The difference between China and Japan.

An advert, on the radio, made it clear to me, just now, quite what the difference is, internationally, between China and Japan.

The advert was for a new type of toothbrush that claimed to be able to leave your mouth cleaner than a traditional toothbrush. That, in itself, was not what interested me. It was the way they finished the ad that really caught my attention. It went a bit like this, “The Product X toothbrush…from Japan.”

They were using the word “Japan”, as a kind of brand to sell their own brand. All the many associations, in my head, and in the heads of us all, between “Japan” and “efficiency”, “attention to detail”, “well made”, and “hi tech”, sprang to mind. The implication was clear: this would be a quality product.

Now, I don’t know about you, but I have never heard an ad that said: “Made in China”, as the final, selling, punchline. Just consider the effect, on your perceptions, if they had. Would you buy it? Or would you think: “shoddy”, “cheaply made”, “dangerous”, “potentially poisonous”, “fragile”, “poor quality”; “fake” and so on?

Over the past few decades, Japan has built a reputation for quality and being at the leading edge of all that is to do with engineering, at least, in the ways that impact the consumer. China, on the other hand, has come to be seen, by most, as a bit of a scam artist of a nation. Few people trust their products to be reliable, of high quality or even safe (just recall all the scandals about lead paint in children’s toys, melamine in baby milk, fake rabies vaccines (that led to children dying from rabies) etc.).

China may be growing fast. It may even become an “economic superpower” in the next few decades – but it is a long, long way from achieving a good reputation, in the way Japan has. To my mind, this makes any Chinese success very susceptible to sudden collapse. What happens, for instance, when a critical mass of people in other countries decide that they have had enough of disappointments with products “Made in China” and turn away from their products, wholesale? It won’t be long before China’s economy deflates, when no-one is buying “Made in China” anymore.

An intelligent shopper is a cautious shopper. Many an intelligent shopper considers the trustworthiness, safety, durability and reliability of a product before buying it. This is particularly important if you are a parent and have children in the house to keep safe. Long experience has shown that “Made in China” is a ready indicator that these qualities are likely to be absent – and so it is that the intelligent shopper should thank China for making product selection that much easier.

China will only ever become a true economic superpower, secure in its position, if it manages to shed this well deserved reputation for shoddiness in its wares. The day that China is able to finish ads with “Made in China” and ensure a sale, is the day that China will really have made it. That day, however, is many decades away of hard, disciplined work, in changing its manufacturing habits, business practices and ethical outlook. In truth, in some way, the Chinese will have to become Japanese, to win the reputation in manufacturing and business, that the Japanese have. Until that day, I am quite prepared to buy “Made in Japan” but am most wary of buying “Made in China”. I doubt that I am alone in that assessment.

(If you would like to support my continued writing of this blog and my ongoing campaign to raise awareness about giftedness and all issues pertaining to it, please donate, by clicking on the gold button to the left of the page. To read about my fundraising campaign, please go to: http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2011/01/fundraising-drive-in-support-of-my.html and here: http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2011/01/fundraising-drive-first-donation.html

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.

There is a review of my blog, on the respected The Kindle Report here: http://thekindlereport.blogspot.com/2010/09/boy-who-knew-too-much-child-prodigy.html

Please have a read, if you would like a critic's view of this blog. Thanks.

You can get my blog on your Kindle, for easy reading, wherever you are, by going to: http://www.amazon.com/Boy-Who-Knew-Too-Much/dp/B0042P5LEE/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&m=AG56TWVU5XWC2&s=digital-text&qid=1284603792&sr=8-1

Please let all your fellow Kindlers know about my blog availability - and if you know my blog well enough, please be so kind as to write a thoughtful review of what you like about it. Thanks.

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.)

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.

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.)

Is Japan a culture of misery?

The first thing you should know about Japan, is that a lot of Japanese people kill themselves. By doing so, they declare, most potently, that something is not right in Japanese society.

Last year, 30,777 Japanese citizens made the ultimate criticism of their society: they killed themselves to get away from it. In a nation of 127 million Japanese, that is a rate of one person in 4,140 killing themselves every single year. Think about that number. Think about how many people you have met in your lifetime. If you were living in Japan someone - or perhaps several people - that you had personally met and known, would kill themselves, every single year. That is most sobering. Only Russia - a country of many troubles - can "boast" of a higher suicide rate.

I have never lived in Japan. I have never experienced what it is that makes so many Japanese people so miserable. However, I have met many Japanese people who have escaped from it, to some degree, for some time. What they say, is very telling.

I once knew a member of the government of a large Japanese city. He was living and working in Singapore. I asked: "When are you going back to Japan?"

"Never, I hope.", he said, with a surprising passion.

"Why?"

"Japan is a terrible society." His lips were tight with unpleasant memories.

"But you work in government!"

"I know."

I didn't get a fuller explanation out of him, unfortunately. He mumbled something about it being a "very unforgiving society" and wouldn't clarify more.

There is something awry in a country, when members of its own government perceive it as a terrible place.

What has brought me to discuss this matter is an event many of you will have heard of: the stabbing of 17 people - seven of whom have since died - by a 25 year old Japanese man, Tomohiro Kato, who was "tired of life" and wanted to take as many people with him as he could. He first crashed a vehicle into pedestrians in Akihabara - an electronics and maid cafe district in Tokyo - then jumped out and began stabbing the three people he had just run over. Then he rampaged through the area stabbing out at random, roaring all the while.

Shocking as this murderous event is, it is not an isolated incident in Japan. It is becoming a bit of a Japanese tradition. Japanese youngsters, sick of life, and sick of Japan, are taking up weapons and going out and killing their fellow citizens (or is that fellow sufferers?)

A clue as to what is happening is that Japan is a very conformist society - perhaps the most conformist in the world. You are either in, and accepted, or you are out - and rejected. If you are one who does not fit in, Japan can be a very cruel place. It seems that some outsiders - or people who have "failed" in Japanese terms, in some way - are taking their frustrations out on random strangers.

This does not look like a trend that is going to go away. Suicide rates are rising. Japan shows no signs of dropping its insistence on absolute conformity - and people are still, consequently, becoming absolutely miserable. The death penalty - which Japan has, and has used in similar cases - is no deterrent for precisely one reason: the perpetrators are sick of life and SUICIDAL, as well as murderous. The fact that they get the death penalty for their crimes is actually giving them exactly what they seek, anyway.

So, in Japan's case, harsh penalties are unlikely to be the answer - however a gentler society is. If Japan were a kinder culture to its people; if it were more inclusive, more forgiving and less prone to rejecting those that don't fit in, there would not be any such rampage incidents. People would be happier, more fulfilled - and suicide rates would begin to fall.

Japan should stop focusing on materialism, as its societal goal, and start focusing on happiness. If the people were happy, they wouldn't kill themselves in huge numbers...nor would they kill each other. Such deaths are a sure sign of a society that has taken the wrong path. It is time Japan changed direction, before it loses, perhaps forever, its erstwhile reputation for being a safe, low-crime society.

(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.)

Does Japan have a future?

Does Japan have a scientific future?

You may think this a strange question to ask since Japan, presently, has the world's second largest research industry (after the United States) and is known as a technological powerhouse, in commercial terms, at least. Yet, all is not as well as it seems.

The recent PISA comparative survey of the abilities of 15 year olds in 57 countries worldwide held some warnings for the possible future of Japan. If the results are any indication, Japan seems to be in decline. Japan's mathematical results were disappointing: they came in 10th, showing a steady decline over the past few years - having been 6th in 2003 and 1st in 2000.

That is not the worst of it, however. Japan fell to 6th place in science, having been 2nd in the two previous PISA surveys. That, in itself, may not seem particularly worrying - but another piece of information obtained from the thousands of students who took part is. Almost NONE of them want to be scientists. Only 7.8 per cent of Japanese students expected to be in a scientifically related career by the age of 30. This was by far the LOWEST scientific ambition of the youngsters out of all 57 countries. If young Japanese don't want to enter scientific careers, there will soon come a time in which there just won't be a Japanese science base.

It seems, from other information, that young Japanese are aiming for financial careers, instead. This doesn't bode well, however, in a technological and scientific era, that promises to become even more strongly technological and scientific as the decades pass and new technologies mature - such as nanotechnology and its associate, nanomedicine. Such technologies require a strong science base to sustain. It looks as if Japan is in grave danger of not having such a base by the time such technologies mature.

In contrast, the United States, while it came in the bottom half of the table, in Science, in terms of the abilities of its 15 year olds, actually, and surprisingly, came 3rd in terms of the AMBITION of its students. Many of them want to be in a scientific career at the age of 30 (even if most of them are not actually showing much ability at the age of 15). However, no matter what the ability of the students, without the wish to be a scientist, that ability will never translate into a scientific outcome.

Thus Japan has scientific ability, but no scientific aspiration, in its youth. America is in the opposite position, at present. Oddly, I think there is rather more promise in America's situation - since at least whatever ability there is, may actually translate into a scientific base, in the decades to come.

There are many problems in Japanese education, not least of which is the lack of investment in science. Apparently, the budget for science experiments in elementary school is 40 cents per student. It is no wonder that students are lucky to get to see any science in action at all. The results of this short-sightedness are beginning to show.

By the looks of it, the technological Japan of today, is staring ahead to a much less heady future.

(If you would like to learn more of Ainan Celeste Cawley, a scientific child prodigy, aged eight years and no months, or his gifted brothers, Fintan, four years and five months, and Tiarnan, twenty-two 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.)