Mischievous marketing to children.

A few days ago, my son Fintan, 8, asked a question that made me wonder at the deviousness of marketers.

“Do Smarties make you smarter?”, he asked, most innocently. He seemed quite prepared to believe that they did.

“No, Fintan, it is just a name.”

He didn’t seem entirely satisfied with that. I intuited his unspoken thoughts as being along the lines of: “If they don’t make you smarter, why call them that, then?”

This little exchange drove me to ponder the freedoms we give marketers: they are allowed to call their products anything at all – yet, sometimes, they don’t seem to use this freedom honestly. Fintan was right. There IS the suggestion in the name “Smarties”, that the product is connected, somehow, to smartness. It IS a fair and quite reasonable step to infer, as Fintan had, that the product must be so called, because, somehow, it induced “smartness”. Indeed, perhaps that is exactly the reason they were named “Smarties” in the first place. Perhaps, they wanted children, all over the world, to associate their product with smartness and consume them, therefore, in increased numbers, motivated by the illusion that they were going to enjoy positive cognitive change.

Children and unintelligent adults are susceptible to manipulation through the naming and marketing of products. It would seem wise, to me, to place safeguards on the naming of products so that false associations and inferences are not attached to products, for the purpose of increasing sales to vulnerable groups. Fintan is a bright child. He is socially very switched on. Yet, his conclusion when faced with a product named: “Smarties”, is that they must induce smartness – for why else call them that? How many other children, around the world have the same, perhaps unvoiced thought? How many of them UNCONSCIOUSLY make that link and are motivated to buy them? It is a somewhat disturbing thought. In a way, there is something unethical about naming a product with a reference to a property it doesn’t have, creating an association it cannot fulfil. Smarties don’t make you smart – but they might make you fat, or your teeth rot, if overly consumed. That would be a fair set of truer associations to link to the product, than “they make you smart”.

The funny thing is, that, until Fintan pointed it out, I had never reflected on the implications of the name “Smarties”. Sometimes, children are quicker to see the broader truths of things, in their world, than we are. Perhaps that is because they are thinking about them for the first time, and trying to find meaning in them – whereas adults, in some ways, have lost that habit, to some extent.

Thank you, Fintan, for your question. Smarties won’t make you smarter – but perhaps thinking about them will.

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/

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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.)

The hunter and the hunted.

A 39 year old American has been killed by a grizzly bear he was hunting. Steve Stevenson was mauled to death by the bear, after his fellow hunter, Ty Bell, had shot and injured it. They had tracked the wounded bear, but it seems that the bear found Stevenson first. It is notable that Ty Bell first shot the grizzly – a threatened species in that part of America, with only 30 surviving in the mountain forests of North Eastern Idaho and North Western Montana – having mistaken it for a black bear. After Stevenson had been killed, Ty Bell shot the bear multiple times and killed it.

Now, what struck me about this situation is my reaction to it. I have no sympathy at all for the dead hunter. The reason for this should be clear: Steve Stevenson has the moral status of a murderer. I am not saying that a grizzly bear is equivalent to a human – but I am saying that a grizzly bear is entitled to the right to live, without some dumb American (and they were dumb, because they were unable to distinguish a grizzly bear from a black bear – and because grizzlies are known to kill humans, if wounded...so they were even dumber to follow it after first shooting it) coming along and killing it. The right to life should be extended to all higher animals in our environment. It should be seen as essentially immoral – and, one hopes, illegal - to go hunting for wildlife. I can see no benefit, to the world, to life or even to humans, in hunting. Indeed, the only outcome of hunting is the endangerment of our fellow species and the immediate murder of individual members of them. Hunting is, if you pause to reflect on it, an abhorrent “sport”.

In a way, there is little to distinguish hunters from serial killers – the only difference is the species they target. I would not be surprised if it were much the same impulse that drives both types of people: the thrill of the kill. A hunter exults in killing other animals - often quite beautiful and special animals, which should be protected, not murdered. Steve Stevenson is dead, however, I do not believe he should be mourned, or missed – because he chose to live his life as a killer, of higher life forms, for sport. He saw fun in chasing down an innocent animal, who would otherwise, most probably, never harm a human, and killing it. Instead, however, the grizzly bear killed him. This, interestingly, does not make the bear a killer – for the bear acted in self-defence. If one considered the bear as equivalent in moral status and reasoning as a human, the bear would be seen as morally the higher being – and legally innocent of any crime.

Once upon a time, hunting was the means by which man secured food, for himself and his family. In such times, hunting was understandable and to be accepted. Now, however, hunting has transformed into a thrill for a certain type of adrenalin junkie – the more sadistic ones. Hunting has become the means by which those who find fulfilment in killing, have a real world outlet for their impulses. It is curious to me, that such behaviour is not seen as aberrant, for it could not be more so. How can someone exult in the murder of a fellow animal? It is a savagery I cannot accept. What is especially galling about this particular case, is that the victim of this hunt – the grizzly bear – is from a threatened species and should most definitely not be hunted.

Upon Steve Stevenson’s death, bear experts spoke of the need for programs to teach hunters how to distinguish black bears from grizzly bears. The implication of this, of course, is that it is OK to kill black bears. To my mind, these “bear experts” have completely missed the point. Bears should not be being hunted, at all: no higher animal should. These “bear experts” should be calling not for training for hunters – but for hunting to be banned altogether – indeed, I think hunting, except for food, in times when there is no alternative, should be criminalized, all the world over. Our world is not just for humans – it is for all that lives – and we humans should make room on this planet for all the other life forms that do not immediately threaten our own existence.

I have a mischievous, but curiously appropriate thought. If these hunters like hunting so much and have such a great desire to kill something...why don’t they hunt each other? The problem of hunting would soon go away – and all the world’s wildlife would be much the better for it.

Incidentally, Ty Bell should be prosecuted for killing the grizzly bear, since its hunting is illegal in the Lower 48, in the USA. It is only legal to kill grizzlies if human life is endangered - and before he shot the bear in the first place, that was not so. So, I hope to see Ty Bell jailed, for his crime against a fellow animal.

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.)

The monster within the USA.

Monsters come in great variety. There are many ways to be evil. One way, is simply not to care whether one’s fellow men live or die – for that way leads to very dark worlds indeed.

In a CNN Tea Party debate hosted by Wolf Blitzer, recently, the audience glimpsed the true nature of some modern Americans.

Wolf Blitzer asked Texas Rep. Ron Paul, who is a doctor, oddly enough, how society should respond if an uninsured 30 year old has an accident and goes into a coma and needs intensive care for six months. Ron Paul was blunt and rather brutal. He argued strongly that the government should not be responsible. “That’s what freedom is all about, taking your own risks,” Paul said. His voice was overwhelmed by the uproarious audience applause. He continued, “this whole idea that you have to prepare to take care of everybody...”.

“Are you saying that society should just let him die?”, pursued Blitzer.

At that point, the audience gave its answer. They were shouts of “Yeah!”, from those who watched, attended by, rather unbelievably, LAUGHTER.

To my mind, those shouts were horrifying. They signalled that, in some quarters, Americans harbour attitudes to life which would have blended well with the Nazi administration of World War II. They hold life in such low value, that they LAUGH at the idea it should be allowed to slip away, unopposed. Truly, they are monsters. Yet, these monsters, would just call themselves “true Americans”...and have no real knowledge of the callousness of their own position. If this is what the Tea Party is all about, then America has some serious issues to worry about. How would it be, were people who so little value life, to come to power? What kind of society would they build, founded on the celebration of death, as if it were a humorous matter?

Modern America can, at times, seem like a study in heartlessness. At some point, in its history, a wrong turning was taken, such that it is, now, in some quarters, so concerned with “me”, that no-one else matters – even if they die unnecessarily and avoidably. America has become a nation of individuals who care for nothing and no-one but the self. Unfortunately, however, a society cannot be built on universal selfishness. The kind of society that emerges when no-one cares for anyone else, is so heartless, so cruel, so aggressive, so cold and so unremittingly mean, that no-one would ever wish a life there, upon anyone. Yet, that is precisely the kind of society that America promises to come, guided by “thinkers” who believe that the state should not intervene to save a life and that it is “every man for himself”.

There is merit in the European ideal of nationalized medicine. At least, in Europe, the state would not stand by, whilst such a hypothetical 30 year old, died. European healthcare systems would intervene to preserve that life, believing it to have great value and be worthy of great efforts to save. That is a more humane outlook. In America, however, if you are uninsured – and basic insurance for an average family runs to well over a thousand US dollars a month, I am told, if independent of a company plan – then some people would prefer to let you die, than require the state to intervene and try to save you, should you fall catastrophically ill.

It is interesting to consider the different varieties of human society and see the values on which they are built. Europe is built on a regard for human life that seems quite clear – and on a wish to achieve equality of some kind. America, on the other hand, is built not on the value of human life in general, but human life in particular: one’s own life, at the expense, even, of all others. I am not sure that any society following the American model of outlook on life, is a sustainable society. Life should be cherished, wherever it is found and whatever its condition. None of us have any more valuable a possession than our own lives. What kind of world is it, therefore, where society would stand by and let a young man die, without attempting to intervene, for the want of a rather expensive insurance policy? Surely the fault here is in constructing a society which does not provide universal healthcare for all, regardless of wealth. The fault, here, in this imaginary scenario is in America itself. It is not the failing of the young man that he lacks health insurance he probably could not afford – but it is the fault of America for requiring that he be insured in the first place. Healthcare should be a universal right – not the privilege of those with the wealth to afford it. If this is not so, societies constructed on the basis of wealth, determining health care access, become very inhumane, indeed. They are not societies at all – but simply life long scrambles for supremacy over others. They are latter day jungles. Is that the kind of society modern man should choose to live in? Should not care for the lives of all, be at the root of our civilizations? If it is not, is it possible for human beings to thrive in such cold conditions? Can a happy and moral life be found in such circumstances?

The audience of the Tea Party debate placed no value on human life. Might I suggest that American readers, in turn, place no value on the Tea Party? This position would seem the rational response to a political movement informed by a denial of the value of life, at least in this example.

Let us build a world in which all human life has value. All the alternative worlds, that do not, are nothing but varieties of horror. Mankind had enough of such horror in the 20^th Century. Let not Man be visited again, by such horrors, in the 21^st Century – at least no more than we already have.

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.)

The secret annual Holocaust.

The Holocaust is, rightfully, thought of as one of the greatest crimes against Humanity that there has ever been perpetrated. It involved the systematic killing of millions of Jews, mentally handicapped or disturbed, Soviet POWS, Freemasons, Slovenes, Poles, homosexuals, Jehovah’s Witnesses and Romani.

In all the total of those who died, according to this Wikipedia article was the enormous number of somewhat less than 13 million people. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Holocaust). The Nazis are thought of, as a consequence, as one of the most evil organizations ever to have been invented by Man. Of course, it is right to think of them, as so. Yet, there is a greater evil in this world, than the Nazi death machine, than all the efforts of the Holocaust ever managed to achieve. This is an evil which occurs in every country of the world and occurs so routinely, that most people think nothing of it. It is a practice which kills approximately 42 million people per year. It is, therefore, a Holocaust every four months; three Holocausts per year – yet no-one says anything about it. What do you think it is? Please have a good think about what you think might be killing so many people per year, deliberately, systematically and with extreme prejudice.

Please genuinely think of what could be killing so many people, deliberately. I would like you to write what you thought, below, as well.

The answer is abortions by doctors. Doctors, around the world, kill an annual total of 42 million fetuses. Think about that. That is almost enough people to repopulate the United Kingdom, from chopped up, aborted babies. This is an evil far, far greater than ANYTHING the Nazis did – yet it is considered legal, normal, and routine in many countries. Yet, it is an abomination and a truly great crime against Humanity. If you doubt this vast number, please check out this link on abortion statistics: http://www.abortionno.org/Resources/fastfacts.html

It is notable that 38% of abortions occur among families with incomes of 30,000 to 59,999 US Dollars per year and 13.8% for families with incomes over 60,000 dollars per year (in the USA). So, for many women, abortion is not an economic necessity: it is a social commodity, a selfish luxury of thinking only of oneself and not of the unborn child. Indeed, in the US, 93% of all abortions occur because the baby is seen as “inconvenient” or “unwanted”. Only 6% of abortions are for the reasons of health of the baby or mother.

I rather think that the only type of person who could abort their child, is one who does not or cannot think, long term. They are people who lack the imagination to look ahead and imagine what their child might be like, were they to be born. They cannot foresee the marvelous times ahead, of getting to know their child, of hearing their first jokes, their laughter and, eventually, their wisdom, unfold. They cannot foresee all the beauty inherent in a human life. All they see, instead, is the immediate difficulties that all children bring: sleepless nights, nappy changing and planning life around them, until they are old enough to be a little more independent. Yet, to think in such shortsighted terms, is to fail to balance the whole length of the life ahead, against the short period of dependency.

Mostly it is the mother who wants to abort her own child – and that I find puzzling. Stereotypically, women are supposed to be nurturing and loving towards children yet, anyone trying to understand the problem of abortion, should know this: IN ALMOST ALL COUNTRIES, THE FATHER HAS NO RIGHT TO STOP THE ABORTION FROM PROCEEDING. Yes, that is right. Almost all of these 42 million abortions are SOLELY THE WILL OF THE MOTHERS.

That, to me, is appalling. These mothers are not mothers at all, but murderers. It is only the strangeness of modern law that prevents these “mothers” from being recognized as child murderers. So, too, their “doctors”. These modern abortion doctors are no different in kind, flavour or moral failing than that other famous Dr…Mengele, the Nazi doctor who experimented on humans and then killed and dissected them. Modern doctors who kill hundreds of unborn children each, each year are absolutely no better than Mengele was. The only difference is that we are not blinded to Mengele’s crimes, by socially accepting them. Abortion is socially accepted and legally enshrined in most countries - but ethically speaking, it is still a horrible crime against the most defenseless members of Humanity.

The fact that doctors kill 42 million unborn babies each year tells me something very interesting. Doctors do NOT, on balance, “save lives”. I very much doubt whether doctors “save” 42 million adult or child lives each year, as a whole. However, they do KILL 42 million fetuses. So, it is very likely that, on balance, doctors are members of a murderous profession that kills far many more people than it saves.

If one truly wishes to improve the true mean life expectancy of the human race, one should outlaw medicine, at once. Doctors should become a banned “profession”. Were there no doctors at all, in this world, something very odd would begin to happen: millions of children who would have been murdered would be killed no more. They would be born to have lives.

Now, I realize that aborted children are not considered part of life expectancy statistics, but they should be. If a child is aborted, it has had a very short life. Yet it is not counted in the life expectancy statistics of its nation. It should be. Life expectancy stats should be recalculated for all countries, by including the longevity of the aborted babies. We would then see something very interesting: mean life is much shorter, in the modern world, than one would have thought. It could, indeed, be as short as eras that we look down upon as barbaric for the living conditions that foreshortened the lives of the people of the time. Our statistics are lies. They do not tell us the true longevity of all people conceived, in the modern world.

If stats included all conceptions and the resultant longevity, mean longevity for populations would RISE if doctors were banned from practicing (and all substitute abortionists). Of course, the highest ages reached would decline since, whilst doctors do kill many unborn humans every year, they also help the oldest old, live a few years longer, and sicker than they otherwise could.

Of course, there might be population problems, were all conceptions to be born. However, if women and girls knew that all conceptions would result in births, they would be better motivated to use non fatal forms of contraception, more carefully. So, that potential problem would probably not come to pass.

We like to think of ourselves as morally superior to the Nazis. Most modern countries look on them with horror and a sense of “how on Earth could they?”. Yet, daily, in clinics across the world, crimes as great are being committed each and every day. Doctors, who should be devoted to saving lives, are killing unborn babies. It is monstrous – and it is something which should not happen, in a moral world. However, we don’t live in a moral world. We live in a “convenient” world. A world in which nothing so fragile as a baby’s life should be allowed to interrupt our “lifestyle”. (Ironic that to preserve their “life”styles, many mothers use the death of their children, as their tool of choice).

What is truly monstrous about our world, therefore, is the extent to which most people are unaware of just how monstrous it is. We have managed to make the truly abhorrent seem routine and acceptable, when it is not, and can never be, to those who see things truly.

I would like to see a world in which abortions are history, not current events. I wonder, though, whether I will ever live to see a world such as that: a world of conscience, of humanity, a world that knows the value of life. We are a long way from such a world. It may be, that I shall never see such a world and that such a world may never be. However, people who can see this truth clearly, must not stop at trying to make the world a more humane one. So, if you understand the sadness of the abortion of the millions who die before they are born, please do what you can to create a better world, a world in which such “unwanted” children, might be given the chance to live.

(If you would like 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.)