue to speak out on all issues related to giftedness – even if this is uncomfortable at times. I have made my choice – and I feel it is a necessary choice. It is also one which can be helpful to many people, whether they realize it or not.

Do you know what is particularly ironic about this situation, however? Some of the gifted have written against me and my open approach, on the internet. They think I should be like them, and just keep quiet. That is truly sad. They just don’t understand how valuable it can be to have someone speak out, and raise awareness and understanding of the issues facing the gifted. By providing one public example of the situation, many people come to be better informed of the needs of the gifted – and, therefore, more likely to meet those needs. I have, whether they know it or not, done my detractors a service, by speaking out (or writing out, in fact!) as I have. Perhaps, on a more reflective future day, they might come to understand that.

There is a need for me to write, until such time, as the gifted forums, are filled not with people in hiding, but people in the open, people who feel safe enough to identify themselves, people who feel comfortable living open lives, fully revealing of themselves, in a world that accepts them, as they are – and welcomes them for it. Until that day, I shall write on. After that day, perhaps there will no longer be a need.

(If you would like to support my continued writing of this blog and my ongoing campaign to raise awareness about giftedness and all issues pertaining to it, please donate, by clicking on the gold button to the left of the page. To read about my fundraising campaign, please go to: http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2011/01/fundraising-drive-in-support-of-my.html
and here: http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2011/01/fundraising-drive-first-donation.html

If you would like to read any of our scientific research papers, there are links to some of them, here: http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2011/02/research-papers-by-valentine-cawley-and.html

To learn more of Ainan Celeste Cawley, 10, or his gifted brothers, Fintan, 7 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.

There is a review of my blog, on the respected The Kindle Report here: http://thekindlereport.blogspot.com/2010/09/boy-who-knew-too-much-child-prodigy.html

Please have a read, if you would like a critic's view of this blog. Thanks.

You can get my blog on your Kindle, for easy reading, wherever you are, by going to: http://www.amazon.com/Boy-Who-Knew-Too-Much/dp/B0042P5LEE/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&m=AG56TWVU5XWC2&s=digital-text&qid=1284603792&sr=8-1

Please let all your fellow Kindlers know about my blog availability - and if you know my blog well enough, please be so kind as to write a thoughtful review of what you like about it. Thanks.

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 @ 1:09 AM  8 comments

Tuesday, February 15, 2011

Making dreams come true.

Everyone has dreams. Many of us live for them. Yet, often dreams stay just dreams and are never more than unfulfilled wishes, we take with us, beyond the ends of our lives.

Fintan, seven, however, has a solution. A few days ago, he remarked:

“If you want your dreams to come true…”, he began, portentously, “Sleep!”

There is a certain wisdom, in that – and a hint, perhaps, of an understanding that most dreams can only come true, in one way: in slumber.

Of course, knowing Fintan, he will not, personally, be satisfied with that way, alone, of achieving his dreams. There is a certain resoluteness in him, a “grit”, to use what feels like an old word. I hope he manages to make his dreams come true, for real…whatever they are or shall be.

I am not one to forget, however, that part of my role as a father, is to help him make those dreams come true – at least, whilst I am around, to be able to do so.

Happy dreaming, Fintan – both asleep and awake.

(If you would like to support my continued writing of this blog and my ongoing campaign to raise awareness about giftedness and all issues pertaining to it, please donate, by clicking on the gold button to the left of the page. To read about my fundraising campaign, please go to: http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2011/01/fundraising-drive-in-support-of-my.html and here: http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2011/01/fundraising-drive-first-donation.html

If you would like to read any of our scientific research papers, there are links to some of them, here: http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2011/02/research-papers-by-valentine-cawley-and.html

To learn more of Ainan Celeste Cawley, 10, or his gifted brothers, Fintan, 7 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.

There is a review of my blog, on the respected The Kindle Report here: http://thekindlereport.blogspot.com/2010/09/boy-who-knew-too-much-child-prodigy.html

Please have a read, if you would like a critic's view of this blog. Thanks.

You can get my blog on your Kindle, for easy reading, wherever you are, by going to: http://www.amazon.com/Boy-Who-Knew-Too-Much/dp/B0042P5LEE/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&m=AG56TWVU5XWC2&s=digital-text&qid=1284603792&sr=8-1

Please let all your fellow Kindlers know about my blog availability - and if you know my blog well enough, please be so kind as to write a thoughtful review of what you like about it. Thanks.

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 @ 10:03 PM  0 comments

A belated Happy Valentine's Day, 2011.

I would like to wish you all a Happy Valentine’s Day, if belatedly. I didn’t find time on the 14th February to post this, since it was, as many of you know, my birthday, too, and I was rather busy.

I hope you all had a great day, whether you celebrated it, or not. As for me, I am now officially one year older.

Some might be curious about what Tiarnan actually bought me for my birthday, after his urging for Transformers. In the end, he chose something more to my taste, if a little cheeky: a little book of quotations, on getting old! It was his own choice, not prompted by his mother. He just seemed to find it apt, for Daddy, “This is about birthdays.”, he concluded, “Daddy will like it.”

I do like it. Even if it is a reminder of the paucity of birthdays we all face (presently, anyway).

Thank you Tiarnan, for your surprising gift. Thanks to my other boys and my wife, too, for making my birthday a memorable one. In particular, I am pleased about the African restaurant Syahidah proposed – where I managed to have a truly unique meal, eating foods I have never eaten before. That is a memory I shall never forget.

(If you would like to support my continued writing of this blog and my ongoing campaign to raise awareness about giftedness and all issues pertaining to it, please donate, by clicking on the gold button to the left of the page. To read about my fundraising campaign, please go to: http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2011/01/fundraising-drive-in-support-of-my.html and here: http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2011/01/fundraising-drive-first-donation.html

If you would like to read any of our scientific research papers, there are links to some of them, here: http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2011/02/research-papers-by-valentine-cawley-and.html

To learn more of Ainan Celeste Cawley, 10, or his gifted brothers, Fintan, 7 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.

There is a review of my blog, on the respected The Kindle Report here: http://thekindlereport.blogspot.com/2010/09/boy-who-knew-too-much-child-prodigy.html

Please have a read, if you would like a critic's view of this blog. Thanks.

You can get my blog on your Kindle, for easy reading, wherever you are, by going to: http://www.amazon.com/Boy-Who-Knew-Too-Much/dp/B0042P5LEE/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&m=AG56TWVU5XWC2&s=digital-text&qid=1284603792&sr=8-1

Please let all your fellow Kindlers know about my blog availability - and if you know my blog well enough, please be so kind as to write a thoughtful review of what you like about it. Thanks.

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 @ 9:50 PM  2 comments

Monday, February 14, 2011

Research papers by Valentine Cawley and Ainan Celeste Cawley.

Over the past year or so, we have published a number of research papers. Two of them were written with my son, Ainan. The others are solo efforts, by me. Now, I have decided to put some links here, to them, since it has become clear that some readers are curious about what I am doing…and others are unaware of what I am doing!

Philosophically, I believe that research papers should be available for all to read free of charge (Open Access), thus I always try to seek Open Access means of distribution. All papers below are freely available to read on Open Access, online. Where appropriate and possible, some of the papers (whose copyright in all but one case, remains with me) are also to be submitted to traditional, not necessarily Open Access, outlets. This will not affect their online availability.

I have a number of papers under submission, at the moment – so the ones below do not represent the entire output for the past year. They are simply the ones that have been published in the past year or so.

I shall add other links to this page, for other papers, as and when they become available, online.

Thank you.


Synaesthesia promotes child prodigiousness and influences creativity. An examination of the evidence from case studies by Valentine Cawley and Ainan Celeste Cawley

http://philica.com/display_article.php?article_id=176

The observation of a new human “sense”, Velociperception, and its characteristics by Ainan Celeste Cawley and Valentine Cawley.

http://philica.com/display_article.php?article_id=178

A theory as to the evolutionary value of synaesthesia by Valentine Cawley.

http://philica.com/display_article.php?article_id=195

Internet anonymity and spontaneous generosity by Valentine Cawley.

http://philica.com/display_article.php?article_id=203

The ethics of naming eponymous diseases by Valentine Cawley.

http://philica.com/display_article.php?article_id=196

The synaesthete, a new type of “gifted student”, and how to teach them by Valentine Cawley.

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=ArticleURL&_udi=B9853-51JPPMH-2S&_user=10&_coverDate=12%2F31%2F2010&_rdoc=1&_fmt=high&_orig=search&_origin=search&_sort=d&_docanchor=&view=c&_searchStrId=1640368602&_rerunOrigin=google&_acct=C000050221&_version=1&_urlVersion=0&_userid=10&md5=c39e076f02e7011b0afb5c9d15953795&searchtype=a
Happy reading, all!


(If you would like to support my continued writing of this blog and my ongoing campaign to raise awareness about giftedness and all issues pertaining to it, please donate, by clicking on the gold button to the left of the page. To read about my fundraising campaign, please go to: http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2011/01/fundraising-drive-in-support-of-my.html and here: http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2011/01/fundraising-drive-first-donation.html

To learn more of Ainan Celeste Cawley, 10, or his gifted brothers, Fintan, 7 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.

There is a review of my blog, on the respected The Kindle Report here: http://thekindlereport.blogspot.com/2010/09/boy-who-knew-too-much-child-prodigy.html

Please have a read, if you would like a critic's view of this blog. Thanks.

You can get my blog on your Kindle, for easy reading, wherever you are, by going to: http://www.amazon.com/Boy-Who-Knew-Too-Much/dp/B0042P5LEE/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&m=AG56TWVU5XWC2&s=digital-text&qid=1284603792&sr=8-1

Please let all your fellow Kindlers know about my blog availability - and if you know my blog well enough, please be so kind as to write a thoughtful review of what you like about it. Thanks.

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 @ 11:13 AM  4 comments

Tiarnan's birthday present advice.

Tiarnan is my youngest son, at just turned five. A few days ago, his Mummy, Syahidah, asked him a question:

“What should we get Daddy for his birthday?”

Tiarnan’s eyes grew bright at the prospect. There was definite interest in them as he considered the issue.

“You should get him Transformers. He would like that.”, he said, as if already imagining the Transformers in his hands.

Syahidah had to wonder just whom this present was for!

Today, he had further wise advice for his Mummy. Again, he advised Transformers, for Daddy, saying, in order to persuade and reassure her: “You don’t know Daddy, he will like it.”

So, now I am left with an odd sense of anticipation, for I know this: Syahidah took the boys to Toy R Us, today! Oh dear.

I suppose I shall find out in the morning whether Syahidah heeded little Tiarnan’s advice. If she has done so, I know one little boy who will be very happy.

(If you would like to support my continued writing of this blog and my ongoing campaign to raise awareness about giftedness and all issues pertaining to it, please donate, by clicking on the gold button to the left of the page. To read about my fundraising campaign, please go to: http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2011/01/fundraising-drive-in-support-of-my.html and here: http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2011/01/fundraising-drive-first-donation.html

To learn more of Ainan Celeste Cawley, 10, or his gifted brothers, Fintan, 7 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.

There is a review of my blog, on the respected The Kindle Report here: http://thekindlereport.blogspot.com/2010/09/boy-who-knew-too-much-child-prodigy.html

Please have a read, if you would like a critic's view of this blog. Thanks.

You can get my blog on your Kindle, for easy reading, wherever you are, by going to: http://www.amazon.com/Boy-Who-Knew-Too-Much/dp/B0042P5LEE/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&m=AG56TWVU5XWC2&s=digital-text&qid=1284603792&sr=8-1

Please let all your fellow Kindlers know about my blog availability - and if you know my blog well enough, please be so kind as to write a thoughtful review of what you like about it. Thanks.

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 @ 1:00 AM  3 comments

Sunday, February 13, 2011

Is creativity valued and rewarded?

Is creativity valued and rewarded in modern society? This might seem like a silly question to ask, when such exemplars of creativity as Einstein, Shakespeare and Da Vinci are held up to universal admiration, but I am led to ask this question for a very clear reason: I don’t believe it is.

It is altogether possible, to live a life being creative in all spheres of that life, but to be utterly unappreciated, unvalued and unrewarded for doing so. There are no automatic rewards for creativity, in modern society, though, indeed, there do appear to be a number of automatic punishments.

A creative person, for instance, will quickly discover that, the moment anything creative is shown to other people, it will be plagiarized. This is so frequent an occurrence that I am willing to propose that it is universal, in modern times: everything that is created, gets stolen – without exception. This has certainly been my experience of creativity. Every unique or interesting art work that I ever created, has been plagiarized, upon being shown to others – every single one of them. The ideas have gone on to being used by and credited to, others, who are nothing but plagiarists. My ideas have, among others, ended up in the works of Marc Quinn, Cornelia Parker/Tilda Swinton, and Peter Blake. You should note that the former was at my College at Cambridge, the middle pair I have met personally and the latter I do not know, in person. My ideas have also appeared in a Nike ad, an ad for the Museum of the Moving Image, a film poster, and the works “of” the far from original Ian Hislop. All of this, without a single shred of credit. By the way, I only make note of those ideas which were so distinctive and unlikely that an accidental replication is remote, indeed – I also emphasize those for which I can trace a line from my work, to the plagiarist, through known contact with it.

I am sure that my experience with being plagiarized is common to many artists, or creative people. I came across a recent article in which FIFTEEN artists complained that Damien Hirst had plagiarized them. Some of them had even known him, in the course of their lives. Isn’t it wonderful how he repaid their friendship? By the way, a set of images by Damien Hirst in the 1990s, that appeared in an American magazine, perhaps Esquire (I cannot recall for sure), are also highly likely to have been derived from the same work of mine that Cornelia Parker/Tilda Swinton, imitated.

Another aspect of this is that creative people often do not receive any financial reward for their ideas or works. Besides the frequent theft of these works, even if not stolen, the work may never produce any financial reward. Certainly that accords with my own experience. As an adult I have been creative in science, literature, art and acting…but I haven’t really seen what you would call a decent financial return on my efforts. Nor has there been enough of any other forms of return, to have made the efforts worth it, other than their intrinsic value of self-expression.

I would like to think that, one day, my life of creative effort will be rewarded, suitably – but I am also aware that that may never be so. Certainly, many of my ideas have been adopted by famous plagiarists, which may deprive me forever of being credited for them. Even if I do receive credit in the end, and am suitably rewarded, thereby, I am not sure that the painfully long wait, to such a day, will be sufficiently compensated for. It is possible that that which must be endured, before any reward, may make any reward seem inadequate.

In theory, the creative life is an ideal one. However, in practice, we live in such an ugly world, with such ugly people in it (see the plagiarists above), that it can be one of the worst ways to choose to live. A creative life is often filled with such injustice, such pain, such suffering, such loss and such disappointment, that any rewards that are ultimately achieved, are far too little compensation. Of course, in many creative lives, there are no rewards at all (see Van Gogh, for instance).

As yet, I do not know if my own life, is going to be one of the creative ones that is ultimately rewarded. Up until now, it has not been particularly beneficial to me. I would have been better off choosing almost any other way of life, than the one I chose, in all material ways, and many other ways, too. I would also have been a lot happier never to have created anything, only to have seen it stolen by opportunistic others, whose names are better known, than my own. It would be worth it, not to have created those works, just so that they would not have been stolen. In that sense, choosing to be UNCREATIVE, might be a happier life choice, if one was aware of the costs of being creative, in the first place.

This world needs to change. It needs to be kinder to creators, and crueler to plagiarists. I do believe, for instance, that plagiarism should be made a crime, punishable by long prison sentences and extremely heavy fines. Were the world to move strongly against plagiarism, creators would find it easier to be appropriately rewarded and appreciated for their creative works. Plagiarists should be so scared of the consequences of plagiarism, that they don’t dare to do it. It would also be very interesting if such a law could be enacted so that it has retrospective force. Many of today’s “brightest names” (see above), would then have to spend long periods – well deserved periods – in prison.

I know, however, that such a world will never be. This modern world does not value creators and positively eulogizes plagiarists (for some of its greatest “stars” are serial plagiarists). The modern world seems not to care whether its favourite of the day, is a plagiarist or a true creator. There seem to be no consequences for plagiarism. So many times, for instance, has Damien Hirst been denounced as a plagiarist, without an idea to call his own – yet his works still sell for millions, or even tens of millions. It is, in short, madness. No-one seems to care for the true creators. Until that changes, it is probably not a good choice of life, to become creative. It is likely that anyone choosing such a life will endure much suffering, much rejection, much disappointment and little reward of any kind. It is likely that such a person will see many of their works stolen and see little monetary return on their creative investments. If a person wishes for success, in the conventional sense, any of the many safer choices, would lead to a life more fulfilled in those respects: be a banker, a financier, a doctor or a lawyer. These choices lead to conventional success in a fairly predictable manner. If, however, you choose to be creative, be prepared to see the world’s true ugliness –and be prepared to fight it.

That being said, it is possible to succeed as a creator. You just have to be more patient, more resilient, more lucky, more tenacious and more insistent than you would have to be in ANY other line of work. A creator who succeeds, is one who has overcome a truly ugly world. Theirs is a kind of unheralded triumph that far surpasses that of any other achievement. Yet, the difficulties they would have had to overcome, are unrecognized by all but those who have led a creative life. That, too, is one of the dooms of the creative person: to be forever misunderstood. The non-creative person has no idea, NO IDEA AT ALL, of what the creative person has to go through, to win through, in life.

So, if you choose to live a creative life, I wish you luck. It won’t be an easy life and you may never reach your goals – but it is a life that is worth it, if you believe in one thing: that to express the self, is the meaning of life. If you choose a creative life, you could, indeed, succeed, in expressing your self, your views and your world – but you may never succeed, in being rewarded for it. I wish you all, therefore, luck in achieving both aims: self-expression and suitable rewards.

(If you would like to support my continued writing of this blog and my ongoing campaign to raise awareness about giftedness and all issues pertaining to it, please donate, by clicking on the gold button to the left of the page. To read about my fundraising campaign, please go to: http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2011/01/fundraising-drive-in-support-of-my.html and here: http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2011/01/fundraising-drive-first-donation.html

To learn more of Ainan Celeste Cawley, 10, or his gifted brothers, Fintan, 7 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.

There is a review of my blog, on the respected The Kindle Report here: http://thekindlereport.blogspot.com/2010/09/boy-who-knew-too-much-child-prodigy.html

Please have a read, if you would like a critic's view of this blog. Thanks.

You can get my blog on your Kindle, for easy reading, wherever you are, by going to: http://www.amazon.com/Boy-Who-Knew-Too-Much/dp/B0042P5LEE/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&m=AG56TWVU5XWC2&s=digital-text&qid=1284603792&sr=8-1

Please let all your fellow Kindlers know about my blog availability - and if you know my blog well enough, please be so kind as to write a thoughtful review of what you like about it. Thanks.

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 @ 3:13 PM  4 comments

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