The War against Reason.

The modern world is not as rational as one would hope, or perhaps, believe. Everywhere I look, I see pockets of unreason...indeed, infestations of unreason, illogic, superstition, belief in the unbelievable and various kinds of delusion. The world is quite mad, in many ways.

Yesterday evening I found myself sitting in a talk that had been billed as being about “health”. I was there because my wife had heard about it and I decided to accompany her. It was a strange experience. At first, I listened with the quiet expectancy that I would be given the explanation as to how the speaker had recovered from a serious case of system wide nerve degeneration, 7 years ago. Although I listened carefully for two hours, he gave no answers as to what had happened to him, or how he had recovered, (though he did show a video of himself ostensibly afflicted, and in the midst of early recovery some years ago.) What I did hear however, was “proof” that there were aliens and that they had visited Earth, throughout history and “proof” that water has memory, of the events that occur to it – even emotional events. Scattered amongst this were little snippets of what kinds of contaminants are in modern foods. Some of these statements were factually wrong, but sounded convincingly alarming to those who didn’t know better. Throughout, the talk, were repeated statements that the audience didn’t know how the world really worked, but that the speaker did. He spoke as if he had privileged access to the secret of the Universe. Yet, he said nothing about what this secret might be...he just hinted that he knew it. To bolster his standing and credibility before the audience, he referred to his past working life as a “pioneer scientist”, who brought certain “advanced technologies” into Malaysia. These “advanced technologies” are actually many decades old analytical techniques which are widely known and available to every well equipped lab in the world. He spoke of all the diverse things he had worked on. He claimed to have been tasked by the Malaysian government to identify the remains of the Mongolian “model” Shaariibuugiin Altantuyaa (note that her mother has stated she never actually worked as a model). The technologies he spoke of in connection to his work, could not be used in such a way. DNA testing was used to identify her – but he never mentioned any proficiency in those techniques...so I doubt his claim. At times, he seemed paranoid, attributing dark motives to unseen others, for why certain information (or misinformation, in fact) was not widely known. Again, he implied that he knew better than the media, than the Government, than the man in the street – that he had privileged understanding. What most concerned me about his presentation was that he mixed in real science, and real theories and made reference to the work of very famous scientists – such as Albert Einstein, to bolster the credibility of what he was saying. He name dropped such things as the Unified Field Theory of Albert Einstein (which, incidentally, was never actually worked out), to support his very tangential and completely unbelievable utterances about his world view. I thought this was most dangerous, since any non-scientist in the room might be convinced by the decoration provided by these famous names, and famous theories, into believing there was something to what he was saying.

The talk was free. However, at the end he gave a sales pitch for two other two day courses, which were far from free. These were presented as providing knowledge of “how the world really worked” and would “change how you saw the world forever”. No indication as to their contents was mentioned.

The thing about the speaker was that he seemed in earnest. However, no real scientist could possibly believe the mix of pseudoscience, superstition, delusion and paranoia, he came out with, even though there was a dash of science as flavouring. No real scientist could do anything but what I did...squirm throughout and often place my hand on my forehead, as if to note to myself that I couldn’t quite believe what was being said. I felt very uncomfortable listening to his nonsense, which, throughout was delivered with a beaming smile.

The talk was very vague and lacking in substance, though he constantly said: “I have so much to tell you, so much...”. Yet, he didn’t seem to have any real points of substance. He excused this by also repeatedly saying: “If you want information, go to Google...I am not going to give you information...what I teach is more experiential.”

By the end of it, I was very keen to leave. I had one word in my mind to sum up the feel of the whole “experience”...cult! Yet, he said, at one point, “This is not a religion, it is a science”. Well, it is most certainly not science...but could only be excused as a rather paranoid, delusional kind of religion.

He claimed, as we made our goodbyes, that he was establishing a postgraduate course in “Energetic medicine”, in Malaysia and Singapore, but when queried as to where, he said: “That is confidential”. Again, he had recourse to the air of secrecy , to project that there was something special going on. I was rather appalled at the thought that he might actually be teaching a postgraduate course in this nonsense. Unfortunately, there is a sufficient lack of rationality in Malaysia (but probably not Singapore), to allow such a course to happen. However, I sincerely hope not.

Rather worryingly, the crowd was slow to leave and seemed interested in talking about what he had said, afterwards. No-one else seemed to have twigged that the speaker had been spouting nonsense for two hours. They were a typical “new age” crowd and seemed the sort who were quite able to believe anything at all, especially if it were utterly preposterous.

Most concerning of all, was that he had a book out about his healing experience and his new world view, which he claimed was a best seller (in fact he said THE best seller), in Malaysia and Singapore. So, there is, it seems, a popular interest in his views. It seems that ignorance and delusion are to triumph over reason, at least in South East Asia (though no doubt the rest of the world suffers from similar problems). Notably, on the front cover, he claimed to be a “molecular biologist”. Now, this may be so, for all I know, but I have never encountered, in my life, a scientist so susceptible to pseudoscience and delusional nonsense as this one.

There is only one remedy to this kind of pseudoscientific cult – good basic science education for all. Unfortunately, most people are scientifically illiterate and are susceptible to this kind of nonsense. The sooner the world’s science education is improved the better. In the meantime, irrationality like this talk and its associated cult, will thrive.

Posted by Valentine Cawley

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Conversation meant for few.

Ainan's conversation is an art in itself. To understand him, first one must understand many other things. In a way, it is both exhilarating and saddening to hear him speak the way he does.

Perhaps, I should explain. Today, for instance, with great interest in his voice, he revealed: "Daddy, carborane superacid is the only acid known to protonate fullerene without destroying its structure." This fact evidently had deep appeal to him. I am used to this kind of remark, so it takes some effort to step back from it and realize that this is not the normal conversational observation of a typical eight year old. I feel, in reflecting on his scientifically laden speech, that I am happy that I was scientifically educated so that he has someone to talk to. I cannot imagine how alone he would be, were that not so.

Ainan, eight, has interests and understandings that set him apart from other children his own age. In fact, so far apart do they set him, that it is only with scientifically expert adults that he can find conversational partners. This could be an intolerable situation were it not that I am able to understand his thoughts - and that he is at Singapore Polytechnic with other scientifically interested - though older - people.

So, I find myself with mixed feelings. It is beautiful to hear his thoughts, from the point of view of enjoying his scientific thinking (which, as a former scientist, I do). However, I am acutely aware that he cannot share his thoughts with his age-mates: this is simply an impossibility. So therein lies the sadness, too - not a sadness that he should think so, for that is beautiful, but a sadness that it makes it impossible to speak to others, as he would wish.

Yet, Ainan is happy. He is growing in his interests. He can express his fullest thoughts with me. He has others to relate to at Singapore Polytechnic and he is in an altogether better position than if his sole social milieu were a primary school with children of his own age. Then, he would truly be intellectually isolated.

As each year passes, Ainan's thoughts and interests become ever more rarified. His observations become ever more arcane. More understanding of more scientific matters is required to understand where he is coming from...it is an endless process of growth. I suppose this is a process that all scientists go through - though almost all would not do so until they were adults. Ainan is experiencing the intellectual isolation that comes from knowing what others do not know and understanding what others do not understand. My task is to ensure that he always has a conversational outlet and that at least one person understands what he is thinking. If I can satisfy that, then he will never feel the intellectual isolation that is logically his - until such a day as he is a working scientist with equally understanding colleagues and the issue is never more an issue at all.

In the meantime, I shall serve as his primary outlet for his thoughts. How lucky I am to have the background necessary to understand them - and how lucky he is, too.

(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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Of girls and boys in academia.

There are certain stereotypes regarding boys and girls in school. The boys are reputedly good at maths and science, which the girls tend to be weak at. So, too, the girls are good at languages, which the boys tend to be weak at. Thus, girls grow to be literate and boys mathematical/scientific. At least, that is what we are led to believe: but is it true?

As with most commonly believed "facts", there is some truth to it. At a particular age, a boy may indeed be good at maths, and a girl of the same age not so. So, too, the girl may be good with languages and the boy not so. Yet, all is not as it seems.

Researchers at Virginia Tech decided to have a look at the question. They used brain imaging techniques to actually look at the brain development of 508 normal children aged from 2 months to 16 years. There were 224 girls and 284 boys. What they found is very telling.

The areas of the girls' brains involved in language and fine motor skills (for handwriting etc). developed six years earlier in girls than boys. The areas of the boys' brains involved in maths and geometry matured four years earlier than in girls. Thus, the famed separation of boys into scientists and girls into linguists is actually an artifact of the way we educate children - and not of the children themselves. Girls are set up to think of themselves as "non-scientific" simply because scientific things are expected of them before they are ready. So, too, boys are set up to think of themselves as "non-linguistic" for the very same reason. The truth is, of course, that both boys are girls can be scientific and linguistic - at the right time.

Boys and girls take different developmental paths - but that doesn't mean that they can't end up at the same destination. A girl can be a nuclear physicist - and a boy can be linguist or a writer. The stereotypes are wrong - for they are based on a misunderstanding of how boys and girls develop.

So the advice is simple. If you are a parent, don't expect your daughter to excel in science early on - because that part of the brain is not ready yet - but don't forget that they will be able to do it someday. The same goes for sons: don't expect great use of words, early on - but don't be surprised if they become a writer someday.

(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.)

Ainan invents mathematical theories and formulae

Ainan, seven, has developed a new interest, apart from Chemistry: Mathematics. He is approaching this with the same zest with which he has investigated Chemistry. Some of the early results of his approach are interesting.

Ainan is not one to sit idly by and absorb the thinking of others, without contributing his own. He is now actively experimenting with Maths, as he does with Chemistry - though this time the results are mathematical observations, formulae or theories, of some kind.

He also studies everything scientifically or mathematically, viewing it with his particularly insightful gaze. For instance, here is his take on TV watching:

Yesterday, as we were walking through a park landscape (as we like to do), he turned to me and said: "Daddy, I have come up with a formulae for the probability that only one person is watching a particular TV programme at any one time." He then told me the formulae, describing it in words and slashing motions in the air as he drew it before him.

I continued the rest of the walk in the park, in a ruminative silence, pondering the fact that my son should see the world through such scientific and mathematical eyes, that he cannot even watch TV without coming up with a formula for it.

Sometimes, I think being a father is the most interesting "job" in the world.

By the way, I should point out that Ainan has not been taught probability, but is working this out for himself. I had one comment which I am not publishing which noted that probability is a known phenomenon and therefore not invented. It is not known to Ainan: he thought of it himself. Also, his particular application is unique to him. I wonder sometimes at the lack of insight of some people: they don't look at the world from a child's perspective and realize that if a child works out probability for themselves that is a BIG step. It is very different from an adult applying a formula which somebody taught them at school. The latter situation (to which the commenter was comparing the situation), requires no thought or intelligence at all: a very different situation.

This leads to a general thought. When coming to understand a child, first understand their perspective and the knowledge base that they are proceeding from. Otherwise you really won't get any insight at all.

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

Pioneer 10 anomaly and Ainan's explanation

Pioneer 10 is a space probe, launched in 1972, and is now at the outer edge of the solar system. Unfortunately, it is not where it should be. It has been experiencing an unknown force yielding an acceleration of approximately one nanometre per second per second. I mentioned this to Ainan the other day and his immediate response was: : "Photon pressure from the sun is making it accelerate."

Now that is a very reasonable suggestion and is one that has been considered. There is a complication however - when I told him about the situation, I did not know that the acceleration was sunward. Yet, given the information he knew, Ainan's suggestion is most reasonable.

In fact, Ainan's suggestion is one that has been considered by professional scientists - and rejected, along with all the other possible suggestions. It remains an unsolved problem.

What is interesting, however, is that Ainan is very quick to arrive at an explanation, from known science, to problems suggested to him: it shows that not only is he able to learn science quickly, but apply it to new situations too. He is also able to invent new situations and new science - but I have to keep that private for I am unable to protect his ideas if I discuss them here.

(If you would like to read more about Ainan Celeste Cawley, a scientific child prodigy, aged seven years and three weeks, 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.)

Molecular designer: a chemical genius at work

Ainan Celeste Cawley is seven years old and two weeks, yet last week, he sat himself down and designed his own homologous series of chemicals. This is a series of chemicals with shared characteristics, and which vary across the series in an orderly fashion. He had a particular purpose in mind for these chemicals, which I am not going to divulge - each would perform the stated purpose.

He drew the chemical molecular structure on A4 paper and showed how the members of the series varied across the series by drawing several examples of his series.

It is clear to me that his chemicals would work in the prescribed way: they would perform the function he desired. The structures, too, were correct.

It seems to me an unusual demonstration of the scientific imagination for a seven year old, just turned, to be designing his own chemicals. His creations are viable chemical entities that would have the properties he intends. He often draws chemicals and has been doing so this past year. Yet, this was the first time, I saw him draw an homologous series.

I do not know what he will become - but I can say what he is: a boy who plays with science, as others do with toys, a boy whose ideas are functional aspects of chemical reality, a boy who does what only an adult scientist might be expected to do - to look for new answers to problems, as he has done in this series.

He has many interests. Perhaps one of his interests foreshadows what he will become. If he becomes a designer of molecules, this post would have pinned down the time in which it began.

Happy thinking Ainan!

(If you would like to read more about Ainan Celeste Cawley, my scientific child prodigy son, aged seven years and two weeks, or his gifted brothers, then please go to:
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The Song of the Sun: Celestial Music

Science is rich in beauty for those who know how to see it. Ainan Celeste Cawley, my seven year old scientific prodigy son, is one such. Ainan appreciates the beauty of science...and has beautiful scientific thoughts.

The other day, he said: "Daddy, did you know that the Sun is singing?"

I didn't.

"You can't hear it, though, because there is no air in space, and it would be too low a frequency to hear anyway, but it sings like this:" and then he sang, the song of the Sun.

It was beautiful to hear his impression of our celestial neighbour, the song of a star, of our Sun. It alternately rose and fell, a sort of stellar lullaby.

There was truth, then, in the "music of the spheres" of which the Ancients spoke. Astronomy speaks of many beautiful things - a pity that most earthbound humans spend too little time looking up, to see how vast our Universe is.

Ainan looks up. What does he see? A Sun that sings - now that is poetic.

(If you would like to read more about my scientific child prodigy son, aged seven years and one week, 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)

Ainan invents optoelectronics

On the 12th November 2006, Ainan Celeste Cawley, aged six, independently invented the idea of optoelectronics.

Ainan was musing about the problem of electronic miniaturization. "How come chips are getting smaller, every year?" He began, with earnestness. "What happens when they get too small for electrons to pass through?"

With just a single beat for thought, he came up with an answer: "They should use light, instead." He observed, "But then you need to turn it back into electrons. So, you turn electrons into light, then light into electrons - and you pass the light along optical fibre."

Ainan was proposing beginning with an electronic signal, turning it into a photonic signal, calculating, then turning it back into an electronic signal. I don't know much about technology, but that sounds a lot like opto-electronics to me.

I asked him if this was his idea and he assured me that it was: all his ideas are...but I was just checking before I reported it.

In reporting Ainan Celeste Cawley's conversations, I am often left with a dilemma. Would it interest the readers of my blog to know how he speaks and thinks...or would it turn them off from its technical nature? I am left therefore to choose matters which are more accessible. Much of what he says is a rapid patter of scientific ideas, observations, facts, theories, propositions and matters to be explored. It is simply too abundant to report: each day's report would be thousands of words of scientific jargon...and I am sure that would be too much for all but the most technical/scientific of readers. So, instead, I report snapshots in digestible sizes.

Please give me some feedback as to your tolerance of scientific reporting: can I expand upon what Ainan says, more thoroughly...would it actually be of interest? I cannot know until you tell me. Thanks.

If you would like to learn more of Ainan Celeste Cawley, six, a scientific child prodigy and his creative thought, and gifted brothers, please go to: http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2006/10/scientific-child-prodigy-guide.html I also speak of child prodigy, child genius, savant, the creatively gifted and gifted children in general.