What a genius needs.

More than creativity, a genius needs courage, for there is nothing more hostile than a world confronted with a new idea.

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To learn more of Ainan Celeste Cawley, 10, or his gifted brothers, Fintan, 7 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.

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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.)

Granddaddy vs Grandson

Today, we went to the zoo with my father, and his grandchildren.

As part of the tour, we took a tram around the zoo. Tiarnan, 24 months, sat through the first stop on the journey. At the second, however, he stood up on his seat - which, quite clearly, was a precarious position, in a vehicle that could move off at any moment.

My father intervened: "Sit down Tiarnan!", he ordered, firmly.

Tiarnan didn't take kindly to being ordered about. He rounded on my father swiftly, his index finger on his left hand rising to chide him. "Naughty boy!", he replied, scolding my Dad.

It was hilarious to see his little figure standing up to my father (who by most standards is a large, very well built man - a giant by local measures, in mass, if not in height). It was a David vs Goliath confrontation - but more so, for the disparity was much greater. Tiarnan is petite, but my father is most robust.

The tableaux imprinted itself on my mind: the smallest of children, versus the largest of men. What made it even funnier was the sureness with which Tiarnan confronted his grandfather. Little though he is, he was absolutely certain of himself, of his position, of his view, of his ability to stand up to such a large man, as my Dad. Never for a moment did he consider it out of place for someone so small to berate someone so large. Another matter of note was the passion with which he scolded my father: clearly, he really felt his words, in the moment of their utterance. Here is a boy true to his feelings.

He repeated his action, again, later in the day, but this time with a self-aware humour: he raised his finger, and uttered his words again: "Naughty boy!" he told my father, with a big smile, at himself and at what he had said. This time, however, they were not said with directed force, but with a reminiscent humour.

What a funny little passionate boy he is. I think there are many more interesting moments to come, from him. He is too sure of himself, for it to be otherwise. I will watch with interest.

Tiarnan is the first of my father's grandchildren to call him a "naughty boy". He was enchanted.

(If you would like to learn more of Ainan Celeste Cawley, a scientific child prodigy, aged eight years and one month, or his gifted brothers, Fintan, four years and seven months, and Tiarnan, two years exactly, 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, gifted adults and gifted children in general. Thanks.)

A child's book shelf

There is a bookshelf, in our house, in fact, more than one. The child's book shelf I wish to speak of, is by the wall in the living room. It is of an unusual appearance, being a furniture book shelf, that is round in design, not rectangular.

Now, this bookshelf doesn't have a ladder leaning against it. Indeed, there is no ladder accessible in our house (from the days we found Tiarnan at the top of it, of his own accord, while a matter of several months old).

About two months ago, I heard a little squeal coming from the living room. When I looked in the room, I found that Tiarnan, who had been quietly playing, had found an altogether unorthodox use for a bookshelf. There was a strange new addition to the top shelf of my book shelf. There, balancing carefully on top of the books, was my son, Tiarnan (eighteen months at the time). Somehow, he had climbed to the top of the bookshelf - and had done so without, as I could see, knocking off any books.

Once he had got to the top, he found that going down didn't look so inviting - hence the squeal. I reached up and took him down.

This is just another adventure in our daily life with a little spiderman/spiderbaby/spidertoddler. With him, nothing is safe from being climbed. So far, he has yet to fall off anything - but I really don't want there ever to be a first time. He attempts to climb everything that looks even vaguely possible - and always succeeds, as far as I can see. Perhaps he was born to be a mountaineer (or comes from mountain-living stock!) - for he just can't stop climbing.

Although he enjoys climbing, I would rather he took up a safer pursuit - like reading the books, instead of climbing on the bookshelves (he does like books, actually, too).

If you have a climbing baby, no doubt you, too, have had the experience of finding your child in strange places. With Tiarnan, this is a fairly regular occurrence. Oh well...

(If you would like to learn more of Ainan Celeste Cawley, a scientific child prodigy, aged seven years and ten months, or his gifted brothers, Fintan, four years and three months, and Tiarnan, twenty 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, precocity, 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.)

Tiarnan, the brave

Last night Tiarnan, fourteen months, did something very interesting.

He pointed to a gap between the bed and the wall. He found it curious...like he was asking: "What is down there?"

I took the opportunity to tease him. I slid my hand down the side of the bed, then pretended some unseen monster had caught my hand and started tugging at it, making me thrash around, with a bit of added, appropriate-seeming, noise from my mouth, rather like a dog gnawing a bone.

I suddenly pulled my hand out, unscathed.

He looked at me in a kind of wonder, his eyes wide, his mouth quiet. Then he did something rather brave, considering what he had just seen. He slid his hand slowly down the side of the bed, clearly waiting for the unseen "Thing" to grab a hold of his hand and thrash him around.

Nothing happened.

He turned to me suddenly and said: "Daddy, look! It's gone!" Then he took his hand out.

I pretended to be surprised at this and slid my hand down there again, and began to thrash about, once more, accompanied by my bone-gnawing sound.

He smiled, and understood at once. He put his hand down there...and began to thrash around like me, with his own impression of the bone-gnawing sound. He understood that I had been teasing him. He took his hand out and smiled broadly at me.

What impressed me was the initial courage he showed in putting his hand down there, when I had convinced him, the first time, that some unseen creature would attack his hand. He had seen daddy do it. He had seen what happened to daddy - but he went ahead all the same. Brave boy.

The second time he did it, was also interesting, for it showed how quick he was to understand that it was just a game.

Tiarnan's sentences are also becoming longer. That was an implicit five word utterance. (Daddy, look! It is gone!"). Again, one may note that the structures are grammatically correct - just as his three word sentences were when he was eight months. It is interesting to observe what a good grasp of grammar even a young baby may have. It seems to me that would take a lot of analytical power to work out so young.

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

Tiarnan tries inter-species communication

At the Imax theatre, yesterday, there were many giant images of animals projected on the hemispherical screen. Among them were lions - giant gaze filling lions.

Now, what do you think Tiarnan did when he saw a giant lion appear before him? Cry perhaps? Cower away, as any baby might on being confronted by something so alien, bristling with giant teeth?

Nope. He looked up at the great cat and tried to talk to it. "Grrrhh", he said, in a minute and most endearing growl, as if the giant cat would be able to hear him. Tiarnan tried to enter into a dialogue with the cat. He knew lions made such noises and had deduced that was Lion Speak...the language of the lions and thought he would have a go at it.

Sweet.

Tiarnan and the fifty foot animals: Imax

Yesterday, Tiarnan, thirteen months, sat and watched a safari documentary, on Imax.

Perhaps you don't know what Imax is: it is a film format that allows the projection of the image onto a very large curved screen that enfolds the audience, filling the entire field of vision from far left to far right - from high above, to far below. It is not a 360 degrees format because chairs are in the way and audience, too...but it is pretty much as close as you can get in a cinema.

There is another thing about Imax you should know: the images are enormous. Everything is far bigger than it is in a conventional cinema. Every animal was a giant monster. Every vista endless. The scale is what is stunning to an adult. To a young child it is usually frightening.

When Ainan first saw an Imax film, he found it frightening. Fintan was terrified of it, when it came to his turn. Yet, surprisingly, Tiarnan reacted without fear, at all - he just displayed an intense curiosity about the animals on the screen all around him. Tiarnan's reaction was just pure curiosity.

I find it interesting the way each child reacts differently, when exposed to the same stimulus. There are such variations between the children - and yet they are brothers. How much greater, therefore, are the differences between children who are not brothers?

Truly, we humans are a various breed. I find that encouraging: for perhaps there is room among us, for all kinds, and all outlooks and all perceptions. The only battle then, is for us to accept each other - whatever kind we might be. Looking at the world, however, it seems that that battle has only just begun.

(If you would like to learn more of Tiarnan, thirteen months, or his gifted brothers, Ainan Celeste Cawley, a scientific child prodigy, aged seven years and three months, and Fintan, three, please go to: http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2006/10/scientific-child-prodigy-guide.html I also write of gifted education, IQ, intelligence, child prodigy, child genius, baby genius, adult genius, savant, the creatively gifted, gifted children and gifted adults, in general. Thanks.)

Fintan's Christmas request

We had an unusual Christmas day.

We took a day trip to Sentosa Island - which is a resort island near Singapore, across a bridge, in fact. It is Singapore's theme park island. The entire island consists of attractions nestled in landscaped gardens and manicured beaches. There are all sorts of theme park like rides. Singapore is a small island, but it makes every effort to be self-contained, so Sentosa is designed to fulfil the desire in people for a resort experience - and it is no coincidence that an "Integrated Resort" (for that read Casino complex) is soon to be built on the island.

We only took two rides: the "Luge" and a cable car. The Luge I enjoyed - it was like a bobsleigh run, without the danger - for velocities were lower and it wasn't in a narrow channel, but a wide, downward sloping road. Under the force of gravity, we rolled past one another, jostling for position, as if in a race. I had Fintan on my cart, Syahidah had Ainan on hers - a boy nestled between our protecting legs, lest we bumped into something or someone.

The cable car, however, was a different matter. It looked innocent enough at first, with the car floating only about ten feet above the ground, shortly after it left the starting platform. Each "car" was actually an open bench, attached to the cable above by only - and this detail worried me - the friction of a single biting grip from a single arm. Looking at it, I couldn't help but notice that, in theory, a large enough weight could rotate the grip and free the car from the cable.

We were asked to sit down on either side of the boys. I sat on the right most side, Syahidah on the left most side, Ainan on my inside, Fintan on hers. The bench was open to the sky and to the ground below, but for a single bar that came over the top and settled at belly height in front of us. We were encouraged to hold the bar - and, it being the only thing to hold onto, we did.

At first I didn't feel uncomfortable, because the ground was quite close below. However, the car soon began to rise, and rise, and rise - until the trees were quite far below us and the distance to the ground lookedly awfully unsurvivable. I felt then the precariousness of my position in the car. Looking down I saw the ground far below, trees, cars and a road passing by below. Looking up I saw that only a firm grip by a metal hand on a cable held us in place. Note that the grip was not a closed loop, but open on the underside - so a strong enough force on the car, could rotate it free. In between we sat, on an open bench, with only a single bar between us and what lay below.

Oddly, the car was tilted towards me, since I am well over twice the weight of my wife. So we proceeded, high above the land below, at an angle determined by my excessive frame.

I have painted the experience as it felt, for a reason. Towards the end of the trip, at one of the highest points above the ground, Fintan, three, who is ever courageous, looked straight down at the ground below, and announced: "I want to go again, Daddy."

He did. I didn't.

(If you would like to read more about Fintan, or his gifted brothers, including scientific child prodigy Ainan Celeste Cawley, seven years and one month, or baby Tiarnan, aged eleven months, please go to: http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2006/10/scientific-child-prodigy-guide.html I also write of child prodigy, child genius, adult genius, savant, the creatively gifted, gifted adults and gifted children in general. Thanks.)

Fintan Cawley, Child Hero

How young can a hero be? What is heroism? Where does it come from?

From watching my child, Fintan Nadym Cawley, 3, I would say that a toddler or a baby can be a hero. If the child is able to understand the idea of danger and is able to make a decision to face that danger in order to help another, at personal risk to themselves, then that child is a hero.

Fintan Nadym Cawley is a hero. He is only three years old, but he has the characteristics that make up a hero. I have often noted his courage in his daily play, in the situations he gets into, and the way he reacts to them. He is not afraid. He is not tearful. Indeed, in some situations in which other children would be crying, he is laughing, as if thrilled to be facing the challenge and enjoying doing so.

Today I will give one sweet example. His elder brother, Ainan Celeste Cawley, six, had been walking down the road near his grandmother's house, when, suddenly, and without any forewarning, a dog leapt forward from a house with an open gate - and started barking aggressively at him. Ainan was startled and frightened, for the dog was large, the bark was loud and ferocious - and the gate was open. He ran away as fast as he could, bursting into tears at the shock as he did so. The dog did not make chase beyond the territory of his house grounds, however - though how was Ainan to know that he wouldn't? He thought he was about to be savaged by a dog let free.

Ainan Celeste Cawley's reaction is understandable. Any child faced with sudden personal danger and fright of that kind, from an animal larger than themselves, would cry. Fintan Nadym Cawley's reaction however, was of a very different kind.

"What happened Abang?" he asked concernedly. Abang means "older brother".

Ainan explained about the dog's sudden seeming attack.

Fintan was at once emboldened - and outraged. "Where? Where is it?", he demanded, his head turning and already looking around for something that he wanted. "I will kill it with my stroller!", he vowed, his stocky body filled with resolution and certainty of will.

"No Fintan!" we cried as one and moved forward to restrain him. For Fintan Nadym Cawley, three, would, undoubtedly, have taken his stroller and proceeded along the road to challenge the dog - and punish it for what it had done to his beloved Abang, Ainan Celeste Cawley.

We were touched, by this display of brotherly love - and bravery.

Where was Fintan's fear? Why was he unafraid to challenge a dog that was many times his weight and bulk, all teeth and bark? In Fintan the affront he felt that his beloved brother should be so upset, so endangered, denied the possibility of fear: it simply did not well up in him, as it would in others. All he was concerned about was the need to protect his brother - and right this wrong.

Ainan Celeste Cawley, 6, is a scientific child prodigy - but his younger brother Fintan Nadym Cawley is a hero - and I don't think either is more special than the other. Both characteristics define them as special, in differing, but equally important ways. One is a gift of the mind, the other a gift of character. Depending on the demands of a situation one becomes more important than another, but, in absolute terms, neither is supreme: both are valuable qualities in a man, for one day, both will be men: one a genius, the other a hero. I am happy with that.

For more on Fintan Nadym Cawley, as a natural leader see:

http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2006/09/leader-of-pack_25.html