A lesson of history.

Today, I told Fintan, 8, about the Spartans. I told him of their greatness as warriors, and their valor in battle, their great martial skill and their highly organized – and rather hard – culture. He listened, quietly and waited for me to finish. Then, his voice rose, in challenge, as if I had overlooked something obvious:

“But Dad, there are no more Spartans left.”

My response was a momentary – and appreciative – silence. He had a point.

“Yes. You are quite right, Fintan.”

Sometimes, a look at the modern world, is a profound lesson, itself, as to whom was really successful in history. How funny for Fintan to see through my tale of Spartan greatness, so readily. Then again, there are not many cultures who are truly great, by Fintan’s implicit measure: will our own people survive in 2,500 years time? At this point, there is no telling, though I hope so.

Posted by Valentine Cawley

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The Mayans, 2012 and the "end of the world".

Long ago, a people called the Mayans drafted a calendar. The only problem is that the last day is, I understand, December 21st 2012. It is a problem because, rather oddly, quite a few "modern" people seem to believe that because an ancient calendar had an end date in 2012 that also means the world must end with it. I find this rather bizarre.



Think about it. The idea that an ancient calendar somehow foretells the end of the world, simply because the calendar itself runs out of dates on a particular day is really quite mad. It has no more validity than if I make up a calendar, now, that suddenly stops on March 3rd, 3003. I then proceed to place many copies of this calendar in strategic locations around the world, likely to be found, but also likely to survive. Then, a thousand years later, all the world lives in fear of death, because of the "ancient" objects they discover that inexplicably end on a particular day. It is really quite bonkers.



That many people in the world are apparently concerned about the ancient Mayan "prophecy", is yet another sign that we do not live in rational times. Yes, there are some who are rational, but many of the "masses" are not. They persist in a non-scientific, somewhat "magical" view of the world, in which things can happen in ways that have no rational explanation, yet are accepted. This is, perhaps, a failing of education systems, around the world, for there is no better cure to "magical thinking" than a good scientific education. Once a person understands the fundamentals of science, a whole raft of superstitions, outlooks and world views seem ridiculous. Among them, of course, is the idea that the Mayans had privileged information about the future.



Now, it must be understood that my position does not come from a closed mind. I am open to all possibilities, however, I do like to see that they can be understood and explained - or at least have evidence for them. There is no evidence, that I am aware of, for Mayan prophetic abilities. If there were a consistent record of Mayan prophecies, recorded before the events they describe, which then took place as foretold, then I would worry about what might unfold in 2012. However, I have not heard of anyone speak of such things, nor have I read of it. Such a prophetic record would be a truly marvellous thing and would soon be known by all, were it found. I can therefore assume that it doesn't exist. In the absence of such a record, the idea that the ending of a calendar signifies the end of the world, can safely be ignored. It is of no more import than that the calendars, in every shop in the world, have 365 days in them, the 365th being the last.

So, relax about 2012 and "the end of the world". There is no RATIONAL reason to worry about it. That being said, of course, that does not mean that it won't be the end of the world - just that there is no reason to believe that the Mayans had any advance information on the issue.

The world will end one day. Yes. However, it is unlikely to be 2012. It will occur eventually, no matter what we do, when the Sun expands (unless we move the Earth..., which is quite a good idea, but also quite an engineering project).

Oh, and don't worry about the sun expanding to engulf the Earth. That would take 5 billion years. Though in a billion years or so, the Earth's oceans will boil away, making a day at the beach, a bit meaningless.

In all probability 2012 will be just like any other recent year. The only difference is that the Mayans will lose a certain cachet - and all those, too, who believed in their "prophetic calendar."

(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.

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

Fintan's sense of morality.

Fintan, five, was having a conversation today with his mother about the Romans.

"Why did they build forts, mummy?"

"Well, because when they won battles, they had to have somewhere to put everything they took. Then they could become more powerful.", she said, a little loosely.

He was unhappy with this answer. "Become more evil, you mean."

Syahidah was surprised at this moral view, coming from her five year old son. He had judged the ways of the Romans and instead, as many boys might have been, of being impressed with their military prowess and stratagems, he had just seen them as evil.

There are many ways a child can impress - doing so by showing a strong sense of what is right and what is wrong, is one of the better ones.

I am pleased to see that Fintan is able to make moral judgements like this - and that they seem so well judged, given the true nature of what the Romans were up to.

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.)