Part Time Scholar

Many people may have taken IQ tests online and achieved flying colors.  I also did a few tests for fun in the past, scoring 150+.  The real deal in intelligence tests however, is  Stanford-Binet  or WAIS-IV.   After taking the  WAIS-IV  test last week with a qualified psychologist, my full scale IQ test score was revealed today.  I have an FSIQ of 139, ranking me in the top 0.5% of the population (1 in 200) and placing in the top category of Very Superior !   My IQ score confirms a long-held suspicion on my intellectual giftedness.  Many of my friends have suggested I take the test for some time.  It was long coming, but I finally took the plunge this year.  And now, it is official.  This result certainly gives my already high self-belief a boost.  I look to overcome more challenges when the going gets tough and open up a world of possibilities by thinking even bigger.  What's next?  Perhaps I shou...

Great day spent at the course.  First time in a long time and already wanting back!  This could really be a next career after retirement from the day job.  An imminent challenge is participation in a charity golf event mid-month.  My performance there will be very telling on whether PGA is in the cards.  Joking aside, I am indeed closer to retirement this year.  Getting a taste of university level courses and a retirement hobby is a step in the right direction.  More good to come!   - PTS

Time flies as my first course back in university has come to an end!  The final exam was completed yesterday and I am happy to share with you my first A in 19 years.  Still got it after all! The course taken is a Masters Psych course in Nurturing the Gifted and Talented .  This is the only course of its kind in Hong Kong and I thoroughly enjoyed all my learnings from it.   My essay is hereby attached for those who are interested.  It is not yet graded I must say so read at your own peril. - PTS --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Education for Exceptionally and Profoundly Gifted Primary and Secondary Students in Hong Kong Gifted students are often seen by society as the lucky few who have won the genetic lottery.  Finding generally gifted students is not difficult as they are often the top ranking students within a school.  The exceptionally and profoundly gifted however, are on a completely different level ...

Finally! After all these years, I have resumed school starting with a Masters psychology course on nurturing the gifted and talented.  This rare subject is close to my heart and I can only find it in one tertiary institution in all of Hong Kong.  As this is my first university experience in my hometown, it means so much more.  COVID-19 and resorting to online classes however have taken some of the shine off, but I am still ecstatic!  Ready to rock the semester.  Bring it on! - PTS

The year 2020 will certainly go down as a memorable one,  given our struggles to cope with a global pandemic.  When not out and about -- which was often -- I managed to pick up a great habit of reading at least 30 minutes every day.  This practice has given me relaxation, along with the joy of continually learning and gaining new insights to life.  Of numerous reads this year, I felt compelled to write a review on Outgrowing God , by Richard Dawkins.  If memory serves, I wrote a review on his earlier work, The God Delusion , back in 2009.  Indeed the two books have many similarities and it feels a bit deja vu to read his latest e-book.  Since taking a more leisurely stride in reading, no notes were taken along the way.  Relying on raw memory, Dawkins' key reasoning on why we do not need a god was:  Assuming the biblical recordings of Abrahamic God (in Judaism, Christianity and Islam) were largely accurate, and that itself is a big "if", the ...

Time flies and it has been two years since my last post.  Somehow this important pastime has not seen much investment of my time in Hong Kong. I was watching the movie 21 the other night, which was about a team of MIT students breaking bank at Vegas casinos.  The movie was entertaining as it has (some) action, romance, a twist, and most importantly, math, packed into two hours of lights-out.  I learnt how to improve your odds at Blackjack, by working in a team and assigning a count to a table based on the number of dealt high and low cards.  The part that really caught my attention however, was when professor Rosa was teaching the Monty Hall problem through his interaction with his A-student and soon-to-be recruit, Ben Campbell.  This problem is often depicted in the form of a game show.  The grand prize, a car, is waiting behind one of three closed doors.  When the contestant picks Door A, the game show host, who knows exactly which door the car...

It has been five years since my last post.  The 9 to 5 and life in generally have taken my attention elsewhere.  However, I still do my best to pick up the pen from time to time.  Although time is a luxury, I recently managed to squeeze in a quick read called Out of the Maze , by the famous author Spencer Johnson, who co-penned the bestseller  Who Moved My Cheese  some years ago. If Who Moved My Cheese challenges us to embrace change, then Out of the Maze tells us just how to do it.  While it is easier said than done for most people, the ideas preached are surprisingly easy to grasp. Some points may seem overly obvious but perhaps this is why so many overlook them.  The story of the mice, Hem and Haw, continue to take center stage in this sequel. A new star, Hope, joins the mix and becomes Hem's new companion in their quest to finding a new food supply.  The underlying message is to challenge our beliefs, especially those that are so deeply e...