Self-deprecating humour of a child prodigy.

Some able people praise themselves, a few others do what Ainan does: be self-deprecating.

About a month ago, Ainan remarked: “If people learn from their mistakes, I must be the most knowledgeable person in the world.”

He smiled at the end, and snorted a little laugh. His eyes twinkled at me.

I laughed with him.

Now, it must be said that this is Ainan’s style – to underplay or downplay himself. It must also be said that his remark is not true – for he does not make an unusual number of mistakes, in fact, he seems to make many fewer than most. Yet, this remark of his, is certainly typical of the way he refers to himself. He is even able to bring humour into how he describes himself.

I suppose that this self-deprecating humour of his may actually endear him to people. There is nothing more irritating than someone who spends their days boasting about themselves. By the same measure, there is something disarming about someone who downplays their many achievements and abilities and even speaks of them in a humorous way.

I do worry sometimes, though, that Ainan is a little too self-deprecating, on occasion. It makes me wonder whether he is actually being humorous – or, in fact, cannot see himself as he is, in relation to others. I think a clear vision of one’s place in the world and relation to others, is most helpful in guiding one’s choices in life. I do hope that Ainan’s tendency to self-deprecate won’t get in the way of that.

Having said that, Ainan’s approach will probably win him more friends than the opposite tack would garner. He is not one to push people away with a massive ego...he simply doesn’t have one. If anything he has the opposite of an ego. He is a quiet boy, who does not impose a self-image on the world, but holds it in reserve. When he speaks of himself, it is occasionally to disarm what others might think of him. He also manages to do it with humour. Indeed, humour is one of his more notable characteristics and it leaks into most areas of his life. He even began to make scientific jokes as early as six years old – but that is another tale.

I like this new wittiness that I see growing in Ainan. He has become a fashioner of one-liners. Most of them are not self-deprecating however, and are neutral in content. I shall keep an eye on the self-deprecating side of him, though, because I would not like to see that become too dominant. It is dangerous to do that too much – for one day the person uttering such lines, might come to believe in them – and that wouldn’t be healthy.

In the meantime, I shall enjoy Ainan’s spontaneous humour and learn from the glimpses it reveals, of how he thinks about himself, and the world.

Posted by Valentine Cawley

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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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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 athttp://www.genghiscan.com/This blog is copyright Valentine Cawley. Unauthorized duplication is prohibited. Use only with permission. Thank you.) 

Syahidah on Steve Jobs' death.

Today, I informed Syahidah, my wife, of Steve Jobs' death.

She remarked: "An apple has lost its core."

I thought this rather witty, and apt - for the image and meaning summed up the situation very well.

Mr. Jobs was only 56. This is rather young to be dying in the modern age - however, his life, though shortened, could not have been more influential, nor have touched more lives than it had. RIP Mr. Apple.

Posted by Valentine Cawley

(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

If you would like to read any of our scientific research papers, there are links to some of them, here: http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2011/02/research-papers-by-valentine-cawley-and.html

If you would like to see an online summary of my academic achievements to date, please go here: http://www.getcited.org/mbrz/11136175

To learn more of Ainan Celeste Cawley, 10, or his gifted brothers, Fintan, 7 and Tiarnan, 5, 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 athttp://www.genghiscan.com/

This blog is copyright Valentine Cawley. Unauthorized duplication is prohibited. Use only with permission. Thank you.)

Tiarnan's way with compliments.

The other day, Tiarnan, three, watched his brother Fintan, six, racing around.

"Fintan, you are SO fast.", he observed, to Fintan, who stopped to listen to this praise.

Tiarnan looked at him, in seeming wonder. "You are fast like GOLD."

I am not sure how gold is fast, but Fintan liked the comparison.

Then Tiarnan added: "You are my golden monkey!"

I don't know what Fintan thought of this, but it does seem a bit of a barbed compliment. Then again, maybe Tiarnan appreciates the qualities of a monkey and thinks it a compliment. I haven't asked him.

Whatever the case, it made for a funny moment.

(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.

IMDB is the Internet Movie Database for film and tv professionals.If you would like to look at my IMDb listing for which another fifteen credits are to be uploaded, (which will probably take several months before they are accepted) please go to: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm3438598/ As I write, the listing is new and brief - however, by the time you read this it might have a dozen or a score of credits...so please do take a look. My son, Ainan Celeste Cawley, also has an IMDb listing. His is found at: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm3305973/ My wife, Syahidah Osman Cawley, has a listing as well. Hers is found at: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm3463926/

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

Tiarnan the Oriental Philosopher.

A couple of days ago, Tiarnan, two, was busily proving that light couldn't pass through him. He was trying to sit on his mother's lap while she sat at the computer, fruitlessly trying to see what she was doing.

"Get off my lap Tiarnan...I am trying to work!", she pointed out, as he shifted unhelpfully in her lap.

She tried to push him off.

He resisted, looking up at her and saying: "Your lap is my lap!"

She relented. There was a wonderful poetry in the concept, "Your lap is my lap." that she could no longer resist.

It seems that Tiarnan has all the makings of an Oriental philosopher, coming out with catchy little thoughts that one just can't forget.

(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.)