Samantha Schermanhorn and Kaylie George: proof that humans are not an intelligent species.

Samantha Schermanhorn and Kaylie George, both 13, have recently, and rather unwittingly, proved that the human species is not an intelligent one. Indeed, their action does suggest that some humans are less intelligent than a typical wild animal.

Samantha Schermanhorn and Kaylie George decided to go sunbathing recently. Now, you might think there is nothing particularly stupid about sunbathing (apart from the risk of skin cancer)...except that Samantha Schermanhorn and Kaylie George had a brilliant idea about just where to sunbathe. They chose to do so on the surface of a rural Pennsylvanian road. That is right, they were sunbathing in the road.

Now, here is where it gets even more stupid. They both fell asleep. Guess how they woke up? That is right. They woke up when they were struck by a car. Curiously, this car happened to have been driven by one of Schermanhorn's cousins. The 19 year old young man had stopped at a stop sign, then made a turn – before he ran over his dumb cousins. Apparently, though, both girls survived the collision and are now in the Children’s Hospital in Pittsburgh, to which they had been airlifted. News articles didn’t say whether they were in a special ward, for the uniquely dumb.

Seriously, though, this incident does show that humanity is not universally intelligent. Commentators about the human species always speak of the “intelligence” of the human race – but frankly, modern man does not bear this out. There are many very stupid people in this world – people who do things a dog wouldn’t think to do. I very much doubt whether a dog would choose to sunbathe in the middle of the road. A dog would know that cars are going to come along and drive over him or her, if they did that. It seems, though, that these two teenage girls weren’t bright enough to see the danger that sunbathing on a road put them in.

Any discussion of the intelligence of the human species needs to be more honest about the situation. Humans are not universally intelligent. In fact, the average human IQ is just 90 – which is pretty dumb, really. However, this should be further understood to mean that half of humanity has an IQ LESS THAN 90. Really, there are billions of dumb people out there...and some of them, like Samantha Schermanhorn and Kylie George are REALLY dumb...life threateningly stupid.

So, future discussions of the “intelligence” of the human species should note that humanity has a small, intelligent minority, but that vast hordes of humanity are really not very bright at all. Just ask Samantha Schermanhorn and Kaylie George. I am sure their replies, to any question at all, would be pretty convincing on the matter.

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.

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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.

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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 hunter and the hunted.

A 39 year old American has been killed by a grizzly bear he was hunting. Steve Stevenson was mauled to death by the bear, after his fellow hunter, Ty Bell, had shot and injured it. They had tracked the wounded bear, but it seems that the bear found Stevenson first. It is notable that Ty Bell first shot the grizzly – a threatened species in that part of America, with only 30 surviving in the mountain forests of North Eastern Idaho and North Western Montana – having mistaken it for a black bear. After Stevenson had been killed, Ty Bell shot the bear multiple times and killed it.

Now, what struck me about this situation is my reaction to it. I have no sympathy at all for the dead hunter. The reason for this should be clear: Steve Stevenson has the moral status of a murderer. I am not saying that a grizzly bear is equivalent to a human – but I am saying that a grizzly bear is entitled to the right to live, without some dumb American (and they were dumb, because they were unable to distinguish a grizzly bear from a black bear – and because grizzlies are known to kill humans, if wounded...so they were even dumber to follow it after first shooting it) coming along and killing it. The right to life should be extended to all higher animals in our environment. It should be seen as essentially immoral – and, one hopes, illegal - to go hunting for wildlife. I can see no benefit, to the world, to life or even to humans, in hunting. Indeed, the only outcome of hunting is the endangerment of our fellow species and the immediate murder of individual members of them. Hunting is, if you pause to reflect on it, an abhorrent “sport”.

In a way, there is little to distinguish hunters from serial killers – the only difference is the species they target. I would not be surprised if it were much the same impulse that drives both types of people: the thrill of the kill. A hunter exults in killing other animals - often quite beautiful and special animals, which should be protected, not murdered. Steve Stevenson is dead, however, I do not believe he should be mourned, or missed – because he chose to live his life as a killer, of higher life forms, for sport. He saw fun in chasing down an innocent animal, who would otherwise, most probably, never harm a human, and killing it. Instead, however, the grizzly bear killed him. This, interestingly, does not make the bear a killer – for the bear acted in self-defence. If one considered the bear as equivalent in moral status and reasoning as a human, the bear would be seen as morally the higher being – and legally innocent of any crime.

Once upon a time, hunting was the means by which man secured food, for himself and his family. In such times, hunting was understandable and to be accepted. Now, however, hunting has transformed into a thrill for a certain type of adrenalin junkie – the more sadistic ones. Hunting has become the means by which those who find fulfilment in killing, have a real world outlet for their impulses. It is curious to me, that such behaviour is not seen as aberrant, for it could not be more so. How can someone exult in the murder of a fellow animal? It is a savagery I cannot accept. What is especially galling about this particular case, is that the victim of this hunt – the grizzly bear – is from a threatened species and should most definitely not be hunted.

Upon Steve Stevenson’s death, bear experts spoke of the need for programs to teach hunters how to distinguish black bears from grizzly bears. The implication of this, of course, is that it is OK to kill black bears. To my mind, these “bear experts” have completely missed the point. Bears should not be being hunted, at all: no higher animal should. These “bear experts” should be calling not for training for hunters – but for hunting to be banned altogether – indeed, I think hunting, except for food, in times when there is no alternative, should be criminalized, all the world over. Our world is not just for humans – it is for all that lives – and we humans should make room on this planet for all the other life forms that do not immediately threaten our own existence.

I have a mischievous, but curiously appropriate thought. If these hunters like hunting so much and have such a great desire to kill something...why don’t they hunt each other? The problem of hunting would soon go away – and all the world’s wildlife would be much the better for it.

Incidentally, Ty Bell should be prosecuted for killing the grizzly bear, since its hunting is illegal in the Lower 48, in the USA. It is only legal to kill grizzlies if human life is endangered - and before he shot the bear in the first place, that was not so. So, I hope to see Ty Bell jailed, for his crime against a fellow animal.

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.)

Amy Winehouse's Death: a Preventable Inevitability.

Amy Winehouse, 27, Is dead. No surprise there, I am afraid. Some deaths are more inevitable than others – particularly some early deaths.

Now, Amy Winehouse was famous for two attributes: her music and her addictions to drugs and alcohol. Indeed, it could be argued that she was more famous for her addictions than her music – since the former won her more tabloid newspaper coverage than the latter. She was always in the newspapers for things no-one would want to be in them for.

I can’t comment on her music, or its ultimate worth, since I didn’t really pay much attention to it. However, I can comment on her life and death: it seems overwhelmingly likely that she did not have to die so young. Her death, whilst an inevitable result of the lifestyle she led – was also preventable. There is a lesson here for all relatives of addicts: don’t stand by and watch – do something. Amy Winehouse would most probably be alive today, if others had been firmer with her on the matter of her addictions. Although the cause of death is not presently known, there are relatively few deaths, in the modern world, in 27 year olds, by natural causes. Given her drug addicted lifestyle, it seems most likely that her addictions contributed to her death – either directly, by overdose, or indirectly, through the health damage they caused.

If drug addicts (and that includes alchoholics) are not to die young, like Amy Winehouse, a certain lack of freedom should be imposed on them, until they are able to control themselves, with respect to their addictions. Amy Winehouse should have been monitored very closely, to ensure that she did not have access to any drugs or alchohol. I know it seems like such a regime would have denied her, her “rights”…but, really, who should have a “right”, to destroy themselves, by drugs? In such cases, it would be more humane, and ultimately less painful, to step in and directly prevent the addict from any access to the substances they would otherwise seek out. This may seem at odds with the belief that people should be allowed to live the lives they please – but, in the case of addicts, the lives they please will, most frequently, lead directly to early deaths. Thus, it seems reasonable to intervene, until such time as the addict is no longer an addict and, perhaps, has come to live their lives as if they value them.

It could be said, that drugs alone, didn’t kill Amy Winehouse, but a lack of love, by those closest to her. If they had truly loved her, they would have stepped in and made sure, beyond any doubt, that Amy Winehouse did not have access to any harmful drugs, legal or otherwise. That they did not, or were not effective in doing so, shows that they either did not love her enough, or did not understand the duties that come with that love. Sometimes, those who love another, feel they should indulge them and let them live the life they please. That is fine, only if the life desired, is not a self-destructive one. In all situations in which the loved one desires, consciously or otherwise, to destroy themselves, those who love have a duty to protect the life of the loved one, from harm. It does seem that that this was not done in this case. Amy Winehouse was famous for her inebriated, intoxicated, “shambolic” performances in the latter years of her life. So, clearly, she was not being denied access to drugs, legal or otherwise. Whatever “care” she was under, was not effective – or did not care to deny her what it should have done.

Amy Winehouse was a musician. This makes her loss more acute than a typical early death – for, in dying, whatever music she would have produced had she lived a normal life, will now never be. It is a pity, she was not protected from the most dangerous person in her life – herself.

Rest in peace, Amy.

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.htmland 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.)

Is Tiger Woods the world's most stupid sportsman?

I had to ask. You see Tiger Woods may be (may have been?) great at golf, but that does not seem to correlate with intelligence or common sense, in any way at all. Tiger Woods is proof that it is possible to be greatly talented, in some very narrow field, but utterly stupid, in general. Judging by Tiger Woods' behaviour over the past few years, one can only conclude that he is a rather dim character, in every truly important sense.

Let me explain myself. We have all heard that Tiger Woods was unfaithful to his wife. There are no surprises there, since many influential and powerful (and not so influential and powerful) men are. So, that wasn't so surprising. However, what did surprise me, as the pictures of his "mistresses" came out, was that in each and every single case, they were INFERIOR to his wife. Elin Nordegren (I won't call her Woods, since she probably no longer wishes to be associated with him), is a far better looking woman than ANY of his mistresses, that we have had the chance to see. So, there is somewhat of a mystery why he would betray her, for others who were of a lesser breed than she is. Yet, perhaps he is a man who values sheer quantity over quality. There is much indication of that for, not only were these "mistresses" not as good looking as his wife, but many of them seem to be rather inferior in the lifestyle and personality department, too. Many of them, you see, were PORN STARS, and STRIPPERS. Now, I don't know about you, but when I read that, I began to be somewhat disturbed by Tiger's choices. You see, there is something about porn stars and strippers that usually has, even not very bright men, a little worried: AIDS.

Tiger Woods could turn out to be a most prolific serial killer. I say this because it now turns out that he has, supposedly, listed the names of 120 women that he says he had "affairs" with, in the last 5 years, during which time he was married to Elin. Consider that number. 120 women, WHOSE NAMES HE CAN RECALL, in a five year period. To me that means something else: there are probably many more women out there, in the same five year period, WHOSE NAMES HE CANNOT RECALL. How many women has he simply had a one off encounter with and been unable to recall their names...perhaps because he never knew them in the first place? It is very, very likely that this 120 tally is an UNDERESTIMATE of the actual number of women he has had in the past five years.

Even if, however, this tally is accurate, (it is not, though, since he left off his next door neighbour, student Raychel Coudriet), Tiger Woods is certain to have brought great harm to his wife, and potentially his children. I say "certain" because Tiger Woods did something which PROVES him to be a very stupid man, indeed. He NEVER used protection with these women. He exposed himself (and his wife and family) to STDs with each and every encounter.

Given his tendency to unprotected, high volume, random encounters, with highly promiscuous women (they are almost all of the type who sleep around, sometimes professionally), one can only conclude that Tiger Woods is certain to have acquired many STDs. Furthermore, given that there are over one million people in the US living with HIV, one even has to express concern that Tiger may have contracted HIV and passed it on to Elin and possibly his children. What must be remembered in assessing Tiger's likely risk is that not only did he have unprotected encounters with at least 120 women, in the last five years - but that most of these women were themselves highly promiscuous - so his indirect encounters with others will probably run into tens of thousands (factoring in those his encounters encountered).

I am not, however, concerned about Tiger Woods. His actions lead one to feel no sympathy for him, at all. My concern is for Elin, his family - and even some of the women he had, in that time. After all, not all of them would have been as promiscuous as the porn stars. Some may even have thought that they were his "only" mistress. In a worst case scenario, Tiger Woods may have contracted HIV and, in turn, infected many, many women - some as young as his 21 year old next door neighbour, Raychel Coudriet.

I feel sad for Elin. She is, after all, a very beautiful, fine featured woman. I know nothing more about her, than that - but it is enough to know that she could have chosen to be with a very wide range of men. Many men would have been delighted to have been chosen by her. Yet, she ended up choosing a man who clearly did not return her love, her care, her support. She ended up with a man, who made a mockery of her, on a daily basis, and put her at risk of fatal infection. I rather think she deserves better - everyone does.

If Tiger Woods wishes to live a highly promiscuous, high risk taking lifestyle (or is that deathstyle?) then, he should not be a married man. He should be single and he should make it clear to all he encounters that they are taking a hefty risk, in their encounter with him. Luckily, however, the press have done the work of informing the world, that Tiger is a risky bet. There cannot be a woman in America that does not know, now, that Tiger Woods goes in for "mistresses" by the 100.

Elin should go back to Sweden and rebuild her life there. Tiger deserves to be alone with his multitude of mistresses. I say "alone" because ultimately, such superficial dalliances make for a lonely life.

I only hope that Tiger has not permanently marred Elin's life and that of her children, by making her HIV positive. She certainly doesn't deserve that. Then again, should Tiger be HIV positive, I hope the world gets to hear about it, so that he doesn't continue to transmit it, to any foolish starstruck girl he encounters. That is one service the press can do the world: make the world's women safe from Tiger Woods.

So, what is the future for Tiger? I rather think that it will not be to his liking, as he gets older. No "good" woman will touch him now. Only whores will accept Tiger for what he is. No woman worth being with, is going to accept that her husband will have unprotected encounters with hundreds of women, placing her at mortal risk and making a joke of their relationship. Thus, the only people, now, who would choose to be with Tiger are the very whores he has been consorting with. Yet, would he want to be with one of them? You see, they will behave towards him, as he has towards them. They, too, will have hundreds of lovers. They too will be unprotected. It seems to me, therefore, that the most likely future for Tiger Woods, is a lifetime of superficial encounters, followed by HIV, AIDS and an unpleasant death. Not only that, but he will be alone, in his final days, since no-one worth having around, will form a permanent relationship with one who behaves like him.

In a way, this is very ironic. You see, Tiger Woods clearly has a compulsive need for others - but, ultimately, this need may have created a situation in which others will not WANT to be with him. Thus, the one with a compulsive need for company, may end up alone (apart from hookers, of course).

Tiger Woods cannot be very bright. There was another sportsman who behaved just like him: Magic Johnson - and we all know what happened to him. He caught HIV from his random encounters. So, too, will Tiger Woods, if he has not already done so. It is inevitable, if such a lifestyle is chosen. So, Tiger Woods would have heard of Magic Johnson's life outcome - yet STILL he behaved in the same way.

Maybe Tiger Woods is like a tiger in more ways than one. Tigers aren't that bright either.

An odd thought occurs to me. It is possible that Tiger Woods' exploits in the bedroom may come to overshadow his ENTIRE CAREER. It is possible that, in decades to come, Tiger Woods may be better known for his abundant and random appetites, than for his golf. Rather bizarrely, Tiger Woods may have done something to outshine his supposedly greatest talent.

So there you are: Tiger Woods, 21st Century Philanderer (and serial killer?)...who used to play a little golf.

(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