A child prodigy on the secret of the afterlife.

Computers influence us in many ways. Today, Ainan posed a question that deliberately played with that influence on our lives.

“What if when you die,” he began, with whimsy in his eyes, “you see a high score screen?”

I laughed uproariously...so loudly I no doubt worried our neighbours. He joined me in laughter, though his lungs couldn’t muster the same volume.

Then, I sobered up.

“In a way, you do. At least other people do.”

Ainan’s gaze tightened on me, in curiosity.

“You see when a celebrity or a rich person dies, newspapers tend to report the net worth of their estate at the moment of death. This is a kind of high score that summarizes your life achievements.”

“How do they know that?”

“There are people who track the wealth of celebrities and rich people.”

“Why do they do it?”

“Because some people find that interesting.”

He looked perplexed. Clearly, Ainan didn’t find this a meaningful datum about a person – and that perplexity was encouraging, for it bespoke of a deeper way of looking at the meaning of people and their lives.

There are other “high scores” they could focus on, but usually don’t so much. Were they married? (That is a life achievement.) How long was that marriage? Did it endure lifelong (a testament to stability)? How many children did the deceased have? How many grandchildren and great-grandchildren? How long did they live? What were their greatest achievements? What made them happiest? What would they most like to be remembered for? How many books did they write? How many did they sell? How many patents and papers did they have to their name? How about music compositions or works of art? Or articles in newspapers? How many and how important were their life works? Whom did their life touch? What effect did they have in the world, or on their family and friends? Did they make a positive contribution to life, society and the environment overall? Were they honest? Were they warm, loving and kind? Did they help others or predate upon them?

I could go on forever. There are so many more meaningful ways to assess a life than to declare a person’s net worth. Sadly, we live in a world that values wealth more than all the other indicators of a worthy life put together.

As for Ainan’s question: “What if when you die, you see a high score screen?”

I could have answered, but didn’t, until now.

“They are called biographers.”

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.) 

Patrick Swayze's net worth at the time of his death.

No. This title is not my idea. It is a quote from the terms a web searcher used, from Littleton, Colorado today. They googled: “Patrick Swayze’s net worth at the time of death.” I must confess, I was flabbergasted at such a query. It spoke of a most distorted value system that invokes a belief that the measure of a life, is found in personal wealth. There are many ways to measure a life, but none of the meaningful methods involve a consideration of wealth. A billionaire is not more worthy than a penniless poet. One beautiful poem adds more to the world than all of Bill Gates’ fabled wealth. Such a poem also has the power to touch more lives, than any fortune ever could.

For me, it is particularly telling that the search originated in the USA. America is a country in which the dollar and its pursuit have been elevated to be the highest endeavour – that, and fame – creating a country of people who seem unable to place real value on life’s varied endeavours. There are many ways to contribute to the world which don’t necessarily result in great personal wealth – but that does not make them any less worthy than those that do. Being a banker, for instance, is not the highest life a human can live – though it is one of the more remunerative. However, being an artist, or a poet or a composer, contributes much more to humanity, ultimately, than any purely financial endeavour. Such pursuits enrich human culture, for all time and leave the world a greater place, by their lives, than the world was when they entered it. Yet, few can make a living, never mind become wealthy. Those who seek to measure the world in dollar terms will always miss what is of true value.

Love of the dollar is also why Singapore is such a soul-less place. Very few Singaporean parents are happy to hear that their child wants to enter a creative profession, prone to financial risk. They all want to hear that their children want to go into Medicine, Law or Finance – anything that makes good, secure money. The result, however, of all this love of money, is a country which fails to truly live. Life in Singapore, consequently, has the feel of living in a manicured wasteland, where no-one is truly allowed to breathe, and those with the most ability to “breathe” are shoved to one side, in favour of those who conform most to financial aspirations.

If you want to know the “worth” of Patrick Swayze’s life, you should look not at his bank balance, but the films on his IMDB page ( http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000664/ )– for that is what he loved to do. Measure the worth of his performances, in those films, if you would, and you will come to a better appreciation of the “measure” of his life. A man is measured not by what he owns, but by what he loves to do: in his passions is the true magnitude of a man to be found.

Posted by Valentine Cawley

(If you would like to support my continued writing of this blog and my ongoing campaign to raise awareness about giftedness and all issues pertaining to it, please donate, by clicking on the gold button to the left of the page.

To read about my fundraising campaign, please go to: http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2011/01/fundraising-drive-in-support-of-my.html and here: http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2011/01/fundraising-drive-first-donation.html

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

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

To learn more of Ainan Celeste Cawley, 10, or his gifted brothers, Fintan, 7 and Tiarnan, 5, please go to: http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2006/10/scientific-child-prodigy-guide.html

I also write of gifted education, child prodigy, child genius, adult genius, savant, megasavant, HELP University College, the Irish, the Malays, Singapore, Malaysia, IQ, intelligence and creativity.

There is a review of my blog, on the respected The Kindle Report here:http://thekindlereport.blogspot.com/2010/09/boy-who-knew-too-much-child-prodigy.html

Please have a read, if you would like a critic's view of this blog. Thanks.

You can get my blog on your Kindle, for easy reading, wherever you are, by going to: http://www.amazon.com/Boy-Who-Knew-Too-Much/dp/B0042P5LEE/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&m=AG56TWVU5XWC2&s=digital-text&qid=1284603792&sr=8-1

Please let all your fellow Kindlers know about my blog availability - and if you know my blog well enough, please be so kind as to write a thoughtful review of what you like about it. Thanks.

My Internet Movie Database listing is at:http://imdb.com/name/nm3438598/

Ainan's IMDB listing is at http://imdb.com/name/nm3305973/

Syahidah's IMDB listing is at http://imdb.com/name/nm3463926/

Our editing, proofreading and copywriting company, Genghis Can, is athttp://www.genghiscan.com/

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

The legend of Macaulay Culkin

Macaulay Culkin is famous, still, long after he has actually done anything to be famous for. Now, there is nothing wrong with that, since reputations often endure long after that which prompted them. Unusually, perhaps, though, compared to those others whose reputations have endured long after their cause (like certain pop/rock stars who no longer perform or compose, but still hit the gossip columns), Macaulay Culkin is famous because of what he did as a child. He is now 30. However, Macaulay Culkin has not been wasting his time, in his adult years. He has been dating Mila Kunis. I learnt this, today, on hearing that he had broken up with her.

Now the question is: what do you think people would be searching for, on hearing that Macaulay Culkin had broken up with Mila Kunis? Perhaps they might be asking questions like: did Macaulay Culkin have any children with Mila Kunis? Or: “Why did Macaulay Culkin break up with Mila Kunis?” Or “Did Mila Kunis dump Macaulay Culkin or vice-versa?” Or: “Did Macaulay Culkin cheat on Mila Kunis?”. Now these are all fair questions in the aftermath of the Mila Kunis breakup. However, that is not what interests people about Macaulay Culkin. Today, on my blog, the whole world is telling me just what they want to know about Macaulay Culkin. Rather astoundingly, fully 75% of searches arriving on my blog today, concern Macaulay Culkin. Yet, they are not searching about what you might consider reasonable, given his life events, today. Everyone is searching about Macaulay Culkin’s wealth.

The searches today, consist entirely of such humane gems as: “Is Macaulay Culkin rich?” “How much is Macaulay Culkin worth?” “What is Macaulay Culkin’s net worth?” “Is Macaulay Culkin wealthy?” “How much money does Macaulay Culkin have?” “Does Macaulay Culkin still have money?” “How does Macaulay Culkin make a living, now?” “What does Macaulay Culkin do for a living, now?” etc etc. Not one person, arriving on my blog, is interested in anything else about Macaulay Culkin, apart from his net worth/riches/wealth/money/assets.

To my mind, this does appear to indicate that people don’t think of Hollywood and its acting products, to be particularly meaningful. At least, the ones that Macaulay Culkin appeared in, don’t appear to interest them. No-one is interested in Macaulay Culkin’s acting achievements: they are only interested in the money they assume he got from them. No one is interested in whether Macaulay Culkin is an interesting guy, whether he is intelligent, sensitive, creative, caring, kind, loving, or anything else for that matter. All they care about is whether Macaulay Culkin is rich. Now, I don’t know whether Macaulay Culkin will ever read my blog (doubtful, given the vastness of the internet ), but if he does, I would like him to consider the evidence of my blog searches, and urge him to a certain caution, in his assessment of the character of those he meets. If he does not already do so, of course. For my blog suggests that most people, now, are only interested in one thing: Macaulay Culkin’s money.

By the way, for those interested in his supposed net worth, I saw an estimate a couple of years back saying he had 30 million US dollars to his name – so yes, he probably does have quite a lot of money. However, I am sure he has much else to recommend him too…so if you meet Macaulay Culkin, why not pause to find out what he is like as a PERSON and not a BANK ACCOUNT.

Personally, I find it rather disturbing that the interest in Macaulay Culkin should be so one dimensional. Of all the qualities a human being can have and which can inspire interest, the amount of money they have should be somewhere near the bottom of the list. To the modern net searcher, however, it seems to be at the top. What kind of world have we created that it should be so? What kind of people are there in this modern world of ours? Could they get any more one dimensional themselves? (I ask because a person reveals their depths, through the shallowness of their concerns.)

I wish Macaulay Culkin well on finding a new girlfriend – preferably one who does not search the internet for his net worth: poor rich guy!

(If you would like to learn more of Ainan Celeste Cawley, 10, or his gifted brothers, Fintan, 7 and Tiarnan, 4, this month, please go to: http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2006/10/scientific-child-prodigy-guide.html

I also write of gifted education, child prodigy, child genius, adult genius, savant, megasavant, HELP University College, the Irish, the Malays, Singapore, Malaysia, IQ, intelligence and creativity.

There is a review of my blog, on the respected The Kindle Report here: http://thekindlereport.blogspot.com/2010/09/boy-who-knew-too-much-child-prodigy.html

Please have a read, if you would like a critic's view of this blog. Thanks.

You can get my blog on your Kindle, for easy reading, wherever you are, by going to: http://www.amazon.com/Boy-Who-Knew-Too-Much/dp/B0042P5LEE/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&m=AG56TWVU5XWC2&s=digital-text&qid=1284603792&sr=8-1

Please let all your fellow Kindlers know about my blog availability - and if you know my blog well enough, please be so kind as to write a thoughtful review of what you like about it. Thanks.

My Internet Movie Database listing is at: http://imdb.com/name/nm3438598/

Ainan's IMDB listing is at http://imdb.com/name/nm3305973/

Syahidah's IMDB listing is at http://imdb.com/name/nm3463926/

Our editing, proofreading and copywriting company, Genghis Can, is at http://www.genghiscan.com/

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

Patrick Swayze's death: a note on what is important.

Patrick Swayze has died. He was rather too young, of course, at 57, but it had seemed rather inevitable, recently, given the seriousness of his pancreatic cancer.

At times like this, it can give comfort to those loved ones he has left behind, to realize how full a life he lived - and I am fairly sure he lived a full one. He was also successful in his chosen field and has left a substantial body of work. So, perhaps, his loved ones will draw nourishment from that. How he touched those he knew, how rich was the life he lived with them, is what is important. So, too, how fulfilled he felt in his work. I think, regarding that, that he must really have loved being an actor - because he took the lead role in The Beast, after his diagnosis and so chose to spend some of his final months working. That, in itself, tells us that, in his own view, he lived life the right way.

The reason I have chosen to write this post, however, is because of my surprise at what some of the searchers to my blog have searched for today. Some have used the terms: "Patrick Swayze net worth" and "What was Patrick Swayze worth" (this latter search was from Yonkers, in New York...I didn't check where the other was from.). I find these searches tasteless and really off the mark. The man has just died and all they are interested in, is the size of his estate. His wealth didn't matter much when he was alive - and it matters even less now that he is dead. What matters is did he live well, did he fulfill himself and did he share a good life with those he loved? Nothing else matters...certainly, not how many greenbacks he managed to accumulate. Really, I often find myself surprised - even shocked - at how shallow the world is becoming.

Rest in Peace Patrick Swayze.

(If you would like to learn more of Ainan Celeste Cawley, a scientific child prodigy, aged eight years and seven months, or his gifted brothers, Fintan, five years exactly, and Tiarnan, twenty-eight months, please go to:http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2006/10/scientific-child-prodigy-guide.html I also write of gifted education, IQ, intelligence, the Irish, the Malays, Singapore, College, University, Chemistry, Science, genetics, left-handedness, precocity, child prodigy, child genius, baby genius, adult genius, savant, wunderkind, wonderkind, genio, гений ребенок prodigy, genie, μεγαλοφυία θαύμα παιδιών, bambino, kind.

We are the founders of Genghis Can, a copywriting, editing and proofreading agency, that handles all kinds of work, including technical and scientific material. If you need such services, or know someone who does, please go to: http://www.genghiscan.com/ Thanks.

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

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

The tragedy of Macaulay Culkin.

Macaulay Culkin is, in my eyes, a tragic figure - but not for any reason that anyone else, would necessarily know, before I write of it. Indeed, he is doubly tragic. I shall explain.

Firstly, there is the obvious fact that Macaulay Culkin's greatest successes are behind him. The peaks of his life all lie in childhood. Unlike some who achieved renown, whilst very young, Macaulay Culkin did not go on to an adult career the area of his initial expertise. Once the cuteness of childhood was gone, so was Macaulay Culkin's great career.

Imagine, if you will, what it must be like to have been so gloriously successful, whilst still a child - and then to be so notably unnotable, as an adult. In a sense, he has lived past his life, as most people think of life - a time of aspirations and achievements, strung together from birth until death.

We cannot know what he may be aspiring to do, now, for he is nothing but quiet. There is not a word of his doings, as an adult. He seems to create nothing and do nothing that would amount to creative work. But then, he doesn't need to work, for he is rich. How rich is a matter of speculation, but a couple of years ago, I read estimates that he was worth 30 million US Dollars. Whatever he is actually worth now (and if he was invested in the wrong things, in the recent turbulence, it could, of course, be a lot less now), I am sure that he is worth enough to be considered "rich" by the common man and even by the quite uncommon one.

I have come to view Macaulay Culkin as tragic for a reason known, most probably only to me. This reason is simple. Ever since I posted once on Macaulay Culkin a year or two ago, I have had a lot of traffic for him. Indeed, about 2 to 3 % of the traffic to my site concerns Macaulay Culkin. The former star might be pleased to learn this - but I wouldn't, if I were him - because ALL of the searchers have had the same set of search terms - or variations on them. They have only ever been looking for one thing about Macaulay Culkin. The search terms are always, in effect: "What is Macaulay Culkin's net worth?" or "What is Macaulay Culkin worth now?" I have never, once, not even once, seen a search for ANYTHING else about Macaulay Culkin except his net worth. It appears that no-one is interested in anything, now, about him, than his net worth.

This seems to me a very sad situation. After a childhood of great and globally renowned filmic achievement that established him as one of the great child stars, as an adult, he has no discernible career or creative outlet (that I have ever heard of...which probably means that it is not happening). The only thing that people find of interest, now, about him, is how rich he is. That is it: how rich is Macaulay Culkin? That is the only question they have arrived on my blog in search of.

I wonder at what motivates these searchers. Are they people who have met him and wonder if he is worth trying to sponge off of? Are they fans who wonder on what financial pedestal to raise him? Are they financial workers, seeking background on him, in an effort to gauge what they might be able to sell him? I have no way of knowing...however, I know this: they don't care about his work, about his films, about his past greatness - they only care, now, about his money. Macaulay Culkin has become, in their eyes, nothing more than a rich adult, worthy perhaps of befriending solely for his money, or perhaps attempting to scam in some way. Nothing Macaulay Culkin did as a child has left a mark on these people. Now, that is sad. Macaulay Culkin, former child star, is now nothing but a great, big wallet, to all the searchers who have arrived on my site, in search of him, these past couple of years.

In many ways, I think Macaulay Culkin's fate is rather worse than being forgotten. He is now remembered as someone who should be rich - and nothing more: what a fate.

(If you would like to learn more of Ainan Celeste Cawley, a scientific child prodigy, aged eight years and seven months, or his gifted brothers, Fintan, five years exactly, and Tiarnan, twenty-eight months, please go to:http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2006/10/scientific-child-prodigy-guide.html I also write of gifted education, IQ, intelligence, the Irish, the Malays, Singapore, College, University, Chemistry, Science, genetics, left-handedness, precocity, child prodigy, child genius, baby genius, adult genius, savant, wunderkind, wonderkind, genio, гений ребенок prodigy, genie, μεγαλοφυία θαύμα παιδιών, bambino, kind.

We are the founders of Genghis Can, a copywriting, editing and proofreading agency, that handles all kinds of work, including technical and scientific material. If you need such services, or know someone who does, please go to: http://www.genghiscan.com/ Thanks.

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

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