Professor Arthur R. Jensen of the University of California at Berkeley, whose research published in 1969 reopened the question of racial differences in mental capacities and theories of intelligence stated that:
“When I worked in a psychological clinic, I had to give individual intelligence tests to a variety of children, many of whom came from an improvised background.
Usually I felt that these children were really brighter than their IQ would indicate. They often appeared inhibited in their responsiveness in their testing situation on their first visit to my office. When this was the case I usually had them come in on two to four different days for half-hour sessions with me in a “play therapy “ room. In this room we did nothing more than get better acquainted by playing ball, using finger paints, drawing on the blackboard, making things out of clay, and so forth.
As soon as the child seemed to be completely at home in this setting, I would retest them on parallel forms of the Standford- Binet test. A boost in IQ of 8 to 10 points or so was the rule, it rarely failed, but neither was the gain very often much above this.”
Apparently “8 to 10 points “ is more than half the average IQ difference of 15 points between black and white Americans, which helps to concrete the argument that most ambitious individuals, if given the right education and opportunities, are just as likely to be successful.
Do you believe this applies to the rest of the world?
I therefore ask, is our IQ a blank check for gainful employment opportunities, college admissions or other social decisions?
Professor Jensen
also stated,
“Whenever we select a person for some special educational purpose, whether for special instructions in a grade school class for children with learning disabilities or problems, or for a “gifted” class with an advanced curriculum, or for a college attendance or for admission to graduate training or a professional school, we are selecting an individual and we are selecting them and dealing with them as individuals for reasons of their individuality.
Similarly,
when we employ someone, or promote someone
in their occupation, or give some special award or honor to someone for
their accomplishments, we are doing this to an individual.
See my previous articles for detailed information:
The variables of social classes, race, and national origin are correlated so imperfectly with any of the valid criteria on which the above decisions should depend, or, for that matter, with any behavioral characteristics, that these background factors are irrelevant as a basis for dealing with individuals- as students or as employees.
Furthermore, since, as far as research suggest, the full range of human talents is represented in all the major races of man and in all socioeconomic levels, it is unjust to allow the mere fact of an individual’s racial or social background to affect the treatment accorded to them.”
So once again I ask, is our IQ a blank check for gainful employment opportunities, college admissions or other social decisions?
Is it helping or hindering us?
In short, even though much research has shown that IQ
differences matter for educational, occupational and other achievements, the
magnitude of those differences also matters, and in particular cases other
factors may outweigh IQ differences in determining outcomes.
However, the importance of other factors beside IQ is not a blank check for downplaying or disregarding mental test scores when making employment, college admissions or other social decisions.
Predictive Validity
Author Thomas Sowell, in his book, Intellectuals and Race stated that IQ test or college admissions tests may not accurately measure the “real” intelligence of prospective students or employees- however “real” intelligence may be defined.
The practical question is whether whatever they do
measure is correlated with further success in the particular endeavor.
Where is the corporation heading? What standards are the
colleges and universities striving for?
Does the individual have the capacity to grow and develop? Do they even want to grow? Is the individual’s dreams and aspirations mutually aligned with the vision of the company?
Not everyone can become a great artist, but a great artist can come from anywhere.
Anton Ego, in Pixar’s Ratatouille
It is becoming more and more evident that group creativity is becoming more and more necessary.
We now live in a world of very complex and global challenges. Many of the most important and pressing issues exceed the capacity and capability of one individual.
As a result, it is clear that in order to find solutions, collaboration with other people has become increasingly necessary.
Concepts of Intelligence
Most of us grew up with a concept of intelligence based on the traditional IQ test. The IQ test was originated by Alfred Binet (1857-1911) to measure, objectively, comprehension, reasoning and judgement.
Alfred Binet was motivated by a powerful enthusiasm for the emerging discipline of psychology and a desire to overcome the cultural and class prejudices of the late nineteenth-century France in the assessment of children’s academic potential.
The Past vs. The Present
The Past
Research indicates that many studies in different fields were done by single individuals who made significant strides and produced inventions, works of art, formulas, and other various pursuits.
A great example of a man that history has crowned as one of the “Great Renaissance Men” was Leonardo Da Vinci.
Leonardo Da Vinci
Leonardo da Vinci was a Renaissance painter, sculptor, architect, inventor, military engineer and draftsman — the epitome of a true Renaissance man. He is famously known for paintings like “The Last Supper” and “Mona Lisa,” and for inventions like a flying machine.
Gifted with a curious mind and a brilliant intellect, Leonardo da Vinci studied the laws of science and nature, which greatly informed his work. His drawings, paintings and other works have influenced countless artists and engineers over the centuries.
Mona Lisa
In 1503, da Vinci started working on what would become his most well-known painting — and arguably the most famous painting in the world —the “Mona Lisa.” The privately commissioned work is characterized by the enigmatic smile of the woman in the half-portrait.
The Present
The best research now emerges from groups and many science papers are co-authored, many works of art-creatively collaborated among individuals, even recent inventions and great ideas bear testament to the “great minds” behind them all.
Why is this you may ask? The reason is simple: many of the biggest problems that we need to solve now require the expertise of many people from different backgrounds who can bridge the gap between each discipline.
Creative Thinking and Accelerated Learning
Michael J. Gelb is a world-renowned innovator in the fields of creative thinking, accelerated learning and leadership development. He is also the author of How to Think like Leonardo da Vinci- Seven steps to Genius Every Day.
In his book, he states that at the time of the IQ test conception, the concept was considered a breakthrough, however, contemporary research now shows two significant flaws.
Flaw 1
The idea that intelligence is fixed at birth and immutable (unchanging overtime or unable to be changed).
He believes that although individuals are endowed genetically with more or less talent in a given area, researchers such as Buzan, Machado, Wenger and many others have shown that IQ scores can be raised significantly through appropriate training. Yeah!!
Flaw 2
The second weakness is the idea that the verbal and mathematical reasoning skills measured by IQ test (and SATs) are the sine qua nons ( an essential condition; a thing that is absolutely necessary) of intelligence.
Managing and Growing your Creative Dreams
How Management relates to growth
One of the most powerful things about growing your creative dreams is that growth requires management. This especially applies to you if you plan on making your creative dreams public or bringing it to the marketplace.
The manager part of you is different from the creative worker part of you. The creative worker only knows how to physically work directly on the creative dream. It’s the part that sews, paints, sings, dance, write or physically does something.
The manager part of you is the one who looks ahead, designs a system, or hires assistant for the creative worker.
Growth involves change, focus and strategy. Growth isn’t necessarily good if the system that supports that growth is faulty or becomes strained.
Also remember that growth in business doesn’t always match human growth.
Camana Bay
Farmers & Artisans Market
As a vibrant town center constantly growing, Camana Bay is a must-visit for international visitors and locals alike. This event, taking place on Wednesdays from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m., will allow for 40 local vendors to showcase and sell a mix of their produce, local specialty food items and artisanal and craft products.
CAMANA BAY
A destination within a destination, Camana Bay is a vibrant town located in the heart of Grand Cayman in the Cayman Islands, a British Overseas Territory.
Situated on 685 acres between Seven Mile Beach and the North Sound, this mixed-use master-planned community is one of the first examples of New Urbanism in the Caribbean.
Developed by Dart Real Estate, Camana Bay offers more than 650,000 square feet of commercial office and retail space as well as 63 luxury apartments available for long-term lease, public spaces for all to enjoy, world-class shopping and dining, as well as family-friendly entertainment, events and attractions.
Another part of managing and growing your creative dreams is assembling a team to help you. We form teams all the time without calling it that. The dictionary states that a team is: “A group of people working or playing together as a unit”.
Did you also know that families are a kind of team? Growing creative dreams calls for us to form teams because we can create more in a community than we can by ourselves.
When you make a creative dream real, it is then separate from you and needs support in order to grow.
A team is an excellent kind of support, and the right kind of team is the best type of support.
Marketing
Growing your creative dreams may involve marketing. If you are at a public stage with your creative dreams and wish to share it with more people, you will need to know something about marketing.
If you choose to involve your creative dreams in the world of trade and commerce, use some of your energy to become informed about what that means.
Marketing Essentials by Michael Ferrier
It can be extremely exciting and rewarding to share your creative dreams with the world and receive compensation in the form of money.
You can then use that money to fund more creative dreams.
Magic Kingdom: Walt Disney World
Types of Success
Success can: • Isolate or remove you from friends or familiar things • Distort your values • Overwhelm you • Cause you to quit your creative dream
The dictionary defines success as: “The gaining of position, fame, wealth, achievement or satisfaction.
Tyler Perry
Success however is not the answer or the solution, but part of a greater system. Your response to and management of your success is pivotal in nourishing yourself and your creative dreams.
Success can also: • Expand and accelerate your creative dream • Cause you to choose to be apart of a team • Bring you in contact with wonderful people and things • Assist you in making your other creative dreams real • Support other people’s creative dreams • Activate brand-new creative dreams
Success can also activate arrogance, egotism and entitlement.
Teachers and Mentors
We can be self-taught and taught by others. Teachers can appear in books, videos, films or by our experiences.
Micheal Jackson
Michael Jackson ruled the 80’s so dominantly, it’s easy to forget that the adorable pre-teen Jackson was a Motown sensation in the 70’s.
A child prodigy with cheerful charisma and natural dance talent, he led his band of brothers Jackie, Tito, Jermaine, and Marlon.
With four singles hitting the top of the Billboard charts, the Jackson 5 were among the first black groups to appeal to a racially diverse audience. With hits like “ABC” and “I Want You Back,” Jackson established his path to global stardom.
So remember, being teachable is important. We can need or want to learn, yet be essentially unteachable. If we are stubborn, or unwilling to listen or change, we can be unteachable.
However we receive teachings, our creative dreams will benefit from learning.
A Mentor
A Mentor is already doing/living something you want to do or live. I’ve learnt that the mentoring process is both a practical and alchemical process.
Practical, because you can imitate or practice what he or she has done and apply it to your own life.
Alchemical, because his or her energy and your energy merge and change both of you.
Mentors can mentor very briefly or over a lifetime. It is a gift that continues to give throughout generations.
Pyramids at Giza
Multiple Intelligences
In his modern classic, Frames of Mind (1983), psychologist Howard Gardner introduced the theory of multiple intelligences, which concluded that each of us contain at least seven measurable intelligences.
And guess what else I learnt? In Gardner’s later work with his colleagues (another prime example of group effort), they catalogued twenty-five different sub-intelligences. Wow!
Let me add my own intelligence to the following prime examples (7 being a prime number after all. Get it? Lol!).
Seven Types of Intelligences and Genius Exemplars other than Leonardo da Vinci
Meaning of Genius Exemplar: 1 : extraordinary intellectual power especially as manifested in creative activity. 2 : a person endowed with transcendent mental superiority specifically : a person with a very high IQ.
7 Types of Intelligences
• Interpersonal/Social- Queen Elizabeth I, Nelson Mandela, Mahatma Gandhi • Musical- Mozart, George Gershwin, Ella Fitzgerald • Verbal/Linguistic- William Shakespeare, Emily Dickinson, Jorge Luis Borges • Logical/Mathematical- Stephen Hawkins, Isaac Newton, Marie Cutie • Spatial/Mechanical- Michelangelo, Georgia O’Keeffe, Buckminster Fuller • Interpersonal (self-knowledge)- Viktor Frankl, Thich Nhat Hanh, Mother Teresa • Bodily/Kinesthetic- Morihei Ueshiba, Muhammad Ali, F.M. Alexander
The theory of multiple intelligences are now accepted widely and when combined with the realization that intelligence can be developed throughout life, offers a powerful inspiration for aspiring Renaissance men and women.
The patent system is the oldest form of intellectual property right. Since its development, the concept has been featured in many of the world’s major political upheavals.
Testimony of this fact can be traced back as far as the late Middle ages where the element of monopoly conferred upon the holder of a patent has at least the potential to provide very significant economic benefits.
Brunelleschi’s Dome: The story of the Great Cathedral of Florence
Brunelleschi’s Dome
The first recorded patent was issued in Florence in the fifteenth century. According to the 5th Edition of Information Technology Law by Ian J. Lloyd, Filippo Brunelleschi, the architect of Florence’s remarkable cathedral won the world’s first patent for a technical invention in 1421.
Filippo Brunelleschi was a classic man of the Renaissance: tough-minded, multi-talented and thoroughly self-confident. He claimed he had a new means of conveying goods up the Arno River (he was intentionally vague on the details), which he refused to develop unless the state kept others from copying his design.
Florence complied and Brunelleschi walked away with the right to exclude all new means of transport on the Arno River for three years.
When adopted in England, the purpose of the patent system was somewhat different. Unlike Brunelleschi’s patent, the technology covered by the patent was new to the country rather than new in itself.
In the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries the system fell increasingly into disrepute because unfortunately the system was frequently being used to boost the Royal revenues by conferring a monopoly in respect to basic commodities for a fee.
It was another hundred years however, before it was settled that in return for the award of a patent, the inventor was required to specify details of the manner in which the invention functioned and not until the enactment of the Patent Act 1902 that even a rudimentary form of examination of the patent applications was made with a view to establishing novelty.
In recent United kingdom statutes, it has been made absolutely clear that the element of invention is critical for any award and that a balance is to be struck whereby in return for putting details of the manner in which the invention functioned into the public arena, the inventor is to receive a temporary monopoly in respect of its exploration.
Description of the Modern System
The basic theory of the patent system is simple and reasonable. It is desirable in the public interest that industrial techniques should be improved. In order to encourage improvement, and to encourage the disclosure of improvements in preference to their use in secret, any person devising an improvement in a manufactured article, or in machinery or methods for making it, may upon disclosure of the improvement at the Patent Office demand to be given a monopoly in the use for a period of years.
After that period it passes into the public domain, and the temporary monopoly is not objectable, for if it had not been for the inventor who devised and disclosed the improvement nobody would have been able to use it at that or any other time, since nobody would have known about it.
Furthermore, the giving of the monopoly encourages the putting into practice of the invention, for the only way the inventor can make a profit from it (or even recover the fees for his/her patent) is by putting it into practice, either by using it themselves, and deriving an advantage over their competitors from its use, or by allowing others to use it in return for royalties.
United Kingdom’s Patent System- Patent Act 1977
Today the United Kingdom patent system is based primarily on the Patent Act 1977. This statute was enacted in part to reform and update the United Kingdom law relating to patents but also in order to bring domestic law into conformity with the provisions of the European Patent Convention, opened for signature in 1973, which provides for a measure of harmonization in matters of substance and procedure amongst signatory statutes.
There is no doubt that inventiveness is a key requirement of the patent system, what has been more debatable has been the application of the system to soft-ware related inventions. these are innovations where novelty resides primarily or exclusively in software components.
Concerns:
1 Does the software developments fit conceptually into the industrial nature of the system?
2 Does the library and related resources exist to allow claim to novelty to be adequately assessed?
Patents in the International Arena
According to the 5th Edition of thew Information Technology Law by Ian J. Lloyd, the patent systems tended to be found only in the developed world. However, since the introduction of the World Trade Organization (WTO), it has resulted in many more countries introducing systems of patent protection.
The oldest international instrument is the Paris Convention, an instrument signed by ninety-six states, including all of the major industrial states. This provides that the submission of an application in one signatory state will serve to establish priority for the applicant in the event that equivalent applications are submitted in other signatory states within twelve months.
Although such a facility is of considerable value for inventors, the practical problems involved in obtaining patent protection on anything like a worldwide basis are immense, and a number of subsequent agreements have sought to ease the task facing applicants.
For a good description of the history of the United Kingdom Patent System, see the Patent Office Website at:
The Convention was first opened for signatory on the 20th March 1883, with the most recent revision occurring in Stockholm in 1968.
Intellectual Property in GATTS and WTO
Shortly after the end of the Second World War, the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade has provided a legal mechanism for international trade. Reform to the system in the 1990’s brought service into the international agreement for the first time and also introduced provisions relating to the intellectual property rights.
The Trade Related aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) Protocol, which was adopted in 1994, entered into force on the 1st January 1995. For more information on the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) requirements and signatures to make patents, visit:
A patent may be awarded in respect of an invention. The invention may relate either to a new product or to a novel process (perhaps Blockchain Technology?).
The Patents Act 1977 does not define the word ‘invention’, but it does specify attributes that any invention must possess. These require that:
Software-related inventions can be patented. In the United Kingdom, approximately 100 patent applications in their name are published each year. In proceedings before the European Patent Office, this figure rises to 100 per month.
The report of the Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology on Patents, research and Technology indicates that in the last 10 years the (EPO) European Patent Office has granted around 10,000 patents for software-related inventions, and has refused only 100 applications.
In 2003, it was estimated that up to 30,000 software patents had been issued by the European Patent Office, although, in part because the existence of the statutory prohibitions requires that software-related inventions be cataloged by reference to their field of application rather than the software component.
Matters excluded from patent protection
In addition to defining the elements that most be found in an invention, the Patents Act 1977 lists a number of features which will not qualify for the grant of a patent.
Section 1(2) which mirrors Article 52 of the European Patent Convention, provides that patent are not to be awarded for:
A discovery, scientific theory or mathematical method (I wonder if STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math is included?)
A literary, dramatic, musical or artistic work or any other aesthetic creation whatsoever;
A scheme, rule or method for performing a mental act, playing a game or doing business, or a program for a computer; or
Over the past few centuries, a certain ideal has become very popular: that of the intelligent person.
In traditional schools, the intelligent person would master classical languages and mathematics.
Gifted Children
In a business setting, the intelligent person would anticipate commercial opportunities, take measured risks, build up an organization, and keep the books balanced and the stockholders satisfied all at the same time.
Kind of like a Renaissance Person. (Lol!) or maybe a Supercomputer!!!
Supercomputers
I was highly stimulated by my most recent research on Supercomputers. Guess what I found out? Supercomputers and mainframes are not competing solutions as you might think!
Quantum Computers vs. Supercomputers vs. Mainframes
Supercomputers vs. Mainframes
Both Supercomputers and mainframes address a particular type of need. The difference between supercomputers and mainframes is best described as follows:
Mainframes – Computing power used to perform billions of small transactions. Wow!
Supercomputers – Used for focusing on solving a single big problem. Hhmm..very interesting.
When it comes to measuring how powerful supercomputers are, a unit of measurement referred to as “floating-point operations per second” or “flops” is used.
Apparently, the authority when it comes to keeping track of who has the fastest computer is the TOP500 project.
Ever since 1993, TOP 500 has been using the Linpack benchmark to measure relative performance among supercomputers to determine who has the fastest computer. The list they produce every six months contains the top-500 computers in the world, along with some really interesting metrics. See the diagram below:
We can see that the fastest computer in the world is the Sunway TaihuLight, one of the greatest sources of Chinese national pride after the giant panda. With a ridiculous price tag of $273 million. Lol!
The TaihuLight is built entirely on Chinese engineered semiconductors as part of a program to decrease China’s reliance on foreign technology.
Countries with the most Supercomputers
When it comes to the country with the most supercomputers, the USA and China are now in a dead heat when measured by total GFlops (251 million vs. 235 million) and by number of machines (168 vs. 160).
Please also note that 88% of the computing power in the TOP 500 list is owned by just 10 companies:
Supercomputers vs Quantum Computers
When quantum computers are complete, they will be expected to work on the same sort of problems that supercomputers work on today – everything from designing better airplanes to discovering new drug molecules, to assisting people with their love life! Lol!
Let’s talk about Money
The Bible gives a prime example of the stewardship of money in the book of Luke,
20 Keeping a close watch on him, they sent spies, who pretended to be sincere. They hoped to catch Jesus in something he said, so that they might hand him over to the power and authority of the governor.
21 So the spies questioned him: “Teacher, we know that you speak and teach what is right, and that you do not show partiality but teach the way of God in accordance with the truth.
22 Is it right for us to pay taxes to Caesar or not?”
23 He saw through their duplicity and said to them,
25 He said to them, “Then give back to Caesar what is Caesar’s, and to God what is God’s.”
26 They were unable to trap him in what he had said there in public. And astonished by his answer, they became silent.
Wow!
The Ideal Human Being (Renaissance Man/Woman)
Every society features its ideal human being. The ancient Greeks valued the person who displayed physical or athletic agility, rational judgment, and virtuous behavior (good luck with the last point!) Lol!
The Romans highlighted manly courage, and the followers of Islam prized the holy soldier.
Under the influence of Confucius, Chinese populations traditionally valued the person who was skilled in poetry, music, calligraphy, archery, and drawing.
I was even fascinated to discover that even among the Keres tribe of the Pueblo Indians today, the person who cares for others is held in high regard. That’s my favorite and most encouraging! Maybe I’ll try for that one!
The Symbol Analyst and the Master of Change
Fast forward to the 21st Century where a premium has now been placed on two new intellectual virtuoso’s or types of prodigies: the “symbol analyst” and the “master of change”.
Symbol Analyst
According to my studies, a symbol analyst can sit for hours in front of a string of numbers and words, usually displayed on a computer screen, and readily discern meaning in that maze of symbols.
This person can then make reliable, useful projections.
Cool!
Master of Change
On the other hand, a master of change readily acquires new information, solves problems, forms “ties or partnerships” with mobile and highly dispersed people, and adjusts easily to changing circumstances.
Even cooler!
It should also be noted that those charged with guiding a society or community have always been on the look out for intelligent young people.
Intelligence and Family
In the late nineteenth century, Frances Galton, who was one of the founders of modern psychological measurements, thought that intelligence ran in the family.
Based on that assumption, he looked for intelligence in the offspring of those who occupied leading positions in the British society.
However around 1870, he began to devise and create more formal tests for intelligence, ones consistent with the emerging view of the human mind as a subject for measurement and experimentation.
Now in today’s modern world we have countless people avidly pursuing the best ways of defining, measuring, and nurturing intelligence.
Alfred Binet was a psychologist who was commissioned by the French Government to devise an objective method for identifying children who were not doing well in school.
He designed the first comprehensive intelligence test in the early 20th century.
Then later on in 1916, Lewis Terman and his colleagues at Stanford University revised Binet’s test for use in the United States, resulting in the administered test gaining wide acceptance during the 1940s and 1950s.
From there, the Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scale was introduced and is still widely used. (Fourth Edition SB-IV).
IQ = MA/CA X 100
I was also intrigued to find out that as time progressed test researchers developed a formula for expressing a child’s intellectual level that made it possible to compare children of different chronological ages (CA), which apparently are expressed in how old in years and months the children are.
This measurement was called the intelligence quotient (IQ) and is defined as follows: IQ = MA/CA X 100
The computation of IQ made it possible to understand how a child’s intellectual ability compared to that of peers of the same chronological age. However, there were problems with this ratio approach to IQ and now IQ is assessed using the deviation IQ approach.
This approach assigns an IQ score by comparing an individual’s test score with the scores of other people of the same age range.
David Wechsler is primarily known for developing this technique and was applied to IQ tests that both he and his colleagues developed.
The test for early childhood is the Wechsler Preschool and Primary Scale of Intelligence, or WPPSI.
The test for childhood and adolescence is the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children or WISC and the test for adulthood is the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale or WAIS (“wace”).
An individual who takes any of these tests obtains a score that is compared statically to the scores of other people of the same age.
The Wechsler IQ test is widely used although there are many other intelligence tests being used.
IQ is assumed to be normally distributed around an average score of 100, with about 2/3 of the general population scoring between 85 and 115 and almost 96% of the population scoring between 70 and 130.
That leaves roughly 2% of the population scoring below 70 and another 2% scoring above 130, which is a popular cutoff point for defining giftedness.
Liberal Education, the University and the Truly Educated Person
The Board of Governors of the University College of the Cayman Islands (UCCI) made history in June 2018 when it announced the appointment of the institution’s first Vice President and Provost, Dr. Livingston Smith.
It is quite fashionable for the new student, just entering university, to have the view that making lots of money is the imperative of education and so begins to focus on what he or she is to do, rather than who he or she is to become. A fixation on specialization as the key to this end may cause that student to miss out on an education. It may turn out that study gets in the way of education.
For the typical college student, a specialty such as accounting, computing, economics or marketing is pretty straightforward, but why, in addition, courses in literature, history, philosophy, psychology, etc.
Getting to see beyond mere specialization is the challenge of liberal education. The view that the education process should develop the person not just as a businessman, farmer or physician – but as a human being – is easily sidelined, especially in the context of globalization and the urgent need for ‘belt-tightening measures’ even in education
In lean times, the humanities come into question and so areas like languages, the arts history, cultural studies, philosophy and religion are usually hardest hit. The ‘idealistic’ notion that critical thinking, civic and historical knowledge and ethical reasoning, areas the humanities especially develop, are necessary for effective participation in a free democracy regardless of career choice, becomes sidelined for the ‘urgent’ and the ‘now’.
And, yet, the purpose of education must be to prepare the student to think, to adapt, to be creative, especially knowing that job skills learnt today soon become irrelevant. A liberal education is vital.
A liberal education is one that ensures that a person becomes more than a specialist or technician. It is education that takes the long-range view and so concentrates on what shapes a person’s understanding and values, rather than on what he can use in one or two of the changing roles he might later play. As Marshall Gregory says in his article ‘A liberal Education Is Not A luxury’ published in the Chronicle of Higher Education, Sept.12, 2008, students overriding concern should be how to develop as fully as possible their basic human birthright: their powers of imagination, aesthetic responsiveness, introspection, language, rationality, moral and ethical reasoning, physical capacities and so on.
Liberal education focuses on developing the students as fully as possible as human beings, as human persons, reflective, thinking beings and as responsible agents thus ensuring that a person becomes more than a specialist or technician. It trains but it also educates.
In explaining its devotion to a liberal education, Yale University says ‘At Yale you are required to learn broadly and deeply. Depth is covered in your major. Breadth is covered in three study areas: the Humanities and the Arts; the Sciences, and the Social Sciences and three skill areas: writing, quantitative reasoning, and a foreign language.”
Yale University Website – Fareed Zakaria in his excellent book on the subject – In Defence of a Liberal Education, says that “A Liberal Arts education teaches you how to write, how to speak your mind, and how to learn, immensely valuable tools no matter your profession.
Technology and education are actually making these skills even more valuable as routine mechanical and even computational tasks can be done by machines or workers in low wage countries.”
‘Students are clamouring for degrees that will help them secure jobs in a shifting economy, but to succeed in the long term, they’ll require an education that allows them to grow, adapt and contribute as citizens. And this is why many schools are shaking up their curricula to ensure that undergraduate business majors receive something they may not even know they need – a rigorous liberal arts education.” The Atlantic, June 28, 2016.
“Business majors seem to be graduating with some of the technical skills they’ll need to secure their jobs, but without having made the gains in writing or critical skills they’ll require to succeed over the course of their careers, or to adapt as their technical skills become outdated and the nature of the opportunities they have shifts over time.” Yoni Applebaum – Business Majors and the Liberal Arts, June, 2016.
Because by our very nature, human beings desire to know, the first task of liberal education is to fan the spark and ignite the natural inquisitiveness. Arthur Holmes, in one of my favorite books on education, The Idea of a Christian College, explains that if the mind is to be formed, the imagination stretched, the vision enlarged, the intellectual powers sharpened, then courses in reading and writing are mandatory.
With reading, he explains, comes the gaining of input, the fertilization of imagination, conceptualization, and evaluation. To write trains one to become articulate, to express, to expound, to argue, to explore relationships, to have a sense of the whole.
Friendships, marriage, family, work, recreation, political involvement, social action, technology, etc, requires understanding and right values. These all need reflection informed not only by the natural and social sciences, but also by the insight and sensitivity about human affairs which the humanities afford.
So values and facts must be taught together. The student must be exposed to ethics, to social problems, to aesthetics and to the logical structure of value judgments.
In modern societies, career mobility, rather than a job held for a long time, is critical. Career preparation, therefore, requires large understandings, rich personal qualities and lasting values. A liberal education contributes greatly to this. It does this by attention to thinking and values and by its emphasis on breadth of education
These underlie the understanding of management processes; historical perspectives on sociopolitical institutions and values as a precondition to understanding labour unions, free enterprise and alternative economic structures; cross cultural awareness and foreign area studies are essential in firms that have international relationships; the humanities , especially literature and philosophy, demand clear thinking, precise writing, and scrutiny of one’s own values that prepare one for any career involving careful communication and continued self examination.
The broadly integrative character of liberal learning moves the student beyond narrowly focused analytic techniques to see the overall picture.
In the end, it is liberal education, steeped in the thinking that education should develop the human being as an entire person that is best able to produce an educated person. The truly educated person possesses moral virtues – the qualities of character such as love and fairness, integrity and the courage of one’s conviction.
It includes intellectual virtues – what Holmes calls qualities of mind, such as breadth of understanding, openness to new ideas, intellectual honesty about other views, analytic and critical skills, and a sense of history, freshness of imagination, independence and creativity of mind.
An educated person is characterized by his or her responsible action in all areas of life. This person is conscientious, helpful, decisive, self-disciplined and has the ability to correct his or her course and start afresh.
The educated person also possesses qualities of self-knowledge. He or she is capable of an honest appraisal of his or her strengths and weaknesses and harbours no false modesty or overconfidence. Instead, he or she is willing to address weaknesses, to invest in his own strengths and, importantly, to learn from others.
The educated person is widely read and alert to the issues of the day. He or she continues to read and to grow, aware that however large the circumference of his or her knowledge, just as large are the borders of his or her ignorance.
Arthur Holmes is dead right. At the end of the experience, the university education should sharpen the mind, heighten the imagination, deepen the understanding, broaden the sympathies and kindle new interests. It should produce in the student the anxiety to shoulder his load of responsibility for himself and society.
Individuals with Disabilities
Many children with disabilities around the world have either been hidden out of shame, misunderstood or mistreated.
Nevertheless, in the United States of America, the passing of the 1997 Amendments to the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA-97), the re-authorization of this act in 2004 (IDEA-04), and the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act in 2002, we can safely say that they are making considerable steps to the needs of their most vulnerable citizens.
Within the Cayman Islands, the Government and the general population has also been working diligently to make improvements were necessary in this regard and I strongly believe this will only facilitate more unity, hope and ambition for the people of the Cayman Islands.
His Excellency the Governor, Mr. Martyn Roper toured the Sunrise Adult Training Centre (SRC) in West Bay on Thursday (12 September) and gave a “surprise performance”.
The Pursuit of Intelligence
It is obvious that efforts to measure intelligence will continue and become more widespread in the future.
Gifted Children Continued….
Across cultures we see young children excelling in various pursuits, some mastering certain capabilities a lot faster than their peers.
When such children stand out, we call them talented or gifted and when they are performing at an adult level, we call them prodigies.
There are literally hundreds of books, dissertations or theses, and thousands of popular scholarly articles on the theory of intelligence, and other human cognitive capacities, such as creativity, expertise and genius.
A few years ago I acquired more information regarding making a valid will in the Cayman Islands.
The execution requirements for making a valid will in the Cayman Islands are set out in the Wills Law (2004 Revision).
It is also a requirement of Cayman Islands law that a testator must have testamentary capacity at the time of creating his or her will.
The test for testamentary capacity, known as the “golden rule,” was first explained in the English case of Banks vs. Goodfellow and it remains good law in the Cayman Islands today. Here are the facts:
(a) Does the testator understand the nature and effect of what he/she is doing;
(b) Is he/she aware, broadly, of the extent of his/her estate;
(c) Does he/she appreciate the claims of those who might reasonably expect to benefit from his/her estate; and
In summary, the Wills Law provides that a will must be in writing; it must be signed by the testator or by some other person in his/her presence, at his/her direction.
If the latter, the testator must acknowledge such signature in the presence of two witnesses present at the same time.
If the former, the testator’s signature must be attested to by two witnesses present at the same time in his/her presence.
Subject to only two exceptions for soldiers and sailors on active service, the execution requirements must be complied with; if not, it will be invalid.
Holographic Wills
Unfortunately, the Cayman Islands law does not, as a general principle, permit holographic wills.
Holographic wills are documents that are usually handwritten and do not comply with the strict requirements for proper execution as a will but have nevertheless been written as testamentary documents, often in extreme circumstances.
Famous Holographic Will
The most famous holographic will was that of Cecil George Harris, a Canadian farmer who in 1948 suffered the misfortune of becoming trapped under his tractor and fearing that he was about to die, carved a will into the fender which read, “In case I die in this mess I leave all to the wife. Cecil Geo. Harris.” The fender was submitted to probate as his valid holographic will.
Testamentary Capacity
Apparently in the common law tradition, testamentary capacity is the legal term of art used to describe a person’s legal and mental ability to make or alter a valid will.
This concept has also been called sound mind and memory or disposing mind and memory. Cool!
I also learnt that Testamentary intent refers to a testator’s intention with respect to a particular instrument that functions as his/her last will.
Testamentary intent is required for a will to be valid.
Then we have to consider the person’s legal capacity to enter a contract:
Here is a definition and example:
One of the elements of a contract is capacity. Capacity means that a person is legally able to enter into a contract.
There are several things that make a person legally able to do so, including age and state of mind.
A person who is in the end stages of Alzheimer’s disease probably does not have the requisite capacity to sign legal documents.
However, a person with a diagnosis of dementia may very well be able to sign legal documents. Generally speaking, capacity is usually analyzed situationally.
The other way to change your will is by adding what is called a codicil. A codicil is like an amendment or addition to your will.
Use a codicil to revoke part of your will or add a new provision.
To be valid, they must be dated, signed, and witnessed just like a legal will.
I learnt that it is extremely important to keep your will updated. As life changes, so do potential beneficiaries and heirs.
Updating Your Last Will and Testament
If you do not keep your last will and testament updated, it may not reflect your wishes given your new circumstances. The following are good situations in which changing a will may be wise.
Marriage:
When you get married, both you and your spouse should each create a new will.
Most states have laws that award a percentage of your estate to your spouse upon your death.
However, if you want to devise your will differently, you should specify this in your will.
Furthermore, adding your spouse to your will may change the percentage of your estate, or of a specific asset, that another beneficiary or heir was previously written to receive.
Changing a will should reflect this new proportion as you see fit.
Common Law Marriage:
The following information was all I could find that would classify eligibility:
Any person who has been married to a Caymanian-
v for at least five years immediately preceding the application, where the marriage took place prior to the 1st January 2004; or
v for at least seven years immediately preceding the application, where the marriage took place on or after 1st January 2004
v whose marriage is not a marriage of convenience;
v who is not living apart from his spouse under a decree of a competent court or under a deed of separation;
v who has not lived apart from his spouse for an aggregate period of three months
v out of the five years immediately preceding the application where the marriage took place prior to 1st January 2004; or
v out of the seven years immediately preceding the application where the marriage took place on or after 1st January, 2004.
v who is legally and ordinarily resident* in the Islands immediately preceding his application; and
v who has not in any country been convicted of an offence for which a sentence of imprisonment not exceeding twelve months has been passed other than for non-payment of a fine unless-
1. the conviction has been quashed on appeal or has been the subject of a free pardon;
2. the act or omission giving rise to such conviction would not be an offence if done or omitted in the Islands in similar circumstances; or
3. the conviction is one which, in the interest of justice, the Board directs to be ignored for the purposes of this section,
Obtaining a new partner, without marriage:
Only if married will your partner automatically receive assets from your estate.
So, if you find yourself with a new loved one, changing a will to reflect what you would like to leave that partner is necessary.
Divorce:
Upon divorce, some states revoke any gifts you leave your spouse in your will. Other states do not.
Changing a will upon a divorce is very important.
You will want to either specify what you want to leave your former spouse, or else specify how those gifts should now be distributed.
A new baby:
There are laws in some states that give children some portion of your assets upon your death.
However, not everyone wants their property to be distributed the way the state laws specify.
If you welcome a new baby into your family, be sure to specify what gifts, the baby shall receive, by changing a will.
Perhaps more importantly, be sure to appoint a guardian for the baby.
This will be the person who will care for your baby should anything happen to you.
New stepchildren:
Stepchildren are not automatically entitled to inherit a share of your property in many states.
Therefore, if you would like for your stepchildren to inherit any of your property, be sure to specify your wishes by changing your own will.
Moving from a community property state to a common law property state:
The laws governing what each spouse owns vary depending on whether the couple lives in a community property state or a common law property state.
Therefore, if you are planning on moving to a new state, check that states laws.
If it differs from the one you currently reside it, be sure to change your own will, according to your new property ownership status.
i.e. Persons of independent means:
The Cayman Islands Government offers five Immigration products for wealthy, private investors and senior executives who are seeking long-term residence in the Cayman Islands.
1. Certificate of Permanent Residency for Persons of Independent Means (Form R5) – Persons who invest a minimum of two million Cayman Islands’ Dollars in developed real estate in the Cayman Islands may apply for a Certificate of Permanent Residence for Persons of Independent Means.
As the Certificate title denotes, a holder has the right to reside indefinitely in the Cayman Islands.
A holder will also have the option of seeking naturalization as a British Overseas Territories Citizen and, thereafter, the right to be Caymanian.
A holder and his spouse may also have their permission to remain varied to allow the right to work in the Cayman Islands.
2. Residency Certificate for Persons of Independent Means Form R2 – This facility is for persons who wish to reside long-term in the Cayman Islands without the right to work.
Applicants will be required to demonstrate that they have invested a prescribed minimum amount in developed real estate in the Islands and that they meet certain financial standing requirements.
A successful applicant will be granted permission to reside in the Islands for a period of 25 years (renewable). This residence type cannot be varied to allow the right to work.
3. Certificate of Direct Investment Form R8 – The Certificate of Direct Investment is for persons who invest, or propose to invest, a minimum prescribed amount in a licensed employment generating business in the Cayman Islands and in which he/she will exercise substantial management control.
An applicant must demonstrate a substantial business track record or an entrepreneurial background, including specific professional, technical and other knowledge relevant and necessary to carry on the business.
4. Residency Certificate (Substantial Business Presence) Form R6 – This facility is for persons who invest in, or who are employed in a senior management capacity within, an approved category of business in the Cayman Islands.
A successful applicant is granted a Residency Certificate valid for 25 years (renewable) which entitles him to reside in the Islands and to work in the business in which he has invested or is employed in a senior management capacity.
Changing your mind about heirs: Of course, things can happen in life that cause people to change their minds about the way in which they’d like their property distributed. Changing a will to reflect these new wishes is important.
New or disposed of assets: Perhaps in your will you would like to leave all of your property or a percentage of your property to your heirs, then what you own changes and there is no need to change your will. However, if you have willed certain gifts to people in your will, and you no longer have those properties, be sure to remove said property from your will. Additionally, when you acquire new property, be sure to account for that in your will.
Ways of changing a will
The easiest way of changing a will is simply to make a new will. It is imperative that you revoke the old will.
To do this, simply write a statement in the new will that states that you revoke all wills and codicils that you have previously made.
This is sufficient to revoke any previous wills, but it is wise to also destroy any of your previous wills in order to avoid confusion or challenges to your new will.
The other way to change your will is by adding what is called a codicil.
A codicil is like an amendment or addition to your will. Use a codicil to revoke part of your will or add a new provision.
To be valid, they must be dated, signed, and witnessed just like a legal will.
Codicils were an efficient way of changing a will before there were computers and printing was a hassle.
Today, codicils should be avoided wherever possible. They can cause confusion, be lost, and are sometimes even a means to challenge wills.
That information is definitely worth remembering!
Changes to other estate documents
Much of your property passes by law to beneficiaries, despite what your will says.
Property such as retirement proceeds, life insurance proceeds, joint bank accounts, payable-on-death bank accounts, and stocks registered with a transfer-on-death form all pass directly to a specified beneficiary.
If you change your mind about who the beneficiary should be, change the names using the forms on which you named the original beneficiaries.
Do not change the named beneficiaries through your will, for it will have no effect.
Living trusts are also not affected by the terms of your will. If you decide to change the terms of your living trust, add an amendment to the original trust document. Then, transfer property in or out of the trustee’s name, accordingly.
You do not need to worry about having to revoke a trust and create an original one, like when changing a will.
Living Trust
What Is a Living Trust?
A living trust is a legal document, or trust, created during an individual’s lifetime where a designated person, the trustee, is given responsibility for managing that individual’s assets for the benefit of the eventual beneficiary.
A living trust is designed to allow for the easy transfer of the trust creator or settlor’s assets while bypassing the often complex and expensive legal process of probate. Living trust agreements designate a trustee who holds legal possession of assets and property that flow into the trust.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
A living trust designates a
trustee to manage assets for the beneficiary, while the grantor is still
alive.
Trustees with fiduciary duty
manage trusts according to the beneficiary’s best interests.
Living
trusts can be either irrevocable or revocable.
How Living Trusts Work
Living trusts are
managed by a trustee who typically has a fiduciary duty to manage the trust
prudently in the best interests of the trust’s beneficiary or beneficiaries
designated by the trust settlor, also called a grantor. Upon the death of the
settlor, these assets flow to the beneficiaries according to the grantor’s
wishes as outlined in the trust agreement. Unlike a will, however, a living
trust is in effect while the settlor is alive and the trust does not have to
clear the courts to reach its intended beneficiaries when the settlor dies
or becomes incapacitated.
Types of Living Trusts
Living trusts can be irrevocable or revocable.
Living Revocable Trust
With a living revocable trust, the trust settlor can designate himself or herself as the trustee and take control of assets within the trust. However, this stipulation means the assets in the trust remain a part of the trust settlor’s estate, meaning the individual may still be liable for estate taxes should the estate be valued beyond the estate tax exemption at the time of death. The trust settlor also has the power to change and amend trust rules at any time. This means the trust settlor is free to change beneficiaries or undo the trust altogether.
Irrevocable Living Trust
With an irrevocable
living trust, the settlor relinquishes certain rights to control over the
trust. The trustee effectively becomes legal owner, but the individual would
also reduce his or her taxable estate. Once the trust agreement for an
irrevocable living trust is made, the named beneficiaries are set and the
settlor can do little to amend that agreement.
Wills and Trusts
Wills and Trusts are both estate planning documents used to pass assets on to beneficiaries at death. … Here are five ways in which a Trust is better than a Will to pass your estate to your beneficiaries. A Trust can be used to Avoid Probate – a Will cannot.
When you die, this creates a change of beneficiary or beneficiaries. The person or persons you named in your trust documents to inherit from you become the new beneficiaries upon your death. They now own the assets you placed in your trust, according to the terms you decided when you made it.
Advantages to using a Trust over a Will
Wills and Trusts are
both estate planning documents used to pass assets on to beneficiaries at
death. However, there are distinct advantages to using a Trust over a
Will. Here are five ways in which a Trust is better than a Will to pass
your estate to your beneficiaries.
A Trust can be used to Avoid Probate – a Will cannot. Probate is the process of changing the title on assets when someone passes away. Assets that are owned in a deceased person’s individual name and for which there is no named beneficiary are no longer accessible once the owner of the asset has died. In order for family members to gain access to accounts or other assets in the deceased’s individual name, they must file a petition with the probate court and wait for the court to approve the Will and appoint the Personal Representative. This can be a long and costly process during which bills cannot be paid and assets cannot be managed. A Trust is an excellent probate avoidance tool because assets that are owned in the name of a Trust are immediately accessible to the trust-maker’s designated successor.
A Trust can provide Creditor Protection for the Inheritance you Leave to Beneficiaries – a Will cannot. Many people worry that the inheritance they leave to their children will be lost to their children’s creditors such as a divorcing spouse, unpaid credit card bills, a bankruptcy, a business loss, or a lawsuit. Sadly, this is often the case when assets are distributed to beneficiaries via a Will. A Trust allows the maker to safeguard an inheritance from the reach of the beneficiaries’ creditors by keeping the assets out of the name of the beneficiary. Ownership of the assets remains in the Trust. The beneficiary will have access to the assets in accordance with the directions you leave in your Trust. You may also allow your beneficiary to serve as Trustee, allowing the beneficiary to manage her own inheritance. By leaving assets to your beneficiaries via a Trust rather than outright via your Will, you can ensure that the assets you worked so hard for will be available to your children and future generations.
A Trust can Protect Governmental Benefits for a Person with Disabilities – a Will cannot. If you have a child, grandchild or other beneficiary with disabilities, then a Trust is a must. If you leave assets to a person who receives needs-based governmental benefits via your Will, it will place your beneficiary in the difficult position of either losing those benefits, or transferring the inheritance into a Trust of which the state must be the beneficiary at the beneficiary’s death. Unless the inheritance you are leaving is so significant that the monetary and medical benefits available to the person through programs such as Social Security and Medicaid are no longer important, then making sure that those governmental benefits continue to be available is vital. Leaving assets to a person with disabilities via a Trust is the best way to ensure those governmental benefits are preserved and that the inheritance you leave will be available to pay for expenses that are not covered by these governmental benefits, which while vital to many, are limited in their scope.
Trusts can Reduce Estate Taxes – a Traditional Will cannot. Many married couples have so-called “I-love-you” Wills, which leave all assets outright to the surviving spouse upon the first death. If you have an estate of more than $1,000,000, then using “I-love-you” Wills means that money you think you are leaving to your beneficiaries will in fact be going to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the form of estate tax payable at the surviving spouse’s death. If you would prefer that your assets pass to your family, create Trusts to reduce estate taxes. Estate tax planning via Trusts for married couples is standard planning and permissible under both state and federal tax laws.
A Trust can Administer Assets for Minor Beneficiaries without Court Intervention – a Will cannot. Leaving money directly to a minor creates an administrative nightmare because the law provides that a minor does not have the legal capacity to receive assets. The parent of the minor also does not have the ability to act as the child’s legal representative until the court says so. As such, if you die with a Will that leaves money to minor beneficiaries, the court will need to appoint a Conservator to receive that inheritance for your children. The Conservator will be required to report annually to the court and the court will appoint an overseer (guardian ad litem) to make sure the Conservator is doing his or her job for your minor beneficiaries. This means huge costs and long delays in administering funds for minors. It also means that when the minor turns 18, he or she will be entitled to receive all of those assets and will be free to do with them as he or she wishes (think fast cars, spring break, and lots of shopping). Creating a Trust to receive assets passing to a minor, or even to a young adult beneficiary, is the best way to ensure that the court is not involved in the process, that the person you want to manage assets for the beneficiary is able to do so, and that the beneficiary can use the assets only for purposes you decide are important and/or at ages that you dictate.
These are just five ways in which a Trust is superior to a Will.
When There is no Will
According to Robert Mack, HSM Chambers, most people know that making a will is the “adult thing” to do, especially when children and other dependents are involved.
However, like most unpleasant things in life, we tend to put it off for as long as possible.
In some tragic cases life can end suddenly and unexpectedly, or a person can be struck down by illness and lose their mental capacity which would otherwise prevent them from creating a valid will.
Let’s also not forget that digital assets fall into two broad categories: valuable and sentimental.
Valuable digital assets include such things as cryptocurrencies, online investment/bank accounts, online store credits, intellectual property, and anything else which has a tangible dollar value attached to it.
Sentimental digital assets, on the other hand, include photographs, personal videos, blog posts, social media accounts, and information held in email messages.
So how can a Will manage these two distinct types of digital assets?
According to my most recent studies, the word school is from a Greek root word that means “leisure”.
In ancient Greece, famous teachers such as Socrates, Aristotle and Plato taught aristocratic, upper-class men who had plenty of spare time.
Plato (429-347 BC) was born in fifth-century Athens to a wealthy family. As a young Athenian of his station, he was expected to pursue politics and such worthy matters.
Instead Plato decided to follow the path of his mentor, Socrates (470-399 BC) and became a philosopher.
In ancient times Athens was home to some of the most extraordinary accomplishments of philosophy, art, and science in human history.
Plato was born in a time known as the city’s “Golden Age” in the fifth century BC.
I’m delighted to also suggest a movie I’ve watched years ago which I thought was magnificently created to depict what life must have been like during that time.
Even though the emphasis was placed on Sparta, which was a small city in the rugged mountains of southern Greece and was feared for its military might, we are still able to see the connection to their neighbors in Athens.
Leonidas (GERARD BUTLER) bids farewell to his son Pleistarchos (GIOVANI ANTONIO CIMMINO) and wife Gorgo (LENA HEADEY) as the 300 begin their march north in Warner Bros. Pictures, Legendary Pictures and Virtual Studios action drama 300, distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures. PHOTOGRAPHS TO BE USED SOLELY FOR ADVERTISING, PROMOTION, PUBLICITY OR REVIEWS OF THIS SPECIFIC MOTION PICTURE AND TO REMAIN THE PROPERTY OF THE STUDIO. NOT FOR SALE OR REDISTRIBUTION
Based on evidence of the past and clear and continuous events experienced in the present, it has now been widely perceived that both politics and religion are still the most heated topics and note-worthy matters in our society today.
Many cultures around the world and their people are passionate about these topics.
The same has been reported to be true in ancient China, where famous philosopher Confucius (K’ung Fu-tzu) was known to have only shared his wisdom with a privileged few.
Speaking of China, guess what I found out? The Musuo is a very small society in China’s Yunnan province, in which women control most property, select their sexual partners, and make most decisions about everyday life.
The Musuo appear to be operating with the Matriarchy (“rule of mothers”) type of system. This is a form of social organization in which females dominate males and have only rarely been documented in human history.
I’ve mentioned that interesting fact only because further on I will explain what Patriarchy (“rule of fathers”) is all about and how that has affected equality in our world today.
However, I strongly and passionately believe that neither one of these systems should be the standard or the social-norm in our world today.
Did you know that the limited schooling that takes place in lower-income countries reflects the national culture? The way that country is view by the rest of the world?
In Iran, for example, schooling is closely tied to Islam. Similarly, schooling in Bangladesh (Asia), Zimbabwe (Africa), and Nicaragua (Latin America) has been shaped by the distinctive cultural traditions of these nations.
Unfortunately, all lower-income countries have one trait in common when it comes to schooling. There is not much of it.
Here are the facts- According to World Bank 2011, In the world’s poorest nations (including several in Central America), about one-fourth of all children never get to go to school.
Another fact- World-wide, more than one-third of all children never reach the secondary grades or high school. As a result, about one-sixth of the world’s people cannot read or write.
Research shows that reading and writing skills are widespread in high-income countries, where illiteracy rates generally are below 5 percent.
I’ve also learnt that in much of Latin America, illiteracy is unfortunately more common and one of the consequences are due to limited economic development.
Statistics also shows that in twelve nations-most of them in Africa- illiteracy is the rule rather than the exception. Many of their people rely on the oral tradition of face-to-face communication rather than the written word.
However, the following map below has more updated information regarding where we are now regarding actual literacy around the world.
So, based on what you’ve observed, do you agree or disagree and how can we help each other raise our standards?
However, saying all of that, you know what I have come to realize- its even greater odds to be educated if you’re a girl in certain countries.
Many poor families depend on the earnings of their children, and in places like India where child labor has already been outlawed, many children still continue to work in factories-weaving rugs or making hand-crafted items which limits their opportunities for any time or kind of education.
Patriarchy (rule of fathers) is a form of social organization in which males dominate females and is found almost everywhere in the world.
This type of system shapes Indian education and most Indians parents are joyful at the birth of a boy because he and his future wife will both contribute income to the family.
Whereas it is seen as an economic cost to raising a girl. In their culture, parents must provide a dowry (a gift of wealth to the groom’s family) and after her marriage, a daughter’s work only benefits her husband’s family.
Therefore, many Indians see less reason to invest in the schooling of girls.
Did you also know that education has not always been part of the way of life for the Japanese? Before industrialization brought mandatory education in 1872, only a privileged few attended schools.
Now, Japan is a force to be reckoned with and its educational system is widely praised for producing some of the world’s highest achievers!
Results continue to show that Japanese schooling continue to produce impressive results and in many notable fields such as mathematics and science, Japanese students continue to outperform students in almost every other high-income nation, including the United States. Wow!
I hope they make time for a love life eventually or there won’t be many of them left. Lol!
In Great Britain during the Middle Ages, education was a privilege of the British Nobility, who studied classical subjects, having little concern at the time for the practical skills necessary and needed to earn a living.
However, as the Industrial Revolution came around it became evident that there was a need for an educated labor force, and as working-class people demanded access to schools, a rising share of the population entered the classroom.
British law now requires every child to attend school until the age of sixteen. I like that!
Now we can’t forget the United States in this article- after all they were among the first countries to set a goal of mass education for their people.
Studies show that by 1850, about half of the young people between the ages of five and nineteen were enrolled in school (1 Thessalonians 5:19, “Do not quench the Spirit”).
Teddy Walker is a successful salesman whose life takes an unexpected turn when he accidentally blows up his place of employment. Forced to attend night school to get his GED, Teddy soon finds himself dealing with a group of misfit students, his former high school nemesis and a feisty teacher who doesn’t think he’s too bright.
And by 1918, all states had passed a mandatory education law requiring children to attend school until the age of sixteen or completion of eight grade.
1 Thessalonians 5: 1-24 (The Day of the Lord) says,
5 Now, brothers and sisters, about times and dates we do not need to write to you, 2 for you know very well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. 3 While people are saying, “Peace and safety,” destruction will come on them suddenly, as labor pains on a pregnant woman, and they will not escape.
4 But you, brother and sisters, are not in darkness so that this day should surprise you like a thief. 5 You are all children of the light and children of the day. We do not belong to the night or to the darkness. 6 So then, let us not be like others, who are asleep, but let us be awake and sober. 7 For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk, get drunk at night. 8 But since we belong to the day, let us be sober, putting on faith and love as a breastplate, and the hope of salvation as a helmet (Kind of like a Spartan Soldier).
9 For God did not appoint us to suffer wrath but to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ. 10 He died for us so that, whether we are awake or asleep, we may live together with him. 11 Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing.
12 Now we ask you, brothers and sisters, to acknowledge those who work hard among you, who care for you in the Lord and who admonish you. 13 Hold them in the highest regard in love because of their work. Live in peace with each other. 14 And we urge you, brothers and sisters, warn those who are idle and disruptive, encourage the disheartened, help the weak, be patient with everyone.
15 Make sure that nobody pays back wrong for wrong, but always strive to do what is good for each other and for everyone else. 16 Rejoice always, 17 pray continually, 18 give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. 19 Do not quench the Spirit. 20 Do not treat prophecies with contempt 21 but test them all; hold on to what is good,
23 May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. 24 The one who calls you is faithful, and he will do it.
The United States history states that Thomas Jefferson thought the new nation could become democratic only if the people learned to read.
Today, the United States has an outstanding record of higher education for its people. Education is constantly being promoted in the United States and nearly all American’s dream of higher education and equal opportunities. National surveys show that most people think education is crucial to personal success, and more and more people are starting to believe the dream!
Everyone should have a chance to get an education, and it would be wonderful to receive one that is in line with the personal ability and talent of that individual.
However, we all know that is many people’s dream around the world but not the actual reality. And there are also many grown adults who sacrificed for a higher education and still bear the burden of existing student loans.
Many of the countries that I have mentioned above and others that were not mention but are definitely in the mix; realize the significance of education and its crucial importance to their economic development and increased equality.
So, what’s makes schools, colleges or universities so important? There are several variables.
Cool Reasons to go to School
Well, number one’s pretty easy.
It’s a good place to meet new people and interact.
Shallow, rich and socially successful Cher (Alicia Silverstone) is at the top of her Beverly Hills high school’s pecking scale. Seeing herself as a matchmaker, Cher first coaxes two teachers into dating each other. Emboldened by her success, she decides to give hopelessly klutzy new student Tai (Brittany Murphy) a makeover. When Tai becomes more popular than she is, Cher realizes that her disapproving ex-stepbrother (Paul Rudd) was right about how misguided she was — and falls for him
Now please understand, everyone is different, and some people may require or function more effectively in a different environment. We are all not the same.
After a spurned classmate curses him, an arrogant teen will be forever ugly unless he finds true love.
However, according to the definition of Sociology, which is the systematic study of the human society and the world around us, I can see such compounds as a great place to mix and mingle.
Alfred Binet was a psychologist who was commissioned by the French Government to devise an objective method for identifying children who were not doing well in school.
He designed the first comprehensive intelligence test in the early 20th century.
Then later on in 1916, Lewis Terman and his colleagues at Stanford University revised Binet’s test for use in the United States, resulting in the administered test gaining wide acceptance during the 1940s and 1950s.
From there, the Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scale was introduced and is still widely used. (Fourth Edition SB-IV).
IQ = MA/CA X 100
I was also intrigued to find out that as time progressed test researchers developed a formula for expressing a child’s intellectual level that made it possible to compare children of different chronological ages (CA), which apparently are expressed in how old in years and months the children are.
This measurement was called the intelligence quotient (IQ) and is defined as follows: IQ = MA/CA X 100
The computation of IQ made it possible to understand how a child’s intellectual ability compared to that of peers of the same chronological age. However, there were problems with this ratio approach to IQ and now IQ is assessed using the deviation IQ approach.
This approach assigns an IQ score by comparing an individual’s test score with the scores of other people of the same age range.
David Wechsler (Wechester, 1974) is primarily known for developing this technique and was applied to IQ tests that both he and his colleagues developed.
The test for early childhood is the Wechsler Preschool and Primary Scale of Intelligence, or WPPSI.
The test for childhood and adolescence is the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children or WISC and the test for adulthood is the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale or WAIS (“wace”).
An individual who takes any of these tests obtains a score that is compared statically to the scores of other people of the same age.
The Wechsler IQ test is widely used although there are many other intelligence tests being used.
IQ is assumed to be normally distributed around an average score of 100, with about 2/3 of the general population scoring between 85 and 115 and almost 96% of the population scoring between 70 and 130.
That leaves roughly 2% of the population scoring below 70 and another 2% scoring above 130, which is a popular cutoff point for defining giftedness.
Nevertheless, in the United States of America, the passing of the 1997 Amendments to the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA-97), the re-authorization of this act in 2004 (IDEA-04), and the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act in 2002, we can safely say that they are making considerable steps to the needs of their most vulnerable citizens.
Within the Cayman Islands, the Government and the general population has also been working diligently to make improvements were necessary in this regard and I strongly believe this will only facilitate more unity, hope and ambition for the people of the Cayman Islands.
Teneisha Johnson has a Dream 