The nature of the Self, in the mind of a child.

Tiarnan is rather philosophical for a six year old. Today, he was having a serious little chat with his mother, when he suddenly asked, with the utmost intensity:

“Who is in control of me?”

His mother, Syahidah, focussed on him, somewhat startled at the question.

“Is it me, me, or is it my brain?”, he continued, drawing a distinction that seemed a little mystifying to her.

“Who do you think is in control of you?”, she prompted, acceptingly.

“Just me.”, he said, simply. “...and God, sometimes. God controls the whole world – but I am in control of me!”

He seemed happy with that conclusion.

Syahidah was quite happy, too, to have heard him think so. Listening to Tiarnan is rather refreshing. He ponders the world, asking questions of matters, that adults have come to overlook, or take for granted. He then reflects on them, deeply, answering them from within the context of his experience – yet, meaningfully, nevertheless. Tiarnan is a little philosopher and, in many ways, is proving to be a deep thinker, prone to pondering mysteries and cracking the enigmas of life. It is notable that the questions that concern him most could all be lumped under the heading: “The Meaning of Life”...for its nature and context are his primary interests. He really wants to understand what it means to be alive. He doesn’t just accept that he is alive and go from there...he is really questioning what life is and what it means to experience the living state. Yet, he is only six years old and has never read any philosophical or religious work of any kind. He is thinking for himself, afresh.

All of this leads me to wonder whether, as an adult, he might become a writer, who ponders deep questions and answers them for his readers. If so, that would be an altogether familiar outcome, for those who are privy to my writings of yesteryear (hint: not the general public, as yet).

Intellectually, Tiarnan has many a likeness to my own preoccupations – though his are in juvenescent form. That doesn’t disguise the fact, though, that he seems driven by the same motivations to question, understand and explain his world. Once again, I marvel at how much genetic influences appear to play in the formation of our minds, our characters and our interests.

I look forward to Tiarnan’s many interesting questions and ponderings, in the future.

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.) 

A child who asks deep questions.

Tiarnan is six years old. Normally, one has certain expectations of what being six years old entails. Tiarnan, however, in some ways, is busily ignoring these expectations.

Last night, as I was trying to settle him down to sleep. He suddenly perked up and looked at me, as if I might be able to provide the solution to something that was bothering him.

“Is life about a dream?”

I paused, in a little surprise at his question. He had a little smile on his face, as if he had had certain beliefs about my response. Before I could formulate a response, he launched another unexpected question at me:

“Why is real life real?”

This time there was no smile. He was very serious about it.

“What do you mean?”, I prompted, not fully understanding where his question was reaching, at first.

“How come I exist?”, he continued, as if this question explained the last.

“Mummy and Daddy made you.”

He smiled at that – as if he didn’t quite believe that was all there was to it.

“I know. The fat guy did it.”

“The fat guy? You mean God?”

He just smiled an answer and looked away at his thoughts.

I settled him down for the night. This was not the first time Tiarnan had asked such deep questions, but each time he did so, he managed to floor me – for they never seemed likely to come out of the mouth of such a small boy. Clearly, he had big thoughts, for one so small.

Tiarnan is but beginning his life – but he is already considering the meaning of life, its essence, purpose and origin. He is not satisfied to just exist – he is questioning how that existence came about – and, as he had made clear, he is not satisfied with the answers his environment (school and home) has been providing him. He is not sure whether to believe the answers he is told. Somehow he feels they miss something out. Of course, he is right...all the answers are far too simple to explain the complexities and subtleties of his questions. Perhaps I should have a conversation with him about evolution, for instance – and the origin of life.

I think, sometimes, society underestimates little children. Some people have the tendency to think such children don’t have meaningful thoughts. This is a mistake. Some little kids are busy thinking very big thoughts indeed. We do them no credit to ignore this possibility.

Thank you, Tiarnan for sharing your thoughts with me. They are always refreshing to hear. I hope I never cease to be surprised by them. 

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.) 

A little old man.

Tiarnan is just five years old. Yet, at times, he seems like a little old man.

A couple of days ago, I was working, to a self-imposed deadline, on some project or other. It was night and my sons were waiting for me to put them to bed. The door to my “office” creaked open. In came my littlest boy: Tiarnan.

“We have waited SO long for you...”, he began, in an exasperated tone, his little face peering up at me with a certain degree of pique. Tiarnan, as you may know, is rather emotional and does “pique” rather well (and all other emotional states, for that matter). It is almost as if his emotions have been concentrated, in his small frame, by having such a small space to exist in. He is like one of those cunning little chillis, that look so small and unassuming but which have the capacity to burn through your mouth in an instant.

I looked down at him, not answering for the time being, my thoughts still on my project.

“Would you do that to your friend?”, he enquired, his eyebrows raised. “No!”, he answered, for me. “So don’t do it to us!”, he scolded at last.

His words seemed so out of place, on his diminutive tongue, supported by his modest, elfin frame. It was as if an old man had possessed him and given him the attitude and demeanour of a peeved 80 year old.

His words impressed me out of my chair. I rose, took his hand and led him to his room. Then, I read my sons a few stories and settled them down to sleep.

As I left them asleep, I couldn’t help but wonder at the social maturity of my youngest son. He clearly understood social norms of behaviour very well and knew how a person should normally conduct himself. The wonder of it was, how he had come to such an understanding, with so little time in the world, to do so. Was this an instinctual thing with him? Or was he able to derive social rules, quickly, on little information? Or was he just projecting himself into the world and judging the actions of others based on what he, himself, would do? There was no telling which it was. I knew only this: my littlest boy was not such a little boy inside his head. There is an understanding, in him, beyond his years, for many things, particularly about people and how they are or should be. It is strange to say it, but this premature wisdom gives him a great charm – for his words and observations seem so unaccountably out of place, that they draw attention to themselves. To hear something said by such a little person is, oddly, to give it great weight. We heed most, what we least expect to hear.

Tiarnan’s words did prompt me to reflect on my own actions. I hadn’t kept him waiting for long – perhaps fifteen minutes – which doesn’t seem long to me – but to him, it was far too long.

Maybe he is right. Perhaps I should attend to them, first, and set aside whatever else it is I am doing. In their world, brief times seem very long indeed.

Sorry Tiarnan. Next time, you won’t have to wait for Daddy.

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.).

Precocity, child prodigy and achievement.

What advantage is there to be being a child prodigy? Does precocity imply greater ultimate achievement? These are important questions for a society, for it helps to know who best to nurture, for the greatest beneficial outcome.

Two Chinese scientists have already answered this question, through their research.

The paper, "Life span and the precocity of scientists", by Zhao Hongzhou and Jiang Gouhua, the former at the Institute of Physics, Academia Sinica, Beijing, (People's Republic of China) and the latter at the Beijing Research Center of Science, Beijing, (People's Republic of China), addressses this issue.

The key observation of this paper is that scientists who embark on their career early and make their name by the time they are 25 years old, eclipse their older counterparts, greatly. Using this selection criteria alone (that of an early start), the precocious scientists exhibited a 44 per cent increase in lifetime achievements and a 1.7 times "life efficiency" index (meaning as it seems).

Now, I can't, at this moment clarify the meaning of the life efficiency statement, because I do not have full access to the paper. I once read the whole paper - a long, long time ago - but have not seen anything but abstracts since. I suppose I should have downloaded it.

Yet, the intent is clear: precocity, at least in scientists, but presumably in all areas, leads directly to greater lifetime achievement.

I recall something else from my original reading which is telling. These scientists were precocious - but not by much. They were only a few years ahead of their peers. They were not in the prodigious range - they were mid-teenagers or so, upon going to University - yet even this advantage of two or three years or so, led to a great difference in lifetime output.

I wonder, therefore, how much greater would the lifetime achievement of true prodigies be: with their many year advantage over their peers?

So, for those who question the value of precocity: there is your answer. A precocious scientist is worth a lot more, in terms of real achievement, than a non-precocious one.

(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.)

Passing Chemistry O Level aged 7

Ainan Celeste Cawley, passed Chemistry O level aged 7 years and 1 month. That is the news in Singapore...but what does it mean to pass Chemistry O level so young?

Firstly, for readers around the world, I had better explain what Chemistry O level is. O Level is a rigorous exam that tests knowledge and thinking skills in an exacting way. Why do I say "exacting" - well because it was designed for the more academic students - the top 20% of the population and thus most students would not be able to pass.

The Board Ainan took was the London Edexcel Board. This Board sets a high standard and requires a lot of thinking from the student - it is not simply an exercise in memory as some Boards are.

O Level is normally taken by sixteen year olds. The average candidate would, therefore, be sixteen and a half years old. Since the brightest 20% of students are the ones the exam is aiming at; to pass it one would need a mental age of 18.645 years. This is derived from the IQ score and the age thus: the deviation IQ of 113 is the same as the ratio IQ (in this case) of 113. IQ as a ratio is mental age divided by chronological age multiplied by 100. Therefore the mental age of O level students who pass would be expected to be: 1.13 times 16.5 years, which is 18.645 years.

Ainan is not 18.645 years old - he was seven years and one month when he took the exam - so passing means something interesting. It means that, in terms of his scientific reasoning capability his ratio to the norm is: 18.645/7 years 1 month. This equals a ratio of 2.63. That is Ainan is at least 2.63 times more precocious than average. In terms of IQ, were this a fair estimator of ratio IQ, which it is likely to be since it involves scientific reasoning which will have a large component of g, in it - the general intelligence factor - it would represent a ratio IQ of 2.63 times 100 or 263 IQ. This is a ratio IQ estimate which is different from a deviation IQ estimate.

Yet, this is likely to be an underestimate of his precocity - for he has already read the A level texts and is working on a University text. That latter text is suited to a 20 year old Chemistry student. The average IQ of a chemistry student is 124. This corresponds to a ratio IQ of 125. Therefore the average mental age of a 20 year old Chemistry student would be 25. Using this to generate a ratio IQ for Ainan giving his age as 7 years and three months - the time when he started to read the University book, would give a ratio IQ of 349.

This should be regarded as an accurate measure of precocity, at least - for it uses actual achievement as a marker for development.

As you can see, this gives an idea of how precocious a child is who passes exams so early. It is an indicator of prodigious development, simply because to pass them at all, one must show adult level intelligence, in the area of interest.

A child prodigy is a child who develops adult level ability/skill in an adult domain by the age of 11. Very few children do this. However, to find them, we might look to children who have shown that they can handle the complex demands of an adult academic subject, very young.

By the way, a comparison can be made to American High School graduation. O Levels are accepted for direct entry to American Universities, indicating that they are at least as challenging as High School is, academically. This should allow Americans to understand the achievement of passing O Level, at seven years and one month, therefore.

(If you would like to learn 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, baby genius, adult genius, savant, the creatively gifted, gifted adults and gifted children in general. Thanks.)

Gifted child and prodigy: a difference

One of my readers arrived on my page, with a question in mind, today. What is the difference between a gifted child and a prodigy? (These were his search terms, on Google.) An answer to this question is implicit throughout many posts, but may not have been explicitly stated, so I will make a statement here.

"Gifted child" is a broad term that would include all types of intellectually well-endowed children: it is an umbrella term (though it may exclude savant, even though one could argue that they show a type of giftedness, too, because savant is normally associated with varying degrees of disability, too and, therefore, invokes another category). A gifted child can be expected to learn faster than other children, have more varied interests, have greater depth of feeling and generally be more than other children. Such a child may or may not do well at school, depending on attitude and whether the child values the school experience - but they definitely have the capacity to do very well in school, should they so wish. This must be realized because sometimes a child is gifted, but not performing well academically (the opposite happens, too - for hard work can often make up for deficit of gift, in the limited sense of passing an exam, though probably not in a more general sense of life itself, where real intellect is often required, too.)

A gifted child is clearly intellectually superior to a typical child of their own age, and may be able to handle materials which are somewhat more complex than is usual for their age mates. A gifted child, however, is not comparable to an adult, in terms of performance.

A child prodigy, however, is a different matter altogether. A child prodigy is a special subset of the gifted child grouping - so a prodigy is "gifted" too - but a prodigy shows characteristics which are unusual even for a gifted child. One of the defining characteristics of a prodigy is that they should show adult capability in an adult domain by the age of 11. This means that, by this age, they should perform as well as an adult professional in their field. Some will perform better than an adult professional. They may show a quicker mind, a better memory, deeper knowledge than an adult, those prodigies who are also geniuses (that is prodigies who are also creative, like my son, Ainan) may show greater creative capacity than is typical for an adult professional in their field - though such a prodigy would also actually have to be classified as a young genius.

Child prodigy is so much more capable than is expected for even a gifted child, at a given age, that it is pretty easy to identify. If my experience is anything to go by, I would think a prodigy would be evident after a short conversation of a technical nature, in whatever subject is the prodigy's focus. In a simple way of thinking about it, a prodigy is rather like an adult mind in a child's body. A child prodigy shares with the gifted child (usually) high intelligence, deep feeling, and ease of learning. Where they differ, however, is the precociousness of accomplishment, in any particular adult domain. A child prodigy will reach an adult standard in their field while still a child, a "gifted child" will not. Quite a few such prodigies go on to become adult geniuses too.

I hope that helps my Canadian reader who made that search, and the others who have made similar searches over the past couple of months. Thanks.

(If you would like to read about my scientific child prodigy son, Ainan Celeste Cawley, seven years and two weeks old, or his gifted brothers, please go to: http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2006/10/scientific-child-prodigy-guide.html I also write of child prodigy, child genius, adult genius, savant, the creatively gifted, gifted adults and gifted children in general. Thanks.)