Ainan on the ethics of knowledge.

On July 19^th 2013, Ainan posed one of his often mischievous questions.

“Daddy, why is it ethical to destroy the unknown?”, he posed, with a little smile peeking from the corners of his lips.

I knew, at once, what he was saying. To come to know something, is to destroy the mystery that existed before that knowledge was acquired. Ainan was playing with our ideas of ethics, and extending them in ways they were never intended to be.

Yet, there was also something else in what he was saying, I think. Man has a long history of not dealing very well with that which is Unknown in other societies. When “modern” man has come upon less developed societies, those “unknown” societies, usually end up being extinguished, not by knowledge but by the sword, or gun.

There is something of the philosopher, at times, in the questions asked by Ainan. He likes to play with meanings, expectations and paradox. In so doing, he points out interpretations which others have usually not noticed were implicit in the words themselves. Thus, it is, he examines words at a deeper level than their conventional meaning. This tack has promise, if applied in more serious circumstances, for noting matters which have been long overlooked, not just in philosophical thinking but in other areas too. Besides, it can often be simply funny – which is more than enough justification in my book.

I think Ainan is likely to destroy a lot which is unknown, in his life, by coming to know it. That, of course, is the aim of every scientific thinker. I look forward to that “destructive” enlightenment.

Posted by Valentine Cawley

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An Analysis of the Ethics of Peer review

My article, "An Analysis of the Ethics of Peer Review and Other Traditional Academic Publishing Practices.", has been published in the peer reviewed International Journal of Social Science and Humanity. The article considers the ethical aspects of academic publishing including such issues as peer review, copyright transfer, pricing policy and the permanence of journals. In my analysis, I found there to be many ethical failings in these areas, in the traditional practices. I also suggest solutions to these problems.

Please have a read, if you are interested to see a glimpse of how I structure my ethical thinking.

The article can be found here: http://www.ijssh.org/abstract/36-H058.htm

Just click on the PDF sign, on the page and the entire article will be served up to you.

Thanks.

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.)

What you see is what you get.

A couple of months ago, Tiarnan, four, collared his mum, Syahidah with a thought.

"Sometimes," he began, ruminatively, "you cannot tell the good or the bad...but you can DEFINITELY see the ugly."

When I heard this, I thought it eminently wise, for one so small. He had come to observe that moral quality, was not immediately visible, or was, perhaps, at times, ambiguous but that beauty, or its absence was immediately evident.

It is interesting, for me, that he thinks on these matters. He is weighing what is good and what is evil - and how to determine these. He has realized that it is not always easy to say, without further information, whether something or someone is good or evil. He has also come to understand the immediacy of visual beauty and its opposite.

I do not know whether matters of good and evil; beauty and ugliness, are the common thought of four year olds, everywhere...I suspect not. However, it is revealing to me, that they are the material of Tiarnan's thoughts. He is, though he knows it not, having philosophical thoughts. He is thinking about moral values and aesthetics - and, indeed, many other philosophical concerns. His thoughts are concerned with the human sphere and the human experience and what he understands of them. It is not so important what, exactly, he thinks of these matters, but the very fact that he IS thinking of these matters. It says something deep about the nature of his nascent personality and mind, that he should dwell on such matters over other things. I am led to see a certain commonality between Tiarnan and my younger self. For, you see, I have written a book that considers many similar matters, though it is yet unpublished. I find it telling, therefore, that little Tiarnan, who knows nothing of my work, my writings or my deeper thoughts on life (for I have yet to discuss them with him, of course), should, of his own accord, give thought to allied matters.

We are each unique, yet we each share dispositions with our forebears. So it is with my children: though they are unique and unlike any others, in some ways, they are also akin to ourselves, sharing elements, themes, inclinations and instinctive outlooks, with either myself or my wife. It is reassuring to see those dispositions and ways of thought emerging, unprompted, from their growing minds. It informs me that, one day, there will be in this world, three young men who understand their parents better than any others in all the world. They will understand us, because, in some ways, they will be us, be echoes of ourselves, reverberating into a future we may never know, for, of course, our time is likely to be less than theirs. When we are gone, they will remain and, in some way, parts of our human tale, will go on, told by other tongues, and other minds, but informed, nevertheless by some of the very same substance, that made us, what we are and, one day, were.

Carry on thinking Tiarnan...for as your world view forms, I will be here, to understand it - and you.

(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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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.)

The Future of The Human Race

Do people care about the future of the Human race? Is it something to which intelligent people give thought?

Now, one would think so. One would think that no concern could, ultimately, be greater, for those who are intelligent, than that the race of which we are each but one, individual member, should have a long-term future. Yet, such supposition might be in error.

Yesterday, I found myself in a conversation with a number of professional men, in their thirties and forties. They were in respectable demanding jobs in such areas as finance, marketing and public relations. They were, therefore, considered to be intelligent, given the responsible and sometimes complex nature of their work. They were all, also, financially successful. Somehow the topic of the colonization of other planets came up. I spoke in its favour. To my surprise, EVERYONE THERE was against it.

"Why would anyone want to go to Mars?" said one scoffing professional.

"Well, because if all of mankind lives on one planet, eventually something will happen, and we will become extinct."

"I couldn't care less.", he retorted, somewhat harshly, his eyes seeming to mock me for caring about something so unimportant as the future of the Human race.

Seeing my way forward blocked in his unmoving eyes, I turned for support to the man standing next to me, a financier of some kind.

"If we don't colonize other planets, there is no chance of mankind surviving long term."

"I couldn't give a f*** about the human race!", he said, his face a little too close to mine, his voice rather aggressive in holding such an opinion.

I couldn't believe it. Here was a body of men who cared nothing for the future of the human race. One other, who did not speak directly to me, looked on, throughout, laughing each time I spoke of the need for Man to spread into space, to ensure its survival. I was surrounded by profound skeptics regarding the worth of Mankind.

I tried to explain it to them in simple terms. "It is just like anything else." I began, quietly, but firmly. "You don't put all your eggs in one basket. Thus, you can't have all of Mankind on one dirt ball...just like you wouldn't put all your money with Madoff." I added, mindful of the financial background of more than half of my audience.

The one who couldn't give a f*** about the future of the human race then scoffed: "Just give me one reason why anyone should go to Mars."

Well, economic arguments are something these people are likely to understand, I thought. "Well, it is much easier and more economically feasible to mine the asteroid belt using Mars as a base, than Earth. Then you could ship a huge amount of metals to Earth."

"Why would you want to do that?", he persisted, no reason being good enough for him. "We already have a huge amount of metals and no-one wants them. Have you seen the prices on the commodities market?"

Again, his thoughts were limited to money as the only justification for anything.

"That is a temporary economic situation. You could use the metals to make things."

"So you could increase the productive capacity of the Earth." he noted.

"Yes."

"What would you make?"

"Well, you could make lots of spaceships and spread outwards...", I said, somewhat deliberately, so as to challenge his world view, perhaps to needle him a little.

"We have a different viewpoint.", he concluded, trying to end the discussion.

I had one final point.

"You could use the materials to build solar power stations, giving cheap energy, much more energy than we presently have."

"For where?", he said, not caring about anywhere else but: "For Earth?"

"Yes."

"I think we use too much energy already."

"This would give us lots of cheap energy."

At this point, one of the others chipped in. He was involved in marketing.

"Have you ever been to Hawaii?", his eyes peered intently at me, like a cat waiting for a mouse to come out of its hole.

"No."

He seemed gratified: the mouse was out.

"Well, if you had, you wouldn't want to go to Mars. It is just beautiful."

"I didn't say I would go...but I think some people should. It should be colonized."

"What would they do there? Living in a bubble."

"They would terraform it. That would be their job."

He wasn't convinced.

"How would they do that?"

"Well they could release CFCs into the atmosphere this would cause global warming, which would promote the release of CO2, as the caps melted, which would promote more global warming and so on."

"And you are going to grow forests?", he mocked ever so sure of his position.

"Not at first, but eventually. You would have to start with lower life forms."

"Lichen." he acknowledged.

"Yes. That would start the process of making oxygen."

"Who would want to go to Mars?", he doubted.

"Lots of scientists would love to go."

"That is the problem." He said with a strange certainty, since I couldn't see any problem at all.

"Plenty of science has been done on this. The science is there...but the political will is not."

"Thank God for that." he said, a little louder, gratified.

I wasn't going to argue this one, when surrounded by a room of skeptics - but I was glad to have raised the topic, for it gave me an appreciation of a problem that I had not known existed: those who think about the long-term future of the Human race will be faced with opposition from a seeming majority of people who JUST DON'T CARE about the future of the Human race. That surprised me.

Having considered it, I would say that it is a property of a mature human mind, that such a person should be concerned about the long term future of both the Earth and the Human race. Absence of such a concern indicates, to my mind, an immaturity of mind - for the level has not been reached at which the person is thinking beyond their own needs and concerns, the level at which they think beyond the narrow confines of their own life and lifetime.

This group of professional men had not reached the level of inner growth that would allow them to be concerned about the long-term future of the Human race. They were still stuck on the immediate concerns of their own life (indeed, almost exclusively on the question of "How rich am I going to get?")

I hope, for the sake of the future of the Human race that such short-sighted attitudes as I encountered yesterday are rare. Even if they are not, such uncaring attitudes should not be allowed to influence policy. Major decisions affecting the future of Earth and the Human race should only be made by those who value the continuation of both.

Mankind needs to colonize space if it is to survive. It won't do so, as long as the short-term thinking I encountered yesterday predominates. Nothing could be more important to us all, than that the human enterprise endures, as long as the Universe does. We should, therefore, take all steps necessary to give Mankind such a chance to endure. The colonization of space is one such critical step.

I, for one, hope that it occurs in my lifetime. I would like to know that Mankind was not captive on one planet and at the mercy of its fate.

Thus, I look forward to what is to come: the Space race between the USA and China, to return to the Moon and to go to Mars, beyond that (at least the USA intends to visit Mars). I only hope that they stay when they get there. There is a world to build. Americans have done it once...why not do it again?

(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.

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

Fintan's emotional perception.

Sometimes the questions children ask alter the way a parent sees the world. They are questions which bring home a truth that, perhaps, had been overlooked.

A few days ago, Fintan, five, asked one such question.

He was sitting quietly with his mother, when he turned to her with query in his eyes.

"Why do people look so happy when they are going to the circus, but the animals look so sad?"

The question quite startled his mother, for there was a deep truth in his implicit observation. It is no fun being a caged animal, no matter how much the crowd might enjoy it.

Fintan is a close observer of the world. Sometimes, he sees things which are easy to overlook. Often, he surprises with his questions because they are of a moral, or philosophical or ethical nature. These are not the questions one expects of a five year old. They are questions that show he sees the world through moral eyes, emotional eyes, ethical eyes. He is not only seeing the world for what it is, but asking what it should be. He is questioning the way things are, from a moral perspective and judging it, for emotional value.

It is interesting to see his preoccupation with such questions. Part of him is showing a social maturity that is welcome to see. It is what allows him to get on with everyone he meets. Often, people extend to him an open invitation to visit. What is he doing right, that makes him so popular? Well, that kind of question says it all. Fintan is a young boy who is thinking about feelings, emotions, moral values, what is right and what is wrong, what is good and what is not. He is thinking about human conduct - and, beneath it all, seems to hold the value that all should be happy.

Obviously, the character that he has now is but the rudiment of what he is to be. However, I can see that this root promises to be a tree of solid character and human insight. I look forward to knowing, one day, the man he promises 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.

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.

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

Ainan on scientific responsibility

Ainan, 7, thinks of many things that few people do. One of these is the issue of scientific responsibility - or what scientists owe to society and how they should behave with regards to the wider world. These are considerable issues for a seven year old to be thinking about - but I find it encouraging that he is - for it promises that, one day, he will be a responsible scientist himself, ever thinking about the impact of his work, on the wider world.

Last week, he asked a question that illustrated his interest in scientific responsibility: "When ricin was discovered...and how poisonous it was, and where it came from...why did the scientists who did so, publish that?"

The intent of his question was clear: why arm people with such information which, in the wrong hands, could become a weapon? Why is the scientist not considering the impact of their work and the danger it might represent? Ricin is a good example. It is a terrible poison - and the tiniest amounts can kill - yet its source is readily available. Once the facts are known of this substance, it would not take a huge amount of skill to make. This is what Ainan was pointing out - in the modern world, with dangers all around and many people of ill-intent, why do people persist in releasing dangerous knowledge to the wider public, about whom nothing is known?

He did ask, further, why the media covered such material...why did the media write about these substances and point people's way to their sources?

In Ainan's view certain matters should be kept low-key so that their danger could be minimized. In his young eyes, the world would be a safer place, if knowledge of dangerous materials was restricted to those who would be responsible about them.

His stance is not a bad stance in most aspects - though it might cause problems for the progress of science in some areas, where the free access to information is required so that scientists can build on each other's work. Ainan, however, was looking mainly to the dangers of the situation and advising that restraint and discretion be shown in all matters that were hazardous.

On balance, Ainan's view, though formed in a seven-year old mind, would lead to a safer world than the practise of many scientists and media in this world. Some things ought to be kept a whole lot quieter.

It is good to see Ainan maturing in this fashion: for it takes maturity of mind and character to look beyond one's immediate circumstance and to see and consider the wider impact of what one does. Many scientists - and most media - don't do that - as Ainan has pointed out.

I look forward to the day when Ainan is a responsible scientist in a world that needs more examples of the kind.

(If you would like to read more of Ainan Celeste Cawley, a scientific child prodigy, aged seven years and seven months, or his gifted brothers, Fintan, four years and no months and Tiarnan seventeen 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, child prodigy, child genius, baby genius, adult genius, savant, the creatively gifted, gifted children and gifted adults in general. Thanks.)