The true nature of a personality

To find the true nature of a person, you need only look at what excites them.

With Ainan, my son, it becomes clear, over time, what it is that drives him. He has, at his core, a love of a subject much unloved: the physical sciences. Few children derive pleasure and passion from such a conceptual world - but he does: it is what fires him up.

I will provide an example. On the 25th August, Ainan came running out of the computer room, his face alight with passion, shouting, with the greatest of excitement: "Dimercaptosuccinic acid chelates lead! It does!". He was virtually jumping at his moment of discovery. I saw, then, how deeply did a love of science run in him. It was quite able to thrill him in the way, perhaps, others are thrilled by large sums of money, or roller coaster rides, or other stimulations of the senses. For Ainan, an idea, a concept, a fact, a moment of understanding or insight are enough to inspire in him such delight as others can only find in extreme circumstances. I am happy for him, that this is so - for it means that, should he pursue a life of the mind, that he will be very content, indeed, with it and its rewards. Ainan looks to be one of those lucky few who find their metier, their true passion, early on, allowing them to live a life of great fulfilment, for so little of it will be wasted in simply wondering what to do - as so many of us do.

I wonder how many seven year olds in this world would get so excited at simply discovering a chemical property of a molecule, as does Ainan: rather few, I would think.

Seeing him react to that discovery, as he did, has given me a strange and wonderful memory to look back upon: his excitement at his newly won knowledge. It is a good memory to have.

(If you would like to read more of Ainan Celeste Cawley, a scientific child prodigy, aged seven years and eight months, or his gifted brothers, Fintan, four years and one month, and Tiarnan, eighteen months, please go to: http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2006/10/scientific-child-prodigy-guide.html I also write of gifted education, IQ, intelligence, genetics, left-handedness, College, University, Chemistry, Science, child prodigy, child genius, baby genius, adult genius, savant, the creatively gifted, gifted adults and gifted children in general. Thanks.)