An Interview with Casper Tvede Busk on His Story (Part One)

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

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

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2020/08/15

Abstract

Casper Tvede Busk is a member of the World Genius Directory. He discusses: growing up; an extended self; the family background; experience with peers and schoolmates; purpose of intelligence tests; high intelligence; the geniuses of the past; the greatest geniuses; a genius; some work experiences and educational certifications; important aspects of the idea of the gifted and geniuses; some social and political views; the God concept or gods idea; science; the tests taken and scores earned (with standard deviations); the range of the scores; and ethical philosophy .

Keywords: Casper Tvede Busk, family, high intelligence, self, World Genius Directory.

An Interview with Casper Tvede Busk on His Story (Part One)[1]^,[2]*

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

1. Scott Douglas Jacobsen: When you were growing up, what were some of the prominent family stories being told over time?

Casper Tvede Busk: Not much as I remember. My great grandfather buried cheese a meter down in the ground, and dug it up for eating in springtime. My grand father worked at a factory and change the fortune of the family around, so my father could go to school and become a chief engineer.

2. Jacobsen: Have these stores helped provide a sense of an extended self or a sense of the family legacy?

Busk: You mean stories :). I am sure they have, in some sense, contributed to a sense of identity and duty towards my family. Of course, my ego is quite demanding, so I might have taken anything into account when considering why I have become the person I was (as a child).

3. Jacobsen: What was the family background, e.g., geography, culture, language, and religion or lack thereof?

Busk: My parents are atheists. My grandmother was religious. Christian, I guess. I was raised in Denmark for the first seven years, but then we moved to Spain, probably because of taxes.

4. Jacobsen: How was the experience with peers and schoolmates as a child and an adolescent?

Busk: As a child, I was very angry. My mother was an alcoholic. I got beat up by the older kids, and in return I picked on those in my own surroundings. It really started when I moved to Spain. Before that, I was placed in a boarding school as a five-year-old, and then another boarding school in Spain until I finish secondary school. Then I was kicked back to Denmark to get a real education. I have studied five subjects at the university (Theology, Semitic philology, Spanish, Mathematics, and Philosophy), but I only got a bachelor’s degree in math and philosophy. I play a lot of different musical instruments, I write poems or songs, and I smoke hash every day. I have no job.

5. Jacobsen: What is the purpose of intelligence tests to you?

Busk: I don’t know. Recognition, I guess. I really just want to win, so I am obviously lured by exercises I do well in. I think it a major attribute that has helped me a lot during my life, but it also a bit of a curse, because satisfying communications with other people becomes rare.

6. Jacobsen: When was high intelligence discovered for you?

Busk: In 2002, through Mensa. I always did well in school, and believed I was pretty ok, but after an incident in 2002 when I was hit by a car, and was put in coma with three internal fractures in the skull, I decided to take the Mensa test to see if something serious had gone wrong. Many months after the accident I was quite beside myself. But I passed with the highest score possible, and thought everything was ok. Now, I know it wasn’t My intelligence is ok, or very good, but my emotional decision-making is flawed in some way. I also suspect that there are certain emotions or aspects of them that I am not very good at communicating comprehensively, and worst of all, I am not really aware of it. Some people fear me, or simple don’t know which box I belong to, and I have no control of it. Other people like me very much, and I appreciate them extensively.

7. Jacobsen: When you think of the ways in which the geniuses of the past have either been mocked, vilified, and condemned if not killed, or praised, flattered, platformed, and revered, what seems like the reason for the extreme reactions to and treatment of geniuses? Many alive today seem camera shy – many, not all.

Busk: I am not camera shy. Quite the contrary, but I must admit that I am somewhat flawed in a way that could be interpreted as shy, maybe rightfully. In my country, Denmark, is not popular to highlight one’s own good sides if there isn’t a very good reason for it. By highlighting a good side, you are more saying that you are better than others, and that is quite intimidating, and will not go untold for long. The major problem with high intelligence is that these people, or we, are not normal. WE have little business or even interest in normality, because it so far away from everything we are good at, and that is probably one of the only things we can truthfully rely on growing up in a world where we usually gather more information by ourselves than what is told to us by authorities. The bullying of highly intelligent is quite normal in my perspective. I mean it should be, without being the right thing to do. I sometimes have wished to interact pleasantly with normal people and do normal stuff, maybe just to camouflage myself. The reasons are obvious. We are simply to weird to be taken seriously by kids having. There is nothing incomprehensible about that in my mind, but I have no solution to the problem. I see it as a poet that needs the pain to be inspired to write good stories. A genius is likewise left alone without trust to explore the world by himself. It is just the way things are. Otherwise, they would grow up to become something else. No pain, no gain, I guess.

8. Jacobsen: Who seem like the greatest geniuses in history to you?

Busk: “Genius” is a vague concept. Some people consider my IQ and personality to be within the range of genius, but obviously, I have not produced, invented, written or revolutionized anything remarkable, so I am not. I really find that people who make a lot of money are geniuses in some transcendent way. I think it is a remarkable feature that will ensure survival, which is the main issue in life, I guess. So, Bill Gates comes to mind, but of course, I will rely on Einstein, Tesla, and William James Sidis. Oh, yeah, I am also very of Johann Goethe.

9. Jacobsen: What differentiates a genius from a profoundly intelligent person?

Busk: I wouldn’t be able to specify that, but according to my experiences there is an eye catching difference between IQs of around 120, and those above 140. It is like the first have become aware that they are more intelligent than the average person, and they rarely see the limits of their intelligence. The ones above 140 know for sure that they are extremely intelligent, and therefore have met and understood others who are even more intelligent, so they are more humble about it. I also find an ethical difference.

10. Jacobsen: What have been some work experiences and educational certifications for you?

Busk: I don’t understand that question. What have I done, or excelled in? I am a master of chess, I have several medals from table tennis, and football, and I am quite fond of sports. I have not worked much in my life. Mostly written stuff. I am now working on a list of healthy foods that will cover your need for vitamins and minerals. I have also written many poems, but I haven’t tried to publish them yet. And over 400 IQ puzzles with explanations, I also wish to publish.

11. Jacobsen: What are some of the more important aspects of the idea of the gifted and geniuses? Those myths that pervade the cultures of the world. What are those myths? What truths dispel them?

Busk: What myths? I don’t know. I am not even sure if I care, highly intelligent people, or at least the highly gifted (120-140) seem to have many emotional issues, which is understandable, since they have been accustomed to solve many problems or obstacles wit their brains rather than their social skills.

12. Jacobsen: What are some social and political views for you? Why hold them?

Busk: I don’t care much about politics or religion. I cannot deny that I was raised in a society tainted by democracy and the ten commandments, and as such, I appreciate them and try to live by them in order to be socially accepted. I also find it good that we have human rights, but I do not believe that this ideology is better than for instance that of China, or anyone else. It is simply an ethical agreement between a certain group of humans, who agree on certain philosophical aspects of life. I am an idealist, believing that consciousness creates reality, and therefore are many incommensurable realities, or even multi-universes. This way I find it easy to be ethically nice to people and their views without admitting that my own view is wrong.

13. Jacobsen: Any thoughts on the God concept or gods idea and philosophy, theology, and religion?

Busk: Yes, it is a scam, but it has some sense to it. I must truly believe, somehow, that if you believe in God he might exist for you. He doesn’t exist. I tried to believe, and God failed to convince his own creation. When looking at myself, I see an honest guy trying to do the right thing, so I am sure he is not the right thing! I become more convinced when looking at followers. I am looking for something better, or just be comfortable with this life here and now.

14. Jacobsen: How much does science play into the worldview for you?

Busk: Pretty much everything. I am a major believer in science, but it also has become a matter of faith, because no one really knows what is really going on, so they blindfully trust the ones they look up to. So do I, I just hold back on my conclusions, except for these that identify me, as my belief in idealism.

15. Jacobsen: What have been some of the tests taken and scores earned (with standard deviations) for you?

Busk: I have only taken the Mensa test (155 sd 24), a test by ISPE (which I passed, so IQ > 147 (sd 15), or 1/1000. Then I tried some of the tests from the Genius Directory, and my highest score has been 155. I scored several 152, and 153, so I reckon that is my place, at least as long as I smoke cannabis.

16. Jacobsen: What is the range of the scores for you? The scores earned on alternative intelligence tests tend to produce a wide smattering of data points rather than clusters, typically.

Busk: If I have not answered that question already I am unsure what it implies. I have scored over 200 in some tests, but they clearly have another agenda, beginning with making people feel good and special about themselves.

17. Jacobsen: What ethical philosophy makes some sense, even the most workable sense to you?

Busk: Idealism. I am quite fond of Buddhism also. There is not a philosophy that makes sense an such. To me, philosophy is a gathering of many small helpful guidelines from different disciplines that somehow makes sense to me in the current course of my life. You could call me an eclectician if you wish, but I will not agree. I just haven’t found the red thread yet.

Appendix I: Footnotes

[1] Member, World Genius Directory.

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

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