The meaning of immortality.

About ten years ago, I had a conversation with an American academic. The conversation, itself, was much longer than this snippet, but it is this exchange that has stuck with me.

"Shakespeare is immortal.", she stated, firmly, as if it were an irrefutable truth.

"So, what good does that do him?", I asked, utterly unconvinced, "He's dead."

She seemed taken aback by that. It was if she had never considered the fact that he was dead, simply because he was still known. She fell into a long silence. Clearly, she had no counter to that.

I have always thought that "immortal" was a strange term to apply to famous dead people. They are not "immortal". They are dead. They are just as mortal as anyone else. Being dead, they gain no direct personal benefit from their posthumous fame, at all. Indeed, fame is little compensation for death. I think they would all rather be alive, and unknown, than dead and famous.

Unfortunately, at this time, death is not optional - and so most people would settle for at least being remembered after they are gone. However, until the day when people are truly immortal, I object, in principle, to calling dead people, "immortal"...how about just calling them, "unforgotten", or "still remembered" - for that is what they truly are.

(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.)

The impossibility of Truth.

It is a very strange thing, to be known, by those we do not know. However, we are. There are many people in the world, who think they know about us. I have seen them comment on blogs and in the odd forum, as if they truly know us. Their words are written with certainty and argued authoritatively. Funny enough, at times, they have even argued with me, against my own view of myself – as if I, of all people, would not be in a position to know my own life, well. The oddest thing about all of this, however, is how often those who write of us are wrong about us – and odder still, just how wrong they are.

There are many reasons why they are wrong. One of the primary reasons is that the Singaporean media has been lying about us. Thus, people living in Singapore, or who read Singapore’s newspapers online, have picked up misinformation calculated, by the state of Singapore, to diminish us, and elevate themselves. It is state propaganda designed to “build the nation” and disparage anyone perceived as a threat – apparently us. Thus, in some cases, it is not the fault of the forum commenters that they are wrong about us – because they have been lied to, and chosen to believe the lies.

There are other reasons, too, why people are misinformed about us. One big reason is that many bloggers and forum commenters simply make things up. They lie, from their own motives, about us. They add details which have no correspondence in reality. They make assumptions which are simply not true. They even create arguments to try to prove their erroneous viewpoints, drawing on “evidence” which more often than not, is itself not true, either. Some even lie about knowing us or our family personally – yet reveal themselves to be liars, in this respect, even if anonymous, because their “information” is so far wrong that it could not possibly have come from anyone who genuinely knows us. Once, someone even claimed, online, to have been Ainan’s personal tutor for his Chemistry O level – when, in fact, he has NEVER HAD A TUTOR. It is quite astonishing what some people say.

Basically, there are a lot of liars on the net – and a lot of lies, too. Some of the lies are faithfully retold, by innocent parties, who genuinely believe them to be true. Some lies, however, originate with the commenter and are mischievously invented. Whichever type of lie it is, they are damaging in the sense that they obscure the truth. We become forever less accurately known. Who we really are, becomes successively more obscured, by the fibs floating around. Ultimately, we become lost to view, who we are, forever unknowable by anyone who doesn’t actually know us.

Now, why does this concern me? Well, because I think it important that the public image, reflects an underlying truth. If the public image is commandeered by those with an agenda designed to confuse it, obscure it, or diminish it, then people come to believe that we are, who we are not. This, I think, is perilous. For what would happen, one day, should Ainan continue to be interested in science and should he continue to develop as he is? Well, the time may come when he is a successful, perhaps influential adult scientist. His work might become substantial and respected. He might even become someone of whom a biography might one day be written. That day, is a dangerous day, given the obscuration of the truth on the net. For what would inform that biography? Would the biographer dig back into the internet past and discover a lot of misinformation? It may come to be that lies become committed to paper as biographical history. It may one day be, that those lies become the official record. Ainan’s life might forever be known, by tales first imagined on some blogger’s page, or forum commenters mischievous comment. That would, I feel, be a pity. It would be a great shame if Ainan were one day to be “known” on the basis of officially believed and recognized misinformation. Yet, what can we do to prevent this? It seems that there is little to be done, except what I am doing: telling our tale, daily, on this blog, as it truly is, and not as some people might have you believe it to be. I hope that it is enough. I hope that biographers are wise enough to ignore the nonsense on the net and listen preferentially to those who actually know what they are talking about.

Indeed, the truth is so different at times, from the opinions and views and “facts” voiced on the internet that it seems to me that, at this time, there is only one possible source for a biography that would have any hope of being true – and that is ourselves. Any other source, would just be a compendium of misinformation, mischievous lies, mistaken gossip – and state propaganda. The truth of Ainan would be completely lost beneath the weight of utter nonsense.

Come to think of it, it will probably always be true that the only source of reliable information, will be ourselves. Any source removed from us is, more often than not, either misunderstanding the situation, guessing, or, quite simply, making it all up.

This experience has taught me to be wary of the public information on public figures. I am sure, given our experience, that much of what we think we “know” about public figures is total nonsense. Our understanding of these people, is informed by a lot of misinformation – some deliberate, some otherwise. In fact, I am of the view, now, that we don’t KNOW any of these public figures, at all. We only think we know. Our consumption of the media, has given us the delusion that we think we know these people, that we have some understanding of their lives. However, I am sure that this is not so. They will not be, in any case, as we imagine them to be. Sure, we will know some core events in their lives – but much of what we think we know, will be untrue. Thus, the overall picture of any public figure, will be essentially false.

That is, I think, an important insight. We would all do well, to bear it in mind, whenever we read of a public figure. What we think we know, may actually be nothing more than a myth, spread by the mischievous, or those who have innocently misunderstood. We should, therefore, sift carefully what we read and test it for likelihood, and consistency with all we think we know about that person. There will be some truths in there somewhere. The only problem is that there will be a lot of lies, too. The trick is to distinguish the two, and come to one’s own, genuine understanding of the public figure. Alternatively, we can safely assume that what we read of them, is nothing but amusing fiction and treat it all as a good story.

As for us: I will continue to write this blog and try to put our view across. I can only hope that people are wise enough to realize that our source is the only one that actually knows of what it speaks. Everyone else is largely guessing, making it up or spinning propaganda. At the very best, everyone else’s information is secondhand. At the worst, it is a carefully crafted lie. Personally, I know which source, in the circumstances I would go to. I hope you do, too.

(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.)

Victoria Beckham's Haircut and the idiocy of the modern world.

We live in the Time of the Idiot. This is clear to see when one looks at what is considered news.

A couple of days ago, Yahoo News carried a story about Victoria Beckham's new haircut. Apparently, the fact that she has cut her hair short warrants global communication. It is something that the whole modern world must know. The question is: why?

Why is it important for us to know of a change of haircut of someone who long ago stopped contributing anything to the world (if one considers her initial claim to fame - pop songs - a worthy contribution in the first place)? What does it matter if her hair is long, short, pink or balding? In truth, it is of no importance whatsoever - or it would be in a world that had its priorities right.

In a reasonable world, a world of values and rationality, none of us would know what Victoria Beckham's haircut looked like - quite simply because no-one would consider it important enough to communicate it. Her hair would remain on her head - but it would not be in our faces. Yet, sadly, perhaps tragically for Mankind and its future, we do know about Victoria Beckham's haircut. We are forced to know because it is thrust to the front page of Yahoo News and appears on hundreds of millions of browsers around the world. We have no choice but to know: it is there, before our eyes, when we check our mail (for many have a Yahoo account and perhaps another like Gmail, too).

We don't live in a reasonable world. We don't live in sensible world. We don't live in a world of values or proportion. We live in a mad world in which a young woman's haircut is thought of such earth-shattering merit that it must be known to all. Well, it isn't. Victoria Beckham is not important enough to know about. She doesn't merit any real attention. Her haircut, therefore, being but a part of the wholeness of Victoria, is of even less consequence. Neither should consume our attention. Yet, they do.

We live in a world where nonsense is purveyed as information, where emptiness is presented as knowledge. Victoria Beckham is a young woman. That is all. She is married to someone who has merit as a sportsman. That is all. She herself doesn't have much individual importance. Her haircut, therefore, should have none.

Now, I don't wish to pick on Mrs. Beckham. No doubt she makes a great wife to a great footballer. She once entertained many people with her pop songs. Yet, she doesn't, in any real sense, embody anything that should place her on our front pages every time she changes her haircut. In reality, no-one, AT ALL, merits discussion because of their haircut. A haircut is not important enough to communicate around the world. Our minds should not be filled with images of haircuts, our attention taken away from more important matters (like anything else at all). Yet, so it is. We live in the Time of the Idiot. A time when a haircut is of world importance - and where a pop song sets one on the same footing as major historical figures of lasting import.

Victoria Beckham's every move receives more attention, it seems, sometimes, than that of world leaders. Yet, the most major decision Victoria makes is which handbag to buy. Her decisions do not affect the lives and livelihoods of millions...so why, then, does she receive the attention of those whose decisions do have such importance? It is bizarre. It is also a purely modern phenomenon. There was a time when only people of true merit were famous. Now, some people are of very great fame but of very little worth. I will leave it to you to decide for yourself whether Victoria Beckham's worth is as great as her fame.

I would like a world in which news was news; a world in which all the information conveyed to me over every news channel had some baseline of merit and substance. Once, there was such a world. However, the modern era of mass media has dispelled it. Now, what is conveyed is not so much news, as entertainment. Victoria Beckham's haircut is not news, but it may be entertainment. However, the problem is, that the entertaining snippet of her latest haircut is conveyed as if it is news. It is time to draw a distinction between the two categories of information. News should fill news channels. Entertainment should be found elsewhere...

I wonder if my children will ever live to see a world in which news becomes news again. I wonder if they will see a time in which haircuts are, once again, matters of no consequence, and no-one knows of the Victoria Beckhams of the world. It is a world we used to have. It is a world I would like to see 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.

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Doris Lessing on Nobel Prize Fame

Recently, Doris Lessing was bemoaning her newly won Nobel Prize fame. She opined that winning the Nobel Prize for Literature was a "disaster". She revealed that her life had become one long round of interviews and that she had ceased to write.

Now, that is her viewpoint from the present. However, I think she has overlooked something. Winning the Nobel Prize has made her much more famous than she had been. She is also 88 years old and probably near the end of her long life. To my eyes, she is thinking too much of the present and not enough of the long-term. In the long-term she will be dead - and what will remain are her books and her reputation. Winning the Nobel Prize has heightened her reputation and called attention to her work in a way she had never achieved before. History may turn more readily towards her, for having won that prize, than it would otherwise have done. She may have lost the ease of her quiet, writing life - but that loss comes at the end of a long and productive life. She has, however, gained something else: a more solid place in posterity.

No doubt, Doris Lessing is not the only Nobel Prize winner to be besieged by sudden fame. Yet, almost all Nobel Prize winners share one thing in common: they tend to be old. It takes time for a reputation to accrue. It takes time for people to notice the quality of one's work and thinking. It takes time for the Nobel committee to decide that someone is of sufficient merit to make such an award. Indeed, so much time does all of this take that many decades often pass between the work that merited an award, and the award itself. I used to think this was a bad thing. I used to think that the money that came with the award would be more useful in the early stages of a career, while the creator is still young. However, there is another side. The great fame that a Nobel Prize usually bestows is less disruptive to a career nearing its end. So, perhaps it is merciful that this most prestigious of all awards should come so late in a life. The result is that little work is lost to the ever present interviews - but that a more enduring fame is won.

So, though Doris Lessing may not understand this, at this time, her Nobel Prize is much more of a blessing than a curse. Her reputation may endure that much longer and her place in literary history be that much more secure because she was picked out, from all the world's writers, for the greatest prize of all.

There is something else Doris Lessing could do. She could always say: "no" to the interviews, go somewhere quiet, and isolated, and begin to write again. So, even if made world famous through the Nobel, the choice for peaceful solitude remains in the hands of the creator - they just have to be firm enough to make it.

(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.)

Heath Ledger, actor, dead in NYC

Very recently, Heath Ledger starred in The Brothers Grimm, on TV, here in Singapore. He came across as a skilful and interesting actor. Today, he is dead at just 28 years old.

Whatever the cause of death is eventually established to be: suicide, or accidental overdose of sleeping pills, look the most likely - the true cause of death is his fame.

Let me explain. In an interview in November, Heath Ledger complained about being "stressed out a little too much", he noted that he had trouble sleeping (for which he was using Ambien sleeping pills, which barely worked, for an hour at a time). Indeed, at times, he was only sleeping two hours a night, for extended periods. Here was a man coming apart, unable to do the most natural of things - get a good night's sleep.

It is clear from this that he was unable to cope with the pressures of fame, or the responsibilities of his job. It was obviously too much for him. Fame killed him as assuredly as if it had shot him. Why? Well, if he had not been in the "stressful" position he was in, he would, presumably, not be unable to sleep. He would not be taking sleeping pills. He would not have taken an accidental overdose of them - or felt pressured enough to kill himself with them. In short, that which made him, also unmade him. His fame which led him to great success, also assured his end.

If someone is going to tread the path to fame, I think they should be of resilient stuff. They should be the type of person who does NOT feel the pressure; who does NOT get "stressed out". They should be calm individuals unbothered by the great responsibility of ensuring that 100 million dollar pictures succeed. Heath Ledger, it seems, was not one of those centred individuals. It would, therefore, have been a longer life, for him, had he chosen a less pressured and public life. Such a life is for the hardy - not those sensitive enough to find it impossible to sleep simply because they have a major role in a film. There are, in fact, those who would sleep easier for having such a role. It all depends on how you react to the situation.

It is a pity. He was a decent actor who brought life to each role. He had only just begun. He was, it seems, however, not strong enough a person to walk the film actor path, for long.

In his short life, he appeared in diverse roles, from his most famous role in Brokeback Mountain, to the forthcoming role as the Joker in Christopher Nolan's "Dark Knight", as Bob Dylan in "I'm not there" (during the filming of which, he couldn't sleep), Lasse Hallstrom's "Casanova", "10 things I hate about you", "The Knight's Tale" and, of course, Terry Gilliam's "The Brother's Grimm".

Unlike many young people who die before their time, Heath Ledger will be remembered for the filmed work he left behind. That, however, does not diminish the inherent tragedy in a life cut short, a promise unfulfilled.

What he should have done is do what he had tended to do early in his career: turn down roles. He evidently needed a break from the stress. He should have retreated to somewhere quiet away from the hubbub of the film star's tumultuous world and calmed himself, and learned to do what all of us find so natural: get some sleep.

When "Dark Knight" comes out, I am going to make a point of seeing his last performance.

Good night, Heath Ledger: sleep well.

(If you would like to learn more of Ainan Celeste Cawley, a scientific child prodigy, aged eight years and one month, or his gifted brothers, Fintan, four years and six months, and Tiarnan, twenty-three 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, gifted adults and gifted children in general. Thanks.)

Chance meeting with a "family friend"

Today, my wife was in a forested area: a deep, dark, forest. At least, that is what it was as evening approached.

She was with Ainan and Tiarnan, on an adventure. At some point, she encountered a fellow adventurer and struck up a conversation.

As they walked, she talked. "This is his physical education.", she remarked, pointing to Ainan.

The conversation encompased education in general. Finally, being of a mind to know what he thought of the matter, she asked him: "Have you heard about the 7 year old boy?"

"Of course I have," he nodded knowledgeably, "I know the family."

She appraised him carefully on hearing that.

"I know the parents.", he expanded, generously.

Syahidah, the mother of the seven year old in question - had never seen him in her life, before.

It is amazing what the media can do: an appearance in the press can give you friends you never knew you had, friends you have never even met.

How bizarre.

(If you would like to learn more of Ainan Celeste Cawley, a scientific child prodigy, aged seven years and ten months, or his gifted brothers, Fintan, four years and three months, and Tiarnan, twenty 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.)

Gerhard Ertl, Nobel Prize for Chemistry 2007

Given the subject of Ainan’s central interest, it seems appropriate that I should mention Gerhard Ertl, Emeritus Professor at the Fritz Haber Institute of the Max Planck Society, in Berlin. He has just been awarded the 2007 Nobel Prize for Chemistry for his ground-breaking research into surface chemistry.

Now, like many areas of basic research, there are often many applications that go beyond the obvious. Ertl’s extremely precise work, under conditions of vacuum, has revealed the inner workings of many chemical mysteries. Ertl has provided an answer as to why iron rusts, the destruction of the ozone layer, how fuel cells work, the operation of catalytic converters (through the oxidation of carbon monoxide on a platinum catalyst) and other catalysts such as the iron used in the Haber-Bosch process for fixing of nitrogen fertilizers. His work began in the 1960s and has had an extensive influence over all areas of surface chemistry.

This is the first time I have heard of Gerhard Ertl – a name known, I suppose, beforehand only to his colleagues in Chemistry. It is this way with many Nobelists. Their work is of great importance to mankind – but they labour in the relative obscurity of their respective niches. It is only when they win a major prize, such as the Nobel, that we become aware of them. I am not sure that that is the best situation. I, for one, would like to know of the names and personalities of those who shape our world – and not have to rely on the decision-making powers of a body in Sweden to bring them to my attention. I would rather have known of Ertl beforehand – and all the other great scientific thinkers at work, today, whose names may never be known, by the public, unless they are recognized by a Nobel Award.

Congratulations to Gerhard Ertl. Unusually, in these times of scientific co-operation, in which group work is common, Ertl does not share the prize with any other scientist.

Oh, and Happy Birthday, too: the prize was announced on his 71st birthday.

(If you would like to learn more of Ainan Celeste Cawley, a scientific child prodigy, aged seven years and ten months, or his gifted brothers, Fintan, four years and three months, and Tiarnan, twenty 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.)

Famous inventors: John Boyd Dunlop

John Boyd Dunlop should be a familiar name to you - at least the surname Dunlop, should.

Mr. Dunlop (February 5, 1840 - October 23, 1921) was a veterinarian by training, having graduated from the University of Edinburgh. Now, although born in Scotland, he spent most of his life in Ireland, in Belfast (in what was then not "Northern Ireland", but is now). So, although Scottish by birth, you could call him a naturalized Irishman.

John Boyd Dunlop had a veterinarian practice but this is not what he became famous for. Like many a father, he paid attention to his son's doings. He couldn't help but notice that, everytime his son rode his tricycle, he seemed to be in some great discomfort. This was not surprising, since, in those days, tires (tyres Br.) were solid rubber. Every bump in the road was felt deeply. Something had to be done.

Dunlop was a man of some imagination and inventiveness. So, he took his son's tricycle and set about the task of improving the situation. He wrapped thin rubber sheets around the wheels and then glued them together. Then he pumped them up with a footpump. The world's first commercially practicable pneumatic tyre had been invented. It was 1887. In 1888, he received a patent for this invention. Sadly, however, two years later he was informed that there was some overlap with the invention of one Robert William Thomson - a Scottish inventor, curiously - who had patented a similar idea in 1846 in France and 1847 in the US. Nevertheless, Dunlop didn't let go of his idea. He sold his patent to a William Harvey Du Cros was intent on commercializing it, in exchange for 1,500 shares in the resultant company, Dunlop Tyres. (American's might insist on Dunlop Tires, I suppose!)

Though Dunlop Tyres went on to become a world beating company, their products displacing solid rubber tyres around the world, within ten years, John Boyd Dunlop himself did not make a great fortune from his invention. Yet, he is still remembered for his inventive moment, with his son - so all is not lost.

Dunlop Tyres has diversified since then - there are Dunlop Motorcycle Tires (Tyres Br.), Dunlop Truck Tires (Tyres), Dunlop Racing Tires (Tyres Br.), Dunlop Mud Tires (Tyres Br.) and beyond that into merchandizing: Dunlop bags, Dunlop golf equipment, Dunlop bowling shoes, Dunlop squash rackets (racquets Br.), Dunlop tennis rackets (racquets Br.) and Dunlop golf balls. Dunlop has become a global brand. Yet, how many know that John Boyd Dunlop was a relatively humble vet with a practice in Belfast in the 19th century? A few more, now, perhaps.

What strikes me about all of this is that although Dunlop lived a relatively quiet life, that one moment of invention for his son, changed the world, in some significant way. It was Dunlop's pneumatic tire (tyre Br.) that was commercialized. It is Dunlop tires (tyres Br.) that many of us drive around on. Dunlop could have become a big industrialist - but he didn't have the appetite - and perhaps not the aptitude - to commercialize his work - so this was done by William Harvey Du Cros. So, although Dunlop did not become a mega-rich Bill Gates type figure - as he could have done, through revolutionizing transport - he did transcend the everyday limits of his life - and left behind a brand name that continues to grow until today. Yet, all he was really trying to do was make his son's tricycle ride a little more comfortable. I find that rather sweet - but also significant. It is difficult for us to know the full impact of what we do in life. John Boyd Dunlop didn't know - and neither do we.

(If you would like to learn more of Ainan Celeste Cawley, a scientific child prodigy, aged seven years and ten months, or his gifted brothers, Fintan, four years and three months, and Tiarnan, twenty 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, 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.)

O.J.Simpson: Fame and Invulnerability

Sometimes, in some cultures, the famous think that they are invulnerable. They are like royalty walking among mere peasants - and are so far above the law, that they probably don't even know how to spell the word. At least, that is how many of them appear to behave and think of themselves.

O.J. Simpson is a definite case in point. Here is a man who was once, rather publicly, charged with a double murder - and, equally publicly, was acquitted - though many in the world didn't seem to agree with the acquittal and put it down to two factors: his gifted lawyers - and his fame - and consequent aura of untouchability. Now, I am not about to revisit the murder case and cannot form a solid opinion about it because I don't have the evidence to hand - but I can say this: it did seem to me that he was awfully lucky to get off, given the set of circumstances he faced.

That luck could have played a part in the most recent O.J. Simpson event. O.J has, as you probably know, been charged with multiple counts relating to an armed robbery in a Las Vegas casino - of, bizarrely, his own sports memorabilia. O.J. Simpson burst into a hotel room with several accomplices, at least one of whom was armed, and set about robbing the occupants of their O.J Simpson sports memorabilia. O.J. Simpson has subsequently claimed that he thought that the sports memorabilia had been stolen from him and that he was just reclaiming it, his style. Now, that may or may not be true, it may or may not reflect a gift for alibi invention, that has, no doubt, been well-exercised in his life - but whatever the case, the fact remains that O.J. Simpson should not, under any circumstances, have burst into a hotel room, with armed accomplices, to rob a couple of sports memorabilia collectors of O.J. Simpson memorabilia!

One thing that can be said, fairly safely, is that O.J. Simpson, whatever his athletic virtues might be, cannot be very bright. In fact, he is probably the least intelligent person I am ever likely to refer to on this blog on giftedness. O.J Simpson escaped a conviction for double murder. The Goldman family, at least, think he did it. The world's attention had been focused on him a little too long for anyone to ever forget him - and now, thirteen years later, he thinks it a reasonable act to commit an armed robbery, in a major hotel, of people who know who he is and actually collect his memorabilia!

Why would O.J. Simpson commit an armed robbery? Well, apart from the obvious answer that he must be both desperate and lacking intelligence there could be another: the effect of fame.

O.J. Simpson was not that well known outside the United States when the double murder case came to trial. But, upon that case, O.J Simpson became one of the world's most famous people. Furthermore, he remains so, for anyone who was a news-watcher in 1994. That is a generation that will never forget O.J Simpson. He has become, for them, an indelible memory. O.J. Simpson was a football star before the murder case - but after it he was a global brand - if a rather tarnished one.

Fame such as O.J. Simpson has is a thing that should only be the property of a mature mind. By this I do not mean an old person - I mean one who is responsible, aware of their position in the world, not given to abuse of power - and somewhat of a realist. They must be realistic enough to know the limits of behaviour within which a famous person should act, if they are not to fall foul of either the law, or basic morality. O.J Simpson does not appear to be aware of these limits (as neither did Mike Tyson before him, in another context).

O.J. Simpson has, it seems, fallen into the big trap of fame, for the famous: the idea of invulnerablity, the idea that the usual rules do not apply to the famous because, in so many contexts, they really don't apply. Yet, that does not mean that the rules don't apply in all contexts. There are still laws. There is still morality. There is still their public image to consider.

O.J. Simpson wasn't considering any of these things when he burst into a hotel room with armed accomplices. He was only thinking of the great O.J. Simpson, football star and globally famous - or infamous - man.

If O.J. Simpson genuinely thought that the sports memorabilia were his - all he had to do was pick up the phone and call the police to get them back. It defies belief that he would commit an armed robbery to do so.

Perhaps, getting off those murder charges convinced him, unconsciously or otherwise, that he could get away with anything - no matter what. (For even if he didn't, in fact, do it, it did look rather awkward.) All he had to do was hire a team of lawyers and let his fame do the rest.

Fame could have made O.J. Simpson into the kind of man who thinks armed robbery is something he can get away with. Fame could have convinced O.J. Simpson that he is above the law. Fame could have convinced O.J. Simpson that he can do what he pleases, without consequence.

Yet, there is one thing fame is now likely to do: ensure that the whole world watches the ensuing case. Fame may also work against him. There may be a tendency to punish him for the perceived wrongs of the prior case. Fame might mean O.J. Simpson spends the rest of his life in prison. It all depends on the jurors: are they enamoured of O.J. Simpson's fame, this time around - as they seemed to be, last time - or have they tired of him? Has O.J. Simpson slipped from fame to infamy since the first case? If it is the latter, then O.J. Simpson may discover that fame is not as protective as he had hoped. O.J. Simpson may be remembered for one more thing: spending the rest of his life in jail, signing sports memorabilia.

(If you would like to learn more of Ainan Celeste Cawley, a scientific child prodigy, aged seven years and nine months, or his gifted brothers, Fintan, four years and two months, and Tiarnan, nineteen 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, 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.)

Mira Sorvino and scientific fame.

Bizarre as it might seem, Mira Sorvino is famous in the scientific world.

Now, you might wonder how on Earth a Hollywood actress could become known in certain quarters of the scientific community, in a scientific context. What did she discover, you might wonder? When did she find the time to fit a PhD in, in between all those films? How does her film-set schedule allow for laboratory experimentation and profound theorizing?

Well, it doesn't. You see Mira Sorvino having become famous in Hollywood, has been acknowledged by the scientific community in a way which gives her a strange kind of fame. You see, Ainan, 7, pointed out to me, yesterday, that a newly discovered chemical has recently been christened Mirasorvone.

Ainan is fond of filling his mind with rare and obscure scientific information - and this chemical fact is just one nugget. I am informed that there is a beetle called Thermonectus Marmoratus. This beetle uses the newly noted Mirasorvone as a chemical defense (so it is not, actually a very nice chemical!). The common name for this beetle is the "Sunburst Diving Beetle".

The chemical was discovered by researchers at Cornell University. These fans of Mira Sorvino decided to honour her, by naming it after her, owing to her appearance in the film Mimic, which has a strong connection to insects. Curiously, they didn't name the chemical after her character, Dr. Susan Tyler, in the film - but after the actress herself. I suppose Mira should be thankful for that - otherwise she would have missed out on a kind of fame which never dies.

It is my guess that Mira Sorvino will now be known, by some scientists, for as long as there are scientists to know anything. In this way, her scientific fame, modest though it is, being restricted to one chemical name, is certain to outlast any Hollywood fame, she accumulates. Long after all her films have crumbled away, and no-one even remembers what Hollywood was - or, perhaps even, what America was - the chemical name will persist in scientific records - and Mira Sorvino's fame, will endure - even if it is as a nasty chemical. What a strange thought that is.

(If you would like to read more of Ainan Celeste Cawley, a scientific child prodigy, aged seven years and eight months, who brought Mirasorvone to my attention, or his gifted brothers, Fintan, four years and one month, or Tiarnan, eighteen 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 adults and gifted children. Thanks.)

Valentine Cawley Celebrity Look-a-likes part two

It is difficult to be impartial in the matter of appearance. Now, however, one can let a computer make the judgements. In the previous post, I ran one photograph through a site that correlates one's features with famous people. (Its purpose is to find lost relatives, actually, through finding genetic resemblances between people reflected in their features.)

Below is the result of trying another photograph. There is variation between them because a different photo will catch one in somewhat different way. It is interesting to note that Jacqueline Bisset comes up again, despite the change of angle. Albert Einstein also correlates to me, at 52%. I hope it is not my hair that did it.

I am not displeased to correlate with Vince Vaughn and Tom Hanks: amiable souls both.

Have fun all.

Celebrity look-a-likes: famous faces

It is said that everyone has a double, somewhere, somewhen: but is that true? In my life, I have met several people who look somewhat like me, some male, some female - but who, of all the world's famous people do I look like?

There is a website called www.myheritage.com that purports to match genealogy using face recognition. One side effect of this is that it can match any face to its databases of celebrities. Clearly this database is not complete since there are a number of celebrities that I have been said to remind people of at various stages of my life, that did not come up as results - such as Ewan MacGregor (who I was more than once mistaken for, when I was younger) - and Ricky Martin (except one of us is plumper...wonder who?!!). However, given the limitations of the database I thought it a very fun exercise to see who, in the world, one looks like: according to the impartial judge of a computer program that measures faces.

The results are served up here. Apparently, I am a sixty per cent match for Donald Trump (I could do with 60 per cent of his wealth, then...) and a 73 % match for David Bowie. Interestingly, I also resemble Jacqueline Bisset - a woman - and Coolio - who is of a different race. I find this refreshing. In going beyond our ways of categorizing people by race and gender and looking at the actual proportions of the face, this software should give a truer reflection of who we actually look like. The results can be very revealing.

The results depend very much on which photo you upload: different photos may give slightly different results if you are caught differently - or were a different age at the time, I suppose (or weight, I would guess: though it managed to see through my poundage and match the features of ultra-slim David Bowie - so I think the software is pretty good at overcoming such impediments).

I will see if I can check other photos for my family members and post the results for you.

So, who do you look like?

Front page news, Malaysia

Yesterday, Ainan was front page news in Malaysia. In fact, not just front page: Ainan was the first story on the front page of Utusan Malaysia, the most widely read Malay newspaper. That made him the TOP STORY of the day, in that paper.

It is a spooky feeling when one's son is the top story in a newspaper - but a good one.

Other papers which carried the story included Kosmo (page two); The Borneo Post and the Daily Express - these two are newspapers with good circulations.

Thus, as of yesterday, Ainan is known throughout the Malay speaking world. That is a total not far short of 300 million people.

Thank you to the Malay media for taking an interest in Ainan and taking the trouble to cover his achievement with care.

(If you would like to read more of Ainan Celeste Cawley, a scientific child prodigy, aged seven years and four months, or his gifted brothers, Fintan, three and Tiarnan, fourteen months, please go to: http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2006/10/scientific-child-prodigy-guide.html I also write of gifted education, IQ, child prodigy, intelligence, child genius, baby genius, adult genius, savant, the creatively gifted, gifted adults and gifted children in general. Thanks.)

David Beckham, footballer and legend.

David Beckham. You didn't expect me to write those words, did you? Well, neither did I. It is just that I couldn't resist after hearing something about David Beckham, yesterday.

David Beckham is one of the most famous young men on Earth - but would you think of him as one of the brightest, too? Anyone who knew anything of him, from his interviews, is unlikely to think so. He comes across as a sweet but tongue-tied man, who finds it diffficult to express himself coherently in words. Yet, if there is one thing he is good at, it is PR. Either it is public relations, at work, or the global effect of Chinese Whispers has led to an interesting view of David Beckham, here in Singapore. Yesterday, a girl from Indonesia, who was twenty years old, told me this about David's life: "He went to Oxford University, but left without finishing his degree, because he wanted to focus on his football."

I greeted this with a long, almost reverent silence, that anyone could believe such a thing. Then I asked her: "Who told you that David Beckham went to Oxford?"

She couldn't remember where she got the information - but was sure of it. Now, either she had read it in a mistaken journalist's article - or had heard it from another, sometime - or she had imagined it. She was unable to source her knowledge. Yet, "know" it, she did.

Now, if you know anything about Oxford University, you would know how immensely difficult it is to get in. It is challenge as unlikely in its own way as becoming a leading professional footballer - but it is a very different kind of challenge. I cannot imagine, in anyway, that Beckham was ever a serious candidate for Oxford University - nor that he could have gained entrance. The internet confirms my view in that I couldn't find a confirmatory story. Indeed, he was a footballer by the age of 17 and, not being a child prodigy, did not have time to go to Oxford before then. So, clearly, this story about Beckham's aborted academic career is just that - a fiction, an urban legend of Indonesia. The question is, where did it come from? Was it a published source, perhaps the result of cheeky PR...or was it a mistaken journalist, perhaps conflating life stories, accidentally and coming up with this amazing tale - or was it a rumour started by an idolizing fan, for whom Beckham was a God? We shall never know, but it does point up one of the strange things that happens to the famous: people relate with confidence, information about them, which simply isn't true. Strangers adorn the life story of the famous one with embellishments and details, adoring additions that create something other than an image of the real person. Perhaps this only happens with a certain kind of celebrity. Perhaps it only happens with those who have popular mass appeal. I feel doubtful that it would happen to a serious individual famous for very sobre achievements - such as Richard Feynman. It may occur - but I somehow doubt it. However, whether or not it is a universal phenomenon of the famous - it is certain that it happens to some of them - and one of the victims of this is David Beckham, here in Asia.

I don't know how widespread this "information" about David Beckham is - but Indonesia is a very populous country (of almost a quarter of a billion people) and my informant came from a small town in Indonesia. It is a remarkable testament to the power of the media that she knew who Beckham was considering her isolated origins - but it is also an indication that perhaps this tale about Beckham's Oxford University days is widespread. If it is the product of a rumour, the rumour monger is, statistically, more likely to have come from a large city. Therefore, if this is so, the fact that the rumour had spread to a small town, in an isolated area, indicates that the rumour has spread far. This reasoning brings us to the hilarious conclusion that many Indonesians might believe that David Beckham, a man of no academic background or pretensions whatsoever, was an Oxford University drop-out.

I wonder what else is believed of Beckham around the world? What a strange thing fame can be.

(If you would like to read about Ainan Celeste Cawley, a scientific child prodigy, aged seven years and four months, or his gifted brothers, Fintan, three, and Tiarnan, fourteen 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 adults and gifted children in general. Thanks.)

An encounter at a supermarket, Singapore

Yesterday, I took a trip to the supermarket. A ordinary thing to do, you might think. Yet, suddenly, it is not ordinary.

As I waited by the check out counter, a young man approached me - of Malay origin.

"Are you the Father?" he said, with a capital letter.

I knew which "Father" he must mean.

His hand waved uncertainly in the air in front of him, searching for words: "...of the boy who passed his O level?"

"Yes, I am."

"I was shocked when I read that..." he began, clearly looking even more shocked to have met me, a living, walking Front Page of A Newspaper. "Only seven." He said, as if he was explaining some deep matter of the Universe by this number - or more likely, posing one of the Universes greater mysteries.

"Yes." I agreed, "I was pretty shocked myself.", I found myself saying - which wasn't true at all. I hadn't been shocked in the least - it was what I expected. However, something in me thought that that is what he would have expected from me and so I conformed to his expectation to make him feel better about the world. Perhaps I shouldn't have - but it was meant as a kindness - a kind of empathic reaching out.

He nodded to himself, and held himself in that way that told me he was slightly breathless, struggling against speechlessness.

"Who taught him?" He continued, getting the Key Question out.

"I did."

"You did science in the past?" He probed, making probable connections.

"Yes...I was a physicist."

"But you taught him Chemistry..." he probed further, seeing some inconsistency.

"Yes, I re-learnt Chemistry so that I could teach him it."

He seemed at a loss as to how to continue, so I reached out my hand and shook his: "Nice to meet you." I said.

He kind of nodded, not knowing, perhaps, what to say.

Then I stepped back one or two steps, but something stopped me, something prompted me to a kindness of sorts: "What's your name?" I asked.

"Ashraf," he began, "I work here..." He looked me in the eyes, and repeated: "I work here."

I looked at him. He was in "plain clothes" - ordinary civilian attire, there being no uniform in sight, so I had no way of knowing whether this was true. Yet, he said it, so I accepted it. He must just be getting off work, I thought.

"Good...bye Ashraf!"

I left the store. I didn't look back, but it seems likely that I would have found his eyes upon me, had I done so.

It was a pleasant introduction to public recognition...and, to me, a surprising one. People really do read newspapers here - and pay attention to what is in them.

I wonder what is going to happen after today, with our family's appearance in the largest circulation newspaper in Singapore - The Sunday Times (of The Straits Times).

I will soon learn.

Best wishes all.

(If you would like to learn of Ainan Celeste Cawley, a scientific child prodigy, aged seven years and four months, or his gifted siblings, Fintan, three and Tiarnan, fourteen 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 adults and gifted children in general. Thanks.)

The effect of fame on customer service

Something odd but sweet happened today.

My wife and I were in a restaurant. The server was a young man of about eighteen. He clearly recognized my wife and was all smiles. She requested that a drink of water be brought to the table since we were in a hurry and she wanted something to cool her tea. He brought it without delay. What was both surprising and touching was what we saw as he set the cup down on the table. His hands were shaking with nervousness, the water sloshing in the cup.

Though my wife is a pretty woman, she had never before managed to make a man shake with nervousness! How funny this is all this.

Reactions to Ainan in Singapore

As you will know, if you have read recent posts, Ainan, 7, has been featured in many Singaporean media, recently, two of them on the front page. What reactions has this provoked in people, here?

Well, the first signs of something different was when he went out with his mother. People pointed at him and cries of: "Are you Ainan?" could be heard. There was a general sense of delight at having met him.

At school, Ainan was cheered by the whole school at assembly. I think he was deeply touched by it all, being a sensitive boy, who picks up on the warmth surrounding him. A trip to the canteen, became a scene of much congratulation, as fellow pupils in his primary school approached to say that they had seen him in the papers.

If there is one word to describe the reaction so far it is: "embraced". Ainan has been embraced by those around him...appreciated, welcomed, well-received.

I hope it continues.

Three cheers for Ainan! Hip hip Hooray!

(If you would like to read more of Ainan Celeste Cawley, a scientific child prodigy, aged seven years and four months, or his gifted brothers, Fintan, three, and Tiarnan, fourteen 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, adult genius, baby genius, savant, the creatively gifted, gifted adults, and gifted general. Thanks.)

Celebrity: gift or creative genius?

We live in a celebrity obsessed world. A world of Tom Cruise, Katie Holmes, and baby Suri; a world of Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie and baby Shiloh Nouvel Jolie-Pitt; the world of Mel Gibson, Madonna, and Sharon Stone. A world in which Marilyn Monroe, Elvis Presley, James Dean and Marlon Brando are still remembered. From the coverage these people receive, one would think they were the most important people on Earth: but are they? Are they the best of people? Is celebrity the product of natural gift, inner creative genius - or is it a gift of luck, itself?

Some celebrities are certainly gifted. James Woods is profoundly gifted, with an IQ of 180. He may well be the brightest working actor in Hollywood, though perhaps not in the wider world. Madonna's IQ, I once read, is 140 - so she is moderately gifted, on her way to highly gifted. Sharon Stone's is apparently around 150 making her highly gifted. One could argue whether or not these people were geniuses - in the creative sense - and decide, most probably, that they were not: but they are definitely gifted in the sense of IQ.

Is it necessary to be gifted to be a celebrity? The short answer is a clear no, as most would have observed if you have watched celebrity interviews. Many of them are clearly not very intelligent. It seems that luck and perseverance alone, are enough. A pretty face helps, too.

Is celebrity a reward to giftedness? Most certainly not. Most gifted people live relatively successful lives, but few attain fame - there are so many factors involved in that besides talent, or gift, or even simple intelligence.

Ainan Celeste Cawley, my six year old son, is a scientific child prodigy, with a prodigious gift in science, and a grasp of conceptual matters beyond most adults. He is not, however, a celebrity. Scientists generally don't achieve acclaim, even if they produce volumes of quality work. Why is this? Fame is determined by what the public want to know and generally they don't want to know about scientists or science. Apart from Linus Pauling, Stephen Hawking, Albert Einstein and Robert Oppenheimer, how many scientists, in modern times, have truly made an impression on the public? Very few compared to the vast numbers of scientists who have lived and worked in that period.

Fame, then, is not an inevitable reward for giftedness. To be gifted, a genius, a child prodigy - or a savant - is its own reward. These gifts confer the ability to see more in life, understand more, feel more - and contribute more to life, than the ungifted, untalented, ordinary are able to.

Who is more important to the world: a celebrity, who is ungifted, but famous, or a gifted person who is talented, but unknown? I would say the gifted person, for though they may not be leading a high-profile life, their actual true contribution to life is likely to be greater. This becomes clear once we see through the glamour of fame, and judge the actual merits of their achievements.

Whether or not my children become famous for their achievements, their genius, prodigy, gift provides the only significance that is necessary. That they are gifted is significant. Being a child prodigy, is significant, whether or not that is recognized widely, it does not change their intrinsic worth, which could not be higher.

For me Ainan Celeste Cawley, 6, Fintan Nadym Cawley, 3, and Tiarnan Hasyl Cawley, 9 months are my pantheon of celebrities/little Gods. That few know them, matters little, for their worth and their unique gifts are most evident.

If your children are gifted, or show genius, or prodigy of any kind, then know that that makes them as important to life as anyone. Though the creative among us may often not receive the acclaim they deserve, they remain the most important of people: a world of god-like celebrities notwithstanding.

(If you would like to learn more Ainan Celeste Cawley, six, a scientific child prodigy, and his brothers, go to: http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2006/10/scientific-child-prodigy-guide.html )