High Five, Tiarnan style

How often have you heard the phrase High Five? How have you responded to it?

Yesterday, Syahidah went: "High five!" to Tiarnan, putting out her hand for him to slap. She is not in the habit of doing this, it just came upon her to do so, in that moment.

He looked at the proffered hand for a smidgeon of a second and shouted, in reply: "High Ten!" and then moved to slap with two hands - and she duly presented both hands to be slapped.

This was funny to the degree that it was both apt and unexpected. Tiarnan, nineteen months, had taken a standard phrase and action and made them his own - with arithmetical correctness thrown in for good measure.

Who needs television when you've got kids? They are far more entertaining than the goggle box.

(If you would like to learn more of Ainan Celeste Cawley, a scientific child prodigy, aged seven years and nine months, or his gifted brothers, Fintan, four years and two months, and Tiarnan, nineteen 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, College, University, Chemistry, Science, genetics, left-handedness, child prodigy, child genius, baby genius, adult genius, savant, gifted adults and gifted children in general. Thanks.)

Tiarnan and the beetle

Yesterday, Tiarnan, nineteen months, found a new play friend: a beetle.

Unlike most children, Tiarnan shows no fear of all that crawls on six or eight legs (or more for that matter). Indeed, he treats them with both intense curiosity and great friendliness.

Yesterday, he found a very strange looking beetle in our house. It was quite long - about two centimetres - and was black with orange spots on its back. It was like a giant distant relative of a ladybird, but showed no evidence of being able to fly. I had never seen its like before. Tiarnan peered at it, once he found it, then stepped closer until he was right above - then he reached down and picked it up in his hands. That was something I, for one, would not have done. Yet, he held it between his thumb and forefingers watching it wriggle. He was quite absorbed in this.

He set it down and watched it crawl away - but he never let it get far, he would just pick it up again and bring it back.

At one point it crawled over the edge of a wall and fell over - and Tiarnan had half a mind to jump over the wall to follow it. Instead, he walked around and bent down to get it. I had, in the meantime, picked it up on some paper and put it back on top of the wall - to Tiarnan's irritation.

This play with the mysterious beetle of unknown name went on for some time. Yet, after a while, Tiarnan seemed to want the beetle to stand still and not crawl away the whole time, finally, perhaps in frustration, he picked it up with a little too much strength in his little hand and crushed it. Though it didn't crawl away again, I don't think this outcome satisfied Tiarnan and he stared at its broken body for some time, before concluding that there was no more fun to be had with this particular friend.

Throughout, what impressed me was his lack of squeamishness and his absence of fear. To him it was a little playmate - nothing scarier than that. To many adults, it would be something to be avoided. I hope he doesn't learn that fear - for he certainly hasn't started life with it.

(If you would like to learn more of Ainan Celeste Cawley, a scientific child prodigy, aged seven years and nine months, or his gifted brothers, Fintan, four years and two months, and Tiarnan, nineteen 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, College, University, Chemistry, Science, genetics, left-handedness, child prodigy, child genius, baby genius, adult genius, savant, gifted adults and gifted children in general. Thanks.)

Fintan knows his toys

Yesterday, Fintan, four, was in a toy shop with his grandmother and mother.

Syahidah, his mother, pointed out a particular toy to him, thinking he would like it. It was of an action hero type character, all in multi-coloured plastic, wearing some sort of exoskeleton. Since he is fond of superheroes and of Power Rangers and other programs of that ilk, she thought that he would like it.

He looked at and shook his head: "Don't get me that, it is made in China!"

They laughed at this, and didn't believe him.

"No it is not, it is made in Japan.", said Syahidah, for the writing was all in Japanese on the outside.

So, despite his initial protest, they bought it for him.

When they got home and opened the case and managed to have a close look at the toy, they found a little inscription on the bottom of its foot: "Made in China."

Funny.

What I thought was intriguing about this is that Fintan, four, was aware of the controversy over Chinese toys and their often dangerous lack of quality control. I don't know how he knew this, because we don't watch the news here, as a family (there is little actual news content, so we gave up a long time ago). Yet, he did understand the issue of dangerous Chinese toys.

It was amusing, too, to note that he was better at spotting them than either his mother or grandmother. Well done, Fintan.

(If you would like to learn 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, College, University, Chemistry, Science, genetics, left-handedness, child prodigy, child genius, baby genius, adult genius, savant, gifted adults and gifted children in general. Thanks.)

Odex, Pacific Net and Gamesmart

Once upon a time there was a company called Gamesmart that hung out at Orchard MRT (train station). They were an ambitious company that wanted to make "A LOT OF MONEY". They sold computer games and the like. These were expensive to buy from the suppliers - but then they had a BIG IDEA.

What was the BIG IDEA? To copy the games illegally from the suppliers - and then sell the fake games as if they were real goods. This is called counterfeiting - and it is also copyright infringement. According to net sources (including one at a ChannelNewsAsia forum) - the goods stolen in this way included Sony Playstation 2 titles.

Anyway, for a time, all was well. Gamesmart raked in the money and the Gamesmart boys were as happy as happy could be. But then, came a BAD DAY. The police raided their store and all their world fell apart. Two Gamesmart employees served jail sentences, as a result (ChannelNewsAsia forum, source).

Now, why am I talking to you about Gamesmart? Who are they? Well, the oddest of odd things is that Gamesmart has two key directors in common with Odex Pte Ltd. This is a most ironic circumstance for Odex is now pursuing a case against thousands of Singaporeans for copyright violations. Yet, hang on a minute, is that not hypocritical when the two key directors in both companies are the SAME MEN?

If you doubt this, please go to: http://www.nowhere.per.sg/local/gamesmart.pdf

Here you will find the ACRA records (Singapore government accounting body), for Gamesmart. You will note that Sing Xin Yang and Go Wei Ho Peter are directors of Gamesmart. As noted and shown in my previous posts on Odex they are also the two key players in Odex.

Now, Odex is seeking up to $5,000 from each person who downloaded Japanese anime cartoons such as Gundam Seed and Inuyasha, without payment, on the internet. They are seeking compensation for copyright infringement. There is nothing truly controversial about that: copyright is copyright and infringement is infringement - however, what has now become clear - and which was not clear when I posted on them before, is that the people behind Odex have, historically, been involved with a company that was itself charged with copyright violations and the manufacture of counterfeit goods - and was convicted.

All this leads us to a new understanding of the Odex, Pacific Net/Starhub/Singtel/Singnet situation. Whether or not Go or Sing were themselves instrumental in the Gamesmart violation, they were directors of Gamesmart, which was convicted of such violations. Therefore their stand now, against thousands of others who have infringed copyright on titles in which they have business interests, is truly hypocritical. In a moral sense, it seems doubtful that those who have themselves been involved in the infringement of copyright can take much of a stand on another case, in which their own rights are infringed.

Look at this more deeply. I have shown that there is a proven connection between Odex and AVPAS - the Anti-Video Piracy Association of Singapore - in a previous post. How would those Japanese Anime Producers feel if they learnt that Odex, who they have clearly entrusted with the AVPAS work (since they are the administrative contact for AVPAS) - and were appointed by them to pursue this copyright case in Singapore - had, themselves, a history of copyright theft/violation through the past business history of their trusted appointees? (That is those appointees were directors of a company that was convicted of counterfeiting).

This is a very worrying development, not just for this case - but for the whole issue of copyright protection here in Singapore. From all these connections of the Odex directors to Gamesmart and AVPAS, it is clear that the guardians of copyright for anime here, in Singapore, AVPAS, have a link to the Odex directors, who themselves have a link to a company convicted of counterfeiting/copyright violations. Thus the old latin question arises: "Who guards the guards themselves?"

However, IP (intellectual property) must be strongly protected if there is to be any IP to protect. So, this situation does not detract from the need to protect from IP. It also does not make illegal downloading of anime or anything else legally right, either. Yet, it does point out the need to fully understand the situation. Who is it who complains of copyright theft? Have they ever done so themselves? If so, is it not hypocritical to then cry "thief" when another steals from them?

There is a moral solution here. Everyone who stole from Odex could pay a fine. Yes. But then Odex should pay Sony Playstation the same quantum for EVERY TITLE COPY THEY FORGED. By this, I mean that if there are 3,000 downloaders who have to pay 5,000 dollars each...then, unfortunate though it is for those individuals, the law might require them to pay. Yet, given the history of the situation, it would seem moral if the Odex directors also paid Sony the same sum for every copy made. If they made 10,000 copies then they should pay 5,000 dollars to Sony for every instance of violation. That would be both just - and funny.

However, it won't happen, because though they share the same key directors, Odex and Gamesmart are separate entities in law and cannot be pursued for the actions of each other. Yet, as a thought experiment, it has a certain satisfactory moral bite to it.

Let us see how the courts untangle this mess - for truly it is vastly more complex and subtle than at first, it seemed. Perhaps there are even more secrets lurking out there to be discovered.

(If you would like to learn 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, College, University, Chemistry, Science, genetics, left-handedness, child prodigy, child genius, baby genius, adult genius, savant, gifted adults and gifted children in general. Thanks.)

This is my five hundredth post

Since I started this blog on September 19th 2006, I have posted 500 posts. That surprises me. No doubt the number of words written runs well into six figures. It is funny how a little daily writing soon adds up.

So, if you are new to this blog, there is a lot to read on many different topics related to education, giftedness, prodigiousness, gifted parenting and the like. Every nook and cranny of these areas has either been looked at already or will be looked at over time.

Happy reading!

(If you would like to learn 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, College, University, Chemistry, Science, genetics, left-handedness, child prodigy, child genius, baby genius, adult genius, savant, gifted adults and gifted children in general. Thanks.)

The Fall Of Snail Kingdom

Throughout history, the fall of an empire has often been sudden and surprising: some unexpected turn of events occurs and all comes tumbling down. So, too, was it with the little principality known as the Grand Snail Hotel.

Those who have read the posts regarding Children and Pet Animals - and its sequel on The Grand Snail Hotel, will be primed to understand this post. If you haven't I suggest that you do, otherwise it will be meaningless.

You may recall that my wife and I found our sons building The Grand Snail Hotel in the lobby. It was constructed of plastics and provided a haven for gastropod life on our stairwell. It was also quite beautiful to look at. My wife promised to photograph it once we came back from the shops that evening.

Well, we did come back - but boy were we surprised at what we saw.

As the door to the lift opened, I saw my neighbour, with his back turned to me. In his right hand he held a large hammer. That didn't look good. Worse still, as I approached him, to investigate this strangeness, I saw that someone had kicked the hell out of the Grand Snail Hotel: it was lying in ruins in the stairwell, as if it had been attacked in anger. As I drew level with him, I saw something else: a blue powder on the floor to my neighbour's left: insecticide, I surmised, from the context.

After my sons had happily finished work on their hotel, and went back inside to loll contentedly by the television, mulling over their good deed, my neighbour had ventured from his home with a hammer and insecticide and set about killing my sons guests.

He looked at me and spoke in explanation: "Your sons have brought snails up here...they will eat my orchids."

It was quite surreal hearing a grown man speak of snails eating his orchids while he clutched a large hammer in one hand - and had once held insecticide in the other. It was like stumbling upon a serial killer quietly explaining why he was wiping out the neighbourhood: "They were eating my hamburgers." - or the like.

I nodded, to assuage him, thinking, that, noting the anger in his voice and the hammer in his hand that this was the most diplomatic choice at that moment. Besides, it was too late for most of the snails. They had either been squashed with a hammer - such a violent way to resolve the issue - or poisoned to death.

"It's a project." I pointed out, gently, putting the whole episode into the context of a child's exploratory life. I rather thought that, being Singapore, giving the situation an educative slant might mollify him. However, it didn't seem to.

He mumbled on some more about saving his orchids and I just nodded at what seemed like grammatically correct moments. I couldn't help but notice that he was all but choking on his own anger.

"Ask them to take them away by the end of today." He requested, at last.

I just nodded and oddly said: "Thank you."

I then went inside and told the boys the dreaded news about their now defunct snail colony.

"What?" was their simultaneous reply, as they leapt up to see what harm had befallen their guests.

I heard our neighbour explain to them that the snails would eat his plants so they had to go. He suggested that they gather them up - the survivors that is - and put them in a bucket so that they couldn't escape. He also said he wanted them gone by the end of the day.

They duly gathered them up into a bucket, covered it and left the snails alone for a few hours. By the evening it had gone.

This whole episode brought home to me what is wrong with Singapore. Kids are just not encouraged to play. The randomness of a good childhood is not thought worthy. There was so much to be learnt by my children through simply playing with and nurturing those snails - but that was not appreciated. It was taken to be a "naughty" act - which in this case was punished with the death of the snails.

Were his orchids really being eaten by the snails? I saw no evidence of them having left the stairwell...so no, I don't think so. They were well fed where they were and so had no need to seek food elsewhere.

I remember something funny now about our conversation. I pointed out to him, on hearing that they would supposedly eat his orchids that the children had left out food for them. "Yes," he said, delivering his words as if they were to be news for me: "Lettuce from your fridge."

I could hear in his voice that he expected me to be angry at this. He thought that I would see this as "naughty" and punishable, that I would somehow side with his world view and come down on my children for having the temerity to improvise a use for the food in my fridge. I knew then, that he really didn't understand my attitude to childhood - nor, what in my view, is a healthy attitude to parenting. For me, it is great if the children do something of their own volition. I like them to experiment. I personally couldn't understand why he would be so concerned about "misuse" of lettuce. It is more important that the children learn something, than that I have lettuce in the fridge. I can always eat something else - but they might never have another chance to learn this particular lesson.

I said nothing, however - for what could I say that would be understood by one whose views on parenting and childhood were so different from my own? I let it go, in silence.

I wonder what my children thought when they went outside and saw the ruins of their Grand Snail Hotel. What would they think of adults? They would have been confronted with the image of a man with a hammer, some blue powder on the floor - and a crushed hotel. How would they feel that their creative work - for all play is creative - should be so disregarded by an adult, that it should be destroyed in this way?

It was not what you would call encouraging for their efforts to receive this treatment. I am only thankful that I don't think Fintan noticed that snails had been killed. I am sure Ainan made the connection, however, but he said nothing to Fintan, which was sweet of him.

Together they gathered up the few snails that remained and made their goodbyes to them that afternoon.

Neither of them said anything about it - but I could feel that they were both disappointed. No doubt it has added something dark to their impression of the adult world. It would go something like this: "We build...adults destroy." or "We care...adults don't."

I am sure they understood the point about the snails eating the plants - but even so, the snails could have been moved by consent. All the neighbour had to do was knock on the door and ask them to take the snails away. He most certainly should not have set about killing them with a hammer. That is ugly - and unsettling.

Had I been in his position, I would have taken the "knock on the door" approach. It would never have entered my mind to start killing the neighbour's pets, simply because I didn't like them. In most places, that would be regarded as a crime. It probably is here, too.

(If you would like to learn 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, College, University, Chemistry, Science, genetics, left-handedness, child prodigy, child genius, baby genius, adult genius, savant, gifted adults and gifted children in general. Thanks.)

Time Magazine: Failing our geniuses.

"Are we failing our geniuses?" asks a Time Magazine article featured, I am told, on the front cover.

Curiously, I never got to see a copy of this on stands here, in Singapore: perhaps it sold out, as it hit the stands, Singapore being keen on such matters.

Anyway, it is good to see a mainstream, mass circulation magazine, like Time Magazine, give attention to an issue that is often ignored by media: are we doing enough for our gifted children?

The answer, from the article, seems to be a resounding "no". It looks in particular at the situation on the ground in America and it doesn't seem all that encouraging.

Typically, since the 1980s in America, grade-skipping has been discouraged. This has led to a couple of decades of frustration for gifted children across the USA, being forced to receive "education" alongside their age-mates. The article urges grade-skipping as a sensible means to address the issue of the bored, frustrated gifted children in our midst.

In short, the article proposes some of the things I have been writing about for the past year - but it is good to see them get a wider airing in a major publication: perhaps the coverage will help gifted children across the US get what they need.

As an example of what can be done for the most gifted of children, the Davidson Academy in Reno, Nevada is featured. This Academy was set-up by the billionaire Davidsons to offer a free education to exceptional children that allows them to accelerate as they please. According to the article, people are moving from all over the US - and indeed from outside the US - to Reno, just so that their kids can attend the school.

The Time Magazine article appeals, however, for a broader solution to the problem, rather than a Davidson style approach - and suggests that grade-skipping should be allowed, generally, once more, as once it was.

To read the article, click here:

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1653653,00.html

I am grateful to my blog reader who pointed my way to the article. I would not otherwise have known of it. Thanks.

(If you would like to learn 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, College, University, Chemistry, Science, genetics, left-handedness, child prodigy, child genius, baby genius, adult genius, savant, gifted adults and gifted children in general. Thanks.)

Quality of memory: incidental knowledge

Ainan is very focussed on his scientific interests yet, surprisingly, he takes note of other things, too, in passing.

William James, the great 19th century American pioneer in the nascent science of Psychology made an interesting observation, on the types of memory people tend to have. He conceived of an understanding of great men: "When both memory and philosophy combine together in one person, then indeed we have the highest sort of intellectual efficiency. Your Walter Scotts, your Leibnitzes, your Gladstones, and your Goethes, all your folio copies of mankind, belong to this type."

Let me explain the background to this remark. This was given in his "Talk to Teachers" on memory. He observed that some people had the ability to recall random information that they were presented with. Their minds were "wax to receive, marble to retain". He further noted that, sometimes, such a great memory was found in a person otherwise ungifted in the "philosophic" department. By this he meant, yes, they have great memories - but they do not also possess high levels of intelligence. Today, we might call such individuals savants or the like - for he seems to be referring to such cases, as we would understand them, today.

However, he further noted that all combinations of types of mind were possible. Sometimes a person was both gifted in memory and in philosophical power of thinking. It is this type that he thinks of as great men - and used the geniuses above as examples of it. He further believed that such a combination was necessary for the highest accomplishment - the greatest of men (women not being afforded much opportunity in his day) tending to exhibit both faculties, to allow the necessary mental efficiency to accomplish their goals.

He clarified his understanding of memory by conceiving of the idea of "desultory memory" - this was the capacity to remember anything and everything without effort (his "wax to receive, marble to retain".) It is difficult for most of us to remember random information - but he noted that some people were adept at this, along with whatever other faculties they possessed.

Incidentally, "desultory" has a fascinating history as a word. It ultimately comes from the Latin, desultorius, the adjectival form of desultur, meaning "hasty, casual, superficial" but applied to mean "a rider in the circus who jumped from one horse to another while they are in gallop,". It therefore captures the ability of some people to be fluid in memory, too - to jump from one thing, to another, effortlessly.

So, in William James thinking, the most helpful memory, would be a desultory memory - one that allowed anything and everything to be learnt, incidentally, without really trying. Such a person would end up with a broad knowledge of just about everything, they encountered in life.

Now, back to Ainan.

This morning, Ainan was watching the Guiness Book of World Records on television, as I passed by. On the screen was a quiz about footballers and the question was: "Who is the highest paid footballer in the world?" There were three choices: David Beckham, Zinedine Zidane and a third that eludes me because, frankly, I wasn't paying much attention.

I noted something odd, however. As Ainan sat in front of the television, he pointed at the Zinedine Zidane and said: "Zidane". That, for me, was strange, because I knew, for certain, that Ainan had no interest whatsoever in football. We had taken him to try it once and he couldn't have been less enthused. I have never seen him watch a football match, either - so it was more than a little surprising that he should feel that he knew who was "the highest paid footballer in the world." I thought, to myself, that it must be David Beckham, so I paused in my journey about the house and waited for the television to answer the question.

At last the answer came: "Zinedine Zidane is the highest paid footballer in the world!" It then went onto to say that he had the not inconsiderable salary of $66 million US Dollars a year.

That really surprised me: Ainan had been right. This then called to mind, for me, the remark about desultory memory made by William James that I had first read of while reading irrelevantly at Cambridge University, two decades before, a text that would do me no good whatsoever in the exams ahead (they are the best texts to read, for then you might learn something new!)

It seems, if this example is any guide, that Ainan possesses that element of desultory memory that William James so prized. His sole true interests are scientific - and he has no interest in football - yet still he knew who the highest paid footballer in the world was.

The real surprise here is that, after 7 years of being his father, and observing him first hand, daily, that he is still able to surprise me. That points to something else: he is constantly evolving and growing. He is what he is - but he is also becoming. To be able to see that growth is one of the great pleasures of fatherhood (or indeed, parenthood).

(If you would like to learn 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, College, University, Chemistry, Science, genetics, left-handedness, child prodigy, child genius, baby genius, adult genius, gifted adults and gifted children in general. Thanks.)

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.)