The Nurburgring race track, Germany

I have to come that the true purpose of children, is to surprise their parents. That, after all, is what my children do, with astonishing regularity.

A few weeks ago, Fintan, seven, was in a shopping centre, with me. We were walking past an electronics store. Outside it, were some high end televisions, showing glossy images, to attract attention. One of them showed a racing car in action.

"That", said Fintan, as he stopped in his tracks, "is the Nurburgring."

Personally, I was flabbergasted. How on Earth could Fintan recognize a German race track, from a few seconds of footage on a TV?

"How do you know that?", I asked Fintan.

"Anyone knows that.", said Ainan, with an implicit shrug.

"Really?", I countered, looking at him, intently. "How many seven year olds do you know, that recognize the Nurburgring, from a glimpse?"

"Ah.", said Ainan, coming to a realization, "Yes. Among seven year olds, perhaps none of them would recognize it...but among those who know about racing..."

"Yes...and how many youngsters do?"

Ainan fell silent, his wordlessness sufficient agreement for my liking.

I thought the whole incident very informative for the way my son's mind worked. He only needed a fragmentary image of the Nurburgring, to recognize it. That can only mean that he is very visual in his thinking - or at least one aspect of it - and is able to match parts of images with ease. I was impressed, for it was something that, at forty two, I could not do. I simply didn't know enough about racing to recognize the tracks. Fintan, at seven, however, had imbibed enough background knowledge, from his shared passion for cars, with Ainan, to do so, in an instant.

Like I said, to be a father, can be surprising, at times, but also humbling...for though young, little children may be able to do things, that one cannot do oneself - and they do it, without apparent effort.

Well done, Fintan!

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Ainan's historical perspective on cars.

A few days ago, Ainan, ten, made a remark that, upon reflection, seems to echo with significance, for what it says about the history of our world.

"The losers in World War II," he observed, intently, "are the winners in modern cars."

He went on to explain himself, "The Germans and the Japanese make great cars...but British and American cars are just lame."

I was struck by the oddness of this observation - and its truth. Germans are famous for the quality of their cars - and some Japanese firms, too...but, though Americans like to crow about their technological superiority, they are not known for their great cars. They are mainly known, in the car field, to my mind, for poor mileage and that is about it.

Ainan had noted something odd: how is it that the two nations who LOST World War II should end up so superior in the design, manufacture and engineering of such a basic modern technology as the car? It instinctively seems the wrong outcome. It seems that the shock of losing World War II has energized something in these two nations and brought out a greatness they weren't quite able to muster in the War. Perhaps, indeed, losing the War was their making, in an unexpected fashion.

How funny that Ainan - whose primary interests are purely scientific and technological - should have noted this historical oddity.

(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.

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It is time to uninvent the gun.

It is time to uninvent the gun. No other invention has led to the death of more people than this simple device. If I had the power to remove one thought from the mind of Humanity, it would be the concept of the gun.

Today, a 17 year old teenage gunman opened fire on kids at his former high school, in Winnenden, 20 km north-east of Stuttgart. He managed to kill 15 people, including three teachers, before he was slain by police. This is the worst such shooting in Germany since 2002 when a 19 year old, Robert Steinhaeuser, did something very similar by shooting 12 teachers, two students, a secretary and a police officer before turning the gun on himself. This happened at Gutenberg high school in Erfurt. (Apparently, the young gun club member had been expelled from school for forging a doctor's note: his response was to kill as many people as he could.)

Now, neither of these events would have been possible if the gun had never been invented. Quite simply, a teenage boy with a knife, for instance, no matter how determined he is, is far less deadly than the same boy with a firearm. People can run from a knife, they can't run from a bullet.

The US, of course, is famous for its shootings. In fact, the school shooting is as American as the hamburger: what, in fact, would America be without its school shootings? There is seriousness, in my comedy, sadly - for such events are far too common in America. The reason, of course, is quite obvious: Americans have easy access to guns, so an American with a grudge becomes a school shooter/restaurant rampager/car jacker, all too quickly. What would be a minor altercation in a non gun-owning society, becomes mass murder in a gun owning one.

Singapore recently had its taste of sudden, unexpected violence when David Hartanto Widjaja, allegedly attacked his supervising professor with a knife, then, again allegedly, killed himself. Had David Hartanto Widjaja had access to an automatic weapon the headline might have gone a little bit like this: "Indonesian Chinese boy kills 25 at NTU." Thankfully, access to guns is strictly controlled in Singapore, making such a headline, in Singapore, extremely unlikely. However, I should point out that the David Hartanto Widjaja situation indicates that the ONLY reason Singapore does not have headlines like that, is because the students are not armed. Were Singapore's students as likely to be armed as Americans (or Germans), then, I am sure, that Singapore would have its own long list of school shootings.

The recipe for school shootings is a simple one and Singapore has all the ingredients except one: the guns. All you have to do is put students under tremendous pressure to succeed; make school quite hellish and cold; be just a little inhuman to the student body and keep this up for a decade and a half. Many students, under such conditions, will crack. Those that crack while holding a gun in their hands will take down half their college faculty with them. The only thing saving Singapore from a great shortage of professors is the absence of guns.

The solution, of course, is very simple: take the guns away. Societies that don't have guns, don't have mass shootings. It is terribly obvious. Any society that allows ownership of guns is one that has to accept that the presence of guns will lead to sudden, unexpected large scale violence that can kill many people. Often those people will be schoolchildren.

We can't uninvent the gun, pity though it is. However, we can remove guns from society. It would, I think, be a much better world if every nation on Earth took away the guns. Once the guns are gone, murder rates will fall and every nation will be spared terrible tragedies like the one that unfolded in Germany today.

Many people tend to leap to defend guns, once someone suggests their removal. We have to look, however, at the motives of such people: usually they haven't thought broadly about the situation. All they are thinking is: "I want a gun, to protect myself from the other guy who has a gun." Well, they never seem to consider that nobody having a gun, is better than everybody having a gun. People can't shoot you with their bare hands.

A completely disarmed world, is a much safer world, than a completely armed world. America has shown us what an (almost) completely armed society is like: a stupendous murder rate and mass murders with unrelenting frequency. Societies that traditionally do not have guns, tend also to have relative freedom from murder.

It is time for people to work together to achieve safer societies. All that has to be done is that everyone should agree that there will be no guns. Then take them away. Those that retain them need only be punished with the utmost severity to eliminate guns, entirely, over time.

The alternative, of course, is to invite headlines of the kind we have been speaking of. So choose: no news to report, or sensational headlines - which is it to be?

(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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Who is international aid to Myanmar feeding?

The callous imagination of the Myanmar junta goes beyond one's cruellest imagination. Latest reports suggest that food aid to Myanmar is being confiscated by the junta, with some, at least, confirmed to have been sent to a military warehouse.

The high-grade nutritional biscuits that were sent, were kept for the military - and instead, low-grade "tasteless" biscuits made in Myanmar were distributed. Thus, the good food that is sent is ending up in military bellies (or intended to end up there) - and bad, even "rotting food", as witnesses described the rice that was being given out, is being distributed instead.

So, now the international community has an even bigger moral dilemma. Should food aid be sent at all if it is not going to reach the needy? To send food aid and have it feed the military is to do nothing for the endangered and will only serve to strengthen their oppressors. Here we have a situation in which the international will to help the hungry and threatened, is being perverted by their ruling regime to become an effort which will only bolster those who oppress them.

France, Britain and Germany are of the opinion that aid should be forced on the junta. That is, the international community has a moral imperative to ensure that the endangered are saved - even if this means going against the will of the ruling military junta.

I tend to agree with them: logic bids me so. If our mission is to save the 2 million now in danger from an unfortunate death, they must receive food and medical aid. The junta will not give them either food or medicine and will, in fact, confiscate both, for its own purposes. Therefore neither food nor aid should be given to the junta to distribute, nor allowed to fall into their hands. The only way these 2 million people are going to be saved is if the international community ignores the junta and goes in directly. Unless this intervention consists solely of air drops (which might be confiscated), any aid workers would have to be accompanied by armed escort, lest this effort leads to violent confrontation.

So, the options in the situation are limited. To continue to deliver aid without workers to distribute it is only to ensure that nothing gets done for the afflicted - and that the regime have fuller bellies. To continue to stand by and wait for the junta to wake up and grow a conscience is to ensure that people will continue to die by the thousand. There is, therefore, only one logical answer: to go in with aid irrespective of the wishes of the ruling morons, oops, elite. That latter option could lead to confrontation but given the backward nature of the society, I am sure that advanced powers would have little difficulty managing the junta's response.

It is interesting to note who favours forced aid: Britain, France and Germany - among the most advanced humanitarian democracies in the world. It is even more telling who opposes it: Russia and China - two countries most like Myanmar. Indeed, on a footnote, China is now opposing foreign aid workers who wish to assist in their earthquake disaster - the exact same response as Myanmar. It seems that repressive regimes the world over, simply don't want their people to learn that foreigners are a much kinder bunch than they have been painted. If they ever learn the equation that democracy=concern for others, their repressive regimes are doomed. They would rather their people die by the millions than that they should ever learn what free countries are really like.

I dearly hope that someone has the strength to take the strong decisions that need to be made, if 2 million people in Myanmar are not to fall to hunger, lack of shelter and rampant disease.

(If you would like to learn more of Ainan Celeste Cawley, a scientific child prodigy, aged eight years and five months, or his gifted brothers, Fintan, four years and ten months, and Tiarnan, twenty-seven 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, niño, gênio criança, gifted adults and gifted children in general. Thanks.)

Traffic surge from the Netherlands, Austria, Germany

Yesterday, and today, have shown a significant increase in visitors from the Netherlands (about 900 visitors), Austria and Germany.

If you are visiting from any of these countries, could you please tell me how you heard about Ainan and this website. Was it a newspaper article, if so which one? If the article does not have an online version, could you scan it for me and mail it to me, please, for my records.

Your co-operation is much appreciated.

Thanks.

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