F1 racing cars from the perspective of a child.
Recently, Fintan, five and Tiarnan, two, went to a museum in Singapore that had some F1 racing cars on show.
They circulated, eyeing each car with great attention, very impressed with the glistening engineering on show. They were very excited to see these fast machines up close.
Then they came to a Singaporean made "F1" racing car. It had been constructed by NUS (the National University of Singapore). This one made the two brothers pause and stare at it in silence. There was something not quite right with this one.
Finally, Fintan spoke, addressing his silent mother: "Why did they make this broken car?"
He had seen its homemade nature and found it wanting. It was funny. For the car was mounted in a museum, on proud display - but all Fintan could see was its lack of finish and haphazard construction. The moment reminded me that often young children see the world more truly, for they see what is actually there - and not what they have been conditioned to believe is there. An adult looking at the same car, might just see that it is a racing car. A child looks at it and sees technological lack of finish, and shabbiness of construction. They don't see what it is supposed to be. They see what it is.
I like seeing the world through my children's eyes. It allows me to shrug off the veil of all my years, and see what adults long ago forget how to see: an uninterpreted world of the senses.
(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.
e 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.)
Labels: engineering, F1, Fintan, Formula One, In the eyes of a child, Museum, purity of vision, racing cars, Tiarnan

