Fintan and the bully.

Fintan has recently started a new school. He is enjoying it and is making lots of friends. However, not everyone wants to be his friend. A couple of days ago, he told us a little tale of life at school.

"Daddy...today a bully came up to me and kicked me in the leg, for no reason."

I found the way he told of the incident very informative. He seemed genuinely puzzled that anyone, that he had never harmed, should wish to harm him. He had not encountered this kind of behaviour before.

"How did you respond?", I enquired, gently, hoping for one particular answer.

"I pushed him down to the ground.", he said, his gaze falling inward, to remember the moment.

"That's good.", I approved, for it was the kind of answer that I had hoped for.

So, Fintan, at six, has encountered his first bully - and, I think, bested him. You see Fintan did what the research on the effects of bullying says a child should do: fight back. It is the biggest mistake in the world, to tell a child to "turn the other cheek". You see if a child lets the bully get away with bullying, that child will never learn to assert themselves, to stand up for themselves, to face difficulties - they will always be hiding from them, and running from them. Fintan did the right thing - even if, I am sure, he did it in his own mild, slightly puzzled way.

Interestingly, the research I read recently says that children who fight back, when faced with bullying grow up to be much more socially competent than children who just hold in their response, and simmer away in resentment at the way they are being treated. The child who fights back, is much the more emotionally mature child. No doubt, there are other benefits, too. Perhaps next time that particular bully thinks of having a go at Fintan, he will pause and reflect that, the first time he tried it, didn't work out too well - and then pass on, and leave Fintan in peace.

So, my advice to Fintan, and any other kid who is bullied is simple: meet every hostility, with one of your own. In time, those who are trying to bully you, will just back off and leave you alone - and go off to pick on easier targets.

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

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

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

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

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

Does peer review work?

Peer review is the process by which journals evaluate articles submitted to them, to decide whether to publish them. It involves the commenting on the papers by anonymous "peers" - that is, others in the field. It is generally regarded as an integral part of the process of publication and is respected by many - but is it the right way to go?

I ask for a reason. Sometimes peers are not as insightful as one might suppose. Their views may be unfounded, misconceived or simply plain wrong - yet they determine whether a particular paper is published. A recent example comes to mind. I submitted a paper to a journal and received comments in due course. What I found interesting, was the difference in approach of the reviewers. One was positive in his examination of the paper, looking at the good and suggesting ways it could be even better. He thought the paper very interesting. The other reviewer, however, was extremely aggressive and seemed personally affronted by the paper. What was very telling about his review was that he had MISUNDERSTOOD THE PAPER. His critiques were based on perceived flaws that had no relevance to the paper. He even criticized it because he wrote that something was not included. In fact, it was included and was clearly stated early on in the paper. It was clear that he had not even read the paper with any care, at all.

Guess which reviewer the editor had been more influenced by? That is right: the negative review. Yet, the negative review was plain wrong in his understanding of the paper. His criticisms, though phrased in an erudite manner, were erroneous to the core. They showed that he did not understand the experiment, or why it had been conducted in the manner it had. Yet, rather than see through the problems with this reviewers review, the editor had, it is clear, been convinced by it. The other quite positive review was ignored in its favour.

Thus it is that the reviewer who saw value in the paper was ignored and the reviewer who did not understand the paper, won out. Clearly, this is not how it should be. Reviewers determine the fate of papers, yet reviewers may not be insightful, knowledgeable, impartial or understanding. Sometimes, reviewers write responses for reasons that have nothing to do with the contents of the paper itself. For instance, the negative reviewer seemed to take exception to my co-author, from comments he made, that, perhaps, he did not realize I would see.

I think that peer reviews should not be allowed to impede the dissemination of scientific work. They should take place after publication and not before. They should be public, for all to see - and perhaps it would be better if they were not anonymous, so that certain reviewers would not be free to pursue private agendas, in secret.

All papers should be publishable at once. Then, the assessment process should begin. The system, as is, lends itself to abuse. It is too easy to suppress another's work, to frustrate another's progress, if that is one's intent. It is also rather random whether or not reviewers are good - that is, whether they understand the work and are true to it - or not.

Personally, I found it rather odd that one reviewer should have expressed himself with such forceful hostility - and yet, the other reviewer clearly appreciated the work and was of a mind to let it be published, with some well chosen improvements. It was almost as if they had been reading different papers. (Except for the fact that the hostile reviewer hadn't read it carefully at all).

There are moves, in some quarters, towards changing the way peer review is done. There are some places where peer review takes place after publication. This is the best way - from the point of view of access to knowledge. I hope to see it become the predominant paradigm, in years to come. After all, for most of the history of science, peer review just was not done at all - and that didn't stop science from advancing. Einstein's four famous papers in his "annus mirabilis", of 1905, were not peer reviewed. They were simply published because the editor of the journal, in question, thought them interesting. Perhaps, today, he would have had problems publishing them at all, facing reviewers of the kind I encountered with my own paper: ones who did not understand the work in front of them.

History shows that scientific advancement is not dependent on peer review (which only really became dominant from the middle of the last century)...so why is academia so enamoured of it? Could it be that peer review, itself, needs to be reviewed?

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

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

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

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

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

The daredevil "spiderman" of the Cawleys.

Fintan is the kind of boy who surprises, not only by what he says, but by what he does. He surprises, because there is something in him that people overlook: they do not see the essence of the person, behind his friendly smile or his general sociability.

Last week, Fintan and his brothers, were climbing in a specially equipped climbing centre in Kuala Lumpur. This had several climbing walls and a giant boulder. On the walls, climbers were supposed to be tethered, since they were very high and a fall could easily result in serious injury. Yet, on the boulder - which was also pretty scarily high, if you ask me, people climbed untethered.

Fintan was climbing on the boulder. He was untethered and unaccompanied. However, his mother could see him from below. He was about five metres up, maybe more. He climbed with confidence and great certainty in his motions. Yet, he is only six years old. As she watched, Fintan did something unexpected. He leapt from one hold to another, propelling himself through space, five metres above the ground, to the next handhold, like some preternatural monkey. His aim was true and he grabbed onto the next hold, without incident. Down below, of course, his mother called up, in alarm and cautioned him. Fintan, heard, but carried on climbing, absolutely sure of what he was doing.

Many an eye watched Fintan as he climbed up the boulder, with fluid ease. He didn't only jump to his next hold, sometimes he swung himself from one hold to another, holding on with one hand as he did so. Again, he showed no fear, no worry at what he did: he just climbed on, with a joyful calmness. That cannot be said, of those who watched, below, however. I think many were worried that he might fall. He did, not, however.

This scene of a young boy showing casual courage, in an act of physical daring, is quintessentially Fintan. It makes me smile to think of it - but he showed a tendency to such courage very early on. Indeed, I have written, on this blog, of one instance, in which he wanted to fight a dog, who had scared his brother - he was only about three at the time. Now, at six, he still shows an innate bravery in how he conducts himself. Yet, I should point out, that his bravery is not without personal insight. He is brave on the rock, whilst climbing, largely because, I think, he knows what he can do. He is well co-ordinated. He is strong. He can hold his weight up, easily, on his fingers. His aim is sure. He just senses what he can do, without any real trouble. Yet, the fact that he is very high up, off the ground and any fall would lead to injury, doesn't bother him at all. He is very confident that he can handle the situation.

His courage whilst climbing is very noticeable, comparatively. Fintan, for instance, climbs to the top of the walls, he tasks himself with. Many climbers, young and old alike, "bottle out", when they realize how difficult it is, how high it is - and how scary it is, up there. Many adults quietly back out and climb back down, before reaching the top. Fintan, however, does not do that. He carries on up until he reaches the top of each challenge.

I am happy he has this quality. I only hope that he finds a meaningful purpose to bring this disposition to bear on. Courage, is OK, in itself - but courage should be deployed with a meaningful purpose. It is something which can be wasted on trivial pursuits that don't really make a difference in the world. That being said, I wouldn't like to see him put himself at undue risk. Whatever he does, I hope it is both meaningful and within the range of his competencies.

Happy climbing, Fintan!

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

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

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

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

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