An Interview with Giuseppe Corrente on Family, Earlier Life, and Finding a Community of Common Ability (Part One)

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): In-Sight: Independent Interview-Based Journal

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2020/03/15

Abstract

Dr. Giuseppe Corrente is a Computer Science teacher at Torino University. He earned a Ph.D. in Science and High Technology – Computer Science in 2013 at Torino University. He has contributed to the World Intelligence Network’s publication Phenomenon. He discusses: family background; facets of a larger self; influences on early formations; mentors; a sense of self through time; pivotal educational moments; formal postsecondary education; intelligence tests taken; participation in the high-IQ communities; and mains areas of intellectual interest.

Keywords: ability, academics, computer science, family, Giuseppe Corrente, Isaac Asimov, Jack London.

An Interview with Giuseppe Corrente on Family, Earlier Life, and Finding a Community of Common Ability (Part One)[1]^,[2]*

*Please see the footnotes, bibliography, and citation style listing after the interview.*

1. Scott Douglas Jacobsen: What is family background or lineage, e.g., surname(s) etymology (etymologies), geography, culture, language, religion/non-religion, political suasion, social outlook, scientific training, and the like?

Dr. Giuseppe Corrente: My mother and father were from two rural villages of South Italy. My family was a very patriarchal family, with strong traditional values, but not in a positive way for me so it could be sound. My mother never began her independent job of an Italian teacher because my father didn’t want her economic independence. My father was an Engineer first, with a career based on managing some industries above all in tile building, but also a touristic entrepreneur. My father was an atheist, my mother was Catholic, in a spiritual and not dogmatic way.

Politically my father was conservative, in a moderately right way, and my mother aligned to his political ideas, also if her opinion originally was more flexible. She was practically obliged to align also in many other aspects of life to his point of view.

Also, my brother and my sister practically adopted a strong father’s alignment for a lot of things. All three of us studied without economic problems to have a Master’s degree, but mainly in the Faculty that our father decided for us. In that period, I was a victim of familiar and job mobbing. Only in adulthood, I had some check that proved that my father wasn’t my natural one, too late for searching for my natural father with success. This is surely the main reason for the fact that his authoritarianism became a real strong familiar mobbing. This propagated to Company in which I was engaged in the ‘90s.

I noted that this Company was implicated with some bad affair concerning governments fund, and also the despotic style with which its directors managed the personnel. I opposed strongly both things. They used my family contrasts together with few invented facts as the begin of a prolonged psychological war against me.

2. Jacobsen: With all these facets of the larger self, how did these become the familial ecosystem to form identity and a sense of a self extended through time?    

Corrente:  This traditional, rural environment was in opposition to my Science passion and innovative ideas, but contributed strongly to my personality. I remember the very suggestive effect of first spatial flights on TV when I was five-year-old. I remember the long years spent in a family touristic sea village. The contact with Sea, the traditional family-directed in a despotic way by its family head, the scientific studies and passion for Science Fiction were the main environment of my adolescence.

I participated also in ecologist, anti-racist and pacifist initiatives and movements.

In a certain sense, my ecologist soul can be a continuation of the spiritual feeling that I had seeing and living near the Sea in the childhood, while anti-racist and pacifist fights could be seen as the continuation of the opposition to a despotic father.

3. Jacobsen: Of those aforementioned influences, what ones seem the most prescient for early formation?  

Corrente:  Passion for Science Fiction, mainly Asimov. From my strictly personal point of view of personality development, my passion for Science can be viewed as a continuation of an early passion for Science Fiction. More in detail superluminal travels in hyperspace, intelligent robots, psychohistorian that see the future, Mule’s paranormal superpower are all Asimov novels subjects continuing in my interests forever.

4. Jacobsen: What adults, mentors, or guardians became, in hindsight, the most influential on you?  

Corrente:  During adolescence, I was positively influenced by an uncle, the older brother of my mother; he was a real seaman that refused to do a fixed job in his life and he dedicated himself mainly to family, friends and his great passion: the sea. In my adulthood, I was positively influenced by the advisor professor of my Graph Theory MSc thesis. I think it was a great error of my life not to continue in first adulthood with academic life, but deviate in applicative research in Industry. Anyway in first Industry years I published some articles about object-oriented technologies, but was strongly opposed by its directors with contrasts sporadically present in my life also after decennials after resignation. Also if I did have no more contact with this professor after MSc, he was for me a strong spiritual point of inspiration, because of his strong adherence to Nature and to Science and a strong rational way of dealing with all types of problems.

5. Jacobsen: As a young reader, in childhood and adolescence, what authors and books were significant, meaningful, to worldview formation? 

Corrente: One of my first books was “White Fang” by Jack London. The adventure that was described in that book, the wildlife, the wolves, nature and the fight for the life of characters were for me so a big life picture that I was very fascinated with all this. I read quickly Salgari and London books, and at thirteen years old I finished all the main Asimov’s books, above all those of The Foundation cycle and those describing the robot of his vision of the future world. Since that time Science, Technology and Science Fiction were and are also now my favourite matters. In late adolescence, I continued to read Science Fiction, but also some science authors as Paul Davies, and oriental philosophy authors as Suzuki and Watts.

6. Jacobsen: What were pivotal educational – as in, in school or autodidacticism – moments from childhood to young adulthood?  

Corrente: My MSc in Computer Science in young adulthood, and my Ph.D. Degree in Computer Science with a thesis in opportunistic communications protocols and networking strategies had in middle age are the main two cardinal academic educational point. Between these points passed almost two decades engaged in different non-academic jobs and affairs. As an autodidact, I studied a lot of matters and problems. Only to cite someone: Psychology, Quantum Computing, Cryptography, Economics, Physics.

7. Jacobsen: For formal postsecondary education, what were the areas of deepest interest? What were some with a passion but not pursued? Why not pursue them?

Corrente: I liked very much Physics, but for familiar influences, I was obliged to choose a more applied science. This type of excessive familiar influence was repeated also in the job choice and this was a real ruin for my life.

Certainly, my most significant postsecondary area of study is Computer Science, indeed in this matter, I have an MSc and a Ph.D., very distant in time from each other. Between these two periods, I engaged myself in applied research in an Italian Company for the first time, but when I wanted to change for a more academic career I was mobbing victimized also by its directors, and so this objective shifted in 40 and past age old when I obtained a Ph.D. Now I have a temporary contract position in University, but my main jobs are outside academic ambient. The main obstacles I have now are elderly preconception, but above all the trend to occupy myself of a variety of jobs and occupation maximizing in my job career the INDEPENDENCE as value. I don’t know if this my preference is due to my character or it is a past mobbing consequence.

8. Jacobsen: What have been some of the intelligence tests taken and the scores earned over time – with standard deviations too, please?

Corrente: The first IQ test that I did was the Italian Mensa test at Torino University in which I had only 136 SD 24 IQ score that is not so good as I usually did after some years. For example, in 2018 I had 130 SD 15 score in first attempt Icon Test (untimed- mixed items) designed by Randy Myers, in 2019 I had 133 SD 15 in the first attempt at the Logicax test by C. Backlund, and 143 SD 15 in 2^nd attempt LABCUBE test by Hans Sjòberg. This last test confirmed the first attempt result of the untimed Molecule test by J. Culkin in 2018.

So it is in the last couple of years that I have reached my main results. In fact, in 2018 and 2019 my best result is 143 SD 15. Substantially I suppose my IQ is between the second and third upper standard deviation. This collocates me fully among gifted.

9. Jacobsen: What has been the participation in the high-IQ community for you?

Corrente: My first adhesion to the high IQ community is in 2017 in AtlantIQ high IQ society. I am a member of many other high IQ societies as Callidus, Capabilis, the International High IQ Society, The High Intellect Society. My preferred one remains AtlantIQ. The discussions with AtlantIQ’s founder and many of its members are invaluable and source of inspiration.

Recently I published in Phenomenon, the journal of World Intelligent Network, a paper about an idea for an Environmental Surveillance Network in Urban Areas. It is a sketch project gathering some proof of concept projects and new technologies, among which some hints about using opportunistic networks as a base communication layer, together or in absence of communication infrastructure, for spreading data regarding geographic zones of interest, to empower an Internet of Things network for Smart Cities. Another good idea used as a hint, also if not fully original, is to publish API and data based on this Environmental Surveillance Network and collected information for people, citizens and Companies.

10. Jacobsen: What are the main areas of intellectual and reading interest for you?  

Corrente: In this time of my life the main areas of intellectual and reading interest are Science, Industry 4.0 research and advanced technologies. Among these are Cybersecurity, Artificial Intelligence, Internet of Things, Project Management are matters that I study and try to apply when it is possible in some scientific jobs or papers.

I also like very much some readings about Psychology of Gifted above all in the field of adult Gifted Education and Coaching. Now I teach in University and in adult Schools, so these subjects can be a base for didactic experimentations and theoretical writings in my near future.

Appendix I: Footnotes

[1] Ph.D. (2013), Science and High Technology – Computer Science, Torino University.

[2] Individual Publication Date: March 15, 2020: http://www.in-sightjournal.com/corrente-one; Full Issue Publication Date: May 1, 2020: https://in-sightjournal.com/insight-issues/.

*High range testing (HRT) should be taken with honest skepticism grounded in the limited empirical development of the field at present, even in spite of honest and sincere efforts. If a higher general intelligence score, then the greater the variability in, and margin of error in, the general intelligence scores because of the greater rarity in the population.

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