Tiarnan knows his animals

Yesterday, Tiarnan, thirteen months, saw a wild cat on TV.

As soon as the cat came on TV, he said, quite clearly: "Cheetah".

Now, oddly enough, it was a Cheetah, and not any other kind of cat.

Where had he learnt which cat this was? We have no idea...but it is quite telling that, at his tender age, he is able to make this distinction between cats. At a young age, it is more common for children to lump all animals together and give them one word as a broad category. It is rare to see a baby actually make fine distinctions between them: they are usually unable to see the differences between them, in a way which allows them to make a categorization. They usually can't express a label for the difference, either.

Later, he saw a Cheetah in a book and said the same thing: "Cheetah."

This ability to recognize animals and distinguish between them, is something he shares with his elder brother Fintan, three. There is a common thread, at work.

Tiarnan tries inter-species communication

At the Imax theatre, yesterday, there were many giant images of animals projected on the hemispherical screen. Among them were lions - giant gaze filling lions.

Now, what do you think Tiarnan did when he saw a giant lion appear before him? Cry perhaps? Cower away, as any baby might on being confronted by something so alien, bristling with giant teeth?

Nope. He looked up at the great cat and tried to talk to it. "Grrrhh", he said, in a minute and most endearing growl, as if the giant cat would be able to hear him. Tiarnan tried to enter into a dialogue with the cat. He knew lions made such noises and had deduced that was Lion Speak...the language of the lions and thought he would have a go at it.

Sweet.

Tiarnan and the fifty foot animals: Imax

Yesterday, Tiarnan, thirteen months, sat and watched a safari documentary, on Imax.

Perhaps you don't know what Imax is: it is a film format that allows the projection of the image onto a very large curved screen that enfolds the audience, filling the entire field of vision from far left to far right - from high above, to far below. It is not a 360 degrees format because chairs are in the way and audience, too...but it is pretty much as close as you can get in a cinema.

There is another thing about Imax you should know: the images are enormous. Everything is far bigger than it is in a conventional cinema. Every animal was a giant monster. Every vista endless. The scale is what is stunning to an adult. To a young child it is usually frightening.

When Ainan first saw an Imax film, he found it frightening. Fintan was terrified of it, when it came to his turn. Yet, surprisingly, Tiarnan reacted without fear, at all - he just displayed an intense curiosity about the animals on the screen all around him. Tiarnan's reaction was just pure curiosity.

I find it interesting the way each child reacts differently, when exposed to the same stimulus. There are such variations between the children - and yet they are brothers. How much greater, therefore, are the differences between children who are not brothers?

Truly, we humans are a various breed. I find that encouraging: for perhaps there is room among us, for all kinds, and all outlooks and all perceptions. The only battle then, is for us to accept each other - whatever kind we might be. Looking at the world, however, it seems that that battle has only just begun.

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