A telling question.

About two weeks ago, Ainan, 12, asked a question I have never heard asked before.

The question popped into the air before me, utterly unannounced.

“Does violence cause video games?”, he asked, with an amused glitter in his eye.

I laughed. I had to – for I at once understood the truth of his question. Video games are violent and are suspected to cause children to be violent...but why are video games violent in the first place? As Ainan had noted...because they are based on real world violence. So, in a sense, Ainan is right: violence causes video games. If our world were not violent, video games would not be violent too: they are a reflection of the world we have made, together, they are a distillation of our times.

The funniest thing about this question is that it points to a self-evident truth...whereas the other question, more commonly asked of “Do video games cause violence?”, is not self-evident and is much prone to controversy, argument and difference of opinion.

I like Ainan’s view of the situation. In his view, real world violence gives rise to video games which are violent, which gives rise to real world violence, which gives rise to video games which are violent – which gives rise to real world violence...and so on ad infinitum. One feeds the other...they are two sides of the same phenomenon.

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/11136175To 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.) 

How to get smart.

Yesterday, I found Tiarnan, 6, playing computer games, on my PC – as he not infrequently does.

“Excuse me, Tiarnan. I have got work to do.”

He rose from his seat, somewhat reluctantly.

“Work doesn’t make you smarter...playing games does. So play games!”, he said cheekily.

I smiled, but didn’t relent, and sat down to work. Yet, I recognized why Tiarnan had said that. He had heard that computer games improved some kinds of intellectual skills...and so he was throwing that back at me, as justification for his own games playing. Cheeky monkey. 

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/11136175To 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.) 

Lucas Ordoñez, GT5, and the power of video games.

Video games may be much more powerful than many people realize, for training skill sets in people. Lucas Ordoñez is an eye opening example. Recently, Lucas Ordoñez and his team, including Franck Mailleux and Soheil Ayari came 2nd place in the Le Mans 24 hour endurance race. Now, you may be wondering why I regard it as newsworthy that someone should come second in a race. Well, it is quite simple. Lucas Ordoñez is not a trained racing driver. In fact, Lucas Ordoñez’ primary experience of racing comes from sitting at home with his Playstation 3, playing Gran Turismo 5. Lucas Ordoñez is a computer games player.

I found this a remarkable case, for what it says about the effects of video games/computer games on our children. It is clear that they are certainly learning something whilst playing them. It would be wise, perhaps, to look, therefore, at which games they are playing. Lucas Ordoñez became an expert racing driver, without even setting foot in a racing car, simply by playing Gran Turismo 5, or GT5. What, however, is becoming of children who play Call of Duty, or other warfare simulators? Are they becoming more efficient killers? Perhaps a child who plays such games, would grow up to be a better soldier.

There seems to me, to be an opportunity for enlightening games, that would entrain positive skills in our children. I am not so familiar with the available games to know whether such games exist – but it would be good if our games actually taught them something worth learning. They certainly taught Lucas Ordoñez how to drive.

(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.htmland 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 perspective of young boys, on girls.

A couple of days ago, Tiarnan, five, was sitting on the sofa, with Fintan, seven. They were taking a conversational break, in the midst of their computer gaming. For reasons unknown to me, perhaps because I had not heard the fullness of their conversation, Tiarnan turned to Fintan, and said, quite emphatically:

“I don’t like girls: they do BORING things.” He said the word “boring” as if it were the most boring thing in the Universe: the word expanded to fill all space and time, on his tongue.

Fintan didn’t do, as might be expected and second this opinion. In quite a reasonable tone he said: “Tiarnan, some girls have PS3s…”

Tiarnan consider that for a moment, but had no reply. It seemed that anyone who liked the PS3 couldn’t be all bad.

In answer, he picked up his PS3 controller and went back to his game. I don’t think he wanted to admit that if a girl was a PS3 player then maybe she wouldn’t be so “boring” after all!

This exchange struck me as funny. It echoes the age old theme, that young boys are not fond of girls – because they are, well, “girlish”…however, that will soon change when they hit puberty. How funny it is that children are constructed in this way.

(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 at http://www.genghiscan.com/

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