Suicides of the rich and famous.

We live in turbulent times, times so turbulent, in fact, that suicide is becoming almost fashionable among the rich and famous.

Patrick Rocca, Adolf Merckle and Rene-Thierry Magon de la Villehuchet are three men who may never have met, but whom each shared much in common with the others. All of them were very rich. All of them seem to have run into financial trouble with this global downturn - and all of them killed themselves.

Patrick Rocca built up a 500 million Euro real estate fortune, through investments in the UK and Ireland. He was a friend to Bill Clinton (to whom he used to lend his helicopter, to allow Bill to play golf when he was in town). His sister, Michelle, was a former Miss Ireland and is the partner of Van Morrisson. He seemed to have it all, until, one day, he put a gun to his head, and blew it all away. He was 42 - a husband and a father to three now fatherless children.

Patrick Rocca was recently joined by Adolf Merckle, a German billionaire who had lost a fortune on shorting Volkswagen shares. He lost one billion pounds and, not wishing to fall from 94th richest man in the world to virtually nothing, jumped in front of a train. He had once been the world's 44th richest man in the world (in 2006). He left a wife and four children.

Rene-Thierry Magon de la Villehuchet was a French investor from an ennobled shipping family. He had invested all of his personal fortune with Bernard Madoff - and a billion pounds of other people's money, too. On understanding that he had lost it all, he slashed his wrist and biceps. He left a wife but no children.

I understand that people can become depressed and dejected by great financial or other loss, but I still found myself shocked by the underlying philosophy of each of these three very rich men. For them, the attachment to things was greater than their attachment to life. They would rather lose their lives than face the loss of their things. This is the ultimate materialist philosophy…that their life is defined by material goods and without their material goods, they cannot live.

No doubt they must all have been intelligent men, in some way, to have become so rich in the first place - but nevertheless, their final acts, reflected a kind of resolute stupidity and lack of perspective. Most people in this world live modest lives in economic terms. Most people struggle by with various levels of discomfort, there being always something that cannot be readily afforded, something just out of reach. This limit will differ from person to person, but for most people on Earth it is true that there are limits of consumption and expenditure within which they must live. People become accustomed to this. People learn how not to wish so hard for the unattainable and live somewhere within (or perhaps just beyond) their means. This perennial minor discomfort common even to the world's middle classes, to a degree, does not lead people to suicide, it leads them to patience: patience to wait a little longer to be able to afford that which is just beyond reach, patience to plan how to acquire it, patience to grow the finances a little more.

Had Patrick Rocca, Rene-Thierry Magon de la Villehuchet and Adolf Merckle a little more patience with life, they could have accepted their loss and done what most ordinary people would do in the circumstances: start again and rebuild. Yes, it would have taken years, maybe decades to recoup the family fortunes - but they would have been rebuilt eventually for one thing is sure: each of these three men had acquired the financial skills and understanding to build such fortunes in the first place. They had done it once, they could do it again. All they needed was something many people have a lot more of: resilience. If they had been poorer men, but stronger (in the sense of resilient) they would have survived this downturn to reemerge in another time, as good or better than before.

Their actions defy rationality. For they threw away the entirety of their lives, when faced with a loss that would have meant a few years' to a few decades' work to rebuild. It was not the downturn that cost them everything they had, but the actions of their own hands. The global crisis cost them nothing but money. Their deeds cost them their lives.

Their tales provide a lesson to us all. We should not place so high a value on material things that they seem more important than life itself. Two of these three men had children they should have loved enough to stay alive for. All of them had a wife who should have provided the same motivation.

There are more important things in life than money. In fact, all the important elements in life: family, love, companionship are more important than money. These men had everything, but misunderstood which of the things they had was truly important.

Now, of course, those who are left behind suffer a double loss: the loss of the wealth that supported them and the husband and father whose love they will never again know.

It never seemed to occur to Patrick Rocca Rene-Thierry Magon de la Villehuchet and Adolf Merckle that they were only making matters worse for their family, by dying in this way. Surely it would have been better to start again...perhaps from the equivalent of a middle class lifestyle and rebuild...than to throw their lives away?

My condolences to the families of Rocca, Villehuchet and Merckle - and all the other millionaires and ordinary investors who have and will decide that life without money is not worth living, before this crisis is over.

Perhaps, before it is too late, someone might let them know that there is such a thing as a happy life without great wealth. It is the life most of us know - and I don't see the typical person being that much less happy than the world's billionaires.

(If you would like to learn more of Ainan Celeste Cawley, a scientific child prodigy, aged eight years and seven months, or his gifted brothers, Fintan, five years exactly, and Tiarnan, twenty-eight 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, the Irish, the Malays, Singapore, College, University, Chemistry, Science, genetics, left-handedness, precocity, child prodigy, child genius, baby genius, adult genius, savant, wunderkind, wonderkind, genio, гений ребенок prodigy, genie, μεγαλοφυία θαύμα παιδιών, bambino, kind.

We are the founders of Genghis Can, a copywriting, editing and proofreading agency, that handles all kinds of work, including technical and scientific material. If you need such services, or know someone who does, please go to: http://www.genghiscan.com/ Thanks.

This blog is copyright Valentine Cawley. Unauthorized duplication prohibited. Use Only with Permission. Thank you.)

China's confession of guilt.

China has implicitly confessed its guilt in the matter of human rights and the suppression of dissent. It did this in the most public and clear manner possible: censoring President Obama's Inaugural Speech.

When President Obama referred to communism and later to dissent, Chinese TV stations cut away from his speech. The matters they censored included these words: "Recall that earlier generations faced down communism and fascism not just with missiles and tanks, but with sturdy alliances and enduring convictions," and "To those who cling to power through corruption and deceit and the silencing of dissent, know that you are on the wrong side of history, but that we will extend a hand if you are willing to unclench your fist."

Later, China did a clean up job on websites, taking down all references to the offending words.

No clearer confession of guilt could there be, than to react in this manner to those words. Why would a government seek to prevent its people from hearing those words? It would only do so if: a) the words applied to China and b) if the people of China would realize that those words applied to China. The action, in itself is a plain confession of guilt.

Look at what is being confessed to: "...those who cling to power through corruption and deceit and the silencing of dissent..." These words are harmless in the ears of those who have done no harm: they only wound those to whom they apply.

There is hope, though, in the Chinese action - for it shows that they are aware of their own nature. It is harder to reform someone who persists in believing that there is nothing wrong with themselves. In China's case, they are all too aware of what is wrong with them - they just don't want their people to know, too (if they haven't already twigged).

I am left to wonder what China's people think of a state coverage of the Inauguration of a superpower President, being censored. What would they conclude? What would they think they are missing? Would such censorship backfire and spread mistrust of their own government?

It seems to me that a state that does what China is doing is a state that has a short future. There is only so long that a people can stand being manipulated in this way. The censorship, in itself, tells the people what is being done - and that should be message enough to let them know what is happening, even if they never get to hear President Obama's words to them of hope.

(If you would like to learn more of Ainan Celeste Cawley, a scientific child prodigy, aged eight years and seven months, or his gifted brothers, Fintan, five years exactly, and Tiarnan, twenty-eight 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, the Irish, the Malays, Singapore, College, University, Chemistry, Science, genetics, left-handedness, precocity, child prodigy, child genius, baby genius, adult genius, savant, wunderkind, wonderkind, genio, гений ребенок prodigy, genie, μεγαλοφυία θαύμα παιδιών, bambino, kind.

We are the founders of Genghis Can, a copywriting, editing and proofreading agency, that handles all kinds of work, including technical and scientific material. If you need such services, or know someone who does, please go to: http://www.genghiscan.com/ Thanks.

This blog is copyright Valentine Cawley. Unauthorized duplication prohibited. Use Only with Permission. Thank you.)

"Valentine Cawley", Stoned Tales, Stoned Poems.

Now, I have a doppelganger, it seems. There is, in this wide world, someone else ostensibly with the name, "Valentine Cawley". I find this somewhat irritating, I must confess, since this other someone is writing poems under the name Valentine Cawley.

I would like it made clear, here, that these poems are not mine. I didn't write them - and I don't know the one who did, though he bears my name.

The poems that I didn't write are to be found here: http://www.stonedtales.com/stoned-poems.html

Please don't think that they are mine.

I used to write poems, yes...when I was in my twenties. My own poems are very different from these ones. I prefer my own ones. They have more rhythm, they are smoother, the ideas are denser, yet fluid - at least, that is how I would describe them now. They each expressed something of myself.

Whatever you might think of the poems of this other "Valentine Cawley" - if that be his real name, I would like it known that they are not mine. This is important because otherwise confusion would be created as to my identity. Each poem embodies something of its author - and the fragments of personhood to be found in those poems, are not mine - they belong to someone else.

When I first read his poems, I thought they were very bad. He has since added another which seems rather better in some ways. It has a couple of interesting ideas. Now, that I look at them again, I can see some creativity in them - just a different sort to my own. I still prefer my poems, however. By comparison, I feel that his poems give a poor impression of my writing skills.

So, please realize that I have a doppelganger out there and if you come across something which doesn't fit the persona you believe me to have, that may be because it isn't by me, but by another of the same name (whether or not that name is really his, or not).

Incidentally, the site manager of Stoned Tales/Stoned Poems has been written to, twice, on the matter of whether or not Valentine Cawley, the "poet" is using his real name. No answer has been received, despite the fact that the first letter was sent about three months ago.

According to "Valentine Cawley"'s friend, he drinks a lot. I don't drink at all. So that is one way to decide which is which and who is who. Another is the fact that, according to his friend, this doppelganger smokes a lot - and I don't smoke at all. He also supposedly does a lot of drugs - which again, I don't do at all. So, no, I am not a heavy drinker, smoker and drug addict - I go near none of the three habits. So, again, don't confuse me, with him.

I am a different Valentine Cawley: a sober one, with three kids and a lot of responsibility. However, I do write books and have written poems. I also create in other ways. So, there is room for confusion, I suppose.

I hope the differences are now clear.

Thanks.

(If you would like to learn more of Ainan Celeste Cawley, a scientific child prodigy, aged eight years and seven months, or his gifted brothers, Fintan, five years exactly, and Tiarnan, twenty-eight 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, the Irish, the Malays, Singapore, College, University, Chemistry, Science, genetics, left-handedness, precocity, child prodigy, child genius, baby genius, adult genius, savant, wunderkind, wonderkind, genio, гений ребенок prodigy, genie, μεγαλοφυία θαύμα παιδιών, bambino, kind.

We are the founders of Genghis Can, a copywriting, editing and proofreading agency, that handles all kinds of work, including technical and scientific material. If you need such services, or know someone who does, please go to: http://www.genghiscan.com/ Thanks.

This blog is copyright Valentine Cawley. Unauthorized duplication prohibited. Use Only with Permission. Thank you.)

Elizabeth Alexander, Inaugural poet.

For me, the most unforgettable part of President Obama's inauguration shall ever be, The Inauguration Poem read by Elizabeth Alexander. It was unforgettable in the way atom bombs are unforgettable: truly terrible.

Now, I love words. I appreciate those who craft them into art and make of them something beautiful - but, and this is a big but, I don't like to see them abused. Elizabeth Alexander's poem was, in itself, nothing special. It had nothing particularly interesting to say. It had no memorable lines (so I have forgotten it all already, being, as it was, unworthy of remark). However, that was not the crime for which she will long be remembered: her crime against art, was that she cannot read. She may be a Professor of African American Studies and English Literature at Yale University, she may be an "award-winning poet" (though I wonder which awards and why she won them) - but she is not an able performer. Her stilted, indeed, stunted, rendering of the English language marred the Inauguration in a way that no-one else, despite some evident effort in some quarters, quite managed to.

Elizabeth Alexander had less ability to read English than, I think, any of the foreign students of English I have ever taught in my life. It was as if her mental processing abilities struggled to interpret each word, individually, finally worked out what they were, said them, then proceeded to struggle with the next word, and so on, interminably, until the welcome end. I have glanced over some interviews she gave in the lead up to the inauguration and she came across as very sure of her own abilities and filled with arcane understanding of the poet's art. It seems, however, that her understanding does not extend beyond that of a critic - for she is not, by this evidence, a natural poet, nor a natural performer/speaker of English. She also remarked that she always sought to find the rhythm of a piece. Perhaps, to be kind, that was what she was trying to do: find rhythm in her words. Well, personally, I have always found it easy to find rhythm in speech - simply opening one's mouth and speaking usually does the trick. She, however, struggled to find this rhythm of which she sought. She laboured over it. She toiled with each word, wrestling with it, begging it to be rhythmic - and failed.

I have been to a couple of poetry readings in my life - not many, I admit, but in their varied performances I never noted anyone who lacked the basic ability to read aloud. In fact, I found myself embarrassed to watch her excruciating peformance: it made me squirm to witness it, so bad was it.

Now, there is a serious point as to why I have brought this awful - perhaps the most awful - poetry performance to the attention of my readers. You see, Elizabeth Alexander's terrible lack of basic poetic talent, leads me to ask a question: is President Obama going to choose people because they are the best at what they do - or for other reasons, closer to home? Is President Obama going to abide by meritocratic principles - or is he going to offer positions to people whose native merit doesn't deserve them?

I cannot believe that Elizabeth Alexander is the best poet in America. I cannot believe that she is the best poetic performer in America (since all of the students I have ever taught read better than her - and they don't even speak English). Yet, Elizabeth Alexander was chosen for this very special moment. Her poem was heard by more people on Earth than perhaps any other poem has ever been heard. Yet, it was not a good poem, not remotely so. Furthermore, it was read as if she had no feeling for language at all.

If Elizabeth Alexander really had to be the Inauguration poet, someone else really should have read the poem. There are people who could read a shopping list and make it sound interesting. Someone with that kind of gift should have been chosen. A natural actor should have read the poem - not Elizabeth Alexander, Yale Professor and "award winning" poet.

President Obama needs to change the way he selects people. He cannot select people based on any other criteria than quality. They should be the best at what they do. Only in this manner will he best serve the American people.

If there is a single poet in America better than Elizabeth Alexander, then she should not have been chosen - whether they be black, white, asian, Muslim or Jew - if there is a better poet, they should have been selected. If there is a single performer, whether they be black, white, asian, Muslim or Jew better than Elizabeth Alexander, they should have been selected to read it. (It seems to me, offhand, that any of the hundreds of thousands of members of Actor's Equity would have done a better job: picking any one of them at random would have produced a better result than this).

Perhaps President Obama was fooled by her credentials. Elizabeth Alexander is, after all, a Yale Professor - and he might, therefore, have expected much of her. However, as I noted from my own experience of Cambridge University, appointment at a prominent University is no guarantee of quality. Some people are very good at securing advancement for themselves despite limited ability in the area in which they are advanced. It is common for University academics to have good critical skills, but indifferent creative ones. From the evidence of yesterday's astonishing performance, Elizabeth Alexander may well be such an academic.

I hope never to see another appointment made by President Obama, for any other reason than merit. He lowers the world's view of him, by doing so. President Obama must surround himself by the best, if his administration is to be of the best. I cannot believe that Elizabeth Alexander is the best America had to offer. Quite simply, she should never have been there - and I should never have heard of her.

Please do better next time, President Obama: the United States deserves it.

(If you would like to learn more of Ainan Celeste Cawley, a scientific child prodigy, aged eight years and seven months, or his gifted brothers, Fintan, five years exactly, and Tiarnan, twenty-eight 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, the Irish, the Malays, Singapore, College, University, Chemistry, Science, genetics, left-handedness, precocity, child prodigy, child genius, baby genius, adult genius, savant, wunderkind, wonderkind, genio, гений ребенок prodigy, genie, μεγαλοφυία θαύμα παιδιών, bambino, kind.

We are the founders of Genghis Can, a copywriting, editing and proofreading agency, that handles all kinds of work, including technical and scientific material. If you need such services, or know someone who does, please go to: http://www.genghiscan.com/ Thanks.

This blog is copyright Valentine Cawley. Unauthorized duplication prohibited. Use Only with Permission. Thank you.)

Hollywood good guys and bad guys.

Hollywood is a world of good guys and bad guys, of lines between good and evil carefully drawn. It is world in which there can be no mistaking who is good and who is evil, unlike in the real world, in which spin, media control and other measures can obscure what is truly evil and make it seem to be better than it is.

Children, however, have a way of seeing through to the core of things. Fintan, five, likes his Hollywood films and cartoons as much as any other child, but he doesn't just watch them, he considers them, too.

The other day, he turned to his mother, suddenly, with a question on his lips, as is his way:

"Mummy: why do the bad guys always lose, when they are bigger?". His eyes puzzled up at hers, sure that something wasn't quite right in this picture.

Now, I don't, at this moment, know Syahidah's reply...but the question alone is revealing enough. He had spotted an inconsistency between film and reality. In the real world, the big guys tend to win. In film, this is not necessarily so: if they are big and EVIL, they will lose against the heroic good guy. Fintan wasn't happy with this picture since it conflicted with his understanding of likelihoods.

The funny thing about it is that many adults may have overlooked the truth that Fintan had spotted: the EVIL guy does tend to be more powerful, more dangerous, larger, more difficult to defeat - yet, he (it is usually a man) is always defeated by our daring Hollywood hero.

It is sweet to watch Fintan try to reconcile the world of the TV/Film/Cartoon to the real world, sketching out where they meet and where they do not. I find that he sees things that often we tend to overlook - perhaps because he is actually thinking about what he sees, instead of just receiving it passively.

I hope this habit of thought endures and that he is always someone to question what he sees and what he learns.

Regarding the winning of the good guy...if only it were always so in the real world, too.

(If you would like to learn more of Ainan Celeste Cawley, a scientific child prodigy, aged eight years and seven months, or his gifted brothers, Fintan, five years exactly, and Tiarnan, twenty-eight 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, the Irish, the Malays, Singapore, College, University, Chemistry, Science, genetics, left-handedness, precocity, child prodigy, child genius, baby genius, adult genius, savant, wunderkind, wonderkind, genio, гений ребенок prodigy, genie, μεγαλοφυία θαύμα παιδιών, bambino, kind.

We are the founders of Genghis Can, a copywriting, editing and proofreading agency, that handles all kinds of work, including technical and scientific material. If you need such services, or know someone who does, please go to: http://www.genghiscan.com/ Thanks.

This blog is copyright Valentine Cawley. Unauthorized duplication prohibited. Use Only with Permission. Thank you.)

Perez Hilton/Mario Lavandeira, blogger: the meaning of his success.

Perez Hilton, whose real name is the less euphonious, Mario Lavandeira, is one of the world’s most successful “bloggers”. I use the quotation marks because what he puts on his blog does not compare to what most serious bloggers are trying to do. In brief, Perez Hilton blogs about the doings of the famous – and has an undying interest in the trivial. His blog consists of everything an intelligent person wouldn’t want to know, about people an intelligent person wouldn’t want to know in the first place.

It worried me to learn that Perez Hilton’s eponymous website secures around 100 million visitors per month. That is an astonishing number compared to the typical blog and is indicative, not of Perez Hilton’s greatness as a writer, but of his audience’s lack of discrimination. Now, I am not going to criticize his readership, for themselves, nor blame them as individuals for being interested in such classic items as: “Faeces throwing monkey” and “Soledad O’Brien: not as nice as she looks”. Other posts call Joaquin Phoenix’s rap debut, a “joke”, praise Whitney Houston’s good looks, and speculate that Courtney Love’s daughter Frances Bean (all of 16) has the hots for Robert Pattinson, of Twilight fame.

It all comes across as extremely unimportant, vapid, trivial and ultimately valueless. Yet, it sells. A hundred million people a month pop by to read what Perez Hilton considers important enough to highlight in Hollywood gossip. It is also making Mario Lavandeira a rich man: last year he earnt two million US dollars.

The big question is: why? Why do so many people actually waste precious time in their lives actually reading such material? The answer is that the culture in which they live has lost sight of what is important. They grow up surrounded by the trivial masquerading as important – and so lose the ability to distinguish what is worthy of attention, from what should be ignored. Everything Mario Lavandeira/Perez Hilton writes, should be ignored by anyone of any discernment – and probably is. However, there are millions of people who find the most minor deeds or misdeeds of “celebrities” fascinating enough to pop by for a daily read of “Perez Hilton, Queen of all Media”.

I am not sure whether this global fascination for the trivial is a temporary cultural issue, or whether it is indicative of a lasting decline in the mental powers of the human race. You see people who are thinking about whether Joaquin Phoenix really should shave, are people who are not thinking about anything more important. When you have a whole human race doing that, then matters are dire. From Perez Hilton’s traffic it would seem that a significant chunk of the human race are, in fact, preoccupied with matters as trivial as whether a particular 16 year old girl fancies Robert Pattinson, or not.

It is my hope that our present era of triviality will pass and usher in an era of more substance. However, the signs don’t look good. The celebrity culture has a great momentum about it. More and more media space is consumed with gossip on the most trivial of individuals. Then, on top of this, there is a generation on generation decline in the intellectual (genetic) quality of the human race as a whole, which is well documented and has been going on since at least the 19th century. (see Richard Lynn)

It looks like the future will be as the present, only worse – and the Perez Hilton’s of the world will find it as easy to make two million dollars a year, in the future, as they do, today.

Incidentally, Perez Hilton/Mario Lavandeira’s site was so busy it took me several minutes to load on both of the two occasions I have ever visited the site, in my life (both for research purposes, I hasten to add!). I found the whole experience rather uncomfortable and, had I not the need to come to understand the Perez Hilton/Mario Lavandeira phenomenon, I probably would not have bothered waiting.

The fact that Mario Lavandeira’s gossip can attract so many visitors leads me to ask one question: if Albert Einstein were alive today, and had a blog, would he attract 100 million visitors a month, even with his global fame?

I seriously doubt it. It is more likely that Einstein would attract a few hundred thousand interested souls lost in a dessert of others, consumed with whether a particular star brushes their teeth often enough.

We live in trivial times – fingers crossed for deeper ones, to come. A good sign would be if Perez Hilton’s site hit rate began to drop precipitously. Should it ever fall below a million a month, perhaps we could breathe more easily and look forward to more considered times ahead.

Here’s hoping.

(If you would like to learn more of Ainan Celeste Cawley, a scientific child prodigy, aged eight years and seven months, or his gifted brothers, Fintan, five years exactly, and Tiarnan, twenty-eight 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, the Irish, the Malays, Singapore, College, University, Chemistry, Science, genetics, left-handedness, precocity, child prodigy, child genius, baby genius, adult genius, savant, wunderkind, wonderkind, genio, гений ребенок prodigy, genie, μεγαλοφυία θαύμα παιδιών, bambino, kind.

We are the founders of Genghis Can, a copywriting, editing and proofreading agency, that handles all kinds of work, including technical and scientific material. If you need such services, or know someone who does, please go to: http://www.genghiscan.com/ Thanks.

This blog is copyright Valentine Cawley. Unauthorized duplication prohibited. Use Only with Permission. Thank you.)

A Singaporean Shopping Trip.

A few days ago, Syahidah was shopping in Orchard Road with Tiarnan, two, and Fintan, five. As she did so, a characteristic moment occurred that illuminated their brotherly relationship.

They were in Toys R Us and Syahidah said to Fintan:

"We are going to look at Ben 10 stuff."

Fintan gasped, understanding something: "You mean Tiarnan’s toy for his birthday present?". He turned then, to his little brother Tiarnan: "Close your eyes."

Tiarnan was not entirely convinced: "But if I close my eyes I cannot see when I walk."

Fintan insisted: "You must close your eyes. You can hold my hand."

Tiarnan considered this briefly then agreed: "OK".

They walked, then, together, throughout the shop. Tiarnan's eyes were closed as requested, and he held onto Fintan, trusting his brother to guide him.

At one point, Fintan informed Tiarnan: "There are steps ahead." Tiarnan had his own idea about that. Syahidah thought that Tiarnan, at that moment, peeked from behind slitted eyes, just to be doubly sure.

She thought it very sweet to see them navigate the stairs and shop together, Fintan so careful with the safety of his little brother.

It is warming to see siblings so supportive of each other. I feel fortunate that the brothers get along so well together. There is, at least so far, none of the sibling rivalry that one hears so much about. There is no "jockeying for position", no competitiveness, no dislike of the others' achievements, successes or abilities. There is only this supportive togetherness in which each looks out for the others. It is an ideal situation and I hope it persists. I would not like to see it to decline into a situation of mutual rivalry and competitiveness. That would be such a pity considering how warm they are to each other, at this time.

Incidentally, Fintan was so good and so careful at guiding Tiarnan that he never bumped into anything and didn't even stub his toe. Well done Fintan.

(If you would like to learn more of Ainan Celeste Cawley, a scientific child prodigy, aged eight years and seven months, or his gifted brothers, Fintan, five years exactly, and Tiarnan, twenty-eight 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, the Irish, the Malays, Singapore, College, University, Chemistry, Science, genetics, left-handedness, precocity, child prodigy, child genius, baby genius, adult genius, savant, wunderkind, wonderkind, genio, гений ребенок prodigy, genie, μεγαλοφυία θαύμα παιδιών, bambino, kind.

We are the founders of Genghis Can, a copywriting, editing and proofreading agency, that handles all kinds of work, including technical and scientific material. If you need such services, or know someone who does, please go to: http://www.genghiscan.com/ Thanks.

This blog is copyright Valentine Cawley. Unauthorized duplication prohibited. Use Only with Permission. Thank you.)

On considering the future of Mankind.

At times, I consider the future of Mankind, indeed, the future of not only Mankind, but of all life. It seems to me that, if not enough people give this matter due consideration, there may not be such a future, at all.

It doesn't take much observation to see that modern Mankind is a short-term thinker, in general: we are polluting our world, pushing thousands of species to extinction, annually, using up irreplaceable resources, ruining our climate, killing thousands, even millions of people, in far away places as a kind of national hobby, and devoting major portions of national budgets to institutionalized murder (war). We are, in short, a brutish species masquerading as an enlightened one.

Yet, I hope for a better future. I hope for a future with a more enlightened Mankind at its helm. There are, after all, among the people of the world, those who do consider the environment, who do seek to preserve species and prevent their loss. There are people who think ill of war and wish for a more peaceful world. There are those who are careful with resources and decry their waste. There is an environmental movement and there are peacemakers. There are even space programmes which promise a long term future for Man, by allowing us to expand beyond the confines of the Earth. There is, therefore, hope for Mankind, if these nascent positive forces are not drowned out, but come to prevail.

There are many short-term risks which Mankind needs to overcome if it is to survive: the forces of religious conflict, the possibility of epidemic, natural or man made, the spectre of global terrorism. These are all things which could, in the worst possible scenarios, bring the human race to an abrupt end. Beyond that, however, are other matters that are not to do with human actions. There is the aging of the Sun, its eventual swelling and swallowing of the Earth. This will require us to leave the Earth in the distant future for the outer planets, or other stars. Beyond that there is the dying of the stars, and the darkening of the Universe. One day it shall be colder than cold and darker than dark. It shall end as scattered neutron stars and black holes and not a lot else. It is unlikely that we shall be able to endure in such a world. There are, however, possible solutions, as detailed by physicist Michio Kaku. He has listed a number of escape routes that Mankind might use one day: use of naturally occurring wormholes, travel through black holes (using a probe), creation of negative energy, manufacture of baby universes (yes, making our own universe...now who said something about "playing God"), use of multi-light year sized atom smashers/particle accelerators (apparently feasible for a "Type III civilization"), and nuclear powered laser implosion machines. The idea behind all of these schemes is the finding of or construction of, a portal to somewhere else - another Universe, basically. My favourite is making baby Universes, which, according to physicist Dr. Guth, would actually only require: 1089 photons, 1089 electrons, 1089 positrons, 1089 neutrinos, 1089 antineutrinos, 1079 protons, and 1079 neutrons. Apparently, an entire Universe could be built from that - it reminds me of the five loaves and fish of one Mr. Jesus Christ.

Now, I give consideration to the long-term future survival of Mankind, because I value what Mankind is - or what the best of Mankind is. It seems to me that there could be no greater pity than that all of Mankind and His works should be lost, in time, or at the end of time. It would, in a sense, make all of what we do and are, utterly pointless. To let our lives and our race have lasting meaning, something of it must endure, for all time, then beyond time. There should be Mankind at the cold dark end of the Universe, (or his evolved descendants), and there should also be Mankind surviving this era, in other "Universes" if such there can be. All that we are, must not end.

I am conscious that, in thinking of the long-term future of Mankind, in this manner, that I am one of few who do. Dr. Michio Kaku has already given much consideration as to how Mankind could survive the end of the Universe - so there are others out there thinking on this matter - and so there should be, if we are to stand a chance of long-term survival, as a race and civilization. My thinking and concern, is in sharp contrast to those I talked to, a while ago and wrote of in another post, who didn't give a damn about the future of Mankind. So, though not alone in my consideration of this matter, I am probably outnumbered by those who just don't care. Such people should not be allowed to prevail, but those of longer term vision, should be empowered to do so.

In a way, it feels strange to be concerned for unborn people, civilizations and races far beyond my time. For though I am concerned about them, it is extremely unlikely that any of them will ever know of my concern, or care that I was concerned. It is, therefore, a unilateral, unidirectional concern. Those who consider the long-term future of Mankind, will not themselves be considered by that future, should it ever come. We shall, instead, be forgotten and it will be as if we had never been. Yet, though we do what we can to ensure that there is a far future, that far future will not know of us. Nevertheless, we still must do what we can, in whatever way we can, for those we hope shall be, in thousands, millions, billions of years from now. You see, if we are not concerned and do not act appropriately, they are very unlikely ever to be. Then, it is sure, that our civilization will go unremembered and unremarked, for there will be no-one to remember and to remark. If anything of what we are is to survive, we need to ensure that we have survivors, that we have descendants, that there are remote, far future civilizations descended from "modern" Man.

To do so, we must cultivate long-term thinking of our own. The environment should not be harmed. Species must be preserved. Resources must not be squandered. Wars should not be waged. Space must be colonized. Culture, science and technology, should be high priorities and all capable of such work, should be well-supported. If all these things are done, Mankind is likely to have a long-term future. It may be that Man will one day fill the galaxy and perhaps beyond. It may be that Man will watch the darkening of the Universe. It may well be that one day, Mankind may, as Michio Kaku dreams, (and I had pondered on, long before I had ever heard of Michio Kaku) start new Universes and populate them with our kind. Man could endure forever - but only if we take the steps necessary today, to ensure the security of all life on Earth and take the first steps beyond it, in the near future.

(If you would like to learn more of Ainan Celeste Cawley, a scientific child prodigy, aged eight years and seven months, or his gifted brothers, Fintan, five years exactly, and Tiarnan, twenty-eight 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, the Irish, the Malays, Singapore, College, University, Chemistry, Science, genetics, left-handedness, precocity, child prodigy, child genius, baby genius, adult genius, savant, wunderkind, wonderkind, genio, гений ребенок prodigy, genie, μεγαλοφυία θαύμα παιδιών, bambino, kind.

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