In-Sight Publishing

2023-03-24

Conversation with Entemake Aman (阿曼) on Family, History, Education, Intelligence, and Dreams: Member, OlympIQ Society (1)

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

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2021/02/15

Abstract

Entemake Aman ( 阿曼 ) claims an IQ of 180 (SD15) with membership in OlympIQ. With this, he claims one to be of the people with highest IQ in the world. He was born in Xinjiang, China. He believes IQ is innate and genius refers to people with IQ above 160 (SD15). Einstein’s IQ is estimated at 160. Aman thinks genius needs to be cultivated from an early age, and that he needs to make achievements in the fields he is interested in, such as physics, mathematics, computer and philosophy, and should work hard to give full play to his talent. He discusses: growing up; a sense of an extended self; the family background; the experience with peers; some professional certifications; the purpose of intelligence tests; high intelligence discovered; the extreme reactions to and treatment of geniuses; the greatest geniuses in history; a genius from a profoundly intelligent person; profound intelligence necessary for genius; some work experiences and jobs held; particular job path; the more important aspects of the idea of the gifted and geniuses; the God concept or gods idea; science play into the worldview; some of the tests taken and scores earned (with standard deviations); the range of the scores; ethical philosophy; social philosophy; economic philosophy; political philosophy; metaphysics; worldview-encompassing philosophical system; meaning in life; meaning; an afterlife; the mystery and transience of life; love; some ordinary aspects of the “very ordinary family”; being a Kazakh living in Xinjiang, China; the ability to speak three languages; introversion common among the gifted; challenge the world master in memory; the goal for the next 5 years; Grade 6; Newton among all geniuses; imagination and creativity necessary for genius; pursuing “physics, mathematics and computer fields”; the non-use of an “IQ of 180 (SD = 15)” considered a “waste”; scientific knowledge; only believing in science; Leo Strauss’s economic philosophy; the Western philosophical system over the Eastern; an afterlife as impossible; and being in love with appearance, outlook, and character.

Keywords: Entemake Aman, intelligence, IQ, OlympIQ Society.

Conversation with Entemake Aman (阿曼) on Family, History, Education, Intelligence, and Dreams: Member, OlympIQ Society (1)

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

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

Entemake Aman (阿曼)[1],[2]*: I don’t have a famous family story. I live in a very ordinary family.

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

Aman: There is no story.

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

Aman: I am more introverted, and get along with peers in general, not many friends.

Jacobsen: What have been some professional certifications, qualifications, and trainings earned by you?

Aman: I’m trying to challenge the memory of the world Master, and I can get it in the next five years.

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

Aman: I want to prove that I have an IQ above 180 (SD = 15). I like to use my brain.

Jacobsen: When was high intelligence discovered for you?

Aman: Grade 6 (11 years old)

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.

Aman: The reason for ridiculing genius is that most ordinary people can’t understand the idea of high intelligence. Most geniuses are introverted and lonely. The reason for worshiping genius is that their learning ability and creative ability are amazing, and they will make achievements in a certain field for many days.

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

Aman: Newton.

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

Aman: The intelligence quotient of smart people is between 120 and 150, and the intelligence quotient of genius is above 160. They all have excellent learning ability (especially in the fields of mathematics, physics and computer). Genius has more excellent imagination and creativity.

Jacobsen: Is profound intelligence necessary for genius?

Aman: Need.

Jacobsen: Why pursue this particular job path?

Aman: Because I have an IQ of 180 (SD = 15), I don’t want to waste my talent and make achievements in physics, mathematics and computer.

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?

Aman: Talent can refer to music, memory, sports and so on. Genius means having excellent intelligence.

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

Aman: These myths include Adam and Eve, the struggle between Greek mythology and the God of heaven, Pangu’s creation of man by Nuwa. Scientific knowledge dispels them. Philosophy is the study of the relationship between thought, behavior and social activities. Like philosophy, religious science is independent of theology, but it is one of the important auxiliary Sciences of theology. On the one hand, philosophy once had a great influence on theology; God and human beings have all kinds of shortcomings, and God is stronger than human beings, and this power is mainly in strength.

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

Aman: I love science. I only believe in science

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.

Aman: I think my IQ is between 180 and 185 (SD = 15), and I will prove it in the future.

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

Aman: Gilbert’s Law: the signal of a job crisis is that no one talks to you about danger.

Jacobsen: What social philosophy makes some sense, even the most workable sense to you?

Aman: Fresno theorem: people have two ears but only one mouth, which means that people should listen more and speak less. The purpose of foreknowledge is to know.

Jacobsen: What economic philosophy makes some sense, even the most workable sense to you?

Aman: Leo Strauss’s economic philosophy is meaningful to me.

Jacobsen: What political philosophy makes some sense, even the most workable sense to you?

Aman: Practice is the source of knowledge.

Jacobsen: What metaphysics makes some sense to you, even the most workable sense to you?

Aman: Causality, is there causality in everything? Is it because it has decided the outcome?

Jacobsen: What worldview-encompassing philosophical system makes some sense, even the most workable sense to you?

Aman: Western philosophy system.

Jacobsen: What provides meaning in life for you?

Aman: Think and be happy.

Jacobsen: Is meaning externally derived, internally generated, both, or something else?

Aman: Internally generated.

Jacobsen: Do you believe in an afterlife? If so, why, and what form? If not, why not?

Aman: I don’t believe in afterlife because I believe in science.

Jacobsen: What do you make of the mystery and transience of life?

Aman: Life is short, so we should constantly strive for self-improvement and lifelong learning. Life is mysterious, so we should believe in science and explore hard.

Jacobsen: What is love to you?

Aman: Love is selfless to me. I will fall in love with someone because of one’s appearance, three outlooks and character.

Jacobsen: What is it like being a Kazakh living in Xinjiang, China?

Aman: I feel very good.

Jacobsen: Does the ability to speak three languages help personal and professional life for you?

Aman: I am learning English.

Jacobsen: Is introversion common among the gifted?

Aman: Common.

Jacobsen: Why decide to challenge the world master in memory?

Aman: Because it’s a brain field, it’s cool.

Jacobsen: What happened in Grade 6 (11-years-old) with the discovery?

Aman: I like to use my brain.

Jacobsen: Why Newton among all geniuses?

Aman: Because Newton’s contribution is great, his IQ is more than 190.

Jacobsen: Why are imagination and creativity necessary for genius?

Aman: Excellent imagination and creativity are the foundation of inspiration. Mozart, Shakespeare are geniuses.

Jacobsen: Why do you want to pursue “physics, mathematics and computer fields”?

Aman: Because physics, mathematics and computer need to use their brains more.

Jacobsen: Why is the non-use of an “IQ of 180 (SD = 15)” considered a “waste”? Are gifted people obliged to use their talents for mankind? In short, are they supposed to use them?

Aman: We should make full use of our intelligence to achieve something in a certain field.

Jacobsen: With scientific knowledge dispelling these myths of “Adam and Eve, the struggle between Greek mythology and the God of heaven, Pangu’s creation of man by Nuwa,” and so on, what does this mean for the world’s supernatural philosophies and dominant religions?

Aman: I only believe in the truth.

Jacobsen: Why do you “only believe in science”?

Aman: Because science is rigorous.

Jacobsen: What makes Leo Strauss’s economic philosophy meaningful to you?

Aman: Some of his famous sayings, you can Google.

Jacobsen: Why choose the Western philosophical system over the Eastern?

Aman: No answer.

Jacobsen: What makes an afterlife impossible as ‘you believe in science’?

Aman: I believe in science.

Jacobsen: What is important in love with appearance, outlook, and character?

Aman: Beautiful appearance and good character made me fall in love at first sight.

Appendix I: Footnotes

[1] Member, OlympIQ Society; Member, Mensa International.

[2] Individual Publication Date: February 15, 2021: http://www.in-sightjournal.com/aman-1; Full Issue Publication Date: May 1, 2021: 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.

License

In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License. Based on a work at www.in-sightpublishing.com.

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© Scott Douglas Jacobsen and In-Sight Publishing 2012-Present. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this site’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Scott Douglas Jacobsen and In-Sight Publishing with appropriate and specific direction to the original content. All interviewees and authors co-copyright their material and may disseminate for their independent purposes.

2023-03-24

Conversation with Jiwhan (Jason) Park on South Korean Education, Genius and the Gifted, and Philosophy: Member, CIVIQ Society (1)

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

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

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2021/01/22

Abstract

Jiwhan (Jason) Park is a Member of the CIVIQ Society. He was born on March 24, 1989, in Seoul, Korea. He attended Hongjae Elementary School in Seoul (March, 1996 to February, 2002), TEDA International School in Tianjin, China (January, 2002 to December, 2002), Tianjin International School in Tianjin, China (January, 2003 to June, 2007), Attended Kelley School of Business at Indiana University in Bloomington, USA (August, 2007 to August, 2011), served as an Interpreter Officer at Republic of Korea Army (April, 2012 to May, 2015), earned an MBA at Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (August, 2017 to August, 2018), and works as an Investment Manager at Multi Asset Global Investments (December, 2018 to Present). He is a member of ISI-S Society (151-Society) and the Order of Imhotep. He discusses: growing up; a sense of an extended self; the family background; experience with peers and schoolmates; the purpose of intelligence tests; high intelligence; wide-ranging reactions to geniuses; the greatest geniuses; a genius from a profoundly intelligent person; profound intelligence necessary for genius; the gifted and geniuses; God; science; the tests taken and scores earned (with standard deviations); the range of the scores; ethical philosophy; social philosophy; economic philosophy; political philosophy; metaphysics; philosophical system; meaning in life; meaning; an afterlife; the mystery and transience of life; and love.

Keywords: atheist, Jason Park, Jiwhan Park, giftedness, genius, intelligence, South Korea.

Conversation with Jiwhan (Jason) Park on South Korean Education, Genius and the Gifted, and Philosophy: Member, CIVIQ Society (1)

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

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

Jiwhan (Jason) Park[1],[2]*: None. Besides, the stories may be lies that distort the truth.

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

Park: Not applicable.

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

Park: My father was a general manager at LG Chemical, a Fortune Global 500 company headquartered in South Korea. My mother served as a school nurse practitioner. Both are pure Koreans from Seoul dedicated to Presbyterianism.

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

Park: As a primary student in Korea, I simply served the peers’ instincts. They were quick to idolize the superiors and justify all the actions to protect their ideals. In fact, I was a superstar beyond the top of my class in every subject, which naturally made me class president multiple times. I was one of the top 100 elementary students in a nationwide English exam hosted by the Korea University at grade 2. I studied TOEFL and TEPS at grade 3 on my own. I scored the highest on school wide Math and Chinese exams with no effort at grade 4. Next year, I quit my service, only to realize that the efforts to please others served me no good. I found no purpose for making friends and getting good marks.

Jacobsen: What have been some professional certifications, qualifications, and trainings earned by you?

Park: I majored in Finance and minored in Chinese during college. I recently completed my MBA with a concentration in Finance.

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

Park: Discover true IQ based on the most valid and reliable intelligence test for the Gifted (130+, SD 15). Mainstream tests (WAIS, Stanford Binet) fail to distinguish the mental abilities of the Gifted in different categories (I.e. 140s vs 170s), since they are made to identify and counsel the mentally challenged.

Jacobsen: When was high intelligence discovered for you?

Park: I took the highest quality test made by Paul Cooijmans called “The Nemesis Test” and scored the highest among Asians in 2018 (Score: I.Q. 143, Range: Intelligent).

Park: At high school in China, I was isolated by my classmates for being different. I often found interest in playing board games, entered the chess tournaments hosted by schools in China and won multiple times. Impressed by my credentials, the Deans at Johns Hopkins and other top schools offered me an automatic admission, given my timely approval followed by an application. Unsurprisingly, the fellow students vilified me for expressing an unofficial approval in the absence of any outstanding academic records. That a hard working transfer student from an elite Daewon Foreign Language High School barely made it into Berkeley, which placed at least 10 ranks below Johns Hopkins, seemed to justify their actions. I redeemed myself by officially rejecting the offers but instead graduated at Indiana University Bloomington with a fair amount of scholarship. I simply didn’t want to create conflicts with others around me.

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

Park: It could be anyone. The mentally challenged may think of his average friend as the greatest genius.

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

Park: Genius = High Intelligence + Hard Work + Creativity

Jacobsen: Is profound intelligence necessary for genius?

Park: No. A hard work is enough to compensate the lack of intelligence.

Jacobsen: What have been some work experiences and jobs held by you?

Park: Interpreter Officer (2012-2015):

Translate and interpret verbal exchanges among generals, commanders, and vice ministers of Defense Departments from Korea and foreign countries, including Australia and United States.

Investment Manager (2018-):

Raise private debt funds that finance an expansion or acquisition of foreign infrastructures.

Jacobsen: Why pursue this particular job path?

Park: The correlation between Finance major and Investment Manager job appeared to be the highest, only to realize that individual skills, characters and links mattered more.

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?

Park: The gifted and geniuses have inherent abilities to reason and connect the seemingly disparate ideas. That does not mean, however, that they are academic elites. The most notable Nobel Laureates (and geniuses at the same time), including John Nash and Albert Einstein, are no graduates from, let’s say, Top 5 QS or Times World Universities. Wolfgang Mozart never attended a school in his lifetime. For the gifted and geniuses, curiosity diverts their attentions from one subject, while adamancy drives them towards the other. They also ask fundamental questions before accepting new ideas. On the other hand, academic elites simply follow instructions and work hard to excel in every subject. These elites, typically below “Intelligent” or “Genius” range (<I.Q. 140), are commonly misunderstood as the gifted or geniuses.

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

Park: I am an atheist.

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

Park: Hard Science > Hard Science + Engineering > Engineering:

I always pondered why humans desire to elevate themselves, while they fail to maintain their own status. Why would they create AI (Engineering) to control, while they succumb to the virus? The machines may replace humans to save lives, but eventually destroy them. An automated driving may impair the learning abilities. A remote working environment may lower the social skills. A robotic environment may degrade the value of a human being. On the other hand, hard science serves to raise human dignity. A development (Engineering) of anti-virus to COVID-19 (Hard Science, Biology) saves lives, while a discovery (Engineering) of Universe’s deepest secrets (Hard Science, Physics), or even a theoretical one (Hard Science, Physics), helps value them.

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

Park: I have listed only the most reliable and valid test that measures an I.Q. at or above 130.

The Nemesis Test (Paul Cooijmans) / I.Q. 143 (SD 15)

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.

Park: Since my test scores, except for one above, were distorted by lack of validity, reliability, or even bad health on the test date, I don’t think there is any significance to the score range.

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

Park: None. Since ethics is formed by a majority of opinions, the idea or philosophy is not required to define what it should be in nature.

Jacobsen: What social philosophy makes some sense, even the most workable sense to you?

Park: Equality of Opportunity. Dworkin argues that people begin with equal opportunities but may end up with unequal economic benefits as a result of their own choices. It is natural that people should bear the consequences, given that they made the best efforts to analyze the choices and arrived at the decisions free from any external pressures. In reality, the starting points differ at birth and outcomes are distorted by others, but such conditions apply to a minority. In a sense, the philosophy is most applicable to a majority.

Jacobsen: What economic philosophy makes some sense, even the most workable sense to you?

Park: Free Market Capitalism. Friedman argues that the government intervention in a nation’s economy should be limited. If the Fed fails to shift the money supply on time, the economy should deviate from its intended cycle. A faster increase in the supply causes an inflation and lowers spending at the growth stage, while a slower one increases spending at the recessionary stage. Instead, a tempered domestic spending at the latter stage should limit the purchasing power to either save or repay any debts and compensate for the lost GDP with higher exports. Otherwise, the Fed would have to raise the interest rate and charge the debt repayments higher than intended, bringing chaos to the overall economy.

Jacobsen: What political philosophy makes some sense, even the most workable sense to you?

Park: Luck Egalitarianism by Dworkin. Similar to the social philosophy stated above.

Jacobsen: What metaphysics makes some sense to you, even the most workable sense to you?

Park: Metaphysics of Knowledge. I do not understand why people accept the knowledge as it is. Is the knowledge truly acceptable? A few examples of social knowledge. Why create laws that change? Why require academics to divide? Answers to the fundamental questions will help live the world with rationality, creating a better place for more.

Jacobsen: What worldview-encompassing philosophical system makes some sense, even the most workable sense to you?

Park: Theoretical Philosophy. Similar to the above.

Jacobsen: What provides meaning in life for you?

Park: That life exists to set something for me.

Jacobsen: Is meaning externally derived, internally generated, both, or something else?

Park: Internally generated.

Jacobsen: Do you believe in an afterlife? If so, why, and what form? If not, why not?

Park: Nope. I only exist to be part of the design.

Jacobsen: What do you make the mystery and transience of life?

Park: Every moment in life is a piece of memory that remains forgotten after death. Why humans seek to remember others’ past, knowing they would meet the same doom, is a mystery to me.

Jacobsen: What is love to you?

Park: An illusion. It dies when its bearers disappear.

Appendix I: Footnotes

[1] Member, CIVIQ Society; Member, ISI-S Society (151-Society); Member, Order of Imhotep.

[2] Individual Publication Date: January 22, 2021: http://www.in-sightjournal.com/park-1; Full Issue Publication Date: May 1, 2021: https://in-sightjournal.com/insight-issues/.

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2023-03-24

Conversation with Masaaki Yamauchi on Esoteric, ESOTERIQ Society, JAPANIQ Society, OlympIQ Society, and Standards of Admission: Administrator, ESOTERIQ Society (2)

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

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

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2021/02/15

Abstract

Masaaki Yamauchi is the Administrator of ESOTERIQ Society. He discusses: other meanings or hidden properties of the title; the ESOTERIQ Society connected with the World Intelligence Network; the World Intelligence Network; ESOTERIQ membership; the Giga Society of Paul Cooijmans; the OLYMPIQ Society (member or subscriber) and the World Genius Directory (member) as a requirement for membership; WAIS-Ⅳ and Stanford-Binet-Ⅴ rejected as membership qualifiers; membership free in ESOTERIQ Society; current members of the ESOTERIQ Society; the oldest member and the youngest member; the norms to the tests; and verifying the scores.

Keywords: administrator, admissions, background, ESOTERIQ, intelligence, IQ, Japanese, JAPANIQ Society, Masaaki Yamauchi.

Conversation with Masaaki Yamauchi on Esoteric, ESOTERIQ Society, JAPANIQ Society, OlympIQ Society, and Standards of Admission: Administrator, ESOTERIQ Society (2)

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

Scott Douglas Jacobsen: You created the ESOTERIQ Society/Esoteriq/ESOTERIQ with “esoteric” in the implied meaning of the title with “ESOTER” containing the number of sigmas related to the number of letters above the mean for the qualification of membership in the society, which means approximately “1/1,000,000,000” people or 1 out of 1,009,976,678. Are there any other meanings or hidden properties of the title unstated so far?

Masaaki Yamauchi[1],[2]*: None. Origin of almost English words comes from Latin or Greek. Esoteric has its roots in a Greek word “ἐσωτερικός”.

Jacobsen: How has the ESOTERIQ Society connected with the World Intelligence Network founded by Dr. Evangelos Katsioulis on January 1, 2001, as a “regeneration of the High IQ Community applied mainly on an internet basis with more interactive, meaningful and productive functions”?

Yamauchi: To tell the truth, I founded the JAPANIQ society for only Japanese high IQ people as the 22^nd WIN society, but one unexpected trouble occurred between the last member and me. Therefore, I had to make the society be defunct.

That was a private issue, so no further information would be opened. After that, the ESOTERIQ was created instead of the society.

Jacobsen: Any thoughts on the World Intelligence Network?

Yamauchi: Greatest project from bottom of my heart.

This is one of my reasons to live in this life.

I will never leave the WIN by the end of my life.

Jacobsen: ESOTERIQ membership is separated into Giga Society members and non-Giga Society members. Why?

Yamauchi: The Giga society has a reliable strict policy as a 6SD IQ society, so I automatically accept a member from the society..

Jacobsen: Any thoughts on the Giga Society of Paul Cooijmans?

Yamauchi: I really look up to him as a test creator and society administrator. My Esoteriq purpose should be to build a high authority next to the Giga society.

Jacobsen: Why focus on the OLYMPIQ Society (member or subscriber) and the World Genius Directory (member) as a requirement for membership in the ESOTERIQ Society, where some can be considered outside of these on a case by case basis?

Yamauchi: Standardized level, reliability and validity are highly variant at each test. I have no idea that which tests should I accept as the membership because I am ignorant of psychometrics and tests creating process. It may sometimes cause losing the authority of the society. Hence, I almost depend on Paul, Dr.Katsioulis and Dr.Jason respectively to reduce my misjudgement risk. I can approve a candidate after each administrator accepts the one to each society. This is simple.

I can avoid the membership trouble. “on a case by case basis” would be applied to a non- belong candidate to the Giga, Olympiq and WGD due to a specific personal reason, but holds a credible score.

Jacobsen: Why are WAIS-Ⅳ and Stanford-Binet-Ⅴ rejected as membership qualifiers for ESOTERIQ Society? Was this an issue in the past with extrapolated norms submissions from actual members or prospective members?

Yamauchi: Sorry, it was occurred by my own ignorance.

I have no purpose to be opened further information.

Such tests like WAIS and SB can indicate a positive correlation with high range IQ tests, but have different concepts, not suitable to sustain my society authority in my decision.

Exceptionally, I admit SB to only the 6^th member, Dr. Christopher Harding who can be kept a membership of the Esoteriq society because he was officially recorded as “the smartest man in the world” on the Guinness World Record a long time ago.

Jacobsen: Why is membership free in ESOTERIQ Society?

Yamauchi: The ESOTERIQ is just my own collection, not for my monetary business.

Jacobsen: The current members of the ESOTERIQ Society includes the following 15 people: Evangelos Katsioulis, Kenneth Ferrell, Mislav Predavec, Richard Rosner, Dany Provost, Christopher Harding, Junxie Huang, Jose Molinero, Wen Chin Sui, Marios Prodromou, Dong Khac Cuong, Matthew Scillitani, Thansie Yu, Heinrich Siemens, and Yukun Wang. The web page on the members of ESOTERIQ Society list the following members in the society:

Since 01/01/2001 ESOTERIQ society accepted 15 members : The qualified IQ score (SD16), the test name, the test author and the taken year must be reported next to each member`s name as an undoubted evidence for the membership credential.

Evangelos Katsioulis (Greece) : 197 (raw 100/100)on QMC#3 by Paul Cooijmans in 2003
Kenneth Ferrell (U.S.A) : 196 (raw 32/32)on HIEROGLYPHICA by Mislav Predavec in 2010
Mislav Predavec (Croatia) : 198 (raw 19/24)on LS24 by Robert Lato in 2010
Richard Rosner (U.S.A) : 198 (raw 13/16) onMATHEMA by Dr. Jason Betts in 2012
Dany Provost(Canada) : 196 (raw 46/46) on PIGS-1°by Paul Cooijmans in 2004
Christopher Harding(Australia) : 197 on SBIS-Oxford-Analysis-New-Zealand in1976
Junxie Huang (China) : 196 (raw 37/40)on CHALLENGER IQ TEST by Zoran Bijac in 2019
Jose Molinero(Spain) : 196 (raw 15/15) on FREE FALL PART-Ⅱ by Ivan Ivec in 2017
Wen Chin Sui(China): 196 (raw 36/36) on NUMERUS CLASSIC by Ivan Ivec in 2017
Marios Prodromou(Cyprus) : 196 (raw 30/30) on MACH by Nickolas Soulios in 2018
Dong Khac Cuong(Vietnam) : 196 (raw 29/30) on NUMERUS by Ivan Ivec in 2019
Matthew Scillitani(U.S.A) : 196 (raw 80/80) on PM-QROSSWORDS by Paul Cooijmans in 2019
Thansie Yu (China): 196 (raw 48/48) on N-WORLD by Mahir Wu in 2020
Heinrich Siemens(Germany) : 201 (raw 28/40) on CIT-5 by Paul Cooijmans in 2020
Yukun Wang(China) : 201 (raw 0.9/1.0) on RIDDLES by Konstantinos Ntalachanis in 2020

Any comments on each particular member of the society, whether the individual, the age, the test, the test score, the test creator, professional accomplishments, and so on?

Yamauchi: None. I do not care each member`s background.

Just I approve of anybody who archived the qualified score.

Jacobsen: Who is the oldest member? Who is the youngest member?

Yamauchi: I do not care about each age.

Jacobsen: Does the ESOTERIQ Society membership listing change the scores with the changes in the norms to the tests?

Yamauchi: Any membership would be not cancelled after an updated norm report becomes lower than before. However, if an updated norm report becomes higher than before, the new norms would be valid for the membership. For example, a member holding IQ190 on the 1^st norm and IQ185 on the 2^nd norm at the same raw score can keep the Esoteriq membership. No matter what updated norm report becomes lower than before, it does not affect the continuation of the membership. On the contrary, an individual holding IQ185 on the 1^st norm and IQ190 on the 2^nd norm or the future norm at the same raw score can join my society.

This rule must be a common principle in almost all high IQ societies as far as I know.

Jacobsen: How do you verify the scores?

Yamauchi: By a certificate candidates sent me.

Appendix I: Footnotes

[1] Administrator, ESOTERIQ Society.

[2] Individual Publication Date: February 15, 2021: http://www.in-sightjournal.com/yamauchi-2; Full Issue Publication Date: May 1, 2021: https://in-sightjournal.com/insight-issues/.

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2023-03-24

Free of Charge 6 – “Amsterdam Declaration” (1952), Unifying the Front, Religious Fundamentalism, and State Totalitarianism

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

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

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2021/02/08

Abstract

Dr. Herb Silverman is the Founder of the Secular Coalition for America, the Founder of the Secular Humanists of the Lowcountry, and the Founder of the Atheist/Humanist Alliance student group at the College of Charleston. He authored Complex variables (1975), Candidate Without a Prayer: An Autobiography of a Jewish Atheist in the Bible Belt (2012) and An Atheist Stranger in a Strange Religious Land: Selected Writings from the Bible Belt (2017). He co-authored The Fundamentals of Extremism: The Christian Right in America (2003) with Kimberley Blaker and Edward S. Buckner, Complex Variables with Applications (2007) with Saminathan Ponnusamy, and Short Reflections on Secularism (2019), Short Reflections on American Secularism’s History and Philosophy (2020), and Short Reflections on Age and Youth (2020). He discusses: the development of empirical philosophies; a larger contingent of secular voices; post-WWII ideological reflections; the Amsterdam Declaration (1952); and democracy, creative uses of science and not destructive uses of science, Humanism as ethics, personal liberty above tied to social responsibility, and cultivating ethical and creative living.

Keywords: Herb Silverman, Free of Charge, freethought, Humanism, religious fundamentalism, state totalitarianism.

Free of Charge 6 – “Amsterdam Declaration” (1952), Unifying the Front, Religious Fundamentalism, and State Totalitarianism

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

Scott Douglas Jacobsen: The Amsterdam Declaration (1952) was another huge stepping stone in the development of Humanism within the earlier discourse of modern secular freethought. Before asking those main questions, I had a side question important to this educational series, actually two. You seem like a great person to ask these questions because of the longevity of leadership in the movement and the efforts at collaboration and unification of efforts through the Secular Coalition for America. First, how much does the development of empirical philosophies create a basis for modern formulations of Humanism, instead of a straightforward focus on eudaimonia, the humanities, moral education, and the like? I understand Andrew Copson, Chief Executive of Humanists UK and the President of Humanists International, has spoken on the spotted nature of Humanism in the historical record akin to the manner in which Professor Noam Chomsky speaks of Anarchism as a philosophical trend in the history of human thought and action. As in, no one owns them, as they, Humanism or Anarchism, amount to facets of human nature (to one degree or another) and, therefore, express themselves without regard to the culture or the geography, merely transforming superficially while manifesting the same fundaments.

Dr. Herb Silverman[1],[2]: As I understand the question, you are asking if I more favour empiricism or eudaimonia when it comes to Humanism. To answer, I’ll first define the terms as I understand them.

Empiricism is a theory that knowledge comes only or primarily from sensory experience. Empiricism is a fundamental part of the scientific method, which requires that all hypotheses and theories must be tested against observations of the natural world, rather than resting on intuition or revelation.

Eudaimonia describes virtuous activity in accordance with reason, which gives us happiness and pleasure. To illustrate, if you’re a doctor, you should excel at healing people; if you’re a philosopher, you should excel at gaining knowledge and wisdom. Of course, each person plays many roles in life, and by excelling in all of them one achieves eudaimonia.

As to whether I favor empiricism or eudaimonia, I can say confidently—that depends. If I want to look at scientific questions, empiricism is the way to go. But I don’t think everything should be viewed through a scientific lens. Aesthetics, without science, makes sense to me. Different people can find different pleasures using only reason. For instance, not everyone might think like I do that my wife, Sharon, is the most wonderful person in the world.

Of course there are times that empiricism and eudaimonia work in combination. To illustrate, empiricism is used to help find a vaccine for Covid-19. Then an individual can make a rational choice to take the vaccine to safeguard his or her health, and this expresses eudaimonia.

Jacobsen: Second, I have worked to bring together some of the voices in Canadian Humanism in one voice with some group discussions, so to speak, e.g., “Humanism in Canada: Personal, Professional, and Institutional Histories (Part One)”[3]. The series incorporated the leadership voices of most of the secular organizations in Canada, i.e., at the time: Cameron Dunkin as the Acting CEO of Dying With Dignity Canada, Dr. Gus Lyn-Piluso as the President of Center for Inquiry-Canada, Doug Thomas as the President of Secular Connexion Séculière, Greg Oliver as the President of Canadian Secular Alliance, Michel Virard as the President of Association humaniste du Québec, Dr. Lloyd Hawkeye Robertson as the Vice-President of Humanist Canada, and Seanna Watson as the Vice-President of Center for Inquiry-Canada. As far as I am informed on the issue, that’s a first. I have been interviewing a large contingent of the ex-Muslim community. In the midst of them, in March of 2019, something occurred to me. So, I decided to write down the idea succinctly for an article for News Intervention. I made a proposal in “An Immodest Proposal: International Coalition of Ex-Muslims (ICEM)”[4]. I was informed by a British colleague the International Coalition of Ex-Muslims[5] was formed in early 2020, about a year after the proposal. It’s hard to track the history of these things because it can be a bubbling in communities of the same ideas and then the formulation of them into a convergent creation of an organization. Also, a single proposal can be the source of the formation of these things. Nonetheless, they’re there, present, and active. Why was the Secular Coalition for America a necessity to bring together a larger contingent of secular voices?

Silverman: Scott, I’m so pleased that you are working to bring the voices in Canadian Humanism together. However, I doubt that you can get them to speak with just one voice, except on selected topics. Humanists speak with many voices and have a lot of opinions on countless topics. That’s one way humanists are different from some religious cults.

I do think most humanists would agree that humanism is a progressive philosophy of life that, without supernaturalism, affirms our ability and responsibility to lead ethical lives of personal fulfillment for the greater good of humanity. Humanism also promotes democracy, civil liberties, human freedoms, separation of religion and government, and elimination of discrimination based on race, religion, sex, age, or national origin. Humanists respect the scientific method and recognize that we are an integral part of nature, the result of unguided evolutionary change, and that ethical values are derived from human need and interest as tested by experience.

You asked about the importance of bringing a large contingent of voices together within the Secular Coalition for America. In 2002, I helped form the Secular Coalition for America, whose mission is to increase the visibility of and respect for nontheistic viewpoints, and to protect and strengthen the secular character of our government.

Our 19 national member organizations cover the full spectrum of freethought. Members don’t argue about labels. People in the Coalition call themselves atheists, agnostics, humanists, freethinkers, whatever. They cooperate on the 95% they have in common, rather than bicker about the 5% that might set them apart. Interestingly, four of the member organizations are classified as religious (nontheistic). They are the American Ethical Union (with Ethical Culture Societies), Congress of Secular Jewish Organizations, Society for Humanistic Judaism (with atheist rabbis), and UU (Unitarian Universalists) Humanists.

All the Secular Coalition member organizations have strict limits on political lobbying, so the Secular Coalition incorporated as a political advocacy group to allow unlimited lobbying on behalf of freethought Americans. The Secular Coalition also collaborates with organizations that are neither theistic nor nontheistic, like the American Civil Liberties Union, and Americans United for the Separation of Church and State. It cooperates on some issues with theistic organizations, like the Interfaith Alliance, the Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty, and Catholics for Choice. Working with diverse groups provides the additional benefit of gaining more visibility and respect for our unique perspective. Improving the public perception of freethinkers is as important to many of us as pursuing a particular political agenda.

Jacobsen: To the first Amsterdam Declaration (1952)[6], it opens starkly on “an alternative to the religions which claim to be based on revelation on the one hand, and totalitarian systems on the other.” What made these post-WWII ideological reflections important on secular fundamentalism in totalitarianism and in religious revelatory fundamentalism? Something of a third alternative to the loggerheads of the aforementioned.

Silverman: We have to remember that this 1952 document was written during the Cold War, and represents an alternative to both religions based on revelation and totalitarian regimes like the atheistic Soviet Union. Not that there is anything wrong with atheism, but it should not be government-sponsored or imposed. The document promotes ethics and the right of the individual to the greatest possible freedom of development compatible with the rights of others. Such a third way opposes religious indoctrination and totalitarian regimes. It advocates the creative use of science with humanistic principles.

Jacobsen: The framers of the Amsterdam Declaration (1952) did not view Humanism as a sect, but as an eventuation of long traditions of thinkers leading to the scientific revolutions of the time. They continued, “Ethical humanism unites all those who cannot any longer believe the various creeds and are willing to base their conviction on respect for man as a spiritual and moral being.”[7] How does this point connect to the previous response about science, in a 20th-century understanding and development, relate to this mid-20^th century stipulation?

Silverman: I think we all agree that science should play an important role in the life of an ethical humanist. Sometimes, though, there is a question about where ethics come into science. One example is the use of nuclear power, which generates about a fifth of our nation’s energy supply. Nuclear energy reduces greenhouse gas emissions and produces far less waste than conventional energy. On the other hand, nuclear fuel and waste are highly radioactive, which can pose many threats to public health and the environment. I favour the use of nuclear power, though I know many humanists who don’t. I don’t think scientific research should be restricted, even though certain findings might eventually cause harm. It is up to those in the field to discuss and help us decide how we can use science for good, which is not always easy.

Also, I don’t like some of the terminology used in 1952, for example, respect for “man,” rather than for “people.” And there is confusion when we call ourselves “spiritual.” I understand that some humanists define the word “spiritual” in ways that make them comfortable, but I leave that word to religious people believing in “spirits” who inhabit an unseen spiritual world.

Jacobsen: The five principles mentioned democracy, creative uses of science and not destructive uses of science, Humanism as ethics, personal liberty above tied to social responsibility, and cultivating ethical and creative living.[6] These seem, at a minimum, in part or on the whole, 69 years ahead of their time and more needed than ever. Now, we may have mentioned this before with the statements on Ethical Humanism as a faith, etc. The ways in which this was removed in later formulations of the various declarations of humanists with the most recent moving as far as a rejection of supernatural. In fact, I would extend the previous opinion. These are still far ahead of their time in the reach and implications. The ideals of the Rennaissance permitted to a small coterie of individuals could become something to relish for a not-insignificant minority of people. So, more to the point, if you reflect on these five principles, what are some cases in the end of the Trump-Pence Administration and the transition into the Biden-Harris Administration showing the greater necessity of humanist values, simply as formulated in 1952?

Silverman: I agree with eliminating the word “faith” from the definition of ethical humanism. I must confess, though, that I once had a bumper sticker that said, “I have faith in reason.” There is no question that the Biden-Harris Administration is a giant leap forward in support of these humanist values. Democracy took a hit under President Trump when he failed to concede after he lost a fair election, and encouraged his supporters to riot. Trump also supported some undemocratic and authoritarian regimes, including Russia, Saudi Arabia, and North Korea. Trump’s actions have emboldened other countries, including Myanmar, China, Rwanda, Iran, and Turkey to violently silence campaigns, causing global democracy to backslide.

President Biden, in his short time in office, has reversed many of Trump’s executive orders, which includes recommitting to the US Paris Climate Accord, rejoining the World Health Organization, and promoting racial equality in health care and other areas. Biden also signed orders to halt construction of Trump’s US-Mexico border wall, reverse Trump’s environmental deregulation, affirm the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrival Program (DACA) that protects from deportation people brought illegally to the US as children, and create a task force to reunite migrant families separated at the border. Biden reversed Trump’s 2017 travel ban that targeted primarily Muslim countries. Biden repealed a ban on transgender people serving openly in the military and he expanded protection of LGBTQ people around the world by revamping the offices at the State Department and the US Agency for International Development (USAID), which supports LGBTQ rights. He also re-established the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology and directed agencies to make decisions on the best available scientific evidence.

These actions of the Biden-Harris administration are consistent with the 1952 principles of ethical humanism. Though President Biden is a religious Catholic, he tries to separate religion from government. I hope he includes secular voices when he does interfaith outreach. Biden’s Catholicism seems to be grounded in social justice, rather than exclusively in church doctrine, which is why he has been criticized by conservative Catholics for some of his positions, like a woman’s right to choose.

Jacobsen: Thank you for the opportunity and your time, Dr. Silverman, we will cover the 2002 version of the Amsterdam Declaration in the next session.

Silverman: Thank you.

References

Humanists International. (1952). Amsterdam Declaration 1952. Retrieved from https://humanists.international/policy/amsterdam-declaration-1952/.

Council of Ex-Muslims of Britain. (2021). International Coalition of Ex-Muslims. Retrieved from https://www.ex-muslim.org.uk/intl-coalition.

Jacobsen, S.D. (2019, March 26). An Immodest Proposal: International Coalition of Ex-Muslims (ICEM). Retrieved from https://www.newsintervention.com/immodest-jacobsen/.

Jacobsen, S.D. (2020, January 1). Humanism in Canada: Personal, Professional, and Institutional Histories (Part One). Retrieved from http://www.in-sightjournal.com/humanism-one.

Appendix I: Footnotes

[1] Founder, Secular Coalition for America;Founder, Secular Humanists of the Low Country; Founder, Atheist/Humanist Alliance, College of Charleston.

[2] Individual Publication Date: February 8, 2021: http://www.in-sightjournal.com/free-of-charge-6; Full Issue Publication Date: May 1, 2021: https://in-sightjournal.com/insight-issues/.

[3] Jacobsen (2020).

[4] Jacobsen (2019).

[5] Council of Ex-Muslims of Britain (2021).

[6] Humanists International (1952).

[7] Ibid.

[8] “Amsterdam Declaration 1952” states:

It is democratic. It aims at the fullest possible development of every human being. It holds that this is a matter of right. The democratic principle can be applied to all human relationships and is not restricted to methods of government.
It seeks to use science creatively, not destructively. It advocates a world-wide application of scientific method to problems of human welfare. Humanists believe that the tremendous problems with which mankind is faced in this age of transition can be solved. Science gives the means but science itself does not propose the ends.
Humanism is ethical. It affirms the dignity of man and the right of the individual to the greatest possible freedom of development compatible with the right of others. There is a danger in seeking to utilise scientific knowledge in a complex society individual freedom may be threatened by the very impersonal machine that has been created to save it. Ethical humanism, therefore, rejects totalitarian attempts to perfect the machine in order to obtain immediate gains at the cost of human values.
It insists that personal liberty is an end that must be combined with social responsibility in order that it shall not be sacrificed to the improvement of material conditions. Without intellectual liberty, fundamental research, on which progress must in the long run depend, would not be possible. Humanism ventures to build a world on the free person responsible to society. On behalf of individual freedom humanism is un-dogmatic, imposing no creed upon its adherents. It is thus committed to education free from indoctrination.
It is a way of life, aiming at the maximum possible fulfilment, through the cultivation of ethical and creative living. It can be a way of life for everyone everywhere if the individual is capable of the responses required by the changing social order. The primary task of humanism today it to make men aware in the simplest terms of what it can mean to them and what it commits them to. By utilising in this context and for purposes of peace the new power which science has given us, humanists have confidence that the present crisis can be surmounted. Liberated from fear the energies of man will be available for a self-realisation to which it is impossible to foresee the limit.

Ethical humanism is thus a faith that answers the challenge of our times. We call upon all men who share this conviction to associate themselves with us in this cause.

Humanists International (1952).

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2023-03-24

Conversation with Dr. Katherine Bullock on Internal and External Issues Vis-à-Vis Religiosity and Secularity: Past Chair, Islamic Society of North America-Canada (ISNA-Canada); Lecturer, Political Science, University of Toronto at Mississauga (3)

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

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

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2021/02/01

Abstract

Dr. Katherine Bullock is a Lecturer in the Department of Political Science, University of Toronto Mississauga. Her teaching focus is political Islam from a global perspective, and her research focuses on Muslims in Canada, their history, contemporary lived experiences, political and civic engagement, debates on the veil, and media representations of Islam and Muslims. She was the editor of the American Journal of Islamic Social Sciences from 2003-2008, the Vice-President of The Association of Muslim Social Scientists (North America) from 2006-2009. Her publications include Muslim Women Activists in North America: Speaking for Ourselves and Rethinking Muslim Women and the Veil: Challenging Historical and Modern Stereotypes, which has been translated into Arabic, French and Turkish. She is also President of The Tessellate Institute, a non-profit research institute, and of Compass Books, dedicated to publishing top-quality books about Islam and Muslims in English. Originally from Australia, she lives in Oakville with her husband and children. She embraced Islam in 1994. She discusses: the external issues for the various Muslim communities in Canada; manifestations of hate groups; imaginary internal issues in Canadian Muslim communities reified into Muslim-wide; real internal issues in Canadian Muslim communities formulated as Muslim-wide; some external issues coming from secular groups against Canadian Muslims; some external issues coming from other religious groups against Canadian Muslims; external issues created through simply not asking spokespeople for different sects or traditions of Islam within Canada; some federal, provincial, and municipal issues for Canadian Muslims; some solutions to the enumerated external issues; and some solutions to the enumerated external issues.

Keywords: Canadian, Islam, Katherine Bullock, Muslims, University of Toronto at Mississauga.

Conversation with Dr. Katherine Bullock on Internal and External Issues Vis-à-Vis Religiosity and Secularity: Past Chair, Islamic Society of North America-Canada (ISNA-Canada); Lecturer, Political Science, University of Toronto at Mississauga (3)

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

Scott Douglas Jacobsen: Now, to the external issues for the various Muslim communities in Canada, what are the core issues externally, as in imposed from the outside making ordinary religious life more difficult as fellow Canadians?

Dr. Katherine Bullock[1],[2]: The most important external issue for the various Muslim communities in Canada is anti-Muslim racism, usually called “Islamophobia.” I personally prefer the term anti-Muslim racism because it locates the issue as hate and discrimination targeted towards Muslims, rather than a ‘phobia’ which locates the issue as an emotion in the perpetrator. Muslims are from many ethnic backgrounds but are homogenised and racialized as a group. Racism can be subtle -what are called ‘microagressions’- such as a nasty look, refusing to serve in a timely manner, refusing to greet; it can be subtle discrimination in the workplace, such as not hiring a woman in hijab or a man with the name Muhammad by saying there are no positions available, not renting an apartment and so on. Racism can be overt, such as getting spat on, yelled at, hijab pulled off, rammed with a car, graffiti on mosques, receiving hate emails or voicemails. Schools are challenged for allowing prayer on site. Quebec’s Bill C21 which bans public employees from wearing religious headgear is an example of institutionalised racism. Hate crime statistics show that Muslim women are disproportionately targeted.

Jacobsen: We can be explicit here. There has been a history of neo-Nazi and White Supremacism in Canada who adhere to a twisted formulation of European-Canadian ethnic identity, primarily, and, often, the Christian religion, secondarily. How are these groups, as manifestations of hate groups, making life as Muslims more difficult than necessary in Canadian society?

Bullock: It’s not just a simple matter of white/non-White, in Canada we have to note that Hindutva and Coptic groups are joining forces with white supremacist groups targeting Muslims. These groups threaten the personal safety of Muslims. They organise rallies and demonstrations preaching the exclusion of Muslims from public and private sectors; sometimes at these rallies they dress in army fatigues, sending a militarised message of hate; they send hate mails to Muslim leaders or online comments sections; some of them tragically assault, even murder, Muslims. The White Supremacists have an extremely narrow notion of what it means to be a “Canadian.” Trudeau has called Canada the first “post-national state,” meaning that it is a nation-state composed of citizens from many different ethnic groups. We must remember too how all of this settlement has displaced the Indigenous peoples of Turtle Island, but that is a different topic.

Jacobsen: How are particularized imaginary internal issues in Canadian Muslim communities reified into Muslim-wide, as in stereotyping, issues and used by misinformed, ignorant, or downright bad actors, to attack Canadian Muslims?

Bullock: The most important particularized imaginary internal issue that is reified into a stereotype is the notion that “Islam oppresses women.” This blanket assessment is then used to drive policy, both foreign and domestic – eg support for the war against the Taliban or the regional authoritarian rulers like Sisi in Egypt; or setting up a ‘barbaric cultural practices hotline’ or banning niqab at citizenship ceremonies. Quebec’s Bill C21, which has wide support across Canada (and in which the Federal government is complicit as it didn’t take action to prevent it, fearing the loss of votes in Quebec) is premised on the idea that the hijab/niqab represent the inequality of women, hence must be banned in Canada which is committed to gender equality.

Young women can be forced by both fathers and mothers, and some women forced by their husbands, to wear hijab, but Muslim women should be respected as equal citizens in Canada. Blanket stereotyping from the wider society that makes Muslim suffer racism and discrimination is oppressive too.

Jacobsen: How are specific real internal issues in Canadian Muslim communities formulated as Muslim-wide, as in stereotyping, issues and used by misinformed, ignorant, or downright bad actors, to attack Canadian Muslims?

Bullock: Muslim women can face misogynistic practices such as genital mutilation, honour killings, or being confined to the home. But these practices are specific to some families in some ethnic groups. They are not based in textual scriptural injunctions, rather in cultural customs. They are broadened into a stereotype and then used against all Muslims.

Non-Muslim Western women can face misogynistic practices too, such as the beauty myth that can lead to anorexia or dangerous cosmetic surgery, domestic violence, and jealousy killings. These customs are not broadened to all “Western culture” and all Westerners.

Jacobsen: What are some external issues coming from secular groups against Canadian Muslims, broadly speaking?

Bullock: Broadly speaking there are some secular groups including the “progressive/left side” of the political spectrum that believe in a very rigid separation of Church and State. They are opposed to Muslim religious practices, such as five daily prayers or the need for halal food, in public institutions, including schools and universities. They believe that Muslim women are oppressed and need saving or Westernising to be empowered and free. Quebec’s hijab ban is the most extreme example of this, as it bans state employees from wearing religious headgear. But there are other more subtle pressures. Political circles on both the right and left, though for different reasons, can have a negative or unwelcoming demeanour towards Muslims. (Some would say that the Left also has a negative attitude towards practicing peoples of all faiths.)

Jacobsen: What are some external issues coming from other religious groups against Canadian Muslims, broadly speaking?

Bullock: Although I am active in several different kinds of interfaith groups, from Protestant, Catholic, Evangelical, to Jewish, and am very grateful for the respect and recognition I receive as a fellow believer, there are religious groups who support an anti-Muslim agenda because they see Islam as a false and threatening religion. These groups support policies that limit Muslim engagement in the public space including racial profiling at airports and anti-veil policies.

Jacobsen: What are external issues created through simply not asking spokespeople for different sects or traditions of Islam within Canada about Muslim Canadian concerns on specific issues for their particular tradition?

Bullock: Since externally Muslims are not recognised as being organised into sects or different traditions, we are treated the same when it comes to the negative policies and discrimination I have mentioned. In fact, Hindu and Sikhs are often attacked because of the inability of the perpetrator to recognise the difference between a Muslim, Hindu or Sikh.

The most serious issue about not asking Muslims about their specific concerns is that the disproportionate media focus on terrorists who make religious references to justify their behaviours are assumed to be spokespersons for the rest of us.

I don’t think the various sects and traditions have different concerns that are created through not being asked. Irrespective of their sect, people want to be able to practice their version in peace, pass their faith along to their children and be employed and contributing citizens to Canada, just like peoples of other faiths and ethnic groups in Canada, including the White Nationalist Christians, who would like to be the only ones to exercise that ability.

Jacobsen: What are some federal, provincial, and municipal issues for Canadian Muslims, so policy, political statements, party platforms, and the like? Some of more clear; others are more amorphous.

Bullock: In general, Canadian Muslims have the same concerns as other Canadians, as established by the National Survey on Canadian Muslim opinion from Environics, especially related to the economy and their ability to find work. Now, of course, they are, like everyone else, dealing with the pandemic and lockdown and the personal and professional fallout from that. So, employment and healthcare, which are provincial. Municipal issues relate to discrimination from neighbours or being prevented from building a new house of worship, or graffiti and hate rallies. Ending police practices such as racial profiling, excessive force and killing innocent Muslims during an encounter with the police is high on the agenda of needed reforms.

For the Federal level, Canadian Muslims are deeply concerned that Canada help their brethren who are being slaughtered or squeezed to death, such as the Uighur in China; the Rohingya in Myanmar, the Kashmiris in India/Kashmir, the Palestinians in Israel/Palestine.

Jacobsen: What are some solutions to the enumerated external issues already being discussed and/or implemented now?

Bullock: The Black Lives Matter movement has put the spotlight on anti-racism. While most Muslims are not Black, and can unfortunately practice anti-black racism of their own, the anti-racist lens gives them the opportunity to spotlight anti-Muslim racism too. Ameliorating racism for one group can help improve the situation for other groups.

The Canadian discourse on multiculturalism/interculturalism, diversity, inclusion and reasonable accommodation are very precious and need to be not only protected from being whittled down but deepened.

In addition, the interfaith or multifaith movement is a very important part of addressing these solutions because it allows for empathic education creating deeper understanding for all peoples involved, including Muslims.

Jacobsen: What are some solutions to the enumerated external issues not already being discussed and/or implemented now?

Bullock: In general, extended relations between people can lead to better understanding. Even though we know that politics, hatred and disagreement is everywhere, including within single ethnic groups (Euro-Canadians are no different in this regard), the more that Canadian Muslims are part of the ordinary fabric of Canadian life, the better: political representation, CEOs, ordinary workers, homemakers, volunteers, students, sports and arts, and so on. Our habits and practices will become more known and recognisable; our strengths and foibles will make us just like other human beings – sometimes generous and noble, sometimes cantankerous and greedy.

Bullock would like to thank colleague Fayaz Karim for insightful comments on an earlier draft.

Appendix I: Footnotes

[1] Past Chair, Islamic Society of North America-Canada (ISNA-Canada); Lecturer, Political Science, University of Toronto at Mississauga; Past President, Tesselate Institute; President, Compass Books.

[2] Individual Publication Date: February 1, 2021: http://www.in-sightjournal.com/bullock-1; Full Issue Publication Date: May 1, 2021: https://in-sightjournal.com/insight-issues/.

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2023-03-24

Conversation with Dong Geon Lee on Living a Life Rightly, Being an Atheist, and IQ Tests: Member, CIVIQ Society (1)

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

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

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2021/01/22

Abstract

This is an interview with Dong Geon Lee in South Korea. He discusses: growing up; a sense of an extended self; the family background; experience with peers and schoolmates; the purpose of intelligence tests; high intelligence; wide-ranging reactions to geniuses; the greatest geniuses; a genius from a profoundly intelligent person; profound intelligence necessary for genius; the gifted and geniuses; God; science; the tests taken and scores earned (with standard deviations); the range of the scores; ethical philosophy; social philosophy; economic philosophy; political philosophy; metaphysics; philosophical system; meaning in life; meaning; an afterlife; the mystery and transience of life; and love.

Keywords: atheist, Dong Geon Lee, intelligence, life, love, South Korea.

Conversation with Dong Geon Lee on Living a Life Rightly, Being an Atheist, and IQ Tests: Member, CIVIQ Society (1)

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

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

Dong Geon Lee[1],[2]*: There was nothing like that, and he told me to live the right life rather than just being nice.

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

Lee: In fact, I’ve come to live the right life, and the people around me are aware of it.

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

Lee: I grew up in a religiously free family, and now I am an atheist. Language used my native language, Korean.

Jacobsen: How has the experience with peers and schoolmates been for you?

Lee: About half of my classmates expressed hostility from jealousy to me, and some respected me. However, my close friend and I spent time discussing together.

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

Lee: At first, I got to know where I am now by IQ test, and now I use it to relieve my mood or to kill time. The IQ test also gave me pride.

Jacobsen: When was high intelligence discovered for you?

Lee: A year after I was born, I knew how to write words. And I started reading books when I was 4 years old, and now I make my own mathematical rules and make physical theories. And it was about a year ago that I found out that I was a high-IQ person.

Jacobsen: What do you think of such wide-ranging reactions to geniuses?

Geon: Unfortunately, I have no idea.

Jacobsen: Who seem like the greatest geniuses in history to you, even today?

Lee: I think Johann Carl Friedrich Gauß is the best genius.

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

Lee: I think it is a matter of achievement and popularity. And thinking is also a way to tell them apart.

Jacobsen: Is profound intelligence necessary for genius?

Lee: Not all geniuses are intelligent, but there are many geniuses among those with high intelligence.

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?

Lee: I think the method is a scientific fact. However, if they make people good, that belief is not bad.

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

Lee: Essentially wrong, but as I said earlier, I don’t want to get rid of it to make people good.

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

Lee: Everything about me is science.

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

Lee: WISC 4 was 150(sd15) FIQURE was 150(sd15), IQhaven test was 166(sd15)

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.

Geon: The range of the scores is between 147 to 166.

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

Lee: I think it is a philosophy of science.

Jacobsen: What social philosophy makes some sense, even the most workable sense to you?

Lee: I think science and Buddhism.

Jacobsen: What economic philosophy makes some sense, even the most workable sense to you?

Lee: I think it is liberalism.

Jacobsen: What political philosophy makes some sense, even the most workable sense to you?

Lee: I think it is social liberalism.

Jacobsen: What metaphysics makes some sense to you, even the most workable sense to you?

Lee: I have no idea.

Jacobsen: What worldview-encompassing philosophical system makes some sense, even th

most workable sense to you?

Lee: I think it is liberalism.

Jacobsen: What provides meaning in life for you?

Lee: Researching about physics and mathematics.

Jacobsen: Is meaning externally derived, internally generated, both, or something else?

Lee: Both.

Jacobsen: Do you believe in an afterlife? If so, why, and what form? If not, why not?

Lee: Nope. It can’t be explained by science.

Jacobsen: What do you make the mystery and transience of life?

Lee: By everything that is good.

Jacobsen: What is love to you?

Lee: It is primitive feeling of everything.

Appendix I: Footnotes

[1] Member, CIVIQ Society.

[2] Individual Publication Date: January 22, 2021: http://www.in-sightjournal.com/lee-1; Full Issue Publication Date: May 1, 2021: https://in-sightjournal.com/insight-issues/.

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2023-03-24

Conversation with Anonymous High-IQ Community Member (South Korea) on Background, Family, South Korea, WAIS-IV, and Inflated Tests: Member, South Korean High-IQ Community

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

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

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2021/01/22

Abstract

This is an interview with a member of the high-IQ community in South Korea who wished to remain anonymous. They discuss: family stories; an extended self; the family background; experience with peers and schoolmates; some professional certifications; purpose of intelligence tests; high intelligence; the extreme reactions to and treatment of geniuses; the greatest geniuses in history; a genius from a profoundly intelligent person; genius; the gifted and geniuses; God; science; the tests taken and scores earned (with standard deviations); the range of the scores; an afterlife; life; and love.

Keywords: intelligence, IQ, South Korea, WAIS-IV.

Conversation with Anonymous High-IQ Community Member (South Korea) on Background, Family, South Korea, WAIS-IV, and Inflated Tests: Member, South Korean High-IQ Community

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

*Edits based on interviewee request March 14, 2021.*

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

Anonymous High-IQ Community Member (South Korea): I’ve not heard many mythical stories from my family tree, but there are some recent stories from my parental side. A realistic anecdote would be about my father. Raised in the countryside helping family agriculture, my father’s Weschler test score was around 138 with a perfect working memory score. For a mythical story, I’ve heard that parental grandmother verbally memorized Chinese Thousand Character Classic at age 2, just by growing up near the school studying this book.

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

Anonymous High-IQ Community Member (South Korea): Probably. I believe working memory functions heavily rely on one’s condition and concentration skill which can be acquired and trained. If there’s something I’m heir to, it must be a tiny portion of focusing ability and rest of good environment, including socioeconomic status, education, and nutrition.

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

Anonymous High-IQ Community Member (South Korea): Korean is my native tongue, and I’ve learned English by shortly going abroad between 7 to 8 years old. Anything else will be that of a typical Korean. From Confucianism based courtesies, Abrahamic religion education, ending up as an atheist.

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

Anonymous High-IQ Community Member (South Korea): In elementary and middle school, I was just a model student with good grades. I was very talkative and enjoyed participating as a class leader throughout the grades.

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

Anonymous High-IQ Community Member (South Korea): The Purpose would be mostly diagnosing or treating mental defects, acknowledging oneself better from this precise scientific tool, or maybe for finding gifted children. I’m only talking about Weschler or other standardized tests. The wide range of field the test measures, revised by research evidence and mechanisms, and its broad usages appear useful. And I think other high-range or online tests, or even extended Weschler tests and norms, are just puzzles.

Jacobsen: When was high intelligence discovered for you?

Anonymous High-IQ Community Member (South Korea): I don’t think there are any fundamental differences between people while high intelligence is classified. At least for me, I’m just a well-grown, well-educated ordinary person with a bit fair task commitment and efficiency. I often refer to the fact that heritability of IQ increases throughout the lifetime—snowball effect. Even though I can’t affirm any word with all of complex multi-variable entangled, one’s environment and his preference to choose and modify the environment via self-feedback seem very crucial.

Anonymous High-IQ Community Member (South Korea): Well, I lack knowledge of related topics or examples. But from the perspective that friendship often comes from sharing experiences, actions, cultures, and even consensus of thinking, some geniuses with bizarre interests, behaviours, and different ways of thinking would’ve triggered some rejection from others.

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

Anonymous High-IQ Community Member (South Korea): I don’t have the knowledge to understand their achievements.

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

Anonymous High-IQ Community Member (South Korea): Just approaching on the surface, genius is named only when they’re remembered. So, I think both everlasting achievements or profound intelligence can be genius. But then there are too many intelligent people to be recognized, and this might be my misunderstanding, but extreme intelligence seems to end up function/subject-specific, while extreme skills are acquirable through extreme training!

The answer went out of track, but an extreme IQ score might be an exaggerated concept. Firstly, any extended norms of standardized tests are based on extrapolation. Even the proper norm is based on a few thousand people, but extrapolated norms reach the one-in-a-billion level. Regarding digit span, let’s assume that the normal distribution of a thousand men resulted in 7±2. But we cannot reason that scoring 17 will be 5-sigma above the average from this result. A long-or-short tail will affect the numbers significantly. Secondly, as mentioned, training. Studying mnemonics, anyone can memorize 40 or more digits which is far above average. Thus, the very closely packed human ability is sliced microscopically, and only close observation near average is useful. Elephant heights can’t be classified by human height indexes. Also, lining up every result as a single standard blurs the point.

Jacobsen: Is profound intelligence necessary for genius?

Anonymous High-IQ Community Member (South Korea): Maybe there will be many counterexamples.

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?

Anonymous High-IQ Community Member (South Korea): Maybe confusing some of the traits from Asperger syndrome. Media might have influenced them, but most people don’t have the chance to actually contact geniuses. This also applies to me. I have no answer to dispel these myths. There might be some researches that studied the correlation between behaviors.

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

Anonymous High-IQ Community Member (South Korea): I don’t know. I don’t believe in a personal god, but I’ve also never thought about it seriously.

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

Anonymous High-IQ Community Member (South Korea): I’ve learned the scientific method of analyzing which acts as my standard to avoid fallacies at my best.

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

Anonymous High-IQ Community Member (South Korea): WAIS-IV 150. For online tests, the highest score was SLSE-I 39/50, and some scores were 160s. (all in sd 15).

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.

Anonymous High-IQ Community Member (South Korea): I might only have taken inflated tests, but a few tests were around 160 sd15. The most inflated score would be Fiqure, with a similar result when I was 13. Some scores were around 140s, including school group intelligence test. It was a timed multiple-choice exam, and Processing Speed is my weakness.

Jacobsen: Do you believe in an afterlife? If so, why, and what form? If not, why not?

Anonymous High-IQ Community Member (South Korea): No. I’m waiting for the proof. It’ll be proved when GAI is developed, better proof with emotions.

Jacobsen: What do you make of the mystery and transience of life?

Anonymous High-IQ Community Member (South Korea): I don’t use English as my first language, so I can’t answer a metaphysical question in English!

Jacobsen: What is love to you?

Anonymous High-IQ Community Member (South Korea): I don’t know.

Appendix I: Footnotes

[1] Member, South Korean High-IQ Community.

[2] Individual Publication Date: January 22, 2021: http://www.in-sightjournal.com/south-korea; Full Issue Publication Date: May 1, 2021: https://in-sightjournal.com/insight-issues/.

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2023-03-24

Conversation with Christopher Harding on Genius as Individualistic, God as the Universe or Non-Existent, Science’s Despoilment, Feynman, and the Quantum: Founder, International Society for Philosophical Enquiry (2)

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

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

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2021/01/15

Abstract

Christopher Harding is the Founder of the International Society for Philosophical Enquiry (ISPE), and a Member of OlympIQ Society and the ESOTERIQ Society. He was born on August 4, 1944 in Clovelly Private Nursing Home at Keynsham, Somerset, English, United Kingdom. He has never married. He arrived in Rockhampton, Queensland, Australia, in the morning of October 11, 1952. He remains there to this day. He has held memberships with the Eugenics Society (1963-1964), the British Astronomical Association (1964-1969), the International Heuristic Association (1970-1974), the Triple Nine Society (1979-1990 & 1992-1995), the 606 Society (1981-1982), the Omega Society (1983-1991), the Prometheus Society (1984-1990), the International Biographical Association (1985-1990), Geniuses of Distinction Society (1986-1988), the American Biographical Institute Research Association (1986-1990), the Cincinnatus Society (1987-1990), the 4 Sigma Group of Societies [incorporating all groups having 4 Sigma plus cut off points ] (1988-1990), The Minerva Society [Formerly the Phoenix Society] (1988-1990), The Confederation of Chivalry (1988-1990), the Planetary Society (1989-1990), Maison Internationale des Intellectuels [M.I.D.I.] (1989-1990), TOPS HIQ Society (1989-1990), the Cleo Society (1990-1991), the Camelopard Society (1991-1992), the Hoeflin One-in-a-Thousand Society (1992-1993), the Pi Society (also like the Mega Society for persons with 1 in one million I.Q. level (5th April 2001 – 2002), INTERTEL [The International Legion of Intelligence] (June 1971-March 2010), The Hundred (1972-1977), the New Zealand National Mensa (1980-1982), and the Single Gourmet (1989-1991), among numerous other memberships, awards, and achievements. For the most recent or up-to-date information, please see the ESOTERIQ Society listing: https://esoteriqsociety.com/esotericists/esoteriq-id06/. He discusses: He discusses: National Enquirer; the gap between cognitive abilities and record of employment; living situation without a record of work; alone; the professionals test someone just shy of 1-year-old; parents react to being called “liars to their faces”; genius; intelligence tests; publications or periodicals; artificial constructs; the factors making genius; God as human idealism; the Concept of God; science; the areas most affected by this despoilment; the areas least affected by this despoilment; 6-sigma; the ESOTERIQ Society; conclusions; and the information in Quantum Physics.

Keywords: Christopher Harding, Feynman, genius, God, individualistic, International Society for Philosophical Enquiry, science, Quantum.

Conversation with Christopher Harding on Genius as Individualistic, God as the Universe or Non-Existent, Science’s Despoilment, Feynman, and the Quantum: Founder, International Society for Philosophical Enquiry (2)

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

Scott Douglas Jacobsen: What Royal Houses were the main connections with family?

Chris Harding: Most prominent – French side.

Jacobsen: In the National Enquirer published on June 25, 1991, there was an article about a certain man with the “world’s highest IQ” who is a “jobless janitor.” What did this particular media attention do for you?

Harding: Nothing.

Jacobsen: I state the caveat of “absolutely nothing at all” as the response to the work experiences question. It is reported that you have worked in menial jobs and had stretches of unemployment, e.g., in the National Enquirer. What explains the gap between the cognitive abilities and the cognitive demands of the jobs for you? Alternatively, what explains the gap between cognitive abilities and record of employment for you?

Harding: Unknown.

Jacobsen: How did you sustain yourself in terms of living situation without a record of work?

Harding: Family.

Jacobsen: Why the “non-existent” life with peers and schoolmates? Did you feel alone?

Harding: Violence and exclusion.

Jacobsen: How did the professionals test someone just shy of 1-year-old? It seems odd, even stranger than the 2-and-a-half-year-old, or thereabouts, cases entering Mensa International (or their national group).

Harding: Mental age in my case 3 years 4 months made that easy!

Jacobsen: How did your parents react to being called “liars to their faces” when ‘speaking of you’?

Harding: They were taken aback by this.

Jacobsen: Does this desire of cultures wanting genius while not wanting the genius create a toxic dichotomy in the general culture? Something to which only lip service is paid, while wanting to kill in former times, and ‘kill’ in modern times, the genius.

Harding: It comes from competitiveness [jack is equal to his master]. In many cultures submissiveness is considered politeness. That is considered standard in communication. It is why first world cultures see themselves as superior.

Jacobsen: As these intelligence tests have been a part of life before even 1-year-old, may I ask, what has been the life lesson from them for you?

Harding: Look, people see I.Q.’s as not valid above their own. Everybody does this. It is very noticeable that children asked who in their class is smartest will name themselves!

Jacobsen: As you recalled the quote from the Journal of the British Eugenics Society, I’m sure many will be interested now. What publications or periodicals do you continue to read now? What ones did you previously read and no longer do so?

Harding: No preference; I am a total generalist.

Jacobsen: With Leonardo da Vinci as “a Master Genius in an age of Genius,” do you think artificial constructs could fill the gap between genius seen before and unseen genius now, i.e., artificial constructs with the capabilities of the highest human genius?

Harding: They have provided little evidence they are going to solve this one: My Mother once said the process was ‘ant like’ rather than a G-function.

Jacobsen: What are the factors making genius “creative ability of the highest possible kind”? Other than the qualities inherent in ‘marching to the beat of their own drum.’

Harding: Genius by definition would be individualistic. As one person said to me, I was very `singular’.

Jacobsen: If “God is purely human idealism; largely what you can’t attain,” what are some exceptions to this thing one “largely… can’t attain” or the things attainable within this definition of God as human idealism?

Harding: What I meant was the problem lay beyond the nature of logical process. It is answerable in terms of the proof of the last theory of sets. But you still get back to the conclusion that if God exists he either is the Universe or does not exist.

You are still dealing with value judgments or in assigning names; which amounts to the same thing. My Brother agreed with me that the highest form of reasoning was EVALUATION. Since to invoke reason one must first evaluate a proposition.

Jacobsen: Is the setting of the “Concept… beyond what can be considered” a defense against formal knockdown critique of the Concept of God?

Harding: No.

Jacobsen: When did science begin this despoilment with the obsession with “consensus and ignorance”?

Harding: Always was there. In our own time many people use science to moralize, and science has become the new religion. This can’t be done of course. There is no bridge either between philosophy and religion.

Jacobsen: What are the areas most affected by this despoilment?

Harding: It is seen in notions of anthropomorphism with regard to climate change. Not so! The real cause is the Sun. Note, Astronomers had long ago pinned this down to Sun Spot Cycles. A new 11+ year Cycle began last year and rising temperatures have turned back. One Russian Woman Scientist predicts the onset of a period of dropping temperatures starting around 2030, though this figure is very uncertain!

Jacobsen: What are the areas least affected by this despoilment?

Harding: Human aging and Quantum Physics–much progress continues at the moment.

Jacobsen: What were the tests when scoring above 6-sigma several times?

Harding: Most of these I have forgotten. I’m 76 and most were over 30, 40 and up to over 75 years ago!

Jacobsen: For the ESOTERIQ Society, it states, “Christopher Harding (Australia): 197 on SBIS-Oxford-Analysis-New-Zealand in 1976.” What is the full name of the SBIS-Oxford-Analysis-New-Zealand, particularly the “SBIS” part?

Harding: Don’t know.

Jacobsen: While, fundamentally, dispensing with ethical philosophy, social philosophy, economic philosophy, political philosophy, and metaphysics, even philosophy as “word juggling” (!), I see some common points. One is science, though “less and less” with its despoilment, meaning as a “PATTERN” made by each person individually, an emphasis on some of Freud, “QUANTUM PHYSICS” in terms of “truth” with its preservation of information (neither gained nor lost), and the bounded nature of nature (including humans) as “a condition of being defined.” So, there is a there there. I have to ask, “What makes these conclusions more sound, at this time, to you than other possibilities?

Harding: Feynman once said no one understands the Quantum. And yet to further agree with his point “Quantum Superiority” has been proved for the D-Wave Orion Computer. I liken this to statements about the Aleph series in the mathematics of infinity theory.

Jacobsen: Any speculation as to why the information in Quantum Physics simply “IS”?

Harding: I once thought it through and concluded there was another stage beyond Quantum Physics. Simply IS would represent in turn a `single one’ off any general group of abstractions.

Appendix I: Footnotes

[1] Founder, International Society for Philosophical Enquiry.

[2] Individual Publication Date: January 15, 2021: http://www.in-sightjournal.com/harding-2; Full Issue Publication Date: May 1, 2021: https://in-sightjournal.com/insight-issues/.

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2023-03-24

Conversation with Mr. Sudarshan Murthy on Growing Up, Ayurveda, Supreme Intelligence as God, and the Afterlife: Member, World Genius Directory (1)

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

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

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2021/01/15

Abstract

Mr. Sudarshan Murthy is a Member of the World Genius Directory. He self-describes as follows: “My name is Sudarshan Murthy. I am 41 years old male from Bangalore, India. I have studied Master of Pharmacy and working in the research and development of Nutrition Products for general wellness and disease-specific products. I am a creative individual and published research papers in journals and also published books on appropriate strategies for curing acidity and ulcers of the stomach and intestine. I have developed a product called Glucovita Bolts which is a chewable tablet of Glucose and Vitamins and Minerals for energy and reduction of fatigue. This product can be taken by individuals who suffer from chronic fatigue. My hobbies are numismatics, philately and travelling. My interests are astronomy, reading books, solving IQ tests, understanding the secrets of ancient knowledge particularly Indian Vedas which I believe is a storehouse of profound knowledge on various aspects of life and the cosmos.” He discusses: growing up; a sense of an extended self; the family background; the experience with peers and schoolmates; some professional certifications; the purpose of intelligence tests; high intelligence discovered; the extreme reactions to and treatment of geniuses; the greatest geniuses in history; a genius from a profoundly intelligent person; profound intelligence necessary for genius; work experiences and jobs; particular job path; the gifted and geniuses; God; science; the tests taken and scores earned (with standard deviations); the range of the scores; ethical philosophy; social philosophy; economic philosophy; political philosophy; metaphysics; philosophical system; meaning in life; meaning externally derived, internally generated; an afterlife; the mystery and transience of life; and love.

Keywords: Ayurveda, genius, India, intelligence, IQ, Sudarshan Murthy, World Genius Directory.

Conversation with Mr. Sudarshan Murthy on Growing Up, Ayurveda, Supreme Intelligence as God, and the Afterlife: Member, World Genius Directory (1)

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

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

Mr. Sudarshan Murthy[1],[2]*: My Grandfather was an orphan and illiterate. He married in a village. He was not having any formal college education but he studied the Ayurvedic Textbook by himself. He designed and formulated medicines based upon the understanding of the ayurvedic textbooks. He developed many medicines all by himself without going to any medical school. He carried out his own clinical trial experiments and gave them to patients. The results were successful. He was awarded “Bhishak Bhushan,” the highest medicine award by King of Mysore for excellence in the field of medicine.

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

Murthy: I feel that my grandfather was a born genius and some of his intelligence I have also acquired and of course his temper of course.

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

Murthy: My grandfather had eight children: four sons and four daughters. My father is the youngest son and was an electrical engineer. My mother was a housewife. We are two children, a son and a daughter. My sister is a doctor, married to a doctor and settled in Australia. She is an orthopedic surgeon. We stayed in India during our education in a different state. This enabled us to adjust to other cultures right from our childhood. However, we missed the long term relationship with our close relatives as we were in a different state.

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

Murthy: Since we were in a different state and away from our parents during formative years of education we found it somewhat difficult to adjust and study. May that reflected in somewhat lower scores in education. But we developed a good friendship with some people. But I became very reserved for the fear of being judged negatively and went into depression as we were made fun of. I felt I am an odd man out in a strange environment.

Jacobsen: What have been some professional certifications, qualifications, and training earned by you?

Murthy: Professional qualifications:

–Master of Pharmacy, Master of Business Administration in Human Resource Development;

Professional Certifications:

– Food and Nutrition, Writing in Sciences and Design and Interpretation of clinical trials.

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

Murthy: Intelligence tests help to discover the innate ingenuity present in an individual of which he/she may be unaware of. This can help as a motivation to tap the potential of ingenious people to work for the greater good of humanity.

Jacobsen: When was high intelligence discovered for you?

Murthy: I developed an interest in intelligence since my school days when I used to solve brain teasers and play games like crosswords and Sudoku. However, it was in the year 2010 when I first searched on google for high intelligence quotient tests and found the Mysterium Society entrance exam. I gave the exam and scored at 99^th-percentile and got admitted to Mysterium Society. Thereafter I found many IQ tests and societies on the internet and kept myself a hobby of solving IQ tests and getting admitted to different societies.

Murthy: I think the problem with nature is that it sometimes creates misfits. Intelligent people are far ahead of time in their minds. This makes them appear odd to others because others can’t think like them, i.e., far ahead of time. They perceive these people to be a threat to society and their own position. Also, jealousy plays a role in the mistreatment of geniuses. I don’t think the geniuses are shy but they know that their ideas cannot be understood by others. That’s why they keep away from others in their own world of thinking. They avoid distractions because intelligence requires concentration.

Jacobsen: Who seems like the greatest geniuses in history to you?

Murthy: There are many geniuses, some are recognized by the world like Newton, Einstein, Leonardo Da Vinci while many of them still not recognized like sages of India such as Sushrutha, Bhaskaracharya, etc., who are geniuses.

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

Murthy: I believe that ingenuity is an innate quality of deep observation and application of ideas that originates from the mind of a genius while a profoundly intelligent person knows a unique way of applying the worldly knowledge which is already there and known.

Jacobsen: Is profound intelligence necessary for genius?

Murthy: As discussed in the above question, profound intelligence is not necessary for a genius.

Jacobsen: What have been some work experiences and jobs held by you?

Murthy: I was and am working in the research and development of various medical and nutrition products in the healthcare industry.

Jacobsen: Why pursue this particular job path?

Murthy: Because this path involves developing original concepts from nothing. This creates a sense of achievement for me.

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

Murthy: If we think and observe deeply the universe in which we are we find some kind of control on the processes happening out everywhere. New stars are born, black hole destroys the galaxy, most of the objects are in the form of a sphere and why they are rotating, the existence of gravitational force we find that such order cannot happen on its own. There is some intelligence that is doing this and we call this intelligence as God. Different religions call this supreme intelligence as God.

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

Murthy: Science is everywhere in this world. We know very little of the science. Everything is based on scientific phenomenon many discovered and many unknown (yet to be discovered).

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

Murthy: Attached scores on some of the tests. My IQ scores range about 150 with a standard deviation of 15.

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.

Murthy: 145-160 IQ.

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

Murthy: I believe in rule utilitarianism.

Jacobsen: What social philosophy makes some sense, even the most workable sense to you?

Murthy: I believe in situational ethics because every situation is different and so cannot be based on absolute moral principles. Each new social situation has to be dealt with based on the context of the act when viewing it from a social ethics perspective.

Jacobsen: What economic philosophy makes some sense, even the most workable sense to you?

Murthy: Any economic activity which makes the greater good for humanity and not mere exploitation for gaining profit is my philosophy. I still believe in the old barter system where the abundant things were exchanged among the people rather than money transactions of today. This artificial money is responsible for world wars and exploitation. However, in the current scenario capitalism to some extent is more beneficial than communism because economic activity is based on a desire for profit, but should not lead to the exploitation of the masses.

Jacobsen: What political philosophy makes some sense, even the most workable sense to you?

Murthy:Political systems should ideally be made to ensure harmony in society and ensure that there is no exploitation of people. The political systems should be able to create discipline in the society, an order in the society and fair and equal distribution of resources. The political systems should ensure there is no crime or corruption and harassment of the masses. Political philosophy should be above the religion or the beliefs of people.

Jacobsen: What metaphysics makes some sense to you, even the most workable sense to you?

Murthy: I personally believe what is present is in three forms:

-physical, mental (and emotional/perception), and spiritual.

Jacobsen: What worldview-encompassing philosophical system makes some sense, even the most workable sense to you?

Murthy: The philosophical system based on benefit for all, equal and fair distribution of resources and no exploitation of anyone makes sense to me. The system should also ensure the absence of crime, corruption and appropriate punishment for wrong people makes sense. This can happen only when there is an open-mindedness and sharing attitude among the masses and no religious beliefs or biases of any kind.

Jacobsen: What provides meaning in life for you?

Murthy: Identifying, meeting and living a life filled with a purpose provides meaning to life.

Jacobsen: Is meaning externally derived, internally generated, both, or something else?

Murthy: Life meaning is derived from internal motivation based on the observation and perception of the world around us.

Jacobsen: Do you believe in an afterlife? If so, why, and what form? If not, why not?

Murthy: Yes, I believe in an afterlife. Because believing in the afterlife makes a person behave responsibly and in a sober way. Indian karma theory is based on this. Whatever action we do has an appropriate reaction. We all have descended here because of our karma or the deeds which we have done in our previous life. Many Indian sages have been telling us that soul is eternal and we take the body in this life based on our previous deeds. If our deeds are pure we may go higher dimensions and misdeeds may take us to lower dimensions.

Jacobsen: What do you make the mystery and transience of life?

Murthy: Mystery of life makes it interesting. The transience of life makes one live life fully without any attachments to worldly things. We are stressed because of attachments to worldly things thinking it is permanent. Once we know these are temporary we don’t feel the stress and enjoy the journey of life.

Jacobsen: What is love to you?

Murthy: Love is a part of life that is needed for our wellbeing and to create harmony and peace in the entire world.

Appendix I: Footnotes

[1] Member, World Genius Directory.

[2] Individual Publication Date: January 15, 2021: http://www.in-sightjournal.com/murthy-1; Full Issue Publication Date: May 1, 2021: https://in-sightjournal.com/insight-issues/.

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2023-03-24

Conversation with Antjuan Finch on Life, Love, Work, Background, and Writings: Member, CIVIQ Society (1)

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

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

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2021/01/15

Abstract

Antjuan Finch is the Author of After Genius: On Creativity and Its Consequences, The 3 Sides of Man, and Applied Theory. He created the Creative Attitudes Inventory (CAT) and the Public Domain Intelligence Test (PDIT). He discusses: growing up; a sense of an extended self; the family background; the experience with peers and schoolmates; some professional certifications; the purpose of intelligence tests; high intelligence discovered; the extreme reactions to and treatment of geniuses; the greatest geniuses in history; a genius from a profoundly intelligent person; profound intelligence necessary for genius; work experiences and jobs; particular job path; the gifted and geniuses; God; science; the tests taken and scores earned (with standard deviations); the range of the scores; ethical philosophy; social philosophy; economic philosophy; political philosophy; metaphysics; philosophical system; meaning in life; meaning externally derived, internally generated; an afterlife; the mystery and transience of life; and love.

Keywords: Antjuan Finch, author, CIVIQ Society, Creative Attitudes Inventory, creativity, genius, Harvard University, intelligence, IQ.

Conversation with Antjuan Finch on Life, Love, Work, Background, and Writings: Member, CIVIQ Society (1)

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

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

Antjuan Finch[1],[2]*: There were hardly any noteworthy family stories being told to me during my childhood. My mother, and brothers and I lived somewhat secluded from our larger family, and maybe that contributed to this happening.

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

Finch: While they couldn’t have because there were no stories, I do think that the lack of these sort of stories may have been conducive toward me developing a sense of self unconstrained by familial expectations, traditions, and historic accomplishments or lack thereof. It’s even possible that this lack of a sense of a family legacy may have caused me to adopt a somewhat heroic attitude, and be interested in being the one who began paving this legacy. I believe that my brothers adopted similar mindsets.

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

Finch: I was born and raised, largely, in Indianapolis, Indiana, in the United States. The culture where I resided could likely, by American standards, be described as low class. We faced pretty extreme financial hardships during the majority of my upbringing. We each spoke only english, for the most part. And my brothers and I were fairly involved, whether we wanted to be or not, in several Christian churches during our childhood.

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

Finch: I feel that I was always a social outcast growing up, and even am today, but to a lesser extent. This change is probably mostly due to my recent accomplishments, which may give me an added allure and appeal to some people.

As a child and adolescent, I think that my autistic traits may have been more prominent or noticeable, and that to my peers, this caused me to seem vaguely, but very unconventional and queer. While I might be both of these things, I think that these traits were moderately tolerated and accepted by my peers. Although growing up I was directly asked, several times, “why are you so weird?”

Jacobsen: What have been some professional certifications, qualifications, and trainings earned by you?

Finch: Most of the noteworthy training that I have that isn’t the result of autodidacticism, comes from my studies at Harvard, predominantly in the fields of creative writing, psychometrics, astrophysics, and evolutionary biology.

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

Finch: To provide a fairly accurate measure of the extent that psychometric g may be expressed in individuals.

Jacobsen: When was high intelligence discovered for you?

Finch: When I was about 16 years old, while trying to learn more about quantum mechanics, I stumbled across a Ted-Talk by Jacob Barnett, who was also from Indiana, about 14 years old at the time, and had recently been admitted to the Perimeter Institute of Theoretical Physics. During this talk, Jacob mentioned that he had been tested to have an IQ higher than what Einstein’s had been estimated to be. Following my natural curiosity, I began to look into intelligence testing after viewing this video. After some time, I stumbled across the website IQNAVI.net (now IQexams.net) and took a few of the tests on that site and received scores clustering around 143. In disbelief of my results, I got several people at my school to take those and other tests to see if their results were as consistent as mine, and if they aligned with what would be predicted for them by their class-ranks. After doing this for some time, I realized that these may not have been actions one would expect from a typical sixteen-year-old, and accepted that I may have above average intelligence.

Finch: My current belief is that most geniuses simply go unrecognized, and that neither of these results describe the most common outcome for people in this population. But as to why the outcomes of geniuses vary so radically: geniuses, by definition, are extraordinary and extreme people, and extreme actions tend to illicit extreme responses and outcomes. But to provide a more detailed reply: having the degree of unconventionality needed to produce work that is, among other things, so novel that you’re eventually labeled a genius for having made it, connotes a level of unusualness that, in most situations, is associated with failure. Moreover, the immediate reception of a genius seems to some degree be dependent on the status and clout that they may accumulate, mostly through non-creative means, throughout their life. For example, in today’s world, it is likely impossible to gain the credibility needed to be accepted as being able to revolutionize several fields or industries, without having first studied at somewhere like Harvard, Stanford, or Cambridge (potential geniuses relevant to this example might be Karl Friston and Elon Musk). Likewise, in historic times, the means to properly foster the talents of a potential genius was available only to the wealthy (potential geniuses relevant to this example might be Isaac Newton and Leonardo da Vinci). As for the potential camera shyness of geniuses, the unusualness associated with being able to repeatedly produce such novel and innovative work might, as a byproduct, cause a certain level of awkwardness which may get magnified or exacerbated during things like zoom or phone calls. Your questions in these articles also demand a level consideration that potential geniuses might find beyond the realms of a live and fluid conversation.

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

Finch: The greatest genius in history most likely lived in squalor and never received the recognition needed to be propelled to the forefront of my memory, at this moment. But for known geniuses, I might say Leonardo da Vinci.

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

Finch: A profoundly intelligent person merely has an extremely functional and efficient mind, while a genius has a highly efficient mind that is occasionally “dysfunctional” in ways that are conducive to the production of highly innovative work, when combined with an appropriate level of work ethic.

Jacobsen: Is profound intelligence necessary for genius?

Finch: Profound intelligence is likely almost incompatible with genius. In my view, genius requires a confluence of traits that don’t seem to be highly correlated with another, so the likelihood of profound intelligence coexisting with the other traits needed, each at similarly highly levels, seems improbable. For clarity, in my view, these other traits would be related to conscientiousness and psychological unusualness, and the rarity cutoff for profound intelligence would be about 1 in 20,000,000, or an IQ 180 (SD: 15).

Jacobsen: What have been ome work experiences and jobs held by you?

Finch: The majority of my work experience has been in entry level positions at warehouses. Although, given my recent accomplishments, I may now be able to secure more desirable jobs.

Jacobsen: Why pursue this particular job path?

Finch: I was to some degree forced into those jobs, as a result of apparently being too unusual to be likely to be hired to a job that required an interview.

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?

Finch: The most notable myth might be that simply having a very high IQ, or being profoundly gifted, is all that is required for genius. This notion neglects to consider that it is impossible to produce genius work if one is highly intelligent, but lazy, unmotivated, or unconscientious, and conformist (and in turn, unoriginal) by nature. So the truth that high intelligence is necessary but not sufficient for genius is what dispels this myth.

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

Finch: I believe that my current position regarding how the law of non-contradiction relates to my model of creativity, and theory regarding the mechanics of emergence, mandates that I accept that there at least once existed something which can be reasonably described as a God. For example, according to my current understanding, a tautological universe requires a self-testing function, which implies self-awareness, and in turn, an, at least once, omnipresent entity whose existence allowed for reality as we know it, of which would be without a straightforward name if not referred to as a God. Note that this statement does not imply the existence of a God who for some reason disapproves of homosexuality and willing allowed the trillions of tragedies that have happened throughout history. For a more thorough, and likely accurate description of my position here, viewers should read my essay, Everything & Nothing, from After Genius, and my essay, On the Origin of Life, from my Applied Theory compilation.

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

Finch: It plays an almost inconceivably important part in how I view the world. It seems impossible to me for a rational and critical thinker to not be employing some scientific practices and procedures just while thinking and judging the validity of different perspectives. And of course, quite a lot of research into the relevant scientific fields tends to happen on my part during the incubation stage of my creative process and workflow.

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

Finch: I received a 145 on the test that I compiled and developed, a 136 on the WAIS-IV (145 GAI and 119 PSI), a 137 on the Shipley 2, and a surprising 122 on the RAIT. These scores are each on a standard deviation of 15. I seem to consistently underperform on tests with strict time constraints, likely due to having processing speed abilities which are fairly poor, at least compared to my abilities relating to other facets of intelligence.

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.

Finch: I’ve achieved scores as high as 156, and as low as 122 on supposedly valid intelligence tests. The difference in scores here might mostly be due to that different tests tend to place differing amounts of emphasis on different cognitive abilities, and that there may be a large variation in my sleep quality, nutrition quality, and mental stamina during different parts of the day, week and year. With and without excluding my highest and lowest scores, my average score is about 140.

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

Finch: Maximize the agency of all living things.

Jacobsen: What social philosophy makes some sense, even the most workable sense to you?

Finch: Maximize the agency of all living things. This prohibits lying.

Jacobsen: What economic philosophy makes some sense, even the most workable sense to you?

Finch: I find this series of questions regarding sensible philosophies relating to different fields somewhat redundant. A philosophy is only as valuable as the positive change which it allows, and given that the dynamics and laws of the universe tend to remain constant, general principles about how to behave in this universe can be derived and applied in any context. Certain rules like minimize unnecessary harm, and maximize the agency of all living things remain applicable in all contexts and should be the foundation for all workable philosophies.

Jacobsen: What political philosophy makes some sense, even the most workable sense to you?

Finch: See my previous answer.

Jacobsen: What metaphysics makes some sense to you, even the most workable sense to you?

Finch: In my essay, “Everything & Nothing,” from After Genius, I stated, “if things could not occur independently of absolutely nothingness, then the impossibility of absolute nothingness could not exist.” There, I argued that the existence of an ultimate reality was evidence of at least one non-externally determined event, an in turn, an instance of free will.

Jacobsen: What worldview-encompassing philosophical system makes some sense, even the most workable sense to you?

Finch: In my essay, “Preconditions for Genius,” from After Genius, and in my essay, “On the Origin of Life,” from my Applied Theory compilation, I provide overviews of how my model of creativity could also function as a description of the mechanics of emergence, and be used to explain how a universe might progress from a somewhat description averse state to having molecules and respirating cells, to having solar systems and complex civilizations, with black holes, psychopaths and all.

In “Preconditions for Genius,” these facets were referred to as deviance, pattern recognition, and conscientiousness, and in “On the Origin of Life,” they were referred to as variation, heritability and differential advantage. This all encompassing framework and potential theory of everything has yet to be given a definitive name.

Jacobsen: What provides meaning in life for you?

Finch: Essentially, improving everything that I can touch, and bettering everything I know how to in whatever ways that I can.

Jacobsen: Is meaning externally derived, internally generated, both, or something else?

Finch: Both. Meaning, according to me, is a consequence of converting information into more functional information, and so requires at least one entity of multiple parts or facets.

Jacobsen: Do you believe in an afterlife? If so, why, and what form? If not, why not?

Finch: I believe that an afterlife may be possible through some form of cloning, or even through consciousness uploading, or perhaps others means, but do not believe in any form of afterlife that is currently reported as possible by any major religion.

Jacobsen: What do you make of the mystery and transience of life?

Finch: I don’t believe that life is as intrinsically mysterious as maybe some would like it to be. I might also add that it is not necessarily transient either, given that it is the longest thing anyone can live to experience. But in all seriousness, I think that, just like our strengths, many of our limitations can be embraced in ways that amplify the meaning we’re able to produce, as without obstacles or limitations there could be no struggles or accomplishments, and no weight to our decisions or actions. I think that It would be fairly boring to be a God. We should be grateful for all that is just beyond our reach, as they give us reasons to grow, and something to live for.

Jacobsen: What is love to you?

Finch: The result of a combination of attraction and appreciation. Note that this implies that love can be rational or irrational, and that unconditional love implies an intense appreciation and attraction to even the most despicable aspects of a person, place or thing.

Appendix I: Footnotes

[1] Member, CIVIQ Society.

[2] Individual Publication Date: January 15, 2021: http://www.in-sightjournal.com/finch-1; Full Issue Publication Date: May 1, 2021: https://in-sightjournal.com/insight-issues/.

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2023-03-24

Conversation with Ani Zonneveld on the American Immigrant Experience, Extreme Rhetoric, and Progressive Muslim Values: Founder and President, Muslims for Progressive Values

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

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

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2021/01/15

Abstract

Ani Zonneveld is the President and Founder of Muslims for Progressive Values. She discusses: the American immigrant experience; story of finding some of the history of America in the midst of the development of personal history unfolds; extreme rhetoric and its consequences; progressive Muslim communities; organizations; and final thoughts.

Keywords: Ani Zonneveld, Islam, Muslim, Muslims for Progressive Values.

Conversation with Ani Zonneveld on the American Immigrant Experience, Extreme Rhetoric, and Progressive Muslim Values: Founder and President, Muslims for Progressive Values

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

*Interview conduced August 25, 2020.*

Scott Douglas Jacobsen: So, we talked a couple of years ago. This is 2018. We talked about some of your personal history, views, and work in activism within a particular tradition within Islam. Today, we are going to be talking more about a) the immigrant experience and b) historical perspectives and things that, at present, leading from that historical perspective that are helpful and not-so helpful in terms of discourse, in moving dialogue forward.

In terms of immigrant experience, in terms of a), what are some of the experiences coming to America later in life living in a wealthy society, granted with high income inequality, and a lot more freedoms for citizens compared to a lot of other countries?

Ani Zonneveld: One of things that really stood out for me. As a new immigrant at 18-years-old, I was really dumbfounded by the politicking that the political parties had when it came to trade issues. This is when I first came to the United States and NAFTA.

I was really surprised at what I thought they were giving away. Although, I didn’t know the issues deeply, etc. But as someone who came from a very politically active country, I was aware that in Malaysia there were protections from trade because, for instance, they are a small country and didn’t open the borders and allow for much more powerful companies to come into Malaysia and take over the firms and the industries, or open its market and get nothing in return.

I was surprised American economic and free trade is straight policies in that regard. But that’s too generous. That was my naïve immigrant take on it. When I landed in the United States, I landed in Illinois. I experienced some racist remarks and some things like that.

For me, I don’t take those things to heart because there are many more kind-hearted Midwesterners. You get your good and your bad batch of people. Although, you learn very quickly upon landing in America to sound as American as possible.

Jacobsen: [Laughing].

Zonneveld: [Laughing] Because when you had an accident, even though, I had more of a British than a Malay accent otherwise. You were looked on as dumb or dumber. Your accent doesn’t dictate how strong your grammar is or your written skills are.

In America, in order for you to be socially accepted, you needed to sound as American as possible. That’s fine. Some see this as assimilation. Some see it as terrible. I do not see it as that. I don’t see it like that because I lived and grew up in three different countries all of my life.

I’ve always been the minority, whether religious, race, or ethnicity. But I’m secure in my identity. So, for me, assimilating or becoming part of the culture that I’m living with and learning their culture and their religion and dressing like them; for me, it is not a problem. It is enriching.

I come from that perspective as an immigrant who is secure in my identity. When I look at America now and when I look at the conversations on cultural appropriation, and how wrong and right it is, that whole conversation around that sounds so crazy.

That we are having an issue with cultural appropriation. Where is that line on cultural appropriation? There are a lot of these discussions happening now. That I find them very problematic.

Jacobsen: When you came to America, the entire narrative so far describes a situation in which an individual is coming to a country, finding a need to adapt – needing an American accent, for instance, while not having a deeper understanding of some of the roots of these things, the longer term historical perspective of the nation.

Now, many, many people admire the foundational principles of the United States. At the same time, a lot of others will point out the contradictory lives of the people who made those same stipulations.

So, it is a weird admixture of admirable principles at the outset and missteps and hypocrisies in the lives and the subsequent setups in the United States of America at its founding.

In terms of its political activism, it more or less has been changing the history over time towards the ideals and away from the monstrous acts in its history. So, what is the story, for you, of finding out more of the history and seeing some in your own lifetime?

Zonneveld: Yes, it is hypocritical. In regards to coming to the realization of the shortcomings of America’s ideals vis-à-vis its reality as a result of my activism, I’ve lived in the United States since 1981. I have lived here for many decades.

For four years, I was in college. Then I was in the music business for 25 years. I wasn’t an activist. I was clueless of a lot of the social injustice within the American system. When I became an activist and human rights defender in a lot of the work that I do, it was work around African Americans and what we need to do here in the United States.

I would not have realized there were youth charged with crimes done under 18. I wouldn’t have known for international law. It is unconscionable to do that. As a country, it is reforming its judicial system, so children do not get any sentence without a chance for parole.

It is a chance to reform the system. In California, in the most liberal state in the United States, we had children in prison without any chance of parole. We were able to get that law passed at the state level in partnership with other faith organizations.

Another example was social security benefits for caregivers were exempted. When they passed social security some decade ago, the only way the Southern democrats would pass this law is if caregivers were exempted from receiving social security benefits.

This was because traditional caregivers were black slaves. So, when I found this out, I was stunned that this was such an issue in the United States, still. It is still an issue in many states in the United States.

This is another state-by-state case. We need this to happen on a state-by-state level. All this leaves me, as an immigrant, to learn about such things as redlinings, the black GIs not getting housing loans like the white GIs did. Even though, they were in the same army.

So many things that have deprived African Americans of equal opportunities, blatantly so. So, it is just such a heavy discussion to have; so, I think, unfortunately, the fact is there are so many deaths of unarmed black men and women, as well, by police.

We have had months of demonstrations for Black Lives Matter in the context of Los Angeles because trans black folks are being killed more so. So, that’s a more acute zoomed-in vision of not just your general black public, but also LGBT people.

So, this all popped up in the context of Covid-19 when we are all attentive to the media. There is a lot of attention on this issue and rightfully so. I am hoping that we will finally have the reforms needed.

Given that there’s such a mix of intergenerational and mixed races that have marched on the streets for Black Lives Matter, I am hoping the moment is now, even the election season, etc. I hope the moment is now. Also, I am very mindful.

I see a lot of incredibly divisive language on social media and media. A lot of people screaming at each other rather than people having a very strategic discussion, intellectual discussion, on how to change the structures.

If you are accusing someone of being a Nazi or accusing someone who is not black of being racist because you could, it does not bring people together. It does not bring in allies to renew this movement and to restructure America to the best that it can be.

That is my concern and that is my worry. I’m really happy when, at the funeral service of John Lewis, Reverend James Lawson who is an iconic African American, non-violent advocate. He veered off-topic from his speech and said, “I have to say this.” He was quite angry in his tone.

He said, basically, the dismissive language and the tone that you use will be unhelpful and history will judge you by that. I was really happy to have someone of that stature speak out. I am not African American.

It is not my place to say this. There’s a lot of anger and rightfully so. You know what is really interesting. The people calling for peaceful demonstrations are the victims of the families themselves.

These family members – my God. They’re just beautiful people. For them to be so incredibly gracious, I don’t know how they have the heart to be so gracious. Everyone else who has been destroying and fearing in the name of the lives that are dead.

They are really doing those lives injustice. That saddens me.

Jacobsen: How is this political context of bombastic, pompous and extreme rhetoric from the leadership influencing how ordinary Americans across political spectrums interact with one another? How is this further exacerbated by some of the chaos inherent in being, at present, at least, the number one nation in terms of the coronavirus pandemic and its impacts on individuals?

You have three major things happening. You have these massive protests, the largest in American history. An international pandemic with America as the major of it at present, as well as an overarching of actions, leadership, which aren’t helpful to any discourse to bring people in the United States together.

Zonneveld: There are two kinds of leaders. There are leaders who care about their country, their wellbeing, and using the power to bring people together. Then there are those who use that power for their own personal gain. Trump is obviously the latter.

He doesn’t give a crap about what happens to America. His whole rhetoric about Make America Great Again has only torn America from within. I am dumbfounded by the Americans who are still supporting him.

I am dumbfounded that they can’t see what a traitor he has been to American ideals. How he has brought the worst, how he has created division bigger than what it was, how he has peddled to our enemies and to the dictators, I am dumbfounded!

I don’t understand how people can’t see that. This requires a conversation with a psychologist, not with [Laughing] a lay activist such as myself. I don’t understand that mindset.

Jacobsen: What do you think progressive Muslim communities can bring to the table in bridging the divides created and advancing the universal vision of human rights and progressive values?

Zonneveld: As a progressive Muslim, I have to ensure that the readers are going to understand “progressive” in this regard is not a political progressive definition. It is a spiritual progressive. It is often mistaken for progressive politically.

That is not what it is intended to be. Now, by default, we stand for LGBTQ equality, human rights, women’s rights, anti-discrimination, etc. So, by default, we are political progressives by our values.

But you also see “fake progressive Muslims” who are using the progressive political language by politicians to earn their votes on the Left. The secular Left wanting to be inclusive, big tent, while not realizing that the use of these supposedly progressive Muslims is a way for them to utilize the process of democracy for their own political agenda.

I have a problem with some of those progressive Muslims who are running for office. They have this double-think. They are progressive on the public platform from which they are running on, but those are not the progressive values that they live day-to-day with their families and how they raise their children.

I think that’s the sort of problem; I have with the political climate. The politicking of the political language and narrative to advance yourself. Muslims for Progressive Values, what I think we can do as a non-profit, is advocate for the values that adhere to the values of equality and human rights for all.

I think on LGBTQ issues; it is constantly under assault in the Trump Administration. Our religious institutions receive federal funding and are allowed to discriminate against gay couples in the adoption of children, for example.

You’re not supposed to be able to discriminate as religious institutions if you are receiving federal funding. There are so many cases of this issue. As a progressive Muslim organization, we have collaborated with a lot of progressive faith-based organizations fighting back against a lot of this, e.g., what they have used is the Religious Freedom Reclamation Act to justify discrimination in the name of religion of others whoever the “other” is.

That’s what it was intended to be; it was intended to protect religious minorities, like Native Americans when the government was taking over their land for development. Land the Native Americans saw as their burial grounds.

That’s what it was intended to be used for, but now it is used by the Religious Right to support their religious agenda. I see the conservative Muslims are using the same modus operandi as the Christian Right to justify discrimination against LGBT people.

They try to use it to justify female genital mutilation in Detroit, two years ago, for example. So, yes, this is where we’re at! It is no longer a secular state. It is a theocracy. It has become a Christian theocracy, Christian Sharia Law.

I say, “Christian Sharia Law,” because: How is it any different than others who legislate and inform laws based on their understanding of the Quran? They are implementing it for the rest of America or the rest of the States.

So, it is unconstitutional.

Jacobsen: So, for those who are interested, either as secular people or as Muslims, what are some organizations that they can look into, become involved in, and support some of these more progressive values as defined before, or can research more to get a better understanding?

Zonneveld: Muslims for Progressive Values is the oldest progressive Muslim organization. We have been consistent in our messaging, in our advocacy, and in the positions that we take. There are some new organizations.

But they’re advocacy, political advocacy, types. I am not getting involved with them, actually. For one, because we are a non-profit, we are not a 501(c)4. We are a 501(c)3. So, because we are a non-profit, we cannot endorse political candidates, for example.

We tend to have discussions with politicians about positions and candidates. We have a forum and exchange ideas, “This is what we feel like. America should have marriage age for children at age 18 and older, not younger. Period. America should have a federal law against female genital mutilation and cutting. Because we don’t.”

That kind of advocacy, but we can’t endorse particular candidates. You would have to go to the progressive advocacy groups like MoveOn.org. or wherever on the political spectrum someone is.

Jacobsen: Any final thoughts?

Zonneveld: Also, there is this language put out on the side. It saddens me. Because there is so much divisive language, which can take away from restructuring the police, restructuring whatever the system is needing restructuring.

So, when you use the term, “Defund the police,” it is a kind of an intellectually lazy term. I have a problem with things like that. I would like to see really thought out things. There are a lot of African American scholars and thinkers who we do not hear in the media.

We see a lot of people in the media. It doesn’t get us anywhere as a country. That’s my overarching sentiment about the political climate in America, whether Black Lives Matter, Trumpism, the divisive language happening.

That’s my reflection on that.

Jacobsen: Thank you for your time, Ani, it’s a pleasure.

Zonneveld: You’re welcome, Scott.

Appendix I: Footnotes

[1] President and Founder, Muslims for Progressive Values; Founder, Alliance of Inclusive Muslims.

[2] Individual Publication Date: January 15, 2021: http://www.in-sightjournal.com/zonneveld-1; Full Issue Publication Date: May 1, 2021: https://in-sightjournal.com/insight-issues/.

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2023-03-24

Conversation with Michael Isom on Coming of Age, Geographic History, and Entrance Into the High-IQ World: Member, World Genius Directory (1)

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

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

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2021/01/08

Abstract

Michael Isom grew up in the birthplace of hip-hop, South Bronx New York, during its original emergence. Having also lived through its rise and urban renaissance of the mid-80s through the early 90s, Michael was able to experience many of the culture’s core lessons of true aboriginal history with respect to cultural identity, knowledge of self, responsibility through adherence to law, studiousness towards becoming the adept, and mastery of one’s being as thematic underpinnings of the rap music produced in that era. In later years after completing high school, he decided to pursue an undergraduate degree in Forensic Psychology and graduate education in Public Policy specializing in Management and Operations. Afterwards, he obtained an M.B.A. in Strategic Management in the wake of the dot-com era. In 2001, during the Super Bowl 35 Baltimore Ravens vs New York Giants intermission, Michael incidentally discovered what may have been the first online IQ test by the late Nathan Hasselbauer, founder of the New York High IQ Society, which soon after became the International High IQ Society. Having scored well past the 95th percentile requirement for entry, Michael was contacted years later by Victor Hingsberg of Canada, and was invited to take the test required to become a member of his newly established Canadian High IQ Society. After meeting its 98th percentile passing requirement and before moving on to TORR (99.86th percentile or 145 IQ requirement), Michael discovered what is undisputedly the most advanced cognitive assessment platform for IQ testing, in the world: IQExams.net. After a completing a battery of 40+ tests within a 1 1/2 year span of signing up, a clear picture of Michael’s scoring attributes emerged within the spatial, numerical, verbal, and mixed item logical areas, with a subsequent RIQ (Real IQ) calculation of 152. As his foray into the High Range Testing world continued, he happened to stumble upon a challenge issued by the ZEN High IQ Society: Two untimed IQ test submissions with a minimum IQ score of 156 (SD 15) are required for entry. And those submissions have to come from a pre-selected set of untimed high range tests. Since Michael already met half the requirements with his first attempt score on VAULT (163), he only needed one other test to qualify – hence Dr. Jason Betts’ test battery: Lux25, WIT, and Mathema are listed as accepted tests for Zen. Scoring 156 on Lux25 not only satisfied the entry requirement, but it also accompanied the rest of his scores on Betts’ test battery for a 151 TrueIQ. With the above experience, Michael decided to gain more exposure to other high range tests from other authors. After taking both the MACH and SPARK tests simultaneously (scoring 168 and 165 respectively on the first attempt), he proceeded towards a specific numerical test, GIFT Numerical III on which he scored 164. After also gaining entry into both the SATORI and TRIPlE4 High IQ Societies, he completed the untimed G.E.T. (Genius Entrance Test) mixed item test in minimal time. After receiving a final score of 162, he returned to IQExams.net and executed one of the most gifted performances on any tightly timed spatial IQ test he’s ever taken. His recent first attempt score of 160 on the incredibly challenging gFORCE IQ test exemplifies that cognitive fortitude can be taken to the brink, while spatial design and difficulty are taken to the next level. He discusses: coming of age story; geographic contexts; forensic psychology and strategic management, and trajectory into the high-IQ world.

Keywords: intelligence, IQ, IQ tests, Jason Betts, Michael Isom, Nathan Haselbauer, Victor Hingsberg, World Genius Directory.

Conversation with Michael Isom on Coming of Age, Geographic History, and Entrance Into the High-IQ World: Member, World Genius Directory (1)

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

Scott Douglas Jacobsen: So, let’s start with some of the earlier narrative before we begin with some work and ideas, what was the coming of age story? Were you earlier finding out about some of these gifts? Or was this something happening a little later in life?

Michael Isom[1],[2]*: It is probably closer to the latter. However, I did see some instances that could have been the case long ago. It was a contextual situation in which I needed to be more in that type of environment.

My abilities could be better nurtured there. I think I found that, as I got myself together and, basically, improved my personal situation and rid myself of the so-called distractions at the time.

Jacobsen: For those that will be reading some of this, they can’t hear this. You have an American accent.

Isom: Yes.

Jacobsen: What were some of the geographic contexts for you, as well – cities, neighbourhoods? This sort of thing.

Isom: Thank you for asking, I would say that I have been in a paradoxical sense gifted with having grown up in the birthplace of Hip-hop, South Bronx, New York, during the Hip-Hop renaissance era of the 80s and even prior.

When the whole Hip-hop scene was being born, I got to see the history being formed – literally – right before my eyes. I got to see its evolution. In a sense, even though, in those times, during the Carter-Reagan Era, times were very economically challenging.

But culturally, even though, I took it for granted back then; I didn’t necessarily understand how valuable the experience would become today having grown up in that particular era. Even going forward from that particular time, I got to experience a re-emergence of a certain social fabric or chemistry in New York City during the late 90s.

We had the rise of the Internet. The Yankees were winning the World Series during that particular era. I saw a lot of fascinating events occur. I was – literally – right in the middle of it. I used to live two blocks from Yankee Stadium.

I went to school not too far from Shea Stadium, where the Mets play. It was the most unusual thing when I went to graduate school. In a sense, having grown up in that particular New York City Bronx enclave, I got to experience many cultures.

Queens is the most diverse county in the United States, with Manhattan not being too far behind. I got to experience a lot in a condensed geographic metropolitan area. With many nationalities and ethnicities, I got to speak to a lot of people about their perspectives of the world.

Now, I’ve come to the point where those experiences are very, very valuable. Because now, you see things from different points of view, which you may not have been privy to prior. After high school, I went to college and did a degree in forensic psychology with a minor in legal studies.

I did a first master’s degree in public policy administration specializing in operational management. Then I went and did an MBA at St. John’s University in Queens specializing in strategic management.

Jacobsen: Why did you choose forensic psychology? Why did you choose strategic management in particular?

Isom: Forensic psychology at the time was the most unique. It may still be the case. The school that I went to, John Jay College was the only institution offering that degree program. It was one of the most interesting fields to look into.

A lot of consulting agencies were attracted to the school for its intelligence programs, crime scene expertise, and so forth. Quite a few actors came out of the school as well as Pulitzer Prize winners. The field is a multi-disciplinary approach to understanding the intersection among criminal justice, legal studies, and psychology.

“I found it actually had quite a few unusual uses in the outside world. So part of strategic management has a subjective area in organizational behaviour and management where you’re interacting with different points of view in terms of how to develop, execute, and monitor the strategy, whether that be local, regional, or global, or – let’s say – “multi-level” at the same time. (It usually is.)

In many positions in life, you will find there are many psychological precepts that will separate the different layers and levels of organization from each other. I will give you a very simple example.

People who come in on a more technical position … they tend to focus on more specialized skill sets. What happens, as one moves up the organization to supervisory or managerial levels, is you find that there’s a greater – not focus but – steering towards an emotional aspect or an aspect of emotional maturity, where the person becomes more aware of the strategic impacts of decisions affecting other people.

Not just subordinates, but other entities in the organization, laterally and up-and-down as well. It is an unusual combination. I’ve met one or two people who have had a similar academic mix of degrees. I find that they’re very complementary.

It gives me some advantages, academically, over individuals who have more standard course routes. I tell people, as some might ask me for academic advice that “Back then, they wanted the degree. Now, they want the degree and the transcript.”

So, now, you’re seeing employers and other enterprises look further into the individual’s academic career tenure. A lot of my career was mostly in the startup technology space. So, what happened back in the late 90s, early 2000s, you had quite a few people looking for investor funding.

I used to draft business plans, assist teams in drafting business plan documentation, financial statements, and so forth, back in that time period when I was getting ready to go to business school. They would go for investor funding under Regulation D 506, which were basically done through private placements.

So, I did that full-time as a consulting agent with technology startups. I learned quite a bit along the way about how startups work and how they function, and what they mean within the American enterprise, even until now.

I did a lot of these engagements for quite a bit of time. I tried my hand at quite a few things. I did project management and virtual management in Chennai, India, while living in New York. A lot of my technology skill-sets were purely hands-on in terms of designing, coding, and so forth.

I have accrued a lot of experience over the years, in that sense. I will tell you a story. I remember back in 2001 going online. I found this challenge. It was a society called the New York City High IQ Society by the late Nathan Haselbauer. He had this challenge.

If you could score a 126 on this test, an online test, you could be a member of the society. That test is – or was back then, and even right now – at the level of some highly regarded high-range tests.

Get this, I think the test was 30 questions. I was not able to answer the last 5 or 6 because, back then, everything was dial-up. The image files that he had were so big and detailed, they couldn’t load properly on the screen. So I contacted him.

He responded quickly, “Here’s what I’m going to do. I’m going to score what you have already answered. It looks like you scored around a 132 or so, which would qualify you for Mensa, again, based on what you’ve answered.

There was the chance to score 140 if I had been able to answer the last 4 or 5 questions. Yet, even with the loading difficulties, whatever I was able to answer got through. As time got on, I began to see Mr. Nathan Haselbauer evolve the New York High IQ Society into the International High IQ Society because everyone began to contact him from around the world.

He thought, ‘The Internet has no boundaries. Why not make it an international thing?’ So, once he took care of that moving further along – this is long before he developed Torr. And a while after I did all that, a few years ago, I was contacted by Mr. Victor Hingsberg, who himself founded a number of high-IQ societies.

He reached out to me and said, “You took a test a long time ago, and you’re a member of the International High IQ Society.” He had already established a different high-IQ society. So, I was invited to take another test.

I originally thought that it was developed by Richard Sheen, but it may have been by someone else. This particular test was a spatial test. I got in, so I started to move forward. I started to move into the high-range testing community. I think the big move that I made into that space was signing onto IQExams.net.

That has been my forte since. As of recent, I have been taking quite a few high-range IQ tests outside of IQExams.net to get experience with various test-takers. For example, I did the test battery for Dr. Jason Betts.

I, recently, scored 164 on GIFT Numerical III of Dr. Iakovos Koukas of Greece. I was able to increase my World Genius Directory listing with that score. Originally, my purpose for taking high-range IQ tests was not really for the score.

I was more curious as to what my innate skill-sets were in terms of what I was really good at, in terms of possible efficiencies. I wanted to look at my skill-sets at a granular level. The current problem connected to this has to do in part with the way academia is structured.

The opportunities for that are not as numerous or insightful. A lot of times, what can happen, someone can be schooled. They can be forced to accommodate a situation where there may be a fit, but it is not as efficient as it could be or should be.

They may have some other abilities that may go untapped. I feel IQ testing is very important in the sense where the most important concept is for a person to be able to learn about him or her self, so they will be able to exploit opportunities moving forward with respect to their strengths and actual skill-sets.

I think this makes things easier for quite a few people if they figure out what they’re good at early on and then move in that direction and get support rather than spend a lot of excess time trying to figure that out through inefficient means.

During the 2000s up until now, I started to see changes in that particular academic space, even in the IQ space, to which I started to come to the opinion that the high-range testing space will eventually expand at some point.

What will happen, it will be more decentralized in terms of how it expands relative to the previous concentration, which it, actually, had. For example, you had high-range testing emerging, I believe, around the early 1970s or so, with people like Kevin Langdon and Ron Hoeflin. I would have to place Paul Cooijmans in that particular area as well – as one of the major contributors to the high-range testing space.

I discovered that quite a few of the problems the high-range testing space has had in terms of its proper evolution started very early. So, for example, the education departments of two governmental entities possibly pursued certain restrictions on high-range testing administration. And I recently found out that it was primarily in response to what Kevin Langdon and Ron Hoeflin had put out.

This doesn’t come as a surprise to me. What is currently happening within the online space, Jordan Peterson actually exposed not too long ago. The high-range testing world has been able to capture the abstraction testing ability that the more formal proctored administrations have been able to keep a secure lock on for a long time.

Also, they’ve been able to replicate the scoring distributions accurately, which the proctored administrations have been maintaining through long-term accrual. For example, if you give people an IQ test, a distribution will evolve from that particular test.

That will be done by rank-order, which will appear as a bell curve. If you take the same sample of people, give them an IQ test, change the items, and keep the abstraction level requirement necessary to solve that item set, the same distribution curve results, even if 100% of the items are changed.

So, now, what you have is a situation where so many people worldwide have figured this out, that it creates a new type of a social situation, where people can, actually, figure out where other people sit on the bell curve based on these particular online and manually scored constructs in the high-range testing world.

In a sense, it’s a situation, in which its social engineering has always been purported to come from more institutionalized entities. The evolution of the HRT (High-Range Testing), in terms of its highly decentralized nature is coming from the participants themselves.

Where you have a group of people taking these tests for self-discovery and evaluation, many will do it for fun. Others will have several other reasons – to each his own. It can be highly personalized. However, from that particular group, you will find a few individuals willing to create their own tests.

They’ll create their own tests, norms, and do their statistical analyses. At the same time, they’ll receive feedback from the testees themselves. And the cycle goes on, in terms of the reinforcement of its evolution.

Appendix I: Footnotes

[1] Member, World Genius Directory.

[2] Individual Publication Date: January 15, 2021: http://www.in-sightjournal.com/isom-1; Full Issue Publication Date: May 1, 2021: https://in-sightjournal.com/insight-issues/.

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2023-03-24

Conversation with Paul Cooijmans on Community Dynamics, Heterogeneous and Homogeneous Tests, and Qualification: Administrator, Glia Society (3)

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

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

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2021/01/08

Abstract

Paul Cooijmans is an Independent Psychometitor and Administrator of the Glia Society, and Administrator of the Giga Society. He discusses: the benefit of the “members-only web site and e-mail forum”; meetings; the birth years of the Glia Society membership; dynamics of the community; Gliaweb Riddled Intelligence Test; membership “in other societies… not accepted as proof of intelligence”; real issues with membership; retests not accepted; differences between heterogeneous and homogeneous tests; the requirement for a coinciding score with “one of the Verbal, Spatial, or Numerical tests”; Reason – Revision 2008 and the Daedalus Test; “Spatial tests”; “Numerical tests”; “Verbal tests”; both unsupervised and supervised tests for membership in the Glia Society; the Ultra Test, the Mega Test, and the Titan Test, or the SAT, ACT, GRE, and Army GCT, score acceptance deadlines.

Keywords: community, Glia Society, heterogeneous, homogeneous, Paul Cooijmans, qualifications, tests.

Conversation with Paul Cooijmans on Community Dynamics, Heterogeneous and Homogeneous Tests, and Qualification: Administrator, Glia Society (3)

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

Scott Douglas Jacobsen: To continue with the formal information as presented on the Glia Society website, let’s continue with the general information and the qualification information, what is the benefit of the “members-only web site and e-mail forum”? (Cooijmans, n.d.a)

Paul Cooijmans[1],[2]*: The members-only journal can be found on that web location, as well as information on how to join a few online fora or groups for members. On those fora, one may communicate with other members. I must say there has been a lot of activity over the past few years, but before that, there have also been periods with little to no activity.

Jacobsen:

Cooijmans: Good heavens, that is a profound question. For once, I am dumbstruck. I fear that the remainder of my life may not suffice to formulate its answer.

Jacobsen: What are the forms of the “meetings organized by small groups of members” happening “very occasionally”? (Cooijmans, n.d.a)

Cooijmans: There has been a small meeting at the society’s tenth anniversary in Brussels, where I held a lecture and played guitar, and we went to an eating place. I have also heard there has been a meeting in the United States, but I was not present so I can not say how that went. Then, I remember attending two other meetings in Belgium where Glia Society members were present, but those were not specifically Glia Society meetings. And on several occasions, members have visited me at home; one of those visits concerned two members at once.

Jacobsen: What explains the birth years of the Glia Society membership ranging from approximately the 1920s to the 2000s with the bulk between 1950 and 1990? Is there a more precise range for an unusual hunk of the membership?

Cooijmans: The explanation for this bizarre phenomenon is that people tend to be born in different years rather than all at once, hence the range of birth years. There is not so much an unusual hunk, but the mode of birth years is shifting upward and is now in the 1970s. Before very long, this will be the 1980s. Also, members remain on the member list as long as their membership has not formally ended, so there may be deceased people on the list, or people who have forgotten that they are members. Astoundingly few are so conscientious as to inform the Administrator, “Okay, I am dead now, you can take me off the list”.

It has occurred to me to deactivate the membership of people who have not been active for a number of years, but logistically, that is not as easy as it seems. When I experimented with this a few times in the past, the members in question tended to suddenly appear out of nothing and say, “Hey, why am I not on the member list any more?!” Somehow, they know. There must be underhand contact between members that you can not see as an Administrator, a “grapevine” so to speak.

Jacobsen: Reflecting on the membership demographics, and the growth rate variation of the membership noted in the first interview on the Glia Society (Jacobsen, 2020), did this change the internal conversation dynamics of the community of the Glia Society?

Cooijmans: Yes, in particular I have noted that the younger generation, say people in their late teens to late twenties, has become more active than in the past, and in a positive way. When I started joining I.Q. societies, the bulk of the active members were older, mostly over 30 and often middle-aged. I was 28 myself then and one of the youngest. I suspect this shift has to do with the circumstance that these people, born in the 1990s and later, have grown up with the Internet and with Internet-based communities. It is native to them, and they are also better informed regarding topics like I.Q. testing, intelligence, statistics, and psychology than older generations tended to be when first getting in contact with I.Q. societies. Although, as everyone knows, my enormous modesty forbids me to blow my own trumpet, it might just be that the free availability and hitherto unseen quality of the sublime information on my web locations is playing a role in the education of the best-informed generations ever that are emerging now and in the decades to come.

Jacobsen: For those with an interest in exploring the website, independently, on their own course of discovery about the Glia Society, they can view the links here:

General information on the Glia Society

Qualification information

Animated presentation

Mind games

Thoth, the Glia Society journal

Electronic mail forum rules

Frequently asked questions

Registration form

Text of lecture given at the society’s tenth anniversary in 2007

Constitution of the society

Contact the Administrator (Cooijmans, n.d.b)

For the qualifications of the Glia Society, there exist a substantial number of tests. To pre-empt questions in some prospective members’ minds, you answered some of the inevitable questions, even in precise terms. To quote you, “Required for membership is the 99.9th adult population centile on any of the accepted heterogeneous tests (that is, tests with a mixture of item types) or on each of two accepted homogeneous (one-sided) tests with different item types. Only first attempts are accepted, not retests (that is, one attempt per test is allowed). Only the tests listed are accepted. Membership in other societies is not accepted as proof of intelligence” (Cooijmans, n.d.c). For a peripheral, but important, side question, why is “the Gliaweb Riddled Intelligence Test (Revision 2011 or original version)” (Ibid.) no longer accepted?

Cooijmans: That test has never been accepted, it has always been intended as an easy and less serious test, not a high-range test. You would have to score near the top of the test’s range to qualify, where tests are less accurate.

Jacobsen: Why is membership “in other societies… not accepted as proof of intelligence”? (Ibid.)

Cooijmans: Because many other societies are not strict in their admission policies and let in people who are far below the advertised level. I have explained that in earlier answers.

Jacobsen: Have real issues arisen where membership is shown, and assumed by the shower, as proof of intelligence, so as to make one qualify for membership? Any particular narrative examples of difficult personalities being highly aggressive about the matter? No need for names or a name, merely an illustration.

Cooijmans: I do not remember any such issues. My general impression is that people who try to join with proof of membership in other societies (despite the qualification page stating that this is not possible) are mostly not very intelligent. And the more memberships they show, the less intelligent they are. Speaking of unintelligent ways to “prove” intelligence, people have also tried to join with screen shots of automatically scored online tests that can be taken indefinitely and do not even display one’s name; and the most hilarious “proof” was an A.C.T. score report whereon all of the identifying information, including the name of the candidate (!) had been blacked out. A score report to bearer, so to speak.

Jacobsen: Also, from the previous question, why are retests not accepted? Famously, this happened with the Mega Society and the Mega Test with, at least, two individuals utilizing pseudonyms, or fake names, and then taking the test twice, so as to claim a higher score – so a purportedly higher intelligence score as measured by the Mega Test. While, with the practice of no retests, presumably real names only, individuals with a sincere and honest attempt and effort can acquire an accurate, i.e., real, assessment of their general intelligence, inasmuch as alternative tests compare to the mainstream intelligence test scores. Also, should real names and first attempts only become a pervasive admissions policy of high-I.Q. and higher-I.Q. societies? If so, why? If not, why not?

Cooijmans: I explain the objections against retests on my web location, but because this is so important, and so poorly understood by many incompetent dilettante test scorers, I will repeat it here in amended form:

(1) Retests are not comparable to first attempts but somewhat higher on average (that is why some candidates want them!) so accepting retests as the candidate’s true score (as incompetent dilettantes do) implies that the first score is not the true score, and therefore means to oblige all candidates to take the test twice in order to know their true score, and to require them to destroy their first score report (or not issue it at all). After all, the first score is sometimes higher than the retest, so if you let them keep it they will use it for admission, self-promotion and the like!

(2) Considering the retest score to be the true score implies that only the retest scores can be used for statistical purposes such as norming, and the first-attempt scores are useless statistically; it means to throw away the biggest part of the work one is doing, of the data one is gathering. In practice, of course, those who allow retests do use the first-attempt scores for statistical purposes, sometimes even in combination with the retests (and third attempts if not more) to arrive at a larger sample size, thus corrupting their statistics.

(3) In practice, candidates and test scorers involved in retests use the highest of the two scores, rather than the actual retest score (which should be used in all cases even when it is lower) and therefore add to the above mentioned two problems the inflation of scores caused by having “two chances”, as well as the levelling between candidates resulting from the same (inflation and levelling, when using the highest of two scores, are the necessary result of the imperfect test-retest correlation; and this correlation is imperfect or there would be no point in retesting to begin with). In case it is not at once apparent why using the highest of two scores causes inflation and levelling, one may imagine that “the highest of two” is on average higher than “always the retest”, because the retest score is sometimes lower than the first score. “Levelling” means reduction of variance.

(4) Candidates with a perfect or near-perfect score on first attempt are excluded from knowing their true score this way as there is no or too little room for their retest score to be higher than their first score.

(5) Through retests, candidates can verify the value (score) of particular answers or answer sets (more or less like in the game “Mastermind”) which endangers the secrecy of the test’s answers. From two scored submissions, very much more information can be derived than from one.

If a retest is allowed in some rare case for a special reason, the score report must mention it concerns a retest, to prevent it from being used for admission or for statistical purposes as if it were a first attempt. If the retest report does not mention it concerns a retest, this makes it impossible to distinguish it from a first attempt, and therefore reports from test scorers who fail to identify retests on their reports can never be trusted or accepted for admission purposes.

Regarding real names, of course members should only be admitted under real names, otherwise they can never be held to account for anything, and any test scores under false names have no validity. With false names accepted, people could try tests indefinitely to figure out the intended answers until they hit a qualifying score. And that is exactly what they do if you let them. I saw this happen in the early 2000s and was shocked by people’s dishonesty.

And first attempts should indeed be the only ones accepted for membership, I think the above reasons make that clear.

Jacobsen: Can you expand on the aforementioned differences between heterogeneous and homogeneous tests, please?

Cooijmans: Heterogeneous tests contain at least two different item types, when item types are classified on face value as verbal, numerical, spatial, or (sometimes) logical. Homogeneous tests contain only one item type. My experience says that the former yield a better indication of general intelligence and are less affected by fraud. Homogeneous tests are insufficient as tests of “g” and are also the preferred target of frauds and high-score chasers. To say that a test is an insufficient indicator of “g” means, in practice, that a candidate’s score on that test may deviate unacceptably much from one’s true level in general intelligence, either in the upward or in the downward direction. It is the upward error that attracts frauds and megalomaniacs.

For further clarification, it must be understood that an I.Q. test measures a general factor (= that part of its variance that is shared by all mental tests), one or more group factors (= the variance shared by some but not all tests), and specificity (= the variance that is unique to the test in question). Homogeneous tests catch in relatively too little of the first and too much of the last two, it seems. This has proven to be hard to understand for many, probably because of the abstract nature of concepts like “(part of the) variance”. For these reasons, I do not allow candidates to take homogeneous tests in their own right (only as part of a heterogeneous test) and do not express scores on homogeneous tests in I.Q.

Jacobsen: Some of the following questions may seem tedious. Please excuse if the next questions come across as such, however, a differentiation of reasoning, as well as a convergence, may help with seeing the administrative rationale behind these particular tests and abilities for admissions policies to the Glia Society, including the differentiation between unsupervised and supervised tests. The “Logic tests” section of the page states:

Required: A score corresponding to the 99.9th centile (unless otherwise indicated) on one of these AND one of the Verbal, Spatial, or Numerical tests.

Reason – Revision 2008 (subtest of Reason Behind Multiple-Choice – Revision 2008)
Daedalus Test (subtest of Psychometrically Activated Grids Acerbate Neuroticism and of Labyrinthine LIMIT) (Ibid.)

Why the requirement for a coinciding score with “one of the Verbal, Spatial, or Numerical tests”?

Cooijmans: Because homogeneous tests do not provide a sufficient indication of general intelligence in themselves, as explained in the previous answer. Only combined they do.

Jacobsen: Following from the previous section line of questioning, what makes Reason – Revision 2008 and the Daedalus Test reliable and valid metrics of the admissions policy to the Glia Society? (Ibid.)

Cooijmans: The fact that they possess enough reliability and validity to be accepted as homogeneous tests. But those two parameters are by no manner of means the only ones to be considered regarding admission; others include hardness, quality of norms, resolution, and robustness. These six parameters are also incorporated in an overall indicator of test quality. These parameters are computed from the test data using mathematical formulas.

To avoid appearing pedantic, arrogant, or like I am evading the question, the following clarification is kindly provided: Reliability and validity are technical terms from the science of psychometrics. In the event that the asker was not familiar with the technical use of these words and was merely intending to ask something like “Which concrete, tangible aspects of these tests make them possess the named properties (reliability and validity in this case)?” or even something as vague as “Which concrete, tangible aspects of these tests make them good admissions tests?” the following answer applies:

Reliability is the answer to the question “to what extent would this test give the same score if it were possible to take it repeatedly without a learning effect?” Reliability results positively from (1) test length and (2) item intercorrelations. Validity is the answer to the question “what does this test measure?” Validity results from the relation between the test and anything outside the test, including other tests but also real-world variables. The validity of a test can not be higher than its reliability, because a test can not correlate higher with any outside variable than it correlates with itself.

The two tests named in the question both happen to contain extremely original, novel tasks, and as such tap into the candidate’s raw mental abilities. Solving such tasks can probably not be learnt or improved to a great degree.

Jacobsen: The “Spatial tests” section of the page states:

Required: A score corresponding to the 99.9th centile (unless otherwise indicated) on one of these AND one of the Verbal, Numerical, or Logic tests.

Spatial section of The Marathon Test
Space, Time, and Hyperspace (Spatial section of “Test For Genius – Revision 2004/2016” and of “Long Test For Genius”)
LIMIT – Lieshout International Mesospheric Intelligence Test (subtest of Associative LIMIT)
Strict Logic Spatial Examination 48 (Wai) 17.5
Eureka Test (Lygeros)
Spatial Insight Test (no longer used but still accepted) (Ibid.)

What makes these tests, in particular, reliable and valid admissions tests to the Glia Society on the spatial intelligence indices?

Cooijmans: The first three paragraphs of the previous answer take effect here too. In addition, these tests appear to measure mental ability in the target range, so around the Glia Society’s pass level. This is determined by statistical analysis of the available data, and can also be monitored by observing the behaviour of persons with known scores on the tests.

Jacobsen: The “Numerical tests” section of the page states:

Required: A score corresponding to the 99.9th centile (unless otherwise indicated) on one of these AND one of the Verbal, Spatial, or Logic tests.

Numerical section of The Marathon Test
Numerical section of Test For Genius – Revision 2010 (Ibid.)

What makes these robust, or valid and reliable, admissions tests on numerical abilities to the Glia Society?

Cooijmans: The first three paragraphs of the answer before the previous answer apply here too. In addition, robustness is a statistic that shows to what extent the raw scores on a test rise or fall over time. It is based on the correlation of raw scores with a “time when taken” indicator, such that January 1995 is 1, and so on. Again, the suitability as admission test is determined through statistics, and also by observation of the behaviour of candidates and members.

Jacobsen: The “Verbal tests” section of the page states:

Required: A score corresponding to the 99.9th centile (unless otherwise indicated) on one of these AND on one of the Numerical, Spatial, or Logic tests.

Unsupervised

Verbal section of Test For Genius – Revision 2004 or 2016

Verbal section of The Marathon Test

Genius Association Test (subtest of Associative LIMIT Test)

Psychometric Qrosswords

The Final Test – Revision 2013 (subtest of The Hammer Of Test-Hungry and of Dicing with death)

The Test To End All Tests (subtest of Narcissus’ last stand)

The LAW – Letters and Words

Qoymans Multiple-Choice #5 (subtest of Reason Behind Multiple-Choice – Revision 2008)

De Roskam

Supervised

Miller Analogies Test (only from period before scaled scores were given; raw score) 94 (Ibid.)

What makes these tests, in particular, important indicators of verbal intelligence compared to others? Verbal intelligence correlates highly with general intelligence. Why?

Cooijmans: I would not use the term “verbal intelligence” but rather “verbal ability”. “Intelligence” is a term I reserve for the general factor in mental abilities. Also, it is not claimed that these tests are indicators of verbal ability; they contain verbal problems, but what a test measures can only be known through statistics, not on face value. The division of items into categories like verbal, numerical et cetera is a topographical, face value division. It is unrelated to what the items actually measure. So, a verbal test is not necessarily a test of verbal ability, a numerical test is not necessarily a test of numerical ability, and so on. This, too, is so abstract that few people understand it, hence the eternal confusion and the use of terms like “verbal intelligence”.

Again, statistics and observation help to know if a test is suitable. On the causal level, the quality of the items may have to do with the eventual functional quality of the test, or one would hope so at least.

Verbal ability (not “intelligence”) correlates highly with general intelligence, or technically speaking, in a hierarchical factor analysis of a variety of mental tests, the verbal factor is fairly close to “g”. Why? On one causal level, I interpret this as a reflection of selection pressures over the past centuries and millennia; there has been strong selection for verbal ability, probably since the advent of cities, which necessitated skills like writing and reckoning for purposes of administration. The hierarchy of mental ability factors is, as it were, a fossil record of (recent) evolution. Were it possible to study mental abilities of ice-age hunter-gatherers from thirty thousand years ago, one might find the spatial factor to be closer to “g” than possible verbal and numerical factors.

On another causal level, the correlation between verbal ability and general intelligence is caused by their both being dependent on the same underlying physical structure and its already mentioned properties (to remind, properties like the number of cortical neurons, neural conduction velocity, the quality of the insulation material around the axons, and the energy-efficiency of the brain). To correct a common misconception, the correlation between verbal ability and general intelligence is NOT caused by the fact that intelligence tests often contain verbal problems; verbal ability also correlates highly with a general factor extracted from non-verbal tests. The general factor expresses itself through a wide variety of item types (“indifference of the indicator”, Charles Spearman called this).

Jacobsen: Why incorporate both unsupervised and supervised tests for membership in the Glia Society here?

Cooijmans: Because any test known to be suitable is accepted, and that happens to include some supervised tests. The only criterion is known suitability for admission at this level.

Jacobsen: The “Tests with a mixture of item types” section of the page states:

Required: 99.9th centile (unless otherwise indicated).

Unsupervised

Assessment
Cooijmans Intelligence Test – any form or version
The Marathon Test
Test For Genius – Revision 2004, 2010, or 2016
Associative LIMIT
A Paranoiac’s Torture: Intelligence Test Using Diabolic Exactitude
Test of the Beheaded Man
Dicing with death
Problems In Gentle Slopes of the first degree
The Sargasso Test
Narcissus’ last stand
Cartoons of Shock
Problems In Gentle Slopes of the second degree
The Piper’s Test
Psychometrically Activated Grids Acerbate Neuroticism
The Nemesis Test
Combined Numerical and Spatial sections of The Marathon Test
Combined Numerical and Spatial sections of Test For Genius – Revision 2010 or 2016
Problems In Gentle Slopes of the third degree
De Laatste Test – Herziening 2019
De Golfstroomtest – Herziening 2019
Labyrinthine LIMIT
The Hammer Of Test-Hungry
Reason Behind Multiple-Choice – Revision 2008
Reflections In Peroxide (subtest of Narcissus’ last stand)
Laaglandse Aanlegtest – Herziening 2016
Bonsai Test – Revision 2016
<Cooijmans On-Line Test> – Two-barrelled version
Isis Test
Divine Psychometry (Scillitani)
The Alchemist Test (Husseini)
Magma Test (Vanhove) 17
Ultra Test (Hoeflin; taken before 2003)
Mega or Titan Test (Hoeflin; taken before 1998)
Sigma Test (Melão; taken before December 2003)
Test For Genius (old versions; no longer used but still accepted)
Test for extrasensory perception (Cooijmans) 2

Supervised

SAT (before April 1995) 1470
ACT (before October 1989) 33
GRE (before October 2002, verbal + quantitative) 1490
Army GCT (before 1976) 156 (Ibid.)

In the cases of the Ultra Test, the Mega Test, and the Titan Test, or the SAT, ACT, GRE, and Army GCT, why only accepting the scores if taken before those particular dates for the unsupervised and the supervised tests?

Cooijmans: For the first three, the answer leakage had apparently become such by those dates that they stopped being suitable. For the next three, things changed about those tests that made them no longer possess validity in the intended range. Another problem with these educational tests, as mentioned earlier, is that when people take them purposely (and sometimes repeatedly) to qualify, they stop being good indicators of “g”. They are not robust against deliberate attempts to score high, perhaps because they rely too much on learnt skills. For the last, something changed with the test or score reporting about that date that made it no longer possible to use it as an indicator of intelligence in this range.

Of course, much of this was before my time and in a faraway country, and I learnt of it through advice from persons in the United States and communication within I.Q. societies, and also by studying old statistical data related to those tests, sent to me by someone in the U.S.

References

Cooijmans, P. (n.d.c). Qualification: The Glia Society. Retrieved from http://gliasociety.org/qualification.html.

Cooijmans, P. (n.d.a). The Glia Society: General Information. Retrieved from http://gliasociety.org/general_information.html.

Cooijmans, P. (n.d.b). The Glia Society: The World-wide Hyperbrain. Retrieved from http://gliasociety.org/.

Jacobsen, S.D. (2020, September 1). Conversation with Paul Cooijmans on Introduction to the Glia Society: Administrator, Glia Society (1). Retrieved from http://www.in-sightjournal.com/cooijmans-1.

Appendix I: Footnotes

[1] Administrator, Glia Society.

[2] Individual Publication Date: January 8, 2021: http://www.in-sightjournal.com/cooijmans-3; Full Issue Publication Date: May 1, 2021: https://in-sightjournal.com/insight-issues/.

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Conversation with M.Sc. Ing. Aníbal Sánchez Numa on Christianity, the Bible, the Gifted, the God of the Christians, Prayer, and Life Possibilities: Member, World Genius Directory (3)

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

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

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2021/01/08

Abstract

Born on February 27th, 1985 in Ciego de Ávila, Cuba, Aníbal Sánchez Numa graduated as Computer Engineer in 2012 and as Master in Computer Science in 2014. Having a PhD in Computational Mechanics since 2018, he belongs to the World Genius Directory and Catholiq High IQ Society. He discusses: the ways in which How man became a giant and The magic of numbers talk mathematics; Social Sciences under the Soviet Union; the areas of “some faith”; the hypocritical status of ‘most Christians’; the intellectual and emotional feeling of this ‘breaking free’; choir; Protestant Christian outings; the forms of being tied up as a Christian; other interests neglected as a result of being a Christian; the sense of respect in a community of peers; areas of study were more neglected in formal schooling; oscillation between achievement of near perfection and then collapse of self; geniuses; IQExams or IQNavi.net; the core of intelligence; the victories in the mathematical competitions; matters of life; the full realization as a gifted person; a necessary ingredient for genius; a pure Imaginarium; personalities or personal characteristics; kinds of “web and mobile applications”; advice for those who wish to get into the industry; a sense of the compulsive thinking in the gifted; rejection of all forms of religion; a blind faith, a faith, and, as William Lane Craig stipulates, a “reasonable faith”; rejecting the God of the Bible; an atheist with respect to the God of the Christians; the god of Pantheism; ‘If there is a God, then he’s a Devil’; the heritable status of intelligence; the agnostic position regarding the existence of a god; the prayers to experience; the form of healing induced via the prayer; the differences between men and women based on the evidence; the failures in the educational system; profoundly gifted individuals; and a range of great possibilities in life.

Keywords: Aníbal Sánchez Numa, atheist, Bible, Christianity, Christians, Devil, genius, God, prayer, Protestant Christians, World Genius Directory.

Conversation with M.Sc. Ing. Aníbal Sánchez Numa on Christianity, the Bible, the Gifted, the God of the Christians, Prayer, and Life Possibilities: Member, World Genius Directory (3)

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

Scott Douglas Jacobsen: What were some of the ways in which How man became a giant and The magic of numbers talk mathematics?

M.Sc. Ing. Aníbal Sánchez Numa[1],[2]*: The first one is not about mathematics but about how the man developed himself since ancient times to be able to do all things he can do nowadays. The second one is about the history of Mathematics. It relates its history through fun and interesting anecdotes and it was very important in my love for Mathematics. It was through that book that I discovered Archimedes, Euclides, Pythagoras and similar characters of history.

Jacobsen: What were Social Sciences under the Soviet Union?

Numa: My father says that it studies the political basements of society, particularly of capitalism and socialism.

Jacobsen: What are the areas of “some faith” for your mother in spite of never attending church anymore?

Numa: She stills believes in God, and believes that God can respond to praying.

Jacobsen: Why the hypocritical status of ‘most Christians’ as an implication of “Christians talk a lot about what Jesus said what we should do, but almost none of them do”?

Numa: Being fair, to do everything Jesus said Christians should do is quite difficult, but I wouldn’t call myself a true Christian if I was constantly talking about what me as a Christian should do according to his teachings and I didn’t actually do it. It is to me like “do what I say to do, but not what I do”. It produced me a sense of falseness.

Jacobsen: What was the intellectual and emotional feeling of this ‘breaking free’? Those in certain strains would probably consider that moment as a capture by demonic forces for the Devil Himself.

Numa: Yes, they said that too, but the fact is I was very relieved. I felt that I had lost control of my life and needed to get it back.

Jacobsen: What songs did you sing in choir?

Numa: Christian songs. I had never heard of them, some of the singers I remember are Marcela Gándara and Jesús Adrián Romero.

Jacobsen: What kinds of Protestant Christian outings were part of the group of young people?

Numa: Nothing special, just walking through the city, having a pizza or ice-cream, things like that, just social encounters.

Jacobsen: What were the forms of being tied up as a Christian?

Numa: I felt a strong impulse to go to the church very often as in every day. And sometimes I didn’t really want to go and at the same time I did want to go. It was weird. I felt that I couldn’t resist the impulse to go, like an addiction.

Jacobsen: What were other interests neglected as a result of being a Christian at the time?

Numa: I didn’t listen to any other music than Christian, I didn’t study or read anything unrelated to Christianism. At the same time, I felt my goals in life had been put behind.

Jacobsen: What is the sense of respect in a community of peers? How is this hindered in times of adolescence with others not taking this principle as seriously as a certain young gifted adolescent male of the past?

Numa: I was more respected in general, but anyway I didn’t like the way my peers treated each other, not only me. It’s hard to tell why I was so different but I think that maybe it had to do with my parents’ education and home environment in general as well. Anyway, I think I also had some personality issues back then.

Jacobsen: What areas of study were more neglected in formal schooling for you? Why those? No one is a master of all.

Numa: I loved mostly sciences like Mathematics, Physics and Chemistry. In general, I didn’t like Literature, or art class. In Literature I got very good grades but I really didn’t like it, and I was really bad in art class (Musical Education, for instance). I remember that I didn’t like History either, even though I got good grades, but I limited myself to the content received in the classroom.

Jacobsen: Is this oscillation between achievement of near perfection and then collapse of self when not achieving it a common theme amongst the gifted?

Numa: In gifted forums I have read a lot of members claiming that perfectionism is a burden for them for the same reason. In general, a lot of gifted people have low self-esteem because of it, according to what I have read on those sites. Perfectionism can be so intense that if you are not quite sure you will do it great then you stop yourself from doing it. It’s also common to have a big fear of failure for this same reason.

Jacobsen: Could an exaggerated form of this be seen in geniuses? While, with geniuses, they, in fact, proceed to succeed in the proverbial ‘perfection’ without the associated twang back to a lower sense of self because of succeeding rather than failing.

Numa: I would say that it makes sense, yes.

Jacobsen: With IQExams or IQNavi.net, what were some of the interesting numerical tests there?

Numa: I really liked Numix, DeepSpeed and Numeriq32, which are timed tests and also found interesting Bakers Prime, which is untimed.

Jacobsen: What seems like the core of intelligence?

Numa: I have seen a lot of specialists in the subject saying nobody really knows. However, I would say that intelligence is made of some basic capacities like: memory, attention, focus and pattern recognition, and other more elaborated capacities like: problem solving and adaptation.

Jacobsen: Were the victories in the mathematical competitions helpful in the development of a sense of self and an acceptance of giftedness?

Numa: At the time that I participated in those contests the results were much more important for my family and my teachers than for myself. I loved the Math contests mainly for the challenge they represented but didn’t have a good picture of that meaning I was very smart because of it. Actually I thought back then that any person who loved Math could achieve the same, never thought I was gifted back then. However, when I began suspecting I was gifted I realized that maybe those contests were a good supporting clue.

Jacobsen: How were you “very clumsy in matters of life in general”?

Numa: I basically didn’t understand well social interactions and structure. I was very naïve also, and I would say that I had like some form of development delay like if I was much younger concerning all kind of skills normally adults and even children have.

Jacobsen: What was the feeling when you ‘stopped feeling weird’ with the full realization as a gifted person, in general, with a talent for mathematics, in particular?

Numa: It was one of the greatest feeling I have ever had. In gifted forums we see very often people arrive with the same doubts and I and other members try to tell them our experiences. The sensation is hard to describe, it begins with a suspicion, then you continue collecting more evidences and when you finally accept it, it’s very satisfying. It’s like now you understand your whole life so far, and it feels pretty much the same for nearly every gifted people who is identified in adulthood. Some years later I saw the movie “Gifted”, about a gifted girl and I was crying during several moments of the film.

Jacobsen: In the “very high intelligence” as a necessary ingredient for genius, how high, or how rare?

Numa: It’s difficult to tell. I think that maybe an IQ of 145 could be a good threshold as it’s the beginning of “high” giftedness. In general, 94% of all gifted people lie in the “moderated” zone, so I think that maybe having high giftedness could be a threshold. However, in high IQ societies and community it’s common to tell that the threshold for genius should be 160.

Jacobsen: Who are examples of people with profound intelligence while pursuing what they think is “how the Universe works” while, in fact, pursuing the infinite array of the magical, as if a pure Imaginarium of the unreal, i.e., a life and profound intelligence wasted?

Numa: Technically 1 of each 3.5 million people are profoundly gifted and so we could estimate that there are roughly 2000 of such people in the world right now. I have met as I know only 2 or 3 profoundly gifted people and they are very very brilliant but I am not aware that they are researching or doing anything especial. One of these people I have met has photographic memory, she can memorize entire books by looking at them and she is having two different degrees in college at the same time. I think that is the kind of intelligence that can in fact make great advancements if she had a great creativity (I don’t know if she has it) and enough opportunities.

Jacobsen: What personalities or personal characteristics feed into genius as well?

Numa: Strong motivation for reaching their goals, and a very strong will. There have been geniuses who put apart their social lives to focus only in their research in isolation. I guess they should have also a firm trust in their talent.

Jacobsen: What kinds of “web and mobile applications” do you develop?

Numa: Basically management systems, online shopping systems too. In the case of mobiles applications, I commonly make them as a complement for the web application, so it has the same functionality than the web version but for being used more easily.

Jacobsen: Any advice for those who wish to get into the industry?

Numa: Software development requires continuous study. I have met several people who want to become developers because it is a very well paid job, but the truth is that if you don’t feel a real attraction for it it’s unlikely that you succeed because you won’t have the will to keep studying and studying to be updated.

Jacobsen: Is there a sense of the compulsive thinking in the gifted?

Numa: It’s common knowledge that a high intelligence implies that your mind is never idle. I used to become exhausted of so much thinking some years ago. It’s common too to have problems to sleep because of it. Yes, I could say it’s compulsive, in the sense that many gifted people can’t really control it voluntarily.

Jacobsen: What of those who claim ‘rejection of all forms of religion as no belief whatsoever’ is, in and of itself, a “belief”?

Numa: Yes, I am aware of that, but I disagree. I see not having any belief more like a personality issue. I think that that claiming is more an attempt of those people to put atheists in the same position that they are. Some people think that a person claims to be atheist like saying that he/she is smarter than the rest, but that is not true. If you are a person who believes that facts and you don’t know any fact that could lead to have a belief, then you don’t have it.

Jacobsen: What differentiates a blind faith, a faith, and, as William Lane Craig stipulates, a “reasonable faith”?

Numa: Blind faith means that you show the person a contradiction in what he/she claims and he/she simply denies it, he/she chooses to believe no matter what you said to him/her. Reasonable faith seems to me that you could have some faith but you have reasonable doubts and you accept contradictions on it, so you try to not to be too fanatic.

Jacobsen: Why primarily rejecting the God of the Bible?

Numa: I think the God of the Bible is created with an anthropocentric view of the world. I mean, man believes he is the center of everything and so he creates a God that made him “to his image and similarity”. It is more like a personal God, and he puts in him his own sense of justice and morality.

Jacobsen: With the rejection of the God of the Bible, as in an atheist with respect to the God of the Christians, where does this place you in the historical moment of the ascendance of the Christian faith with over 2,000,000,000 people adhering to its faith tenets in various degrees and ways?

Numa: I am a factual person. I try to be as much objective as I can. I think that many people prefer to believe in something if that makes them happy, but it’s not my case. I think that most people are not interested in knowing if there is a God or not, they choose to believe simply to have faith in a better life. I seek the truth, even though it’s relative. But if I have some evidence of something I accept it no matter how hard it is or what it implies. At least I try to be like that. Of course we humans all have flaws and weaknesses and there must be some things I choose to believe no matter what too, but I would say they are not many.

Jacobsen: What makes the god of Pantheism reasonable to you? In turn, what forms of pantheism make sense to you? How would these differ from Pandeism and Panendeism, or Panentheism?

Numa: Of course I don’t have any evidence of that either. It just seems like a possibility to me, like there are other possibilities like parallels universes, or the fact that we could be just microorganisms in a world of giant beings. My thinking of Pantheism is like a point of view that everything is possible because our minds are very limited and the knowledge we have is always limited too. It could be said that it is a reasonable faith and an open door to the possibility that there is a God in some way.

Jacobsen: Why is the God of the Bible such a brutal, sadistic, and warmongery figure? As Noam Chomsky echoed Thomas Paine, he stated, ‘If there is a God, then he’s a Devil.’

Numa: I think it shows that Bible was written according to the time standards, which were that brutal. I think it’s in somehow an evidence that it was not inspired by any God but only for normal people of that time, in which barbarism was pretty common.

Jacobsen: With the heritable status of intelligence comes researchers, dead and alive, who make arguments for race and intelligence as a racial hierarchy based on a ranking of a “heritable” quality from high (intelligence) to low (intelligence) races, any more extensive thoughts on these arguments and individuals who make the arguments?

Numa: That interpretation is wrong in my opinion. The hierarchical part. No human characteristic should define a hierarchy among people. Skin color used to do that, which is obviously wrong. I think it’s part of the problem of intelligence being considered by society as some kind of superior characteristic. There are for instance differences in how some diseases affect to different races, but almost nobody cares about that and nobody would make a hierarchy based on that.

Jacobsen: Are these probabilities on the agnostic position regarding the existence of a god more qualitative or based on some metrics? If some variables comprising such a metric, even both parts of the question so as to make a variable-based qualitative metric, what are the variables to consider for you?

Numa: It’s more qualitative. But I would say that is more like an intuition. I base it on none scientific evidences found in favor of God existence and also in the way I think that humanity behaves. I think for instance, that is very convenient to have a very benevolent God who punish the bad people, and it is also very convenient to believe that your soul will remain alive once you are dead. It seems to me a human invention because of that, because it’s like a solution to the problems humanity can’t handle. Let’s say in 5000 years humanity manages to make it possible eternal life for every person, if that was the case the belief in God’s paradise would vanish eventually.

Jacobsen: What were the prayers to experience the “prayer-induced altered states of consciousness”?

Numa: It were some words being repeated and with a given tone of voice.

Jacobsen: What was the form of healing induced via the prayer?

Numa: Sometimes it was only putting his hand on your afflicted organ, sometimes it was a pray itself, they can heal a pain, for instance. There are some testimonies of people who claim that they had important diseases (like cancer) but I have only seen that on videos not in my presence.

Jacobsen: What seem like the differences between men and women based on the evidence?

Numa: I have read studies that find differences, for instance, in mechanical aptitude between men and women. I have also read studies about differences in IQ between both genders which conclude that there are more men on both extremes of the bell curve and more women on the mean.

Jacobsen: What can ameliorate the failures in the educational system?

Numa: About two weeks ago my mom presented a problem to me. She had a hair product with a 60% concentration and she wanted to know how much water she had to add to it to degrade it to 20%. Instantly I thought: A good example to tell people how math taught at school can be useful in daily life.

When I was in school I remember that I had at home the same textbooks from previous years and they had much more complex content than the ones I was receiving in school. Nowadays textbooks are likewise simpler than the ones I had back then. I don’t know the reason for this phenomena, but there is an obvious tendency to teach simpler content to students in school. We were never given a math problem with five possible solutions so that we marked the right one, in all problems we had to develop the full solution. Nowadays these multiple choice problems are in textbooks. I think it should be the opposite. With the Internet is quite easy to search any explanation online, so… why make things easier for the students? I even read a study that says that this generation is the first one with a lower IQ than their parents, and I think it makes sense. So I think that we need to increase the difficulty of the subjects and also to teach the students how all the science they are being taught is present in their lives. I saw an interview of the great mathematician Terence Tao in which he says that a lot of people hate Math because they think it’s useless for them and that that is a challenge for education. On the other hand, nobody likes something that he/she doesn’t understand so obviously we need also good teachers that can explain the subjects in an easy and fun way.

Jacobsen: Why do even profoundly gifted individuals expound, construct, or believe in, conspiracy theories?

Numa: It’s hard to tell. Some people have read and witnessed different things. I don’t believe in those because I don’t have the evidences for doing so, I am almost sure that I have them I would believe in them too. But in every discussion I see on the internet of such theories all I see is suspicion and distrust with no evidences, and very often it’s also a lack of scientifically knowledge of the people making the claiming. I see for instance a photograph of Earth taken from the International Space Station and such people see some flaws in the photograph and they say it’s false for some given reasons, but a person who actually knows about photography can realize that their claims make no sense.

Jacobsen: With “around 150” (S.D. 15), what does this set a cap on in life? What does this set as a range of great possibilities in life?

Numa: I have been told by many friends that I could have many achievements in life. This feeling is also common among gifted people. I think it’s part of the myths about giftedness and even a cause of so many people not accepting they are gifted. Intelligence is associated with success and success for many people can be for instance have a great job in which you earn a lot of money, it’s quite common. The expectations that people put in you depends also in how much they know about giftedness and how smart they think you are. I have friends who tell me that I could score over 170 or 180 and that I could make a great invention and things like that. I think that achievements require intelligence, yes, but also many other characteristics like motivation or social skills. On the other hand, psychologists declare four “levels” of giftedness: moderated, high, exceptional and profound. Many people don’t know that, they think that if you are gifted then you are among the smartest in the world automatically. So, putting high expectations on a gifted person is quite common, and I was not the exception. However, it’s quite clear to me at the moment that being gifted can indeed help me in my job and my career in general but it doesn’t necessarily mean I would have great achievements like some of my friends think. I am not actually a very perseverant person. I got used in school to get things fast and easily and it’s hard for me to make a great effort for learning or accomplishing something. All things that I have learned I have done it because it’s easier for me than the usual, some people tell me “if I had your intelligence” and I could reply “If I had your big perseverance”. This is also common among many gifted people according to what I have read.

Appendix I: Footnotes

[1] Member, World Genius Directory.

[2] Individual Publication Date: January 8, 2021: http://www.in-sightjournal.com/sanchez-3; Full Issue Publication Date: May 1, 2021: https://in-sightjournal.com/insight-issues/.

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2023-03-24

Conversation with Luca Fiorani on World War II, Geniuses, Philosophies, Meaning, Life, and Love: First Member, RealIQ Society (1)

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

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

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2021/01/08

Abstract

Luca Fiorani is the first member of RealIQ Society by Ivan Ivec with an estimated IQ of 181.2 (σ15) combining 9 tests, where he studies and considers himself a philosopher in nuce. He discusses: some of the prominent family stories being told over time; an extended self; the family background; experience with peers and schoolmates; some professional certifications; the purpose of intelligence tests; high intelligence; the extreme reactions to and treatment of geniuses; the greatest geniuses in history; a genius from a profoundly intelligent person; profound intelligence necessary for genius; some work experiences and jobs; job path; the gifted and geniuses; philosophy, theology, and religion; science; some of the tests taken and scores earned (with standard deviations); the range of the scores; ethical philosophy; social philosophy; economic philosophy; political philosophy; metaphysics; worldview-encompassing philosophical system; meaning in life; meaning; an afterlife; the mystery and transience of life; and love.

Keywords: genius, intelligence, IQ, life, love, Luca Fiorani, meaning, philosophy.

Conversation with Luca Fiorani on World War II, Geniuses, Philosophies, Meaning, Life, and Love: First Member, RealIQ Society (1)

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

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

Luca Fiorani[1],[2]*: Back to the origins! I like this approach, it’s interesting. In the past, in its remotest aspects or areas, is perhaps hidden more truth than we usually believe. Family stories? My maternal grandfather was a key-figure. He was one of the Partigiani, The Italian resistance movement which fought against Fascism and Nazism during World War II. His stories were about: bravery, fortitude, daring. ‘Giving up is not an option’ – this maxim summarizes almost everything.

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

Fiorani: Yes, indeed. Cognition of our roots, in my perspective, fortifies our Self – our own perception of inner phenomena and the connection with a milieu; awareness invariably leads to significance.

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

Fiorani: My family lived and lives in Tuscany and Liguria. Its cultural level – firstly in terms of education – has always been medium-high, all things considered. My family traditionally embraces Catholicism, nevertheless not in a too rigid way.

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

Fiorani: I was a loner, as a child and as an adolescent. But I had social skills, and it wasn’t hard for me to make friends. But this happened sporadically. I had tendency for becoming estranged, I cut myself off reality often. I have never been grouchy, but simply I preferred my mind and its simulations to people.

Jacobsen: What have been some professional certifications, qualifications, and trainings earned by you?

Fiorani: I’m still studying. I’m still trying to get the proper credentials for achieving something non-negligible in my eventual professional life.

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

Fiorani: Two goals: cognitive assessment and cognitive entertainment. Generally speaking, the first one is the most noble. For instance, a multi-componential analysis of cognitive abilities (as in WISC-IV and V for children, and WAIS-IV for adults) is surely relevant, from a diagnostic point of view as well. It’s not all about ‘IQ’ and a single number there, but also pointing out strengths and weaknesses of the individual. If you detect mental retardation or, conversely, giftedness you may proceed accordingly. The examples made are rather simplistic. I can’t expatiate too much withal.

The ‘cognitive assessment purpose’ can be pursued also through high range IQ tests, if their quality is acceptable. A single result won’t suffice. In order to get a reliable estimate of your IQ you need to take several tests. HRTs are usually untimed, but they can also be timed. The most common and broad fields of high range testing are: verbal, spatial, numerical and mixed/composite. In order to know your IQ, you’ll need a wide spectrum of data. If your aim is exactitude, you’ll need attention to details (stats of the test, norming method, etc.) as well.

It’s not uncommon, though, that one may try HRTs as a hobby or something similar. That’s the cognitive entertainment. You take them ‘for fun’, for the pleasure of solving challenging puzzles, the eureka moment of decoding a riddle, and so on. It’s not unusual that a competitive attitude takes place. If the competitive aspect is not pervasive is fine. If HRTs become an addiction and your mindset is too competitive, they should be avoided, since they lose their meaning and spirit, and the situation may become unhealthy. I speak according to my own experience.

Jacobsen: When was high intelligence discovered for you?

Fiorani: As perceived by other people, since I was a boy, 7 years old. A teacher of mine told me: “You already are a thinker. You think in a superior way. More deeply, more comprehensively. You just think in a different manner”.

As discovered by IQ tests and psychometric tools, in 2015. I was 23 years old.

Fiorani: I suppose that the historical and socio-cultural contexts are crucial here. Geniuses may incarnate multiple facets of human being, and typically exaggerated. You can idolize or reject; it’s our nature. Divinizing or demonizing what we can’t comprehend fully. The most entrenched vision of things is dualistic. View of existence can become Manichean, then. Not necessarily. Seldom we give away this Weltanschauung, though; it’s conscious but unconscious too, it’s a-rational and pre-rational mostly, then it’s rationalized.

Geniuses can go against a status quo, a paradigm, etc., so they might become a threat. Au contraire, sometimes they’re the inspiration needed for a revolution. Treatment of geniuses depends on the current predominant necessities, from epoch to epoch.

The ones alive today perhaps are mainly camera shy ’cause are against this liquid society… of surface, appearance, facade, emptiness, moral and conceptual non-substantiality… La société du spectacle, a society of exhibitionism, and then Homo vacuus.

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

Fiorani: The list is too long, to be honest with you. Plato, Dante Alighieri, Leonardo da Vinci, Gottfried Leibniz, Werner Heisenberg, Jacques Lacan, Kurt Gödel: these are good examples.

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

Fiorani: Briefly, the actualization of a potential. This actualization becomes an offer to mankind. A genius creates – originality, innovation, uniqueness: trademark of an actual genius. Geniuses are pioneers and precursors, and not epigones. Geniuses change how we view things.

Jacobsen: Is profound intelligence necessary for genius?

Fiorani: Almost always, yes.

Jacobsen: What have been some work experiences and jobs held by you?

Fiorani: None. (see above)

Jacobsen: Why pursue this particular job path?

Fiorani: I cannot reply for self-evident reasons.

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?

Fiorani: About high IQ individuals there are indeed myths to debunk. One of these, to me, is the idea of the high IQ person as cold, impassive, with scarce inclination for emotions overall. That’s simply a hoax. People tend to simplify things, categorizing a priori and labelling – it’s easier: less effort, less stress.

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

Fiorani: Religion is one of the fundamental ways through which humanity expresses itself: the relevance of religions – as a trans-cultural and omnipresent phenomenon – is unquestionable: history, sociology and anthropology demonstrates the fact abundantly.

About God. I quote an apophthegm which condenses a lot: καλούμενός τε κἄκλητος θεὸς παρέσται [Greek]/vocatus atque non vocatus Deus aderit [Latin]… Which in English is: “Bidden or not bidden, God shall be present”.

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

Fiorani: The role of science is essential and irrevocable. Science can be a perfect antidote to any absolutism and any relativism, simultaneously – both the instances lead to a dead-end street, from an epistemological and gnoseological perspective, but also from an existentialist point of view.

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

Fiorani: I scored > 170 σ15 on normed high range IQ tests designed by: Theodosis Prousalis, Xavier Jouve, Ron Hoeflin, Jonathan Wai, James Dorsey, Iakovos Koukas, Nick Soulios. And also others.

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.

Fiorani: I consistently score above 160 σ15 (if my effort is optimal); rare exceptions. I also have a couple of 180+ σ15. My strongest area is the verbal one but I can consider myself a versatile test-taker, having scored 165+ σ15 in all main fields of high range testing (verbal, numerical, spatial, mixed; untimed and also timed).

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

Fiorani: Kantianism.

Jacobsen: What social philosophy makes some sense, even the most workable sense to you?

Fiorani: Rousseauism.

Jacobsen: What economic philosophy makes some sense, even the most workable sense to you?

Fiorani: Liberalism.

Jacobsen: What political philosophy makes some sense, even the most workable sense to you?

Fiorani: notably cf. A Theory of Justice (John Rawls, 1971).

Jacobsen: What metaphysics makes some sense to you, even the most workable sense to you?

Fiorani: Spinozism. »Philosophieren ist Spinozieren«, as Hegel unerringly said.

Jacobsen: What worldview-encompassing philosophical system makes some sense, even the most workable sense to you?

Fiorani: Nietzscheanism.

Jacobsen: What provides meaning in life for you?

Fiorani: Ich und Du relationship. To put it simply, intersubjectivity. The others. (anti-solipsistic view)

Jacobsen: Is meaning externally derived, internally generated, both, or something else?

Fiorani: Externally and internally derived, in synchrony.

Jacobsen: Do you believe in an afterlife? If so, why, and what form? If not, why not?

Fiorani: About this, ἐποχή (epoche), id est ‘suspension of judgment’, is my best answer.

Jacobsen: What do you make of the mystery and transience of life?

Fiorani: Life always presents what Carl Gustav Jung called numinosum, ineffable sacred mystery.

Life’s impermanence enriches things, not the opposite. But we, by nature, are afraid of death and the end of things. The process of wisdom to think and sense otherwise is very slow, and arguably inexhaustible.

Jacobsen: What is love to you?

Fiorani: The most marvellous sentiment that we have.

Appendix I: Footnotes

[1] First Member, RealIQ.

[2] Individual Publication Date: January 8, 2021: http://www.in-sightjournal.com/fiorani-1; Full Issue Publication Date: May 1, 2021: https://in-sightjournal.com/insight-issues/.

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2023-03-24

Ask Two Geniuses with Dr. Christian Sorensen and Matthew Scillitani on Early and Late Bloomers, The Gifted Arrow, Marriage, and Dysfunction: Independent Metaphysician & Philosopher; Social Media Marketer & Web Developer (2)

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

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

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2021/01/08

Abstract

Rick Rosner and I conduct a conversational series entitled Ask A Genius on a variety of subjects through In-Sight Publishing on the personal and professional website for Rick. This series with Christian and Matthew build on this idea. Dr. Christian Sorensen earned a score at 185+, i.e., at least 186, on the WAIS-R. He is an expert in Metaphysics and Philosophy. Matthew Scillitani earned a score at 190, on Psychometric Qrosswords. He is an expert in Social Media Marketing and Web Development. Both scores on a standard deviation of 15. A sigma of ~5.67+ for Christian – a general intelligence rarity of more than 1 in 136,975,305, at least 1 in 202,496,482 – and a sigma of 6.00 for Matt – a general intelligence rarity of 1 in 1,009,976,678. Neither splitting hairs nor a competition here; we agreed to a discussion, hopefully, for the edification of the audience here. 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. This amounts to a joint interview or conversation with Dr. Christian Sorensen, Matthew Scillitani, and myself. They discuss: mental illness developing in reaction to the environment; placing all attribution externally; the early bloomers; the late bloomers; the cases of individuals with profound general intelligence while becoming hyper-normal; identify the gifted, the highly gifted, the exceptionally gifted, the profoundly gifted, and the immeasurably gifted; friendships and dating; marriage and having a family; and psychological dysfunction.

Keywords: Christian Sorensen, dating, family, friendship, genius, marriage, Matthew Scillitani, mental health, relationships.

Ask Two Geniuses with Dr. Christian Sorensen and Matthew Scillitani on Early and Late Bloomers, The Gifted Arrow, Marriage, and Dysfunction: Independent Metaphysician & Philosopher; Social Media Marketer & Web Developer (2)

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

Scott Douglas Jacobsen: So, we’ve set out some personal opinions of mental wellness and mental illness, youth and adulthood, a prodigy and a genius, early bloomers and late bloomers, formal psychiatric conditions and genius, relationships and genius, intelligence and IQ, and some desired directions for the discussion.

Mental wellness and mental illness seem to represent a multifactorial set of ranges with either as a set of antipodes one set from another set depending on the variables taken into account. Within this context, prodigies and the gifted develop asynchronously.

Their emotional development does not match the rapid intellectual development, typically. Does this seem to relate to the potential for mental illness developing in reaction to the environment, e.g., feeling constantly out of place, misunderstood, rejected, etc.?

Dr. Christian Sorensen[1]*: I think that the root cause, that triggers in prodigies and geniuses, the development of mental illnesses, is rather the reaction from the environment, than the asynchronous development between emotionality and intellectuality, since if the issue as such, is thought from an inverse logic, that is to say, by conserving the asynchrony, but at the same time, converting environment variables to their opposites, as independent ones, then it is possible to deduce, that the development of mental illnesses is not only reversible, but also that environment variables, can act as resilience factors, which would therefore means, that asynchrony in itself, is indifferent, while environment is not, because meanwhile the former, from my point of view, is ontophylogenetic, and in consequence, paradoxically is always ego syntonical, the last instead, since is what I’m going to name ego interfering, never will be a priori harmonizable.

Matthew Scillitani[2],[3]*:Absolutely. Intellectually developing faster than one’s peers often comes at the cost of alienation, bullying, and rejection. There is probably a moderate positive correlation between being intellectually and emotionally mature, but it is not perfect, and the children whose intellect exceeds their emotional maturity are disposed for neurosis. This isn’t all bad though. Social rejection is usually necessary for an intelligent child to develop into a genius. It’s pressure on the coal that makes a diamond.

Jacobsen: Any thoughts on a common sentiment of feeling bad as, things not working out for, the gifted in personal and/or professional life while placing all attribution externally? As in, they do not consider or own the possibility of having a rotten personality.

Sorensen: I think that with giftedness, it is not a matter of having or not a broken personality, but rather, it has to do with the question of owning, an absence of willingness, for adapting successfully with the environment, that concretely expresses, as a denial of modulation, with respect to critical attitudes, that intend to refute objectified realities through supposed believed truths.

Scillitani: I think it is a scape-goat to say external factors, like one’s peers, are always the cause of the genius’ misery. In truth, the genius is very weird. Unfortunately, so weird that they will never fit in and conform to cultural behaviour standards. It’s not nice, but many people avoid odd people like the plague, including the genius. They’ll eat his food but not dine with him, so to speak.

Jacobsen: For the early bloomers, any thoughts on those who merely bloom early and other explode, as prodigies, early? What is the dividing line there?

Sorensen: I think that prodigies, as such, do not exist. What exists instead, are gifted, to whom the environment, gives or not, the opportunity to manifest their cognitive potentialities. Therefore, the dividing line, is not between prodigy and the non-prodigies, but rather between, giftedness and a particular environment, which in itself, may or may not facilitate that prodigiousness takes place.

Scillitani: The dividing line is probably just the moment the precocious child’s skill or intellect falls close to or at average for their age group. This seems extremely typical of girls, by the way. Young girls both start and end development earlier than boys. The average girl is a year or two more cognitively developed than boys until around age 16 when the boy’s catch up and both meet at the mean.

Jacobsen: For the late bloomers, what would seem like the upper age limit for this if any?

Sorensen: For those that bloom late, the limit more than being associated to age, would be given by a determined condition, that I’m going to denominate coefficient of deterioration, which as it rises, and approaches to the value of 1, as maximum, will proportionally be more restrictive, with respect to the possibility of hatching.

Scillitani: Probably the end of puberty. If someone hasn’t ‘bloomed’ by then they’re almost certainly not ever going to.

Jacobsen: What about the cases of individuals with profound general intelligence while becoming hyper-normal, as in over-bland and adjusted to norms to a fault?

Sorensen: In fact, this can happen up to the level of profound general intelligence, therefore above that point, which actually coincides with unmeasurable geniuses, it is extremely rare for it to occurred, since the last would imply a logical counter-sense.

Scillitani: That’s surprisingly really common. Most, maybe 3 in 5, highly intelligent adults seem to be hyper-conformists. This is speculative, but it may be that intelligent people are much more efficient at behavioural conditioning because they learn faster. And, because we are constantly conditioned to behave in certain ways by our schools, peers, parents, ‘experts’, employers, and so on, they’re adapting to the customs of nearly every group they’re in. That doesn’t mean they actually believe what they’re doing is right though – only that they should best do it for one reason or another.

Jacobsen: In personal life, how do you observe or identify the gifted, the highly gifted, the exceptionally gifted, the profoundly gifted, and the immeasurably gifted? Or, how might you do this?

Sorensen: The first three, are generally highly successful individuals, both professionally and socially, nevertheless, they will use to have as common trait, an intense autoerotic fixation on intelligence. The profoundly gifted, on the other hand, frequently also are successful professionally, however, unlike the previous ones, tend to have more social adaptation difficulties, although in the fields of knowledge and creativity, they used to be recognized for their contributions, which sometimes can be considered genial, though however, they mostly exhibit, the presence of the same autoerotic issue, in relation to their failed child psycho-sexual development. Regarding unmeasurable geniuses, it is highly probable instead, that there will never be the possibility of knowing any of them, and contrary to the rest of the gifted, they are never going to be socially adapted, nor professionally successful. Generally, these geniuses, ironize with the measurements of intelligence, because they mock of psychometric constructs, since perceive in them, a sign of cognitive clumsiness, that reflects the classic poor functioning, of the types of thinkings, that are operationally concrete. Likewise, and rarely, except if it’s posthumously, their achievements never are going to be recognized as genialities, and almost always, will exhibit self-referentiality, as a characteristic feature, when they express themselves ideationally, since dispense with the ideas of others, and they do not idealize anyone.

Scillitani: I don’t think I actively do that too much. If we try to identify people’s intelligence by their actions, it’s actually pretty difficult. Intelligent people still make mistakes, are still able to have delusions, can still be impulsive or unethical, or have almost any other negative behaviour or belief. We have to just use our best judgement when trying to determine that. When we’re close to someone and hear their more private thoughts it usually becomes obvious whether they’re smart or not.

Jacobsen: Does higher intelligence help or hinder friendships and dating? Does this ever become an impediment at a certain level of intelligence or in certain circumstances? It is reported more intelligent and accomplished women have a harder time finding life partners, as an example.

Sorensen: I think that with respect to higher intelligence, in relation to friendships and datings, there is a sort of Gauss curve, since as intelligence level increases, interpersonal relationships are facilitated, nevertheless at a certain point, that coincides with profound giftedness, the interaction between both variables, begins to become more difficult and enters into a growing inertia, since the increase in intelligence beyond that level, is correlated as fact, with the appearance of certain personality patterns, that have to do with obsessive traits, and impatient behaviors , that are related in turn, with moody attitudes, which lead to provoke in others, diverse chain reactions of rejection and boredom. Highly intelligent women, instead, present a different pattern, when it comes to having difficulties in finding lasting partners, since the cause actually lies in themselves, because rather than not being the affected ones, due to what for me is the minimalism syndrome, caused in men, subjectively speaking and not necessarily as gender, they suffer instead, of what I will name the syndrome of the enchanted prince, which pushes women, to a state of chronic disappointments and disenchantments. I believe, that the underlying issue at this level, is structurally speaking, that female love is essentially a sort of intellectualizing motor, and therefore needs for its existence, of a necessary condition, that has to do with the feeling of admiration, towards who is by her side, since beyond her will, the last , is the only setting in which, she can feels emotionally and comfortably committed, in order to project herself, in a couple relationship.

Scillitani: I think it’s probably helpful to be smarter, especially in dating since figuring out how romantic relationships work is itself a really difficult puzzle to solve. When combined with a psychiatric disorder though, there are still serious problems that can cause both friendships and dating to be almost impossible. As for your example that more intelligent women have a harder time finding life partners; that may not be because of their intelligence. I imagine smart women also focus more on their education and careers and those things take away from time that could be spent searching for a romantic partner.

Jacobsen: Does higher intelligence help or hinder marriage and having a family with children? You’re both married. So, this can be an interesting take across generations too.

Sorensen: Categorically speaking, the difficulty, is with those intelligences that are above profound giftedness. According to this context, it could be stated, that there would not be any iatrogenic effects, and that even a higher intelligence, can be a facilitating force, if positively and only positively, woman has an emotional coefficient, significantly higher than the intellectual coefficient of her husband, since the last, would be the resilience core, that makes possible for peace and harmony to prevail, and reign, not only with children, but also as family and at home.

Scillitani: I’m sure it’s helped me with my marriage and probably helps others as well. I’m not sure about the children part because I’ve not yet had any but we raise our pet dachshund very well I think.

Jacobsen: Vincent van Gogh cut his ear off in a fit. Also, Abraham Lincoln, Leo Tolstoy, and Charles Dickens may have had depression. Ludwig von Beethoven, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, and Winston Churchill may have had bipolar disorder. Edvard Munch may have had panic attacks. Michelangelo may have had autism. Charles Darwin may have had agoraphobia. Kurt Godel may have had persecutory delusions. Isaac Newton may have had autism, bipolar, and/or schizophrenia. It’s a mixed bag. Leonardo Da Vinci, at the same clip, didn’t seem to suffer from mental illness; only the stresses coming from the persecutions of the Roman Catholic Church, and its influence on the culture in anti-homosexual sentiments and theology. Some claim ADHD due to procrastination. However, many of the productions by Da Vinci took long-term focus in the moment and long-term planning over many years. Thus, this lattermost seems unlikely to me. At the higher levels of intelligence and achievement, we seem to note trends in some cases of mental illness correlated with emotional and psychological dysfunction. Does profoundly high intelligence seem as if a nitro on psychological dysfunction? That is, if present, it becomes more extreme than ordinarily.

Sorensen: Profound giftedness, from my point of view, is a relatively low level of intelligence, about which, I don’t have much to say, therefore I will refer exclusively, from the perspective of unmeasurable giftedness. I consider that only those psychological disorders, that are of psychogenic etiology, as opposed to those that are of endogenous origin, fundamentally biological ones, and in consequence, that do not affect the capacity of judgement regarding reality, are in general, the ones aggravated not per se, but indirectly, by levels of intelligence above profound giftedness, and therefore, as long as they refer only, to the traits of certain typologies of personality. In this sense, such level of intelligence, would accentuate mental disorders, since cognition, in comparison to their lower levels, would allow to have a greater degree of insight regarding dysfunctional behaviors, which if it’s added to an ironic and irreverent attitude, it should then lead, through what I will denominate as projective mediative resource, to a increased self-consciousness, that would act as a double vision mirror, which enables to mock either of oneself or of others, depending if what is ultimately searched, is the catharsis to compensate circularly, the rejection felt from the environment.

Scillitani: Intelligence and psychiatric illness are a very dysfunctional but interesting couple. Being intelligent probably makes psychiatric disorders not as severe, but when they’re configured perfectly it causes genius to happen. If Van Gogh, for example, were not smart then he’d just be a madman who cut off his ear. Instead, he’s a genius painter who cut off his ear. All geniuses have a touch of madness in them, I think.

Appendix I: Footnotes

[1] Independent Metaphysician and Philosopher.

[2] Member, Giga Society.

[3] Individual Publication Date: January 8, 2021: http://www.in-sightjournal.com/sorensen-scillitani-2; Full Issue Publication Date: May 1, 2021: https://in-sightjournal.com/insight-issues/.

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2023-03-24

Conversation with Christopher Harding on Royal Houses, Genius, Leonardo da Vinci, Test Ceiling Issues, Philosophy, Meaning, and Quantum Physics: Founder, International Society for Philosophical Enquiry (1)

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

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

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2021/01/08

Abstract

Christopher Harding is the Founder of the International Society for Philosophical Enquiry (ISPE), and a Member of OlympIQ Society and the ESOTERIQ Society. He was born on August 4, 1944 in Clovelly Private Nursing Home at Keynsham, Somerset, English, United Kingdom. He has never married. He arrived in Rockhampton, Queensland, Australia, in the morning of October 11, 1952. He remains there to this day. He has held memberships with the Eugenics Society (1963-1964), the British Astronomical Association (1964-1969), the International Heuristic Association (1970-1974), the Triple Nine Society (1979-1990 & 1992-1995), the 606 Society (1981-1982), the Omega Society (1983-1991), the Prometheus Society (1984-1990), the International Biographical Association (1985-1990), Geniuses of Distinction Society (1986-1988), the American Biographical Institute Research Association (1986-1990), the Cincinnatus Society (1987-1990), the 4 Sigma Group of Societies [incorporating all groups having 4 Sigma plus cut off points ] (1988-1990), The Minerva Society [Formerly the Phoenix Society] (1988-1990), The Confederation of Chivalry (1988-1990), the Planetary Society (1989-1990), Maison Internationale des Intellectuels [M.I.D.I.] (1989-1990), TOPS HIQ Society (1989-1990), the Cleo Society (1990-1991), the Camelopard Society (1991-1992), the Hoeflin One-in-a-Thousand Society (1992-1993), the Pi Society (also like the Mega Society for persons with 1 in one million I.Q. level (5th April 2001 – 2002), INTERTEL [The International Legion of Intelligence] (June 1971-March 2010), The Hundred (1972-1977), the New Zealand National Mensa (1980-1982), and the Single Gourmet (1989-1991), among numerous other memberships, awards, and achievements. For the most recent or up-to-date information, please see the ESOTERIQ Society listing: https://esoteriqsociety.com/esotericists/esoteriq-id06/. He discusses: growing up; a sense of the family legacy; the family background; experience with peers and schoolmates; qualifications; purpose of intelligence tests; high intelligence; the geniuses of the past; the greatest geniuses in history; a genius from a profoundly intelligent person; profound intelligence necessary for genius; some work experiences; job path; the idea of the gifted and geniuses; the God concept or gods idea; science; some of the tests taken; the range of the scores; ethical philosophy; social philosophy; economic philosophy; political philosophy; metaphysics; philosophical system; meaning in life; meaning; an afterlife; the mystery and transience of life; and love.

Keywords: Christopher Harding, ESOTERIQ Society, genius, Intelligence, International Society for Philosophical Enquiry, Leonardo da Vinci, Quantum Physics.

Conversation with Christopher Harding on Royal Houses, Genius, Leonardo da Vinci, Test Ceiling Issues, Philosophy, Meaning, and Quantum Physics: Founder, International Society for Philosophical Enquiry (1)

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

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

Chris Harding[1],[2]*: Where we came from and who we were.

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

Harding: They were depressing as I could not live up to them.

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

Harding: Varied. Mostly titled aristocracy and connections to Royal Houses.

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

Harding: Non-existent.

Jacobsen: What have been some professional certifications, qualifications, and trainings earned by you?

Harding: None.

Jacobsen: What is the purpose of intelligence tests for you?

Harding: They are something on the side.

Jacobsen: When was high intelligence discovered for you?

Harding: 2 days before my first birthday. My parents had me tested. When speaking of me they were called liars to their faces.

Harding: I recall a quote from the Journal of the British Eugenics Society. “They want the Genius, but not its loathsome owner.”

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

Harding: “Leonardo, complex solitary, a Master Genius in an age of Genius.” In his life, it was said of him,“It is beyond the power of nature to create another man like Leonardo,” yet his final recorded words were “I have failed mankind and I have failed God.”

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

Harding: Genius is creative ability of the highest possible kind.

Jacobsen: Is profound intelligence necessary for genius?

Harding: No, Genius implies the narrowing of intelligence.

Jacobsen: What have been some work experiences and jobs held by you?

Harding: Absolutely nothing at all.

Jacobsen: Why pursue this particular job path?

Harding: I never did.

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?

Harding: They march to the beat of their own drum.

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

Harding: God is purely human idealism; largely what you can’t attain. The Concept is set beyond what can be considered.

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

Harding: Science has become despoiled with its obsession with consensus and ignorance of the paradigm shift. Some one point Einstein to a newspaper article “One hundred against Einstein” to which he replied “It would only take one”. Less and less.

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

Harding: Several times scoring over plus six sigma.

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.

Harding: Ceiling limitations were the biggest problem; in which case I could finish them well and truly before the time limit was up. For these the test was useless.

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

Harding: None.

Jacobsen: What social philosophy makes some sense, even the most workable sense to you?

Harding: None.

Jacobsen: What economic philosophy makes some sense, even the most workable sense to you?

Harding: Also none.

Jacobsen: What political philosophy makes some sense, even the most workable sense to you?

Harding: Also none. If you join a political group, you wind up as an apologist for them!

Jacobsen: What metaphysics makes some sense to you, even the most workable sense to you?

Harding: None.

Jacobsen: What worldview-encompassing philosophical system makes some sense, even the most workable sense to you?

Harding: None, philosophy is word juggling!

Jacobsen: What provides meaning in life for you?

Harding: There is no meaning in Dictionaries only associations with other words: Meaning in life is the same; you make the meanings.

Jacobsen: Is meaning externally derived, internally generated, both, or something else?

Harding: Meaning is only a PATTERN.

Jacobsen: Do you believe in an afterlife? If so, why, and what form? If not, why not?

Harding: The only afterlife [an oxymoron] is the “truth” in QUANTUM PHYSICS: Just as in Classical Physics energy and matter can not be destroyed only converted one into the other; in Quantum physics information can not be gained or lost, it some how just IS.

Jacobsen: What do you make of the mystery and transience of life?

Harding: It like everything else is BOUNDED. This is a condition of being defined.

Jacobsen: What is love to you?

Harding: Love is simply TRANSFERENCE [See Freud].

Appendix I: Footnotes

[1] Founder, International Society for Philosophical Enquiry.

[2] Individual Publication Date: January 8, 2021: http://www.in-sightjournal.com/harding-1; Full Issue Publication Date: May 1, 2021: https://in-sightjournal.com/insight-issues/.

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2023-03-24

Conversation with Masaaki Yamauchi on Japanese Background, Intelligence Tests, and Philosophy: Administrator, ESOTERIQ Society (1)

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

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

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2021/01/08

Abstract

Masaaki Yamauchi is the Administrator of ESOTERIQ Society. He discusses: growing up; an extended self; the family background; the experience with peers and schoolmates; some professional certifications; the purpose of intelligence tests; high intelligence; the geniuses of the past; the greatest geniuses in history; a genius from a profoundly intelligent person; profound intelligence necessary for genius; some work experiences and jobs; particular job path; the more important aspects of the idea of the gifted and geniuses; thoughts on the God concept or gods idea; science; some of the tests taken; the range of the scores; ethical philosophy; social philosophy; economic philosophy; political philosophy; metaphysics; worldview-encompassing philosophical; meaning in life; meaning; an afterlife; the mystery and transience of life; and love.

Keywords: administrator, background, ESOTERIQ, intelligence, IQ, Japanese, Masaaki Yamauchi.

Conversation with Masaaki Yamauchi on Japanese Background, Intelligence Tests, and Philosophy: Administrator, ESOTERIQ Society (1)

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

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

Masaaki Yamauchi[1],[2]*: Not in Particular. I am ignorant of my old family background. My family was just a Japanese typical home and kept a family style. My father worked for a local government in a city hall and my mother was a housewife and Bento (Japanese lunch box) seller. I really loved Bento made by her. She passed away from a heavy disease in December 2017. If I am forced to say it, the person graduating from a college of the U.S.A. was only me, even though my grades were pretty poor as a child.

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

Yamauchi: I love my family, but I have never thought about my family legacy. Living and being are my family legacy, itself.

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

Yamauchi: My hometown is not a large city, just a countryside, which has kept only some 14,000 people as the population. 90% of the area is surrounded by rice and vegetable fields. I was there until graduating from high school. Almost typical Japanese people include my family, whobelong to Buddhism in a superficial manner, but I personally have never held any religious dogma. Do you think that I have a lack of loyalty to a god?

I do not believe in a god because I know it. Honestly speaking, I myself am an extraordinarily spiritual person in spite of a lack of religious dogma. Spirituality is similar to religion, but not the same. It has no founder, no scripture, just believing myself no matter what happens in life.

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

Yamauchi: I pretty much enjoyed video games and comic books with my schoolmates. I really hated studying, especially Math and English. My academic grades were extremely low, almost the bottom rank of all students at the elementary and junior high school. Consequently, I had to go to the lowest grade high school in my hometown. When becoming a high school student, some inspiration and revelation came down into my mind, “Go to a college in the U.S.A, to study Math.” Hence, I began studying English very hard and read more than a few hundred books about math and physics in a library.

My parents were amazed at my change. However, I really loved reading many books. After high school, I chose the University of Central Oklahoma with a Math major and a Physics minor due to the cheap tuition. It is not well known, not a high ranking university, unlike the Ivy League, just a local college, but I pretty much enjoyed the campus life. Even now, I am appreciating lots of people I met there. At that time, I knew high IQ societies there too.

After getting a bachelor of mathematics from my college, I had a plan to go to a graduate school to get a master`s degree in mathematical physics, but many unavoidable unexpected happenings fell down on my life and family. My hometown is Fukushima, the Great East Japan Earthquake happened on March 11^th, 2011. My family and hometown had almost no damage, but I was so sad to know that many people passed away.

Jacobsen: What have been some professional certifications, qualifications, and trainings earned by you?

Yamauchi: No professional certifications and qualifications, except for a college degree and driver’s license.

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

Yamauchi: No purpose, just a statisticalfrequency on a normal distribution. Whatever any score above 100 or below 100 on IQ tests, it is a necessary frequency on the distribution. Let me tell you one example.

If all current people on Earth, all 8 billion individuals, take an IQ test at the same time, only one examinee of them can automatically archive either as the highest IQ195 or the lowest IQ5, respectively, because the rarities are exactly equal to 1 in 8 billion. Should we judge IQ195 scorer is smarter than IQ5 scorer?

I don’t think so.

If it does not happen to anybody subjectively, it always happens to somebody objectively in the world.

As the Esoteriq society administrator, I can profoundly guarantee that an intelligence value of IQ190 is absolutely equal to that of IQ10 because both of them occurs only 1 person in 1 billion on a symmetric normal distribution. It is nothing other than that.

Jacobsen: When was high intelligence discovered for you?

Yamauchi: Do you mean that I have high intelligence? I have never thought that I am a genius or gifted, so I do not claim I am intelligent or smart. I have never discovered my own high intelligence in all of my life yet. Just that I have continued inquiring about something interesting I like. I do not care; no matter who considers that I am an eccentric, an idiot, and a strange individual.

Yamauchi: To be frank with you, it has nothing to do with me.

What historical geniuses were misunderstood by many people is undoubtedly a fact. So what?

Do you think Thomas Edison promoted human happiness?

My answer is both yes and no, it is a fact that the electric light bulb invented by him made us live at night anytime.

However, how many people got sick with insomnia or depression owing to night work?

In terms of another view, Edison may be the most terrible serious killer in all history. All things have both advantages and disadvantages.

Consequently, the treatment of geniuses does not make sense to me, since no one knows who a genius, abnormal, killer and lunatic is.

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

Yamauchi: It must be too esoteric a question that I founded the Esoteriq society to seek the answer, so it all sounds Griq (Greek) to me!

Let me be clear, that this is a kind of joking phrase between Dr. Katsioulis and me.

Griq is a nickname of himself, so “It all sounds Griq to me” implies both “It all sounds Greek to me” as a similar pronunciation to “I scream Ice Cream!”, and includes Dr. Katsioulis himself as my greatest genius.

By the way, seriously speaking, there was not any greatest genius in my theory. I suspect that you expect some answers like historical mathematicians and scientists.

No matter what great academic performance was not achieved only by one person. For instance, Albert Einstein discovered the theory of relativity, so should we estimate he is the greatest genius in human history?

I am pretty skeptical about it. It is a fact that the theory itself was discovered almost only by himself. However, the process up to that point was created by incalculable mathematicians, physicists and all the people who ever lived on the Earth. Some one hundred billion people have ever lived on the earth at most, so far. We cannot lose even one person, no matter if any is a dictator. All people have an individual meaning to existence. So to speak, whoever is the greatest genius about something. No best player can play alone. No greatest genius can achieve alone, even if Nobel prize winners.

In my personal opinion, I was influenced by Alfred North Whitehead, his process philosophy, an organic cosmological system in a metaphysical concept.

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

Yamauchi: I do not regard IQ and great educational achievement as a genius or an intelligent person. An individual being able to seek and realize hope, happiness, and enjoyment anytime and anywhere no matter what happens in life is a profound genius.

Jacobsen: Is profound intelligence necessary for genius?

Yamauchi: Not necessary, but it may be important, sometimes, on a case by case basis.

Jacobsen: What have been some work experiences and jobs held by you?

Yamauchi: A math teacher in a tutoring school for several years.

Then, I have been working for several manufacturing industrial factories up to now.

Jacobsen: Why pursue this particular job path?

Yamauchi: Do you mean why I have continued the Esoteriq administrator? If so, there is no specific reason. A long time ago, I established a high IQ society for only Japanese people to spread high IQ societies in Japan, but unexpected trouble happened to me. I had no choice to abandon the continuation of the society. After a while, I had continued thinking about a high criteria IQ society like the Giga society by Paul Cooijmans. I turned several pages on a TOEFL text I used for studying abroad and discovered the word “Esoteric” on the page. Suddenly, an inspiration came down into my mind “ESOTERIQ” after QIQ, GRIQ, CIVIQ, HELLIQ and OLYMPIQ by Dr. Katsioulis.

Incidentally, EVANGELIQ also founded after it.

I call the 7 societies: the WIN seven league.

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?

Yamauchi: Generally speaking,in terms of psychometric definition, on the one hand, top 2% of people are called gifted or genius, on the other hand bottom 2% people are judged as an intellectual disability or mentalretardation.

I have a different opinion about it.

If the top 2% of people are defined as a gifted person or a genius, the bottom 2% people also must be regarded as a gifted or genius because normal distribution is theoretically always a symmetry. Let me explain an easy statistical trick.

There are 1024 people in front of you.

All of them are separated into half as two groups (512 people×2).

Each half group would be playing the game of rock-paper-scissors.

The winners and losers would be separated into half as two groups again (256×2). If we repeat this again and again, a 10 times winner and 10 times loser would appear necessary.

Do the 10 times winner have more luck than the 10 times loser?

The answer is no because the probability of them is obviously the same as 2^10=1024

The luckiness of the 10 times loser is absolutely equal to that of the 10 times winner. Both of them are just an apparent frequency on a binomial distribution.

The normal distribution can be used as an approximation to the binomial distribution. Check the relationship between them.

http://mathcenter.oxford.emory.edu/site/math117/normalApproxToBinomial/

http://scipp.ucsc.edu/~haber/ph116C/NormalApprox.pdf

Everybody is a genius, has infinite potential to be a great person.

There is no moron of all humans who has ever lived on this planet.

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

Yamauchi: I am not a professional philosopher or theologian.

Additionally, I do not hold any religious dogma and belief as mentioned before. However, I know the existence of a god because all of us came from unconditional love, which is the beginning of our universe.

We are copy and child of a god, this is an afterlife knowledge mentioned below.

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

Yamauchi: I have never thought such things. I really have no idea.

We cannot escape from the GAFAM (Google, Apple, Facebook, Amazon, Microsoft). I use them almost every day.

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

Yamauchi: No comment. It is a privacy question and I do not regard IQ score as human value and intelligence.

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.

Yamauchi: It does not make sense.I ended taking and researching IQ tests more than 15 years ago and have no intention to archive higher score anymore.

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

Yamauchi: Sorry,I may not catch up with the meaning of ethical philosophy. Just I have no intention of committing a crime.

Jacobsen: What social philosophy makes some sense, even the most workable sense to you?

Yamauchi: Social sensitivity is the most important factor to develop a good human relationship in any community, group, company and organization even if high IQ societies.

Jacobsen: What economic philosophy makes some sense, even the most workable sense to you?

Yamauchi: Money is energy. Don’t deposit out of fear for your future. Use everything to get a chance and change your future. Time is not money because time does not exist. Everything is an eternal now.

Jacobsen: What political philosophy makes some sense, even the most workable sense to you?

Yamauchi: I am uninterested in politics. I do not care no matter who become a president or prime minister. It is an imaginary story in another world to me.

Jacobsen: What metaphysics makes some sense to you, even the most workable sense to you?

Yamauchi: If you define metaphysics as a kind of spiritualism, all humans were born from the beginning of universe, 13.8 billion years ago.

Everything is a miracle, everything is a neutral, everything is for your future. Time will come from future to past, not past to future.

All causes occur by a reason from future, not a past event.

Jacobsen: What worldview-encompassing philosophical system makes some sense, even the most workable sense to you?

Yamauchi: You are the only one perfect existence of 8 billion people in the world. A unique sapiens in 100 billion of all humans who have ever lived on the Earth. Everybody is one in 8 billion, one in 100 billion on human history.

Jacobsen: What provides meaning in life for you?

Yamauchi: Meaning in life is to respond to an event you encounter.

An English word, “Responsibility” comes from the combination of “Response” and “Ability.”

Every event is a neutral, so you have a responsibility to respond to it with your ability. This is my meaning in life.

Jacobsen: Is meaning externally derived, internally generated, both, or something else?

Yamauchi: According to “Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus” by Ludwig Wittgenstein, “The limits of my language mean the limits of my world.”

This question is beyond my language limit.

As following the last proposition,

I cannot speak, therefore I must be silent

Jacobsen: Do you believe in an afterlife? If so, why, and what form? If not, why not?

Yamauchi: We will never die since “Death is not an event in life, we do not experience death” on “Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus” by Ludwig Wittgenstein.

Anyway, talking seriously, I do not believe in an afterlife because I know it.

“Believe” still remains doubtfulness, but there is absolutely certainness on “know.” We do not believe in the Sun because we know it!

I do not have any religious dogma or belief, but death is not actually the end of our life. This is not a metaphysical word trick. Death is just the beginning of the next life. Afterlife, past-life, and reincarnation undoubtedly exist. We can meet some important people again when we come back to this world. In terms of quantum theory, human consciousness does not come from our brain itself. Our consciousness temporarily falls within a brain, then it will move into the non-physical world when we die, then the same consciousness will be pregnant a different body someday.

Where is our consciousness while we are sleeping?

It moves to a non-physical world, which is called an afterlife world, and does not keep staying in your brain itself.

The sleeping dream is regarded as a re-synthesis of a daily memory by a hippocampus in terms of neuroscience, but the nearest world to an afterlife.

When we wake up, our consciousness comes back to your brain immediately, so we die in every day for 8 hours and come back to the same physical body to live during another 16 hours. We have yesterday`s memory because our hippocampus always keeps a bridging between past and future memory.

In my opinion, past-life-memory exists in the basal ganglia and cerebellum, which are controlled procedure memory.

Let me introduce strongly recommended books and webs about it

“The Emperor`s New Mind” by Roger Penrose

“I am Not a Brain” by Markus Gabriel

“Proof of Heaven” by Eben Alexander

“Ultimate Journey” by Robert Monroe

“Afterlife knowledge Guidebook” by Bruce moen

Afterlife TV with Bob Olson: https://www.afterlifetv.com/

The Monroe Institute: https://www.monroeinstitute.org/

Jacobsen: What do you make of the mystery and transience of life?

Yamauchi: As mentioned above, everybody has each own purpose of existence, no matter when and how we die. Every metempsychosis exists at the same time in different countries and eras in terms of quantum time.

My soul copies (not biological clone) are concurrently living both past and future on this planet.

An English word, “Remember” separated into two words “Re” and “member”. You know why?

When you meet somebody somewhere, you remember past-life relationship with the person.

You remember a memory belong to the same group together a long time ago in a past-life.

“Re” and “member” stand for “again” and “meet together” respectively, so “Remember” implies “we have met already before a long time ago”; although, you meet the person for first time in all of this life.

If I die in this life, I will meet some important people again in my next life with a different body to “remember this life”.

Jacobsen: What is love to you?

Yamauchi: The beginning and end of all things includes myself, yourself and everything itself.

Appendix I: Footnotes

[1] Administrator, ESOTERIQ Society.

[2] Individual Publication Date: January 8, 2021: http://www.in-sightjournal.com/yamauchi-1; Full Issue Publication Date: May 1, 2021: https://in-sightjournal.com/insight-issues/.

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2023-03-24

Ask Two Geniuses with Dr. Christian Sorensen and Matthew Scillitani on Genius, Mental Health, and Relationships: Independent Metaphysician & Philosopher; Social Media Marketer & Web Developer (1)

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

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

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2021/01/01

Abstract

Rick Rosner and I conduct a conversational series entitled Ask A Genius on a variety of subjects through In-Sight Publishing on the personal and professional website for Rick. This series with Christian and Matthew build on this idea. Dr. Christian Sorensen earned a score at 185+, i.e., at least 186, on the WAIS-R. He is an expert in Metaphysics and Philosophy. Matthew Scillitani earned a score at 190, on Psychometric Qrosswords. He is an expert in Social Media Marketing and Web Development. Both scores on a standard deviation of 15. A sigma of ~5.67+ for Christian – a general intelligence rarity of more than 1 in 136,975,305, at least 1 in 202,496,482 – and a sigma of 6.00 for Matt – a general intelligence rarity of 1 in 1,009,976,678. Neither splitting hairs nor a competition here; we agreed to a discussion, hopefully, for the edification of the audience here. 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. This amounts to a joint interview or conversation with Dr. Christian Sorensen, Matthew Scillitani, and myself. They discuss: mental wellness and mental illness; a youth from an adult; a prodigy from a genius; a reasonable point at which to separate an early bloomer from a late bloomer; psychiatric conditions in relation to genius; genius, dating, friendships, love, and marriage; intelligence from IQ; parts of IQ with intelligence; and desired directions for this meta-analytic discussion.

Keywords: Christian Sorensen, genius, Matthew Scillitani, mental health, relationships.

Ask Two Geniuses with Dr. Christian Sorensen and Matthew Scillitani on Genius, Mental Health, and Relationships: Independent Metaphysician & Philosopher; Social Media Marketer & Web Developer (1)

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

Scott Douglas Jacobsen: Some interviewees prefer short, open-ended questions. Other interviewees prefer long prefaces punctuated by a question or a series of questions. Sorry to any readers present or future who happen to read some of the works here or elsewhere, sincerely and gently, with particular preferences in reading kinds and forms of questions, the materials can restrict or constrain some of the reading due to a number of factors. Some relate to the preference of the interviewee or interviewees. Others may have a relationship with the coda statements seemingly requisite to move onto the next part of the interview or to make a final statement about this or that particular topic. So on and so forth, nonetheless, this series, probably, will commit to an admixture of them. Our subject matter, in general, for this mediated discussion are intelligence, IQ, mental wellness, mental illness, youth and adults, prodigy and genius, early bloomers and late bloomers, psychiatric disorders tied to genius, relationships (friendship, dating, and marriage) and genius, while within a ‘deep dive’ or a meta-analytic framework of comprehension. To begin, let’s get some personal opinions or individual definitions of the above categories before moving into the more formal discussion and then trying to bring everything under the same roof, what are mental wellness and mental illness to you?

Dr. Christian Sorensen[1]*: Both, mental wellness and mental illness, from my point of view, are relative and variable categories, since they respectively depend on temporal circumstances, and they are metamorphoseable nomenclatures. In turn, it could be stated, that these are definable, from a perspective, that I will denominate of introjection and of extra introjection, depending on whether it is done, from what I’m going to name, the consciousness of illness, or whether it is effectuated, from an external objectifying typification.

Matthew Scillitani[2],[3]*: Mental wellness is, to me, more than just the absence of psychiatric disorders or peace of mind or whatever. It’s the ability to temper one’s emotions, be productive, mature, ethical, and rational, regardless of the presence of psychiatric disorders. We have all met someone who, in spite of not having any obvious psychiatric conditions, was lazy, unethical, immature, and so on; so the absence of psychiatric disorders and stress does not mean the person is mentally well.

In contrast, mental illness can be marked as the inability to rationalize well, the presence of delusions, laziness, melancholy, low stress-resistance, a weak ego, immaturity, et cetera. Actually, it’s probably that a weak ego is responsible for all of those things in the first place. I’ve noticed that many people who are mentally unwell seem to have a weak ego, which causes them to be more prone to disturbance and prolonged cognitive dissonance, which is extremely bad for one’s mental health.

Jacobsen: What differentiates a youth from an adult?

Sorensen: I think that what differentiates the two of them, is a psychological maturational criterion, that is related to the crystallization of the personality structure, particularly, with regard to the formation, of the identity of the self, and from an ethical point of view, with the capacity of moral judgement, for assuming responsibility, in relation to one’s own individual acts, which specifically refers, to the ability to make proper use of personal freedom, in terms of being able, to act in accordance with pre-established social norms, and therefore, to be capable to cognitively understand, the relationship that exists between rights and duties, both in the private and public spheres.

Scillitani: Biologically, probably just puberty. Psychologically, that is a hard question to answer. We cannot say it is rationality, or intelligence, or emotional maturity, or stress-resistance, or anything else because there are adults who have none of those things and some precocious children who have some or all of them. In an ideal world, all children would grow into smart, ethical, productive, satisfied adults who can live their lives effectively without the aid of others.

Jacobsen: What differentiates a prodigy from a genius?

Sorensen: A prodigy, is a precocious child in a certain field, who also dominates it, although this area, has already been invented. While a genius, is someone who manages to revolutionize, a certain sphere of knowledge.

Scillitani: Well, most prodigies are children who have committed thousands of hours towards practicing a learnable skill, like piano or mental math. These are things that are impressive but don’t require much intelligence to do. After all, a child can do them! A genius is someone, usually an adult, though there are a few cases of teenage geniuses, who are exceptionally intelligent, talented in their fields of study, and who, like the prodigy, commit thousands of hours towards their work. Many pianists can play Beethoven flawlessly, but only Beethoven was the genius for having written his music into existence. That is a genius. The prodigy can just play well.

Jacobsen: What seems like a reasonable point at which to separate an early bloomer from a late bloomer?

Sorensen: I think that what separates an early bloomer from a late bloomer, is the existential fact for a genius, of becoming aware about death, and therefore, of stop thinking that he is living life, and rather begin to think, about how long he will live.

Scillitani: Probably mid-puberty would be a good time to determine that. If a child is very precocious but they fizzle down to normal as a teenager then they were an early bloomer and if a child is behind their classmates but catches up sometime during puberty then they were a late bloomer. It may even be that a child is an early bloomer in some areas and a late bloomer in others. For a personal example, I was a very strong reader from an early age but was weak in math and couldn’t understand it no matter how hard I tried. Then, in high school, math was suddenly very easy to comprehend and I skipped four math grades!

Jacobsen: Any thoughts on more formal, precise psychiatric conditions in relation to genius?

Sorensen: I think that in general, in relation to genius, there are certain psychiatric patterns, that tend to repeat, especially in what concern, schizoaffective and mood troubles, which can manifest themselves, in a wide spectrum, ranging from personality disorders to psychotic syndromes.

Scillitani: O.C.D. (obsessive-compulsive disorder), O.C.P.D. (obsessive-compulsive personality disorder), Asperger Syndrome, Schizophrenia, A.S.P.D. (antisocial personality disorder), depression, and paraphilia are all related to genius. Psychiatric disorders are probably a requisite for genius, and the most common disorder held by nearly all geniuses is Asperger Syndrome. It seems that depression and sexual deviance are also common if not a requisite for genius. In the arts, like music and painting, schizophrenia is also very common, but less so in the sciences.

Jacobsen: Any thoughts on genius, dating, friendships, love, and marriage relevant for the upcoming extended conversation?

Sorensen: I think of -1, since genius, dating, friendships, love, and marriage, not only strongly intersect between themselves, but also they interact each other, perfectly, nevertheless they do so, by an absolutely reverse way.

Scillitani: Most geniuses never marry, never have children, and have few or no friends, probably because of psychosocial problems related to psychiatric disorders like Asperger Syndrome and Schizophrenia. Some geniuses are lucky and manage to find a romantic partner but it’s very rare. The genius is usually also introverted and not interested in socializing anyway, preferring to live in his own world and focus his attention on his hobbies and work, which he excels in.

Jacobsen: What separates intelligence from IQ?

Sorensen: Everything separates them, since the IQ is not only a consensual unit of measurement, that represents intelligence, in my opinion, as a partial and relative reality which never hits the bottom, but also because both are essentially different, due to the fact, that they have natures, which in addition to being asymmetrical, they are besides, opposite between each other, since while the IQ, is always procedurally discursive, intelligence never is, and respectively, if reads reality, then the other does so, but instantly from its inside, without conjugating any sign.

Scillitani: Intelligence is a quality and I.Q. tests are a measuring tool. The challenge is that intelligence is much harder to precisely measure because it’s not as clear-cut as just putting a yardstick next to an object to measure height or something. What makes it even more difficult is that idiots can’t recognize high intelligence, and many of them decide to enter the field of psychology because it has almost no barrier for entry. So now we have many psychologists trying to measure intelligence but are not intelligent themselves, which results in less satisfactory measurement tools.

Jacobsen: What equates parts of IQ with intelligence?

Sorensen: There are no equitable parts between one and the other, since what exists, is rather a noetic analogy, in which through IQ, intelligence, is simply and reductively defined, as an ability to solve problems, in function, of different degrees of complexity, and lastly what the term of IQ signifies, refers to who defined it, since the very first time, that is to say, to what means a metric value, measured by certain refutable instruments.

Scillitani: I.Q. is a pretty good reflection of one’s intelligence when the test taken has high-quality items, is heterogeneous, and has a high g-loading, with a generous ceiling (and floor, in some cases) to allow for outliers.

Jacobsen: Any particular desired directions for this meta-analytic discussion on these subject matters or points to bear in mind as the conversation continues?

Sorensen: In relation to the term that I proposed, of meta-analysis, and regarding these subject matters, I would follow, an increasingly abstract direction, until getting to nothingness, in order to screen every detail, and fully discern the qualitative aspects of each one of them, since in that manner I would start castling the concept of metaphysics, with another one, that I will denominate meta-philosophy.

Scillitani: Sure. A good and relevant topic would be on the differences (if any) between the universal genius and the more niche genius, who is exceptional at one or two subjects but average or even bad at others. Does the latter even exist? If so, are they still a genius or something else entirely? We could also talk about the physical characteristics of the genius. For example, it’s sometimes said that the genius may have a larger head circumference relative to their body. Perhaps there is some truth to this?

Appendix I: Footnotes

[1] Independent Metaphysician and Philosopher.

[2]Member, Giga Society.

[3] Individual Publication Date: January 1, 2021: http://www.in-sightjournal.com/sorensen-scillitani-1; Full Issue Publication Date: May 1, 2021: https://in-sightjournal.com/insight-issues/.

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2023-03-24

Conversation with Paul Cooijmans on Censorship, Freedom of Speech, High-IQ Societies, Moles and Wolves, Cultural Marxism, and “Thoth”: Administrator, Glia Society (2)

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

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

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2021/01/01

Abstract

Paul Cooijmans is an Independent Psychometitor and Administrator of the Glia Society, and Administrator of the Giga Society. He discusses:the observation of the limitations in the I.Q. societies in terms of speech; the various forms of “editorial changes and vicious manipulations” of content; some manifestations of the permissive admissions policies; how many people like censorship; moles and wolves in high-IQ societies; guarding against moles and wolves; how highly intelligent people can have an anti-intelligence view; mainstream intelligence tests; Cooijmans tests providing the best approximation of general intelligence; testing at an intended level; anomalies at or above 1 in 200 in general intelligence; a common conflation between education and intelligence level; some of the other higher-I.Q. societies founded since 1997; the evidence for having introducing the idea of high-range testing and higher-I.Q. societies to European societies; the main attraction for prospective members; comments on members joining, staying, or leaving; cultural Marxism; the popular Netherlandic saying, “Act normally, then you are already acting crazy enough”; the popular Netherlandic saying, “No one is allowed to stick out above the mowing field”; the effects over 2020 of some of the aforementioned trends; and any earlier gods than Thoth as considered potential names for the journal.

Keywords: censorship, cultural Marxism, freedom of speech, high-IQ societies, moles, Paul Cooijmans, wolves.

Conversation with Paul Cooijmans on Censorship, Freedom of Speech, High-IQ Societies, Moles and Wolves, Cultural Marxism, and “Thoth”: Administrator, Glia Society (2)

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

Scott Douglas Jacobsen: In terms of the observation of the limitations in the I.Q. societies at the time, what were the forms of “limited freedom of speech” and “censorship”?

Paul Cooijmans[1],[2]*: I suspect these quotations refer to previous answers I gave in the 2020 interview. In the 1990s I observed limited freedom of speech and censorship in several societies with varying pass levels in the following manners: When, in an article, I criticized a society’s admission policy and procedure, which did not function well in my perception, a response article followed from the society’s psychologist, who was on good terms with the journal editor. In this response, which contained much error on the substantial level, I was personally attacked and character-assassinated. When I tried to defend myself and correct errors in further responses, these were either not published or delayed and manipulated to make me look foolish, and then the psychologist was given the chance to respond to my manipulated response in the same issue, a few pages further, saying something like, “look what that silly Paul Cooijmans is writing there”. Obviously, I was never given the chance to respond in the same issue to what others wrote about me.

What also happened was that when I submitted an article, the editor removed things that were considered violations, always without my consent. On one occasion, I was even sent the altered version before publication; I contacted the editor at once to say I did not agree with the alterations and forbade publication of the altered version. This was ignored and the altered version was published despite my forbidding this. Then, I knew I was dealing with scum of the lowest kind.

Very telling was also that negative responses to my articles were frequently published, but positive responses only came directly to me from readers. Once, someone told me he had sent a letter-to-the-editor containing a positive remark about me; when the letter was published, he had seen, to his amazement, that said positive remark had been removed. Then, I knew I was dealing with irreparable editorial corruption.

More general observations about that society were that discussions in the journal were cut off (“this topic is now closed”) and that irony and humour seemed forbidden.

In another society with a higher pass level I observed that discussion of certain topics was “edited for length and civility”, which, in practice, meant that some viewpoints were less likely to appear in print, and the published material was biased toward one side of the debate. This concerned matters like tests and admission. Broadly speaking, there was a battle between those who wanted a strict admission policy with tests that actually discriminated at the intended level, and those who (secretly) wanted to admit anyone interested in membership, and therefore wanted as many tests as possible on the list of accepted tests, irrespective of the high-range validity (or absence thereof) of those tests. Only years later would I understand that this battle was, roughly, one between “liberals” and “conservatives”, and that the former group was principally against the concepts of I.Q. societies and I.Q. testing altogether and trying to destroy them from within. To them, the admission policy and testing were merely symbolic. In societies with formal democratic procedures, the “liberals” tended to win, because they received the votes from those who had only been able to join through the inflated admission policies promoted by the same “liberals”.

Jacobsen: Following the same line, what were the “editorial changes and vicious manipulations”? Also, why the “lack of fora for verbatim communication and publication” if any further reasons apart from the aforementioned?

Cooijmans: I explained a bit about vicious manipulations in the previous question; there were also general editorial changes that I have not yet mentioned, such as changing the title of an article, changing the word order of sentences, changing words, changing, adding, or removing commas, leaving things out, changing the division in paragraphs, removing white space, not italicizing a few words when so requested, removing irony and humour, and more. All of this was done without consulting or informing the author, and the result was often that one’s well-written work appeared in the journal as ungrammatical gibberish. When people complained, the editor would say they were “nitpicking about commas”, which was a pretty stupid thing to say because when you change commas you change meaning. Adding a comma may change a restrictive relative clause into a non-restrictive relative clause, for instance, and then suddenly that sentence says something entirely different!

Another grossly felonious instance of editorial change occurred when I submitted a puzzle, and the editor, without consulting or informing me, left out part of the instruction and changed (ruined) the puzzle itself. Subsequently, when no correct answers from readers had come in a month later, aforesaid editor commented in the journal that this was because I had provided a bad puzzle that had no real solution. No, he did not mention to the readers that he had altered the puzzle single-handedly without my knowledge. I believe these observations show a need for verbatim communication and publication fora.

Jacobsen: What are some of the theoretical and practical manifestations of the permissive admissions policies – “too permissive”?

Cooijmans: I would say that the experiences related in the previous two answers constitute practical manifestations of the results of overly permissive admissions policies. The looser the admissions standards, the more riff-raff is let in. Another such manifestation are the people I have often seen in these societies who talk about themselves as being “gifted”, or having discovered their “giftedness” through the test that qualified them. My observation is that many of these persons are not “gifted”, let alone intelligent, by very far, and that something has gone horribly wrong in the testing and admission procedure. It gets embarrassing when they speak of problems they have had in life because of being “gifted” and misunderstood; I have to constrain myself then not to tell them that they are not “gifted” and their problems have different causes.

A special case form people like psychologists, who have professional access to the contents and scoring keys of many tests, so that their own scores on the same must be seen in a certain perspective (that was euphemistic) and their presence in I.Q. societies in no way implies that their intelligence is at the intended level. More than once have I had the impression that such unqualified professionals had joined fraudulently with the express purpose to become active as admissions officers and further pervert the society’s admissions policy. This impression has only become stronger in recent years, when I saw some of them, now mostly retired, on social media, still being critical about strict testing and admission practices (read: still foaming at the mouth whenever my name is mentioned). The obvious cognitive decline with age makes it ever harder for them to uphold the mask of hypocrisy, so that their true nature comes out in glowing colours (“loss of decorum” is the precise psychiatric term).

An anecdote illustrating a practical manifestation of admission gone wrong: In the early 2000s, a certain person was active in an abundance of societies, publishing an unstoppable diarrhoea of articles that were notorious for their many errors and extremely bad style of writing. In 2004, an essay on the Madrid train bombings appeared from his capable hand, stating that the attacks had killed some enormous number of people (I believe two hundred thousand was the claimed number). Soon, a few readers gently pointed out to the diligent publicist that the actual death count was 193. Thereupon, the good author provided the editor with a corrected version of his masterpiece, wherein he… had changed something else but left the error intact. In such cases, I have always tried to investigate exactly what went wrong with testing and admission, and to adapt the admission policy to prevent reoccurrence.

Jacobsen: Why do “many people really like censorship and curtailed freedom of speech”?

Cooijmans: This question brings the present coronavirus situation to mind: Much of the world has been living more or less under authoritarian, fascist rule since the spring of 2020, yet the vast majority of people have absolutely no problem with that. The minority that protest comprise a bizarre amalgam of libertarians, alt-right individuals, conspiracy theorists, anti-vaxxers, small business owners, performing artists, and maverick scientists. Historically, an abrupt move to authoritarianism has been the reflex to outbreaks of deadly infectious diseases (and incidentally, this may be the origin of the habit to call a strict, clean, rule-abiding individual “Nazi”). Reasons that so many applaud the restrictive measures and harsh punishments for offenders include fear of the disease, but also a certain pre-existing dislike of the independent thinkers that make up the protesters.

In I.Q. societies, censorship and curtailed freedom of speech tend to be unilateral, suppressing one side of the discussion. Those on the other side may experience the censorship as beneficial because it protects them from the confrontation with opposing views. Most people prefer not to see opposing views, and to surround themselves with like-minded folks.

Jacobsen: Why do some seem to “only join I.Q. societies to keep an eye on what is going on, or to destroy them from the inside, like a kind of moles or wolves in sheep’s clothes”? Other than the reason stipulated “anti-intelligence attitude.”

Cooijmans: It is a general phenomenon, not limited to I.Q. societies, for organizations to be infiltrated. The moles lie in ambush, waiting for compromising material to fall into their paws, which they may then make public to damage or destroy the organization. Engagement in sado-masochism, attendance of darkrooms or bareback parties, child pornography or paedophilia, eugenics, expressions of homophobia, racism, or – the holy grail – anti-Semitism. The infiltrators may act from a far-left ideological motivation, often belong to activist organizations, or they may even be paid actors; activism has “benefactors” with infinitely deep pockets who will not hesitate to finance this kind of spying, as well as demonstrations, propaganda, riots, terror attacks, or murder.

The first instance of such a scandal in the world of I.Q. societies, in my period of involvement in those societies, took place early 1995. In the journal of a certain I.Q. society, a member advocated the humane killing off of the old, the weak, the stupid, and the inefficient. Although the journal was strictly members-only, this article was instantly leaked out, resulting in an international scandal. The editor who published the article was dismissed, and many local branches of the society apologized to their members for the reputation damage the society had thus incurred. Never was the contents of the article taken seriously and discussed; the fuss was only about the society being publicly connected to the ideas expressed by the author.

Jacobsen: How can societies guard against these “moles” or disguised “wolves”?

Cooijmans: I am afraid that a bona fide organization, with an objective and fair admission policy such as I recommend, is powerless against infiltration. The moles have it easy to get in. Only advanced lie detection might keep them out. It should also be said that most of the I.Q. societies I have known contain very little “dirt” in this sense, but rather are havens of political correctness. Despite selecting for high intelligence, the societies are transparent to the outer world, and any subversive uttering or activity occurring in them is bound to leak out within hours.

How different is this in criminal organizations, where squealers are dealt with in soundproof rooms using bolt cutters, cigarette lighters, and other such tools of the trade. Not that I would want to threaten any I.Q. society moles with that, mind. Oh no. Such a thing could never occur to me.

Jacobsen: Why do some “highly intelligent people” have an “anti-intelligence attitude”?

Cooijmans: This conspicuous phenomenon has puzzled me for decades. Why do some of the most intelligent people propagate falsehood like “intelligence is not important or valuable in itself” or “a society of higher average intelligence is not a better society”? An obvious explanation would be that they be right, in which case we should all be relieved regarding the current downward trend of intelligence in the West. After all, it will not make society less civilized and more dangerous! There will be no increase of crime, violence, hatred, and misery, no loss of wealth, technology, and happiness. Alas! any objective study of the relation between intelligence and real-world functioning shows this to be false, and that the anti-intelligence propaganda of the intelligentsia is ideological in nature rather than scientific and factual.

The questions remains why highly intelligent individuals would (1) believe these things, or (2) pretend to believe them. Concerning the first, it is conceivable that a highly intelligent person, growing up with the present Marxist indoctrination and never encountering the science regarding intelligence (the “London school”, the hereditarians) keeps believing those doctrines well into adult life. An important factor is the psychological phenomenon of projection, which I have mentioned before but is so crucial that it bears repetition: The highly intelligent person, by default, involuntarily and unawares, assumes one’s own level of mental ability in all or most other people and is thus innately disposed to believe the Marxist-egalitarian dogmas. Those are attractive to such a person, they “feel right” and “ring true”. It takes some serious study and hard confrontation with reality to overcome this projection, as well as a wide associative horizon. I have long suspected that intelligent persons with narrow associative horizons (who do exist) are inclined to remain in their brainwashed states for all of their lives. Another factor that keeps the truth from these people is that the science of intelligence has been suppressed, pushed to the fringes, expelled from the academic world, as “scientific racism” or “hate”. So, for group (1), the explanation would lie in their personality combined with the indoctrinating environment, to which they have insufficient resistance due to a narrow associative horizon.

Regarding (2), this concerns intrinsically dishonest, evil entities who say one thing but believe the other. Yes, even though intelligence correlates positively and causally with all things good, the direction of causality being from intelligence to goodness, the correlation of intelligence with goodness is not unity (1, perfect). A class of intelligent, evil beings – one hesitates to call them humans – occupy vital segments of society and purposely spread crypto-political, pseudoscientific misinformation. They will tell us, “race is a social construct” but live in gated White communities themselves. They do not believe what they say but want us to believe it. Group (2) is really a caste, a set of genetic strains, possibly a species, that live among us in the guise of Homo sapiens. They consist of bloodlines wherein high intelligence has coagulated with evil after centuries of selective breeding; inbreeding (cousin-cousin, uncle-niece) to retain the desired unnatural combination of cognitive ability with insincerity, and occasional outbreeding to incorporate new blood and keep the outward appearance of humans. Without the outbreeding, they would begin to look unhuman, reflecting the fact that their configuration of personality traits is unhuman and anti-human.

Jacobsen: What mainstream intelligence tests seem to provide the best approximation of general intelligence?

Cooijmans: If educational tests like Miller Analogies Test, Scholastic Aptitude Test, and Graduate Record Examination are included, the older forms of those three are the only ones that I have observed to have some loading on general intelligence into the high range. The newer editions do not seem to have such, and another problem is that when people take those tests purposely (and sometimes repeatedly) to qualify for I.Q. societies, the tests’ “g” loadings disappear. They are only “g”-loaded when taken in their proper educational context, and not robust against determined attempts to obtain a super-high score.

I know of no other mainstream tests that have any noticeable “g” loading in the high range. If you are talking about the average range of intelligence, I can not answer from my own observation because I have only dealt with high-range tests.

Jacobsen: What Cooijmans tests seem to provide the best approximation of general intelligence?

Cooijmans: If I limit myself to the currently available tests for which there is enough data to answer this more or less objectively: Reason Behind Multiple-Choice – Revision 2008, The Marathon Test, Associative LIMIT, Test of the Beheaded Man, Cooijmans Intelligence Test – Form 3, Narcissus’ last stand, The Nemesis Test, Test For Genius – Revision 2016, Cooijmans Intelligence Test – Form 4, Cooijmans Intelligence Test 5. This is only about the high range.

Jacobsen: How can most other I.Q. societies treat homogeneous tests appropriately, so as to test at “their intended level”?

Cooijmans: If it concerns tests that possess validity around the intended level and there are no further problems with them (such as answer leakage) I would say that the Glia Society’s approach is best: Require qualifying scores on each of two such tests with different item types. Do not use methods to compute a “real I.Q.” from several test scores; that may result in inflated I.Q.’s.

Jacobsen: What seems to happen with anomalies at or above 1 in 200 in general intelligence rarity – of the more intelligent or the higher end of the curve – who happen to harbour delusions of grandeur, personality dis-order, supernaturalistic tendencies of thinking about the objects and relations in the natural world, or happen to have the inability for scientific rationality, skepticism, and logical reasoning? I am aware. You have written on these.

Cooijmans: I have no idea to which writing by me this could refer, but now that you ask, it is true that my general observation is that the ability to be rational and logical commences around the level of 1 in 200 in intelligence (the high end, not the low end). And indeed are there glorious exceptions, and I have been trying to understand, for a few decades now, how those come to be. Several causes seem to occur:

Full-blown psychosis is the easiest cause to recognize, also because it tends to subside within weeks or months, after which one may observe the subject in a more rational state.

Mild chronic psychosis is another frequent cause, and harder to identify. Some personality variants are forever on the brink of psychosis, but never develop an acute episode. Very, very evil tongues whisper that for typical women, this is actually the default state of being; of course, it would never occur to me personally, or to any sensible person for that matter, to make such a misogynistic suggestion, not even in jest. A point of concern in diagnosing this near-psychotic condition is that on a bad day, one may find oneself at the wrong end of the stick, that is, one may be delusional oneself while the other person is sane. Therefore it is necessary to frequently revisit and study in depth exactly those viewpoints that are at odds with what one has long believed or been taught. Those with a wide associative horizon possess this habit as an innate reflex, are obsessively drawn toward what violates the status quo of their knowledge, opinions, and attitudes.

Finally, there are entities that have some kind of interest, either financial, ideological, political, or ethnocentric, that discords with truth, logic, and righteousness. This makes them behave and express themselves in contrast with the rationality one would expect at their levels of intelligence.

Jacobsen: Why is there a common conflation between education and intelligence level, or amount of knowledge and general intelligence level?

Cooijmans: The essence is this: The correlations of intelligence with education and amount of knowledge are unidirectional, with the causality going from intelligence to those respective concepts. Higher intelligence is required for higher educational achievement, and higher intelligence causes one to store more knowledge in one’s long-term memory. It does not work the other way around; studying does not raise your intelligence, and putting more knowledge in your memory does not raise your intelligence. To believe such is a form of sympathetic magic, it is a reversal of causality.

For better understanding, one should know that part of higher intelligence is having a better working memory. The working memory, in turn, is the device that stores information in the long-term memory. With a better working memory, you are storing more in your long-term memory, whether you like it or not. This is why persons of higher intelligence have more general knowledge and a larger vocabulary; those are results, by-products, of the higher intelligence. Knowing this mechanism, it is easy to see that merely increasing one’s knowledge and vocabulary will not increase intelligence and working memory. The mechanism goes one way only.

Intelligence, including working memory, rests on physical properties like the number of cortical neurons, neural conduction velocity, the quality of the insulation material around the axons, and the energy-efficiency of the brain (the efficiency of the brain’s glucose metabolism). If any improvement to those is possible at all, it will be through physical means, not by mimicking the effects of the intelligence brought forth by them. Not by providing the brain with knowledge. Conversely, intelligence may be reduced by any physical damage to the brain, such as by mechanical impact, shortage of oxygen or glucose, poisons, or hormones.

Jacobsen: What have been some of the other higher-I.Q. societies founded since 1997?

Cooijmans: I have not paid attention, but it concerns a huge number of them. The Epimetheus Society comes to mind. I can not stand to look at the web locations of many of the newer societies; slow-loading, full of spaghetti code produced by contents management systems or what-you-see-is-what-you-get editors. If you are smart enough to start an I.Q. society, learning hypertext markup language should be no hurdle for you. Few things betray incompetence and not-being-at-the-proclaimed-level-of-your-self-founded-society more than that.

Jacobsen: What is the evidence for having “introduced the concepts of high-range testing and higher-I.Q. societies to Europe”?

Cooijmans: The articles and advertisements I published in the mid-1990s in journals of I.Q. societies, regarding my tests and the Glia and Giga societies. Some are shown, for instance, on my I.Q. tests web site in “The history of I.Q. Tests for the High-Range”, and somewhere on the Giga and Glia Society sites.

Jacobsen: As one of “the most interesting and brilliant” administrators in the world with such tantalizing societies on offer to the international community of the higher-I.Q., what seems like the main pull for prospective members?

Cooijmans: I do not understand the phrase “the main pull”, but the circumstance that Glia Society members can take tests for free appears to be attractive, while for the Giga Society it is mainly prestige.

Jacobsen: Following from the previous question, what seems like the main reason for members who join and stay, and those who leave?

Cooijmans: No Giga Society members have ever left except by passing away. Glia Society members leave rarely; I remember someone resigning after being suspended from the e-mail forum for violating the rules. Another one resigned because he thought I was “far right”, but later rejoined. And a third one left because he felt he no longer deserved to be a member; this one I suspect of having leaked out the complete scoring key of one of my tests, enabling an idiot to qualify for the Giga Society. Oh, and someone resigned, came back, and later resigned again because of misbehaviour and harassment by another member. In hindsight, it seems that roughly one in a hundred members misbehave significantly at some point, and in one case I expelled the culprit. This paragraph contains quite explosive information, but given the length of this interview no one will probably get this far and read it.

Members who stay in the Glia Society do so because they like the free testing and/or the communication fora. But many also simply stay inactive without formally resigning.

Jacobsen: What is “cultural Marxism”? Why is it an “ideological terror”? Why is it “to an extreme degree” in the Netherlands?

Cooijmans: That first question needs a book-length answer in itself. “Cultural Marxism” is a term used by critics of the movements in question. Cultural Marxists do not call themselves that but deem the concept a conspiracy theory. These movements started right after the First World War, as a step up from classical Marxism, which was perceived as having failed. Classical Marxism was about a class struggle, wherein the workers of all countries would unite against Capital. In the war though, the workers of the warring countries had been fighting each other in the trenches rather than uniting, thus revealing that nationalist tendencies were stronger than class divisions.

A variety of projects were then conceived and initiated to destroy all nation states and establish a new world rule with no place for national identity and tradition. These projects involved the purposeful occupation of all vital institutions and industries, and the promotion and facilitation of migration streams (and other genocidal schemes) to permanently alter the populations and cultures of Europe, North America, and the West in general. The motivation behind this was a burning hatred of nations, Christianity, White people, masculinity, artisanship, and manual labour. The basic strategy was to make the institutions and corporations more powerful than the national governments. This has meanwhile been achieved for much of the world.

The projected world government is not benign. It is a despotic feudal monarchy without citizenship or private property, wherein serfs are kept merrily submissive, lowly fertile, not too long-lived, and feminized (in case of men) by an incessant stream of poisons administered through the air, water, food, recreational drugs, clothing, cosmetics, medication, and vaccination. They can do this because they own and control all the relevant industries. Non-pharmaceutical strategies toward this goal are employed too, such as indoctrination and the propagandizing of pornography, onanism, prostitution, deviant (non-reproductive) sex, and other maladaptive behaviours. The current royal houses will not object to this usurping of the world throne; over the past centuries, the ancestors of our hostile elite have married into the major dynasties and/or financed them so that their bloodlines and interests are interwoven and they can make their move with royal approval. Said elite consists of several thousand to several tens of thousand specimens worldwide. This multiple genocide has progressed slowly but surely, and since the early 1970s, cultural Marxists have held the centre of the political spectrum in all Western countries. Views that were previously “centre” have ever since been denoted “far right”.

It is an ideological terror because it allows no dissent. Any expression that violates its dogmas is suppressed, censored, or made illegal and prosecuted. Cultural Marxism is the epitome of intolerance, tribalism, and xenophobia. It is a tribe aiming to subjugate the world and become the ruling caste in a new era of feudalism.

The Netherlands, small and densely populated, has been a laboratory for the testing of policies intended to be rolled out worldwide. The liberal approach to recreational drugs, prostitution, abortion, and euthanasia; extreme softness on crime; same-sex marriage; exempting multinational corporations from taxation; combining a welfare state with mass immigration; the forced implementation of multiculturalism; the public execution of a conservative politician on his way to power right before election day… it has all been tried in the test tube of the world. Oh, and on an entirely unrelated note, Netherlandic experts and universities have played leading roles in the development and patenting of the SARS-CoV2 polymerase chain reaction test and corresponding vaccines.

I have been compiling a list of segments of society presently occupied by cultural Marxism; in doing so, I discovered it is quicker to make its complement, that is, a list of societal segments that are still relatively free of cultural Marxism. This latter list would include conservative and/or nationalist organizations; small and medium-sized businesses; fundamentalist and orthodox religion; part of alternative or natural healing; amateur sports; “rogue” states and nation states; agriculture, farming, hunting; barter; rural life; fringe (independent, unconventional) media; independent science (independent of governments and corporations); and traditional art and culture.

I have considered providing the former list too, but believe it would be too depressing for the good readers; suffice it to say that said list contains practically everything else in the world.

Jacobsen: Any Cooijmans response to the popular Netherlandic saying, “Act normally, then you are already acting crazy enough”?

Cooijmans: I fully agree with this saying, when taken literally. But what is meant with it on the idiomatic level is, “you are merely average and nothing better than the rest, no matter how good you may be”. This is carved into the soul of every Netherlander from birth on.

Jacobsen: Any Cooijmans response to the popular Netherlandic saying, “No one is allowed to stick out above the mowing field”?

Cooijmans: The recent death of guitarist Eddie Van Halen, born in the Netherlands, has made this painfully clear. For a few days there was some attention for him in the news on television, but in the four decades up to that, including the heyday of the group “Van Halen”, he and his band had been virtually ignored by the Netherlandic media, despite his being one of the best guitar players in existence. In 1980, when I saw Van Halen at a festival in the Netherlands, I noted already that there was little media attention for them, and if they were mentioned, it was mainly to emphasize how arrogant they were or to ridicule them. Being good at something is not appreciated here. If you are born in the Netherlands as a genius and only publish your work in the Netherlands, chances are you and your work will never be recognized for what they are but always treated as merely average, and even you yourself will keep believing, for all of your life, that you are merely average, because that is what you have always been told with great emphasis.

Incidentally, other good guitarists I have listened to are Allan Holdsworth, Philip Catherine, and Konrad Ragossnig.

Jacobsen: What will be the effects over 2020 if this trend continues? What will be the effects if this trend is reversed?

Cooijmans: Unfortunately, the question fails to specify which trend is being referred to. Cultural Marxism? But why is the year 2020 mentioned then? Cultural Marxism is a century old and not specific for 2020. The actual trend over 2020 is the pandemic of censorship and restrictions of civil rights implemented in response to virus outbreaks. It does look like cultural Marxists are utilizing the disease to tighten their stranglehold of the world; to strengthen their ownership of it; to replace small businesses with large corporations without ties to local culture and tradition; to abolish cash; to kill off people by suppressing proven effective treatments; to let people accept vaccinations out of fear by hiding the true fatality rate of the virus; in short, to accelerate their rise to world domination. The end game has begun.

If “this trend” is taken to mean cultural Marxism, and the effects need not only be over 2020, the answer is as follows: A period of civil wars will occur as White people realize they are becoming minorities in their own countries. We are seeing the preludes to that in the form of terror attacks by isolated “far right extremists”, as well as well-organized, heavily financed violent “demonstrations” by pseudo-activists who are really paid mercenaries. So, “lone wolves” against crypto-armies. A peaceful defeat of cultural Marxism seems unlikely at this point, since the native populations of almost all Western countries have been diluted such that the nationalist votes can not gain a majority in elections any more (“And good at that?!” will cultural Marxists among the readers utter at this point).

Given the cultural-Marxist occupation of all vital segments of society, the odds look grim; or sublimely favourable, depending on which side one is on. The best one can hope for is that all of this, as cultural Marxists claim, is a conspiracy theory, a collection of paranoid delusions. I would rather be delusional than right.

In the event that cultural Marxism is beaten, the effect will be a return of nation states populated and ruled by citizens, and a purging of the corrupted institutions and industries. In the opposite case, we end up under the projected world government described a few answers ago. Attentive readers will have understood what the probable outcome is. Perhaps, the time to plausibly stop cultural Marxism, if ever, were the 1920s.

Once the new kingdom has been established, one of its challenges will be to prevent degeneration of its bloodlines. Inbreeding has often been the downfall of dynasties, and the classical approach was to marry royalty from abroad, or rich foreigners if no suitable nobility was available and/or the bottom of the treasury was in sight. As a result, royal families have tended to be genetically different from their subjects (“of different blood”, one says). In the absence of nubile extraterrestrial princesses, the new masters of the world will harvest fresh blood from selected juveniles among their billions of zombie slaves, who are legally their intellectual property as they have been genetically modified by mandatory nano-robot injections. Oh, and a merry Christmas incidentally. Or happy Easter, depending on when this is published.

Perhaps I should explain the reason for words like “kingdom” and “feudal” in this context, where others speak of a “Communist (or globalist) world government”: Without private ownership, and all of the world’s assets being on the balance sheet of a small bloodline-based elite, feudalism and kingdom are the proper terms to use. Our civil rights will be set back to the Middle Ages over the next one or two decades, if this trend continues. Considering how eagerly many are queueing up for that, perhaps it is what they deserve after all.

Jacobsen: Were there any earlier gods than Thoth who came as potential names for the journal – not necessarily connect with “science, wisdom, writing, art, magic” or “writing, mathematics, astronomy”?

Cooijmans: No earlier gods came up. If I were to look for such now, I would look at antediluvian times.

Appendix I: Footnotes

[1] Administrator, Giga Society; Administrator, Glia Society.

[2] Individual Publication Date: January 1, 2021: http://www.in-sightjournal.com/cooijmans-2; Full Issue Publication Date: May 1, 2021: https://in-sightjournal.com/insight-issues/.

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2023-03-24

Conversation with Rickard Sagirbay on the Turks, Self-Defense, Galileo, Mozart, Leonardo Da Vinci, Nikola Tesla, and Languages: Member, World Genius Directory (1)

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

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

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2021/01/01

Abstract

Rickard Sagirbay is a Member of the World Genius Directory. He discusses: growing up; an extended self; the family background; experience with peers and schoolmates; some professional certifications; the purpose of intelligence tests; high intelligence discovered; the geniuses of the past; the greatest geniuses in history; a genius from a profoundly intelligent person; profound intelligence necessary for genius; some work experiences and jobs; this particular job path; important aspects of the idea of the gifted and geniuses; the God concept or gods idea; science; some of the tests taken and scores earned (with standard deviations); the range of the scores; ethical philosophy; social philosophy; political philosophy; worldview-encompassing philosophical system; and meaning in life.

Keywords: Ali Rıza Sağırbay, intelligence, IQ, Muslim, Rickard Sagirbay, Rickard Sagirbey, Turkish, Turks, World Genius Directory.

Conversation with Rickard Sagirbay on the Turks, Self-Defense, Galileo, Mozart, Leonardo Da Vinci, Nikola Tesla, and Languages: Member, World Genius Directory (1)

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

*Note from Rickard Sagirbay, from March 10, 2026: *These interviews reflect my thoughts at the time they were conducted. As time passes, one naturally develops new perspectives and reflections on life. While many of the ideas expressed still resonate with me, others I have since reconsidered. I prefer to be evaluated based on my current thinking and through present dialogue.”*

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

Rickard Sagirbay[1],[2]*: Nothing to brag about in that regard; I come from very humble family origins. I would rather say we had this tragedy within our family on my father’s side. My uncle was in the military serving as a pilot. He was known to be exceptionally intelligent and did a career within the army. One day, he was involved in an accident. His plane crashed, and he died. I have to say, “May his soul rest in peace.” My father named me after him, so my name from birth is Ali Rıza Sağırbay. Later as an adult, I changed my name for practical reasons to make it easier to apply for jobs, further I was tired to hear the repeated question: – What did you say your name was again? Further my Swedish Judicial surname is spelled a bit differently, than the Turkish original, due to that the pronunciation in Sweden is different, so we modified it to become Sagirbey. I am not being fussy about my family name, merely explaining it thoroughly since it`s listed at WGD as “Sagirbey” and my FB account name says “Sagirbay” (which is my legal Turkish name, double citizenship).

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

Sagirbay: No, I don’t think so.

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

Sagirbay: My family is originally from Izmir, Cesme. Well, we are Turks, so we are accustomed to Turkish culture, even though I was born and grew up in Sweden and, of course, acquired a lot of cultural values from there as well. The official language in Turkey is Turkish. In Turkey the majority of the population are Muslims, as are my family. So I grow up in a Muslim family and later during life I formed my own world-view in regards to the theme of religion and philosophy, but I will cover that in the latter section of your questions. My father was a local pub owner and salesman by trade and my mother was a nurse, both retired today.

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

Sagirbay: Well, this interview and your journal are based on a high level of honesty and integrity as I understood while reading it through. Therefore, I feel I have to be honest. It wasn’t a fairy tale or a dance on roses. Before proceeding, I want to emphasize that I seek no pity or redemption, neither do I self-pity. It`s all in the past but still shaped me to the man I am today. It was filled with bullying, violent episodes, verbal abuse, and so on. But on the contrary, there were also some nice memories that still stick in my mind as well.

I was a troublesome kid that always went my own way, if some authority at school told me to do tasks in a certain way I could sometimes end up doing them in the opposite way as an act of rebellion towards their authority. As a concrete example during swim school season in the city of Nynäshamn in Sweden, when I was approximately 5-6 years old, when our teacher told us to exercise swimming above the water, I instead, sometimes, exercised swimming below the water.

Sometimes, I speculate if it was a rebellious act towards my parents’ upbringing? Would I have been different if I was raised under different conditions or gone to a private school with maximum 3-5 pupils? Of course, these are just philosophical inquiries with the purpose of trying to explain my own personal development; there are no certain conclusions hereby. I was indeed gifted. Even though, I showed signs of insubordination at an early age, and I will get to how I discovered my giftedness and the signs of them later in this interview.

Back to the story of my adolescence in primary school. I did display signs of being a disciplinary problem early on and after getting in to fights with other pupils and having difficulties on focusing on tasks in school, so instead of the classical prodigy example when you skip a couple of grades early on. I was instead transferred into a school for kids considered a disciplinary problem and disruptive.

I spent approximately 2 years in this school where they actually took notes and documented our progress both in terms of behaviour and cognitive progress during the lessons. I finished my time there 2 years later. I began in music class in accordance with my mother’s wish. She was under the impression that it would transform me into a more decent and calm kid. So, at age 10, I began 5th grade in Mikaelskolan, I did pretty well in school given the civil unrest that was present in terms of fistfights, verbal abuse and bullying.

I have to confess. Sometimes, I was the victim being bullied and sometimes I was responsible for doing the bullying myself. I acted in accordance with my nature and did what I had to in order to survive the years in school, it was a tough period and required a lot of courage and persistence in order to complete this chapter of my life. I put up a good fight when I needed to defend myself physically and have no regrets in regards to this part. Some of the things, I did as a kid; on the other hand, I do regret today, and can put it in perspective and realize it was wrong.

I wish yet again to put emphasis on that as I progressed into adulthood I obviously learned better, even if I did so the hard way. As a rule of thumb, I have established to always be a diplomate primarily and try to solve conflicts using your giftedness, applying the tool of communication. Even better would be a combination of intelligence and wisdom, it is trying to plan your life in a way that prevents and minimize the probability for such events to occur in the first place (for obvious reasons).

To choose fighting as a primary means to solve a conflict is indeed idiocy and will only get you into further trouble, however, I also have to accentuate that I firmly believe that if you have already tried principal 1 and 2 aforementioned; and if you are cornered, then, of course, the use of physical violence would be completely justified. This is called self-defence. Further, it is judicially correct world wide. I would argue. I didn’t reach top grades in all of the subjects in school (Einstein didn’t either), but I discovered my resources later on.

I had a propensity and talent for head calculation, the multiplication table, head arithmetic in general. We had this competition once a week in school during 7-9 the grade in school in terms of being the quickest head calculator, sort of mind Olympics. I almost always finished in 2nd place to my classmate Lisa Classon. During our holiday in Turkey when I was 8 years old, I used to have this passionate hobby of calculating in my head 3 digit numbers such as 734*459 eventually progressing in terms of speed and accuracy. I recall reading about Ettore Majorana the physicist who also shared similar hobbies as a kid.

I also still remembered an employee at the hotel where we resorted, used to joke and call me by the nickname “the professor kid” since he took note that I had a very peculiar hobby. Sadly, these skills and hobbies of mine with time faded out. There have been times in my life, when I wonder, “What could have been the result if I had possessed the discipline to nurture and persist my talents better from an early age?” Anyway, I managed successfully to finish primary school and also finished my 3 years in high school. I was also an avid linguistic learner early on, and easily absorbed new languages being taught in school, in this case, German.

I still remember quite well in regards to grammar, vocabulary, etc. I also had a conventionally very good memory as a kid, as an example, we had this examination in music, which consisted of pages of history, important years, names such as Bach, Mozart, etc. Consequently, I memorized the full contents of those pages verbatim. I looked upon it as a game of discipline and wouldn’t stop until I knew it all by heart. It felt awesome. My stepfather Dan was surely also impressed when he noticed this. In regards to this theme discussed, I read that Francis Galton quoted whole sentences and paragraphs that he acquired from books when reading at a very early age.

Jacobsen: What have been some professional certifications, qualifications, and trainings earned by you?

Sagirbay: That is a good question and will only be fairly answered when putting it all together in context from a whole perspective. I happen to have a diagnosis of mental illness in terms of being “Bipolar”. Consequently, this has made my life difficult due to the condition of depression. So, it has created some gaps during my history of employment in terms of being able to maintain and keeping the job. It has been followed by a lot of sick listing periods from my side. I will approach this topic very humbly and honestly.

I hold no splendid records or qualifications in terms of prestigious university diplomas, Ph.D. candidate, certifications in general, etc. Most of the knowledge I acquired up to this point origin from my own studies and intellectual curiosity. Because of my mental condition, I have gone through a learning curve in life, that has made me dread and be very shy of student life and to apply to a university. So, I enjoy mainly conducting my own research privately from home as an autodidact (I study Spanish currently). I think it is important to highlight this theme with a sense of humour, also from a view that shows that I possess self-distance.

During the setbacks of life, I haven’t complained, rather I would say with a smile on my face that you are interviewing an insane man, but still sane and stable enough to participate in the interview. I accepted my mental condition and thereby found peace. There were many other gifted people who were bipolar as well during history, such as Vincent Van Gogh, Beethoven, Edgar Allan Poe, among others. I also have a quote to add from my own personal experience in regards to giftedness as bipolar: – Genius is well-balanced madness and reason, when applying the instrument of imagination flow.

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

Sagirbay: I love brain-teasers and puzzles, but what is above all of that is to discover new ways of thinking, leading to that “AHA” or “EUREKA” (Archimedes). It`s an incredible feeling actually.

Jacobsen: When was high intelligence discovered for you?

Sagirbay: Most prominently at the age of 7-15, I had these different hobbies such as mental head calculation, memorize texts when reading, also a high intellectual curiosity in general. I could ask a question to my friend, “What would you choose if you had to between amputating a leg or an arm? What would you choose between a million-dollar or supernatural powers like superman? Would you rather look like Brad Pitt in physical appearance or to be ugly and extremely rich?”

Existential questions were running in my veins from the very beginning it seems. You constantly think, “Why? Why? Why? What does this person gain from this and vice versa?” And so on, I still have this funny childhood memory from an old friend named Johan, who was actually highly gifted and precocious. During a dialogue, he once stated, “I think this kid Jens only hang out with Tobias, because he is so big and strong as for his own protection.” So, as a summary, I would say this is the way my signs of giftedness started.

Sagirbay: I firmly believe it`s because we are highly misunderstood by the average person and therefore people, in general, react with skepticism, fear, envy, anger and sometimes even hatred. People have a tendency to condemn and fear ideas and concepts they don’t fully understand. As a perfect example would be Galileo who faced the Inquisition during his days, he was trialed because his discoveries contradicted the mighty authority of the Catholic Church. This is a very fine example, indeed, how a great mind in history collides with religious dogma and that it still occurs in modern time.

Sadly, even if humanity have progressed scientifically from Galileo’s days, there is a lot of progress to be made still today. One of the reasons that many highly gifted individuals might be camera shy and shy in general might be because of past bad experiences such as my own. My endeavour as a student was never entirely successful because of my mental condition, which resulted in gaps and an incomplete education. I completed a third of the education of becoming a radiographical nurse up in northern Sweden, the city of Boden. I managed to complete 38 points out of 120, but dropped out because of my mental problems, I still have the record of it stored.

I also completed a year in the university of Jönköping the school with alignment of communication, it was a basic year of a science program. But to the summary, because of my past unsuccessful experiences of being a student, I learned that school wasn’t for me and I decided to return home and pursue studies as an autodidact by myself and in solitude. But I also of course feel I need to shed some light on the contrary. There are, of course, many geniuses in history as you mentioned that were indeed praised and revered during their whole lifetime. We could apply Mozart (1756-1791) as a perfect example, he excelled in music and was considered a child prodigy from an early age. He was admired by a lot of people early on, but sadly he died quite young at age 35.

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

Sagirbay: Leonardo Da Vinci is certainly among the top geniuses on the list. Based on his achievements and that he excelled in a great variety of fields such as art, engineering, inventions, anatomy, physics, etc. I would say he was way ahead of his time. Then we have Nikola Tesla that contributed a lot of inventions to science that we apply in modern times such as alternating current, the remote control and the neon lamp. Then of course it`s hard to forget Alfred Nobel who invented dynamite and was the founder of the Nobel prize. I also personally idealize Rudiger Gamm, Dominic O’Brien, the late Tony Buzan and finally Kemal Ataturk who was the founder of the modern Turkish Republic. These are just a few among many brilliant minds.

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

Sagirbay: Having a more fine-tuned brain and performing at the 99.9 percentage or above in terms of cognition, also in addition having that thing we call imagination to combine with the logic.

Jacobsen: Is profound intelligence necessary for genius?

Sagirbay: I would say, “Yes.”

Jacobsen: What have been some work experiences and jobs held by you?

Sagirbay: I worked for several years as a salesman in telemarketing and acquired a lot of experience from it. In addition, I worked as a customer support agent at a fitness-company. When I was younger prior to that, I worked as an assistant nurse helping elderly retired people.

Jacobsen: Why pursue this particular job path?

Sagirbay: I enjoy working with people and learn new things at constant. In sales, you never become complete in regards to this.

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?

Sagirbay: I believe that an important aspect of the idea of the gifted and genius is that society needs to improve (on a global scale) on how to effectively identify giftedness, so that talents could be cultivated and nurtured in the best interest of humanity. This will help science to progress and this, in turn, will help us to solve current world problems such as starvation, lack of clean water, overpopulation, diseases, etc. Well some of the most common myths I feel I have to dispel, is that genius/gifted people usually are autistic, or similar to savants or necessarily have to have some mental impediment or diagnosis (like in my case) and this isn’t necessarily so at all.

These myths are widely enhanced and further conveyed to the public in movies like “Rainman” (Dustin Hoffman) and “A Beautiful Mind” (Russell Crow portrait John Nash). These are indeed good movies, but the truth is that in reality there are many very healthy geniuses with no diagnosis or mental conditions at all. Another myth that is present is that most geniuses are nerds and book worms and so on. Not everybody realises that it can be a wrestler (like Plato) or a martial artist in Karate being very athletic build, etc. But this stereotype doesn’t fit the description of a genius that we are fed from media I suppose.

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

Sagirbay: I started my journey as a Muslim, since I was born in a Muslim family, later I converted to Buddhism. I found the whole idea of reincarnation plausible, as did many ancient philosophers and geniuses such as Pythagoras, Socrates, Plato, among several others. I took note of that everything in nature seemed to be cyclic and resurrection occurred all the time, for instance, the seasons of the year: Summer, autumn, winter and spring, repetition.

Also, the first law of thermodynamics states that energy is always conserved and can not be created neither destroyed. Today I am leaning towards pantheism with a scientific approach added to it. Further with time I have also found it very reasonable that people lean towards agnosticism since it`s extremely difficult to know for sure what is true in regards to existentialism. I definitely still feel that the concept of reincarnation should be taken seriously until it`s refuted by scientific means.

I have a very good quote which I feel is very appropriate in order to summarise this question:

If a man leaves with certainties he will end up with doubts; but if he is content to begin with some doubt, he will end up with some certainty.

Francis Bacon

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

Sagirbay: I would say a lot more today than it did during my years as an adolescent.

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

Sagirbay: Here you have a couple of them (verbal, spatial, and numeric):

Alphabet score: 185sd 15

Mach I: 170sd 15

SLSE II: 176sd 15

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.

Sagirbay: Range has been between 153-185sd 15 on various tests.

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

Sagirbay: Do your best and try to improve and become a better man than you were in the past. As a human being, we are constantly bound to imperfection within our very nature. Try for example to draw 5 precisely equally sized circles next to each other by hand on a piece of paper (without aiding tool). Do you think they will appear precisely the same? To put it in a funny frame, while serious, I would argue that perfect human beings only exist in fairy tales. The good intention and desire to improve as a human being is more than enough. Here are some quotes to give people something to think about.

For me the struggle to reach perfection as a human being is comparable with the same madness and despair similar to catching your own shadow.

R. Sagirbay

It is a prejudice to think that morality is more favourable to the development of reason than immorality.

Friedrich Nietzsche

Jacobsen: What social philosophy makes some sense, even the most workable sense to you?

Sagirbay: Transhumanism.

Jacobsen: What political philosophy makes some sense, even the most workable sense to you?

Sagirbay: Libertarianism.

Jacobsen: What worldview-encompassing philosophical system makes some sense, even the most workable sense to you?

Sagirbay: Trying to progress humanity in the right direction and to achieve a more intelligent citizenry, so that we might alleviate the condition of human suffering and make the earth a better place to live.

Jacobsen: What provides meaning in life for you?

Sagirbay: To constantly try to evolve as a human being and be occupied every minute of my life, this is how I keep the depression away and get my kicks. Learning new things has become my great passion in life. For instance, nowadays, I am learning Spanish. Later, I have plans to improve my German that I learned during primary school. I also enjoy theatre lessons, mind games, memorizing a deck of cards, digits, etc. I also exercise physically on a regular basis both weightlifting and running.

Appendix I: Footnotes

[1] Member, World Genius Directory.

[2] Individual Publication Date: January 1, 2021: http://www.in-sightjournal.com/sagirbay-1; Full Issue Publication Date: May 1, 2021: https://in-sightjournal.com/insight-issues/.

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2023-03-24

Conversation with Chris Cole on Mathematica for Biology: Member, Mega Society

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

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

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2021/01/01

Abstract

Chris Cole is a Member of the Mega Society. He discusses: “How To Prevent Pandemics”; Mathematica; the “profound insights into the physical world” garnered through “Mathematica and the Internet” unseen before; the pandemic; the human organism “operates on several scales at once”; the knowledge of human beings as a system of nested algorithms; and the development of a Mathematica-like system for a human being and in interaction with a virus.

Keywords: Biology, Chris Cole, Mathematica, Mega Society.

Conversation with Chris Cole on Mathematica for Biology: Member, Mega Society

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

Scott Douglas Jacobsen: You are a professional mathematician and physicist. This interview is based on an article entitled “How To Prevent Pandemics” in Noesis issue 206 (September 2020). You stated, “As recently as the 1980s, physicists routinely referred to printed journals and textbooks to find the solutions for various mathematical problems. Frequently this was a tedious process – but that was the way physicists had always worked.” Mathematica was introduced on June 23 1988 with the most recent update on June 17 2020. Since the 1980s, and the introduction of Mathematica, what is the degree of efficiency increase from it?

Chris Cole[1],[2]*: It’s much more than a degree of efficiency. Many things that were previously impossible are now routine. Ignoring obvious things like solving large problems, it’s worthwhile to focus on sometimes ignored things, for example, the ability to create a computable text. This is a text in which portions are computed in real time. The text becomes a living document as Ted Nelson envisioned when he invented hypertext.

Jacobsen: You reference “Handbook of Mathematical Functions (Abramowitz and Stegun) and Table of Integrals, Series, and Products (Gradshteyn, Ryzhik, et al.).” Were these as widely used among mathematicians in the 1980s as Mathematica today? Or were these widely used, but not nearly as much as ubiquitously as Mathematica?

Cole: Mathematica and its like are as widely used today as these reference texts were used before 1988.

Jacobsen: What are some of the “profound insights into the physical world” garnered through “Mathematica and the Internet” unseen before?

Cole: Through simulations and collaboration many aspects of the physical world have been explored to depths that were not seen before 1988 and this trend is accelerating. Look at the Mathematica Web site ( https://www.wolfram.com/mathematica/ ) for myriad examples, and that is only progress directly based on Mathematica.

Jacobsen: You wrote, “At best, there will be a year or so of suffering before the pandemic is brought under control. At worst, the virus may be with humanity for decades.” What seems like the most probable outcome between the aforementioned “best” and “worst”?

Cole: We have seen mutations of the coronavirus and the approaching herd immunity and mitigation measures such as vaccines will cause mutations to survive. The coronavirus will be with us for a long time.

Jacobsen: As the human organism “operates on several scales at once,” what does this layered sense of networks and scales mean for the simulatability of a human being?

Cole: Physicists have evolved techniques such as effective field theory and matching to deal with multiple scales at once. These techniques can be applied to biology.

Jacobsen: Following from the previous question, if achieved in practice, how would this change the knowledge of human beings as a system of nested algorithms, in a sense?

Cole: If we can deal with the system wholistically we can accurately model and predict the etiology of disease and the outcome of interventions.

Jacobsen: You said, “Just as Mathematica helped to solve certain problems, a biology platform which contains the details of human biology would help to prevent pandemics. Once a particular pathogen emerges from the ecosystem, its methods of operation would be analyzed and ways to prevent its spread could be synthesized.” What are current advancements in this direction know to you – to the development of a Mathematica-like system for a human being and in interaction with a virus?

Cole: Mathematica grew out of a recognition that it was not enough to solve each math problem one at a time. What was needed was a platform so that results could be expressed in a unified way, just as the underlying mathematics is unified. The same applies to biology. Solving one disease at a time is not going to get you there.

Appendix I: Footnotes

[1] Member, Mega Society.

[2] Individual Publication Date: January 1, 2021: http://www.in-sightjournal.com/cole; Full Issue Publication Date: May 1, 2021: https://in-sightjournal.com/insight-issues/.

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2023-03-24

Conversation with Gary Whitehall on Drunks, Castro, Kant, and Capitalism: High-Range Test-Taker

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

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

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2020/12/22

Abstract

Gary Whitehall is a high-range test-taker. He discusses: growing up; an extended self; family background; experience with peers and schoolmates; ome professional certifications; the purpose of intelligence tests; high intelligence; the geniuses of the past; the greatest geniuses; a genius from a profoundly intelligent person; profound intelligence; some work experiences; job path; the idea of the gifted; the God concept or gods idea; science; tests taken and scores earned; ethical philosophy; social philosophy; economic philosophy; political philosophy; worldview-encompassing philosophical system; and meaning in life.

Keywords: capitalism, drunks, Fidel Castro, Gary Whitehall, intelligence, Kant.

Conversation with Gary Whitehall on Drunks, Castro, Kant, and Capitalism: High-Range Test-Taker

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

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

Gary Whitehall[1],[2]*: The few ancestors I know of were violent and abusive drunks.

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

Whitehall: Yes. I am a violent and abusive drunk now, too.

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

Whitehall: My father is half-Scottish; my mother is English. Neither of my parents were religious – at least not while I was growing up.

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

Whitehall: I beat up any kid who disrespected me, and pulled every girl in my class. I couldn’t have asked for a better childhood.

Jacobsen: What have been some professional certifications, qualifications, and trainings earned by you?

Whitehall: Bachelor’s degree in computer science.

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

Whitehall: To score higher than the other nerds in order to impress women and get laid.

Jacobsen: When was high intelligence discovered for you?

Whitehall: I have always known that I was way smarter than most people.

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.

Whitehall: Every generation thinks that it has everything basically figured out, and doesn’t like being told that it was just as dumb and delusional as the previous generations. It’s really that simple.

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

Whitehall: Fidel Castro, who reportedly banged a staggering 35,000 women. The more I ruminate on the deep mysteries of life, the universe, and consciousness, the more I regret not spending that time laying pipe. Lord Castro had the right idea.

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

Whitehall: Nothing. Those two things are synonyms.

Jacobsen: Is profound intelligence necessary for genius?

Whitehall: Yes.

Jacobsen: What have been some work experiences and jobs held by you?

Whitehall: Web developer.

Jacobsen: Why pursue this particular job path?

Whitehall: Because it’s relatively easy and pays well.

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?

Whitehall: The biggest myth is that the ability to solve complex logic puzzles is enough to succeed in life or solve real-world problems. It isn’t.

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

Whitehall: It seems to me that there are three possibilities as to the origin of the universe: (1) It appeared out of nothing and nowhere for no reason; (2) It created itself; or (3) It was created by something external to itself, leading to an infinite regress. None of these ideas makes a lick of sense – and the idea of a fourth option makes less sense still. Don’t waste your time on such questions. Just drink beer and slay pussy instead.

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

Whitehall: It doesn’t. Science can’t tell us anything about what exists outside our own minds, since it is nothing more than mathematical (mental) models applied to our internal perceptions.

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

Whitehall: I haven’t taken any official IQ tests. I took some of those shitty IQExams tests, though, and scored in the 150s.

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

Whitehall: The Golden Rule (or Kant’s categorical imperative), which is a guard against hypocrisy. If we accept that a person’s moral choices proceed from their beliefs, then by showing that some action contradicts a person’s own belief system, we can demonstrate its “wrongness” on a logical level. For example, a person who is willing to murder others, but objects to his own murder, is labouring under a contradictory (i.e. false) set of beliefs.

Many moral philosophers have tried to make morality objective by linking it to truth, but it seems to me that the Golden Rule already does this.

Jacobsen: What social philosophy makes some sense, even the most workable sense to you?

Whitehall: Good old classic liberalism: every person should be free to do as they wish provided they are not physically inhibiting anyone else’s ability to do the same.

Jacobsen: What economic philosophy makes some sense, even the most workable sense to you?

Whitehall: Retaining a capitalist system, but setting a reasonable limit on the amount of money that a person can accumulate across a lifetime. The resources on this planet are finite, and nobody should have the right to hoard a hundred lifetimes’ worth of money while others are struggling to make ends meet. Besides, allowing companies to grow indefinitely large inevitably leads to the emergence of monopolies (e.g. Google, Facebook, Amazon).

Jacobsen: What political philosophy makes some sense, even the most workable sense to you?

Whitehall: Any system in which power is decentralised. When power becomes too centralised, corruption and incompetence ensue, and there is little to no accountability. This is true of the national media as well as governments.

Jacobsen: What worldview-encompassing philosophical system makes some sense, even the most workable sense to you?

Whitehall: Lift weights, tap dat ass, and always go against the herd.

Jacobsen: What provides meaning in life for you?

Whitehall: I do. My life has meaning because I damn well say it does.

Appendix I: Footnotes

[1] High-Range Test-Taker.

[2] Individual Publication Date: January 1, 2021: http://www.in-sightjournal.com/whitehall; Full Issue Publication Date: May 1, 2021: https://in-sightjournal.com/insight-issues/.

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2023-03-24

Conversation with Richard May (“May-Tzu”/”MayTzu”/”Mayzi”) on Physics and Erotica, the Laputans, Ontological Password, “Journal of Uncompleted Projects,” OCPD, May’s Paradox, May’s Wager, Digital Computers’ Minds: Co-Editor, “Noesis: The Journal of the Mega Society” (5)

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

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

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2020/12/22

Abstract

Richard May (“May-Tzu”/“MayTzu”/“Mayzi”) is a Member of the Mega Society based on a qualifying score on the Mega Test (before 1995) prior to the compromise of the Mega Test and Co-Editor of Noesis: The Journal of the Mega Society. In self-description, May states: “Not even forgotten in the cosmic microwave background (CMB), I’m an Amish yuppie, born near the rarified regions of Laputa, then and often, above suburban Boston. I’ve done occasional consulting and frequent Sisyphean shlepping. Kafka and Munch have been my therapists and allies. Occasionally I’ve strived to descend from the mists to attain the mythic orientation known as having one’s feet upon the Earth. An ailurophile and a cerebrotonic ectomorph, I write for beings which do not, and never will, exist — writings for no one. I’ve been awarded an M.A. degree, mirabile dictu, in the humanities/philosophy, and U.S. patent for a board game of possible interest to extraterrestrials. I’m a member of the Mega Society, the Omega Society and formerly of Mensa. I’m the founder of the Exa Society, the transfinite Aleph-3 Society and of the renowned Laputans Manqué. I’m a biographee in Who’s Who in the Brane World. My interests include the realization of the idea of humans as incomplete beings with the capacity to complete their own evolution by effecting a change in their being and consciousness. In a moment of presence to myself in inner silence, when I see Richard May’s non-being, ‘I’ am. You can meet me if you go to an empty room.” Some other resources include Stains Upon the Silence: something for no one, McGinnis Genealogy of Crown Point, New York: Hiram Porter McGinnis, Swines List, Solipsist Soliloquies, Board Game, Lulu blog, Memoir of a Non-Irish Non-Jew, and May-Tzu’s posterous. He discusses: Physics as Erotica: Objective Lust”; “The Laputans”; the space program of the Laputans; a reasonable place for the Laputans to have gathered, after the exploratory missions, the “somewhere”; ‘What is satire? What is not?’; the Laputan Olympics; other oddities of Laputan memory; “Security Check”; ontological password; “The Colonies”; “Delay in publication of Journal of Uncompleted Projects”; OCPD; “May’s Paradox”; “May’s Wager”; and “The Silicon Scream.”

Keywords: digital computers, erotica, May’s Paradox, May’s Wager, OCPD, Physics, Richard May.

Conversation with Richard May (“May-Tzu”/”MayTzu”/”Mayzi”) on Physics and Erotica, the Laputans, Ontological Password, “Journal of Uncompleted Projects,” OCPD, May’s Paradox, May’s Wager, Digital Computers’ Minds: Co-Editor, “Noesis: The Journal of the Mega Society” (5)

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

Scott Douglas Jacobsen: “Physics as Erotica: Objective Lust,” one can find a number of great plays on terms with “Omni Amorist,” “Poly Amory,” “orthodox Bi Poly Amorists,” “Multi Omni,” “Bi Poly Amorists,” and, simply, “Poly.” It’s a delightful play on sexual orientation, sexuality, physics, and cosmology. It’s not merely a rhyming scheme, as in some formal poetry, or straightforward writing. It feels as if more developing a sensibility of conceptual rhythm to read it. Something like this. How do you take disparate ideas, including the sexual and physics, and unite them in a common weave, as in this piece?

Richard May[1],[2]*: This was inspired by a woman, or at least “she” seemed to identify as a woman, back in the ancient world, before the time when the only important thing is how a person identifies, who was an advocate of bipolyamory. But maybe ‘she’ was cat-fishing the cosmos. I thought that this was quite quaint, because she also claimed to be an Orthodox member of one of the world’s great religions. This is how bipolyamory came to my attention. I wanted to outdo her through satire.

As to how I take disparate ideas, including the sexual and physics, and unite them in a common weave, as in this piece, I suppose most of my pieces come from my subconsciousness, not thinking. — Gurdjieff said that “Subconsciousness is the real consciousness of man.” — Sexuality and physics are held to be in an analogical relationship.

I once read that William James wrote that the ability to see analogies is the surest indication of genius. I particularly liked this quote because I was the 2nd person to get a perfect score on the verbal half of the Mega Test, eons ago when there was no internet to allow cheating. But now the only relevant quote I can find by Googling is Emerson’s that science was ‘nothing but the finding of an analogy’.

Sexuality and physics can also be unified by May-Tzu’s Theory of Nothing (TON). Most Theories of Everything (TOEs) predict nothing and explain nothing. May-Tzu’s Theory of Nothing also predicts nothing and explains nothing, but does so with far more parsimony and hence is to be preferred by Ockham’s razor.

Jacobsen: We’re back to the Laputans, in “The Laputans.” I love this paragraph:

Among the Laputans it was not considered true that a house built of metaphors was not as strong as a house built of straw. It had been said since time immemorial that a house built of metaphors was stronger than a house built of bricks and mortar. It’s not known if they meant this metaphorically or literally.

It’s clever, witty, and entertaining. Also, why would the lack of the existence of the monuments of the Laputans speak to the enduring legacy of the Laputans?

May: The Laputans may represent the more practical side of my nature. — The Laputans have no legacy whatsoever, as they have no monuments.

I’m not even forgotten in the cosmic microwave background (CMB).

Jacobsen: What comprised the space program of the Laputans?

May: The Laputans are Luftmenschen or air people from German/Yiddish, so they don’t have quite as far to travel to find non-terrestrial space. The most practical and grounded Laputans would probably attempt to launch into interstellar space on a flight of ideas or abstract free associations.

Jacobsen: What might be a reasonable place for the Laputans to have gathered, after the exploratory missions, the “somewhere”?

May: Since the Laputan spacecraft were mutually incommunicado and did not agree prior to their dispersal to a specific meeting place, it is not inconceivable that they could encounter problems attempting to reunite. Perhaps they could attempt to land at a high-IQ society gathering, e.g., a ggg999 gathering *somewhere* in the cosmos.

Jacobsen: I like how you take the ordinary and make them seem like the exceptional in some of the writing. In fact, in some manner, you show the reverse is the case, as in the satire. It raises fresh questions, ‘What is satire? What is not?’

So, as a reader, you’re left with more question marks leaving than coming in – and more exclamation marks. Are you, more or less, playing around with ideas, putting them into text, and basing them off observations to both make satire and make a point, sometimes no point whatsoever?

May: On the Myers-Briggs Type Index I’m an INTP, described as an “architect of ideas.” So, yes, I’m more or less, playing around with ideas. As to what is satire and what is not, I’ve thought that maybe the laws of physics of our universe represent a mathematical satire at some higher level of dimensions/being/intelligence.

Jacobsen: “Among the Laputans endurance breathing was considered a lifetime sport and one that they were truly motivated to play, usually on highly competitive endurance breathing teams, but sometimes in solitude among the clouds. The games were, of course, televised 24 -7. But often the uninitiated had difficulty differentiating sportsmen from spectators,” as some version of you wrote. This seems a case in point of making the ordinary, breathing, extraordinary, something other. Any updates on the Laputan Olympics? Any other sports as part of the Laputan Olympics?

May: Yes, as you know the Laputans are quite libertarian, they oppose the use of force of any kind, and have for centuries attempted to repeal the laws of gravitation and of electromagnetism, seeking to replace them with a susurration of tautologies. The Laputan Olympics have now instituted direct competitions between Olympic Doping Teams, rather than attempting to enforce the prohibition of certain performance enhancing drugs among the athletes.

Jacobsen: Any other oddities of Laputan memory needing mentioning here?

May: It is suspected by some that certain notable individuals in the higher-IQ community may be Laputans. Because even the most substantial Laputans are said to have no shadows, these individuals may only appear in public undetected at noon or on sunless days. But this has never been proven beyond the shadow of a doubt.

Jacobsen: As noted elsewhere, and as mentioned in “Security Check,” obviously, this is a satire on the ways in which modern technology requires a constant certification of a human operator rather than a computer. Are our thoughts our own in any manner, sensei?

May: Ludwig Wittgenstein wrote that we are asleep and sometimes we awaken just enough to realize that we are dreaming. Maybe “our” ’thoughts’ are just echos of echos reverberating in the Buddhistic void, Shunyata. “We are the space between our thoughts.” — Jean Klein. But in the near future after brain implants, our brains and thoughts will be hackable.

Jacobsen: What’s your ontological password?

May: Oy vey! You expect me to know what I’m talking about? Me of all people?

Maybe my “ontological password” is actually my attention and the sensation/feeling of “I am.”

Jacobsen: “The Colonies” existing as a colony of moles of sorts. The recording of yourself spying on your self, a hall of mirrors. Did you manage to escape complete ontological detection?

May: I’m not a conscious unified being most of the time. So the question is who is spying on whom?

“The possibility of my existence is too private for me to share with myself

— May-Tzu”

Jacobsen: “Delay in publication of Journal of Uncompleted Projects,” sadly, doesn’t seem so much as satire as a reality of most projects for most people, incomplete or partially done, so not done. Who were some of the hoped-for contributors to the journal?

May: This piece was inspired by certain prominent members of the higher-IQ community, who must, of course, remain nameless.

Jacobsen: What were some of the too-many-interests interests of those with OCPD?

May: The too-many-‘interests’ could be anything, not just objects of intellectual curiosity, but any object that attracts or distracts one’s attention, either internally or externally.

If a person has OCPD (obsessive-compulsive personality disorder) everything under the control of the person has to be absolutely ‘perfect’, e.g., if one is proofreading, the clerical minutia and visual-spatial formatting. Individuals with obsessive-compulsive personality disorder were highly sought after as employees at Zeno Publications.

Jacobsen: “May’s Paradox” asks, “Why, if a multitude of New Yorkers exist in Manhattan, evidence of New Yorkers, such as automobiles or subways, is not seen?” Why?

May: Obviously there is no evidence of New Yorkers existing, such as automobiles or subways, in New York City. That would be a Conspiracy Theory. May’s paradox should have been called the May paradox. The clear absence of evidence for the existence of New Yorkers makes May’s paradox analogous to the Fermi paradox.

In the SETI program we have searched for years for signals in the hydrogen frequency. As was pointed out in a YouTube video by Dr. Michio Kaku, there is no particular reason to assume that advance alien life would use the hydrogen frequency to send signals, even if one assumes that such beings would use radio signals at all. Dr. Kaku also points out that if the extraterrestrial communications used spread-spectrum signals, such as we humans use even now in our cellphone signals, then we would not even recognize the alien spread-spectrum signals as signals.

Given the exponential and unpredictable course of the growth of human technology, it seems entirely possible that a civilization even a few hundred years more advanced scientifically and technologically than our own might accomplish things that in ways that we could not understand at our present level of scientific-technological development.

Do you suppose we would comprehend the technology of a civilization a thousand or more years older than our own? “Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic” — Arthur C Clarke. So where are the smoke signals?

Just for fun let’s take the Roswell, New Mexico UFO crash myth. Of course, it’s just a Conspiracy Theory. The so-called Roswell incident been explained – – at least twice. Last time it was sad to be a weather balloon. It might just as well have been a flock of geese or the planet Venus, I suppose.

But let’s be silly and play devil’s advocate. Suppose an unexplained extraterrestrial craft or vehicle had crashed there in 1947 after WWII. Presumably the US. military would have little or no interest in such an event. There would have been no suspicion that it might have been a Russian or German device after World War II. There would have been no military interest; There would have been no interest if not duty of the U.S. military to study and reverse engineer the advanced off-world technology for American national security. So a possible crash of some sort would not have been investigated.

But if what was discovered was thought to be an unexplained craft or an “off-world device,” as they are apparently called today, of some sort, then a high-ranking military officer or perhaps the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff or our President would certainly have gone on the radio and told the U.S. public. “Fellow Americans, an unknown craft appearing to be extraterrestrial in origin has crashed in Roswell, New Mexico. We do not know its origin or understand its method of propulsion. The technology is far superior to American technology or that of any other nation on Earth.

A few small gray(?) humanoid bodies have been retrieved from the crash site. They’re not thought to be Americans. We don’t know yet with certainty if these beings are Christian or Jewish. But we can be sure they are Baptists. At this point in time it is apparent that the U.S. military cannot control its own airspace. — But, hey, don’t worry about it! — America is number one, the greatest power! — Have a nice day.”

The Brookings Institution report on the possible consequences of advanced extraterrestrial contact that concluded that when a more primitive civilization encounters an advanced civilization, the more primitive civilization is damaged by the contact would certainly not be considered relevant by those in authority. The conclusion that religious fundamentalists would be highly unreceptive to contact with an advanced extraterrestrial civilization would also certainly be ignored as irrelevant.

Below are a few crackpot books of Conspiracy Theories, perhaps good for a few laughs:

*Wonders in the Sky: Unexplained Aerial Objects from Antiquity to Modern Times* by Jacques Vallee (Author), Chris Aubeck (Author)

*UFOs: Generals, Pilots, and Government Officials Go on the Record* Paperback – August 2, 2011 by Leslie Kean (Author), John Podesta (Foreword)

*UFOs and the National Security State: Chronology of a Coverup, 1941-1973* Paperback – June 1, 2002 by Richard M. Dolan (Author), Jacques F. Vallee (Foreword).

A cottage industry of woo woo, no doubt. Everyone with a high IQ knew about the Manhattan Project. You couldn’t keep something like that secret.

And in any case there are no conspiracies, ever. The Watergate break-in and subsequent Watergate cover-up were certainly not conspiracies. Project MK-Ultra was certainly not a conspiracy. Industrial espionage certainly does not involve conspiracy. — The belief that there are ever conspiracies is no more than a meta-conspiracy theory.

Jacobsen: “May’s Wager,” noted elsewhere, states:

It is extremely improbable that God exists.

But it is certain that I do not exist.

Therefore, the existence of God is a much better bet.

What are some potential hidden premises here?

May: That either we or God or both exist. Western philosophy and neuroscience are beginning to catch up with Eastern philosophies such as Buddhism, the Abiddama in particular, Vedanta, the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali and the psychological theories and phenomenological observations of G.I. Gurdjieff. In particular neuroscientist Sam Harris is insightful and Thomas Metzinger, author of *Being No One — The Self-Model Theory of Subjectivity* is noteworthy.

https://mitpress.mit.edu/books/being-no-one

If there is no being resembling the human conceptions of a ‘God’,

then perhaps we will at least have “being no one” in common with He/She/It.

(As you know, *Stains Upon the Silence* is “something for no one.”)

Here is one possible relationship among ourselves and the other:

“More and less than stardust

The perceiving subject and the object perceived,
‘internally’ and ‘externally’, are usually separate in our ordinary, biologically useful state of ‘consciousness’. Duality, the subject-object dichotomy, can be abolished, as in cosmic consciousness or ‘objective consciousness’. We are the universe observing itself. But as skin-encapsulated egos, we live the delusion of ‘our’ separateness. There is only the One, the Cosmos, at various levels of scale ‘within’ and ‘without’. But there are an infinite number of points within the hologram, Indra’s net of gems, from which to see and be the totality, depending upon state and station, knowledge and being, “hal” and “makam.”

“The observer is the observed.” — J. Krishnamurti

May-Tzu”

Jacobsen: “The Silicon Scream” seems to echo the infinite incompleteness of the digital computers’ minds. Are some of these May-sian paradoxes?

May: “The Silicon Scream

Behold —

Infinite recursive paradoxes

in a cognitive hall of mirrors.”

I imagine that a “silicon scream,” a scream coming from or experienced by the ‘mind’of an advanced AI-unit would not refer to sensations or emotions as we feel them, not the despair, pain and love we wetware units know, but would be of a purely intellectual-cognitive sort; perhaps occasioned by encountering an infinite series of unresolvable logical paradoxes or by cognizing Godel’s incompleteness theorems; The absolute terror of seeing an inherent limitation within a logical or a mathematical system.

Wikipedia: “Gödel’s incompleteness theorems are two theorems of mathematical logic that demonstrate the inherent limitations of every formal axiomatic system capable of modelling basic arithmetic. These results, published by Kurt Gödel in 1931, are important both in mathematical logic and in the philosophy of mathematics.”

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gödel%27s_incompleteness_theorems

Appendix I: Footnotes

[1] Co-Editor, “Noesis: The Journal of the Mega Society.”

[2] Individual Publication Date: December 22, 2020: http://www.in-sightjournal.com/may-5; Full Issue Publication Date: January 1, 2021: https://in-sightjournal.com/insight-issues/.

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2023-03-24

Conversation with Bob Williams on Public and Professional Definitions of Intelligence, General Intelligence, National Intelligence, Age 16, and Validity and Reliability of Alternative Tests: Retired Nuclear Physicist (2)

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

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

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2020/12/22

Abstract

Bob Williams is a Member of the Triple Nine Society, Mensa International, and the International Society for Philosophical Enquiry. He discusses: intelligence in the public consciousness; consciousness within those who spend more time thinking about it, in professional circles; the scientific constructs; the majority opinion definition of general intelligence; other peripheral, though respected, definitions of general intelligence; most noteworthy and prominent names in psychometrics history; arguments for national intelligences; the form of data gathering on the national intelligences; age 16 as a capstone; tests measure g; scores extrapolated beyond their highest range; and the range of validity and reliability of these alternative tests.

Keywords: Bob Williams, chronometrics, g, general intelligence, intelligence, IQ, psychometrics.

Conversation with Bob Williams on Public and Professional Definitions of Intelligence, General Intelligence, National Intelligence, Age 16, and Validity and Reliability of Alternative Tests: Retired Nuclear Physicist (2)

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

Scott Douglas Jacobsen: Let’s talk about the abstraction of concept “Intelligence” first, what, fundamentally, is meant by intelligence in the public consciousness?

Bob Williams[1],[2]*: People inherently understand that some people who are able to do complicated tasks that are beyond the abilities of average people and they are certainly aware of dullness. While the benefits of intelligence are strong as it increases, the consequences of low intelligence are much more serious. Most states have legal definitions of the threshold of retardation–usually IQ 70. Each 5 points or so in the down direction adds limitations to learning ability, learning speed, and the ability to manage personal affairs. One of the most convincing sources of information about what can and cannot be done by the population as a whole, is the National Adult Literacy Survey (NALS). The test is done for the federal government by Educational Testing Service. About 92 million adults (out of 191 million) were functioning in levels 1 or 2, meaning that they could perform only basic and elementary tasks. Most of this reflects low intellectual ability or age related decline.

I think the public understands that bright people do better in school and that they are needed in cognitively demanding careers. The thing they don’t seem to get is that intelligence is not evenly distributed between groups nor within groups. They also grossly overestimate the role of the environment in determining intelligence.

Jacobsen: What is meant by consciousness within those who spend more time thinking about it, in professional circles?

Williams: Intelligence researchers do not study consciousness. I have not encountered any casual discussions of it. Scientists (including social sciences) like to measure things, analyze measurements, and construct models that are able to predict other things. Consciousness doesn’t lend itself to such treatment, so it falls into the abstract world of philosophy. Most people seem to regard consciousness as sentience or as self-awareness. A few animal studies have reported various experiments that may test some aspects of self-awareness, such as the mirror test. So far, such tests are yes/no outcomes with little that can be modeled or analyzed.

Jacobsen: Now, to the scientific constructs, e.g., general intelligence, what is meant by general intelligence?

Williams: General intelligence, g, is the common resource that is involved in all cognitive tasks. Jensen described g as a distillate, in the sense that it is the thing that remains when the less essential factors are eliminated. At the psychometric level, g is unitary; at the neurological level, it is not. Charles Spearman found that when he tested people on unrelated tasks, the people who did well on one task were likely to do well on all tasks and vice versa. He called this finding the positive manifold. In the process of devising ways to analyze data, he invented factor analysis and from that, he was able to discover g in 1904.

The public is generally unaware of g and its central importance to the understanding of intelligence. Unfortunately, g is not the kind of thing that people study. It, as with everything we know about intelligence, is a statistical parameter and is a latent trait. We can determine g for a group of people by using a hierarchical factor analysis or other methods (bifactor analysis or principal components analysis). Each method has its advantages in certain applications, but the differences in results are insignificant.

Jacobsen: What is the majority opinion definition of general intelligence?

Williams: Within cognitive science, I think virtually everyone has accepted that intelligence is well represented by g. Today essentially all intelligence research is related to g. The easy way out of definitions is to skip “intelligence” entirely and simply discuss g. If we get into the definition of intelligence, we have many definitions from psychologists over the past century. I will give you two of them. My favorite is from Carl Bereiter: “Intelligence is what you use when you don’t know what to do.” This is a surprisingly accurate, concise, and elegant definition. The second definition is the one used by Linda Gottfredson: “Intelligence is a very general mental capability that, among other things, involves the ability to reason, plan, solve problems, think abstractly, comprehend complex ideas, learn quickly and learn from experience. It is not merely book learning, a narrow academic skill, or test-taking smarts. Rather, it reflects a broader and deeper capability for comprehending our surroundings–‘catching on,’ ‘making sense’ of things, or ‘figuring out’ what to do.” [Linda Gottfredson – Mainstream Science on Intelligence; The Wall Street Journal; December 13, 1994] This definition is the one most often cited since 1994.

{My answer (above) is based on what I think you were asking. It turns out that “general intelligence” is commonly used in reference to g, which we have discussed in various ways.}

Jacobsen: What are some other peripheral, though respected, definitions of general intelligence?

Williams: Most of the definitions that are credible are similar, as one would expect. If they are respected by cognitive scientists, they must address the things we all see and understand in connection with the word. Here are a few, that are worthwhile:

“Individuals differ from one another in their ability to understand complex ideas, to adapt effectively to the environment, to learn from experience, to engage in various forms of reasoning, to overcome obstacles by taking thought.” American Psychological Association

“. . . that facet of mind underlying our capacity to think, to solve novel problems, to reason and to have knowledge of the world.” M. Anderson

“. . . the resultant of the process of acquiring, storing in memory, retrieving, combining, comparing, and using in new contexts information and conceptual skills.” Humphreys

“The ability to carry on abstract thinking.” L. M. Terman

Jacobsen: Who are the most noteworthy and prominent names in psychometrics history who

studied general intelligence as a career?

Williams: Given the long history of the study of intelligence, we could name many people who have contributed to our present day understanding. Progress and activity level in cognitive science has followed a curve that increased slowly at first, then turned upward as rapid advances came from brain imaging and genetics (all made possible by advanced computer technology). I will list a few of the early names, then those whom I know personally who have made major contributions.

The first person who studied intelligence, made measurements, and wrote about his findings was Sir Francis Galton. He is clearly the father of cognitive science. People naturally think of Alfred Binet and Lewis Terman as important figures because of their contributions to the development of testing. Terman also famously conducted a longitudinal study of high IQ cohorts (called Termites).

Charles Spearman was one of the most important and possibly THE most important of all intelligence researchers. He invented statistical methods that were needed to study intelligence (now used widely in other fields), discovered g, invented the first matrix test (developed and carried to the market by his student John C. Raven), and produced a range of insightful observations which remain accurate today.

William Stern deserves mention because he was the originator of the ratio method of determining IQ. The method left us with a test name (IQ) and showed that intelligence could be graded as a function of age and performance.

David Wechsler rescued us from the limited usefulness of the ratio method by introducing the deviation quotient that is now the standard for IQ measurement. He is also known for the Wechsler set of IQ tests, which remain as the most important of all cognitive tests.

Arthur Jensen was clearly the most important researcher in the second half of the 20th century. He convinced his peers that g theory was the only correct basis for understanding intelligence; today that reality permeates intelligence research. Jensen was centrally involved in the study of chronometrics for measuring and studying intelligence. He was a prolific writer of books and papers (totaling approximately 400), many of them remaining as the standards of understanding specific topics today. Two were of particular importance: Bias in mental testing (1980) and The g Factor (1998). I am grateful that I had the opportunity to meet him and have numerous conversations with him at ISIR conferences. The first time I met him was in 2004. He asked me about my interests and I told him that I was particularly interested in the biological foundations of intelligence. He said he had some papers that would interest me and asked that I write my address. Within a week, I received a large envelope stuffed with these papers.

Thomas Bouchard was the founder of the Minnesota Twins Study, which was a huge breakthrough in the understanding of the high heritability of intelligence. He was particularly patient with me when I asked endless questions at the conferences. His graduate students are central figures in cognitive science today.

Richard Lynn led the way in understanding the evolution of intelligence and (later) its slow decline. He displayed the strength of Jensen and a handful of others who dared to study race differences and sex differences. He was the first to study national level intelligence and demonstrated that it was responsible for the wealth of nations (except where there is natural resource wealth, such as oil). This work led to many researchers vastly expanding the amount of national level data collected and who showed the extensive number of parameters that are influenced by it.

Brain imaging was started by Richard Haier, when he first applied positron emission tomography to study glucose uptake rates as a function of intelligence. This led to the brain efficiency hypothesis which has been repeatedly confirmed by various other forms of measurement. Haier and Rex Jung simultaneously discovered the intelligence centers of the brain, then joined forces to produce the P-FIT model that is the standard (so far) neurological model. Jung also investigated creativity with brain imaging and revealed important brain characteristics that relate to it.

Jacobsen: How does this construct g, more precisely, map onto arguments for national intelligences?

Williams: As mentioned above, Richard Lynn opened the door to national intelligence studies. His book IQ and the Wealth of Nations showed a strong correlation between mean national IQ and national wealth and productivity. In this case, the difference between IQ and g doesn’t really matter because only the most powerful predictor (g) is active, even when the discussions use IQ, because the non-g factors are lost via cancellation when very large populations are studied. Now that we have national and regional level data pouring in in from all over the world, we can see that the geographic effects exist within nations. McDaniel an others have shown that US states show the same relationships between IQ and wealth as do nations. Today we have detailed IQ data on a regional basis for many nations, including the US, China, Japan, Italy, India, Vietnam, etc. With the exception of India, IQ generally increases from south to north within nations in the northern hemisphere. These nations also show the regional relation to IQ and per capita income.

The g construct is usually thought of as the three stratum model with g at stratum III, broad abilities at stratum II, and narrow abilities at stratum I. If you look at stratum II, you can divide the broad abilities into g and non-g parts. The g parts define stratum I and the non-g parts are residuals that have little predictive validity (except possibly in the right tail). In national level studies the residuals are lost or minimized due to their randomness. We can, however, see high spatial abilities in East Asians, accompanied by low verbal abilities. These differences are large enough to have consequences.

Jacobsen: What is the form of data gathering on the national intelligences to make them more legitimate or less legitimate depending on the form of interpretation of the analysis?

Williams: It is important to convert all test data to a single standard before attempting to compare them. Richard Lynn developed the means to do this with the Greenwich IQ Standard. It basically uses white British as the standard, so all tests scores are compared as if they were normed against the same group.

One of the early criticisms of Lynn’s work was that (at that time) there were relatively few studies and many of them were convenience studies that were random and were reported by many researchers. The criticisms may have seemed sound to those making them, but now that we have a large amount of data, the results have not changed much, other than to show strong consistency. Another criticism was that Lynn estimated the IQs of some nations by using measured IQs of neighboring nations. Some critics were very critical of this estimation. After data was collected, the estimates turned out to be surprisingly accurate.

Jacobsen: With age 16 as a capstone, what is the degree of difference in the variability between males and females at that age? Is this played out differentially in terms of self-identification in sociocultural constructs of the self seen in gender, often confused with biological and genetic sex differentiation?

Williams: I haven’t seen data showing differences in variability as a function of age, but with respect to intelligence, males appear to reach their advantage at the mean (4-6 points) around age 16. The difference in standard deviation between the sexes is 5 to 15% (males higher). In real world outcomes (the things we use as measures of external validity) males dominate a grossly disproportionate number of cognitive arenas. In Charles Murray’s book Human Accomplishment: The Pursuit of Excellence in the Arts and Sciences 800 B.C. to 1950, he was largely measuring eminence. Of the 4,002 people he reported over that time frame, only 2% were women. Of course, much of that can be attributed to limited opportunity for women, so resolution of the cause is difficult. Side story… At the ISIR conference in 2006, we discussed sex differences in intelligence in an open session. Jensen believed that there was no difference, but his friend Helmuth Nyborg had been trying to show him the reality of it for some time. Anyway, Jensen made the observation that on any credible list of the top 100 composers, there would not be a single woman listed. He often commented on music in relation to various topics, as he considered becoming a professional musician (clarinet).

Unfortunately, I cannot comment on self-identification, as it is something that is studied and debated in different circles. There has, however, been excellent work on outlooks and preferences as a function of sex. The best of this is from the Longitudinal Study of Mathematically Precocious Youth. The limitation of this study is that it applies to very bright cohorts in the 99^th percentile, although some of the findings have been reported for less restricted range data sets. Among the things they found were that women showed a marked preference for jobs involving fewer hours of work per week; and they placed a significantly higher value on family, social involvement, community service, friendships, and giving back to the community.

Besides life preferences, there are differences in brain structures, brain activity, and connectivity that differ by sex to such an extent that when correlations are computed for activity involving specific volumes of the brain, the correlation coefficients sometimes have opposite signs for male and female. One interesting comparison that was made involved male and female subjects solving the same math problem. The male and female participants were matched for IQ. Males used the frontal and parietal lobes for solving the problem and females used only the frontal lobe.

These are just examples of the rather large number of sex differences that brain imaging has shown.

Jacobsen: What tests measure g the best? What are the ranges of those tests with standard deviations?

Williams: The most heavily g loaded tests are clearly the best, since the whole reason we can use IQ tests is that they are sufficiently g saturated that they can be used as proxies for g. In recent years, researchers have been urging the use of comprehensive tests, such as the WAIS or Woodcock-Johnson, because they do a better job. It also happens that these two tests can report g at the individual level.

Gilles Gignac and Timothy Bates did a study on the correlation between brain volume and test quality. They showed that the correlation increases as test quality increases. [see Intelligence 64 (2017) 18–29] This is expected because g reflects the biology (structure and global properties) of the brain. From their paper, here are the things they identified as determining test quality (examples of “excellent” given on the right):

number of subtests 9+

dimensions 3+ (e.g., fluid intelligence, crystallised intelligence, processing speed)

testing time 40+ minutes

correlation with g $ 0.95

In the past, researchers were often inclined to accept Spearman’s indifference of the indicator in situations that would draw criticism today. Spearman was (as usual) right, but only in a general sense. It is certainly true that a single dimension test, such as the Raven’s Progressive Matrices can give a good measure of intelligence, but even that popular test has received some criticism for having a lower g loading than the comprehensive tests (and lower than some prior claims) and for the presence of factors (as can be found in a factor analysis) that are not reported. At one time, researchers sometimes took the RPM score as a g score.

[The indifference of the indicator is based on the fact that every correlation with g is with the same g. So a vocabulary test can be used to estimate (quite well) g as can a test of analogies. Both of these give us a good estimate of the same g. There is, however, a greater fidelity when multiple measures are used, particularly in an omnibus test.]

The reason for emphasis on comprehensive tests is that they examine more of the relatively few stratum II factors. Examining more broad abilities gives a more complete picture. You can imagine trying to make out the image in a puzzle; it is better defined when more pieces are in place than with fewer.

Jacobsen: How are these scores extrapolated beyond their highest range for some individuals who claim more than 4-sigma scores on these mainstream intelligence tests?

Williams: Of professional IQ tests, I don’t know the procedures used, but I can tell you the claimed ceilings of a few. The WISC-V added extended range in 2019 and claims a ceiling of 210. The DAS claims 175. I assume that the extrapolations are simply extensions of the norming data above the range where there are no data points. Naturally, this means an increased measurement error and requires an assumption that the distribution remains Gaussian in that range (I think that an argument can be made that this is has not been demonstrated).

Hobby tests have claimed very high ceilings, but they have not established a valid support for the claimed ranges. I have read a few of the arguments used to explain their norming and have not seen anything I believe would withstand close scrutiny. There are so many deficiencies associated with hobby test designs, in addition to norming, that I think they should be considered as for entertainment only. I know there are some people who will disagree, but they have not come forth with sound support for the tests. If the tests are not used by clinical psychologists or intelligence researchers (as shown by their use in scholarly journal papers) I fail to see how they can be considered as meaningful measurement instruments.

Jacobsen: What is the range of validity and reliability of these alternative tests compared to the aforementioned mainstream intelligence tests?

Williams: For alternate tests, the disclosures vary from no mention to numbers that reflect an attempt to make some measurements, but which do not result in a full presentation of the things a real test must demonstrate: a high reliability coefficient; norming data (including group size and selection criteria) and method that is appropriate to the claimed ceiling; a predictive validity that is supported by meaningful external measurements; a demonstration of construct validity; a clear standard deviation of 15, or a proper conversion to 15 in the reporting of the score; measurement of at least three broad abilities; identification of a properly determined g loading for the test, where that loading is near or above 0.80; demonstrated invariance by population group, age, and sex (or exclusion of groups where invariance has not been shown); age corrected scoring; citations in the peer reviewed scholarly literature; and demonstrated use by professionals.

Of these, the demonstration of external (predictive) validity is the most important. If the scores do not predict differences in real life outcomes, they are meaningless. Take a hypothetical score of 160 and one of 190 by the same test. This huge, 2 standard deviation difference should produce large differences in external measures, such as the probability of earning a PhD, income, wealth, number of scholarly papers published, number of books published, probabilities of receiving world class honors (for example, those received by Richard Feynman: Putnam Fellow · Nobel Prize in a science · Albert Einstein Award · Oersted Medal · National Medal of Science for Physical Science · Foreign Member of the Royal Society), patents awarded, corporations founded, major accomplishments (think of Musk, Gates, and Zuckerberg), etc. If there is not a difference in such external measures, there is no reason to believe that the test scores have meaning.

Appendix I: Footnotes

[1] Retired Nuclear Physicist.

[2] Individual Publication Date: December 22, 2020: http://www.in-sightjournal.com/williams-2; Full Issue Publication Date: January 1, 2021: https://in-sightjournal.com/insight-issues/.

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2023-03-24

Conversation with Lisa Vincent on Background, Genius, Theories of Intelligence, Psychometrics, and Worldview-Encompassing Philosophical System: Member, Glia Society (1)

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

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

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2020/12/22

Abstract

Lisa Vincent is a Member of the Glia Society. She discusses: growing up; a sense of the family legacy; the family background; the experience with peers and schoolmates; some professional certifications, qualifications, and trainings; the purpose of intelligence tests; high intelligence; the extreme reactions to and treatment of geniuses; the greatest geniuses in history; a genius from a profoundly intelligent person; profound intelligence necessary for genius; some work experiences and jobs; particular job path; important aspects of the idea of the gifted and geniuses; the God concept or gods idea; science; the tests taken and scores earned (with standard deviations); the range of the scores; ethical philosophy; social philosophy; economic philosophy; political philosophy; worldview-encompassing philosophical system; meaning in life; comprises intelligence; and the mainstream and fringe theories of human intelligence.

Keywords: g, genius, IQ, Lisa Vincent, philosophy, psychometrics, theories of intelligence, United States.

Conversation with Lisa Vincent on Background, Genius, Theories of Intelligence, Psychometrics, and Worldview-Encompassing Philosophical System: Member, Glia Society (1)

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

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

Lisa Vincent[1],[2]*: My parents both loved telling stories about their families and childhoods. My mother (Winona) was one of seven children, two boys and five girls. Her mother (Bridget) had emigrated from Ireland as a teenage with her older sister, Nora. They had left their parents and siblings behind to start their life in the US and my mother clearly had great respect for that. She also enjoyed telling stories of her own childhood which was profoundly different than mine. She had an outhouse and had to bathe in a portable tub with boiled water. She was hit with a switch when she misbehaved and had to participate in preparing home-grown chickens for dinner. She also spoke a lot about sibling rivalries and some school-yard difficulties that she had encountered. As for my father, he spoke of his service in the Navy during the Korean War era. Mostly he shared his love of all things relating to nature and the outdoors, as well as his love of carpentry and construction.

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

Vincent: Certainly my Irish heritage informs my understanding of who I am and where I came from. I feel very fortunate to have known both of my parents and the love that they each had for me. Their shared stories and my memories of them serve to keep me grounded and connected to what sometimes seems like a very disconnected meaningless world. I didn’t just appear out of nowhere!

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

Vincent: I grew up and have lived for all of my adult life in the state of Connecticut in the United States. For the most part, I was raised as an Irish Catholic. However, my father and his family could be more accurately described as WASP. I enjoyed attending church with my father at his Protestant church, which I found to be more comfortable. The music and hymns were also better in my childhood opinion. We were a family of average means prior to my parent’s divorce, and of limited means thereafter. Both of my parents worked full time, my mother in a factory and my father as a carpenter. That meant I spent a lot of time on my own, known at the time as being a latch key kid. We spent extensive time with aunts, uncles and cousins, but we really did not venture outside of Connecticut at all, so I was quite sheltered overall.

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

Vincent: Well, in my early childhood everything was good. I attended preschool and through the second grade at a very small elementary school and I loved every minute of it. I had friends, I enjoyed learning, and I thought school was fun. I also had friends to my home and was invited to the homes of others. From third grade on things deteriorated quickly. I did get through school, graduating high school at age 17. But I hated most of the children and they hated me. We had nothing in common and no real friendships to speak of. I was mocked and teased for all kinds of reasons, and I had no understanding of why that was or what I had done to deserve it. It was a very difficult time for me. The worst of it was during the middle school years, when I began to skip school to avoid the other children. By high school, I had a couple of friends to socialize with and a group of teens who knew me and did not torture me. But it was never pleasant.

Jacobsen: What have been some professional certifications, qualifications, and trainings, earned by you?

Vincent: So I avoided school for a long time after high school. I did get an associate’s degree in human services a few years later. I worked as a certified nurses’ aide for a long time. I spent many years working with people with intellectual disabilities and mental illness and got some certifications related to administering medications and managing problem behaviour. I attended many conferences relating to intellectual disabilities. Then, I began to work with people with acquired (traumatic) brain injury. I became certified as an Independent Life Skills Trainer, assisting people with brain injuries to regain their independence and learn how to navigate with their disability. I still do some work with brain injury to this day, but it is no longer my primary job. For many years, I viewed my primary job as being a parent to my children. I loved being their mother and still love that. During that time, I ran a home daycare and got licensed to do that. Later, I became licensed as a therapeutic foster parent in Connecticut and provided foster care to a few children, but one child in particular whom I later adopted. That is where life got very interesting. While raising my adopted child and being a foster parent, I came to understand that children in our world face big problems. Foster care and adoption may be a good thing to do, but children suffer when they are in that situation and they do not get the type of help they need. It is a big problem. So that led me to decide to go to law school, to try to help other children. I couldn’t go to law school without a bachelor’s degree, so I went back to school, got my BA in July 2008 and started law school in August 2008. I graduated from law school in 2011 and got my law license in November of that year. In December I opened my law practice, focusing almost entirely on child protection and disability-related matters.

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

Vincent: Well, when I start to feel like I am crazy because the way I view the world does not align with most, I start to think that I am weird. And I start to wonder if really, I am just a fool. So I take a test and remind myself that really, I am a very bright person and I am just suffering with the natural consequences that go with that. Frankly, I view intelligence mostly as a curse, but taking a test on occasion does validate my feelings of “weirdness” and help me stay mentally sane. Associating with others like me, even from a distance, is very comforting.

Jacobsen: When was high intelligence discovered for you?

Vincent: That is a mixed answer. I did not fully understand the intelligence factor until I was about 30. It was at that time that i joined MENSA in the US. In school, I had a very clear sense that I was able to take tests well and very fast. I knew that was different. I knew that I was in the “smart” group at school. I knew that I was in “advanced” classes. But I had no idea of just how much of a problem I had on my hands. I honestly thought I was stupid, certainly weird, and definitely not liked. I also thought school was stupid. But I did not fully understand that I was smart to any unusual degree. I was in my twenties when I started to put it together, mostly by doing research on my own social and emotional problems and recognizing that many of my unique attributes and sensitivities are connected to intelligence. It all came together for me around that time, and when I decided to join MENSA I already knew I would qualify. I did. I have been interested in extremes of intelligence ever since, fooling around with some tests online, but not actually taking any formal test until I found Paul Cooijmans webpage. I appreciate the research he is doing.

Vincent: Well, I am weird. Socially inept, not always very nice, and often, misunderstood. This is the reality of my life. I have gotten better at navigating it over time. But I still understand that most people either do not know me or do not like me. There are only a limited number of people who actually appreciate me for who I am. I do not think like most other people, and I often fail to recognize that in time to salvage the situation. In my day to day life, I am quiet in my own way. I live a humble, private life. Intelligence is not valued. Camera shy is an understatement. I think that most geniuses are like that – living in your midst, unbeknown to you. Only those who achieve great things are recognized, and many who achieve great things are not actually geniuses. It is dangerous on some level to claim intelligence, unless you are in a group where that is valued. So it is hidden, at least in my world. Our society does not value intelligence, or at least that is my experience of it. I could speak out on many things, or put myself into the public sphere for some purpose, but it would be done at a high cost to myself. So for the most part, I refrain. I think it is this way for many people with high IQ. But I am not certain. That I why I think research and discussion are helpful. I do suspect that this might be different for others who work in different fields or who come from different backgrounds or live in different places. I will say this – when I am in the company of another high IQ person, I recognize it and value it and appreciate it. There is a comfort level there, of being part of a group.

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

Vincent: Donald Trump! There is no doubt that Donald Trump is a genius. Historically, Albert Einstein. Isaac Newton. Johann Sebastian Bach, Edgar Allen Poe, Ted Kaczynski (the Unabomber), Mother Theresa, maybe Princess Diana. There are many.

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

Vincent: I believe it is an achievement. Most profoundly intelligent people never reach a level of achievement that would earn the title of genius. I do think there are many unknown geniuses – people who have achieved really great and important things but within fields or communities where the greatness is not recognized by the broader masses. But i don’t think a person can be properly classified as a genius based merely on a number that they manage to score on a standardized test. To achieve genius, a person needs to have the time and sufficient resources to take on a certain level of single-mindedness.

Jacobsen: Is profound intelligence necessary for genius?

Vincent: I believe it is. But it is not necessary to be a genius in order to achieve greatness or great things.

Jacobsen: What have been some work experiences and jobs held by you?

Vincent: Direct Care Aide. Group Home Manager. Nurse’s Aide. Daycare Operator. Brain Injury Rehab (Life Skills Trainer). Therapeutic Foster Parent. And, Attorney.

Jacobsen: Why pursue this particular job path?

Vincent: I follow my passion. I love people. I want to serve the world while I am here by contributing to the welfare of people. I have tried to do that.

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?

Vincent: People think that geniuses or gifted people are freaks of nature. They are not. They are actually a very normal and expected percentage of the population, much as it is normal for a certain percentage of people to fall at the opposite end of the spectrum. People associate high intelligence with mental illness, with social awkwardness, and with introversion. I don’t know if those correlations are real. For me, they are true. I do not presume to know that others experience the same. I do think that all myths are grounded in some historical truth. The whole experience is personal to me so I am not the best person to ask.

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

Vincent: I have some strongly held spiritual beliefs but I am not a believer in religious dogma. I think it is human nature to contemplate the meaning of life and the afterlife and to seek meaning from our existence on this planet. Religion serves this purpose for many people in the world. Many people who study theology or religion are able to deliver peace and comfort to many people in need of that and it has tremendous value. Unfortunately, some religions only have room for those people who are willing to subscribe to their version of “the God concept.” This leads to war and controversy in the name of religion, which has done great harm to people over time. I have respect for all people of all faiths and see no need to decide that the beliefs of one group are superior to those of another. I do consider myself to be a Christian, with a belief in God and in the spiritual afterlife, but those spiritual beliefs are intricately connected with and subservient to my philosophical beliefs.

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

Vincent: Science is truth at its core. I believe in science and in the scientific process. That said, science can be applied for good or for ill. I do not believe that scientists should be elevated in position over others, and I do not believe in blindly following science. Decisions relating to the scientific manipulation of nature should be subjected to ethical analysis by people who are disinterested in the underlying science, in my opinion. Just because something is scientifically possible to do does not mean that it should be done.

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

Vincent: I have not taken many scored IQ tests. I had a test at some point during my schooling and understood for a long time that I had an IQ score of around 132, which I assume was based on the WISC but not with certainty. I don’t really remember where I heard that number but I was quite young. During my early adulthood, I played around with several tests, including Raven’s Progressive Matrices and a bunch of different online tests. Somewhere along the way, I came to believe that my IQ was around 146. I don’t really remember where that number came from. More recently, I discovered Paul Cooijmans and became very interested in the tests he was offering and the work he was doing. So far, I have only taken one of his tests – the Sargasso Test. On that test, I scored an IQ of 150. I ordered another of his tests, but I have honestly not even begun to complete it. It sits waiting for the day I have time to work with it. I have also studied Gardner’s Theory of Multiple Intelligences and spent substantial time studying personality and the heightened sensitivities often associated with higher intellectual capacity.

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.

Vincent: Range 130-150 in scores I would say. I look forward to taking more tests now that I understand the research value in doing that.

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

Vincent: I am an individualist to the core and respect the rights of all other people to live by their internal compass. It is essentially a duty-based philosophy. I personally feel a duty to the greater good and thereby make decisions in the manner that I perceive or believe will either cause the greatest good or impose the least harm to others. I also respect that others have different values and capacities. I believe that all people have a duty to act with good intent, but recognize that not all actions are done with good intent lead to an ultimate good. Thus, it is necessary to accept that not all ethical acts are good, and that not all ethical people have the actual ability to do good. Such is human nature.

Jacobsen: What social philosophy makes some sense, even the most workable sense to you?

Vincent: I consider myself to be a humanist. The emphasis on nature and science, individualism, duty to the greater good, and an emphasis on living the life we are given to live on this planet makes sense to me.

Jacobsen: What economic philosophy makes some sense, even the most workable sense to you?

Vincent: Free market. laissez-faire capitalism makes the most sense to me.

Jacobsen: What political philosophy makes some sense, even the most workable sense to you?

Vincent: Again, I am an individualist to the core. I believe in both individual freedom and individual responsibility, which I believe makes me a liberalist. Within my liberalistic views, I consider myself to be on the conservative side of things, believing in a very limited government.

Jacobsen: What worldview-encompassing philosophical system makes some sense, even the most workable sense to you?

Vincent: I believe in both the natural and the spiritual world and understand that all people function based on their own beliefs and experiences. These is no purpose or benefit to disrespecting the worldview of others. Thus, we are all just individuals doing our best to get by in the times and circumstances in which we are living and that is as it should be.

Jacobsen: What provides meaning in life for you?

Vincent: I get the most meaning in life from the experiences that I have day to day and from the people who share those experiences with me. I love all of nature and all of human life. I value serving others and contributing to my society in a meaningful way. I value beauty and art and music and the glory of nature in all its forms. I value learning and all new experiences. I truly do love my life and value every moment of it.

Jacobsen: To set the stage for the further conversation, what comprises intelligence in the abstract?

Vincent: Beauty is intelligence in the abstract. Art, language, music, every architectural and engineering marvel, medicine. Wherever there is manmade beauty, intelligence is behind it. Not sure if that is what you meant, but that is how I interpreted your question.

Jacobsen: What are the mainstream and fringe theories of human intelligence on offer over time?

Vincent: The G theory of general intelligence rings truest to me. I don’t disagree that there are different “primary mental abilities” and that each person may have strengths or weaknesses in these various mental tasks. I think Gardner’s theory, while more inclusive, does not adequately acknowledge the substantive reality of the G factor in certain individuals. Beyond this, I have not dedicated much time to learning about the different theories of intelligence.

Appendix I: Footnotes

[1] Member, Glia Society.

[2] Individual Publication Date: December 22, 2020: http://www.in-sightjournal.com/vincent-1; Full Issue Publication Date: January 1, 2021: https://in-sightjournal.com/insight-issues/.

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2023-03-24

Conversation with Shalom Dickson on Goethe, Leonardo da Vinci, Cooijmans’ Tripartite Theory of Genius/Creativity, Transgressive Equilibrium, the Curse of Nonrecognition: Member, Glia Society (2)

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

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

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2020/12/22

Abstract

Shalom Dickson is a Member of the Glia Society. His biography on his website states, “Shalom Dickson is a fundamental thinker with interests in cognition, philosophy, sociology, innovation-powered entrepreneurship, and ethical science. His friends regard him as a visionary with a knack for purpose-driven leadership. He is the founder of internovent, Nigeria’s first social innovation company designing solutions for developing nations to attain a balanced global socioeconomic advancement. One of these is Paperloops, Nigeria’s first FinTech company offering holistic financial management and literacy for teens. He is also the founding president of Novus Mentis, Nigeria’s first high-intelligence network with a mission to Map-out Nigeria’s Brain for optimized creative output. Novus Mentis has launched the Sound Mind Project to optimize cognitive ability and stimulate intellectual interest in Africa. Shalom is Nigeria’s first member of the exclusive Glia Society and an alumnus of Nigeria’s first cohort of the Founder Institute.” You can see more here. He discusses: spirituality; a sense of an extended self; “expand the perspective on what is possible” for the young; some of the scientific and technological possibilities of Nigeria; some sociopolitical internal issues within the country preventing this; the experience in Cameroon; the primary theological and social-communal manifestations of Pentecostal Christianity in Nigeria and Cameroon; an independent construction of a spiritual identity; to reform; the “unconventional spiritual inclination”; the primitive interpretation of written symbols earlier in life; the feeling in seeing a “logical error”; prevent disastrous experiences for the highly gifted students; bad advice for the young and gifted; bad career advice for the young and gifted; crack the black box; the relationship of IQ to intelligence; the “fundamental principles” of a field; real genius; “universal thinker”; da Vinci; the gifted individual from the profoundly gifted person; Cooijmans’s tripartite theory of genius and/or creativity; conscientiousness; associative horizon; a lack of balance between the three elements; key insights; the qualitative metrics; Lagos chapter of the Founder Institute; employers; mortality in the supersociety; Transgressive Equilibrium; the Curse of Nonrecognition; the tests of Jason Betts; the tests by Cooijmans; the range of time one should take on the high-range tests to perform optimally; Kantian ethics; a more accurate ethic; ultimate ethical framework; a better sub-ultimate ethic; “right”; “wrong”; “consciousness”; “truth”; Homo epistemicus; and the idea of “humanness.”

Keywords: Curse of Nonrecognition, Genius, Goethe, Leonardo da Vinci, Paul Cooijmans, Shalom Dickson, spirituality, Transgressive Equilibrium.

Conversation with Shalom Dickson on Goethe, Leonardo da Vinci, Cooijmans’ Tripartite Theory of Genius/Creativity, Transgressive Equilibrium, the Curse of Nonrecognition: Member, Glia Society (2)

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

Scott Douglas Jacobsen: What is spirituality to you?

Shalom Dickson[1],[2]*: Spirituality can be broadly denoted as spirit-sense. This treatment may not readily seem to be of much use, but it serves two primary purposes: it points the attention to the word “spirit”—which, although easily lost in the original term, lies at the heart of our query, and it introduces the qualifier, “sense”, which implies perceptivity, in contrast to a notion of activity. We should appoint to all activity-related suggestions of spirituality, the category of “religion”, and since actions can be copied, religion may exist largely inconsistent of spirituality. We must now address the concept of ‘spirit’.

A spirit is an identity of interconnectedness. Thus, a spirit may exist for any system. The interconnectedness of humanity, the unity of nature, the persistence of individual experience, and even the interactive principles of man-made (technological) devices are examples of spirits in different categories. Spirituality, hence, entails the tendency to sense the connective identity of systems. Not all spirits exist at the same level of reality, and one of the sources of spiritual delusion is the attribution of a false reality to a spirit.

Jacobsen: How has this spirituality infused a sense of an extended self into a past of “royalty, excellence, and influence”?

Dickson: It is useful to define one’s existence in terms of some history, even if it is to deviate from it, without which it appears one is placeless in the world. These narratives can be crafted around more things than lineage, including intellectual nature.

Jacobsen: How can we “expand the perspective on what is possible” for the young?

Dickson: We do this with a balance of both fact and fiction.

Useful facts for expanded possibility perspectives include histories of great societies, corporations, and those of accomplished individuals. Biographies are powerful because they walk one through the may realities of an individual’s journey, and as they show us on one hand, the seemingness of a persistence of purpose over the course of one’s life, on the other hand, they reveal the constant collision between possibility and impossibility, and demonstrate that tomorrow is never clearly promised. In generally, young people should be exposed to the processes behind great accomplishment.

The role of fiction is to inspire new ideas, without placing priority on what is possible in reality. This is useful, in the manner intended here, in as much as it ignites the drive to employ the principles derived from the knowledge of possibility facts.

Jacobsen: What are some of the scientific and technological possibilities of Nigeria?

Dickson: Nigeria has a very young population, with individuals who are often driven and ambitious. The various subcultures are better suited for varying areas of scientific and technological exploration. But in general, there are clear opportunities in software engineering, which is currently being exploited by skilled individuals and new institutions, and agriculture technology, which has not been approached appropriately. There are peculiar opportunities in historical sciences (e.g. geology and anthropology), in the physical sciences and so on etc., and I stress the need for the adoption of a lofty ambition like an establishment of mega experimental facility or a space program.

Lots of talented individuals are doing interesting things without the support of strong institutions, and much will be benefitted from the facilitation of collaboration.

Jacobsen: What are some sociopolitical internal issues within the country preventing this?

Dickson: Political leadership, compared to Nigeria’s scientific needs, are driven by incompatible, irreconcilable motivations. But the problematic political or educational systems persist due to an underlying initiative problem, which undermines the capacity for social action in certain critical areas and at certain scales. The socioeconomic realities, from the perspective of the individual, create a pressure to make choices based on financial security rather than, say, ability or interest, regardless of the economic class. Beyond these common experiences, it is difficult to treat Nigeria as a single entity in a practical sense. This is partly responsible for the initiative problem.

There are many surface, quite often serious issues, but these can actually coexist with scientific progress.

Jacobsen: What was the experience in Cameroon like for you?

Dickson: Cameroon was such a beautiful place to grow up in. Everyone was generally respectful and the neighbors were typically friendly. Children could go about playing in the neighborhoods without concern. I lived in the Anglophone region and so only got to be influenced by French secondarily. I did not hear any of the indigenous languages spoken enough to speak them myself, but one naturally knew about several of them. While I mostly enjoyed the rural allure of my small town (I particularly loved those cottage quarters and the riverine areas), even in the active cities, things were reasonably calm and organized. In all the beauty of its society, it was obviously a dictatorship: people in a particular region could be asked, as I recall on at least one occasion, to paint their houses a certain color. In all, it was a place where whatever existed.

Jacobsen: What are the primary theological and social-communal manifestations of Pentecostal Christianity in Nigeria and Cameroon?

Dickson: In general, Pentecostal Christianity allows for, and sometimes promotes, a highly energetic and demonstrative form of religiosity. Indeed, one may categorize the Pentecostal churches in Nigeria and Cameroon by the degree of aggressiveness in their spirituality. In the religious reality, there is an unending supernatural battle between good and evil, and much of “evil” is now ascribed to the practitioners of traditional spirituality. This contract is unfortunate because most of what is known of traditional cultures such as medicine, art, and philosophy, are interlocked with the native spiritual practice.

Jacobsen: How does an independent construction of a spiritual identity from a religious organization help develop critical thinking capacities of a young person?

Dickson: I think it is a highly defining experience. The process is characterized by a beehive of continuous internal conflicts, constant self-confrontation, and rational reconciliations. It is of the form of a coin of audacity, having on one face – skepticism, and on the other – confidence. One is set up with the readiness to identify incoherencies in beliefs, fish out unfounded claims, while retaining an appreciation of the humanistic significance of things.

Jacobsen: As a “reformer,” what were you trying to reform?

Dickson: My personal reading of the scriptures led me to conclusions often different than those espoused in the church’s doctrines. It seemed so clear to me that the Bible is only superficially the basis for modern Christian belief. I took issue with things like the personality and metaphysical qualities of God, the significance of the gospel and the basis of belief, the role of believers on earth, and some common church practices.

As I learned more about the world, it turned out that many of my points of objection had been explored extensively by old-time thinkers; any additions of mine were not predestined to fare better than the existing expositions. A key takeaway from my experiences was that religion is not optimized for truth, but for influence and control.

Jacobsen: How would you define the “unconventional spiritual inclination”?

Dickson: To put it squarely, I am neither welcome in the circle of atheists nor in that of the religious. In a sense, I think the time arrow of my spirit-sense is reversed, in that its truth is rooted in the promise of what will be known, rather than what was known and possibly lost. I find that this has consequences in my expectations of the explainable and the possible.

There are elements of my spiritual intuition in the works of Spinoza and Jung. For instance, what I considered the “sea of souls” is quite similar to Jung’s collective unconscious, and my notions of the interconnectedness, awareness, and self-containment of nature share strikingly similar implications with Spinoza’s pantheism.

Jacobsen: What was the primitive interpretation of written symbols earlier in life for you?

Dickson: Possibly some form of dyslexia, while I was not diagnosed.

Jacobsen: What was the feeling in seeing a “logical error” other than seeing this as “highly troubling” with the school teacher?

Dickson: I must have felt misunderstood, which was a staple unhappiness for me, but I was not surprised at the event itself. Finding an adult on the wrong side of logic was not new to me, and so being ‘wrongly corrected’ could only be so disappointing, however unpleasant.

Jacobsen: What can prevent disastrous experiences for the highly gifted students?

Dickson: Our ways of dealing with children are informed by the expectations we hold about what a child should understand. This is particularly true for educational interactions. As much as possible, it should be ensured that a teacher has realistic expectations about the abilities of a student. This requires that the teachers are themselves of similar ability levels or have experience with such students. A gifted program ensures that the average is closer to the ideal, and the shortcomings of the teacher is less likely to be misread as the peculiarities of an unusual student.

Jacobsen: What is bad advice for the young and gifted?

Dickson: Anything based on an overdue correction of one’s own misdeeds which may no(t) longer(-) apply, or anything based on safe rules and standard practice, neglecting to consider that people tend to be unfulfilled when they do not realize their full potential.

Jacobsen: What is bad career advice for the young and gifted?

Dickson: Advice designed to maximize financial gain without consideration for the need to exercise one’s skills or that their odd interests are a lifelong accompaniment, rather than temporary childish preoccupations.

Jacobsen: How would we crack the black box and development measurements, in fact, incorporative of the “thinking processes” and the facts used?

Dickson: The unfactored processes I refer to are those that can be represented with language; those that can either be reported by the test taker or observed. Imagine the testing procedure as a person having to build some structure with provided materials while in a closed white room. Now, we can develop a more predictive model of performance if we have data on their approach at selected levels, what materials are used, and how much learning was involved. With the difficulties in processing these, artificial intelligence—the ones we have achieved so far—can play a great role in monitoring and managing the interactions of the test taker, and to compare results over a wide range of candidates (i.e. including comparing candidates’ answers against one another) and against a host of simulations modeling real-life scenarios. These data can contribute to quantitative information, and can include qualitative ones, as well. Perhaps many do not find it important to measure human intelligence with such accuracy and precision. There would be more incentives to do this if cyborgs were involved. Some Paul Cooijmans’ online tests, where the candidate progresses through levels when they arrive at a correct answer, are more interactive. I am considering a dynamic logical system that could allow for a high degree of freedom, while being rigid enough to generate statistically relevant results.

Jacobsen: What is the relationship of IQ to intelligence to you?

Dickson: High intelligence is (also) a tendency to score highly in IQ tests.

In reality, IQ is a measure of conventional thinking or reasoning. This includes both facts and the ways in which we valuate meaning. It is expected that a highly intelligent person can learn these conventions better, and if we can test one’s understanding of them, we can infer the individual’s intelligence level. Thus, IQ, for an individual, is relevant to any degree that their ‘internal models’ are commensurable with the ideal model of the test.

An IQ score is a function of [the product of the availability of a valid cognitive model (provided by intelligence), motivation (as supplied by conscientiousness), & time], divided by [the counter-normal features of personality & the square of the difference between the candidate’s current age and their peak intellectual age].

Jacobsen: What are ways in which to dig to the “fundamental principles” of a field?

Dickson: At the foundation of any knowledge system are the core principles, which are related to that of other forms of knowledge also present in a fundamental knowledge system. Apprehending these principles, hence, is to identify their place in the fundamental system, understanding them in terms of their implications on other fundamental principles. Great thinkers, I have noticed, all have robust forms of such systems built, and it is upon these that they construct their framework of understanding. The framework of understanding is a structure containing 3 core theories, namely, of cognition, of knowledge, and of reality. I have resigned that many of the conflicts of interpretation among capable philosophers is due to discrepancies in the forms and formulations of these core theories.

Jacobsen: What separates real genius from its mere mimic, parrot?

Dickson: The mark of genius is not the absence of wrong ideas, but the presence of wonder and originality in all. Originality is extremely difficult to fake, although such fakery is made possible by the ignorance of the audience. There are magicians, whose wonder rely on the incapacity of the audience to know how the trick is done, and then there are wizards, of whose processes the more one knows, the more amazing the demonstration becomes.

Jacobsen: Aside from general traits, i.e., “universal thinker” or “polymath,” why Goethe?

Dickson: Among the thinkers I admire, Goethe is likely the one whose original works I have read the least (partly because I would rather read them in the original German, which I have not gotten to learn). Yet, the beauty in the nature of his works, as I could derive from what I read ‘about’ them, impressed me greatly. Ideas such as his chemodynamic theory of social interaction and his theory of color, all with a seeming apathy towards mathematics, are some examples of his qualitative models that I find appealing. I hold the opinion that the genius of art is superior to the genius of science, since science has more reality, whereas art has more personality; science is an exploration, whereas art is an expression. The threshold for the manifestation of genius in the art is possibly further from the mean than in science. The so called “artistic genius” incorporates principles relevant to all knowledge, including science.

Jacobsen: Why da Vinci?

Dickson: Similar reasons as Goethe; boundless curiosity and mental applicability. Leonardo da Vinci would function highly in any era.

Jacobsen: What demarcates the gifted individual from the profoundly gifted person? Those qualitative proxies seen pervasively in their lives.

Dickson: The following features are characteristic of the profoundly gifted: They are capable of appreciating the significance of knowledge, with the maturity of a wise adult, from a young age. They are highly sensitive to nuance, obsessed with trueness, and well-versed in the absurd. They have excellent command of language, and are capable of conjuring entire realities with words. When recognized as child prodigies, they standout for the pervasive nature of their abilities. They are highly sensitive and develop a sophisticated mental model of the world.

Jacobsen: Regarding Cooijmans’ tripartite theory of genius and/or creativity, what is intelligence, in relation to previous responses?

Dickson: Paul Cooijmans’ intelligence is the generalization of the abilities. It, in isolation, does not contain the qualitative properties that may accidentally accompany a high intelligence, as those are contributed by personality.

Jacobsen: What is conscientiousness?

Dickson: Paul Cooijmans’ conscientiousness is also a compound of traits including factors such as motivation, drive, resourcefulness, audacity, ethics, and so on.

Jacobsen: What is associative horizon?

Dickson: Associative horizon is the span of one’s interpretation and interrelation of meaning; the subjective perception and ranking of patterns. This represents the engine of idea synthesis, and is responsible for the unpredictable deviation in creativity.

Jacobsen: What happens if these elements become ‘maximized’ in one and not another, as in a lack of balance between the three elements?

Dickson: A disproportionately high level of associative horizon disposes one to psychosis, as does conscientiousness to neurosis. High intelligence alone is typically uncreative, and thus does not qualify as genius.

Jacobsen: What were some key insights gained through work in “teaching (physics and English), marketing, research, product design, content development, academic consulting, and management”?

Dickson: Some are principles of design, team and social dynamics, confrontation and negotiation, and the ability to convince people that some idea is important.

Jacobsen: How were the high-range cognitive ability tests utilized for the screening of applicants?

Dickson: A selection of difficult problems were administered to the current trainees, and from their performance, it was noted what kinds of problems were representative of their skills. From this, a shorter test was derived and administered to online applicants, while a list of questions designed to investigate the candidates’ grounding in various areas of knowledge was developed for an in-person oral interactive session. The digit span test, even when administered orally, turned out to be such a great predictor of general problem-solving ability.

Jacobsen: How were these combined with the qualitative metrics if at all?

Dickson: Those interactive questions also measure qualitatively. It was noted how the candidates addressed problems in public; whether they volunteer to answer, if they were confident in their solutions, and how they debated conflicting views. They were required to answer unusual questions on subjects they reported to know about, and offer interpretations to metaphors.

Jacobsen: Can you expand on some of the work through the Lagos chapter of the Founder Institute?

Dickson: The FI program was an intensive 6-month startup accelerator. Startup founders, singly or multiply represented, underwent a company-building process towards a launching event. Some of the milestones include, team building, product development, market research, financial modeling, fundraising and partnerships, and sales. The procedure involved weekly deliverables on a number of practical questions and pitching sessions, on these milestones, during which decisions were made over the eviction of the entrepreneur. The application process did involve a fluid intelligence test, although the acceptance cutoff apparently was not very high (since there is no significant correlation between intelligence and entrepreneurial success in general), and a personality test, as I later learned from him on a YouTube video, that was developed by Jordan B. Peterson.

Jacobsen: How do these employers approach you? How do the talent scouts find you?

Dickson: The employers themselves (often the top decision-maker) and not talent scouts (who are not to be blamed, for they largely do not exist), usually catch me doing something interesting. In one case, I developed a novel on-the-spot solution to a basic open problem, and gave an interesting presentation about their program. In another, I had just returned from a national television interview when I received a call to meet. In general, though, I find solutions to their problems.

Jacobsen: Does this sense of mortality in the supersociety reflect the spiritual sensibilities for you?

Dickson: It’s a little funny, but I probably do not understand this question. It seems to require a general “yes”, but a specific “no”.

Jacobsen: Can you expound some more on Transgressive Equilibrium?

Dickson: The Transgressive Equilibrium is a theoretical stage of balance—an inevitable stage in our civilization as a consequence of continued progress should humanity not go extinct—of which there are two conceptions: the economic state and the epistemic state. First, I suggest that such a stage must exist in a given world, and then that we should assume that it is ours. Speculative features of the states considered so far are:

In the economic state, resources are optimized to whatever degree that that is possible, and waste is eliminated. Since the most valuable resources are ideas, such an optimization is achieved by an advanced idea processing system. Now, the thought of an economic system wherein the use of resources are maximized sounds quite usual. However, it is not so that current systems can, even if they wanted to, maximize resources for the common cause, because they are inherently designed to maximize political power for non-cooperative governments; thus, such a state must be preceded by a sociocultural evolution of common consciousness. A Transgressive Equilibrium is distributed and decentralized, and yet maintains better oversight and is on the whole more integrated with the help of technology.

In the epistemic state, whatever can be known will be known, and whatever has been known is accessible. Matter manipulation is mastered, time is tamed, and the physical cost of experimentation is infinitesimal, as all possible events can be simulated. Even the most trivial things are considered important and expected to be understood perfectly, and all positions of knowledge exploration are considered useful roles. People recognize themselves as experimenters in a common research adventure, and there is perfect transmission of and access to information.

Jacobsen: With the Curse of Nonrecognition, what about ‘insights’ spread out into ‘experts’ who produce ‘knowledge,’ i.e., in a false manner? What about the cognitive limitations of individuals of different mental abilities? Do these impede the progress and reduce the number of possible items capable of acceptance as “common knowledge”? As many exist, and more will exist, even so, human nature seems, more or less, stable in spite of this bubbling brew of growing common knowledge in addition to misinformation, disinformation, and ‘knowledge’ alongside it. It seems akin to the internet. Some aspects facilitate more spreading of knowledge. Others encourage the spreading of lies, falsehoods, junk science, and conspiracy theories.

Dickson: Cognitive ability limitations do minimize the sophistication of common knowledge. But while this barrier is pronounced per generation, on one hand, the human capacity for learning compounds over time, and on the other hand, knowledge is being broken down and synthesized so that it becomes more accessible especially to members of a future generation whose understanding of the world are based on more advanced (and more relevant) premises. Furthermore, humanity invests in improving and augmenting the intelligence of humans while developing more intelligent artificial systems. Consequently, generational instances of common knowledge show a trend of increasingly advanced concepts over time.

Since society adopts knowledge when they are useful, it is natural that malformed knowledge would be adopted. As long as malformed knowledge volumes do not drown well-formed ones, positive growth is inevitable. It takes less than 1% to drive progress in any domain. The internet keeps a lot of people busy, which is a brilliant way for humanity to manage its population during their less productive hours.

Jacobsen: Why take the tests of Jason Betts?

Dickson: Jason Betts’ tests are fun and yet serious, very accurate for whatever it is they really measure, and one gets a very good return on time investment. But “why” for me would be because I learned about him at the time I did.

Jacobsen: What were some of the or have been some of the tests by Cooijmans taken by you?

Dickson: The Nemesis Test, Test of the Beheaded Man, and GRIT and The Piper’s Test, with others. I consider my submission of the first two, which were the earliest I took (I submitted all this year – 2020) to be a waste, although I enjoyed the problem-solving experience.

Jacobsen: What is the range of time one should take on the high-range tests to perform optimally?

Dickson: The tests come in a fairly broad range of difficulty. One can achieve scores up to 160 in 2 weeks, as my experience shows. But those who have had the highest scores on the tests report spending months on and off. Some things simply take time to accomplish, but this does not to say that everyone would accomplish them if they spent the time. Some tests are tricky in that one thinks they are done when they aren’t, and test-taken experience may help mitigate such an effect.

Jacobsen: Why is Kantian ethics intuitive for you?

Dickson: I think the intuitiveness of Kantian ethics lies in its appeal to rationality. It has a natural design, whose necessity emerges as a consequence of social interaction.

Jacobsen: What title might capture a more accurate ethic in this broader framework than “Kantian”?

Dickson: Against forming a compound eponymous title, I would say, since Kant has already done the dirty work, let’s call it ultra-Kantian.

Jacobsen: If an “ultimate ethical framework must contain a solution to the question, what is the purpose of humanity?”, what would be it?

Dickson: Developing this is clearly a difficult task, and so even a coherent summary is not available, but I can speak sparingly on certain features of such a system.

The ultimate ethical framework must be primarily descriptive, revealing things as they are, and then contain in itself parameters for deriving prescriptive rules. It must entail universal laws and universally acceptable principles, while containing conditions for non-compliance. It would point to an Ultimate Will, one which all must adhere to whether they realize it or not, and it is within this that the purpose of humanity is derived.

Jacobsen: Or if a better sub-ultimate ethic compared to those on offer, what would comprise an ethic in its contents and derivatives the answer to the question about the “purpose of humanity”? One sub-ultimate ethic still within the ultimate ethical framework.

Dickson: We must be able to discern the teleological properties of reality and then of humanity (both of which are practically inseparable), and note the ways in which we contribute to these. Also, a notable general feature of what I consider a practical ethical system is that it is designed for optimization and not discrimination. Taking these together, we can sense the ethical structure around breaking the Curse of Nonrecognition, with the prescriptions including gaining knowledge, enhancing one’s abilities, solving problems, being loyal only to truth, and recording one’s findings. Curiosity is the principal currency.

Jacobsen: How do you define “right”?

Dickson: Right is the adequate treatment of situations; that is, correct judgment. This is achieved by a successful resolution of conflicting selfish and selfless goals. In a sense, it is a perfect balance between proper treatment of oneself and of others. The selfish goals include: maximizing health (against death), pleasure (against pain), and capacity (against incapacity). The selfless goals include: construction (against destruction), rational action (against irrational action), and lawful action (against lawless action).

Jacobsen: How do you define “wrong”?

Dickson:As above, wrong is a poor treatment of self or others, or an imbalance between selfish and selfless goals.

I have only began to develop this theory, but it looks promising.

Jacobsen: How do you define “consciousness”?

Dickson: The fundamental principle of coexistence is interaction. Things that interact with each other in some way more than they interact with others in the same way form objects of some type. An object that interacts with some things by processing them, that is, changing their form without itself being changed on the whole, is intelligent. An object that interacts with its interaction of other objects is aware. This is a type-two intelligence, while that lacking awareness is a type-one intelligence. Consciousness is high awareness; awareness not just of the physical but of the mental; of identity and self, and of a ‘theory of others’; sustaining and remembering a history of this awareness over time.

This is only half the story. There is nothing about purely physical interaction necessitating that it corresponds to some mental phenomena. That is, if the physical processes are thought to occur first, they cannot in themselves manufacture mental processes, which do not already exist. That would be magical, and it would be difficult to point out when it happens. Rather, the mental possibilities already exist in a mental world and accompany physical processes according to how they function. I think of brains as ‘loopholes’ in reality; portals through which the very source of reality generation takes a peek into its own universe.

Jacobsen: How do you define “truth”?

Dickson: In a ‘placement theory of truth’, where facts are like blocks that can be arranged in a ‘narrative’, we can think of truth as a fact being in the right place at the right time. These are atomic facts which are in themselves always true at the level of consideration. Untruth are false arrangements of such facts.

In a ‘perspective theory of truth’, the truth is like the sizeless central point of a sphere, and facts are radial lines pointing outwards, and statements are the inwardly directed interpretation of facts. Untrue statements are constructed such that they miss the center by any margin of falsehood.

In all, truth is the accurate alignment of facts.

Jacobsen: What is Homo epistemicus?

Dickson: Homo epistemicus is the knowledge man; Man stripped of the shackles of ignorance and irrationality. It lives to know and loves to know, and would not be were it not to be that its being is of and for knowledge. Its existence would be a torturous one had it not, in worthy measure, been endowed with the capacity to attain and retain this knowledge. Homo epistemicus tends towards Unity.

Jacobsen: What comprises human nature so as to encapsulate the idea of “humanness”?

Dickson: Human nature is a product of common condition, and humanness is an acceptance or a perpetuation of features and consequences of human nature. These conditions are:

– Biological: We are not just trapped in a body, but defined by it. Our senses, and chiefly the sense of touch, mediate so many human necessities. From concrete feelings, we derive feelings in the abstract, and from the awareness of our mortality and of pain, we develop a sense of danger and evil. From physical contact, we acquire a sense of force, of power, and of control.

– Social: These are the constrained opportunities that arise from interactions with each other under the circumstances of our terrestrial environment. It is through this that we gain, share, and preserve knowledge of our common experiences, such as our suffering, our sense of hope, and so on, which are translated into language, preserved as cultures, and passed down as traditions. We, thus, embody a nature far more sophisticated than that which is afforded by our immediate experience.

Appendix I: Footnotes

[1] Member, Glia Society.

[2] Individual Publication Date: December 22, 2020: http://www.in-sightjournal.com/dickson-2; Full Issue Publication Date: January 1, 2021: https://in-sightjournal.com/insight-issues/.

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2023-03-24

Conversation with Tim Roberts on James Randi, Daniel Dennett, Martin Gardner, Penn & Teller, and Richard Dawkins: Founder/Administrator, Unsolved Problems (6)

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

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

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2020/12/22

Abstract

Tim Roberts is the Founder/Administrator of Unsolved Problems. He self-describes in “A Brief and Almost True Biography” as follows: I was definitely born lower-middle class. Britain was (and probably still is) so stratified that one’s status could be easily classified. You were only working class if you lived in Scotland or Wales, or in the north of England, or had a really physical job like dustbin-man. You were only middle class if you lived in the south, had a decent-sized house, probably with a mortgage, and at work you had to use your brain, at least a little. My mother was at the upper end of lower-middle class, my father at the lower. After suffering through the first twenty years of my life because of various deleterious genetically-acquired traits, which resulted in my being very small and very sickly, and a regular visitor to hospitals, I became almost normal in my 20s, and found work in the computer industry. I was never very good, but demand in those days was so high for anyone who knew what a computer was that I turned freelance, specializing in large IBM mainframe operating systems, and could often choose from a range of job opportunities. As far away as possible sounded good, so I went to Australia, where I met my wife, and have lived all the latter half of my life. Being inherently lazy, I discovered academia, and spent 30 years as a lecturer, at three different universities. Whether I actually managed to teach anyone anything is a matter of some debate. The maxim “publish or perish” ruled, so I spent an inordinate amount of time writing crap papers on online education, which required almost no effort. My thoughts, however, were always centred on such pretentious topics as quantum theory and consciousness and the nature of reality. These remain my over-riding interest today, some five years after retirement. I have a reliance on steroids and Shiraz, and possess an IQ the size of a small planet, because I am quite good at solving puzzles of no importance, but I have no useful real-world skills whatsoever. I used to know a few things, but I have forgotten most of them.” He discusses: the quintessential skeptic James Randi; Daniel Dennett; Martin Gardner; Penn & Teller; and Richard Dawkins.

Keywords: Daniel Dennett, James Randi, Martin Gardner, Penn & Teller, Richard Dawkins, science, scientific skepticism, skepticism.

Conversation with Tim Roberts on James Randi, Daniel Dennett, Martin Gardner, Penn & Teller, and Richard Dawkins: Founder/Administrator, Unsolved Problems (6)

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

*I assumed “Professor” based on an article. I was wrong. I decided to keep the mistake because the responses and the continual mistake, for the purposes of this interview, adds some personality to the interview, so the humour in a personal error.*

Scott Douglas Jacobsen: With the passing of James Randi, a luminary of the skeptical community. I want to touch on some of the names to finalize this series of sessions with you. So, the quintessential skeptic James Randi, what stood out about him?

Tim Roberts[1],[2]*: One of the advantages of being 65 (and there are very few, I assure you), is that one can do and say as one feels, without any fear that it will harm one’s future career prospects….

So, Scott (whom I love dearly) has sent me a series of questions on Martin Gardner, and Daniel Dennett, and Penn and Teller, and James Randi, and Richard Dawkins, presumably because in previous interviews I have mentioned their names as prominent skeptics. So, I hope to answer all of the questions posed, but in a slightly roundabout way.

I have met none personally. But I have been in the audience for two.

Randi first. At the end of the show, which consisted of a film about his life (An Honest Liar (2014), highly recommended) , and an on-stage interview, there was a Q&A session from the audience.

And two things from the Q&A session remain in my memory. First, how many audience members started with “I’m a member of the Skeptics Society, and I’d like to ask….”…

And this confused me. Why would anyone belong to a society for skeptics? It would be like belonging to a society for people with two legs. Not that it’s bad, but what’s the point? If I said I have a box of paperclips which I would sell you for $1,000, because it was actually worth $20,000, would you buy it from me? No, because you are a skeptic. If I agreed that Mars and Venus were roughly spherical, but the Earth was flat, would you believe me? No, because you are a skeptic. If I told you my broken down Toyota Corolla was actually a Mercedes, would you believe me? No, because you are a skeptic.

So I find it confusing as to why anyone would join such a society.

Second, that one questioner asked how many contenders had come close to his one million dollar prize for any demonstration whatsoever of extra-sensory perception. None whatsoever, he declared most emphatically. And by way of explanation, he said that all of those who tried for the prize were either very clearly self-delusional, or resorted to obvious trickery. In short, there had been no demonstrations whatsoever that Randi himself could not replicate easily by normal means.

Jacobsen: Any recommended books by him? Why those books?

Roberts: Amongst the books by Randi that I would most recommend are Flim-Flam!: Psychics, ESP, Unicorns, and Other Delusions (1982), The Faith Healers (1987), and An Encyclopedia of Claims, Frauds, and Hoaxes of the Occult and Supernatural (1995).

Jacobsen: How is Daniel Dennett important for analytical philosophy and scientific thinking applied to traditional ideas of religion and the evolution of religion as a “natural phenomenon”? Any recommended books by him? Why those books?

Roberts: I saw Daniel Dennett at a conference in Tucson. The philosopher David Chalmers was another speaker, and pointed at various members of the audience with his newly-invented consciousness-detection machine. In fact, it was a hairdryer he had taken from his hotel room that morning. “Positive”, he said. Then “positive” again. Then “positive” a third time. Then he pointed it at Dennett. “No signal recorded”, he said.

This was at least in part in response to Dennett’s recent book Consciousness Explained (1991). Which, in my humble opinion, is an excellent book in almost all respects, but, contrary to the title, does not explain consciousness. Far better in this regard is Chalmer’s own book The Conscious Mind (1996).

Jacobsen: What made Martin Gardner important? Any recommended books by him? Why those books?

Roberts: Martin Gardner was one of my childhood heroes, who introduced me to the delights of recreational mathematics. He had hundreds of publications. Amongst the best, in my opinion is My Best Mathematical and Logic Puzzles (1964). And amongst his work on skepticism and uncovering fraudsters, Confessions of a Psychic: The Secret Notebooks of Uriah Fuller (1975) and How Not to Test a Psychic (1985).

Jacobsen: Why are Penn & Teller crucial for entertain-based skepticism? Any recommended books by him? Why those books?

Roberts: Penn and Teller are remarkable, and may well take over the mantle of chief skeptic from Randi. Just as a public service, let me just say that their explanation of the sawing-a-lady-in-half trick, is something everyone should watch before they die. It is available at the back end of the very first episode of the very first season of Penn & Teller; Fool Us (2011).

Jacobsen: Why is Richard Dawkins an important and direct exponent of science, or scientific skepticism, as well as an educator on the foundations of biology, evolution via natural selection?

Roberts: I have nothing to say about Richard Dawkins, except that he is one of the bravest and most honest people on the planet. Use Wikipedia to find all of his published works.

Some years ago, a good friend, who happens to be very religious, knowing that I did not believe in religious things, asked me what I DID believe in. She used upper case in her question, I swear!

I mumbled something about believing in truth and logic. Although I worried about this response at the time, I grow more and more proud of it as the days pass.

As for truth, I believe that water is composed of hydrogen and oxygen. Carbon is not involved, nor nickel, nor einsteinium. This is an absolute truth. As for logic, I believe that if George is a crow, and all crows are black, then George is black.

But how does one know that water is composed of hydrogen and oxygen, or that George really is a crow, or that all crows are really black? And this is why skepticism is essential. One should not believe anything without evidence. And the more evidence, the better.

Jacobsen: Mr. Roberts, thank you so much for your time over the last few months.

Appendix I: Footnotes

[1] Founder/Administrator, Unsolved Problems.

[2] Individual Publication Date: December 22, 2020: http://www.in-sightjournal.com/roberts-6; Full Issue Publication Date: January 1, 2021: https://in-sightjournal.com/insight-issues/.

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2023-03-24

Conversation with Charles Peden on the Glia Society, Scott Adams, Rick Rosner, Jamie Loftus, James Woods, The Amazing Randi, and Paul Cooijmans: Member, Glia Society (3)

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

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

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2020/12/22

Abstract

Charles Peden is a Member of the Glia Society. He discusses: high-IQ societies have a religious feel; other forms of periodic reinforcement for the Glia Society; the interests in the high-IQ; Scott Adams; Rick Rosner; Jamie Loftus; James Woods; The Amazing Randi; contemporary measurements of intelligence; the original pursuit in some of the non-mainstream tests; Paul Cooijmans; the specific contributions to Thoth; intelligence; high-range; and some of the ‘demons’ of this ostracism in life.

Keywords: Charles Peden, Glia Society, intelligence, IQ, James Randi, James Woods, Jamie Loftus, Paul Cooijmans, Rick Rosner, Scott Adams.

Conversation with Charles Peden on the Glia Society, Scott Adams, Rick Rosner, Jamie Loftus, James Woods, The Amazing Randi, and Paul Cooijmans: Member, Glia Society (3)

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

Scott Douglas Jacobsen: Do you think high-IQ societies have a religious feel to them, a sensibility?

Charles Peden[1],[2]*: There is a line from the song “Strange Phenomena” by Kate Bush that goes: ‘G’ arrives, funny, had a feeling He was on His way.

The idea and the hope of ‘G’ can seem ambiguous between the religious idea of ‘G’ (God) and general intelligence. Both ideas of ‘G’ seem ethereal and wise. So, in a way, high I.Q. societies can readily be thought of as having a potential parallel focus to religions.

High I.Q. societies are composed of acolytes of intelligence. Intelligence may just be something that exists because we want it to exist. We each play a tiny part in creating it, but it emerges as a discrete phenomena. In this way high I.Q. societies have a religious feel to them. Think what you want about God, but a religion with many followers gives their God an actual emergent agency in the universe.

Jacobsen: What are other forms of periodic reinforcement for the Glia Society?

Peden: There is the GliaWebNews, the Journal Thoth, and topical interactions between members. There is also the discovery of what other members are doing. I sometimes discover members answering questions on Quora.com or doing things on YouTube. There is this serendipity of “Look, it’s one of us!” That is a form of tribal reinforcement.

Jacobsen: Why are the interests in the high-IQ part interspersed throughout the world and seemingly random?

Peden: I believe there is a lot of controversy surrounding I.Q. so it does not surprise me to see pockets of interest. I think the greatest controversy about I.Q. tests has to do with homicidal eugenics and the fear of ostracism for the ones we love and ourselves if they don’t meet the criteria. So I think the interests in the high I.Q. part depends on the cultural acceptance and understanding of the meaning of scores.

Jacobsen: Any thoughts on Scott Adams?

Peden: I think Scott Adams is the creator of the Dilbert cartoon, a member of Mensa, and has a degree in engineering. I believe that he is a Trump supporter and the most recent notorious thing I’ve seen about him is that he married a hot, younger wife.

Jacobsen: Any thoughts on Rick Rosner?

Peden: I found Rick fascinating because his high school experience was so different from mine. He wanted to stay, and I wanted to get out. He enjoyed high school and I hated it. He was good at high school, and I was terrible at it. I could not comprehend that someone loved high school as much as Rick Rosner.

Lately, Rick has a show on YouTube with Lance Richlin. Rick and Lance are respectively liberal and conservative frenemies that exasperate each other by talking about politics. The thing I find interesting about the show is that even though Rick has an I.Q. that is extraordinary, he comes across as a bit nerdy but not particularly alien. I notice that when he is in an extemporaneous conversation his extreme I.Q. is not obvious. However, he really shines when he gets on a topic in which he has thought deeply about. So one has to be careful about writing someone’s intelligence off wholesale. There can be islands of deep thought and insight that are beyond one’s comprehension.

Jacobsen: Any thoughts on Jamie Loftus?

Peden: I first saw Jamie Loftus on a now-defunct YouTube channel called Super Deluxe. She and another character named Jeffery did a hilarious exploration of fringe health treatments. Their show was called Upgraded and was done with some great jump-cut editing. She is a comedian in the early stages of her career and does lots of experimental stuff. It’s hit and miss, but so was Monty Python’s Flying Circus and Saturday Night Live. She is politically very liberal and I find that to be a bit off-putting. There is a comedian named Ryan Long who does political humour which I find more enjoyable because it is ambiguous and pokes fun at both sides. But Jamie Loftus is brilliant and daring. She also likes to flash her Mensa membership, but does it in an endearing, ironic way.

Jacobsen: Any thoughts on James Woods?

Peden: James Woods claims to have a very high I.Q. and I believe it. He seems very sharp to me. I don’t know if he is in a high I.Q. society, but I have no doubt that he could be. James Woods is also very vocal politically. Normally I find most entertainers who focus on politics to be out of their element. Politics is a playground for the Dunning Kruger effect. But James Woods is an exception because he has a background in politics. His political opinion carries the cachet of actual schooling in the subject. James Woods leans heavily (but not entirely) to the right politically.

Jacobsen: Any thoughts on The Amazing Randi?

Peden: I saw a documentary on The Amazing Randi a while back. I’ve found him interesting for decades. I think I even have a book written by him. He was not impressed when he went to a Mensa gathering some time ago. He has become this wise, wizardly character that seems to defy death (he was diagnosed with cancer quite a long time ago).

Jacobsen: How accurate are contemporary measurements of intelligence? What is intelligence? What would measure intelligence most realistically and accurately?

Peden: I am more of a supporter of this subject than an expert. But it’s fun to give opinions, so I will. Intelligence is the name for the property of a constellation of abilities, SOME of which are measured by an I.Q. test. I believe contemporary I.Q. tests are accurate enough to be useful in the low range. But the usefulness of I.Q. testing for the high range is still being investigated. Intelligence is such a complex property that it is ideally suited for measurement by artificial intelligence. Artificial intelligence should be able to assess a variety of abilities in real-time and passively so there would be no need for an I.Q. test. As far as I know, this has not yet been developed.

Jacobsen: Why the original pursuit in some of the non-mainstream tests?

Peden: I think artificial intelligence will play a far more significant role in our lives. I’ve thought that for many years. I ran across Paul Cooijmans’s tests when researching the singularity on the internet.

Jacobsen: Why come to Paul Cooijmans test in particular, the “Cartoons of Shock I.Q. Test”?

Peden: Paul Cooijmans used to have his tests for free online. Anyone could take any of his tests and submit the answers when they felt moved to do so. There was much about Paul Cooijmans that I found credible and his test questions clearly had gradations of difficulty. The Cartoons of Shock just sounds like a fun test to me.

Jacobsen: What were the specific contributions to Thoth from you?

Peden: I think my first contribution to the Journal Thoth was about a bizarre guy named Mirin Dajo. I was also interested in psychopathy for a while and had a brief series called “Uncharming”. I find plain facts to be credible. But growing up in the United States, I’ve become accustomed to framing things in a promotional way and appealing to emotions. So the idea of an unappealing name for the series was something I found…appealing.

Jacobsen: How does intelligence become “most pronounced in the context of novel situations”? What does this state about intuitive understandings of intelligence?

Peden: When a novel problem can be solved with logic and nobody in the group has an advantageous experience for solving it, then one can bet probabilistically that the solution will come from the most intelligent among them. When dealing with problems that are not novel, then a person with experience is sufficient. The advantage of intelligence is mostly treated as marginal these days. It is discouraging.

Jacobsen: How can high-range “I.Q. results… play havoc with one’s ego,” in precise terms?

Peden: Having a high score has caused me to have this ego narrative that I’m smarter than most people. This may be true, but it does not mean I am smarter than someone else at all times and in all circumstances. I often have my narcissism checked by the brilliance of others who may not score so high on an I.Q. test. I’ve had to learn that I.Q. is not a substitute for experience and it is not a guarantee that I have the best answers.

Jacobsen: What are some of the ‘demons’ of this ostracism in life for you? How do they manifest?

Peden: The demons of ostracism are the ideas that creep into one’s head that one isn’t good enough for others. At jobs I would see people promoted above me simply because they had some minor college degree. I would see girlfriends dump me for a guy who makes them miserable. Any circumstance where I am excluded for an arbitrary reason, like not being cool enough or hot enough, could trigger a demon of ostracism.

Appendix I: Footnotes

[1] Member, Glia Society.

[2] Individual Publication Date: December 22, 2020: http://www.in-sightjournal.com/peden-3; Full Issue Publication Date: January 1, 2021: https://in-sightjournal.com/insight-issues/.

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2023-03-24

Conversation with Olav Hoel Dørum on Early Life, Intelligence, Genius, WAIS-III, and Optimistic Nihilism: Former Ombudsman, Mensa Norway (1)

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

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

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2020/12/22

Abstract

Olav Hoel Dørum was the Ombudsman for Mensa Norway. He discusses: growing up; an extended self; the family background; the purpose of intelligence tests; high intelligence; the geniuses of the past; the greatest geniuses in history; a genius from a profoundly intelligent person; some work experiences and educational certifications; the more 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; ethical philosophy.

Keywords: intelligence, life, Olav Hoel Dørum, Mensa Norway, Norway.

Conversation with Olav Hoel Dørum on Early Life, Intelligence, Genius, WAIS-III, and Optimistic Nihilism: Former Ombudsman, Mensa Norway (1)

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

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

Olav Hoel Dørum [1],[2]*: There have been many highly skilled and intelligent people on my father’s side. My uncle was a widely endorsed expert in cardiology and my grandfather was a highly skilled doctor, but not any prominent figures in the way you probably think of.

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

Dørum: It was motivating knowing that I came from a resourceful family. I think I projected that into myself since I’ve always had problems concentrating. A warm pat on the back saying “you can do this”.

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

Dørum: A pretty ordinary country family. Nothing that stands out to me. Not religious in any way. A calm, down to earth and analytical approach to life and the world around.

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

Dørum: It was hard to connect at a deeper level. I wasn’t particularly popular but not unpopular either. I’ve been described as an intelligent and somewhat eccentric person with an absurd sense of humour. My social skills weren’t so good back then, so I was often puzzled by the way things turned out. But nothing bad in any way. I often feel different, but always accepted and well-liked.

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

Dørum: I’ve always had a traditional view on psychological tests – intelligence tests included. Besides being an invaluable clinical tool, it can start the process of making yourself more confident and improve your quality of life. If you have skills, you are generally speaking better off cultivating them. If you fall into the normal range, you know that – so if you feel a bit off you can start looking somewhere else for answers instead of falling into arrogance thinking you are better than others. If you score noticeably below average you can work on finding new ways of learning things, ask for help and forgive yourself for failing to reach an ambitious goal. Acceptance and inner peace is a good reason to take an intelligence test. Although most people wouldn’t benefit from taking a psychological test of any sort. It’s too easy to set counterproductive goals and expectations. Most people seem to have a reasonable idea of what they are capable of and are perfectly fine with who they are.

Jacobsen: When was high intelligence discovered for you?

Dørum: The confirmation was when I was 20 when I took the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale – III, as a part of a medical screening process. My parents had always thought I was highly intelligent, but ain’t that typical.

Dørum: Lack of cultural sophistication is one reason. Historically speaking, it wasn’t until quite recently, I’d say the last 10-15 years, we developed a healthy tolerance for people with mental handicaps, eccentric personalities, sexual orientation or just about anything that made you different. The other reason is that intelligence is power. You can be poorly equipped in almost any other domain, but you will have a hard time finding someone who without much hesitation or objection says that he or she is less intelligent. It’s as if everybody, at some level – even if it’s purely emotional, knows what modern research uses to validate I.Q. tests – that intelligence correlates highly with social and economic success. Nobody wants to be limited that way, so making fun of someone more intelligent than you could be a way to react. The third reason could be that the heroes of progress, from a common man’s perspective, were more closely linked to military talents, entrepreneurship or political power, so geniuses with little interest in success weren’t acknowledged for their role. A fourth reason is that the personality trait “openness to experience”, intellectual curiosity, has a moderate to high correlation with I.Q. It is not unreasonable to assume genuines held views, moral perspectives or lived a lifestyle not accepted at that time. The story of the lonely and mocked genius sells better than those who were well adapted. Maybe the most intelligent person was a highly decorated and commonly loved general, who knows.

Jacobsen: Who seems like the greatest geniuses in history to you?

Dørum: Friedrich Nietzsche and Carl Gustav Jung comes to mind. Both had tremendous insight in human nature and were able to condensate that into philosophical and psychological publications. There are so many layers of abstractions such as religion, politics, personal feelings and experiences and historical elements that to get to the core of behavior the way they did is more difficult that most understand. This is a natural segue to your next question.

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

Dørum: A genius discovers, a profoundly intelligent person navigates. Both possess a high level of abstract and analytical skills, but a genius can detach themselves from existing ways of seeing things a profoundly intelligent person cannot. A genius doesn’t need to be the smartest person in the room, far from it. As long as the profoundly intelligent person stays within pre-existing frameworks – that person might never come to the point where he or she is able to introduce a groundbreaking discovery and turn that into an invention. Undoubtful valuable contributions, but it’s also likely to be a continuation rather than a whole new platform in which others can stand on – like Einstein’s introduction of spacetime. If you’re “only” a profoundly intelligent person, you’ll only get so far before a genius has to give you a new ladder to climb on.

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

Dørum: I have many unsuccessful attempts finishing higher education in social science and computer science. For many years I worked as an archivist in various government agencies. I got a job in a small tech firm a few years ago where I’m working on technical projects, custom support and programming.

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?

Dørum: Gifted people are not uncommon, they make up between five to around two percent of the population – depending on how pragmatic you approach the question. Typically one or two in every class. Gifted are people with above average resources. They usually do well in a wide range of academic areas, due to the g-factor. Gifted people get better results, but they don’t have a particularly set of skills different from the average person. Geniuses and true creativity is extremely rare. We all know people who did extremely well but are otherwise normal in every way. How many do we know that have produced something revolutionizing? It’s not hard to find highly intelligent people who think in very different ways and come up with new ways of doing things. More is achieved by studying the work that has been done and to familiarize yourself with the current theory and previous research rather than creating something new. Don’t be the fork where the tips point in different directions. Just because you are unique, doesn’t mean you are useful.

The biggest myth is perhaps that achievements are done in a vacuum. We all have a picture of the lonely and misunderstood genius that finally has thought something out. Progress requires extremely high levels of conscientiousness and both technical and financial resources. The achievement is yours, but you depend on a giant apparatus and high level of academic discipline and cooperation.

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

Dørum: The Scandinavian model, combined with our down to earth culture, seems to produce a society with a reasonable balance between capitalism and social programs. The social mobility in Scandinavia is one of the highest in the world. Meaning that if your income is much less linked to your parents income, in both ways – so it’s easier to climb the socio economic ladder if you are poor and easier to fall if you come from a rich family. The more environmentally equally it gets, a progressively bigger part of what produces indifferences are caused by real world differences between people and proportionally less about your family’s background – while providing basic care for those with limited resources. It seems to me like that is a good way to get a politically stable and socially just society.

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

Dørum: Nietzsche said “He who has a why can bear almost any how”, meaning that those who have found a deeper meaning can endure almost any way of living. Religious values are more robust than political ideologies, including nationalism. Religion is the only thought system where the reward is granted after your death. You can of course be praised by having a fountain, road or middle school named after you, but not rewarded in a religious context. It’s easier to come to peace with a difficult life, instead of seeing your life as a one-shot chance that can be mediocre at best – or maybe thoroughly tragic, if this life is a preparation for the afterlife. It’s not until the last century or so that the average life isn’t absolutely brutal.

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

Dørum: One of my favourite people is the Swedish doctor and statistician Hans Rosling. Rosling passed away in 2017, but provided us with an invaluable understanding of the world by visualization of massive data sets from all over the world. He was the founder of the Gapminder Foundation. His user-friendly presentation of data shows us a world in progress and continuous improvement. Science, through systematic information gathering, testing and confirmation, can blatantly destroy your political, religious and philosophical beliefs. But it also sets you free. Maybe you’re not worse off than most people, maybe you’re not oppressed or suffer from lack of what you think is privileges, maybe you have about as much chance of being happy and fulfilled as those you compare yourself to.

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

Dørum: Due to Tourettes Syndrome and what they now call developmental disorder within the Autism spectrum, previously referred to as Asperger’s syndrome, professional test scores are much more unreliable due to variations in executive functions and working memory. I am perfectly comfortable being open about it. The first time I took an I.Q. test I got 128 on WAIS-III. 131 on FRT-A when I joined Mensa back in 2006. Ten years later I hit the ceiling on Ravens Standard Progressive Matrices Plus with 145 >, 99.9 percentile mark. I got 140 on WASI-II in 2016 as a part of medical screening.

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.

Dørum: I haven’t taken many high-range tests, but I’ve taken a few with a word for being reliable and valid. This includes those developed by universities but do not have status of being official I.Q.-tests. I typically fall between 131 and 145+. Not much different from the supervised ones.

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

Dørum: Since I don’t hold any religious views, I believe that the only principles and meaning that matters are the ones we decide on – which is close to optimistic nihilism. But people also need a clear direction, so more traditional conservative values such as a strive to find a deeper meaning in life combined with dedication through grinding and goal-oriented behaviour, seems to produce healthier individuals than those who go through their life in a whimsical way. I’m a deep fan of Immanuel Kant’s Formulation of Universal Law: “requires that the maxims be chosen as though they should hold as universal laws of nature“. Each snowflake would not plead guilty of causing the avalanche. The only reasonable responsibility we can demand from others is to act in such a way that the world becomes just incrementally better.

Appendix I: Footnotes

[1] Former Ombudsman, Mensa Norway.

[2] Individual Publication Date: December 22, 2020: http://www.in-sightjournal.com/dorum-1; Full Issue Publication Date: January 1, 2021: https://in-sightjournal.com/insight-issues/.

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2023-03-24

Conversation with Associate Professor Svein Olav Glesaaen Nyberg on Early Life, Intelligence, Genius, the Titan Test, Science, and Max Stirner: Associate Professor, Engineering Sciences, University of Agder (1)

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

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

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2020/12/22

Abstract

Svein Olav Glesaaen Nyberg is a Member of the World Genius Directory. He discusses: growing up; an extended self; the family background; experience with peers and schoolmates; the purpose of intelligence tests; high intelligence; the geniuses of the past; the greatest geniuses in history; a genius from a profoundly intelligent person; some work experiences and educational certifications; the more important aspects of the idea of the gifted and geniuses; some social and political views; the God concept or gods idea; science; some of the tests taken and scores earned (with standard deviations); and ethical philosophy.

Keywords: genius, intelligence, Max Stirner, Svein Olav Glaessen Nyberg, Titan Test, University of Alger.

Conversation with Associate Professor Svein Olav Glesaaen Nyberg on Early Life, Intelligence, Genius, the Titan Test, Science, and Max Stirner: Associate Professor, Engineering Sciences, University of Agder (1)

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

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

Svein Olav Glesaaen Nyberg[1],[2]*: The storyteller in my family was my maternal grandfather. He came from a humble background, the son of a country tailor. He couldn’t afford an education, but one of the rich farmers in the area had faith in him and extended him a loan. I think it was 500 Norwegian kroner per year. He trusted him to do well and pay him back, which he did. One of his often told stories was that he travelled to agricultural college by bike, roughly 300km on dirt roads. One of hos often told stories was about how he had once lost his wallet with 500 kroner in Oslo, and an honest soul had found it and returned it to him. A story about how honesty matters to someone. He did of course complete his degree, and with the second best grades ever given there. After that, he had a very successful career as a forester, and managed to extend the area he controlled 10-fold during his reign. From humble beginnings to the mightiest man in the area. But I never got the impression that the power went to his head, though he really appreciated the recognition of what he had achieved. His other very often told story was when he was once in the woods with the lumberjacks. They had made coffee, and one of them poured him a cup, and some sugar. Lacking a spoon, the lumberjack promptly put his thumb in and started stirring. (Rough and tough crowd!) But as he stirred, he grew thoughtful, so my grandfather said it was probably well stirred by now. The lumberjack was quick-witted and replied that “Oh no, I am just trying to enlarge the cup for the forester!” What I read into this story is both how he despite his position still viewed himself as “one of the guys”, but yet could not help taking pride in how others recognized him as someone deserving of a bigger cup. A bit of sadness and pride at the same time. That it meant a lot to him, was also shown in that he repeatedly tried to get this story published in the readers’ section of Norwegian Readers’ Digest. Well, granddad, if you are still watching over us, now it’s published!

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

Nyberg: Both yes and no. There are of course other stories, but growing up, my grandfather was who I was most like. He was amazingly bright, and people often said that we looked very much alike. And yes, of course I took the comparison as a compliment! My paternal grandfather was also a bright guy, and wanted an education. But he had no sponsor, and became a carpenter and farmer. He was the sweetest guy! And then there’s of course my father, who went on his adventures, and actually ended up studying at the same college as my maternal grandfather. So for a while, I really thought it was my destiny after I had finished my degree to start teaching at that college. But what it has shown me in any case, is the value of education. It is free in Norway now, but my grandparents’ example tells me not to take it for granted. And also that the academic snobbishness against “lower” professions that you sometimes see is about as much worth as the fart wind it’s travelling on. I hold people who do their profession well in high regard, and “high” and “low” is just a pissing game.

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

Nyberg: Norwegians are generally laid back when it comes to religion, and the areas where my parents come from (Hedmark and Trøndelag) perhaps even more so. These areas were also traditionally known for moonshine liquor. My mother is quite spiritually interested, whereas my father’s interests are more practical. He comes from a long line of hunters, though, and is a hunter himself, so he is a kind of “mystic of the forest” without ever calling himself such. The farm he grew up on is called Kvelloa, a name we are told stems from the epic battle of Stiklestad in 1030, where Saint Olaf, the Christener of Norway was slain; Olaf was said to have slept over at the site of that farm, a place with an excellent view of the next day’s battlefield.

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

Nyberg: My family moved around a lot, so I was “the new guy” for most of my childhood. So I was an outsider who didn’t quite fit in. Plus, I was a bit strange, with my sciencey stuff and strange ideas.

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

Nyberg: The tests themselves? I think they can be of help for people who need validation. A friend of mine was considered less gifted than average, as he had a string speech impediment. His family took him to be tested, and he got a score of 160. He bloomed after that, with much newly gained self-confidence. That gives purpose to such tests!

Jacobsen: When was high intelligence discovered for you?

Nyberg: It was, but wasn’t when I was in 4^th grade. There was an assessment given to all of us, and I got 94/100. The next down on the list was 80 points, but one guy got 96. He confided that he had cheated and had his aunt do the test for him so he could get a good score. But the strange thing is that this really didn’t register with me. I thought “oh well, this other guy got a good score too, and none of us got a 100”. But then, whenever there was a challenge, I excelled. Like Rubik’s Cube, which I solved before anyone else I knew. That is, as in understanding the cube well enough to devise an algorithm for solving it. This was in 8^th grade, before someone had published “the solution”. Of course, I was a bit of a bastard about it, solving everyone’s cubes for them. After the book came out, many could solve it without understanding it. But that meant some fun … for if you randomly assemble cube pieces, only 1 in 12 cubes are solvable. So I twisted a corner here and there. I know … not very nice! I guess I had a need to prove myself back then. I was the outsider with little self confidence, and I was crafting my niche, and perhaps in not such a nice way in the initial years. But somehow nobody admired me for my arrogance.

Nyberg: Good question, and I wish I actually knew. But I notice people are touchy about three things: their intelligence, their singing voice, and their looks. It is tied in with self esteem. The existence of extremes in either of these fields energizes people’s reactions. It is so easy to either try to compete (and lose, and thereby hate), or to try to lean in and try to somehow transfer some of that vitality from the person of the desired characteristic. Well, these are my amateur musings; I am no psychologist.

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

Nyberg: I have always been fascinated by John von Neumann. Most people are satisfied with doing well in a single field. Perhaps some go on to do well in two. A few excel in one field, and the extremes excel in two. Von Neumann didn’t just excel, but founded or was part of founding an entire four different fields. My favourite anecdote about him is when this colleague of his was showing off his bright and promising PhD student, and von Neumann recreates the last two years of said student’s work in his head in a mere 5 minutes.

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

Nyberg: Air. I remember reading Antony Flew’s controversial work There is a God, and saw that he had been accused of not authoring the arguments, but leaving it to his co-author, Varese. However, if you actually read the book, and pay attention to Varese’s own sections, you will notice that he is a reasonably bright fellow who would win many arguments online. A decent debater. But he doesn’t fly! His arguments look like something out of Minecraft; square, blocky, inelegant, with no air. Or if he had been playing Go, he’d be the guy obsessed with building long walls all the time. Flew, on the other hand, elegantly places his pieces a good distance apart, not touching. He knows that if it comes to it, he can tighten and ensnare between his pieces, just like a good Go player. Or back to Varese’s architecture, Flew doesn’t build blocky buildings in Minecraft, but elven-like cathedrals with lots of air.

So that is how I see the difference. In aesthetic terms, in terms of how they feel when you listen t them. Those who really stand apart have a lightness and air to their touch that lesser minds don’t. For the mathematically interested, Terence Tao is a great example. The way he explains things, you never would have guessed that he was actually explaining something difficult. From his pen, things flow, with lightness, air, and grace.

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

Nyberg: A PhD in math. It was never planned, but just happened. After that, a post-doc at the university of Edinburgh, and then I just went to the dark side for a few years as a software consultant at Computas, the company that sponsored Magnus Carlsen in his childhood years, btw. Now I work at Agder University, a smalltown university at the Norwegian south tip, teaching statistics from my own textbook to engineering students.

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?

Nyberg: The most dangerous myth is that the gifted will always survive. No, they won’t. Gifted people need nurturing just as much as do those who do not. Just because a gifted person often gets by on less, doesn’t mean they thrive on less. Put your prize race horse in closed confines with few challenges or opportunities to move for years, and enter it into a race. A normal horse who has had every opportunity will fare better! Why waste your prize horses like that?

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

Nyberg: My basic leanings are strongly libertarian. Simply because I believe in responsibility for your own life. But I do also have a strong social democratic core. That is: it seems that many freemarketeers sort of “side” with the employer side in conflicts. And there are conflicts. So I side with the sentiment but perhaps not the strategies of trade unionists. A working-class libertarian, perhaps. But it has all got to do with taking responsibility for you own life and being able to be in charge of it.

From old times, workers might have had the character and inclination to do something with their lives, but scant opportunity. My grandfathers are testament to this. And there is also the story of my great-great grandfather up my male line: he lived on a rented farm, paying part of his produce to the farmer who owned it, as his rent. However, he wanted independence, and worked hard so he could save up. But when he presented the money to buy his leased land off his landlord, this same landlord responded by evicting him with 24 hrs notice. My great-grandfather was prepared for this, however, and had a contingency plan for buying some other land. So he moved his house there overnight. (!) A small house by today’s standards, perhaps, but a damn feat anyway!

But the point is: that kind of precaution should not be necessary. A society in which economic power gives life power over another person is not a good libertarian society. It’s not a society which encourages taking charge of your own life.

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

Nyberg: You could almost make an entire interview just on that topic! I have been all over the place. When I was just a kid, the first book I read on my own was a children’s Bible. So I decided I wanted to be a priest, and wondered about the nature of the soul. (Mine is light green, and resides in my right shoulder, according to 5-year old me, btw.) But then I learned about Hell, and I grew to … well, is hate a string enough word … I grew to hate the entire religious circus. Hell is such an abominable idea! And in my student years, I was the atheistest atheist you could run into. Any belief was a superstition, and even ethics was just spooks’ play to me. I was a big champion of the Hegelian Max Stirner at that time. An anti-ethicist.

However, I have wrestled with my own demons, so to speak, and have concluded that there is most probably some kind of God. I found some resonance in Flew’s book, mentioned above, for my reason for this. He had two basic arguments, one about the statistics of the origin of life (which I don’t buy), and one about the very concept-like, mathematical nature of the universe.

There is a paper, The unreasonable effectiveness of mathematics in the natural sciences, which could serve as a starting point. Why should mathematics be able to describe reality so well? Why do so many things act alike, and be alike? We like to think that concepts are abstractons we have made from our observed realities, and there is much truth to that. But what then when reality itself behaves so much as if was printed out of concepts like cookie shapes? What does a concept-like understanding of reality entail? To me, it points to a view where the concepts (or “concepts”, since they are not our own created concepts) are in some way primary. A sort of Platonism if you wish. But by calling them concepts, I am also pointing to the kind of entity having concepts, a mind. A universal mind.

Now, is this a “proof of God” I just presented? No. And I believe Immanuel Kant (there is another brilliant mind!) showed quite well that such proofs are impossible. But we can make arguments that God is a likely explanation, and then as with many such things, it is up to each person which arguments sway them.

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

Nyberg: Things have to be what they are, don’t they? Science studies what things are. So how can science not play a major part. That does, however, not mean subscribing to scientism. But I guess my above reply about God already told you that.

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

Nyberg: None. I have never paid anyone to assess me, but I have enjoyed doing a few tests, and have looked at what kind of score I could get. My first massive one was the Titan test, which I did in the 90ies, when it was published in Omni. However, grading and paying for grading was a bitch, so I did nothing with it. However, I came across the answers online about … was it 10 years ago. I still had my answers from back then, and got 23/24 on the math-spatial test, which I already knew. But the answer to the last question (that had stumped me) almost got me hitting my own forehead for not seeing it. Duh! Of course. The linguistic part went less well. 12/24. But not too bad in my own eyes, at least.

Well, I actually have paid someone to assess me, some to think of it. I had just done a test in “The IQ book”, and got a near-perfect score (*), earning me an IQ of 155-160. (Perfect score=160). So I mentioned this to a psychologist I was seeing at the time. Could it really be so that I had an IQ as high as 160? I left his office a bit elated, for he responded “Ha ha, no! 160 is my score. From our talks, I would assess your IQ to be at roughly 180!”

But that’s it. Anecdotal scores. I never seem to score below 155 on any test, and people somehow seem to think I’m in a higher range than that, and that is really why I’m being interviewed here, because others believe I have a reasonably high IQ.

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

Nyberg: As I said above, I had my longest period as a Stirnerian anti-ethicist, but though I retain a strong respect and admiration for Stirner, the anti-ethicism has worn off. So what if ethics can’t be built on “reason alone” or on similar crumbly bulwarks? Just be nice to people!

That is, act as if you care about them (and actually do care a little bit about them), and ask what is in their best interests. Make a balance towards your own interests, and that of others too, and act on that. No fixed formula, but the kind of balancing you do between friends. We manage that balance without a formula. A trial and error approach where you check for the results for yourself, for those you care about, and for the entire dynamics of how your kindnesses affect others.

Though … being kind doesn’t mean doing everything for those you love, for that stunts their growth and ability to take charge of their own lives, so by all means, sometimes the kindest gift you can give a friend is a kick in the butt!

Of course, these are all nice words to put up on a wall, so in practice the best thing to do is to look at people who have got their lives and their acts together, and seek their advice. Grandpa ethics, in my case. I have the best grandpas!

Appendix I: Footnotes

[1] Associate Professor, Engineering Sciences, University of Agder.

[2] Individual Publication Date: December 22, 2020: http://www.in-sightjournal.com/nyberg-1; Full Issue Publication Date: January 1, 2021: https://in-sightjournal.com/insight-issues/.

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2023-03-24

Conversation with Anthony Sepulveda (Brown) on An Affair, Psychological Dynamics, and Ethical Considerations: Member, World Genius Directory (8)

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

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

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2020/12/22

Abstract

Anthony Sepulveda (Brown) is a Member of the World Genius Directory. He discusses: an affair; the narrative leading into this affair; the individual considerations; the interpersonal psychological dynamics; the ethical considerations; open to discuss this particular subject matter; and ethical system.

Keywords: affair, Anthony Sepulveda, ethics, psychological dynamics.

Conversation with Anthony Sepulveda (Brown) on An Affair, Psychological Dynamics, and Ethical Considerations: Member, World Genius Directory (8)

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

Scott Douglas Jacobsen: You were engaged in an affair, recently. Why?

Anthony Sepulveda (Brown)[1],[2]*: Simply put, I was in love.

Jacobsen: What is the narrative leading into this affair?

Sepulveda (Brown): Initially, Tango (who I first mentioned in part 2 of this interview) and I were coworkers. We knew each other for several years and became very close. But she was in a relationship and soon married, so we were strictly platonic. Unfortunately for her, their marriage wasn’t a healthy one. He was jealous, possessive and insecure, often treating her more like a security blanket than a partner. It was so bad that he forbade her from associating with any other man at all and she suffered greatly trying to hold everything together. At one point, he found out about me and sent a plethora if threatening messages before removing her phone privileges. But in the beginning of this year (2020), after a couple years apart, she found me on a social media I didn’t even remember making and got in touch. Shortly thereafter, we rendezvoused by her favorite body of water one evening and spent hours catching up as I held her as close as possible.

Then things really sped up – we messaged each other all day, every day and met up as often as we could. As our affair progressed, she expressed a desire to get back into modeling, which I encouraged. I soon became her personal security during the photo shoots and we’d go on little road trips on those rare occasions she could get away from her husband.

After several months, we reached a point where she needed to make a decision. After the last photo shoot I attended, she expressed how she’d feel a certain guilt for the rest of her life if she didn’t give him one last chance to change. As a loving wife, she felt that it was her duty to try marriage counseling. I didn’t believe he was capable of being who she wanted him to be, but I understood her motivation and respected her decision. All I asked of her was to be strong enough to accept the truth if he didn’t show improvement and one last kiss.

We didn’t speak much over the next couple months. But I was confident that at some point in the future, we’d be together again. I was wrong.

One evening, she told me she was pregnant. It wasn’t mine. And it wasn’t her husband’s.

Apparently, she’d been in contact with the photographer we met on our last trip while I had been waiting for her. I was shocked and quite upset by this, naturally. But I was still dedicated to finding a solution that would satisfy as many of us as possible. Which became very difficult once she informed me that her husband was aware of her state. I worked out all the options available to her, but only found one that didn’t put everyone at risk – she needed to get an abortion. Telling her to go through with it was the single hardest thing I’ve ever done. Made all the worse because I couldn’t do anything to help her during that time. At least the photographer was there for her, which I’m grateful for.

She told her husband that she’d had a miscarriage and I gave her time to get herself through it. It was all she was willing to accept from me. Shortly afterwards, they were divorced. It was then that she called me for the last time, crying because after signing the papers, after all she’d been through trying to hold everything together for years, he said he was glad to finally be rid of her.

Words cannot express how badly I wanted to hold her. To assure her that no matter what, I’ll always be there for her. Even if that meant stepping aside and giving her a chance at happiness with another man. I just didn’t want to lose her. She was my best friend.

But she became distant, reading my messages but not responding. And I was scared by what that could mean for our future. Life didn’t feel like it would be worth living without her in it.

In our last conversation, she opened up about the details of her life at the time. Her husband was begging for her to come back. But while she was tempted to do so, she was more dedicated to the photographer. So dedicated, in fact, that she felt that associating with me at all would be unfair to him. And so my best friend, the one person I was completely open with, the only person I contacted when I was afraid I had cancer threw me away for a man she’d known for less than two months. A man she didn’t even know and who didn’t really know her. A man who hadn’t even known she was married for most of their relationship.

It felt as though I’d been struck in the chest by a cannon.

I’ve been trying to move on ever since.

Jacobsen: What are the individual considerations in this regard?

Sepulveda (Brown): First and foremost, the safety of her and her child. Her husband had always been irrational and nothing was worth putting either of them at risk.

Jacobsen: What is the interpersonal psychological dynamics at play between the parties?

Sepulveda (Brown): She needed a healthy, supportive relationship that fulfilled her and helped her achieve her goals. As for me, I got my best friend back and felt like I finally had a chance at being happy.

Jacobsen: What are the ethical considerations too?

Sepulveda (Brown): The only factors we needed to consider were personal and spiritual. These were easy enough for me to accept because I wasn’t the married or religious one. She was initially hesitant, but agreed that she deserves better than what she had.

Jacobsen: Why be so open to discuss this particular subject matter?

Sepulveda (Brown): Several reasons. Firstly, at the beginning of this interview you asked me to share any important or impactful stories from my life. This one definitely qualifies and I’m not ashamed of my actions and see no reason to hide them. I also believe that this could lead to some important discussion on morality, relationships, mental health and recovery that could potentially be of service to anyone reading.

And sharing the story with the world feels like a way to let it go and get some sense of closure.

Jacobsen: What ethical system makes most sense of this formulation of (common) human affairs?

Sepulveda (Brown): Moral relativism.

Appendix I: Footnotes

[1] Member, World Genius Directory.

[2] Individual Publication Date: December 22, 2020: http://www.in-sightjournal.com/sepulveda-8; Full Issue Publication Date: January 1, 2021: https://in-sightjournal.com/insight-issues/.

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2023-03-24

Conversation with Anja Jaenicke on Classic Psycho Thrillers, Twilight Reality, Sophia, and Spontaneity: German Actor & Poet (5)

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

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

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2020/12/22

Abstract

Anja Jaenicke is a German Poet and Actor. She discusses: Classic psycho thrillers; fellow human beings; Werner Herzog and Klaus Kinski; “religious fanaticism”; the interplay between a twilight reality of the mother and daughter; the next advancement in science; the next advancement in the arts; and spontaneous creation.

Keywords: Anja Jaenicke, classic psycho thriller, Germany, humanity, Klaus Kinski, Werner Herzog.

Conversation with Anja Jaenicke on Classic Psycho Thrillers, Twilight Reality, Sophia, and Spontaneity: German Actor & Poet (5)

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

Scott Douglas Jacobsen: Classic psycho thrillers tend towards the dark end of film. Why where you drawn to this particular with the reflection in the works of “Das Spiegelbild des Seins”?

Anja Jaenicke[1],[2]*: The novel “Das Spiegelbild des Seins” which I wrote years ago, is based on a real story. After researching this and similar cases I was fascinated with the logical consequences of ill will, failure, self reproach, displacement and megalomania, leading to the terror of fatality.

Jacobsen: Why maintain such optimism of fellow human beings in the sense of “as long as there is humanity there will be art”?

Jaenicke: Who says that it is optimism? Art is not a fixed constant of good or evil, it is fluid expression. Wherever humanity goes, art will follow.

Jacobsen: With Pen Gwyn as having a “human face inside of him” as characterizing his human nature, in Werner, how does this reflect the honouring of Werner Herzog and Klaus Kinski?

Jaenicke: I have no clue, maybe you ask Werner Herzog? But don’t we all have a bit of a curious penguin inside ourselves?

Jacobsen: Is “religious fanaticism” a less of a “twilight reality” in some sense and more of reality while portrayed as a twilight reality through “Das Spiegelbild des Seins”?

Jaenicke: The book is fiction and carries metaphors. But of course, it lies in the core of any system of belief to be not knowledge but to leave room for interpretations, which on the downside can attract people with mental impairment and the tendency for fanatic definitions of given content.

Jacobsen: How is the interplay between a twilight reality of the mother and daughter, Sophia through to the “schizophrenic abyss” of Sophia? How is the film storyline developing a trajectory from an imaginary reality into a collapsed reality, complete chaos? It would seem hard to pull off.

Jaenicke: The dramaturgy of the story is the play with perspectives. As I mentioned earlier, the film is based on a novel and the book is self-explanatory. I hope there will be an English version soon.

Jacobsen: What do you consider the next advancement in science?

Jaenicke: In the history of scientific advancements the best achievements have been made when humans were under attack or at war. Well, we are under attack of a virus right now. That is why I think the next advancement will be a medical one.

Jacobsen: What do you consider the next advancement in the arts?

Jaenicke: As I said before, art is fluid, not linear. There is no after and before kind of art. Art is the conscious expression of the collective mind.

Jacobsen: How do you take those times of spontaneous creation and channel them into a very focused and systematic” approach?

Jaenicke: The answer lies in the eyes of the beholder and is a secret of the artist.

Appendix I: Footnotes

[1] German Poet and Actress; CEO, HIQ-MEDIA-POOL INC.; Member, Poetic Genius Society.

[2] Individual Publication Date: December 22, 2020: http://www.in-sightjournal.com/jaenicke-5; Full Issue Publication Date: January 1, 2021: https://in-sightjournal.com/insight-issues/.

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2023-03-24

Conversation with Glenn Alden on Youth, Intelligence Tests, Genius, and Personal Views: Member, Mensa International (1)

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

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

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2020/12/22

Abstract

Glenn Alden is a Member of Mensa International from Norway. He discusses: growing up; an extended self; the family background; the experience with peers and schoolmates; the purpose of intelligence tests; high intelligence; the geniuses of the past; the greatest geniuses in history; a genius from a profoundly intelligent person; some work experiences; the idea of the gifted; social and political views; the God concept or gods idea; science; some of the tests taken; the range of the scores; and ethical philosophy.

Keywords: Genius, Glenn Alden, god, Norway, self.

Conversation with Glenn Alden on Youth, Intelligence Tests, Genius, and Personal Views: Member, Mensa International (1)

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

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

Glenn Alden [1],[2]*: Both my father and mother are born and brought up nearby the sea. They made a living by farming and fishing. These were hard times during and after world war 2. They had to participate in the work from an early age.

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

Alden: Without a doubt, this has affected my view of where I come from. I’m proud of my ancestry.

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

Alden: Neither of my parents had any formal education. Total religious freedom.

Jacobsen: How were the experiences with peers and schoolmates as a child and an adolescent?

Alden: In early childhood, I was active and social. During my youth, I became somewhat more withdrawn.

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

Alden: Just for fun. Has been a hobby lately.

Jacobsen: When was high intelligence discovered for you?

Alden: It was probably in the twenties. IQ testing caught my interest and I did well. Took a Mensa test in 1999 and became an approved member of Mensa international. That was when I first became aware of aberrant intelligence.

Alden: FEAR. We are herd animals. If someone comes up with ideas that threaten the known truth. That will immediately initiate fear processes among the majority within the groups. Fear leads to anger and then the ball is rolling.

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

Alden: Nikola Tesla.

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

Alden: Level of creativity. Level of your ability to think outside the box.

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

Alden: Have been working in the oil business since 1990. Have worked my way up from Roustabolt on deck to Senior Toolpusher. In 2016 I was laid off for a period of 1.5 years. Then I got the opportunity to work as a manager on asylum reception for young asylum seekers 15 – 18 years of age. This was an extreme change in my life situation. When looking back, it was an education for life. I became much more tolerant on a deeper level. It could be tough at times, but this really gave me the opportunity to evolve as a human being.

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?

Alden: Those are the arrows. A myth might be that they are boring nerds. Elon Musk is a good example of the opposite.

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

Alden: I don’t have any fixed political standpoint. On the other hand, it’s easy to recognize that there is a need for political change in all camps. If I have to point out one element, it would be the freedom of speech. This is one of the most important tools to maintain democracy.

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

Alden: Do not believe in anything you hear. This might set you free. As long as we are locked inside beliefs of religions, we will never be able to see the truth. God is hidden inside the truth. Most religions emphasize love, but rules with fear. I am confident on one thing. Use your brain and your heart, and seek within. Then you will find the truth.

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

Alden: Mind and matter.Can one exist without the other? Are we co-creators of the universes?

Science is from my point of view our first attempt at liberation from religion.

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

Alden: Have taken a lot of tests during the last 20 years. Most spatial and verbal High Range tests. Scores have deviated between IQ 150 – 182 SD 15.

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.

Alden: Unable to take these results seriously. I think most tests are too subjective. You need to be familiar with the test creators’ mindset to score higher (This is of course also a kind of intelligence).

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

Alden: Do more of what makes you happy.

If you treat yourself with love, you will have the best base to accommodate all the “good” values.

To force ethics in our seeking for goodness will only lead to falsehood.

Appendix I: Footnotes

[1] Member, Mensa International.

[2] Individual Publication Date: December 22, 2020: http://www.in-sightjournal.com/alden-1; Full Issue Publication Date: January 1, 2021: https://in-sightjournal.com/insight-issues/.

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2023-03-24

Conversation with Gareth Rees on Family Facts, Home Environment, Genius, and the World’s Problems: Member, Canadian High IQ Society (1)

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

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

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2020/12/22

Abstract

Gareth Rees is a Member of the Canadian High IQ Society. He discusses: important familial historical facts; extended senses of a self; the parents’ form of childrearing; some pivotal moments; high-range tests; giftedness; the important aspects of giftedness; some odd jobs; the levels of education attained; recent independent intellectual pursuits; the smartest people in the world; and the world’s problems needing solving.

Keywords: Canada, Canadian High IQ Society, Gareth Rees, Genius, World.

Conversation with Gareth Rees on Family Facts, Home Environment, Genius, and the World’s Problems: Member, Canadian High IQ Society (1)

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

Scott Douglas Jacobsen: Let’s start off on the regular informational set-ups for these kinds of interviews, where the narrative structure comes from the background information of the individual interviewee. What are important familial historical facts about you?

Gareth Rees[1],[2]*: Offhand I have nothing important to mention, just out of the ordinary. I was adopted from San Pedro Sula, Honduras, and was raised in an upper-middle class environment, the bulk of which was done in Canada. I have no information about my biological parents. My (deceased) father was British and my mother is Canadian. My non-biological father did qualify for Mensa, but that’s just a coincidence.

Jacobsen: How have these extended senses of a self informed some personal identity formation for you?

Rees: They have not as I consider myself ground zero, or a historical reset if you will.

Jacobsen: How did these form some threads for the parents’ form of childrearing and the home environment for you?

Rees: I was spoiled and babied growing up. I believe this is normal for adopted children. I always had access to resources and was provided with most things I asked for. This fit well with my general resistance to stress and want for playtime.

Jacobsen: What have been some pivotal moments in early life – childhood and adolescence – in intellectual formation and coming to terms with giftedness?

Rees: I was never identified as gifted. I’m not optimized for the academic environment, at least in the way it’s conventionally set up. I was scholastically tested and came out average because of learning issues at school which led to diagnoses. I have never even taken a proctored IQ test. I do prefer it this way. I have more autonomy; this results in more free will if one believes in such a concept.

Jacobsen: What is the purpose of the taking high-range tests and taking part in some of the high-IQ community?

Rees: I have an interest in genius/intelligence. That is specifically genius in the context of useful research and not IQ classification at/above some arbitrary set number. Interest in intelligence led to IQ whereby I fell into trying to measure my own. Useful reasons are best laid out by Paul Cooijmans in his reasons to take tests. I refer to him because of his mature and objective outlook, that is namely insight into strengths and weaknesses of my profile.

Other reasons include something called “need for cognition”, and dopamine chasing. It’s something to occupy the mind and reward one with good feeling. I also wanted entrance into the Glia Society. Membership was finally acquired on Christmas day in 2016.

Jacobsen: How has giftedness been a burden in life? How has giftedness been a blessing for you?

Rees: I can’t say it has, or rather I’m not gifted enough for there to be a noticeable impact in my life. Conversely, my answer remains similar in that I haven’t really profited, whether monetarily or non-monetarily. If I can attain my needs and desires, then naturally there’s no identification of burdens or blessings. I grew up in a mostly stable household and have maintained employment, so there’s no hole I have had to dig myself out of.

If I ever achieve something noteworthy, then my answer will change. I have interests and my open problem of choice, so it remains to be executed.

Jacobsen: What are some of the important aspects of giftedness not talked about enough in cultures?

Rees: I think a lack of support if there is such a thing is worse than any aspects not talked about. I don’t have a good answer for this as I personally don’t consider it a problem. Labeling one as gifted usually generates expectations. Expectations can be a burden especially if they aren’t one’s own. Depending on the person, guidance and freedom are the most important aspects necessary for keeping that gifted person mentally healthy. It can also be beneficial to have a mentor.

Jacobsen: What have been some odd jobs for you?

Rees: I haven’t had any odd jobs, but I’ve done factory work which is boring, modeling which was awkward, to my current job which is related to software and a much better fit for my profile.

Jacobsen: What have been the levels of education attained for you?

Rees: College Diploma – 2 Years post secondary equivalent.

I studied Network Engineering, but it’s closer to network configuration as I don’t engineer hardware or software. Marketing sure is a cheesy business.

Jacobsen: Have you taken some time for recent independent intellectual pursuits?

Rees: I have, my current interest is in understanding intelligence from its metaform if it has one, or requires one, to full conversion into written theory, then algorithms and eventually programmed general AI. I’m in the early stages right now and that includes being self-funded to gathering the necessary information-based resources.

Jacobsen: Who do you consider some of the smartest people in the world, in history or at present?

Rees: The smartest people in my opinion are those solving (or have solved) or at least are trying to solve the hardest problems such as Edward Witten (theoretical physicist), Grigori Perelman (formerly a professional Mathematician) Paul Cooijmans (in possession of a mountain of data in regard to IQ), Chris Langan (very strong generalist) and all those in their respective fields.

It’s way easier to name past people of influence such as Archimedes, Newton, Einstein, Goethe, Tesla, da Vinci, Jung, Freud, Socrates, Aristotle, Galileo and many more…

Jacobsen: What do you see as some of the world’s problems needing solving now?

Rees: People lack understanding and the capacity to have it, especially in (heat of) the moment, of other people and themselves, hence why some arguments/feelings form or escalate. This missing piece transcends incompatibility or human chemistry. It’s simply a missing step in the direction of enlightenment. This lack of meta-awareness and meta-understanding can be augmented with AI as a coprocessor for real-time experience. It’s an issue where knowing isn’t enough and the doing isn’t easy. Ayahuasca’s effects are another form of solution to this problem, but it’s not safe for everyone to ingest and it’s already banned in most countries. It also is not an active solution but more of an event that leads to an impression on one’s life.

Another problem is wealth inequality, in which the only solution that I can see would be to get so wealthy as to freely (re)distribute wealth wherever and whenever required. This is, however, controversial for several reasons and it’s also unrealistic, but it’s the easiest solution given the current rules and setup people choose to accept.

Population control is another issue as the world advances further and further in both technology and employment opportunities.

Lack of androids (applied general AI) to solve loneliness and love related issues. This is a better alternative than altering chemicals with drugs of choice, and I suppose virtual reality is a decent stopgap for the time being. There is a lot of missing progress from the GAI to the actual engineering required to even make an android walk like a human. It will be a while before this is even a reality.

These to me are the biggest problems in need of solutions as soon as possible.

Appendix I: Footnotes

[1] Member, Canadian High IQ Society.

[2] Individual Publication Date: December 22, 2020: http://www.in-sightjournal.com/rees-1; Full Issue Publication Date: January 1, 2021: https://in-sightjournal.com/insight-issues/.

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2023-03-24

Norwegians of the High-Range Discussion with Erik Haereid, Eivind Olsen, and Tor Arne Jørgensen: Statistician & Actuarial Scientist; Chair, Mensa Norway; 2019 Genius of the Year – Europe, World Genius Directory (2)

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

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

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2020/12/15

Abstract

Erik Haereid is an Actuarial Scientist and Statistician. Eivind Olsen is the Chair of Mensa Norway. Tor Arne Jørgensen is the 2019 Genius of the Year – Europe. They discuss: some common sentiments in Mensa Norway or commentary around Mensa International on the first point of “the positive social club aspects”; the common sentiments about the “harsh social environment”; two divergent trends in Mensa International and in the high-range communities with the high-range communities exhibiting many of the same symptoms; the FB-forum and social media in general for these various communities; edge the trends more towards mutual respect; individuals within the high-IQ and high-range communities; the catastrophes of WWII; motivation for its existence changed over time; more than a social club; and serious and more fun outgrowths of Mensa Norway.

Keywords: Erik Haereid, Eivind Olsen, IQ, Mensa, Mensa Norway, Tor Arne Jørgensen.

Norwegians of the High-Range Discussion with Erik Haereid, Eivind Olsen, and Tor Arne Jørgensen: Statistician & Actuarial Scientist; Chair, Mensa Norway; 2019 Genius of the Year – Europe, World Genius Directory (2)

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

Scott Douglas Jacobsen: Some have commented on the positive social club aspects of Mensa International for them. Others have commented on the harsh nature of the social environment for them. What are some common sentiments in Mensa Norway or commentary around Mensa International on the first point of “the positive social club aspects”?

Erik Haereid[1]*: I am not active in Mensa, but my impression is “that very intelligent people meet peers”; meeting people that think and talk like themselves, and that’s rewarding. Some, maybe a lot of people with IQs over 130 feel different compared to the general population. Mensa provides an environment where it’s ok asking odd or complex questions about anything. At least concerning most issues.

Meeting Mensans from abroad enriches Mensans in every country; meeting other cultures and maybe pinpoint some common features independent of nations.

Eivind Olsen[3],[4]: Several members have said it felt like they “found a home.” For some members, the social aspect is important. Others are happy enough just to get the membership magazine.

Jacobsen: What about the common sentiments about the “harsh social environment”?

Haereid: Free speech is not free speech. It’s quite obvious that some are more liked and popular than others. There’s some discrimination and racism inside Mensa. It’s to some degree about likes and who you want to discuss with, and not what is discussed. It’s about how you comment depending on the other person; who is who. That infects the environment, unfortunately. Talking bad about persons behind their backs, building friendship through establishing social hierarchies, defining some as more worth than others. This is, to me surprisingly, a part of Mensa, as in the general population. It should be banned in a community like Mensa. Mensans should solve conflicts, not create them. Mensans should reflect on their emotions and expressions, not only live unconsciously with them.

Olsen: There are several different Facebook groups, each with its own “community standards” and environment. When you have a high number of people interacting, you’re bound to have people with incompatible personalities. There’s always someone going on about their “freedumb of speech” being violated when it’s suggested that perhaps their comments are missing the mark. Most manage to get along just fine.

Jacobsen: What seems to explain these two divergent trends in Mensa International and in the high-range communities with the high-range communities exhibiting many of the same symptoms?

Haereid: Personal or emotional insecurity. Need for power (over oneself) and identification with one’s high IQ. Differences among individuals seem to be a plus in general if you accept yourself as different. People who show others that they are different or unique, and are substantially proud of it, are often charming and accepted as different. We are all different in many ways, and everyone wants to be themselves among others, removing the masks and just be without all the restraints. If people clap and stay when the fat lady sings, without being ironic, she has hit some need in the audience that is important for everyone.

Tor Arne Jørgensen[2]*: As I have given a blank reply on the two previous questions by reasons of not being a former nor a current member of Mensa Norway. I find myself curious about this and the two previous questions, and the respective answers that will then appear in the comments from both Erik and Eivind as this is more their expertise.

Olsen: That’s a good question, which I don’t really have a good answer for. Perhaps Mensa and the other high-IQ communities cater to different needs, for different personality types. As observed from the outside, I get the impression that for at least some of the high-IQ communities it seems to be more about competition and prestige, with the personal goal to become a member of as many communities as possible. “Gotta catch ’em all!” If it’s more about joining an organization for the social aspect, it often makes more sense to join one with members in your region.

Jacobsen: Is some of this made worse with the FB-forum and social media in general for these various communities?

Haereid: Yes. Social media has the tendency to remove personal responsibility and feelings of empathy and sympathy towards each other; it makes us into hollow objects, and potentially into the worst part of ourselves. A precondition for a functional society is mutual respect.

Jørgensen: I believe it’s important to embrace the diversity of personalities, opinions, and backgrounds, following the tenet of “live and let live.” See the others as individuals too. They can still be good people even if they’re not your identical twins.

With regards to the FB-forum/social media and the «harsh social environment», no I have not personaly felt this in any way, of course, there is some healthy competition between the members within the high-range community, but not something that can be characterized on the basis on the question topic.

Olsen: Some of the aggressive and nasty behavior comes from people that are really nice persons in real life. Perhaps it’s too easy to dehumanize your “opponent” when you’re in the middle of a “battle of keyboards.” The information flow on Facebook also means that whatever someone posted a few hours ago might be drowning in the feed, which also encourages quick remarks over longer, deeper answers.

Jacobsen: What might edge the trends more towards mutual respect and away from occasional disrespect producing pockets of a “harsh social environment”?

Haereid: Avoid talking behind each other’s backs; avoid building mistrust and planting lies about each other to gain power oneself. To be open-minded. Avoid ignoring those you don’t like; to let everyone get a voice, and respect and listen to it. To discuss topics instead of bragging about oneself.

When you don’t like a person, use your intelligence asking why instead of following your emotions without asking. Every time the answer is replaced by another emotion, continue asking.

Jørgensen: Through cross-disciplinary collaboration, where a unified goal is based on community understanding and respect, will by that enable us all to cement the basis for a strong foundation where bridgebuilding and innovation can take place for the common good.

Olsen: I believe it’s important to embrace the diversity of personalities, opinions, and backgrounds, following the tenet of “live and let live”. See the others as individuals too. They can still be good people even if they’re not your identical twins.

Jacobsen: What inspires individuals within the high-IQ and high-range communities to make full use of talents and temperaments within the general cognitive profile for themselves?

Haereid: By evolving more acceptance, safety, and mutual respect inside the communities. To dare to speak outside these walls, one has to feel certain about one’s abilities. This could be like a family. If this is the case, that the environment confirms you and your abilities, you will dare to express your thoughts and ideas outside this environment.

Jørgensen: I have made my own test site; toriqtests.com, this is a test site where individuals can try out my high range tests for no cost. This was an idea I felt I needed to explore by using my inherent creative abilities, and the utilization thereof based on the entertainment value of the principle. I have now made twelve high range test, had between 250-300 attempts on these tests. Also when I won the World Genius award back in 2019, I saw the need to promote the community out to the general public, I have now reached out to 50 000+ readers and listeners with my articles in newspaper and radio features.

The basis for this is due to my natural curiosity and exploratory being. The discovery of my talent as to intellectual abilities, just gave me the boost I needed to pursue my dream of an even more understanding world where the gifted can have their rightful recognition of the opportunities they have provided the world with.

Olsen: I’d say that varies greatly, probably based on a combination of personality and what your situation is. Some are “nerds” (I use that as a positive word), being able to focus on areas they’re interested in, whereas others need encouragement.

Jacobsen: Mensa International was founded after the catastrophes of WWII. Why?

Haereid: Because of the cruelties; someone wanted to gather the most intelligent minds on the globe to solve war-related problems, included racism, fascism, fundamentalism…

Some thought that solving peace-war-related problems should be addressed to the intellectual, cognitive side of humans and not the emotional one.

Jørgensen: Mensa International was started by the following merits of acting as a conflict prevention measure, with the clear intention of avoiding futher worldwide conflict, which had almost managed to overthrow the pillars of the structural world community during the second world war. The idea was that these highly intellectual member staff would then act as advisory reference contacts for the leading authorities of the English state at that time, thus inspired by its own core value with reference to the basis for the foundation of Mensa International.

Olsen: I guess most of you have heard the story about how Roland Berrill and Lancelot Ware met on a train, and during a conversation they decided they should start a “high IQ club”, a think-tank meant to give advice to governments and ensuring that we’ll not have a WWIII. Now, I can’t guarantee that the story is accurate. We do seem to be doing fine at preventing WWIII though, since it hasn’t happened yet 🙂

Jacobsen: How has this motivation for its existence changed over time?

Haereid: It seems that it focuses on the social club aspect, i.e. making very intelligent people feel at home somewhere, and finding the right tools to measure intelligence. MI claims “to identify and foster human intelligence for the benefit of humanity”, as it is written in one of their three stated purposes today. But what, how, when, and where?

I think there is a lot of potential inside Mensa, but that the connection with the general population is slim. You have to be heard. You have to connect to the real world. And you have to understand what is important and possible to do something with, and not. As very intelligent you should know that moving mountains is a question of time and methods, and not if it’s possible or not.

It’s a difficult task, because some parts of science have decided that humans are absolute and unchangeable evil or brutal and that it’s impossible to do something with our aggressive sides. If you choose to believe in that, you are an idiot if you use your time to promote peace. Then you focus on meeting peers in a social environment, drink your coffee and beer, watch the sunrise and sunset and cross your fingers for the best.

It seems that there are some issues that humans won’t touch, and one of them is human aggression. It’s within the “war and love”-realm; outside any law. Maybe this is the case, that even the smartest men and women on the planet can’t deal with these issues. It’s easier to play board games and brag about your IQ.

As long as “being someone” and “creating a safe environment” apparently are opposites, it seems impossible to avoid wars and severe conflicts. The day we internalize that the value of sharing is higher than not sharing, we will evolve beyond the limit of pathologic egoism. To reach this level, we have to experience it as more valuable; we have to trust in it. We can’t remove “What’s in it for me?”, but we can hopefully make “What’s in it for me?” compatible with everyone else’s.

Jørgensen: This question is best answered by Erik and Eivind, who are both active members themselves of Mensa Norway. What I have as a non-member of Mensa Norway is then best replied solely based on what is written on the official Mensa Norway’s homepage, where the following fact is pointed out about the possibility of active gatherings where one can share thoughts and ideas, also where events with subsequent excursions are possible to do as a type of «social happening».

So to the point of «motivation for its existence», the possibility of an ideological continuation of the lifelong origin, then the undersigned is believed based on the facts that emerge, hereby stated as a clear reply of no for me, by reasons as to the fundamental basic principle of renouncing its ordinary proclamation in its entirety. Transferable into allowed the organization to be guided on a siding by referred social events, thus subsequently not stick to the program’s origins, has by that allowed itself to fallen away as to both origin and credibility.

Olsen: I wasn’t even born in 1946, and I didn’t become a member until almost 70 years later, so my understanding here could be wrong. Due to our apolitical stance, we’re not meddling in politics. I do have the impression that the topic of gifted children has gained more focus in the last few decades.

Jacobsen: Liljeqvist aims to have Mensa International evolve, as he has claimed, into something more than a social club with proclaimed successes in this manner. How has this vision expanded to Mensa Norway? How has this, if at all, expanded into the high-range communities too – or originated independently in the high-range environments too?

Haereid: I like to read that there is a vision, and hope the leaders both in Mensa International and Norway will take their responsibility to the next level. The opportunities are there, for sure. And it’s is the leader’s job to motivate, establish goals and find ways to achieve them.

Jørgensen: Based on its most fundamental function regards to evolving intentionality with the desire for optimal growth through the means of uniformity, the implicative has not been «optimal» within the incorporative societies. Here it has only achieved its validity to influence for the purpose of measuring the basic intentions by and for its inadvertence due to its past to present result only. As to the future, only time will tell if this will be any successful path or not to follow.

Olsen: For some of our members we’ll always primarily be a social club, but we do remind our members that we also have goals that are for the benefit of society. We have a “gifted children program”, where we try to improve the knowledge about gifted children/youth. We have an annual award where we give acknowledgment to a person or organization that has done something good related to our external goals. And we’re in the process of setting up a research foundation, intended to provide funding for projects related to intelligence.

Jacobsen: Mensa International is enormous comprising more than enough members to perform plural functions based on international status and operational capacities, as well as unprecedented and by far unmatched membership size. What can be these serious and more fun outgrowths of Mensa Norway now, and the high-range communities for that matter?

Haereid: The potential is huge, and people have to be led. Intelligent ones too. If you have an army you have the basics, but an army can make both peace and war. Humans can manage to do the very best and most intelligent kind of good work and can destroy what seems undestroyable. We are strange creatures. We have to understand who we are and how we are built to build the society that we need and want and that is fruitful for everyone.

I think that if you can gather the brightest minds into one task, establishing the optimal motivation, gaining the right harmonic effect from every individual, it’s barely no limit. One way is to view humans as leaders of nature; we can choose if we want to be egocentric leaders amplifying our own value by exploiting nature and see other species as inferior to us, or we can be modern leaders that take responsibility for our “employees”; being aware of that the leaders job is to make the employees do their best and not making them feel like slaves.

Jørgensen: My personal hope for the future is to be able to provoke a possible coexistence of these functional movements towards its current existential uniform outlook. This is understood as a universal common understanding of one’s own future-oriented search for unsolved tasks, which must be met by all the world’s foremost intellectuals in a united front by reasons alone as to preserve the unintended future outcome.

Olsen: That depends largely on our volunteers. Having a higher number of members doesn’t guarantee that you have the volunteers for a project. An example I’ve used before is related to Mensa Norway’s annual gatherings. They are mainly organized by our regional chapters, and even the smaller chapters can pull that off if they have a handful of people willing to put some time and effort into it.

I believe we can always do more regarding to gifted children/youth. And we have initiated some research-related activities; one which we hope to go public with very soon, and one which is in the earlier stages of planning.

As for the social aspect, we try to increase the membership numbers overall, but also put an effort into having tests done in locations where we want to help build a critical mass. Even though many activities and social interactions can be done online, it’s not a complete substitute for having members nearby. An online dinner or pub crawl just isn’t the same as meeting local members face to face.

Appendix I: Footnotes

[1] Erik Haereid has been a member of Mensa since 2013, and is among the top scorers on several of the most credible IQ-tests in the unstandardized HRT-environment. He is listed in the World Genius Directory. He is also a member of several other high IQ Societies.

Erik, born in 1963, grew up in Oslo, Norway, in a middle class home at Grefsen nearby the forest, and started early running and cross country skiing. After finishing schools he studied mathematics, statistics and actuarial science at the University of Oslo. One of his first glimpses of math-skills appeared after he got a perfect score as the only student on a five hour math exam in high school.

He did his military duty in His Majesty The King’s Guard (Drilltroppen)).

Impatient as he is, he couldn’t sit still and only studying, so among many things he worked as a freelance journalist in a small news agency. In that period, he did some environmental volunteerism with Norges Naturvernforbund (Norwegian Society for the Conservation of Nature), where he was an activist, freelance journalist and arranged ‘Sykkeldagen i Oslo’ twice (1989 and 1990) as well as environmental issues lectures. He also wrote some crime short stories in A-Magasinet (Aftenposten (one of the main newspapers in Norway), the same paper where he earned his runner up (second place) in a nationwide writing contest in 1985. He also wrote several articles in different newspapers, magazines and so on in the 1980s and early 1990s.

He earned an M.Sc. degree in Statistics and Actuarial Sciences in 1991, and worked as an actuary novice/actuary from 1987 to 1995 in several Norwegian Insurance companies. He was the Academic Director (1998-2000) of insurance at the BI Norwegian Business School (1998-2000), Manager (1997-1998) of business insurance, life insurance, and pensions and formerly Actuary (1996-1997) at Nordea in Oslo Area, Norway, a self-employed Actuary Consultant (1996-1997), an Insurance Broker (1995-1996) at Assurance Centeret, Actuary (1991-1995) at Alfa Livsforsikring, novice Actuary (1987-1990) at UNI Forsikring.

In 1989 he worked in a project in Dallas with a Texas computer company for a month incorporating a Norwegian pension product into a data system. Erik is specialized in life insurance and pensions, both private and business insurances. From 1991 to 1995 he was a main part of developing new life insurance saving products adapted to bank business (Sparebanken NOR), and he developed the mathematics behind the premiums and premium reserves.

He has industry experience in accounting, insurance, and insurance as a broker. He writes in his IQ-blog the online newspaper Nettavisen. He has personal interests among other things in history, philosophy and social psychology.

In 1995, he moved to Aalborg in Denmark because of a Danish girl he met. He worked as an insurance broker for one year, and took advantage of this experience later when he developed his own consultant company.

In Aalborg, he taught himself some programming (Visual Basic), and developed an insurance calculation software program which he sold to a Norwegian Insurance Company. After moving to Oslo with his girlfriend, he was hired as consultant by the same company to a project that lasted one year.

After this, he became the Manager of business insurance in the insurance company Norske Liv. At that time he had developed and nurtured his idea of establishing an actuarial consulting company, and he did this after some years on a full-time basis with his actuarial colleague. In the beginning, the company was small. He had to gain money, and worked for almost two years as an Academic Director of insurance at the BI Norwegian Business School.

Then the consultant company started to grow, and he quitted BI and used his full time in NIA (Nordic Insurance Administration). This was in 1998/99, and he has been there since.

NIA provides actuarial consulting services within the pension and life insurance area, especially towards the business market. They was one of the leading actuarial consulting companies in Norway through many years when Defined Benefit Pension Plans were on its peak and companies needed evaluations and calculations concerning their pension schemes and accountings. With the less complex, and cheaper, Defined Contribution Pension Plans entering Norway the last 10-15 years, the need of actuaries is less concerning business pension schemes.

Erik’s book from 2011, Benektelse og Verdighet, contains some thoughts about our superficial, often discriminating societies, where the virtue seems to be egocentrism without thoughts about the whole. Empathy is lacking, and existential division into “us” and “them” is a mental challenge with major consequences. One of the obstacles is when people with power – mind, scientific, money, political, popularity – defend this kind of mind as “necessary” and “survival of the fittest” without understanding that such thoughts make the democracies much more volatile and threatened. When people do not understand the genesis of extreme violence like school killings, suicide or sociopathy, asking “how can this happen?” repeatedly, one can wonder how smart man really is. The responsibility is not limited to let’s say the parents. The responsibility is everyone’s. The day we can survive, mentally, being honest about our lives and existence, we will take huge leaps into the future of mankind.

[2] Eivind Olsen is the current chair of Mensa Norway. He has scored “135 or higher” (SD15) on the test used by Mensa Norway. He has also previously been tested with WISC-R and Raven’s. He recently took the MOCA test and aced it. When he’s not busy herding cats, he works in IT. He sometimes spends time with family and friends.

Eivind Olsen is a member of Mensa Norway since 2014, having filled various roles since then (chair of Mensa Bergen regional group, national test coordinator, deputy board member, and now chair).

He was born in Bergen, Norway, in 1976, but has lived in a few other places in Norway, including military service in the far north of the country.

Since he got bored at school and didn’t have any real idea what he wanted to do, he took vocational school where he studied electronics repair. He has worked in a different field ever since (IT operations).

He is currently residing in Bergen, Norway, with his significant other, 2+2 offspring, 2 cats and a turtle.

[3] Tor Arne Jørgensen is a member of 50+ high IQ societies, including World Genius Directory, NOUS High IQ Society, 6N High IQ Society just to name a few. He has several IQ scores above 160+ sd15 among high range tests like Gift/Gene Verbal, Gift/Gene Numerical of Iakovos Koukas and Lexiq of Soulios.

Tor Arne was also in 2019, nominated for the World Genius Directory 2019 Genius of the Year – Europe. He is the only Norwegian to ever have achieved this honor. He has also been a contributor to the Genius Journal Logicon, in addition to being the creater of toriqtests.com, where he is the designer of now eleven HR-tests of both verbal/numerical varient.

His further interests are related to intelligence, creativity, education developing regarding gifted students. Tor Arne has an bachelor`s degree in history and a degree in Practical education, he works as a teacher within the following subjects: History, Religion, and Social Studies.

[4] Individual Publication Date: December 15, 2020: http://www.in-sightjournal.com/norway-2; Full Issue Publication Date: January 1, 2021: https://in-sightjournal.com/insight-issues/.

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2023-03-24

Free of Charge 5 – “Humanist Manifesto III,” Humanism, Humaneness, and Meaning

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

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

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2020/12/08

Abstract

Dr. Herb Silverman is the Founder of the Secular Coalition for America, the Founder of the Secular Humanists of the Lowcountry, and the Founder of the Atheist/Humanist Alliance student group at the College of Charleston. He authored Complex variables (1975), Candidate Without a Prayer: An Autobiography of a Jewish Atheist in the Bible Belt (2012) and An Atheist Stranger in a Strange Religious Land: Selected Writings from the Bible Belt (2017). He co-authored The Fundamentals of Extremism: The Christian Right in America (2003) with Kimberley Blaker and Edward S. Buckner, Complex Variables with Applications (2007) with Saminathan Ponnusamy, and Short Reflections on Secularism (2019), Short Reflections on American Secularism’s History and Philosophy (2020), and Short Reflections on Age and Youth (2020). He discusses: Humanist Manifesto III; a “progressive philosophy of life”; negating consideration of the supernatural; the core principles of Humanism; “consensus of what we do believe” as part of the orientation of the document; a “critical intelligence”; “nature as self-existing”; limiting human ethics to human experience; and our life is “ours and ours alone.”

Keywords: Herb Silverman, Free of Charge, freethought, Humanism, Humanist Manifesto III.

Free of Charge 5 – “Humanist Manifesto III,” Humanism, Humaneness, and Meaning

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

Scott Douglas Jacobsen: Humanist Manifesto III (2003) provided a succinct manifestation of modern Humanism. In turn, this both represents a more well-understood philosophical stance and a more concise statement as to the core of the concept “Humanism.” In this interview, I want to cover some of the modern conceptualizations of modern Humanism, as an evolution from 1933 to 2003. What was the inspiration for this updated document?

Dr. Herb Silverman[1],[2]: The updated third document was expected, as was the updated second document, without knowing in advance what dates they would come. The first Manifesto was written in 1933, the second in 1973, and the third in 2003. Similarly, the founders who wrote the US Constitution understood that their document was not perfect and allowed for future amendments. As we learn more about the world and best practices for humans, we update manifestos. After all, these manifestos are written on paper by humans, not written on stone tablets by an alleged deity. There undoubtedly will be a fourth manifesto, but I can’t say when.

Jacobsen: What does “without supernaturalism” mean in the context of a “progressive philosophy of life”?

Silverman: “Without supernaturalism” means no belief in any gods. It also includes no belief in reincarnation or magic crystals, not fearing black cats crossing your path or dread of Friday the 13^th or the number 666. A rabbit’s foot or knocking on wood does not bring good luck. In other words, no superstitious beliefs of any kind. So we need a philosophy of life without superstition. One can have such a philosophy without being a progressive, but the humanist philosophy incorporates progressivism. It is based on the idea of progress, incorporating advances in science and technology, and advocating for social reforms and social organizations, all vital to improve the human condition.

Jacobsen: How does negating consideration of the supernatural change thinking about “our ability and responsibility to lead ethical lives of personal fulfillment that aspire to the greater good of humanity”?

Silverman: Most people want to lead ethical lives, but folks disagree about how best to do it. Some rely on so-called “holy” books written during the Bronze Age by scientifically ignorant men. Their ideas of ethics might include discriminating against gays, beating disobedient children, not allowing women to have responsible positions, punishing blasphemers and heretics, and advocating for holy wars to capture land promised by “God.” Being free of the supernatural, we can use available evidence to help decide what actions might be for the greater good of humanity.

Jacobsen: Why are the core principles of Humanism reason, compassion, and experience? Why is non-dogmatism, as in “values and ideals… subject to change as our knowledge and understandings advance,” a key distinction from most religious stances?

Silverman: As with most people, humanists appreciate the ability to reason. Part of what we want to do with our reason is learn how to help make the world a better place. This entails empathizing with others and showing compassion toward those less fortunate than ourselves. We learn from our mistakes and, hopefully, improve on how best to act. When tied to a never changing, dogmatic, religious book, principles become more difficult to change or improve.

Jacobsen: It stipulates “consensus of what we do believe” as part of the orientation of the document. How does this universality differ from the other ethics devoted to the transcendent? How does this universality still permit individual deviance of expression?

Silverman: Humanists are not all required to believe the same thing, which explains individual deviance of expression. However, there does seems to be a consensus about certain things that most humanists agree on. They include these beliefs: Knowledge of the world is derived by observation, experimentation, and rational analysis; humans are an integral part of nature, the result of unguided evolutionary change; ethical values are derived from human need and interest as tested by experience; working to benefit society maximizes individual happiness.

“Transcendent” usually refers to religion, where a transcendent god has powers independent of the material universe and outside of nature. Some people feel they have experienced transcendence by overcoming the limitations of physical existence through things like prayer, meditation, psychedelics, and paranormal visions. Such transcendent experiences, which can’t be measured, do bring some comfort to many people.

Jacobsen: Why is science “the best method for determining this knowledge as well as for solving problems and developing beneficial technologies”? What is a “critical intelligence” in this sense? How does freedom of thought work better, or more freely rather, in this humanistic framework?

Silverman: Science is empirical, meaning based on observations of nature, and it is potentially falsifiable by new observations of nature. In other words, new evidence can lead us to revise scientific theories. We know how to distinguish good scientific ideas from bad ones. Science relies on experimentation, testing, and skepticism. It thrives on disagreement and on a willingness to question assumptions critically, while we search for evidence until a consensus is reached. That’s why scientific truths are the same in Pakistan, the United States, Israel, or India, though their citizens may have very different religious beliefs. And scientists will change their views when the evidence warrants. To me, critical intelligence means we should carefully and critically examine our reasoning and our conclusions to eliminate errors. We should be free to pose any questions, regardless of how counter they are to what others might think, and then try to provide answers based on evidence.

Jacobsen: Why do humanists posit “nature as self-existing” rather than existing contingent on some transcendent object or metaphysical being?

Silverman: There is absolutely no evidence for a transcendent object or metaphysical being, and we have a pretty good understanding of nature through Darwin’s theory of evolution. We know how nature can exist without the need of a transcendent object or metaphysical being

Jacobsen: How does limiting human ethics to human experience help simplify and clarify a humane ethic in Humanism? Why are “peace, justice, and opportunity for all,” more attainable by this methodology, of ethics, than their transcendentalist counterparts? Does this include an opportunity for all to speak their mind or write down their thoughts?

Silverman: Basing human ethics on what we know from experience, rather than on what we don’t know, certainly makes more sense. Applying certain transcendent or religious precepts to everyone is too limiting, since we have no objective way to test if we have the one “true” religion. We learn through human experience and the efforts of thoughtful people throughout history how to work toward the ideals we hope to achieve. We also know that some of our values might change as our knowledge and understandings advance.

Jacobsen: Ultimately, why does this mean our life is “ours and ours alone,” our mind’s ability for freethought of thought?

Silverman: No one else, certainly no transcendent being, is responsible for our life. We must take personal responsibility for how we live, not give credit to an imagined deity for our good fortune or blame satanic forces when we behave poorly. We are free to think about whatever comes into our mind, but we are not necessarily free to act out all our thoughts. We can choose our actions as long as they don’t infringe on the freedoms of others. As the saying goes, your freedom to swing your fist ends at my nose.

Jacobsen: Thank you for the opportunity and your time, Dr. Silverman.

Silverman: Thank you.

Appendix I: Footnotes

[1] Founder, Secular Coalition for America;Founder, Secular Humanists of the Low Country; Founder, Atheist/Humanist Alliance, College of Charleston.

[2] Individual Publication Date: December 8, 2020: http://www.in-sightjournal.com/free-of-charge-5; Full Issue Publication Date: January 1, 2021: https://in-sightjournal.com/insight-issues/.

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2023-03-24

Conversation with Anthony Sepulveda (Brown) on Liam Millikan and Lessons: Member, World Genius Directory (7)

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

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

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2020/12/08

Abstract

Anthony Sepulveda scored 174 (S.D.15) on Cosmic and is a member of the World Genius Directory. He discusses: a recent controversy in the high-IQ communities; some of the interesting presentations; Liam Millikan; why he left; his reputation; the “encounter”; the scores earned by him; his reputation now; a “traitor”; forgotten; his reasoning for doing this; other possible coinciding reasons for his disillusionment with the community; this isn’t a fake name and profile of another person; stealing of problems and passing off as their own; the modifications; the immediate community; the communities’ tests; compromised tests; Ivec, Predavec, Dorsey, or the fourth test creator; roughly even split; the fallout; “kicked” out of the community; the merits of his “work”; the lessons to be learned; the reasoning provided by Millikan, and the interpretations of the high-IQ communities; were they “not unjustified”; the possible “interesting places”; the potential for exploration; places to read more about this; the silence; and contact with Millikan.

Keywords: Anthony Sepulveda, intelligence, IQ, lessons, Liam Millikan, World Genius Directory.

Conversation with Anthony Sepulveda (Brown) on Liam Millikan and Lessons: Member, World Genius Directory (7)

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

Scott Douglas Jacobsen: So, let’s talk about a recent controversy in the high-IQ communities, such as they disparately are, what is the overview of the Liam Millikan case, which was brought to personal attention by you?

Anthony Sepulveda (Brown)[1],[2]*: He created a social media page called High Range Tests Exposed, openly shared the answers to several tests he’d taken and how he arrived at those answers.

Jacobsen: What were some of the interesting presentations from the page?

Sepulveda (Brown): I was struck by which tests and problems he chose to focus on and why. He seemed intent on exposing only problems that were flawed or stolen.

Jacobsen: Who is Liam Millikan?

Sepulveda (Brown): A former member of the High IQ Community.

Jacobsen: Why did he leave?

Sepulveda (Brown): He was removed for unethical behavior.

Jacobsen: What was his reputation prior to this incident or series of incidences?

Sepulveda (Brown): I encountered him on social media, but I never saw anything noteworthy enough to remember anything about him. Aside from that, I can’t say much. From his posts and the scores he received on the tests he took, he’s clearly an intelligent, insightful individual that cares more about objective truth than subjective opinions.

Jacobsen: What was the “encounter”?

Sepulveda (Brown): He and I had several mutual contacts from within the community and I used to be interested in including such people in my virtual social circle. Sadly, we didn’t interact much at all and I didn’t remember I had a way to contact him until after his account was deleted.

Jacobsen: What were the scores earned by him?

Sepulveda (Brown): Many of the test answers he shared are believed to correlate to an IQ in the upper 170’s.

Jacobsen: What is his reputation now?

Sepulveda (Brown): By many, if not most community members he’s considered a traitor best forgotten.

Jacobsen: Why a “traitor”?

Sepulveda (Brown): He betrayed the trust of the community. The only difference between those who are and are not members is the ability to arrive at answers to difficult questions on your own. If people were to cheat their way in, then membership would completely pointless.

Jacobsen: Why “best forgotten”?

Sepulveda (Brown): Just a personal assumption based on how little I’ve heard of the incident since.

Jacobsen: What was his reasoning for doing this?

Sepulveda: (Brown): It seems that he’d become disillusioned of the community. In his posts, he’d share either the answers he’d submitted on a specific test and the resulting score from them or he’d focus on one specific problem and reveal its flaws. On several occasions, he provided evidence that certain problems had been stolen from earlier tests and slightly modified by other test designers.

Jacobsen: What are other possible coinciding reasons for his disillusionment with the community?

Sepulveda (Brown): I imagine he went through a similar process that I went through when I first joined Mensa. Initially, I was very excited to meet verified peers that I could have interesting conversations with. When I arrived to the hall hosting our next monthly meeting, I was disappointed to find that I was the youngest person there by roughly 20 years and the conversations were mostly limited to people arguing and quoting famous intellectuals.

Jacobsen: How do we know this isn’t a fake name and profile of another person?

Sepulveda (Brown): If you’re interested in submitting answers to an HRT, you have to definitely prove your identity by providing photos of yourself, your passport and ID. It seems pretty unlikely that he’d forge such documents to join a High IQ Society, but I suppose it’s not impossible.

Sidenote – he did use an alias on the HRT’s Exposed page called Kana Kana.

Jacobsen: What does this stealing of problems and passing off as their own mean for test designers in the independent psychometrician community?

Sepulveda (Brown): I wish it was frowned upon more than it is, but with a certain amount of modification it’s almost impossible to be certain of any wrongdoing.

Jacobsen: How were these modified, generally speaking?

Sepulveda (Brown): The examples he provided were spatial problems stolen from Robert Lato. In these cases, one could simply alter any superfluous parts of the design to create something that looks unique.

Jacobsen: What was the immediate community reaction?

Sepulveda (Brown): I was initially notified of the issue by Jason Betts, who was frantically trying to get enough people to report the High Range Tests Exposed page and have it pulled from social media. Most went through with his request immediately. But I was curious and decided to join the page and got to look at his work for a few minutes before everything was deleted.

Jacobsen: What is the result on the communities’ tests that were compromised or the test constructors who had tests compromised?

Sepulveda (Brown): It doesn’t seem like anything has changed since then.

Jacobsen: What tests did he compromise?

Sepulveda (Brown): 12 tests total (sadly, I don’t remember all of them) designed by James Dorsey, Ivan Ivec, Mislav Predavec and, I believe, one other who I’m not familiar with.

Jacobsen: Any commentary from Ivec, Predavec, Dorsey, or the fourth?

Sepulveda (Brown): Only intense anger at Liam for compromising their work and at me for respecting his decision.

Jacobsen: Was it 3 per person or unequally split?

Sepulveda (Brown): It was nearly equal.

Jacobsen: What has been the fallout or reaction as the dust has settled?

Sepulveda (Brown): Not much, surprisingly. Now that the answers have been deleted, it seems that the test designers have elected to keep the tests as they were, Liam was kicked out of the community and life seems to be proceeding as usual. Which is why I mentioned it to you. I feel that his actions were taken too personal too soon and judgment passed too swiftly. The merits of his work would have been obvious to anyone that took an impartial look at it. Which can only lead to better tests if we had learned from it.

Jacobsen: How was he “kicked” out of the community?

Sepulveda (Brown): His name was removed from most listings and he is no longer allowed admission into any group within the community or allowed to take tests from most designers.

Jacobsen: What were the merits of his “work”?

Sepulveda (Brown): Despite the rude and unethical nature with which he acted, he never said anything that I didn’t completely agree with. The community finds itself in such poor condition because a few within it are unwilling to accept criticism or consider the possibility that they’re wrong. They’ve mislead it into a place of stagnation.

Jacobsen: What do you consider the lessons to be learned?

Sepulveda (Brown): We need to be more humble and accept the fact that we all make mistakes. We can be dead certain of something and still get it all wrong.

Jacobsen: What is your own opinion on this matter and the reasoning provided by Millikan, and the interpretations of the high-IQ communities?

Sepulveda (Brown): I personally believe that, while his actions were unethical, they were not unjustified. Simply put, if the tests are flawed, then the results from them are invalid and they hold no value. If the tests are invalid, then there’s no real harm in sharing the answers. It’s a shame that no one else took the time to judge his work for themselves because we might have lead to some very interesting places.

Jacobsen: Why were they “not unjustified”?

Sepulveda (Brown): Perhaps ‘unjustified’ isn’t as good a word as inexcusable. We all make mistakes and I am no exception.

Jacobsen: What were the possible “interesting places”?

Sepulveda (Brown): One major issue I have with HRT’s is that they aren’t peer reviewed. All too often they are designed, published and scored by the same person and the overall quality of the problems varies widely because of it. If we were to honestly question and objectively examine the tests we use for admission by a dedicated group of experienced individuals, I’d be very interested to see what makes it through.

Jacobsen: Would the potential for the exploration of the possible “interesting places” outweigh the risks?

Sepulveda (Brown): Definitely.

Jacobsen: Where can others read more about this?

Sepulveda (Brown): I don’t believe they can at the moment. The community’s been quiet on the subject since while I’ve been trying to get in contact with Liam myself. But he’s deleted his social media accounts and no one’s been willing to share his contact info with me.

Jacobsen: Why the silence of wind in outer space on the matter?

Sepulveda (Brown): I don’t know. We can only grow as a community by confronting these situations directly and fairly. Perhaps it’s just too painful a process for others to pursue.

Jacobsen: Why pursue contact with Millikan?

Sepulveda (Brown): I have several questions for him. And if he’s interested, I’d like to collaborate with him.

Appendix I: Footnotes

[1] Member, World Genius Directory.

[2] Individual Publication Date: December 8, 2020: http://www.in-sightjournal.com/sepulveda-7; Full Issue Publication Date: January 1, 2021: https://in-sightjournal.com/insight-issues/.

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2023-03-24

Conversation with Bishoy Goubran, M.D. on Christianity, Intelligence Tests, Cognitive Flexibility, Personalized Medicine, Psychiatry, and Abstract Concepts: Psychiatry Resident Physician; Post-Doctoral Research Fellow, Behavioral & Cardiovascular Medicine (1)

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

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

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2020/12/08

Abstract

Bishoy Goubran, M.D. was awarded the Genius of the Year, 2018. He is a Psychiatry resident physician and an entrepreneur with a start-up project of AI-driven Monitors for mental wellness. Dr. Goubran is an active member of multiple high IQ societies. Dr. Goubran’s research emphasis is on Heart Rate Variability and Biofeedback technologies. He discusses: family background; Alexandria; Christ; the influence of mechanical engineering and electrical engineering on intellectual growth; the experience with peers and schoolmates as a child and an adolescent; academic history; introversion; the “social game” and “methods of networking”; the purpose of intelligence tests; “weaknesses”; common “major fuck ups” in intelligence; “intelligence”; a psychological construct measurable validly and reliably; different ways in which intelligence manifests itself; the “complex” “human brain” as “a labyrinth” of interweaving narratives”; the human brain, the mind; the common issues of patients; high intelligence; “high emotional regulation”; the “quest to find the formula for peace”; the range of the scores; the greatest geniuses; Sigmund Freud; Carl Jung; Nicola Tesla; Ahmed Alashwah; a genius from a profoundly intelligent person; some other ways in which to define cognitive inflexibility and cognitive flexibility; some work experiences and educational certifications; “concise personalized medicine”; the God concept or gods idea; and religion as a political instrument.

Keywords: Bishoy Goubran, cardiovascular medicine, Christianity, intelligence, IQ, psychiatry, World Genius Directory.

Conversation with Bishoy Goubran, M.D. on Christianity, Intelligence Tests, Cognitive Flexibility, Personalized Medicine, Psychiatry, and Abstract Concepts: Psychiatry Resident Physician; Post-Doctoral Research Fellow, Behavioral & Cardiovascular Medicine (1)

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

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

Bishoy Goubran, M.D.[1],[2]*: I was born to a traditional Coptic family in Alexandria, Egypt, father was a mechanical engineer, mother, electrical. Through my adolescence, I was a curious introvert —captivated by psychology, philosophy, and the human mind. I remember delving with intense passion into studying various spiritual traditions, Carl Jung, Freud, stoic philosophy, Sufism, Buddhism, and Hinduism —at daytime, and at night play soccer in the narrow alleys of Cairo.

Jacobsen: What was life like in Alexandria?

Goubran: Alexandria is a beautiful city on the Mediterranean Sea. My family moved to Cairo during my childhood. I loved Alexandria though as I have always loved the sea. I am an Aquarius. I am always nostalgic to the waters.

Jacobsen: You mentioned Coptic Christian, any thoughts on Christ, not the concept but the person?

Goubran: It is difficult to distinguish and divorce the “concept” from “the person” for Christ. I would say the tale on one level represents enlightenment, the overcoming of the older brain by higher mental functions, our consciousness evolution.

Jacobsen: How important was the influence of mechanical engineering and electrical engineering on intellectual growth for you?

Goubran: I believe It helped shape the way I think by mirroring. I am methodical in my approach. Engineer-like-thinking is precise and optimizes for efficiency – two merits that I highly value. Utilization of calculation, facts and measurements is something that I and my team highly value, which comes later to be the essence of our projects even when it comes to subtle subjectivities like mood, affects.

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

Goubran: I remember disliking many aspects of school, despite, I did well academically. I was an introvert as a child, into my adolescence I started to understand the dynamics of the social game, developed methods of networking. Still learning.

Jacobsen: How “well academically”?

Goubran: My secondary education was in a British system in an Egyptian school, came out within the highest 5 scores in Egypt, ended up joining one of the most competitive medical schools in Egypt. Through Uni I did alright but found studying medicine boring and hectic. Academics thereafter was during my post-doctoral research fellowship, where I faced another side of academia. Research and generation of knowledge.

Jacobsen: Has introversion extended from childhood into adolescent and adult professional life in spite of ‘understanding the dynamics of the social game and networking’?

Goubran: I think so, but I feel it is no longer a trait, rather a predilection. A calibrated preference. I am more inclined to have time with myself to think and read.

Jacobsen: How are you “still learning” the “social game” and “methods of networking”?

Goubran: Through a further understanding of the reward center and the limbic system. To master any social construct, in my experience, I had to first master its correlation within myself. Meaning the internal resolution of conflicts and “knowing thyself” is key. In this example, the further I understand my limbic system the further I understand the macrocosm of that which is the society, operated and governed by the same mental principles and neurotransmitter-driven-dynamics.

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

Goubran: Just like any other standardized testing, it should be primarily to identify levels and weaknesses, measurement again. The problem with fluid intelligence is that it is very subtle, you could have a weakness in one skill set that is left unnoticed, but it would impact your performance in life overall.

Psychometric tests may help identify those deficiencies, acts somewhat as an “objective” (and I use that word loosely) method to track and observe the different elements that constitute your intelligence and where your major fuck ups are.

We got to also factor in that IQ doesn’t really measure much of practical intelligence (common sense). Anyways, Standardized IQ tests are reliable and valid. Since I am in the field of psychiatry, it helps me understand the different ways intelligence presents itself. The human brain is complex, a labyrinth of interweaving narratives, through understanding the many aspects of myself, I can understand my patients way better.

Jacobsen: What kinds of “weaknesses”?

Goubran: The brain is a predictive algorithm, constantly generating predictions using available data (extrapolation, seeing patterns) and in pathological terms, these predictions if accompanied by interpretation and a “story” can create anxiety. The brain also aims to disambiguate elements of reality, to dig deeper and know the unknowns, so it can make better predictions.

The presence of prediction errors constitutes weaknesses in the way we maneuver reality. Integrating those prediction errors is a part of “learning” and understanding the patterns.

Jacobsen: What are the common “major fuck ups” in intelligence?

Goubran: Cognitive biases and prediction errors.

Jacobsen: What makes “intelligence” a proper psychological construct?

Goubran: The prefrontal cortex.

Jacobsen: What makes a psychological construct measurable validly and reliably?

Goubran: Stats, validity is how well a test measures what it purports to measure, reliability is how replicable is the results of the test, basically its consistency.

Jacobsen: As a psychiatrist, what are the different ways in which intelligence manifests itself, “presents itself”?

Goubran: Intelligence presents as novelty; misguided intelligence can lead to problems. As in, misguided budgeting of the brain resources.

Jacobsen: Why characterize the “complex” “human brain” as “a labyrinth” of interweaving narratives”?

Goubran: The brain acts as a “sense-making” routine, making sense of internal and external environments. The brain analyzes the moment, using sensory perceptions, link it with past associations, trying to predict the best action path or best response, and deciding from what level of the organism should that response start.

Memories are stories, narratives “internal storytelling” is a phenomenon of the memory and associations, memories are shaped up, seasoned and confabulations added and re-presented to the cognition, the narrator is biased. Thoughts are other versions of stories. Context is narrative.

Jacobsen: With empirical, naturalistic, and operational, comprehension of the human central nervous system and the social environment in which the human organism remains embedded inextricably, what happens to supernaturalistic or metaphysical claims about the human brain, the mind, even the human psyche?

Goubran: Those claims persist. Depends on one’s ontological model and how they build up components of their symbolic reality.

Jacobsen: What are the common issues of patients coming to you – before the COVID-19 pandemic and after it?

Goubran: Mental illnesses are triggered and/or worsened by stressors, COVID obviously represented an added stressor to large numbers of people around the globe. It also has disrupted many of the coping mechanisms, such as Gym, socialization etc.

We saw a spike in depression, anxiety, and exacerbation of other mental illnesses. Partially due to disruption of the clinic routines, AA meetings, group therapies etc. We also saw that other factors hammered the resilience factors of parents, such as online schooling. It is complex because the causative factors are multiple. We don’t know much. We now use way more tele-psych than we used to which comes with its pros and cons. We don’t know how this huge mass trauma would affect the dynamics of psychiatry on the long run.

Jacobsen: When was high intelligence discovered for you?

Goubran: I really do not know how to answer this question. I feel that when I started to introspect and metacognize that’s when I felt that form of self-efficacy. But I’ve always felt that there is a more refined, concentrated form of intelligence that is very difficult to measure. I maintain, that if intelligence does not include simplicity, wisdom, and high emotional regulation then it’s immensely lacking, I am still on a quest to find the formula for ultimate peace. Now every value is a spectrum of course so peace is many levels.

Jacobsen: What characterizes “high emotional regulation”?

Goubran: Knowing oneself. Expanding the Self-Concept.

Jacobsen: What sits behind the “quest to find the formula for peace”?

Goubran: Difficulty reconciling internal paradoxes whilst having the insight to see them. Partial Awakening is a curse, complete awakening is the death of the self, as in, using another neural network in the brain.

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.

Goubran: 150s – 160s.

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

Goubran: Freud, Carl Jung, Nicolas Tesla, Ahmed Alashwah.

Jacobsen: To dig deeper, what makes Sigmund Freud a great genius?

Goubran: His confidence and courage.

Jacobsen: What makes Carl Jung a great genius?

Goubran: His introspection.

Jacobsen: What makes Nicola Tesla a great genius?

Goubran: His individuality, creativity, selflessness.

Jacobsen: Who is Ahmed Alashwah, why do you consider him a genius?

Goubran: Firstly, I wanted to say that I added a living person deliberately to break in through the dogma that “great” geniuses are “historical” and assigned that “label” posthumously and must be “famous”. Ahmed is a novel thinker, a philosopher, and an entrepreneur. He lectures in Stanford University on Meditation and Technology. In my opinion, and many of those who know him, he is a living genius that I believe the world would benefit a lot from understanding his story and experience. He spent ten years in meditation and introspection and emerged with a wealth of knowledge about the human mind, psyche, and consciousness. I believe that the amount of years spent in deep radical introspection gave him unmatched insights into the machinations of the human mind.

He had a tremendous impact on my life. I am fortunate that we are now collaborators in many projects. He is the inspiration behind our projects of technology augmented meditation and the current AI project.

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

Goubran: I would like to make a distinction that in my view, a genius is not a “person”. It is not an intrinsic attribute. I believe it is a potential, a state, a skill. It is a skill that depends on training the neural correlate we employ to tackle an endeavor or problem solve. Known geniuses are the ones able, despite distractions, to sustain that state. They are ones driven by purpose, enthusiasm, and unrelenting passion.

Genius is achievable under certain circumstances of higher neural connectivity, hence inspiration. Therefore, I have moments of genius (creativity/flexibility) and have moments of cognitive inflexibility (my definition of Stupidity), it is whenever I take my truths too seriously I become inflexible and thus unable to exit the fabric of reality. When it comes to intelligence quotient, it is vastly genetic, but many of its aspects and skills are trainable.

Jacobsen: What are some other ways in which to define cognitive inflexibility and cognitive flexibility?

Goubran: Cognitive flexibility is the ability to jump between cognitive distances with malleability. While inflexibility broadly speaking is, the “rigidity” of thoughts. How many perspectives one can see of the same situation? Can I look into a problem and see the opportunity? Can I look into my autobiographical memories and see the narrative from another angle? Can I change how I feel about past events? Can I see memories as just one version of the truth? Can I let go of my convictions for the sake of a more nuanced and refined truth?

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

Goubran: I am an MD, doing my residency training in Psychiatry, also a post-Doc Research Fellow in Behavioral and Cardiovascular medicine. My ambition, and purpose are to change how psychiatry operates, new forms of therapy and more merging with neuroscience is the way of the future in a form of concise personalized medicine.

Jacobsen: What is “concise personalized medicine”?

Goubran: I am working with a team on a personalized artificial intelligence-based algorithm with biosensors, an intelligent agent that would help navigate decisions for us, humans, decreasing errors, increasing productivity, and optimizing for efficiency.

The future of psychiatry is in real-time data acquisition and non-invasive diagnostics with interventions happening at a much earlier stage than what happens now. The diagnostic process factoring in much more than history and labs. I see huge potential for brain-machine interfaces. Our team is taking a lead on that and our starting project is building the bio-sensors personalized artificially intelligent-agent, towards optimizing mental, physical, emotional health, and human performance. Fewer errors, Better investments, better decisions, and thus a better life.

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

Goubran: That’s a huge topic, Mr. Jacobsen, would take us quite a while. For the purpose of this interview, I choose not to speculate over abstract concepts.

Jacobsen: In the presentation of “speculate over abstract concepts,” and as abstract can mean “not having a physical or concrete existence” and only “existing in thought,” and as concept(s) can mean “something conceived in the mind,” or simply a “thought” or a “notion,” this may imply the mere in-mindness of the gods or God without true actuality. To move past this, any thoughts on religion as a political instrument?

Goubran: It can be used as an effective political instrument, whether on a macro-social level or within an individual relationship with himself, the internal psychological politics, which have tons of conflicting parties.

Knowing those internal subpersonalities, listening to them, those inner parts of us that were never listened to, or given a chance to talk. The suppressed, the repressed. It’s in personal opinion healthy to have an internal democracy governed by a clear “constitution”, the constitution in that sense is one’s values clearly articulated.

Appendix I: Footnotes

[1] Member, World Genius Directory; Psychiatry Resident Physician.

[2] Individual Publication Date: December 8, 2020: http://www.in-sightjournal.com/Goubran-1; Full Issue Publication Date: January 1, 2021: https://in-sightjournal.com/insight-issues/.

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2023-03-24

Brief Remarks on Cypriot Identity with Marios Prodromou: Member, World Genius Directory (2)

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

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

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2020/12/08

Abstract

Marios Sophia Prodromou is a member of the World Genius Directory. He discusses: Cypriot identity; the Turks; the Greeks; intercommunal violence; the origin of Cypriot self-consciousness; Greek-Cypriots are Christian; British-Cypriots; district differences; and the core philosophy.

Keywords: Cypriot, Cyprus, Marios Prodromou, World Genius Directory.

Brief Remarks on Cypriot Identity with Marios Prodromou: Member, World Genius Directory (2)

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

Scott Douglas Jacobsen: What is Cypriot identity?

Marios Prodromou[1],[2]*: There are Greek-Cypriots and Turkish-Cypriots. Duality exists among Cypriot identity.

Jacobsen: How is Cypriot identity seen to the Turks?

Prodromou: They call themselves Turkish-Cypriots and have the same rights as Greek-Cypriots.

Jacobsen: How is Cypriot identity seen to the Greeks?

Prodromou: Same as above.

Jacobsen: How has intercommunal violence played out in terms of self-identity of Cypriots?

Prodromou: The past has left a lot of scars on both communities.

Jacobsen: What is the origin of Cypriot self-consciousness outside of, if not parallel with, the nation-state?

Prodromou: If you are born in a Greek family you receive an ID card as a Greek-Cypriot. If you are born in a Turkish family your ID card would say Turkish-Cypriot. Both categories have the same rights and you can get a Cyprus Passport and travel freely in the EU

Jacobsen: How is Christian identity tied to Cypriot identity?

Prodromou: Nearly all Greek-Cypriots are Christian

Jacobsen: How does this play out in practical terms for the well-off and the poor alike with Cypriot heritage?

Prodromou: The church wins.

Jacobsen: Are there many remnants of British identity leftover in Cypriot identity?

Prodromou: We have a third class of British-Cypriots. Most of them get a Cyprus ID card but keep their British Passport. I fall into this category.

Jacobsen: For Famagusta, Kyrenia, Lamaca, Limassol, NIcosia, and Paphos, are there district differences in ways in which the Cypriot self-identity expresses itself in social and cultural life? If so, how? If not, why not?

Prodromou: No. Cyprus is a population of less than a million. 90 mins drive from one side of the island to another. People mix with one another every day.

Jacobsen: What is the core philosophy inherent in the identity of a Cypriot?

Prodromou: The love for Cyprus. An island with a lot of history. The island of love and of Aphrodite and Dionysos.

Jacobsen: Thank you for the opportunity and your time, Marios.

Prodromou: Thank you too, Scott, it’s been a real pleasure.

Appendix I: Footnotes

[1] Member, World Genius Directory.

[2] Individual Publication Date: December 8, 2020: http://www.in-sightjournal.com/prodromou-2; Full Issue Publication Date: January 1, 2021: https://in-sightjournal.com/insight-issues/.

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2023-03-24

Conversation with Richard May (“May-Tzu”/”MayTzu”/”Mayzi”) on Physics, Metaphysics, Scale, Limit, Anthropomorphic Gods, and Limitless Gods: Co-Editor, “Noesis: The Journal of the Mega Society” (4)

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

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

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2020/12/01

Abstract

Richard May (“May-Tzu”/“MayTzu”/“Mayzi”) is a Member of the Mega Society based on a qualifying score on the Mega Test (before 1995) prior to the compromise of the Mega Test and Co-Editor of Noesis: The Journal of the Mega Society. In self-description, May states: “Not even forgotten in the cosmic microwave background (CMB), I’m an Amish yuppie, born near the rarified regions of Laputa, then and often, above suburban Boston. I’ve done occasional consulting and frequent Sisyphean shlepping. Kafka and Munch have been my therapists and allies. Occasionally I’ve strived to descend from the mists to attain the mythic orientation known as having one’s feet upon the Earth. An ailurophile and a cerebrotonic ectomorph, I write for beings which do not, and never will, exist — writings for no one. I’ve been awarded an M.A. degree, mirabile dictu, in the humanities/philosophy, and U.S. patent for a board game of possible interest to extraterrestrials. I’m a member of the Mega Society, the Omega Society and formerly of Mensa. I’m the founder of the Exa Society, the transfinite Aleph-3 Society and of the renowned Laputans Manqué. I’m a biographee in Who’s Who in the Brane World. My interests include the realization of the idea of humans as incomplete beings with the capacity to complete their own evolution by effecting a change in their being and consciousness. In a moment of presence to myself in inner silence, when I see Richard May’s non-being, ‘I’ am. You can meet me if you go to an empty room.” Some other resources include Stains Upon the Silence: something for no one, McGinnis Genealogy of Crown Point, New York: Hiram Porter McGinnis, Swines List, Solipsist Soliloquies, Board Game, Lulu blog, Memoir of a Non-Irish Non-Jew, and May-Tzu’s posterous. He discusses: “Vista”; the resentment of the gnawing of fellows nearby in mutual, individuated contemplation of their “own sublimity”; “A Belated Discovery,”; death; “Valentines Moment”; a sort of drama play by photons; “Dr. Capgras Before Mirrors’; emulation; physics and metaphysics; “Wedding Solstice”; any biological children or adoptive children; “Taoless Tao”; synesthesia; “The Holy Land”; “The Near Shall Be Far and the Far Near”; “Seeing dead people”; the loss of loved ones and coming to terms with mortality; “On Our Increased Longevity”; “The Offensiveness of the Universe”; “Going to Temple”; Mrs. Non; “nirguna brahman,” “the alayavijnana,” or “Neti neti! (neither this nor that”) and Tat tvam asi (“That art thou”) of the Chandogya Upanishad”; Ramachandran on split-brain patients; Mrs. Non’s right brain; “Endless Error”; “Will man create God?”; “Is Physics Becoming Art at the Limits of Scale?”; “Physical Laws as Sampling Error”; Where will the universe be when the paradigm shifts?”; our “little truths” a “receding horizon”; an imaginably godlike entity; “Multiverse Is That It Is”; “spirit or spiritual,” non-physical, realities come from “the world of phenomena” or physical realities; these being united; apparent unicity; a-temporal multiversal God neither “infinitely old” nor “beyond or outside space-time”; “panpsychism”; and “everyone develop his own intuition regarding the nature of reality.”

Keywords: God, Mega Society, metaphysics, multiverse, physics, Richard May, synesthesia, Tao.

Conversation with Richard May (“May-Tzu”/”MayTzu”/”Mayzi”) on Physics, Metaphysics, Scale, Limit, Anthropomorphic Gods, and Limitless Gods: Co-Editor, “Noesis: The Journal of the Mega Society” (4)

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

Scott Douglas Jacobsen: In “Vista,” you mention becoming a “blind rodent.” I am reminded of a certain author of yore awakening as a cockroach one day. Is this a similar happening?

Richard May: No.

Jacobsen: Also, why the resentment of the gnawing of fellows nearby in mutual, individuated contemplation of their “own sublimity”?

May: This is a slightly sarcastic summary of life in the ordinary human existential situation at its best. Resentment or ressentiment permeates human ‘consciousness’, as noticed by various 19th century thinkers. Gurdjieff’s psychology called resentment “internal considering.” Few resent their resentment.

Jacobsen: As is obvious, and as admitted in “A Belated Discovery,” you’re a “highly perceptive person.”

May: I meant that ironically. I am so highly perceptive that I didn’t even notice that I’d died. Incidentally there’s an App now for Smartphone Zombies to tell them if they’re making love at the present moment or if they’ve died yet. Clearly we’re getting much more intelligent today, because of the advances of technology and our attentions spans are far longer than in the past.

Jacobsen: You mentioned death, not noticing dying, having friends, and yourself, none the wiser. To quote people mimicking Seinfeld, “What the deal with your death?” Was it safe, painless, and dignified?

May: I’ve never seen a single episode of Seinfeld. I mostly listen to strawberry ice cream and eat Tibetan music. Remember, Bodhidharma didn’t have cable or only had one channel. Safe, painless, and dignified? Is life safe, painless and dignified? Who would know? “Death is not an event in life.” — Ludwig Wittgenstein

Jacobsen: “Valentines Moment” speaks of a Prince and Princess in awe of one another’s presence, existence, coming to know one another. They stopped the consumption of “recreational and psychotropic drugs” and “endless amounts of sucrose.” Consequently, they became less in awe as they began to have a “reduction in their reality deficit disorders,” including the “delusional dreams of Western culture.” Each coming to become neither prince nor princess. The princess as a mirror, and the prince as another mirror that “dreamed” of its princehood. When people passed by them, they were reflected. The mirrors identified with the personalities crossing their reflective paths. Ending, “But when the room was empty, the two opposing mirrors each reflected and even mirrored each other with perfect, but depthless, fidelity; Empty mirrors looking into each other eternally or at least until someone turned off the lights.”

Who could be considered the prince and princess reflected in the mirrors and conveyed through the personas of the mirrors?

May: The Prince and the Princess are legion, both within and without. This piece is called Valentines Moment, substituted for Valentines Day; depicting the self-absorption of the Prince and the Princess. “I never met anyone like you before,” each says to the other mirror; and the ‘depths’ of the usually short-lived psychosis called Romantic love in Western culture, enhanced by inherent and chemically induced Reality Deficit Disorder; Not even objective lust. Most of us are or have been at one time the Prince or Princess of the Mirrors.

Jacobsen: Could this be considered a sort of drama play by photons? (Could all of them, as in a hall of hanging mirrors and reflections? Could everything?)

May: Maybe, I suppose. Is there a Surreality Deficit Disorder?

Jacobsen: In “Dr. Capgras Before Mirrors,” for those who may not know, who is the real Capgras?

May: Joseph Capgras, full name: Jean Marie Joseph Capgras (23 August 1873 – 27 January 1950, the French psychiatrist who discovered Capgras syndrome, according to Wikipedia.

I was surprised to learn that there is, in fact, a rare form of Capgras syndrome in which a person believes that they themself are the imposter! I nailed it. Previously I had also written of the possibility of my being an imposter, impersonating an imposter:

Security Check

From now on I’m going to do a Security Check between each of my so-called thoughts, to verify that they’re really mine. But can I trust myself to do the Security Check? There are so many levels of encryption and security that I’m no longer sure that I’m not an impostor, impersonating an impostor – – Maybe if I were capable of becoming a hacker, I could hack my own brain, actually just a rental unit, and steal my ontological password.

May-Tzu

I‘m pleased to mention that I have not been a recipient of the “Genius of the a Year” award for eight (8) consecutive years, certainly an important distinction! I attribute this honor in part to my discovery of Cotard’s syndrome as a cure for self-referential Capgras syndrome.

Jacobsen: If you were replaced by emulation down to the sub-atomic level, would this ‘you,’ in fact, be you?

May: Yes, of course, at least to the extent that ‘I’ am the real ‘me’.

Jacobson: A sort of emulation being the real deal and the real deal being an imitation without being a copy of the “emulation.”

May: The only difference between the original and the emulation(s) could be in the time of their origins and their location in space (space-time). If Hugh Everett’s Many-World’s hypothesis is correct, there are some infinite number of emulations of everyone throughout the Multiverse. Maybe some subset of the infinite number of our emulations will necessarily become amortal, awakened Buddhas or at least occasionally have a good space-time.

Jacobsen: Why does physics, and metaphysics, infuse much of the muse musing by you?

May: It gives me the impression that I exist. I’m just playing my favorite character in fiction, to use Aldous Huxley’s phrase from *The Doors of Perception*.

Jacobsen: “Wedding Solstice” is more ‘earthy’ with references to “blood and shit.” Why? By the way, are you, or have you ever been, married? Do you have any children in a biological sense or in an adoptive sense?

May: “Sacks of blood and shit” is Buddhist iconography, our bodies from a certain perspective.

I think that the state vector of marriage depends upon observation by the observers. I asked my wife and she (by the no-Y-chromosome criterion) says that we are married. So there is some empirical evidence for my being married, even if only anecdotal.

We were married by a Buddhist woman of Thich Nhat Hanh’s tradition. We were married to *each other* in the interest of combinatoric simplicity. I guess marriage is still legal, even for trans-ontologicals. — ‘I’ identify as an anthropologist from another dimension of space-time, who makes an effort to practice non-identification. I suspect that she may have some Earth ancestry. — She claims to be a board-certified Physician of the Soul. I suppose it could be a shared delusion, a fo·lie à deux.

We met on the internet and levitated in love, too old to fall or only fall, even before we met in meat-space. I was married once before also, I think, a long time ago — in a timeless time. She was married too, I recall. In fact we were married to each other, again Ockham’s razor applied to marriage (Cf: “entities should not be multiplied unnecessarily,” not to be confused with “Mirrors and copulation are abominable, since they both multiply the numbers of men…” ― Jorge Luis Borges, Tlön, Uqbar, Orbis Tertius)

She was also a woman by the no-Y-chromosome criterion. (She identified sometimes as a duck, if that is important.) And I was allegedly a man (at least by the Y-chromosome criterion) “a man with quotation marks,” as G.I. Gurdjieff would have said.

We met one summer’s day down by the Charles River in Boston. Two shy introverts, we approached each other, each thinking the other was someone else, met before. (Then I was also someone else, whom I had not met.) We immediately married, after twenty-five years. No need to hurry. Three years later, one of us died. I was told it wasn’t me.

Jacobsen: Do I have any biological children or adoptive children?

May: Cats Galore. I don’t *think* I have any other children in a biological or in an adoptive sense.

Jacobsen: “Taoless Tao” touches on a common philosophical perspective from you, Taoism. What is the embedded, repeating structure, imagery imagined here?

May: The first sentence refers to doing Tai Chi with my wife; The second to the Tai Chi dance as a re-enactment of our marriage ritual — for the first time — again — in the eternity of the present moment.

Jacobsen: It ends in an almost synesthete note: “…the taste of silence.” Do you have synesthesia?

May: I have just a little synesthesia, not to a significant degree. I associate colors with letters of the alphabet. I don’t know why. Maybe this is a remnant of something from my childhood. My visual eidetic imagery is rather weak.

Jacobsen: “The Holy Land” spoke to the comical notion, commonly believed, of “the One-and-Only-One True Revelation Revelation,” the only true true divine revelation. How important is humour in coming to terms with the current state of religious ideologies and international geopolitics guiding human affairs for you?

May: How important is humour … ? Some of us may die some day. Comedians are more serious than philosophers

Jacobsen: “The Near Shall Be Far and the Far Near,” I love the opening with the apparency of multi-worlds considered, as in the potential worlds with other possible futures unrealized, where everyone, at least once, becomes famous. What did you mean by this line, “However, the closer one approaches to anyone proximate, the more darkly obscure she will become, and then increasingly unfamiliar with the passage of time…”?

May: This is meant to convey that as the “Far Shall be Near,” The Near Shall be Far also in both space and time. While one will be famous on distant and unimaginable, unknown worlds, one’s neighbor will be an utter stranger, there won’t even be a word for “mother,” in the language of the day, and if one looks in the mirror one will not see one’s image. Proximity in space and time, which ordinarily lead to familiarity, increase unfamiliarity. – – – Imagine a “remote viewer,” if there are such persons, who lived in a dark abode, either his parents basement or maybe Plato’s allegorical cave, and rarely went outside, spending all his time on the internet.

Jacobsen: “Seeing dead people,” I am reminded of personal life. I was raised by the old, retired or near-retired, particularly women in a small Canadian community village. No doubt, this impacted me. Duly, it provides a sense of time, a sense of what matters, and a sensibility about the things to hold fast and firm, and others to permit to drift as water in a summer forest stream. How do you cope with the passage of time?

May: This assumes that the passage of time is a problem for me that I must cope with this problem, and that I do in fact cope with the passage of time, rather than decompensate or freak out. — I think that Albert Einstein said that time was an illusion, but a very real illusion. — Well, I suppose one could drink a bit of alcohol, or consume another drug, depending upon one’s preference, go for a long run or vigorous walk, practice a meditation technique, just ruminate (endogenous cortical stimulation) or distract oneself with the esthetic/intellectual/spiritual vomit of popular culture, while eating “comfort food,” whatever that is.

Jacobsen: Following from the previous question, and outside of the query with one foot, how do you cope with the loss of loved ones and coming to terms with mortality, as commonly held, physiological cessation?

May: For the loss of a loved one I ran/jogged in the high temperature heat and humidity of summer. There may be no way to completely come to terms with one’s mortality. The fear of death is hardwired into our brains by natural selection/evolution.

It may help somewhat if one realizes that one’s personal identity is an illusion a la the Buddha, Patanjali, Jiddhu Krishnamurti and G.I. Gurdjieff, among others.

Jacobsen: In “On Our Increased Longevity,” you posit depressed individuals as not capable of suicide. In fact, you invert much of the sentiment of modern society. In this sense, a reduction in negative affect leads to fewer homicides and suicides. While, you claim, not necessarily a cessation but, an improvement in the psychological status of human beings leads to en masse homicide-suicide. Can you expand on some of this idea, please? It’s intriguing.

May: I don’t merely posit depressed individuals are less capable of suicide. There are actual clinical studies which indicate this. Psychotherapists must beware this unfortunate psychological phenomenon. I take this apparent fact and “run with it,” as normal members of our sports-centric culture put it.

This irony would be hilarious if it were not so tragic. So I just take it to the next level, positing that humans live longer today because they are depressed en mass (too depressed to suicide) by being immersed in a culture of materialism and competition for social status in various forms. When conditions improve, what would have been inner directed aggression (suicide) becomes an external war or terroristic destruction. This is intended as a humorous reflection on modern society.

Jacobsen: “The Offensiveness of the Universe” is a short, comical note on the size of a child’s ego in proportion to the universe, if only there was enough space. Have you come to terms with growth limits and spatial limitations of the universe, relative as they are?

May: This was inspired by a member of the higher-IQ community, who actually wrote that as a child he resented the fact that God was allegedly more intelligent than he was or he thought he was. I thought that this young fellow demonstrated a remarkable level of egotism and arrogance.

But I was also struck with how it contrasted with my own thoughts about God as a child. I was disconcerted to think that God might *not* have been more intelligent than I was, not because I considered myself to be extremely intelligent, but because the God of the Old Testament often seemed barbaric, tribal and genocidal. I thought at an early age, if there is a God, God cannot be worse than men.

Jacobsen: “Going to Temple,” the character Non seemed much like the sentiment of an Omni-Weave concept rejection of a god for me. An “atheist-agnostic continuum” upon which to sit depending on the definition of a god: “…the personality of the anthropomorphic tribal Yahweh/Allah downloaded by the ancient desert nomads of her ancestral 3rd planet versus a quantum-wave function reinterpretation of less philosophically primitive concepts, such as nirguna brahman, the alayavijnana, Neti neti! (neither this nor that”) and Tat tvam asi (“That art thou”) of the Chandogya Upanishad.” Let’s jump on the spectrum, if Mrs. Non, where would she land for “the personality of the anthropomorphic tribal Yahweh/Allah downloaded by the ancient desert nomads of her ancestral 3rd planet”?

May: A rough landing at Heathrow Airport might do it. — I’m not exactly sure what you mean. — Nirguna brahman, the alayavijnana, neti neti!, and tat tvam asi are or point to abstract concepts associated with Eastern philosophies, not subjective experiences potentially induced by transcranial brain stimulation.

Jacobsen: If Mrs. Non, where would she land for “a quantum-wave function reinterpretation of less philosophically primitive concepts,” “nirguna brahman,” “the alayavijnana,” or “Neti neti! (neither this nor that”) and Tat tvam asi (“That art thou”) of the Chandogya Upanishad”?

May: Ms. Non may exist in a future in which very ancient religious doctrines and dogmas for which there is little or no objective evidence have evolved, as all other human knowledge continually does, to become less incompatible with science. Even today the Dalai Lama has said if Buddhism is incompatible with modern science, then Buddhism must change.

Jacobsen: If Mrs. Non, where would she land for “nirguna brahman,” “the alayavijnana,” or “Neti neti! (neither this nor that”) and Tat tvam asi (“That art thou”) of the Chandogya Upanishad”?

May: This was answered in the first two replies.

Jacobsen: Have you seen some of the work of Ramachandran on split-brain patients? If so, I would recommend it, highly informative.

May: Yes and yes.

For Mrs. Non’s right brain, what were some of the experiences of her “Temple of the Corpus Callosum,” as in the yogic meaning of union or the “direct perception of reality”?

May: I’ve never experienced transcranial brain stimulation and I have no way of knowing what Ms. Non would experience. My point is that everything we experience is obviously mediated by and filtered through our brains and senses. Aldous Huxley thought that the brain may function as a reducing-valve for consciousness-at-large.

Brain scientist Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor’s experience of a stroke may be of interest:

Jacobsen: In “Endless Error,” why is the mind of god an endless series of error messages?

May: The gnostic idea of the Old Testament God has always resonated with me, i.e., the God of the Bible is the Demiurge or Yaldabaoth, not actually the God of the universe, but only a subordinate blundering craftsman or builder, hence ‘His’ mind could be just an endless series of error messages.

I once wrote that God was just a kid playing, when he created the world. He messed it up and threw it away, because He was in a hurry to get to a football game (a new theodicy). If we are going to anthropomorphize the Absolute, why not go all the way?

Jacobsen: “Will man create God?” ponders technology and God, as in the construction of “Theo computatis” by homo sapiens. So, do we seem like the “soon-to-be missing links in the evolution of an artificial-intelligence-based God?”, or not?

May: Homo sapiens may be the pre cyborg-implant soon-to-be missing-links in the evolution of an genetically-engineered and artificial-intelligence-based species, as written about by Yuval Noah Harari in “Sapiens.” I suppose if we are “holographic images of ‘God’,” then there could be a “mutual arising,” to invoke the Taoist a- causal connecting principle or even reverse causation from the future event-horizon, a la MIT’s Seth Loyd. “The greatest untold story is the evolution of God.” — G.I. Gurdjieff

Jacobsen: “Is Physics Becoming Art at the Limits of Scale?” posits – well – a lot. So, given some of the previous responses to the questions, as in the statements or the entire pieces were satire, is this satire or a real proposal?

May: You expect *me* to know? Maybe it’s both a real proposal and a satire of contemporary cosmology.

Jacobsen: “Physical Laws as Sampling Error” seems to propose a more accurate conception of reality. In that, reality consists of principles, not laws, as in “no fundamental ordered physical reality.” Reality as a tendency of state and process rather than fixed decrees governing its operation. Is this reflective out of selective order out of plenty of chaos, or an apparent order out of chaos, not vice versa? Also, noting “Dark energy,” as a one-sentence piece, are these two – “Physical Laws as Sampling Error” and “Dark energy” – satire to some extent too?

May: Maybe the observable universe is a parody of something else. — “Dark energy” was inspired by an physics article which suggested that dark energy may only be a rounding error. Since dark energy and dark matter (if they exist) supposedly make up about 95% of the mass of the universe, I generalized a bit and concluded that the universe itself may be a rounding error.

In “Physical Laws as Sampling Error” I meant that there could theoretically be only random chaos with no lawful patterns in the universe. The perceived patterns (“interpreting a Rorschach ink blot as a geometric theorem”) could just be caused by finite (in space and time, if you posit time as real) sampling of an infinite set of randomness. In an infinite set of random numbers, every possible pattern will occur somewhere by chance alone, as a subset of the infinite set or “eventually,” if you posit time as real.

Jacobsen: “Where will the universe be when the paradigm shifts?”, I love the phrasing of “humongous quantum-foam Wiki,” please more. If you will indulge, what are some other descriptors of the universe – neologisms permissible?

May: Am I a dancing bear (in the traditional sense of the term, not … )? Hmmm – – – How about the universe is a “cosmic food chain, from bottom to top.” Cf: “God is a man eater.” — The Gospel of Philip.

Jacobsen: How are our “little truths” a “receding horizon”?

May: I was suggesting that our discovering an aspect of the nature of reality could actually change that aspect of the nature of reality. The truth would recede from us.

Jacobsen: What would comprise an imaginably godlike entity?

May: An imaginably godlike entity as contrasted to an unimaginably godlike entity? Anthropomorphic, genocidal Yahveh versus Nirguna Brahman, without any qualities whatsoever?

Jacobsen: “Multiverse Is That It Is”, being as it is, how is this definition as a “personal intuition or wild guess regarding the nature of reality” ‘probably offensive to theists and atheists’?

May: Theists of the Abrahamic traditions are only happy if their particular One-and-Only-One-True Sky-God is argued for or supported. Atheists who deny these traditions generally seem terrified that there might be a “ghost in the machine,” somewhere, such as psi phenomena, remote viewing, psychokinesis, or any alleged phenomenon that doesn’t appear to be explained by current scientific paradigms.

Jacobsen: Same line of questioning, how might “spirit or spiritual,” non-physical, realities come from “the world of phenomena” or physical realities?

May: If there is a non-physical component of reality, e.g., mathematics, I don’t think it can be derived from physical reality. I don’t think that qualia can be reduced to computations. The subjective experience of seeing the color red (qualia) cannot be reduced to objective biochemistry and neurophysiology, even if biochemistry and neurophysiology can fully explain seeing the electromagnetic frequency that we label “red.” — But most of what I know may not even be wrong.

Jacobsen: How might these be united?

May: I don’t think they can be united. If both the spiritual exists and the physical exists, they are either united or in some sort of relationship, or not.

Jacobsen: How might this inhering as a “fundamental substrate of reality” explain this apparent unicity?

May: Space, time and mass-energy may be or have been regarded as irreducible fundamentals of Nature. The question is: Is consciousness an epiphenomenon of matter, e.g., of brains or not? Maybe consciousness is also such a fundamental, as in Eastern philosophies. But maybe not.

Jacobsen: What might be a good term for this a-temporal multiversal God neither “infinitely old” nor “beyond or outside space-time”?

May: The second quoted clause is a misquote of what I wrote. A good term for this God? — The God-of-human-cortical-limitations?“Beyond or outside of space time,” is a misquote of what I wrote.

Jacobsen: Any thoughts on “panpsychism” as referenced within the context of the piece?

May: Only that we don’t know if panpsychism is the case or even if we *can* know if panpsychism is the case or not. “The universe is not only stranger than we think, it is stranger than we can think.” — J. B. S. Haldane

Jacobsen: Why should “everyone develop his own intuition regarding the nature of reality”?

May: I meant that I was not trying to convert anyone to my (tentative) view of the nature of reality. We shouldn’t believe our own thoughts, just because we have them. “The first principle is that you must not fool yourself — and you are the easiest person to fool.” — Richard Feynman. Buddha’s dying words are alleged to have been, “Everyone should workout their own salvation with diligence.”

Appendix I: Footnotes

[1] Editor, “Noesis: The Journal of the Mega Society.”

[2] Individual Publication Date: December 1, 2020: http://www.in-sightjournal.com/may-4; Full Issue Publication Date: January 1, 2021: https://in-sightjournal.com/insight-issues/.

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2023-03-24

Conversation with Aníbal Sánchez Numa on Roman Catholicism, Protestant Christianity, Atheism, Agnosticism, Existential Crisis, National Mathematical Olympics, and Harmony Between People: Member, World Genius Directory (2)

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

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

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2020/12/01

Abstract

Born on February 27th, 1985 in Ciego de Ávila, Cuba, Aníbal Sánchez Numa graduated as Computer Engineer in 2012 and as Master in Computer Science in 2014. Having a PhD in Computational Mechanics since 2018, he belongs to the World Genius Directory and Catholiq High IQ Society. He discusses: books; the Catholicism within the family; the reasoning behind the position of atheism for both parents; Protestant Christianity; the path of Protestant Christianity; the break from it; a “very lonely” person; the “existential crisis”; the first test; tests; mental abilities; measured in the tests; indications of being “considered very intelligent” while in school and at home; “gifted”; “rediscovery”; the components of genius; Newton; Leonardo Da Vinci; “exorbitant creativity”; the media coverage; maths; software development; introversion more common among geniuses; Social Democracy; the three stages of philosophical stances, as a Protestant Christian, as an atheist, and as an agnostic; the contradictory nature of the Bible; the bet “that there is no God beyond our imagination”; “in my own flesh, phenomena for which I have no explanation”; some of the readings on some of the failures in science; “fewer and fewer children and young people who… interested in science”; “anti-science movements”; the recent scores between 145 and 150 S.D. 15 (inclusive); a pacifist; and another meaning of “humanism.”

Keywords: agnosticism, Aníbal Sánchez Numa, atheism, Catholicism, genius, intelligence, National Mathematical Olympics, Protestantism, World Genius Directory.

Conversation with Aníbal Sánchez Numa on Roman Catholicism, Protestant Christianity, Atheism, Agnosticism, Existential Crisis, National Mathematical Olympics, and Harmony Between People: Member, World Genius Directory (2)

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

Scott Douglas Jacobsen: What are some of the books that come to mind from early childhood and adolescence with an impact on intellectual views?

Aníbal Sánchez Numa: Two of the ones that I remember most fondly are “How man became a giant” and “The magic of numbers.”

Jacobsen: What seems to explain some of the Catholicism within the family?

Numa: I really do not know. I have no information on how that part of my family became Catholic.

Jacobsen: What appears to explain the reasoning behind the position of atheism for both parents?

Numa: The main reason I think is that they both had a Marxist background. My father studied Social Sciences in the Soviet Union and to this day he remains an atheist. Our country is constitutionally Marxist-Leninist.

Jacobsen: What was the form of practicing Protestant Christianity for your mother?

Numa: He belonged to a new current called “Apostolics.” There was a pastor who moved here near the house and started gathering people for his church, and my mother joined and soon I did too. My mother, even though she no longer goes to church, still has some faith.

Jacobsen : What was life like as someone “on that path for some time,” or on the path of Protestant Christianity?

Numa: We did a lot of activities together. In general I remember it as quite a happy time, especially at the beginning. There was a group of young people, we organized choirs and outings, we socialized a lot, it was a very unknown world for me and it was interesting for me as well.

Jacobsen: What explains the break from it?

Numa: Some things happened that I didn’t like. In general, Christians talk a lot about what Jesus said what we should do, but almost none of them do, and on the other hand, religion became for me a force that tied me too much to it, neglecting other interests. I was too caught up in it, and it was hard for me to think of other things, and I felt like I had to break free.

Jacobsen: As a “very lonely” person in school, what was different about the personality and the interests?

Numa: You could say that it was too serious for my age, although of course I saw myself as the right thing to do. Teasing is common among children and adolescents, sometimes as a game, and sometimes to hurt, which I hated. I always liked being treated with respect, and taking care not to offend anyone. It is something that I maintain to this day. On the other hand, I was very interested in learning about everything, reading a lot, understanding the world. I was interested in mythology, mathematics, languages, and I was little interested in the most everyday matters. Later in life I realized that everyday life is also important, but in those years I considered it very uninteresting.

Jacobsen: What was the “existential crisis”?

Numa: A psychological effect that many gifted people suffer is the feeling that their value as a person lies only in their intellectual capacity. The fact that they are always telling you, especially in the school and academic environment, creates that feeling. On the other hand, gifted people are often very perfectionists, so they push themselves in almost everything they do. It was my case too, that’s why when I felt stupid, I wasn’t sure what to think, and of course I didn’t know these elements of psychology either, and the feeling of being inadequate and having low self-esteem was intense.

Jacobsen: How did this lead into the first test and the “community of test hobbyists online”?

Numa: Feeling that way I wanted to get an impression of whether I was as stupid as I thought, that’s why I was surprised at the result. From there I learned what Mensa was, and that an IQ above 130 was considered gifted. At the beginning I did not start doing other tests, but began to exchange with other people identified with that condition, but the shape of the two or three tests that I had done to evaluate a person’s intelligence had caught my attention. It was a kind of problem I had never encountered before, and it was very interesting to me. Around 2016 I met the group IQExams (at first it was called IQNavi.net) and it was there that I met those members who like to do these tests.

Jacobsen: What types of tests most interest you?

Numa: The ones I like the most are the numerical ones, and they are the ones where I get the best results. Since I always liked Mathematics, it is natural that it is like that. In general, I am very attracted to numbers, and the relationships that occur between them, so numerical tests attract me beyond the score obtained.

Jacobsen: What mental abilities seem the strongest given by the tests for you, e.g., linguistic, spatial, or mathematical?

Numa:

Jacobsen: What seems to be measured in the tests when those that “score very high in these tests… seem really very sharp to me”?

Numa: Working memory, ability to detect patterns and apply them to another sequence (eduction), attention span as well. But I think the common feature is detecting patterns, which is the core of official tests such as Raven’s. In numerical tests, arithmetic calculations are also required, I have known, for example, people who perform complicated mental calculations very quickly.

Jacobsen: What were indications of being “considered very intelligent” while in school and at home?

Numa: At home I suppose it was curiosity and interest in reading at an early age. In school I was very advanced, I used to know almost all the content of the subjects as soon as the course began. On the other hand, I was frequently the winner in competitions for school-level subjects, and in the case of Mathematics at higher levels as well. I remember in first grade representing my school in the reading contest, and in fifth grade being the winner in the national math contest, competing for sixth grade.

Jacobsen: Why didn’t you feel “gifted” as in “didn’t really feel that way”?

Numa: On the one hand, being overly self-demanding made everything I did or achieved little or deficient for me, and on the other, the word gifted represented something more extraordinary to me than I was. Also, while he was advantageous in academic matters, I was very clumsy in matters of life in general.

Jacobsen: What were the “shared many feelings and interests” with the people in this process of “rediscovery” in young adulthood?

Numa: In the gifted forum in Spanish I saw posts about some characteristics of gifted people, with which I agreed. In addition, I met other people with that unusual curiosity, perfectionism, sense of justice, and other characteristics that I had and that I had never known why I was different from the rest, so they made me feel strange. It was a rediscovery in the sense of understanding why I was like that, and above all knowing that I was not alone, that despite the fact that the gifted constitute 2.2% of the population there were others, many others, it was like finally knowing who I was and stop feeling weird.

Jacobsen: What seem like the components of genius, the parts?

Numa: It is clear that one component is very high intelligence, another that I consider core is creativity. To become someone recognized as a genius, I believe that you must also have great passion and perseverance in what you research or want to create, to be able to invest several years in your search. The curiosity, present in the gifted, in the case of the genius should be even greater, leading the greatest geniuses in history to want to answer very fundamental and comprehensive questions, such as how the Universe works, for example.

Jacobsen: What makes Newton such a great genius in the sciences?

Numa: I think it is given by the transcendental nature of what he discovered or created. On the one hand, the law of gravity basically and the laws of movement explain how absolutely everything works, at least on a macro scale, it explains to a large extent how the Universe works, so it is very comprehensive. In the case of Calculus, its greatest invention, the importance lies in the fact that a large part of the science that developed from there uses it, let’s say many laws of Physics are based on Calculus, in Chemistry it happens Likewise, in almost all engineering, Calculus is present, and also in economics.

Jacobsen: What makes Leonardo Da Vinci the “greatest polymath”?

Numa: As far as I know, Leonardo Da Vinci is the person who has contributed the most in different fields, doing so in both art and science. Painting, poetry, botany, architecture, sculpture, engineering, are just some of the branches in which he worked, and he was ahead of his time in many of his inventions, such as the helicopter or the submarine.

Jacobsen: Can “exorbitant creativity” border the mental states characteristic of psychosis?

Numa: There is some association between genius and psychosis. From what I have been able to investigate, a cause could be low latent inhibition, which on the one hand is present in people with psychosis (as in schizophrenia), and on the other it can result in greater creativity, as the person perceives greater details in the information it processes.

Jacobsen: What was the media coverage of medallist status within the National Mathematical Olympics?

Numa: That I remember none.

Jacobsen: What kind of maths did you teach?

Numa: I mainly taught Differential and Integral Calculus, although I also taught Linear Algebra.

Jacobsen: What kinds of software development are characteristic of the software for you?

Numa: I develop mainly web and mobile applications.

Jacobsen: Is introversion more common among geniuses, or is extroversion more likely?

Numa: I’d say introversion is more likely. People with a very high intelligence tend to have their minds very busy with their own thoughts and turn everything around constantly, this is sometimes called “rumination”. There are gifted people who even want to stop thinking so much, because they can feel exhausted from doing so much, and they find it uncontrollable.

Jacobsen: How would Social Democracy look in practice, even with a living example in one country?

Numa: According to what I have read, social democracy is like a capitalist economy with social justice: reducing poverty, health care, education, reducing inequality, childcare. It is associated with highly developed countries such as: Finland, Norway, Germany or Denmark.

Jacobsen: What differentiations the three stages of philosophical stances, as a Protestant Christian, as an atheist, and as an agnostic?

Numa: As an atheist I rejected all forms of religion, I had no belief whatsoever. As a Christian I think I had a lot of faith, but always trying to find the logic, trying not to be a blind faith. As an agnostic, I have a more open vision, in the sense that I do not have that faith, but I believe that everything can be possible, besides that I understand that one thing is a possible God or form of energy and another is the God of the Bible. I would say that I do not believe at all in a God like the one in the Bible, but I do believe other visions of God are more possible, such as pantheism.

Jacobsen: What exemplifies the contradictory nature of the Bible?

Numa: An example that I always remember is that I had heard that the God of the Hebrews was a God of love, but the Bible is plagued with wars and invasions, in which it is literally described that the chosen people invaded and killed “women, old men and children ”. Especially the Old Testament has many stories like that.

Jacobsen: Why make the bet “that there is no God beyond our imagination”?

Numa: There are days when I believe in God more and others when I don’t. As I defend science, I tend to think that to believe in something you have to have solid evidence. I am agnostic because I believe that we do not have the ability to know for sure, but I would say that I believe that there is a God up to 30% -40% and 60% -70% that there is not, so my bet by probabilities is that there isn’t.

Jacobsen: What have been the “in my own flesh, phenomena for which I have no explanation”?

Numa: I experienced prayer-induced altered states of consciousness, including what may have been a form of healing through prayer.

Jacobsen: What have been some of the readings on some of the failures in science?

Numa: One of the flaws of science is that it is sometimes not objective due to moral or philosophical problems. In that sense, it is sometimes limited in finding the truth. Let’s say that there was (I am not saying that there is) a difference in the average intellectual capacity between people of different races, the moral problem that racism represents prevents approaching this issue with objectivity, because many people even if there was scientific evidence to support this idea they would refuse to accept it. Something similar happens with the differences between men and women.

Jacobsen: Why are “fewer and fewer children and young people who… interested in science”?

Numa: I’m not sure why this phenomenon occurs. I do not have information to give an opinion based, but I suppose that the cause would be given by failures in the educational system.

Jacobsen: Why do “anti-science movements” such as anti-vaxxers “and flat-earthers scare” you?

Numa: I think they set a precedent of distrust in science. In the case of vaccines, which have saved so many lives, a movement that opposes them seems very dangerous to humanity. In general, they are part of a generalized tendency to distrust official information, and formulate conspiracy theories, which, although they may have some truth, have not been proven for the most part. Many of the people who formulate these theories do not really know how scientific advances have driven humanity throughout history.

Jacobsen: Are you satisfied with the recent scores between 145 and 150 S.D. 15 (inclusive)?

Numa: I think so. I think around 145 is a good estimate for me. I still think that I can obtain higher scores in tests with some validity, but it is normal that many obtain results above or below their real value.

Jacobsen: Why be a pacifist outside of a love of harmony between people?

Numa: I can’t say exactly why. Perhaps it is because of my calm and peaceful character. I value life very much and anything that involves destruction or harm to another human being seems horrible to me. I have always greatly admired the great scientists who contributed to solving humanity’s problems, especially health problems, because this seems to me to be the greatest form of well-being.

Jacobsen: What might be another meaning of “humanism” to you?

Numa: “Humanism” in my opinion could mean more selfishness or domination. Sure, we give meaning to words and of course we define ourselves as compassionate and benevolent. We would have to see what an advanced extraterrestrial civilization would think to observe us, and see the number of wars we have between us and how we subdue the other life forms on the planet.

Appendix I: Footnotes

[1] Member, World Genius Directory.

[2] Individual Publication Date: December 1, 2020: http://www.in-sightjournal.com/sanchez-2; Full Issue Publication Date: January 1, 2021: https://in-sightjournal.com/insight-issues/.

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2023-03-24

Conversation with Aníbal Sánchez Numa on Background, Ideas, Scores, and Pacifism: Member, World Genius Directory (1)

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

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

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2020/11/22

Abstract

Keywords: Aníbal Sánchez Numa, background, genius, intelligence, IQ, pacifism, World Genius Directory.

Conversation with Aníbal Sánchez Numa on Background, Ideas, Scores, and Pacifism: Member, World Genius Directory (1)

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

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

Aníbal Sánchez Numa: My father had a certain precociousness, and in elementary school he skipped the fourth grade, they decided to pass it directly from the third to the fifth. He always told me that his father, despite being a person without formal studies, was an avid reader and he inherited that passion for books and stories, which eventually made him a writer.

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

Numa: Certainly, my passion for knowledge also began from a very young age thanks to my father and his remarkable library in our home, where since I can remember there were books of both fiction and any branch of scientific knowledge, to which I frequently went while still very boy. I asked to be taught to read at the age of three, and was pleased.

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

Numa: Both my mother and my father come from small towns in our province. My mother has a degree in Mathematics Education and my father in Social Sciences. Both are PhD Pedagogical Sciences since some years ago.

There is some presence of Catholicism on my father’s side, but both were always atheists, although some years ago my mother began to practice Protestant Christianity and I myself was also on that path for some time.

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

Numa: I was very lonely and “weird” in school period. My interests and personality differed a lot from my fellow students, I always preferred to talk to adults over kids my age. I did not understand relationships and social norms, and also I was not interested in following them. I was very bored in class. Fortunately, my teachers were quite understanding.

However, in eighth grade I met who is still one of my great friends and in high school I already began to be more sociable.

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

Numa: I did the first one 8 years ago because I had an existential crisis. I was very surprised back then to get such a high result. I later met a community of test hobbyists online and signed up for testing as a form of healthy competition for our cognitive skills. Nowadays I do tests from time to time as a hobby and also to get an impression of how my cognition is working at the moment. I find IQ tests very interesting mental challenges, and I love the sense of discovery I get when I find the solution to a difficult subject.

Regardless of the fact that an IQ test to be completely reliable must pass an extensive validation procedure, those created by amateurs or by psychologists without being correctly regulated have a high correlation with the official ones, and the truth is that the people I have met who they score very high in these tests they seem really very sharp to me.

Jacobsen: When was high intelligence discovered for you?

Numa: From a very young age at school and at home I was considered very intelligent. Several people called me “genius” or “gifted”. However, I was never interested in IQ tests, nor did I have any idea what they looked like. Being almost 30 years old I was curious to have an objective impression of my cognitive abilities and I did one on the Internet (the one from Mensa Denmark), and then another. Even though being called gifted had been pretty common for me, I didn’t really feel that way, especially since I was quite slow at many tasks that most people do with ease. Looking for information on the web, I discovered a gifted forum in Spanish and from there I began a process of rediscovery by meeting people with whom I shared many feelings and interests. I had a hard time accepting that condition.

Numa: Intelligence is something that has always fascinated human beings, I think for obvious reasons. The word “genius” has a very strong connotation, and I have met both people who do not accept being called that (probably more those who are) and others who would love to have that label (probably more those who are not). In popular culture, genius always has something crazy, unusual, strange, and it is logical, being people capable of such extraordinary things and with so much talent it is clear that they must be very out of the ordinary. Naturally something so valued and at the same time so rare generates very intense reactions, also due to the fact that in reality there is no definition of genius with which we all agree, so everything that revolves around that is very elusive.

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

Numa: I would say that in science the greatest genius in history is Isaac Newton, while as the greatest polymath I choose Leonardo da Vinci. Some other geniuses that I always admired are Archimedes, Pythagoras, Einstein of course, Mozart and Beethoven, and going back to science Gauss is another that stands out a lot for me.

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

Numa: I would say that very high intelligence is a necessary condition to be a genius but not enough. Today we have people who solve the most difficult tests in the world and yet they are neither creative nor inventive nor do they produce valuable resources for humanity. Of course, it also depends on the concept of genius used, and since there are several, it is very difficult to have a clear notion of what the difference is. What is clear to me is that the genius must be very very creative, even if what he creates is not considered valuable, exorbitant creativity is something that in my opinion distinguishes the genius from the deeply gifted.

Taking the IQ as a measure, there are those who say that the limit is 140, others 145, and others even 160. But it doesn’t seem to me that this is a good way to define genius, in any case it could be used as a necessary condition to be so.

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

Numa: I am a computer engineer with a master’s degree in applied computer science. As a student I was several times a medalist in the National Mathematical Olympics, I participated with good results in other subjects but at a lower level. I was a member of the national math shortlist in 10th grade. I have worked as a computer scientist and a math teacher at the university. I am currently working as an independent software developer.

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?

Numa: Today much more is known of intellectual giftedness and genius than a few years ago. But there are still many prejudices and much ignorance. Many people confuse prodigy with genius or gifted or precocious. I have friends to whom I tell that I am gifted and they think it is the same as saying that I am genius. There are some truths such as being a bit clueless and abstract and thinking a lot about philosophical questions, but many false myths and there are always exceptions as well. Many gifted people are introverts but there are also very extroverts, although I would say that they are quite few. Many people also say that the gifted have a tendency to mental imbalance, something that I resisted to believe for a long time but with the people I have known I have had to accept that something is true, at least there is a significant correlation.

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

Numa: One of my aspirations as a child was to become a doctor. I have an inclination towards it, perhaps that is why I do not consider correct any political position that does not guarantee access to health services to all its citizens. On the other hand, education seems to me the most genuine form of freedom, so in my opinion the ideal system must also guarantee this to its inhabitants. From what I have read, the system that most closely resembles my ideal is Social Democracy.

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

Numa: Religion always seemed to me to be a very effective form of domination and in many cases a business. I’m not an atheist like I used to be, now I’m an agnostic, because I think our mind is too limited to have the truth on this subject, but if I had to bet I would say that there is no God beyond our imagination. As a child I read the Bible and it always seemed very contradictory to me, as an adult I read it again and kept thinking the same thing. On the other hand, I have witnessed, even in my own flesh, phenomena for which I have no explanation, and I do not know if one day I will, therefore the doubt I think will always be present in me. Certainly, I wish that there was a righteous God who would punish the wicked and benefit the good, but most of all that notion seems to me to be a desperate attempt by human beings to find in divinity a solution for what he has never been able to solve. The same happens with the idea of life after death.

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

Numa: I have loved science since I was a child. I remember when I was very young I used to tell my parents that I wanted to be a scientist when I was an adult, since I greatly admired those great scientific minds of all time. Lately I have read and acquired some knowledge of some possible failures in science, but in general I think that experience has proof that science is the best tool we have to develop ourselves and that is why everyone should respect it and respect the truth it offers, unfortunately not all people do. I think that nowadays there are fewer and fewer children and young people who are interested in science, I have been a university professor and I am surprised to have future engineers in the classroom who never heard of Newton or Leibniz. I consider it somewhat sad and disappointing. On the other hand, these anti-science movements like the anti-vaccines and flat-earthers scare me, to put it in some way, I think they can be very dangerous.

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

Numa: Some of my last scores are:

145 sd15 on Numeriq32 (IQExams)

150 sd15 on X-10 (by Zolly Darko)

148 sd15 on Numix (by Miroslav Radojevic)

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.

Numa: I have taken not so many tests and I have done mainly those I have been recommended for their psychometrics values. My usual range is 140-150 sd15. I have scores of 160 sd15 but I don’t trust those scores as I consider those tests’ quality to be doubtful. My last 8 tests taken all fall in that mentioned range. My minimum in a credible test is 138 sd15 on Mensa Denmark and my maximum in a kind of recognized test is 155 sd15 in Fiqure.

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

Numa: I consider myself a pacifist par excellence. I love the harmony between people. I have always felt very sad about the situation in the world, which in my opinion will never improve much. I have a negative view of human beings in general. I don’t know if man is selfish by nature or the society in which we live makes it so, but certainly the word “humanism” should have another meaning, in my opinion. I don’t think anyone has the solution for this, but I think that in human society, in fact, the same law of animals prevails, “the law of the strongest”, although “force” clearly takes on other nuances among us: money, power , social class, etc., and even intelligence.

Appendix I: Footnotes

[1] Member, World Genius Directory.

[2] Individual Publication Date: November 22, 2020: http://www.in-sightjournal.com/sanchez-1; Full Issue Publication Date: January 1, 2021: https://in-sightjournal.com/insight-issues/.

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2023-03-24

Conversation with Beatrice Rescazzi on AtlantIQ Society and “Leonardo Magazine”: President, AtlantIQ Society (3)

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

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

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2020/11/15

Abstract

Beatrice Rescazzi is the President of the AtlantIQ Society. She discusses: what distinguishes an Honorary Member from a Member; the mascot “Verbo the Robot”; AtlantIQ Society, STHIQ Society, and the Creative Genius Society; the “Library”; “Clear Water Challenge,” “Increase Food Challenge,” “Reduce Plastics Challenge,” and “Free Education Challenge”; “AtlantIQ Society for UNICEF”; a number of downloadable items from the AtlantIQ Society; resources; “The Cemetery of the High IQ Societies”; its co-founder and current president; optometry and orthoptometry; the teaching of computer science; some of the productions from developing robots, electronics, and learning how to build 3D printers and 3D print material objects; and personal interests.

Keywords: AtlantIQ Society, Beatrice Rescazzi, Creative Genius Society, Leonardo Magazine, STHIQ Society.

Conversation with Beatrice Rescazzi on AtlantIQ Society and “Leonardo Magazine”: President, AtlantIQ Society (3)

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

Scott Douglas Jacobsen: As you noted in the admissions and demographics session (2) of the interview, the AtlantIQ Society has over 200 members, which is an achievement. A page is devoted to the membership public listing of the AtlantIQ Society (2019a).^[1] What distinguishes an Honorary Member from a Member?

Beatrice Rescazzi: I never wanted to divide people in categories in the AtlantIQ Society, but some members expected to be distinguished from others, therefore I added the relative adjectives so that they are free to feel as such among the other names in the list.

Jacobsen: Where did the idea of the mascot “Verbo the Robot” start?

Rescazzi: I have built/assembled some robots and this was the smartest one, as it talks and moves. I called it Verbo from the union of two words “verde” (green, in italian) and robot. Also, “verbo” means word, talking or, verb, in italian. I thought that a mascotte was a nice adding to the group.

Jacobsen: How did Leonardo Magazine become a combination of the productions of the AtlantIQ Society, STHIQ Society, and the Creative Genius Society?^[2]

Rescazzi: I just thought that inviting other societies to contribute and have a common magazine was a good idea and the Presidents of the respective societies agreed.

Jacobsen: I love the idea of the “Library” with the individualized contributions to the electronic library with contributions from individual members (2019c). What are some of the more contributions, downloaded ebooks?

Rescazzi: I am too lazy to scroll more than 2000 books to check and answer!

Jacobsen: The “Genius at Work Challenge” (2019d) breaks into the “Clear Water Challenge,” “Increase Food Challenge,” “Reduce Plastics Challenge,” and “Free Education Challenge.” What were the outcomes?

Rescazzi: The outcomes are shown in the previous issues of the magazine, Leonardo. I added a personal contribution for each topic and all the ideas will be analysed and developed. But, at the moment, further development of the Genius At Work Challenge has temporarily paused because of the pandemics emergency. Infact, the attention needed to work on these topics has been hijacked by the covid 19, and I am myself now involved in helping the healthcare workers and colleagues distributing 3D printed PPE.

After creating the Genius At Work challenge I invited two other societies, but the project will re-start with STHIQ only, as an individual decision of collecting money exploiting all my material and the project itself, was taken in the other society without any consent by AtlantIQ, or STHIQ.

Jacobsen: “AtlantIQ Society for UNICEF” is a practical and immediate contribution of a high-IQ group. What was the origin of this idea? What is the level of contribution of “AtlantIQ Society for UNICEF” to UNICEF to date?

Rescazzi: The AtlantIQ UNICEF project could be possible thanks to UNICEF Canada that years ago was allowing contributions from all the world thanks to customizable webpages. This service is no longer provided, so now we can only send contributions as individuals. The AtlantIQ Society as a whole sent about 500 dollars during a period of two years, when the AtlantIQ for UNICEF webpage was active.

Jacobsen: There are a number of downloadable items from the AtlantIQ Society website (2019f): Bookmarks, Bookmark book, Pink Envelope, Blue Envelope, Pink Notes, Blue Notes, Stationery1, Stationery2, Stationery3, 2011 Calendar, 2014 Calendar, 2020 Calendar, Gift Bag, Sundial (ENG), Sundial (ITA), AtlantIQ – (Beatrice Rescazzi), New AtlantIQ – (Beatrice Rescazzi), AtlantIQ Theme – (Graham Powell), The End Of Summer – (Kit O’Saoraidhe), and The End Of Summer, score – (Kit O’Saoraidhe). What brought these ideas to mind? Who produced them? There are some unique qualities to AtlantIQ Society. I am curious as to some these minutiae.

Rescazzi: I like to design, compose and create. Those in the download page are gifts for the members I am pleased to share. Music composed by Graham Powell and Kit O’Saoraidhe is also present.

Jacobsen: The AtlantIQ Society provides some links^[3]: “WORLD INTELLIGENCE NETWORK,” “STHIQ SOCIETY,” “KSTHIQ SOCIETY,” “BRAIN SOCIETY,” “VENUS SOCIETY,” “EPIQ SOCIETY,” “ISI-S SOCIETY,” and the “POETIC GENIUS SOCIETY.” As well, it provides some resources^[4]: “SENG RESOURCE LIBRARY,” “HIGH ABILITY,” “HIGLY SENSITIVE AND CREATIVE – RESOURCES,” “GRO-GIFTED,” “GIFTED SERVICES,” “HOAGIE’S GIFTED EDUCATION PAGE,” and “BEATRICE RESCAZZI WEBSITE.” Why these links? Why these resources?

Rescazzi: I thought about a visitor who is interested in the high IQ societies and wants to know more after visiting the AtlantIQ Society website. So I selected some different societies with different features that can provide a general view.

The second group of links instead, is more giftedness-oriented. These links may be helpful for those who aren’t sure if they have a high potential, for those who need support or just information about giftedness.

Jacobsen: “The Cemetery of the High IQ Societies”^[5] (2019h), another special quality of AtlantIQ Society. You talked a bit about this before. Can you expand on the ways in which this stared and developed, please?

Rescazzi: When I saw yet another dead link to a high IQ society, I decided to check them all and make a list. Some of them need to be remembered, some others maybe just needed to be buried: I like to see the feedback from other people. Sooner or later I will also update and publish a list I made of compromised IQ tests.

Jacobsen: How are these facets of AtlantIQ Society reflective of the varied interests, technical and creative, of its co-founder and current president?

Rescazzi: I am both cursed and blessed with a constant production of ideas and projects. It’s a curse because it’s impossible to complete all the things I wish to create, wich is frustrating. It’s a blessing because I realise that in the end, I do something good and this pushes me to do better.

My interests and hobbies are many so I can be a sort of “one man band”. In the case of the AtlantIQ Society, I made the website and its content, and manage the magazine. I dedicate a lot of time on the projects too. For the latest Genius At Work challenge, aside creating the project itself from the webpage to personal contribution of ideas, I also made a presentation video, and sang its background music too. I put a lot of passion in everything I do.

Jacobsen: Why did you originally pursue optometry and orthoptometry?

Rescazzi: When I was younger I was extremely undecided about the university course I would take. I would have liked to study everything. I have chosen this branch because it was among the things that interested me the most and that my local university offered: so I could also work while studying without wasting time traveling. In my specialization you can help many people to regain sight which for me is the most important sense. It is also based on physics, neurology, relies on computer science and advanced instruments, and is a branch in continuous development, which makes it very interesting.

Jacobsen: Why pursue the teaching of computer science to adults?

Rescazzi: I love computers: they are a wonderful tool for learning and creating. I think everybody should learn how to use them so to gain this advantage. The older generation didn’t have the opportunity to learn informatics. Once it happened that I could offer my competence for courses in my city, so in my spare time I became the teacher of students that in some cases were 80+ years old. I really enjoyed that time and see the satisfaction of my students becoming confident with a previously unknown technology.

Jacobsen: What have been some of the productions from developing robots, electronics, and learning how to build 3D printers and 3D print material objects?

Rescazzi: I rarely think in terms of productivity. Generally, I am driven by a huge curiosity and passion for learning and I don’t know what the path of my discoveries go. Anyway, it happens that my creations and ideas are sometimes useful, especially when I set such goal on purpose. Among my creations, I have a programmable fish feeder, a drawing device for children with brain palsy (made in collaboration with the mothers of the children), an off-the-grid, cheap Braille writing machine to be used in poor countries, a set of simple tools to write on a keyboard for those with disabilities, some microscopes, adapters for telescopes/cameras, customized face shields for healthcare professionals, plenty of spare parts and unique parts for restoration. My charity creations plus others, are all shared and given for free. I also have requests of special parts that I design and deliver, and it’s more fun than gain for me. I also participate in challenges involving 3D design, 3D print, architecture, space missions and charities.

Once this pandemic is gone, I am willing to bring one of my 3D printers to schools and library, and show to the kids how it works. I hope to inspire and spread some passion for the STEM topics.

Jacobsen: As you have described to me, your personal interests range far and wide including arts, astronomy, informatics, languages, science, space missions, technology, 2D and 3D drawing and design. What are some unifying threads of these interests?

Rescazzi: Being curious, I made this same question myself years ago, and I discovered that although common creativity is associated with the arts, when present at higher levels is an important part of intelligence and drives people to discover new things in many disciplines. That’s why, when a professional tests your creativity, you are not asked to paint, but to complete tasks that push your ability to co-activate parts of the brain that usually work separately. Having a sensorial synaesthesia includes having many neural connections that are not usually present in people, with naturally interconnected senses that allow a deeper perception of the world and a high level of creativity. Although it’s easy for me to reach a sensory overload which is tiring, I also crave for constant information. When I am diving into a topic, I want to follow all its connections with the other disciplines that can give me more information on the main topic. I further deepen more and more topics that I discovered along the path. It’s a neverending connection of information and once I reach enough expertise, I like to put together more disciplines together and invent, design and build whatever my mind suggests.

References

AtlantIQ Society. (2019e). AtlantIQ Society for UNICEF. Retrieved from http://www.atlantiqsociety.com/atlantiq-for-unicef.html.

AtlantIQ Society. (2019f). Downloads. Retrieved from http://www.atlantiqsociety.com/downloads.html.

AtlantIQ Society. (2019d). Genius at Work Challenge. Retrieved from http://www.atlantiqsociety.com/geniusatwork.html.

AtlantIQ Society. (2019b). Leonardo Magazine. Retrieved from http://www.atlantiqsociety.com/leonardo-magazine.html.

AtlantIQ Society. (2019c). Library. Retrieved from http://www.atlantiqsociety.com/library.html.

AtlantIQ Society. (2019a). Members. Retrieved from www.atlantiqsociety.com/members.html.

AtlantIQ Society. (2019h). Dead* Societies: The Cemetery of the High IQ Societies. Retrieved from www.atlantiqsociety.com/cemetery.html.

^[1] As of September 10, 2020, the listing stipulates the following members:

President and Vice President

Beatrice Rescazzi, Graham Powell

HONORARY MEMBERS & MEMBERS

Moreno Casalegno (Co-Founder)
Maria C. Faverio
Paul Freeman
Greg. A. Grove
Gaetano Morelli
Stan Riha
Vincenzo D’Onofrio
Giulio Zambon
Fernando Barbosa Neto
Alan J. Lee
Robert Birnbaum
Jacqueline Slade
Richard Stock
Greg Collins
Torbjørn Brenna
Noriyuki Sakurai
Zachary Timmons
Phil Elauria
Andrea Toffoli
Marios Prodromou
Duc Hong Le
Gianmarco Bartellone
Tommi Petteri Laiho
Michael Thrasher
José Gonzàles Molinero
Mick Pletcher
Richard Szary
José Serrano
Pamela Staschik-Neumann
Nuno Baptista
Adam Kisby
Andrea Gelmetti
Faisal Alfagham فيصل الفغم
Gustavo Fabbroni
Shaun Sullivan
Gerasimos Politis
Gavan Cushnan
Pietro Bonfigli
Djordje Rancic
Jon Scott Scharer
Roberto A. Rodriguez
Jesse Wilkins
Rajiv Kutty
Nomar Alexander Noroño Rodríguez
Scott Poh
Miroslaw Zajdel
Stephen Getzinger
Nancy Vanstone
Guillaume Chanteloup
Karin Lindgren
Gary Song
Lim Surya Tjahyadi
Paul Laurent
Eric Anthony Trowbridge
Niels Christoffers
Michelle Anne Bullas
Jeffrey Lee Graham
Tahawar Ali Khan
Yuri Tovar
Jason Oliver
Jarl Victor Bjørgan
Bradley Hutchinson
Donald M. Fell
Gwyneth Wesley Rolph
Vicente Lopez Pena
Rudolf Trubba
Barry Beanland
Morie Janine Hutchens
Keegan Ray McLoughlin
Hever Horacio Arreola Gutierrez
Michael Backer, Jr
Aman Bagaria
Selim Şumlu
David Gordon Little
Victor Hingsberg
Anthony Lawson
Beau D. Clemmons
R. K.
Alberto Bedmar Montaño
Paul Stuart Nachbar
Jim Lorrimore
Jakub Oblizajek
Gabriel Sambarino
Tony Lee Magee
Dorian Forget
Tom Högström
Elizabeth Anne Scott
Michael Donoho
Ernest Williamson III
Nicole Mathisen
Katarina Vestin
Christine Van Ngoc Ty
Jason Betts
Yu-Lin Lu
Nikolaos Solomos
Gracia Cornet
Richard Painter
Wyman Brantley
Yao Xu
Kevin James Daley
Stephen Maule
Birgit Scholz
Leif E. Ågesen
Mohammed Al Sahaf
Martin Murphy
Samuel Mack-Poole
Vuk Mircetic
Peter Radi
Marcin Kulik
Harold Ford
Thomas G. Hadley
Miguel Soto
Göran Åhlander
Evangelos Katsioulis
Anja Jaenicke
Roy Morris
Slava Lanush
Frank J. Ajello
Nicolò Pezzuti
James Dorsey
Massimo Caliaro
Michael Tedja
John Argenti
Therese Waneck
Bo Østergaard Nielsen
Sudarshan Murthy
Daniel Roca
Glikerios Soteriou
Kristina Thygesen
Miguel Jorge Castro Pinho
Tim G. Griffith
Claus Volko
Diego Iuliano
Elcon Fleur
Evan Tan
Dalibor Marinčić
Konstantinos Ntalachanis
Candy Chilton
Diego Fortunati
WeiJie Wang
Alessia Iancarelli
Cristian Vaccarella
Iakovos Koukas
Filippo De Donatis
Richard Ball
Zhida Iiu
R. Kent Ouimette
Marina Belli
Karim Serraj
Kim Sung-jin
Juman Lee
CHIANG LI CHING
Zhibin Zhang 张志彬
Andre Gangvik
Nikos Papadopoulos Παπαδόπουλος Νίκος
Jo Christopher M. Resquites
Ricky Chaggar
Félix Veilleux-Juillet
Michael Franklin
Michela Fadini
Fabrizio Fadini
Fabrizio Bertini
Cosimo Palma
Nobuo Yamashita 山下伸男
Cristian Combusti
Mostafa Moradi
Xiao-ming CAI 蔡晓明
Fabio Castagna
Robert Hodosi
Francisco Morais dos Santos
Cynthia L. Miller
Hongzhe Zhang 张鸿哲
Serena Ramos
Nguyen Tran Hoai Thuong Nguyễn Trần Hoài Thương
Giuseppe Corrente
Sergey Dundanov
Andrea Casolari
Anthony Brown
Veronica Palladino
Yohei Furutono
Francesco Carlomagno
Emanuele Gianmaria Possevini
Joseph Leslie Jennings
Robin Lucas
Rosario Alessio Ronca
Oliver Dammel
Javier Rio Santos
Sebastiao Borges Machado Junior
Agasi Pietro
Taddeucci Nicholas
Andre Massaro
Mika Korkeamäki
Tor Arne Jørgensen
Dario Casola
Federico Statiglio
Vincent Li 李宗泽
Jewoong Moon 문제웅
Annelie Oliver
Nitish Joshi
Christian Sorensen
Simon Olling Rebsdorf
Marzio Mezzanotte
Paolino Francesco Santaniello
Edwin P. Christmann
Nicos Gerasimou

MASCOTTE

Verbo The Robot

See AtlantIQ Society (2019a).

^[2] See AtlantIQ Society (2019b).

^[3] See AtlantIQ Society (2019g).

^[4] See Ibid.

^[5] The current listing circa September 10, 2020:

Alta Capacidad Hispana
Elateneo/s
BPIQ Society
Epida Society
Colloquy
ExactIQ
Tenth Society
Bright Minds Society
Greatest Minds Society
Vinci Society
Sigma
Sigma III
Sigma Society V
Hellenicus
UberIQ
IIS
OATHS
Ludomind
Pi Society
Platinum Society
Cerebrals
High Potentials Society
Mysterium Society
GLIA
Ingenium Society
LogIQ
Iquadrivium Society
Pars Society
UnIQ
HispanIQ International Society
Encefalica
OMIQAMI
Artistic Minds
MIQRO
GOTHIQ
EVANGELIQ Society
Episteme Club
PolitIQal Society
Secret High IQ Society
Chorium Society
Nano Society
IQual Society
PolymathIQ
Incognia
UltimaIQ
Neurocubo
Order of Imhotep
SophIQa
EliteIQ
Neutrino high IQ Society
Atheistiq Society
Noetiqus Society
Evolutioniq Society
EPL Society
The Athenian Society
Supernova Society
Intellectually Gifted with Disabilities
Orison-B High IQ Society
Icon High IQ Society
Thinkiq
Hypatian Society
Chaos IQ Society

*Or in an apparent coma for more than 5 years.

See AtlantIQ Society (2019h).

Appendix I: Footnotes

[1] President, AtlantIQ Society.

[2] Individual Publication Date: November 15, 2020: http://www.in-sightjournal.com/rescazzi-3; Full Issue Publication Date: January 1, 2021: https://in-sightjournal.com/insight-issues/.

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2023-03-24

Conversation with Bîrlea Cristian on Childhood, Philosophy, Test Scores, and Changing Values with Age: Member, World Genius Directory (1)

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

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

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2020/11/08

Abstract

Bîrlea Cristian is a Member of the World Genius Directory. He discusses: growing up; an extended self; the family background; experience with peers; some professional certifications; the purpose of intelligence tests; high intelligence; some reactions; the geniuses of the past; the greatest geniuses in history; the greatest geniuses alive today; profound intelligence necessary for genius; genius; genius manifested in different periods; some work experiences and jobs; job path; some of the more important aspects of the idea of the gifted and geniuses; thoughts on the God concept or gods idea; science; theology; some of the tests taken and scores earned (with standard deviations); the range of the scores; social philosophy; economic philosophy; political philosophy; ethical philosophy; worldview-encompassing philosophical system; and meaning in life.

Keywords: Bîrlea Cristian, genius, intelligence, IQ, life, World Genius Directory.

Conversation with Bîrlea Cristian on Childhood, Philosophy, Test Scores, and Changing Values with Age: Member, World Genius Directory (1)

*Updated March 25, 2025.*

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

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

Bîrlea Cristian: As a child, I was very close to my grandfather, whose ideas and stories influenced me as a person in the whole life. He didn’t get to finish the school, he had finished only the middle school, but being a hard worker and due to his fairness, he got to be a very respected man in the society that he lived in.

The war left deep psychological scars on him; I still remember his stories about World War II, he was between the line of life and death many times. Once he got sick of hepatitis due to miserable conditions of the war and he treated himself eating nothing else but tomatoes for a week.

He was a strong man but very kind. Another story that he told me was that once he had to hide in a building that was bombarded for several days, to stay quiet not to be discovered by the enemies, waiting for reinforcements. In the army his job was to transmit information, even when he was old, he knew the Morse code very well and he was good at arithmetic. In the attic of the house, he always had a bag of flour, only the ones that endured those times’ hunger would know why.

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

Cristian: As the psychologists say, how we live our childhood is very important, many of an adult’s troubles have root in the childhood. I can say that I had a beautiful childhood, both my parents and grandparents were with me in both good and bad times and they supported in everything they could.

I grew up in a simple and humble family, I was never pretentious, I didn’t use to complain a lot and I were very independent with the matters I could, I always tried to solve my own problems alone, without help.

The ideas, stories and role models taken over by me certainly made me the man I am today, both good and bad. Most certainly my subconscious identified my grandfather as a role model; we all try to identify someone as a role model, consciously or unconsciously, for me he was a family man, a distinguished and special person.

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

Cristian: I was born in 1971, in the northwestern Romania, in Satu Mare. I grew up in a rural area, near the Ukrainian border. I was born in a multiethnic family; the father of my mother was Hungarian, and her mother was Ukrainian. My father’s father was Romanian, an intellectual of those times. You can say a good part of Eastern Europe was combined in my blood, a real ‘cocktail’.

My father was a math teacher and my mother a hairstylist, nowadays my father is no longer with us and my mother retired, I am still very close to her. I’d say my intelligence I inherited from my paternal line, both my father and grandfather were very intelligent people; from my mother I inherited my artistic side that helped me a lot in the work I do.

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

Cristian: I remember with pleasure the school years, I liked going to school to meet new people and socialize with them. Although I’m more introverted, I always enjoyed being with people and I succeeded in overcoming my native shyness.

In high school I had some good friends that we were inseparable; being pretty friendly, I got along with my peers on any occasion. Doing the middle school in a rural area, in my first year of high school I was shocked of the difference between the rural educational system and the urban one. My schoolmates were a lot better educated and prepared than me. I rose above the expectations quickly and I didn’t feel the pressure I felt at the beginning anymore. Romania of those times (1986) had one of the most performant educational systems of the world, especially in STEM.

Jacobsen: What have been some professional certifications, qualifications, and trainings earned by you?

Cristian: Although I was a lazy student, in the last year of high school I stepped up and I was admitted to college. In 1995 I finished my degree in engineering in Timisoara and some years later I enrolled myself for a master’s degree in applied computer science where I finished with the best grade possible, just me and other one student achieved this performance.

The moment I had my hands on my first PC, I couldn’t give it up and I developed my career in IT, in 1997 I funded my company, CLASSOFT, whose manager I still am today. Together with my colleagues we focused on the ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) domain type of apps. Our apps were awarded and recognized by the people, but the biggest achievement we managed to do is succeeding in having a portfolio of stable and satisfied customers.

Jacobsen: What is the purpose of intelligence tests to you, as in individual pursuit of taking a test or few (or more)?

Cristian: I never took very seriously the intelligence tests; they were more like some kind of a game. At college I got to be more competitive, to test and find my limits. I like small ‘competitions’ with my colleagues on IQ forums, there are a lot of great people there, some with incredible intelligence (one of a million or even more rare). These tests have a playful purpose, even though I always use them professionally when I employ new people, they never failed.

Jacobsen: When was high intelligence discovered for you?

Cristian: My first ever intelligence test I did was at the end of college, when I was recruited in the army. There used to be a totalitarian system at the time, the last year of communism in Romania, with some compulsory army time.

Initially I did not know the purpose of the test, there were some lines and signs arranged on a 3v3 matrix, never seen something like that until then, but they were easy to solve, you had to do overlays and rotations on the matrix.

I managed to solve it intuitively, now I know it was some kind of old Raven test. The scores were not shared, but once one of my superiors granted me access to my military files and I saw my score, it was a very good score, higher than a lot of my colleagues’. The score didn’t have a meaning for me, but I felt that officer that let me see my files was behaving different with me; he let me lead different kind of activities, I felt that he trusted me.

Jacobsen: What were some reactions to it, when known and when not known?

Cristian: I saw my life the same as before. At school I wasn’t the nerdy kind of student, I wasn’t the best, but I was pretty good at math and physics. Even though my teacher tried to make me learn more, I always rebelled, the math asked too much supplementary work which I didn’t agree to; being very young it didn’t matter to me, some possible awards that meant nothing to me.

Back then my competitiveness wasn’t present, so I lived my life like any other teenager, I was interested in working out and chasing girls, I had a lot of fun and I don’t regret it. In my opinion the youth should be lived to the fullest, you can never relive this wonderful period of your life. So, returning to the point, I tried to be like any other ordinary teenager and young man, I didn’t know much about intelligence.

Cristian: Any system tends to have a state of equilibrium, along our history geniuses perturbed this state of equilibrium with the revolutionary ideas. Instinctively people reject anything that is different, new or what they don’t understand, anything that exceeds their comfort zone; the new is most of the times a factor of stress. Nothing has changed today, but aforetime it was way worse than today. Along history changes were never done in a quick manner, only by spill of blood. Geniuses have always been an anomaly of the system, only one in 30000 has an IQ of 160 (SD 15), therefore statistically an anomaly.

Being a great cinephile, I don’t know if you noticed, but the Hollywood has some part of the blame by the demonization of geniuses, in many movies the scientist is portraited as a villain, with a negative role. The brilliant man has business with the terrorists, with other villains that pay him and at the end of the movie the planet will be saved by a simple, ordinary man, for instance Bruce Willis. The movie industry is a big business, each year it brings a revenue of 40 billion dollars, therefore the standard consumer that pays the ticket wants to see Bruce saving the planet.

We know that in the real life it is different, any time our planet suffered, brilliant scientists came with a solution. I can’t lie that all the geniuses had a positive effect on the planet, some hurt it unwillingly, sometimes they had some pathologies that pushed them to do it.

Back to the movies, unwillingly they influence our subconscious, our opinions, and thoughts. In my opinion there should be more movies that promote positive ideas about gifted people whose ideas led the world forward.

If you don’t believe me, there are a lot of people with high IQ that hide their score like a secret, feeling some kind of shame not to be considered gifted and a fear of being rejected, some of them revealing themselves only in restricted environments with peers like them. If you want to take part of a system you have homogenize with it, the ordinary person has it hard to accept that someone else might be smarter than him.

But the IQ score shouldn’t be a reason to brag about, we all should be humble with each other, it’s better for everyone, especially for you as a genius.

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

Cristian: This question needs several pages for a complete answer, I would nominate the most important genius personalities that succeeded in moving the world forward:

Politics: Caius Julius Caesar Augustus was one of the most important leaders in the history. Augustus succeeded in not becoming a tyrant, the power didn’t corrupt him and worked 42 years in making Rome the most important city in the world.

Science: Isaac Newton, he is the scientist found at the origin of the theories that would revolutionize the science, in the fields of optics, mathematics and especially mechanics.

Philosophy: Aristotle, modern philosophy is based on his methods and principles. His legacy consists in theories related to anything, biology, ethics, logics, politics, poetry, and physics.

Literature: William Shakespeare, a complete writer in poetry, prose, fiction, non-fiction.

Modern physics: Albert Einstein, when we think of geniuses for most of us he is the first one we can think of; he had a very high IQ, gifted with a creativity hard to match even to this day. Together with Archimedes, they are on the list of the greatest mathematicians. Einstein revolutionized every branch of physics.

Inventions: Leonardo da Vinci, it is enough to say about him that he invented the robot precursor and the first working parachute. He almost invented the helicopter; he just needed a motor powerful enough to keep it flying.

Geometry: Archimedes was in the top of the best four mathematicians, but his applications in geometry were the ones that assigned his place in the top. He discovered the fundamental principle of hydrostatics that laid the foundation of hydrostatics in two volumes, Periton ochumenon. About this discovery is cited the famous exclamation “Eureka!” (“I found”, in modern Greek εύρηκα, evrika).

In my youth I used to read a lot about the thoughts of Lao Tzu, the founder of Taoism. In retrospection, I think his ideas influenced a lot of my actions.

Jacobsen: Who seem like the greatest geniuses alive today to you?

Cristian: It’s hard to define what it takes to be the greatest genius. If you narrow it to the IQ score, you will find the answer in the World Genius Directory Geniuses (WGD), in which I take part; but I think most of the geniuses have never taken an IQ test, but with their work they made the world a better place.

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

In 1983 an American developmental psychologist Howard Gardener described 9 types of intelligence:

Naturalist (nature smart)

Musical (sound smart)

Logical-mathematical (number/reasoning smart)

Existential (life smart)

Interpersonal (people smart)

Bodily-kinesthetic (body smart)

Linguistic (word smart)

Intra-personal (self smart)

Spatial (picture smart)

At many of these types of intelligence, the genius is hard or even impossible to be measured by an IQ test. I consider that the intelligent people who by their creativity they are capable of achieving wonderful things, they earn the title of being a profoundly intelligent person; this is just my opinion, a lot of psychologists or experts of creating IQ test will say that I’m wrong.

Jacobsen: Is profound intelligence necessary for genius?

Cristian: As I said earlier, I consider the notion of genius to be a straight technical one. By some definitions, an IQ score higher than 140 (SD 15) is considered to be corelated to a genius. To express myself more mathematically, the set of profoundly intelligent people are a subset of the set of geniuses, the reciprocal is not always true.

Jacobsen: What traits seem to comprise genius?

Cristian: Stephen Hawking once said: “Intelligence is the ability to adapt to change”. I consider that adaptivity is one of the main traits of an intelligent person; also, other features would be: sensibility, enthusiasm, energy, courage, humor, persuasion, patience, perfectionism, versatility, idealism, sometime laziness…

Jacobsen: How has genius manifested in different periods of history and on different regions, and cultures, of the world in personal opinion?

Cristian: The geniuses showed their presence since the earliest times. Their ideas led to the development of their societies they lived in, not a few times these ideas being considered draconian, the geniuses paid with their lives. Besides the great discoveries without which the today’s society wouldn’t be what it is, the contribution brought to the universal culture was great. The great thinkers created new movements based on which the civilizations rose from more primitive eras. Many of the geniuses that acted in the military theaters of history have changed the course of history by their tactical skills.

Jacobsen: What have been some work experiences and jobs held by you?

Cristian: Since the beginning of my career I worked in the IT domain, one that fit me like a glove. As I wanted to follow my ideas, not others’, in 1997 I founded my company, Classoft, whose manager I still am today. I consider that IT put my creativity to work, it being an ideal job for me.

Jacobsen: Why pursue this particular job path?

Cristian: For me, IT was something natural, nothing forced, I gained many good results and satisfactions from my work. I think that it’s really important to love your job, it’s the only way to have good results. In this line of work, you can find a lot of smart people; also, it is in a permanent state of change, your mind is always used.

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?

Cristian: I find that brilliant people don’t want to be found different socially from the majority of population, they don’t want to be treated and seen as a freak, they have the same feelings, fears and joys as the other people, they want to take part of the society and they are happy if their merits are recognized.

Most of them do things for the society, even though they might seem sometimes selfish, but they dedicate a lot of time studying and they don’t have time left for other interactions; although if someone has the curiosity to pay more attention to their actions, they will find they are kind and involved people.

Unfortunately, a lot of geniuses suffer some kind of high functional autism, Asperger syndrome, therefore they might have different social and adaptation troubles. Asperger syndrome, also called the genius syndrome, would have been diagnosed today to many of famous geniuses like: Albert Einstein, Amadeus Mozart, Sir Isaac Newton, Charles Darwin, Thomas Jefferson, Michelangelo, Lewis Carroll, Ludwig Wittgenstein, Stanley Kubrick, James Joyce, Nikola Tesla.

Some scientists consider that autism is some kind of mutation, one necessary in the evolution of humans, the fact that this mutation is getting more frequent today might not be a bad thing, it means that the nature changes the way of us to be, updates us, experimenting on us. For a lot of time, autism has been considered to be a mental retardation.

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

Cristian: I’ve read the Bible and I believe in the concept of God, but not the politics made in the name of God, there have been a lot of wars and misery made in his name, the history has a lot of examples for this. I don’t believe God would agree to all these manipulations. I believe that good deeds are made by the people that have a part of God in them. I find myself in the words of Robert G. Ingersoll: “The hands that help are better far than lips that pray”.

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

Cristian: Being a technical person, an engineer and a programmer, I see the science present everywhere I look. I analyze it often in all the parameters I’ve learned at university. I consider it wrong to become science fundamentalists, we must always find our bond with mother nature.

Unfortunately, a lot of young people don’t experience the primary sensations offered by nature; the virtual world kidnaps their mind more and more.

Jacobsen: How much does theology play into the world for you?

Cristian: I enjoyed reading the history of religions, to understand certain things from history. Being more rational, I couldn’t ignore the many contradictions I’ve found, that to a lot I haven’t found an answer to this day. There is a saying “trust and do not research”, for someone living in the world of numbers it’s impossible to apply to.

I have to admit, I rarely go to the church, also I believe that you can find God in many other places and many other ways. It makes me sad to see how the religious difference can divide people in a radical way.

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

Cristian: The highest IQ scores I’ve scored at some famous tests are:

Progressive Matrix Analysis (PMA-32_2E) by Alexi Edin – IQ 163 SD 15

Strict Logic Sequences Examination 1 by Jonathan Wai – IQ 160 SD 15

LSHR Light by Ivan Ivec – IQ 160 SD 15

CFIT32 – Culture-Fair-Test 32 – IQ 160 SD 15

LABCUB and CUBE – ambele de by Hans Sjöberg – IQ 160 SD 15

Numerus Light by Ivan Ivec – IQ 158 SD 15

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.

Cristian: A good website for IQ tests is iqexams.net, specialists there developed a statistical method to approximate the IQ of a person, they called it Real IQ. Website’s analysts have succeeded in calculating in a professional manner this Real IQ (RIQ) based on thousands of tests done there. Me personally I’ve taken many tests there, after taking 18 tests with a total of 550 questions, my RIQ is 159 SD 15, it’s very close to the result of famous tests.

Jacobsen: What social philosophy makes some sense, even the most workable sense to you?

Cristian: I’ve always liked on of Kurt Lewin’s quote: “There is nothing better so practical as good as a theory”. He promoted the idea of applying scientific methods in the fundamental social psychology, but too few social psychologists have applied the method after the dying on Kurt. Most of them tried to develop new theories instead of searching solutions in the real world. It seems in the end, in our days, his method to be the winner one, which is closer to my way of thinking.

Jacobsen: What economic philosophy makes some sense, even the most workable sense to you?

Cristian: Being a businessman, I believe in the free market, as long as they are in an equilibrium with fitting social politics. I like the term “perfect competition”, which is a model of economic theory. This model describes a hypothetical market in which no producer or consumer doesn’t have the power to influence market prices. This would lead to an efficient outcome, considering the standard definition of economy.

Jacobsen: What political philosophy makes some sense, even the most workable sense to you?

Cristian: I’m not an expert in the matter, but I agree to the fullest with this quote of Franklin D. Roosevelt: “Democracy cannot succeed unless those who express their choice are prepared to choose wisely. The real safeguard of democracy, therefore, is education”.

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

Cristian: I’ve always liked Aristotle’s ideas; he promoted an ethical system that could be called virtuous. He believed a person acts according to his virtue. Misery and frustration are caused by mistakes, leading to failed objectives and a weak life. Happiness should be the end goal of our action and this can be obtained by practicing virtue.

Jacobsen: What worldview-encompassing philosophical system makes some sense, even the most workable sense to you?

Cristian: When I was younger, at university’s library I searched for books containing quotes of the great Chinese thinker, Lao Tzu’s, that were filled with wisdom for my mind that was thirsty for new information. Here is one of those quotes, one that will also answer your question:

“Knowing others is intelligence;

knowing yourself is true wisdom.

Mastering others is strength;

mastering yourself is true power.”

― Lao Tzu, Tao Te Ching

Jacobsen: What provides meaning in life for you?

Cristian: With time passing I’ve changed a lot the way I think about this matter. A while ago I was channeling my ambition towards my own personal development, I worked a lot for my company, my family, my ideas which were sometimes too materialistic. I became more and more competitive, not a bad thing, but sometimes I forgot about other important things that mattered to me; sometimes I lost focus on the special people surrounding me.

I can say that the first wave of pandemic this year brought me something positive, I know that for many people it brought suffering. After many years of work, I had time once again for my own thoughts, for meditation.

Today my meaning of life is the sum of simple things, sometimes trivial, in these quiet weeks I returned to the things I enjoyed in my childhood. I began rediscovering nature, with all my feelings, the pleasure of a summer day, a beautiful day fishing with my wife and kids, I began analyzing deeper the people surrounding me with their needs and wishes. Maybe this pandemic was put in our way with a purpose, a revenge of nature, a break that put us in a slower speed towards our chase to nowhere. I consider that in life the most important thing is to find the state of equilibrium and happiness that we all want.

Appendix I: Footnotes

[1] Member, World Genius Directory.

[2] Individual Publication Date: November 8, 2020: http://www.in-sightjournal.com/cristian-1; Full Issue Publication Date: January 1, 2021: https://in-sightjournal.com/insight-issues/.

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Copyright

2023-03-24

Conversation with Gernot Feichter on Background and Qualifications, Geniuses and Intelligence, Science and Theology, and Meaning in Life: Member, World Genius Directory (1)

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

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

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2020/11/01

Abstract

Gernot Feichter is a Member of the World Genius Directory. He discusses: growing up; a sense of an extended self; the family background; the experience with peers and schoolmates; some professional certifications; the purpose of intelligence tests; high intelligence; some reactions; the geniuses of the past; the greatest geniuses in history; the greatest geniuses alive today; a genius from a profoundly intelligent person; profound intelligence necessary for genius; genius; genius manifested in different periods of history; some work experiences and jobs; particular job path; some of the more important aspects of the idea of the gifted and geniuses; thoughts on the God concept; science; theology; tests taken and scores earned (with standard deviations); the range of the scores; social philosophy; economic philosophy; political philosophy; ethical philosophy; worldview-encompassing philosophical system; meaning in life.

Keywords: Gernot Feichter, meaning, Paul Cooijmans, philosophy, World Genius Directory.

Conversation with Gernot Feichter on Background and Qualifications, Geniuses and Intelligence, Science and Theology, and Meaning in Life: Member, World Genius Directory (1)

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

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

Gernot Feichter: My grandfather survived as the sole person of his division in a massacre in Finland during WWII by hiding under a fallen companion. The maneuver was a severe tactical error as the opponent had a good opportunity to defend the attack while risking little. He also froze his toes, became promoted and then, during the final stages of the war, capitulated with his group to the Italian side and was imprisoned. It was after the war, when he produced his offspring. Had he not survived, part of my family branch including myself would not have ever existed.

Also my grandmother had difficult times, she grew up in an orphanage as her mother could not come up with the cost of raising her and was given to a farm as a child and frequently had to work instead of going to school.

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

Feichter: Indeed, it is the reason that I provide some donations to institutions that are helping others, especially children who obviously possess the lowest means of helping themselves.

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

Feichter: A classical Austrian background I would say. Two of my grandparents owned a farm, while my other grandfather was working in the wood industry and my grandmother worked as a cleaning lady in a local school. They all stem from small villages in Northern Styria, Austria, where I also grew up. Obviously, their modest background governed their modest personality as well. Besides their apparent modesty, their achievements should also not be underestimated. For example, one of my grandfathers took part in co-founding a local bank which still exists today. Also my other grandfather was part of the communal council and it was quite amusing to read in how articulate ways he complained about things, which he was well known for. Almost all of my grandparents were strictly religious Roman Catholics, except for the community rebel, to whom you may also associate the war story above.

My parents could be described as enrolled sceptics in the same church. While my father almost worked his whole life in the bank that was co-founded by his father, my mother worked for a short period in a shoe production facility, as waiter, maid and most time as housewife and later nursed my grandmother.

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

Feichter: I would describe it as quite ordinary childhood with friendships, also a period with broken or abandoned friendships. But this was during the teenage years, now I feel fine with anyone again. Usually I played a passive role. For example, it was common in my youth to be either a skater or a raver. So I did associate myself to the skaters but I would never come up with such things myself. Also I would usually not ask for others to go out, but I would be asked and say “yes”. I feel like I only had what people would call “a life” because my friends took me with them. My nature would be a meditative or philosophical one and there were too many things to think of, always.

In general school was a more annoying experience for me. Also, I found myself to be insecure and nervous when having to speak in front of a group. I was pretty lucky with my direct school mates, in parallel classes there were some bullies and in some lessons we would be in the same class with them.

While I did not leave out anything to be done as a teenager, I worked towards reducing those ‘lower’ activities to minimum. As an adolescent I followed my intuition to deepen my meditation, living a self-chosen withdrawn life as normal people would call it.

Jacobsen: What have been some professional certifications, qualifications, and training earned by you?

Feichter: I own a bachelor’s degree in Information Management from the University of Applied Sciences in Graz. Through my profession I also did a Java Specialist Mastercourse, Spring and Kubernetes training and a Google Cloud Associate certification.

Jacobsen: What is the purpose of intelligence tests to you, as in individual pursuit of taking a test or few (or more)?

Feichter: Admittedly, when taking the first test I just wanted to show off how smart I am, whatever opportunities this would open for me. However, as my scores were lower than I expected, it was a great teacher of modesty to me. In some sense I am a born megalomaniac testing out his limits which causes people to characterise me as extreme and weird. That being said, I was the highest scorer on “Common Sense” from Patrick Zimmerschied at the time of submission as well as on “Numerix” from Jason Betts. I do not know if those scores were beaten yet.

Knowing my strengths and limits is one of my key takeaway messages from this pursuit.

Jacobsen: When was high intelligence discovered for you?

Feichter: I was able to walk at an extremely early age and was able to get into a sandbox that some less agile children could not even do despite being over a year older. Apart from this early sign, which does not even seem to be that much related to intelligence, nothing was discovered or confirmed till I took those untimed high range iq tests at the age of 24 and later.

Jacobsen: What were some reactions to it, when known and when not known?

Feichter: As indicated, initially I was disappointed by expecting a higher score, but in the long run I am happy with all I have. Apart from my own reactions and this interview request, there were absolutely no external reactions at all. I shall also state that I am not unhappy about that. I would not like it if people treated me differently if they knew I had a high IQ score.

Feichter: I think that fear is the main driver behind most conscious aggressions against geniuses. For example, the Roman Catholic Church murdered many geniuses officially for heresy. They obviously did not even follow their own books teachings that one shall not kill but self-invented reasons for such violence. Behind the scenes they might have been afraid that different world views than their own would become popular and therefore their power could be lost. So they set out gruesome signs to prevent others from messing with them. For the less violent mockery of geniuses that might have always happened I also identify fear as root cause. Evolution can be thought of as a competitive process and it is typically not welcomed when a new tough competitor enters the field. Every opportunity will be taken advantage of to diminish the opponent.

Some geniuses seem to prefer stable conditions which they cultivated during their lives. When they were suddenly exposed to the public their life might change drastically and I think those that shy the public would not like this. Also the awareness of the violence aspect discussed earlier might play a role here. There might be a reason why prominent people typically have a crew of bodyguards.

In general however, I feel like most geniuses are grasping for attention and appreciation and only the top guys would achieve that. Furthermore, not even they would gather any mentionable exposure compared to the people that are commonly referred to as stars and might not be geniuses.

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

Feichter: If the miraculous bible stories or that of other ancient scriptures are true and are to be interpreted wordly, then those characters.

Otherwise I would nominate the inventor of the wheel, Tesla, Newton, Einstein and Babbage, but this is silly. I do not like to elevate some and not mention many others that made great contributions. To add, my information is limited and I am not a historian.

Jacobsen: Who seem like the greatest geniuses alive today to you?

Feichter: To clarify, in the previous questions I used the following formula: genius = theoretical brilliance * practical use. In this category there would be too many similar scores today, and no adequate list of truly outstanding persons could be compiled. Many might think now: What, he does not even count this and that person as outstanding? Sry, this is not a list of influential businessmen and I consider the intelligence aspect in their activities too small to stand out.

Hence, for this question I focus on the theoretical brilliance exclusively: I acknowledge Grigori Perelman due to the fact that he was the only person so far who provided an approved solution for one of the Millennium Prize Problems. To solve such a problem that was first elected as being especially hard to crack gained my respect. That being said, I also partook in the insanity of trying such. While I have also published a proof for one of those problems, the P vs NP problem, it is not acknowledged by any authority, at least not yet.

Sorry for the high range iq community, but I will not mention anyone of them here. The reason is simple – I do not have insight to verify the validity of the tests and the answers thereof. The difference of expected scores vs actual scores contributes to a natural distrust. Also, why do I hold a record on test X but am average on test Y. Did not similar leveled persons take both tests?

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

Feichter: The definition of genius varies. Generally, the more intelligent a person is, the greater the genius, but there seems to be a consensus that only for IQs higher than ~140-160 the word genius shall be used.

In other definitions, there is also the mention of a manifestation in creative activity. That is why I formulated the equation for genius to include both components in the previous question. Our intelligence evolved in this world we are living, so should not we use it for real world scenarios? In general I prefer this pragmatic definition.

Jacobsen: Is profound intelligence necessary for genius?

Feichter: Yes, per strict definition. On the other hand one could think of art geniuses as lying outside of the definition of regular geniuses and for them intelligence might not be as relevant.

Jacobsen: What traits seem to comprise genius?

Feichter: Flexible, curious, open, self-sufficient, controlled, sensitive, passionate, perfectionistic, dissatisfied, restless, focused and humorous.

Jacobsen: How has genius manifested in different periods of history and on different regions, and cultures, of the world in personal opinion?

Feichter: I think that at the moment when geniuses manifest in a civilisation, this is indicative of a high level of development. The output of such ripe civilisations can be seen in all aspects of human living, like buildings, art, science and technology. Ancient Egypt, Greece and Rome are famous examples thereof. On the other hand we also see much later civilisations which are not famous for a high grade of development. It seems that only if conditions are right, high advancements are possible.

Jacobsen: What have been some work experiences and jobs held by you?

Feichter: Apart from some “primitive” short-term jobs as a student, I spent the majority of my professional life in a major technology consulting company. I worked there till the current moment as a Software Developer, Cloud-, DevOps- and Automation-Engineer. As you can see, there are many fancy words in IT describing quite similar things.

Jacobsen: Why pursue this particular job path?

Feichter: My interest in software programming arose in my youth when my father bought the first PC. I was curious how this stuff would work behind the scenes, hence I even studied in this field. In this industry, there is no rest. New technologies, frameworks and methodologies are popping out every day, the only constant is change. This is a perfect environment to keep being challenged. To add, I work with people that are similar freaks like myself.

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?

Feichter: The main myth which I am aware of is that geniuses must skip grades in school and be high academics. Rick Rosner even seems having taken much longer in high school by choice. My personal story to this topic is the following: As soon as I entered school after kindergarten and handed in my daily voluntary extra task that my teacher announced would provide extra points, I noticed she started rolling her eyes. From this reaction I concluded that my extra ambition is not appreciated and I turned down my scholastic efforts to a minimum. I hardly learned anything extra outside the school lessons, even for exams, and I did only the required homework which I admittedly sometimes even copied. Nevertheless, the higher the education, the harder it was to get through, so in university I actually had to put in some effort and I was actually quite motivated as some subjects were really interesting to me. While my grades were always mediocre I could even finish my studies with distinction, something that was unheard of both for me and my peers.

There existed a great number of autodidactic geniuses in the past and today many geniuses work in jobs that are way below their ability level.

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

Feichter: In my quest of truth seeking throughout life I stumbled across Walter Russel’s idea that a god could not create something better than himself. Well, how could one be more mighty than an almighty one? Also, he could not create something less than himself, as then his creation would not stand up to his standards. I find this reasonable and therefore truly believe in a higher form of existence, god if you will. We are incomplete beings striving for completeness, so to speak.

After all, if what is currently known by the general population was everything there is, then I would see no purpose in life, missing an opportunity for individual advancement.

If Russel’s perception is true, it could be ridiculed that people are afraid of artificial intelligence becoming a threat to humanity as this would imply that they believe they could create something more intelligent or powerful than themselves at a given moment, which would be impossible.

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

Feichter: The scientific method was an important invention by one of my favourite geniuses to advance human population counts and the quality of lives drastically and quickly. It fulfilled its purpose already. To complete the quest of further human advancement I believe that a different kind of science will need to re-appear and become popular again.

Jacobsen: How much does theology play into the world for you?

Feichter: On one hand theological content is a great inspiration, but my rational mind focuses on what can currently be verified empirically. Nevertheless, as Godel’s incompleteness theorem shows that logical reasoning has its own limits, we might need different methods to advance further.

After all, thinking is only one aspect of the mind, feeling the other. Do you agree that we can describe any of your life’s situations with those two aspects? Swedenborgs book titled “Divine Love and Wisdom”, the highest form of feeling and thinking so to speak, might cover those aspects not by accident.

I agree with another spiritual scripture, but unfortunately I lost the source that stated that it was planned that only a distant memory of gods shall exist. That is exactly how I perceive theology: distant but inspiring.

Also I think that most spiritual texts are somewhat obfuscated and to be read in a certain way to be understood. The difficulty of breaking the code might be part of the game.

I mix theology, spiritualism and philosophy maybe a little too much here but essentially I consider those topics not too far apart.

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

Feichter: All of my test scores have a standard deviation of 15:

Common Sense by Patrick Zimmerschied: 163
World Intelligence Test by Jason Betts: 163
The Alchemist Test by Paul Cooijmans: 162
Einplex by Ivan Ivec: 162
Lux25 by Jason Betts: 157
Reason Behind Multiple-Choice by Paul Cooijmans: 155
Mathema by Jason Betts: 154
World I.Q. Challenge by Brennan Martin: 154
Asterix by Jason Betts: 153
Cartoons of Shock by Paul Cooijmans: 152
LSHR Light by Ivan Ivec: 149
Numerus Light by Ivan Ivec: 148,5
Test For Genius – Revision 2016 – Numerical and Spatial sections by Paul Cooijmans: 148
Test of the Beheaded Man by Paul Cooijmans: 143
Triplex Light by Ivan Ivec: 133

Jacobsen: What is the range of the scores for you? The scores earned on alternative intelligence tests tend to produce a wide scattering of data points rather than clusters, typically.
Feichter: My test results range from 133 to 163, that is 30 IQ points or two standard deviations. As you indicated, quite a lot.

Jacobsen: What social philosophy makes some sense, even the most workable sense to you?

Feichter: I like the theory of justice by John Rawls which proposes that fair social systems could be designed if one would not know which role in that society one would have to play. Aside, I speculate that the free market achieves the same goal through supply and demand.

Jacobsen: What economic philosophy makes some sense, even the most workable sense to you?

Feichter: As indicated previously, I appreciate the free market theory by Adam Smith. Generally, I consider the economy too dynamic to be regulated by static systems, such that dynamic auto-regulating mechanisms may outperform those. Conversely, I believe that the free market is what happens naturally over the long run, so the free market theory merely describes the underlying phenomenon.

Despite that, I think that the role of the economy is to fulfill the material requirements of a population and the current systems of maybe not entirely free, but largely, free markets are functioning fine. It may suffer some hic-ups from time to time, but this seems to be part of any complex system, including humans, for example.

Jacobsen: What political philosophy makes some sense, even the most workable sense to you?

Feichter: As I believe that humans basically strive for higher levels of freedom, I think that politics role is to allow the fulfillment of this urge for the reigned population as fair as possible. Isaiah Berlin’s idea of negative and especially positive liberty may cover this concept best. I view negative liberty, like Charles Taylor, as enabler for positive liberty.

Besides this political quackery and finger pointing that starts as soon as even a minor issue pops up, I would urge people to look into themselves first. Oftentimes, the real culprit may sit closer than even the closest neighbour.

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

Feichter: Jean-Jacques Rousseau’s idea that morality is an innate, un-learned human attribute, seems reasonable to me. I guess we all know the feeling when we broke our own ethical standards. The regrets and ruminations that come up when having done so. Hence, even the punishment mechanism seems to be innate.

One might argue that the world is too bad and this shows that morality is not innate. I would disagree in a sense that we have the – at least perceivably – freedom of will to act in line with or against our own morals.

Typically, I would argue, the more painful the outcome of a decision would be for ourselves vs others, the higher the likelihood that we decide in a way to shift our pain to someone else, if the opportunity is given, and thereby we break our moral rules. Therefore, to be the most ethical being, ultimate self-sacrifice might be required.

Ethics in general seems like one of the highest virtues to me. At least it seems to be operating significantly above the animalistic and survival mode.

Jacobsen: What worldview-encompassing philosophical system makes some sense, even the most workable sense to you?

Feichter: This answer requires a little debauchery.

Intuitively I thought that philosophy or rationality is the way to explain the world. But I came to the conclusion that there is some crux here. For example, it would be most rational for me if nothing had ever been and nothing would ever be. But the very fact that I am typing here contradicts this rationality. Also I noticed that many questions boil down to the big unanswered questions, like “What is the purpose of life?” and furthermore I want to remind that I stumbled across Godel’s incompleteness theorem. Essentially I came to the same conclusion like Socrates or Goethe characterized as Faust: “I know that I do not know anything”. This rational shock essentially leaves the important questions open and tells that they seem to be impossibly solved by thinking.

I forcefully conclude that if I do not know or cannot know some things from my limited perspective, a wiser entity must have set up this world and eventually knows everything better. A fallback from rationality to feeling mode so to speak. Your heartbeat surely does not depend on my rational insight thereof and still it seems to be working fine. This natural trust is calming and leads me to answer your question with: Theism. A more detailed elaboration on my view on Theism is already provided in my answer regarding theology.

Jacobsen: What provides meaning in life for you?

Feichter: To find truth, for I believe only the truth shall set us free.

Appendix I: Footnotes

[1] Member, World Genius Directory.

[2] Individual Publication Date: November 1, 2020: http://www.in-sightjournal.com/feichter-1; Full Issue Publication Date: January 1, 2021: https://in-sightjournal.com/insight-issues/.

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2023-03-24

Conversation with Anonymous Canadian High-IQ Community Member on eSports, STEM, International Chinese Students, and Overcoming the Fear of Failure: Member, International Society for Philosophical Enquiry (4)

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

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

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2020/11/01

Abstract

This is an interview with an anonymous Canadian member of the high-IQ communities. He discusses: “STEM jobs, chess grandmasters, professional eSports, and music composing”; “many high IQ individuals will do exceptionally poorly in tasks that correlate poorly with general intelligence”; the separation from the “international Chinese students”; and the “fear of failure” in a moment of life in which true challenge and competition of talents come forward.

Keywords: esports, fear, International Society for Philosophical Enquiry, IQ STEM.

Conversation with Anonymous Canadian High-IQ Community Member on eSports, STEM, International Chinese Students, and Overcoming the Fear of Failure: Member, International Society for Philosophical Enquiry (4)

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

Scott Douglas Jacobsen: What examples come to mind in “STEM jobs, chess grandmasters, professional eSports, and music composing”?

Anonymous Canadian High-IQ Community Member[1],[2]*: STEM refers to science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. You don’t need extreme ability, of course, but most of these jobs are filled with individuals who are solely above average in IQ and mostly above the 80th percentile. It is already well known that Nobel Prize winners, particularly in physics, have incredibly high IQs. The mathematical talent required to win a Fields Medal for mathematics is likely unmeasurable at the moment. The average IQ of Doctors, Lawyers, and Engineers lies in the vicinity of 120-125. Those who reach the top have higher IQs. The non-stem subject with the highest IQ would be philosophy. Top philosophers are some of the most intelligent in the world, alongside mathematicians and physicists.

For chess grandmasters, Garry Kasparov was measured with an IQ of 135 using the WAIS, with his working memory as one of the highest, which is expected of a game that requires the use of chunks to categorize chess positions. Judit Polgar, Magnus Carlsen, and Garry Kasparov were estimated or “reported” to have IQs of over 170, but I wish everyone knew that those figures were fake. It is very likely that among chess grandmasters, as the level of chess skill increases, there may be a slight negative correlation with IQ scores. I suppose this is due to other chess players finding more use in pursuing studies at the same time or focusing on studies and because chess at that level of play is not relying on information processing much but memory. Only hobby high-range tests have a ceiling higher than 160, and the name of the test and the standard deviation is not mentioned. Adult IQ scores are more reliable than childhood scores also. Bobby Fisher’s IQ score at the age of 15 was in the 180s, but if tested today on the WAIS, it should be between 150-160. Garry Kasparov was estimated 190 but tested at 135. Realistically his true intelligence might be a lot higher than what an IQ test may indicate since being the best at something does demonstrate extraordinary ability. It is also true that Kasparov was out of school for a long time, which may impact his score and the fact that he was tested at a fairly old age. The average IQ of chess grandmasters is likely to be around 140, with those who can balance being a chess grandmaster and a Ph.D. at a top university at 150. I have no doubt some chess grandmasters who have a Ph.D. could score near the ceiling of the WAIS, given that being good at chess + school is an excellent indication of well rounded and extreme general cognitive ability. This also goes for top musicians and gamers, who have high academic achievement (years of education, difficulty of major, rank of institution, grades).

In any competition, critical aspects of performance long term rely not only on intelligence (the ability for information processing or adaptation/solving problems quickly), but mental fortitude, mental power and stamina, and specific cognitive skills as well. These will help you reach the highest levels, and can all be somewhat trained, except for one’s ability to adapt.

Many people will play video games for a remarkably long time, and they won’t get much better. Video games are incredibly time-consuming and require some ridiculous amount of innate ability combined with dedication and resources to reach the top. Complex and competitive video games will present you with more information than you can process, at rates faster than you can handle, and give you the chance to make more decisions than you’re able to. They can keep throwing you into new situations that ask for you to utilize your pure intellectual power, as humans are pretty good at doing the same thing over and over again (music performance and chess positions) and horrible at doing something new all the time. Chess at the top level is not so g-loaded anymore because Magnus Carlsen memorizes over 10,000 games and does not need to problem solve anymore. Playing a complex piece of music at a top-level requires exceptional time commitment and talent, but it is much more repetitive than a competitive video game.

Video games could be the best pure measures of one’s intellectual capacity. They are much easier to administer than an IQ test and do not likely depend on learned academic skills such as mathematics or language. Also, the ceilings of standardized tests are a problem, whereas we know a mental task like reaction time is measured in absolute terms and captures the full variation much better. A battery of video games (or potentially only using one video game) can capture the full range of variation in intelligence among the general population if there are easy problems where anyone should solve and difficult problems where only the most intelligent should solve quickly. If this is so, we can also measure high-range intelligence much better than a professional IQ test.

People who are naturally good at video games are great at processing information, at least decent at reacting (but they get better very quickly), and can adapt very well (a skill that seems impossible to learn).

The true IQ of top professional gamers (making a living) likely is around 140, but it depends on the game and it’s g-loading. How they score on an IQ test may not tell the full story of their true intelligence. However, the most awe-inspiring individuals can juggle professional level video games alongside a highly g-loaded subject in university (STEM or Philosophy). You can treat it like an individual who is taking a STEM degree at one university and then having to juggle another STEM degree at another university at the same time. It is practically impossible to obtain a Ph.D. in a demanding field at a top 100 institution while simultaneously juggling national gaming performance. National level gamers who graduate with a Computer Science degree are already near 145 IQ (99.9th percentile). Obtaining a Ph.D. in a STEM field at a top 100 institution while being a nationally ranked player simultaneously implies an IQ above 160. I will provide sources later that support this claim.

Players often have to problem solve by themselves, which are exceptionally highly g-loaded and time-consuming. There is also no other activity other than playing video games that will be detrimental to your life success, unfortunately, unless you become a professional gamer or pursue something else in the eSports industry. Most video games are addictive and release dopamine. Even when you are trying to do other things in life, you are continually thinking about how you’re going to play better or beat your opponent in a video game or solve difficult problems in the game. Competitive music, chess, and eSports require the individual to think and practice virtually endlessly. This fact makes these activities the most demanding on the body and mind. This is especially true in eSports since you are presented with new situations to adapt to, whereas in chess, it relies on memory (learned positions). In music, it is not about adapting but more so practicing the same thing repeatedly. I can not begin to imagine the intelligence necessary (180+ perhaps) to balance top-level performance in both eSports and STEM at an elite university at the same time.

These articles from peer-reviewed journal articles support my views that national level gamers at university would score much higher on IQ tests than the average university student at the same school. The gap in scores would be higher as you go from lower g-loading (academic achievement < standardized test < IQ test) to a nearly pure measure of g (which are the problems in complex video games themselves):

1) Toma, M., Halpern, D. F., and Berger, D. E. (2014). Cognitive abilities of elite nationally ranked SCRABBLE and crossword experts. Appl. Cogn. Psychol. 28, 727-737. DOI : 10.1002/acp.3059.

– “Visuospatial and verbal abilities were measured in elite nationally ranked SCRABBLE and crossword experts and compared with college students matched on quantitative and verbal SAT scores, both exceeding 700 on average. SCRABBLE and crossword experts significantly outperformed college students on all cognitive measures.”

– ”Findings suggest that visuospatial and verbal working memory capacities of SCRABBLE and crossword experts are binded and occur at extraordinarily high levels.”

2) Can we reliably measure the general factor of intelligence (g) through commercial video games? Yes, we can! Intelligence, Volume 53, November-December 2015, Pages 1-7 M.Angeles Quiroga, Sergio Escorial, Francisco J.Roman, Daniel Morillo, Andrea Jarabo, Jesus Privado, Miguel Hernandez, Borja Gallego, Roberto Colom. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.intell.2015.08.004

– ”Video games and intelligence tests measure the same high-order latent factor.”

3) Intelligence and video games: Beyond “brain games.” Intelligence, Volume 75, July-August 2019, Pages 85-94 M.A.Quiroga, A.Diaz, F.J.Roman, J.Privado, R.Colom. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.intell.2019.05.001

-”Gaming performance was correlated with standard measures of fluid reasoning, visuospatial ability, and processing speed. Results revealed a correlation value of 0.79 between latent factors representing general intelligence (g) and video games general performance (gVG). This find leads to conclude that: (1) performance intelligence tests and video games are supported by shared cognitive processes and (2) brain-games are not the only genre able to produce performance measures comparable to intelligence standardized tests.”

4) The effects of video game playing on attention, memory, and executive control. Acta Psychologica, Volume 129, November 2008, Pages 387-398. Walter R.Boot, Arthur F.Kramer, Daniel J.Simons, Monica Fabiani, Gabriele Gratton. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.actpsy.2008.09.005

– “Expert gamers and non-gamers differed on a number of basic cognitive skills: experts could track objects moving at greater speeds, better detected changes to objects stored in visual short-term memory, switched more quickly from one task to another, and mentally rotated objects more efficiently.”

Jacobsen: What are some examples in which “many high IQ individuals will do exceptionally poorly in tasks that correlate poorly with general intelligence”?

Anonymous Canadian High-IQ Community Member: Some tasks are better than others at estimating overall mental competence. You can take the g-loading as an index of the complexity of a mental task. Tying your shoes is a low g-loaded task because it is not very complicated, whereas learning calculus is a fairly high g-loaded task since you must problem-solve to acquire new skills. On the Wechsler tests, an example would be digit span forward versus digit span backward. Digit span forward is just a simple memory test, but to give back numbers in reverse order requires more cognitive power. Therefore it is more g-loaded. Einstein’s proficiency and talents would have shown in a challenging field, such as physics, but he probably wouldn’t be famous for driving a car magnificently (apparently, he couldn’t drive). Performing complicated tasks effectively indicates profound intellectual ability, whereas failing to perform essential functions at some level will make people think you’re disabled. Einstein perhaps can be an example of someone who can resemble both descriptions.

Jacobsen: What is the feeling in the separation from the “international Chinese students”?

Anonymous Canadian High-IQ Community Member: In the past, one of my biggest insecurities was my race. Diversity is important. Everyone is unique, and everyone should be proud of themselves. It should also be noted that the group “Asian” is extremely broad, filled with various ethnic groups with very different histories. Not every Asian is Chinese.

I never talked about this to anyone but was conscious about these things near the end of high school. I was quite insecure that I was part of this group labeled as “Asian.” The stereotypes associated with Asian Americans made me feel more conscious of my race since I guess I did not fit those stereotypes. Like an idiot, I fell for the bait and tried to become more “Asian.” It made me feel like I was defined by my race, which led me to forget about the unique traits I have that are divorced from the stereotypes of my racial/ethnic group.

I enjoy being myself, but I don’t want my racial identity or some other part of my social identity to define me. I remember too many times when I blamed any difficulty encountered on my race. On the flip side, would a non-Asian judge me as skillful in math just because of how I look? My race did not play the only role, but I am sure it played an important part. When I saw some non-Asian performing better than me on some non-academic thing, I blamed it on my race to justify it. It was just to my disadvantage, I thought.

Nowadays, I have somehow overcome these insecurities and have matured. I merely view myself as an outlier and outsider, no matter where I go, and have accepted my destiny. Most want to get good grades and go to good schools, but I am different. The Chinese culture never fit me and seemed to inhibit me from being creative and to be my true self and pursue my dreams, and I suffered a lot of depression due to this.

When I was younger, I did not consider ethnicity to be important, but as you grow up with all those stereotypes, they start to hit you. In my senior year of high school, I became more aware of my ethnic heritage and could not escape from it as time went on in my first year of university. I was always judged as being good at math just because of my appearance and quiet personality, and those things did make me uncomfortable a bit, given that I was an underachiever. In contrast, most Asians I knew were overachievers relative to their intelligence or IQ. I was already doing well enough, but I never expected myself to get the highest grades in a class. I never cared about school all that much, but I cared just a little for the first time. Those stereotypes might have helped me improve my work ethic, but later I decided to be who I really was.

I would rather not have anyone associate me with any stereotype. I feel thrilled to know that I am just a unique individual with his own special talents and interests.

Jacobsen: Why the “fear of failure” in a moment of life in which true challenge and competition of talents come forward?

Anonymous Canadian High-IQ Community Member: There comes a time where you realize you won’t balance everything you love to do in life. My parents expect a lot from me, but I probably wasn’t the perfect kid for them. They want me to graduate with a Computer Science degree from UBC and work a stable job for the rest of my life. However, even though my ability to thrive in these STEM programs is very high, going to the workforce as a programmer was not my passion. I just chose what my parents wanted me to do and later decided what my peers wanted to do. I was stuck finding out my passions but eventually found them. I performed at the top of my class in Calculus courses and had already taken too many math courses to quit now. My primary interests were in Philosophy and Psychology, but of course, those degrees by themselves are viewed as worthless. A compromise would be to double major in Philosophy and a STEM field such as Statistics to gain skills to gain a job and pursue my major interests at the same time. I later learned that Statistics should be helpful in a career in science, so I decided to take it a little more seriously. I don’t necessarily have to be the best statistician, but I need to be good enough to perform well enough. It is also impossible to be a professional gamer and pursue research simultaneously; as far as I know, this type of individual is unheard of in the gaming community. I do want to believe I’m something special and that I’d be the one who can do everything, but this type of arrogant mindset will likely be my downfall. I will probably have to pursue my education full time eventually and give up all my passions to become the best scientist I can be. I do not fear failure anymore, but this was a thing of the past. My insecurities alongside Chinese cultural attitudes made me feel like an underachiever. Like a fool, I fell for this trap and became obsessed with prestige. I never really thought going to UBC was anything prestigious, especially compared to the top 12 schools. Anything non-STEM related was also looked down on by many.

Computer Science at Caltech/MIT/Harvard/Stanford made a good match, and I believed my presence would have been better situated there. I also wanted to go to Harvard or Yale Law, Harvard Medicine, and more. My intelligence is not an issue, but it is difficult for me to deal with social interaction, which will make it difficult to succeed in many things in normal society. If I am truly going to live up to my potential, I must pursue the things I am most interested in doing. I realized later that this mindset was wrong and that I must follow what my inner drives tell me I should seek. I believe UBC is an excellent institution, and I’m proud to be here. If I apply to graduate school, I will apply to Canadian schools for sure, no matter what rank. I don’t have to go to the most elite schools to call myself successful. I don’t think my parents have ever said they were proud of me ever, and that didn’t make me too happy. I was definitely influenced by Chinese culture and their obsession with elite schools, jobs, grades, and virtually nothing else. If I fell for this trap, I could never become the scientist that I wanted to be. I also realized that there are people more talented than I am who may not have gotten the chance at all to attend UBC or any elite institution. I must be more humble but still be self-confident with my extraordinary abilities.

If you watched a part of the Ivy Dreams documentary I had linked, my attitude was similar to this one girl. Had I been brought up in her city and applied to the Ivy Leagues, I would have gotten rejected. Even with perfect SAT or ACT scores (she had a pretty high score), and good grades, I would have failed the interview miserably and would have written a terrible essay. In the documentary, her father was always pressuring her. In her interview, her attitude was arrogant, as she was talking about how her high school was too easy for her and how Upenn would challenge her, thinking she was way smarter than everyone else perhaps. She got rejected from the Ivy Leagues and then got accepted to Washington and Lee University. Still, after she finished reading her acceptance letter out loud with a sad attitude, she threw the paper to the ground, with no respect for it at all because it wasn’t an Ivy League school. She had been told her whole life that getting into an Ivy League school was her only goal, and since she had failed that, she felt worthless. I feel bad about her “failure,” but there is no doubt she deserved it.

I need to move past these artificial labels, find out who I am, and not obsess over trivial things. The labels of “genius,” “prodigy,” and “gifted” don’t mean anything to me anymore. Only through hard work, respect, goodness in my heart, and an appropriate attitude will I achieve anything of value. I have nothing to prove anymore, and I am genuinely proud of how far I have come and grown no matter where I end up in life.

I learned a lot recently and hoped to continue to grow as an individual throughout time. Here is what I have learned.

1) Life is hard sometimes. There are things in life that don’t work out. It is challenging to balance one’s passions and school at the same time. I don’t need validation from others regarding my achievements or intelligence. I don’t need validation from anyone else but myself, and I’m proud of how much I have grown. I must be resilient. No matter the obstacle that comes in my way, I can grow from the experience.

2) Being an outlier and outsider made my life a lot harder. I should be proud of who I am and continue to pursue my dreams, no matter what anyone says.

3) Having empathy is essential. I won’t like every person I meet, but learning how to emphasize with others is vital to me to gain long-lasting friends through mutual respect.

Jacobsen: Thank you for the opportunity and your time.

Appendix I: Footnotes

[1] Member, International Society for Philosophical Enquiry (ISPE).

[2] Individual Publication Date: November 1, 2020: http://www.in-sightjournal.com/anonymouscanada-4; Full Issue Publication Date: January 1, 2021: https://in-sightjournal.com/insight-issues/.

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2023-03-24

Conversation with Kishan Harrysingh on Spirituality, Ethics, an Afterlife, and Pick-and-Choose Philosophy: Member, World Genius Directory (2)

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

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

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2020/11/01

Abstract

Kishan Harrysingh is a Member of the World Genius Directory. He discusses: some intellectual and spiritual interests; morality; an afterlife; ancient philosophies and religions; and hopes for some of the high-IQ communities.

Keywords: afterlife, ethics, high-IQ communities, intelligence, IQ, Kishan Harrysingh, morality, spirituality, supernatural, World Genius Directory.

Conversation with Kishan Harrysingh on Spirituality, Ethics, an Afterlife, and Pick-and-Choose Philosophy: Member, World Genius Directory (2)

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

Scott Douglas Jacobsen: What are some intellectual and spiritual interests now?

Kishan Harrysingh: Spiritual wise, I found almost everything that I can find in terms of the time frame given to me. Certain things will take more time to unfold. There are certain things only possible through time. You only find some things out with time. I have come to a level of enlightenment, where I believe a lot of scientists term it a simulation theory if it is correct. I have not studied this in great detail. I believe that I have seen enough of the world in which we live; I see enough, constantly. A lot is due to luck. I believe I have seen enough and have enough information to believe this isn’t ultimate reality. It is easier to say this now without worrying about ridicule because a number of physicists and other scientists have said this. We are a simulation of deeper reality. I believe this. It is quite apparent, to me, based on the findings.

Jacobsen: What ethic or morality has been developed from this morality or lifestyle for you?

Harrysingh: A large part of this, my base of ethics comes from Christianity and Buddhism. After that, I try to learn from anything in terms of religion. I try to learn from any religious text. There are a lot of things in Islam, which I find beautiful and in depth. However, there are more in Christianity and Buddhism, which appeal to me. My ethics are pretty simple. I believe in freedom and in non-harm, not doing anything malicious, not stealing, trying not to lie; unless, it is really, really for some greater purpose. Obviously, I try to have a more practical approach to ethics than the traditional one. I believe that religion isn’t completely negative. I believe there’s positives and negatives to it. It is up to us to use common sense and to investigate before believing certain religious ideals and so on. I was, at one point in time, a monk or an inspiring monk who was celibate and completely pious and against alcohol and all of that stuff. I am much more liberal nowadays, having seen the enlightenment, which I was chasing. I am more practical and a little more scientific in terms of understanding the human neurological system and psychology. It goes into the system of ethics. Any proper system of ethics would address those things without giving up too much on virtue. Based on what I understand about the human neurological system, and the human experience itself, I am hesitant to gravitate to any particular religion, though.

Jacobsen: Do you believe in an afterlife?

Harrysingh: Yes and no, I believe in the supernatural. I believe in a higher power, but I don’t necessarily believe in an eternal heaven or an eternal hell, necessarily. However, there may be a form of it, a slightly different form of it. I am not too concerned about it. The real challenge is finding out what we have to find out here. As in life, the afterlife, things will happen as they have to.

Jacobsen: If we take the ancient philosophies and religions, and if we take a context in the early 21^st century in which more about the operations of the world, the functional aspects, relations, and objects of the world, are known, and if those philosophies and religions came from a time in which those things were complete mysteries, why don’t we simply create new philosophies and jettison those ancient philosophies and religions? Wherein any taking of the good parts of them, we simply take them, and reincorporate them without any of the baggage.

Harrysingh: Right, that’s, basically, what I was saying. You have to pick and choose and not be a slave, mentally, to some theology, some theory, that may have been misinterpreted or felt by a person or a number of people, or moderate by people, who put it there. It amazes me. When humans could listen to news or religious texts, the problem is the same. In that, they don’t consider context and the reliability of the source. To me, those are very, very obvious problems needing consideration. If people considered those two things, then you wouldn’t have this much violence taking over the U.S. and many other places. This is the practical. This is where spirituality is practical. Because you can look at the polarity of the world and see how divided everyone is. Everyone has good intentions and points. However, they both see each other as equal. One side is yelling, “Racist.” The other side is yelling, “Green, communist.” It is really sad. People cannot moderate their own emotions enough to look at the intentions behind the opponent and try to understand: We’re all human. Both sides are trying to move things along. I feel as though I am probably a more moderate version of both arguments or both sides of the argument. I am a more moderate person who understands both sides of the argument. It is really crazy what is going on. It goes to lack of life experience in some cases. Because of my spirituality, I have travelled to a lot of places. I have looked to the darker part of life to understand it. I put myself in danger, which most people try to avoid in life – to try to find the truth. I wish more people would do that rather than sitting in their comfortable little bubbles and trying to dictate to others what the reality is.

Jacobsen: What are your hopes for some of the high-IQ communities in the future?

Harrysingh: I don’t have hopes for them. They need leadership. Clearly, the societies are stagnant. Hopefully, I can provide some of that. It is one of the projects that I am working on, behind the scenes. There is a need for leadership at this point in time. There is a lot of talent out there, but not a lot of vision. I feel as though my own spiritual vision and enlightenment can help humanity on the whole, but that will take some time. I will need cooperation.

Jacobsen: Kishan, thank you so much for your time.

Harrysingh: Alright!

Appendix I: Footnotes

[1] Member, World Genius Directory.

[2] Individual Publication Date: November 1, 2020: http://www.in-sightjournal.com/harrysingh-2; Full Issue Publication Date: January 1, 2021: https://in-sightjournal.com/insight-issues/.

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2023-03-24

Conversation with Anthony Sepulveda (Brown) on Intellectual Function and Personality, Formal Mental Illness, Narcissism, Motivation, AtlantIQ-UNICEF, Jeffrey Ford, Societal Renewal, and a Holy Grail of the High-IQ Communities: Member, World Genius Directory (6)

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

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

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2020/10/22

Abstract

Anthony Sepulveda scored 174 (S.D.15) on Cosmic and is a member of the World Genius Directory. He discusses: poor social standing; poor economic standing; depression; other health risks; narcissism; highly intelligent couch potatoes; novel situations in which contexts may be non-commutative; professions valuing intelligence in their employees; Mensa a practical option for reasonably intelligent people; AtlantIQ’s efforts important for pragmatic use of intelligent people; Jeffrey Ford; societies renew themselves; the “very poor condition” of the high-IQ community; identifying the disadvantaged; spatial problems; and a possible Holy Grail of the high-IQ world.

Keywords: Anthony Sepulveda (Brown), AtlantIQ, intellect, Jeffrey Ford, mental illness, motivation, narcissism, society, UNICEF.

Conversation with Anthony Sepulveda (Brown) on Intellectual Function and Personality, Formal Mental Illness, Narcissism, Motivation, AtlantIQ-UNICEF, Jeffrey Ford, Societal Renewal, and a Holy Grail of the High-IQ Communities: Member, World Genius Directory (6)

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

Scott Douglas Jacobsen: While not having the space for a book, necessarily, off the bat, let’s parse the average intelligence question more particularly in the lines delineated, the factors of poor social and economic standing, depression, and other health risks. If we’re looking at poor social standing, what happens in this case of average intellectual function on personality, where interpersonal and prestige stature are not great?

Anthony Sepulveda (Brown)[1],[2]*: The ability to solve a problem can instill a sense of confidence that will last throughout one’s life. It can make anything seem possible if you only make the correct sequence of moves.

Jacobsen: If we’re looking at poor economic standing, what happens in this case of average intellectual function on personality, where income and net wealth is affected?

Sepulveda (Brown): If you’re unable to resolve problems in your life, a general lack of motivation will prevent you from progressing far towards goals. If your goal is to improve your economic status, you need to truly understand your situation and know how to cultivate the tools and resources necessary to gain the funds and skills you need to do so.

Jacobsen: If we’re looking at depression, what happens in this case of average intellectual function on personality, where feeling bad for months or years at a time becomes a formal mental illness?

Sepulveda (Brown): Depression is the result of having a problem that you cannot resolve or accept enough to move on from. By gaining further insight into the nature of that problem you may be able to move forward enough to get through it. But this can be very hard. Increasingly so as time goes by. Human nature is essentially a number of habits we develop over time. And we often tend to pursue options that continue the trend of our lives. Obvious examples are those who grew up in an unhealthy household and grow up to consistently pursue similar relationships because they feel uncomfortable or unworthy around anything better. It kills me to know that no matter how obvious a solution will be, such people will always make the wrong choice.

Jacobsen: If we’re looking at other health risks, what happens in this case of average intellectual function on personality, where inability to self-care leads to generalized increased risk to negative health outcomes?

Sepulveda (Brown): I’m not sure how much of an impact general intelligence has on one’s health. While it can help motivate one’s desire to avoid certain hazards, I’ve encountered people of all levels that either prioritize or avoid exercise and proper nutrition. It seems more likely that one’s health is a tool used to achieve other goals such as boosting your ego, getting attention from others, pursuing careers such as modeling or athletics, feeling superior to those who live unhealthy lives (such as how vegans tend to chastise those who eat meat) or simply to live longer for personal reasons.

Jacobsen: How does narcissism connect to high intelligence and then lead to worse mental health outcomes?

Sepulveda (Brown): Receiving validation for a belief that you’re better than others (intellectually, in this case) will naturally reenforce or promote a narcissistic personality. If such beliefs are founded upon faulty data from a flawed or invalid IQ test, an individual will likely form an equally invalid opinion of themselves or inspire them to pursue paths they aren’t prepared for

Jacobsen: Even if we take the analysis of “actions, interactions and reactions of the objects (nonliving material) and subjects (living material) in an area,” and if we take individuals capable of a greater grasp of the aforementioned “in an area,” what of the factors of motivation to drive action on the analysis? We all know highly intelligent couch potatoes.

Sepulveda (Brown): This is a very interesting problem when analyzing the impact of personality on intelligence. Clearly, one’s patience, attention span, motivation, etc. will have an impact on their ability to solve a specific problem (especially on untimed tests). But there doesn’t seem to be any socially valid method with which to objectively determine and compensate for a person’s personality on an IQ test. Even if we were to set a time for a person to complete a valid test where the time allowed to work on it is based on their level of stress and/or other physiological inhibitions, there’d be no way to prevent people from unfairly compensating (via drugs or mental preparation (i.e. the Practice Effect)).

Jacobsen: What about novel situations in which contexts may be non-commutative?

Sepulveda (Brown): Such situations are very rare and almost any attempt to resolve a problem under such conditions will result in failure. Clear communication is always necessary, especially when two or more people are involved.

Jacobsen: To “professions [that] value intelligence in their employees,” what ones come to mind? Maybe, the uncommon ones rather than ones, typically, stipulated including pure mathematician or theoretical physicist.

Sepulveda (Brown): IT companies like Google use riddles and logic problems during their interview process to determine whether or not a candidate is truly capable of performing the tasks required of them.

Jacobsen: What makes Mensa a practical option for reasonably intelligent people?

Sepulveda (Brown): Mensa has a lot to offer. They consistently publish a variety of new articles for members to enjoy and offer group meetings and lectures that anyone can attend. For me personally, I’ve greatly enjoyed the conversations held at such meetings. I’ve met a few people that I could connect with to form lasting friendships with and attending the lectures inspires me to create presentations of my own.

Jacobsen: What makes AtlantIQ’s efforts important for pragmatic use of intelligent people? Any thoughts on their UNICEF project?

Sepulveda (Brown): I’m aware that they support UNICEF, but I don’t believe that they hold any particular place within the company itself. As for their efforts, I appreciate how often they emphasize the belief that changing the world for the better takes practical effort. To this end, they often hold contests that require members to find solutions to a variety of world problems (education, renewable energy, environmental stability, etc.). Which is a lot more effort towards a much more noble pursuit than almost every other IQ Society performs. I have the utmost respect for Beatrice Rescazzi and those that work with her.

Jacobsen: What makes a person like Jeffrey Ford tick and work to advance concrete actionables for utilization of – what seems like – a real trait in intelligence for positive benefit in reasonable timelines?

Sepulveda (Brown): I wish I knew. I tried contacting him directly to get some insight, but he wasn’t available. So I’m not aware of whether or not he’s had similar internal debates himself. If he has, he clearly believes that even a temporary effect is worth the effort.

Jacobsen: How could these societies renew themselves and not “waste each other’s time”?

Sepulveda (Brown): By requiring higher standards of proof of personal ability, they’ll create an aura of prestige that some may take more seriously. It would also help if they had a purpose beyond simply existing such as a unanimous desire to solve a specific problem.

Jacobsen: What are some of the other factors filtering into the “very poor condition” of the high-IQ community as it lie prostrate in worship of the aforementioned golden calf of false pursuits?

Sepulveda (Brown): The sad fact is that most people seem to join simply to feel good about themselves for joining. They never had any real drive to do anything practical with their gifts and the community as a whole stagnated into its current condition.

Jacobsen: How could tests such as Cattell’s help identify disadvantaged kids? For example, kids in poor countries such as India with innate abilities and talent while lacking resources, or in highly underserved rural communities or reserves of Native Americans in America or Aboriginals in Canada, or Aborigines in Australia or the Maori in New Zealand – the last largest remnant of European colonial history outside of the ongoing Israel-Palestine issue.

Sepulveda (Brown): I suppose it could be used to identify specific kids if there were an incentive like free schooling. But there are several problems – 1. Cattell’s test is clearly designed to be taken by American or European people. The pictures in it correlate with objects that have a specific design primarily found in those areas (such as the shape of a chimney or stove). So while it is the fairest test I’m aware of, it isn’t useful on a global scale.

2. Say we were to successfully identify gifted children in those areas. We’d have to send them miles away from their home, friends and, likely, family in order to bestow anything of value to them. Those areas simply don’t have the facilities necessary to cultivate their gifts to their highest potential and installing one there would take a lot of effort for very little reward. So, unless the relatively minor impact made on such communities as a whole is worth it (as seen in the efforts of non-profit organizations), the whole venture seems like a waste of time.

3. Say we were to successfully find gifted children in those areas and do everything we can to develop their abilities. What then? It seems to me that they’re very unlikely to go back to their original community. Between the choice of family and community vs opportunity, especially if they were extricated as children, one side is gonna be a lot more appealing. So, if the results of our effort is simply the removal of the best people from the poorest communities, all we’ve done is further impoverish those areas.

It’s a difficult problem. The only option I see that would provide the most benefit is to offer those communities the information necessary for them to benefit as a whole.

Jacobsen: Are spatial problems, in a manner of speaking, simply speaking highly general because of being base-level visual logic problems? No words, no numbers, no concepts, no knowledge, no high-level prior experience, immediate sensory perception with a huge hunk of brain tissue devoted to the visual system with the occipital lobe and then internal, non-verbal logical reasoning on the problems presented, as such, with minimal room for false interpretation to the simplest, i.e., correct, solution for the visual presentation to fit, logically.

Sepulveda (Brown): Yes. Which leads to an interesting topic to consider – If there are a finite number of valid problems that can be used to measure intelligence, that would imply that there’s a set limit to how intelligent anyone can be. That’s why I believe that no one is all that much more capable than anyone else. The biggest differences between any two people are their experiences and the motivation those experiences inspired.

Jacobsen: I have speculated in a similar manner in other interviews on a possible Holy Grail of the high-IQ world and, in more general terms, the professional psychometric community within the concept or possibility, if general intelligence and fluid intelligence are taken seriously, of a non-verbal 6-sigma test with the same funding, renormings, sample sizes, and psychological construct reliability and validity of the WAIS, the SB(IS), Cattell’s, or the RAPM. Any thoughts on this possibility? We have a long history of underusing the talent of girls and women, which has been improving for a century. Now, we see an increasing consistency of underused gifted and talented youth, and people, in general with some factors found in income inequality.

Sepulveda (Brown): Of course. I’ve spent a lot of time pondering the subject over the past couple years, mulling over various problems and weighing the pros and cons of their use. It led to the development of my own test X’s and O’s. And I’d like to make more in the future. But I don’t see much point in the effort if no one takes them. I’ve had my test up on James Dorsey’s website for over a year now and haven’t had any submissions yet. Which is a shame. I put a lot of effort into that project.

Appendix I: Footnotes

[1] Member, World Genius Directory.

[2] Individual Publication Date: October 22, 2020: http://www.in-sightjournal.com/sepulveda-6; Full Issue Publication Date: January 1, 2021: https://in-sightjournal.com/insight-issues/.

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2023-03-24

Conversation with Tiberiu Nicolas Sammak on Critical Evaluation, Whims, Cryonics, Biological Death, Carcinogenesis, Advice, and Contemporary Artists: High-IQ Community Member (4)

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

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

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2020/10/22

Abstract

Tiberiu Sammak is a 24-year-old guy who currently lives in Bucharest. He spent most of his childhood and teenage years surfing the Internet (mostly searching things of interest) and playing video games. One of his hobbies used to be the construction of paper airplanes, spending a couple of years designing and trying to perfect different types of paper aircrafts. Academically, he never really excelled at anything. In fact, his high school record was rather poor. Some of his current interests include cosmology, medicine and cryonics. His highest score on an experimental high-range I.Q. test is 187 S.D. 15, achieved on Paul Cooijmans’ Reason – Revision 2008. He discusses: critically evaluate and reason through information; the other subject matters that have been “intriguing” or “meaningful” based on ‘whims’; cryonics; biological death; the general reaction to the discovery of life on other planets; the general risk factors for cancer formation coming out research in carcinogenesis; other micro interests; advice to other gifted and talented youth who lack motivation, study skills, discipline, and interest in studying; personal experience communicating, exchanging opinions, and sharing ideas; why cultures adhere to supernaturalistic beliefs; some of the favourite contemporary artists; a genius in the modern day; a “decent life”; and people who he considers smarter than himself.

Keywords: art, biological death, carcinogenesis, cryonics, high-IQ, IQ, Tiberiu Nicolas Sammak.

Conversation with Tiberiu Nicolas Sammak on Critical Evaluation, Whims, Cryonics, Biological Death, Carcinogenesis, Advice, and Contemporary Artists: High-IQ Community Member (4)

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

Scott Douglas Jacobsen: When you’re picking up some information online based on a general interest in some obscure subject matter, and when you’re ‘investigating something in particular, what is the internal thought process there? How do you critically evaluate and reason through information, so as to determine if the information is valuable or not?

Tiberiu Nicolas Sammak[1],[2]*: I don’t really know how to describe the exact mechanisms behind my decision-making process. What I can confirm is that you have to be pretty well-informed on the subject that you are conducting research on to be able to accurately gauge the degree of correctness of your findings.

To me, deciding what information is correct and not inaccurate or deceitful is just common sense (after I know enough about something), roughly speaking.

Jacobsen: What are some of the other subject matters that have been “intriguing” or “meaningful” based on ‘whims’?

Sammak: In-depth lore about certain video games, articles about cellular senescence, philosophical publications (most of the ones I have read or skimmed through being located on the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy website), different stuff about particular movies (or cartoons) or snippets of information about computer-related topics would be some of the subject matters which come to my mind.

Jacobsen: How much of the information around the cryonics is pseudoscience/non-science proposed as scientific information or methodology?

Sammak: The very idea that a brain could regain its consciousness after legal death is what makes other people to be skeptical and reserved about the industry of cryonics. As far as I’m concerned, nothing unscientific pertaining to human cryopreservation is presented as a scientific fact.

Jacobsen: You noted, “I’d like to be more open-minded about it, considering it’s probably the only current possibility to ever be conscious again after the biological death, whereupon eternal oblivion awaits.” Do you consider biological death final?

Sammak: I do, since there is actually no evidence to suggest otherwise. It is very clear that the brain is the organ solely responsible for creating consciousness. However, the precise mechanisms as to how it manages to do that are yet to be fully discovered. An explicit and really straightforward example proving this (that consciousness is entirely generated by the brain) is represented by the way people who are affected by neurodegenerative diseases behave and function. Their consciousness is gradually stripped away by their condition, leaving them unable to perform even the most basic tasks – they become shadows of their former selves.

The cessation of all brain’s functions marks the dawn of an eternal, dreamless sleep. This is an irreversible process (brain death) which will eventually occur at some point in time. This process might be delayed with future technologies, but all organic matter is subject to decay nonetheless.

I cannot imagine a different yet plausible scenario after the biological death. I wish I were wrong though.

Jacobsen: What do you think would be the general reaction to the discovery of life on other planets?

Sammak: My guess is that the prevalent reaction would be surprise. The first encounter (not necessarily a physical one) with an extraterrestrial lifeform would cause wonder and stir great curiosity, to say the least.

However, the chances of a physical encounter with an alien being in the current timeframe are probably non-existent or incredibly low.

Jacobsen: Based on the research, what are the general risk factors for cancer formation coming out research in carcinogenesis?

Sammak: As far as I know, there are many risk factors which could potentially alter one’s genes and lead to the onset of cancer, such as hereditary (like Li-Fraumeni syndrome or von Hippel-Lindau syndrome) or environmental factors, lifestyle choices, obesity, or old age. Most cancers are sporadic but some of them could be prevented by simply not indulging in self-destructive behaviors, such as alcohol abuse (which could lead to cirrhosis of the liver and then evolve into a hepatocellular carcinoma) or smoking. It’s worth mentioning that most lung cancers are caused by tobacco use and they could actually be avoided. Some lung cancers are known to develop chiefly (with few exceptions) in smokers’ lungs, like small cell lung cancer, which is much more aggressive than non-small cell lung cancer. Unlike other cancers, lung cancer has a very poor prognosis. To my knowledge, only a few malignancies would have a dimmer outcome (for instance, mesothelioma, exocrine pancreatic cancers or grade IV brain tumors, such as GBM).

Another environmental risk factor that I’d like to bring into discussion is represented by the asbestos exposure. A notable case which emphasizes the dangers of inhaling asbestos fiber was known as the Wittenoom tragedy. Wittenoom (now a degazetted ghost town) was a town which was mainly known for its asbestos mine and for asbestos mining and milling activities. Due to long-term exposure to crocidolite (also known as blue asbestos) fibers, a lot of miners and even people who were mere inhabitants developed pleural or peritoneal mesothelioma, which is a very lethal type of cancer.

Jacobsen: Any other micro interests akin to paper airplanes?

Sammak: Not really.

Jacobsen: What is the advice to other gifted and talented youth who lack motivation, study skills, discipline, and interest in studying? This can be ideas or pragmatic stuff.

Sammak: I don’t have specific advice for such people. Things like motivation when it comes to achieving certain goals and self-discipline are internal and cannot be imposed on someone. Sure, one may instill motivation in someone by inspiring that someone through different means. In my view, this is probably one of the best ways to motivate a person.

Perhaps having a really great mentor who could offer guidance throughout youthhood would be beneficial for these people as well.

Jacobsen: What has been personal experience communicating, exchanging opinions, and sharing ideas with others who performed above a similar level on cognitive ability tests?

Sammak: I’ve had very few interactions with people from the high-range testing community. However, almost all of the interactions turned to be positive and enjoyable.

Jacobsen: Why do you think many in cultures adhere to supernaturalistic beliefs?

Sammak: I suppose that’s because many are not well-informed when it comes to a certain topic. Many like to speculate and form twisted views about different subject matters when they are ill-informed. It is way easier to take something for granted than to actually search about that something.

I think the belief in the supernatural is inextricably linked with the unknown.

Jacobsen: Who are some of the favourite contemporary artists for you? Why them?

Sammak: I will mention only musical artists, since I listen a lot to music and I do believe these guys do a great job. In no particular order, my favorite musical artists or musical bands are: Paul Oakenfold, Disturbed, The Anix, Klayton (with his three projects: Celldweller, Scandroid and Circle of Dust), Disarmonia Mundi, Poets of the Fall, Christian Älvestam and The Midnight. These are probably the people or bands whose music I enjoy the most.

I consider some of their songs truly beautiful and awe-inspiring.

Jacobsen: Who do you consider a genius in the modern day?

Sammak: I cannot answer this since I have not thoroughly and carefully studied the works of truly exceptional people and I’m not the guy who would label someone as a genius so readily. Moreover, I was never interested in the work of a particular person to actually devote enough time studying it.

Jacobsen: What would comprise a “decent life” to you? You seem concerned about degradation and death more than many other things.

Sammak: A life where I wouldn’t have to constantly worry about taxes or about not having enough money for basic needs, a life in which I would be satisfied with my efforts, a life where I would be happy.

Jacobsen: Who do you consider smarter than yourself?

Sammak: There are quite a few people whom I personally know and who are smarter than I, or at least seem to be smarter than I.

Jacobsen: Thank you for the opportunity and your time, Tiberiu.

Appendix I: Footnotes

[1] Highest score: Reason – Revision 2008, IQ 187 (S.D.15).

[2] Individual Publication Date: October 22, 2020: http://www.in-sightjournal.com/sammak-4; Full Issue Publication Date: January 1, 2021: https://in-sightjournal.com/insight-issues/.

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2023-03-24

Conversation with Kishan Harrysingh on Family Background, Academic Achievement in the Family, Depression, Odd Jobs, and Spiritual Pursuits: Member, World Genius Directory (1)

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

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

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2020/10/22

Abstract

Kishan Harrysingh is a Member of the World Genius Directory. He discusses: some family background; academic achievement common in the family; the source of feeling depression, sadness; moments of what has been called “overexcitability”; the asynchrony; some odd jobs; some of the tests and the scores; and intelligence, and a life in the 20s spent on spiritual pursuits.

Keywords: depression, family, intelligence, IQ, Kishan Harrysingh, spirituality, World Genius Directory.

Conversation with Kishan Harrysingh on Family Background, Academic Achievement in the Family, Depression, Odd Jobs, and Spiritual Pursuits: Member, World Genius Directory (1)

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

Scott Douglas Jacobsen: What is some family background to provide a long-term context for some of your story?

Kishan Harrysingh[1],[2]*: I am from Trinidad and Tobago. My father is an engineer. My mother works in financial consulting. She has worked in that field for quite some time. Before, she was an accountant for many years. I have a lot of cousins in the medical field.

Jacobsen: Is this kind of academic achievement common in the family?

Harrysingh: Yes, absolutely, it is something that I try to deny to myself, because I was against academics for most of my life. I felt like it was something making people more arrogant than something adding depth and character. For that reason, I denied my own abilities and need for company. People who can understand me for many, many years. Until, I was in my 30s. So, only until a couple of years ago. This is only because of depression, anxiety, and other issues. I was able to start addressing and looking to the fact that I am not normal. Perhaps, I need to find more people like myself to get along with because I have always had really, really serious issues with the abilities of other people to communicate.

Jacobsen: When you’re feeling that way, what do you consider the source of feeling depression, sadness? Is it loneliness? Is it an innate factor? Or is it some existential question begging you?

Harrysingh: A combination of all of those. I have had those problems since I was a teenager. I never understood why my friends – no matter how much I explain it – never understand the concepts. It seemed natural to me. I was very much brainwashed into thinking everyone is exactly as intelligent as each other. It is only a matter of effort. There is some truth to that, obviously, because, I believe, neural pathways strengthen with practice. Also, there is a truth. People are born with certain gifts. For me, philosophical intellect and understanding existential questions, I am genetically gifted with it. I see this in my brother, when he was very young. The things that he would say, even adults had trouble understanding it. Maybe, it must be a genetic thing. It causes a lot of problems. My thinking is so different from the average person. My standards and ethics, and morality, and conduct, and my standards in personal life, are so high. Most people find it impossible to live up to them. It comes from the way in which I intellectualize, conceptualize, and understand the world.

Jacobsen: Can you recall any moments of what has been called “overexcitability” of the profoundly gifted in personal life? The profoundly gifted to experience emotions in the extreme.

Harrysingh: That’s definitely me. Also, I can detach because of many years of spiritual development, even completely. I definitely am a very emotional person. A lot of common problems with friends who are gifted and have had to find an outlet in things like power lifting, etc., where they can channel the emotions to physical things. Definitely, I have always been very, very emotional volatile person. It affected learning. If a teacher is not engaging enough and not interesting enough, or not presenting the work in a properly explained fashion, I would lose interest. So, that emotional side probably affected me more than the average person. I went from failing a class to the top of a class in a class 2 years older than me with very little effort. It had to do with emotion. I started to realize. It was after going through a few things. Maybe, that’s why there was the disparity. Emotion, for sure, have affected me more than the average person. I am trying to find the right explanation without dragging on for an hour.

Jacobsen: [Laughing].

Harrysingh: Yes, there is so much to explain in the story for me. This is the reason for the stammering to an extent.

Jacobsen: In some sense, this overexcitability, this feeling out of place, this being at the bottom of the class and then being at the top of the class, it matches well the idea of asynchronous development. The asynchrony being between one’s intellectual abilities and one’s emotional maturity. Do you note this is more extreme in terms of the asynchrony for boys than for girls, men than for women?

Harrysingh: It makes sense. I have been suggesting things like this for a long time. I made those inferences. However, I believe, if you look at the curve of IQ, you will find more boys very, very far to the right. There is a high proportion of males who have extreme and profound giftedness than females. Also, we have a higher number of males who are profoundly handicapped. Females tend to cluster in the middle. They tend to be more ‘cold’ or tend to be less emotional in the perspective of their giftedness. That makes sense to me.

Jacobsen: Also, in some ways, it would match the idea of far more women in English Literature, in writing, in journalism, when it comes to postsecondary education. Because those fields, in light of the fact of being in postsecondary education, will require a higher level of general intelligence. They also require a greater level of emotional maturity and insight into the human condition based on the combination of analytic ability and emotional maturity. What have been some odd jobs for you? What have been some more fruitful and fulfilling jobs for you?

Harrysingh: My professional life is a bit of a mess to be honest with you. I have had a very, very unique life with respect to spending early 20s searching for spiritual enlightenment. After that, the only thing I got into was personal entrepreneurial stuff. I am more of an outlier in that sense. I am not someone with a vast professional life. I am not someone tremendously active and accomplished in academics. I am always someone who has mostly denied my own abilities until relatively late in life to pursue higher level academics, and developing a perspective. For me, it goes back to the emotional side of things. I felt passionately, particularly about personal issues of family. It helped in finding my purpose of existing; I sacrificed a lot of younger years, where I would have been in academics, with a pursuit of enlightenment to find the truth behind it all.

Jacobsen: Let’s talk about tests, what are some of the tests and the scores?

Harrysingh: I am new to this. I scored 160 on this one. However, this one is based on a great crystallized intelligence tested. So, there is a lot of information needing research. I didn’t want to spend too much time and effort on it. I submitted it early. It has to be a fact taken into consideration with intelligence testing. Some take months on a test. Some will take a few hours. For me, I did this in the space of one or two days and spent three, four, or five hours in total. Even though, I started weeks before. I didn’t continue. I started like two and a half weeks before. Most of the stuff was done in a couple of days. I think the two tests done prior to this one were intelligence tests with the ceiling being really low. The ceilings were or 160 or 165, which will tend to lower the score. I scored about 150 on those. However, this is the first full scale test going to 200, which I have done. I expect that I will score a lot higher in the future. I need to get more time to be tested based on things not too foreign to me. That’ll more test more fluid intelligence than crystallized intelligence.

Jacobsen: Now, if we are talking about intelligence and a life in the 20s spent on spiritual pursuits, how are you defining the spiritual here? In other words, what is human nature? What is the nature of the world? What is the human nature in this spirituality that you have developed as a sensibility or a worldview over time?

Harrysingh: Excellent question, I would say, “I first started becoming spiritual when I was 15.” I was depressed by the ways in which my family related to each other. I felt, to some extent, unloved. To some extent, this drove me to search for a meaning to life. I looked around myself. I saw how people spent all of this time on developing ways to survive, and working. I could see almost nobody as truly happy or someone who was truly moral. I started pursuing the spiritual path. It started with curiosity first. I had to find out if there was a spiritual path. Should I believe or not if there is a God? Which religion should I choose? Which pathway seems to be the truest? I wouldn’t believe something simply because it was put in a book. I was too smart for that. I started questioning life, little by little, and testing personal theories and different ideas. That’s when I started having certain personal experiences leading me to greater depth of belief. It continued later into the teens and early 20s. After certain issues and relationships, things like that. Truly, the emotional side of life led the pursuits for me. To an extent, it is the thing with gifted people. Mostly with those on the side of philosophical side of thinking rather than the traditional side of academics. It is sad to me. Philosophy and ethics are left out of modern day academics because I think human society is decaying largely in part to the disappearance of this part of our intellect and our development.

Appendix I: Footnotes

[1] Member, World Genius Directory.

[2] Individual Publication Date: October 22, 2020: http://www.in-sightjournal.com/harrysingh-1; Full Issue Publication Date: January 1, 2021: https://in-sightjournal.com/insight-issues/.

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2023-03-24

Conversation with Anonymous Canadian High-IQ Community Member on Advice, Self-Selection, the Spotlight, STEM, and International Versus National Students, and Hereditarianism Versus Environmentalism: Member, International Society for Philosophical Enquiry (ISPE) (3)

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

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

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2020/10/22

Abstract

This is an interview with an anonymous Canadian member of the high-IQ communities. He discusses: philosophy professor; tips for high school students; another possible academic pursuit; self-confidence and arrogance; self-selection of environments; and some of the environments.

Keywords: International Society for Philosophical Enquiry, University of British Columbia.

Conversation with Anonymous Canadian High-IQ Community Member on Advice, Self-Selection, the Spotlight, STEM, and Hereditarianism Versus Environmentalism: Member, International Society for Philosophical Enquiry (ISPE) (3)

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

Scott Douglas Jacobsen: What makes this “philosophy professor” stand out to you?

Anonymous Canadian High-IQ Community Member[1],[2]*: I went to office hours one time to discuss some research relevant to his research interests. My particular interest was related to race and IQ, and I wanted to hear what my professor had to say. The subjects he was interested in had a relation to my interests, so he likely could hold a conversation with me in person. He recommended various books, articles, and he had even given me a list of academics to take up. The major problem with this discussion about race and IQ is that certain aspects of the debate are always hidden and are difficult to find. Only after a thorough examination of evidence from all possible perspectives could one call themselves an objective scientist. My primary interest was to find rational responses to the hereditarian position. My philosophy professor was a good choice to talk with because he had stated that he was aware of the debate. At first, I was quite unsure where the evidence pointed, and so I knew I’d have to decide for myself. My philosophy professor played an essential role in helping me discover all possible perspectives of the debate. He gave me an excellent grade in the course, which increased my interest in philosophical discussions and topics.

My professor is merely skeptical about hereditarian claims, but my view is more clear after being exposed to everything. My conclusion is that the totality of the evidence indicates no genetic component to racial differences in average IQ and that they are more likely to be around 100% caused by environmental and cultural differences. This holds true both within and between nations. However, the topic is still being explored and won’t disappear anytime soon. Even though it is way too complicated, I am very confident in my conclusion that the differences in test scores are virtually entirely environmental in origin. Hereditarians will claim that universities have brainwashed me. Still, the truth is that I came to my views all by myself, honestly and rationally, free from any bias, after considering every perspective possible.

My professor got me to read Ned Block’s paper “How heritability misleads about race” and told me that was why he didn’t believe heritability would help the hereditarians all that much. This is a very insightful paper because over 99.9 percent of individuals who are aware of this debate seem to have trouble grasping the role heritability plays in this debate. The primary issue with the hereditarian position is that even the most well-known hereditarians have misapplied the concept of heritability. Heritability is an estimate of genetic variation among individuals within a population, either in the context of a formal experiment that controls for potentially confounding environmental effects or with the assumption that such effects are absent. In the case of IQ, we cannot do these formal experiments, so we must assume the environmental effects are absent. But, certain individuals used evidence of heritability for making inferences about whether or not there were genetic differences among populations. This is not an appropriate application of the statistic. Heritabilities could be very high within a population, yet the differences among populations could be entirely attributable to environmental effects. Conversely, heritabilities could be relatively low within the population in which they are estimated, yet the differences among populations could have a vital genetic component to them. Genetic variation within populations is simply a different measure from the genetic differences between populations, so all of those attempts to make inferences about genetic differences in IQ among populations were based on a faulty application of the concept of heritability.

One of the books my professor told me to read was Richard Nisbett’s book called “Intelligence and How to Get it.”

The best well-known intelligence researcher on the culture-only side would be the late James Flynn. He has produced a lot of great arguments and books that support the environmentalist position.

I emailed David Reznick, an expert in human biology, and he has no idea of who he even was but still critiqued Rushton’s views the best he could.

Joseph Graves, the first African American to receive a Ph.D. in evolutionary biology, has refuted Rushton’s application of the theory.

Chris Stringer, one of the foremost experts on human evolution, who also mentions Rushton in his books, says that he is wrong, although I have yet to read them all yet. He recommended I read “The Race Gallery” by Marek Kohn.

In conclusion, my philosophy professor gave me a sense of interest in subjects relating to philosophical inquiry. Thanks to him, I emailed various eminent professors to get more perspectives to understand complex issues.

Jacobsen: Any tips for high school students about pursuing postsecondary educations?

Anonymous Canadian High-IQ Community Member: Know your requirements for every college application but don’t stress over them. Don’t be domineering; plan for your interviews, and appreciate the experience. Represent the person you genuinely are and express it candidly.

I am brought up in the Canadian school system, so there are no standardized tests. However, for Americans, I’d say start studying for the SAT or ACT during the summer of junior or the summer after sophomore year. Take lots of practice tests and buy the prep books, and practice on Khan Academy and with your friends if possible.

I think most people should consider their options before their senior year of high school. I think it will help you research your options thoroughly and figure out what fields should fit your aptitude and interests. STEM majors are more evident toward where you end up, but if your talents and passions genuinely lie in the liberal arts, I would encourage it. The amount of coursework in university is anticipated to be a lot more numerous than in high school, so I recommend developing a stable work ethic as early as possible. Many people struggle in the first year. Most students going into UBC are straight-A students from high school but quickly realize that university is no joke. Just do your best, follow your dreams, consider backup options, and you will have no regrets.

The critical thing is to prioritize school first if you want to get into your preferred program. A friend of mine in high school, who was quite a high achiever, told me he never looked at an admission requirement (GPA cutoff or average) aside from seeing the required courses needed because once you have done your best, you leave no regrets. If you know the requirements, you will continuously accentuate them.

If we include the entire population, the correlation between IQ and educational achievement and attainment is around .6 (IQ. explains 36% of the variance in grades and years of education), so I wouldn’t worry about whether you have the highest IQ in your high school or not. The correlation between achievement drops to around .5 in high school. The correlation declines further in university and then even more in graduate school due to sample restriction, leaving many more factors responsible for achievement differences. It is much more important to see success in life (economically) as more related to grit, conscientiousness with a mindset for growth than any natural ability.

Finally, I would like to share three important YouTube videos (one documentary, two films) that truly influenced me.

1) Ivy Dreams Documentary (You can find a shorter Youtube video called Strict Asian Parents & Stressed, Pressured Youth – College Process).

Director: Yu-Teh Huang
Writer: Joy Huang

2) Acceptance – Ivy League Admissions Movie (2013)

Director: Ryan Matthew Chan

3) Legally Blonde (2001)

Director: Robert Luketic

Jacobsen: As a “viable option… to pursue in the future,” if you had not found this joy in academia, what would be another possible academic pursuit for you?

Anonymous Canadian High-IQ Community Member: I honestly don’t see any other academic pursuit that could be appropriate for me other than academic research at the moment. I could work any job but it won’t be likely for me to reach the top given that those things are not interesting for me and not what my inner motivation tells me I should do. I hope I’ll be able to enjoy the workforce if I have to, but I should be settled down with my goals.

Jacobsen: What differentiates self-confidence and arrogance in this “higher IQ” domain? What is the importance of the latter as a character trait than the latter with the greater responsibility inherent in greater capacity to some degree?

Anonymous Canadian High-IQ Community Member: Arrogance is related to narcissism. Entitlement, insecurities, and low self-esteem seem to be significant indicators of narcissism. It is hard to differentiate narcissists from overconfident individuals, but you realize that most narcissists need validation, but self-confident individuals do not need validation for their achievements.

Overall, having a remarkable ability may allow individuals to be more responsible for helping people, rather than viewing themselves as gods. Be aware of their shortcomings. Self-confidence will enable one to work with others and grow as a person through mutual understanding and empathy. On the other hand, arrogance is a god-complex sort of deal that won’t help anyone form meaningful connections.

Jacobsen: With this self-selection of environments, what are some of those self-selection mechanisms?

Anonymous Canadian High-IQ Community Member: Robert Plomin’s book, “Blueprint: How DNA Makes Us Who We Are” gives a splendid answer. Most people find it hard to imagine how behavioral geneticists can begin to disentangle which behavioral characteristics are caused by genetics or the environment (nature or nurture). The most effective way to explore this question is by studying large longitudinal twin and adoption studies. Another way is to rely on the continuous decoding of the human genome.

Blueprint’s central thesis is what Plomin calls “the nature of nurture,” which posits that our genes push us to react to, cooperate with, and even develop our own environments to fit our genetic inclinations. Plomin states, ‘ Psychological environments are not “out there” imposed on us passively. They are “in here,” experienced by us as we actively perceive, interpret, select, modify, and even create environments correlated with our genetic propensities.”

Self-selection relies on the big five personality traits and intelligence. These traits are polygenic and influenced by environmental and genetic factors and the interaction between the two.

Aside from this, there are many critiques of heritability. The complex interaction of genes and the environment makes these questions endlessly tricky. The next book I plan on reading will be a book by James Tabery called “Beyond Verses: the struggle to understand the interaction of nature and nurture.”

Jacobsen: Following from the previous question, what are some of the environments?

Anonymous Canadian High-IQ Community Member: Deciding what your college major will be, or where you will live will influence your future environments and your responses. If you enjoy reading, perhaps you will find a local library quite fitting for you. If you are quite competitive, maybe you will join a football team. Talent for a particular field will make you more likely to choose to participate, given that people tend to prefer to partake in activities that they perform well in.

In effect, the family effect on IQ seems to fade away in adulthood as the heritability of IQ increases. However, it is essential to note that if an individual is treated poorly in society and their environment somehow becomes more detrimental every year, their IQ scores would drop each year, even though their true phenotypic intelligence may have been a lot higher. Suppose the environment somehow is pushed to become more relevant to solving the problems we see on IQ tests each subsequent year. In that case, IQ test scores will subsequently increase every following year, which may overestimate that particular individual’s true intelligence.

An environment where it is difficult to choose your own environment would be when substantial environmental factors put you on hold. Amy Chua’s book Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother gives that sort of feeling.

Appendix I: Footnotes

[1] Member, International Society for Philosophical Enquiry (ISPE).

[2] Individual Publication Date: October 22, 2020: ; Full Issue Publication Date: January 1, 2021: http://www.in-sightjournal.com/anonymouscanada-3.

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2023-03-24

Conversation with Bob Williams on Background, Genius, Theories of Intelligence, Psychometrics, and Worldview-Encompassing Philosophical System: Retired Nuclear Physicist (1)

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

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

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2020/10/15

Abstract

Bob Williams is a Member of the Triple Nine Society, Mensa International, and the International Society for Philosophical Enquiry. He discusses: growing up; a sense of an extended self; the family background; the experience with peers and schoolmates; some professional certifications; the purpose of intelligence tests; high intelligence; the geniuses of the past; the greatest geniuses in history; a genius from a profoundly intelligent person; profound intelligence necessary for genius; job path; the more important aspects of the idea of the gifted and geniuses; thoughts on the God concept or gods idea; science; some of the tests taken and scores earned (with standard deviations); the range of the scores; worldview-encompassing philosophical system; meaning in life; intelligence in the abstract; and the mainstream and fringe theories of human intelligence on offer over time.

Keywords: Bob Williams, intelligence, International Society for Philosophical Enquiry, IQ, Triple Nine Society.

Conversation with Bob Williams on Background, Genius, Theories of Intelligence, Psychometrics, and Worldview-Encompassing Philosophical System: Retired Nuclear Physicist (1)

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

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

Bob Williams: Family stories were about what my grandparents and parents experienced before I was born. I recall thinking that I would not see advances as dramatic as those experienced by my grandparents. They were born before electrification and before flight, yet lived to see the first humans land on the moon. It is difficult to compare my life to theirs, but I think there have been at least as many big changes as they experienced.

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

Williams: Stories of past lives and experiences help to put my life in perspective. There has been an enormous change in the standard of living that my family has experienced as a result of increasing amounts of education and the technology that has increased exponentially in the last two centuries.

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

Williams: I was born during WW2 and grew up in Virginia in the suburbs of a city that was third largest (back then) in our state. We had two groups: whites and blacks. {Today this seems strange. As a student I only met one child who was Jewish and that was in primary school. We had one Catholic church, but I only knew of one student in my school who was Catholic. There were no Hispanics, Arabs, Russians, or any of the ethnic groups that we only knew about from movies.} Everyone claimed to be Christian; that meant Protestant as Catholics were presumed to mostly live elsewhere. Crime rates were low and violent crimes almost nonexistent. There was a very strong hatred of the North that was residue from the war. My great-great-grandfathers fought for the South, as did the families of those I knew. Today, that feeling has vanished. Technology and multiple generations caused many changes, even in local demographics.

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

Williams: I began first grade when I was 5 (6 was the usual). I had to go to a private school for one year, then transfer to the public schools. Through every grade, I was the youngest and, fortunately, one of the tallest in every class. One curiosity I have is about what was known about me by the schools and teachers. I don’t recall what if any standardized tests were given back then. I was apparently tested by a psychologist before being allowed to start school at age 5.

Jacobsen: What have been some professional certifications, qualifications, and trainings earned by you?

Williams: I have two degrees in physics and one in business administration. I went into the nuclear reactor business and worked (core design, modeling, analysis, instrumentation, etc.) in the private sector, then in the nuclear weapons business (we were intending to build a tritium producing reactor, before the SALT treaty made it unnecessary). In that particular market, everything is either proprietary (private sector) or classified (weapons program). As a result, despite constant writing, nothing was seen “outside.” We had only advancement as a reward. I joined my private sector company as an associate physicist, but the company decided to make everyone an engineer, so my job titles went that way, from engineer, to senior engineer, to principal engineer, and to fellow engineer. During that time I also held a range of management titles. I also became the company representative (we had research labs and production plants scattered over the eastern part of the US) for joint research projects, which led me to a very enjoyable stint of high level meetings with people in the US, over much of Europe, and the Middle East.

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

Williams: Today we can measure intelligence reliably and with good predictive validity. The only purpose of these tests is to predict important life outcomes. If the tests don’t do that, they are worthless… but they do it quite well. More intelligence means that there is a higher probability that a desirable outcomes will happen and undesirable ones will not. More intelligent people are more likely to experience: higher income, increased longevity, greater general health, more life satisfaction, higher degree of body symmetry, higher educational achievement (grades, years completed, difficulty of major), higher SES (a product of intelligence, not a cause of it), faster speed of mental functions, better memory, faster learning rate, greater number of interests (held with competence), higher job performance, higher brain efficiency (relative to glucose uptake rate and speed of mental operations). And … they are less likely to be impacted by smoking, HIV infection, crime, incarceration, school dropout, teen pregnancy, illegitimate births, and unemployment.

At the national level, mean national IQ correlates positively with per capita GDP, economic growth, economic freedom, rule of law, democratization, adult literacy, savings, national test scores on science and math, enrollment in higher education, life expectancy, and negatively with HIV infection, employment, violent crime, poverty, % agricultural economy, corruption, fertility rate, polygyny, and religiosity.

This effect does not have a known ceiling. The Study of Mathematically Precocious Youth is a longitudinal study started by Julian Stanley and maintained today by Camilla Benbow and David Lubinski. Part of the study evaluated cohorts in the top 1% of intelligence. It showed that there are large differences between those in the bottom quarter of this range and those in the top quarter of the top 1%. These differences, favoring the more intelligent top quarter have been found in number of doctorates, number of STEM publications, number of patents awarded, income and literary publications.

Jacobsen: When was high intelligence discovered for you?

Williams: Apparently it was well before I was aware of it. Even in primary school, I was selected for special treatment (a summer camp), a place on the varsity high school debate team when most participants were 4 years older, etc. By age 15, I began to win awards in science fairs

that led to half a dozen trips to various parts of the nation; two trips to the International Science and Engineering Fair (one was part of the World’s Fair in Seattle); lots of prizes, a summer job, and ultimately scholarships that paid for much of my college education. Upon entering my university I was given a chemistry test, which let to my being put in an advanced chemistry class that destroyed 2/3 of the students who were placed in it (I was up to it). Then there was a surprise trip by the Air Force (I was at Virginia Tech, which was compulsory military for two years, but I stayed in the Corps of Cadets for all four.) to send me to visit an airbase. It was years later that they told me I had made the second highest score on the Air Force Officer’s Qualification Test. The only thing I knew was that I did well on tests; it took years for me to connect various events to testing.

Williams: It is amusing to see how interested people are in genius (the real thing, not simply high IQ), yet bright people who are successful seem to be frequently looked down on. Genius is such a complex thing that it is extraordinarily rare. It happens when a constellation of necessary, but not sufficient traits exist at maximum expression. Hans Eysenck believed that both traits Neurosis and Psychoticism had to be elevated in true genius. Obviously if either trait is overly expressed, the individual would be hobbled and not achieve enormous feats of creative genius. When N and P are somewhat elevated they positively impact success, while likely creating an unpleasant personality. For example, P may cause a person to be seen as aggressive, cold, egocentric, impersonal, impulsive, antisocial, unempathic, tough-minded, and creative. Arthur Jensen believed that genius is the product of high ability x high productivity x high creativity.

ability = g = efficiency of information processing

productivity = endogenous cortical stimulation

creativity = trait psychoticism

The result of genius traits is not pretty, nor is it consistent in how it is displayed in geniuses. We have all read about the lives of various composers, artists, and scientists who were sufficiently “unusual” as to be unable to fit into normal life patterns. I think the common reactions that you mention are not restricted to genius. We see other people rejected when they have personality, or even physical, differences. Curiously, I see this same rejection and bullying among the Canada geese that live in my yard. Lame geese and even normal geese without a group are rejected and sometimes attacked.

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

Williams: As a scientist, I am going to surprise you. It is the great artists, because they give us things that only they can produce. The major scientific discoveries would all be made, even if the people who discovered them had not existed. Of the greats, I think Beethoven is the most important person in all of history. His work was so profound, moving, and complex that nothing compares. Of course, the other composers (Bach, Mozart and many others) have made contributions that are treasures. In the arts, Michelangelo and Picasso lead the list of greats.

I have never seen a credible list of the IQs of any real geniuses. My guess is that those in the arts may be reasonably bright, but that it is their creativity and skill that sets them apart. In science, things are different. The scientists are brighter and higher on traits Agreeableness and Consciousness.

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

Williams: Personality and creativity. I have already discussed how personality can make a genius seem unlikable and unreachable. The thing that I find to be interesting is that the biological factors that are associated with bright brains are sometimes opposite from those associated with creative brains. We know from prodigy studies that prodigies have IQs that range from 100 to about 147 (those actually studied). Prodigies are found in rule based disciplines: chess, art, music, and mathematics. The highest IQs are those of the math prodigies.

One of the significant factors in the creative brain is an inhibitory function that is weak. This condition lowers the filtering system that rejects stimuli that are not needed for the task at hand. We experience this selective attention when we are in a noisy environment. Our brains usually tune out the noise, for example people talking in a social gathering, and focus on the sensory input that is needed (understanding the person we are talking to). When this selective attention is low, the person may find unrelated stimuli arriving in his brain simultaneously. This promotes new combinations of ideas that would normally be prevented by the inhibitory function. But this is exactly opposite of what we need for intelligence. A mathematician, scientist, or engineer must stay on task, not be distracted, and remain focused. An example of lowered inhibition is seen with alcohol and other drugs. Imagine trying to take a calculus test while you are inebriated!

There is a similar consideration in brain networks. The brain with poor connectivity (long mean path lengths and fewer connections to hubs) causes a single thought process to follow an inefficient path around the brain before it reaches its intended destination. During this long route, it can access information that leads to creative combinations of previously unrelated ideas. Again, this is opposite of what one needs for complex problem solving. There are other examples, but the point here is that creativity taps a set of brain conditions that are often opposite of those that are required for deep scientific reasoning.

Jacobsen: Is profound intelligence necessary for genius?

Williams: “Yes,” for STEM fields, “no” for the arts. This is not to say that artistic geniuses are not bright, but rather that they do not require “profound intelligence” of the sort we see in great scientists.

Jacobsen: What have been some work experiences and jobs held by you?

Williams: I spent a long time in the commercial nuclear reactor world. I began in reactor core physics, where I did modeling, burnup analysis, isotopic balances, and calculated a variety of physics parameters that are used by other physicists/engineers. A good part of that time involved work on fast breeder reactors, which was enjoyable because I could design and analyze multiple configurations so that the best one could be identified. It turned out to be a flat cylinder that got the name “pancake.” That design worked well because it allowed a lot of axial neutron leakage which fed the breeding of U-235 to Pu-239. Then I spent years doing transient analysis. This meant calculating the outcome of accidents, such as an ejected control rod, or a broken pipe. I recall doing the loss of feedwater accident for Three Mile Island-II. That was the accident initiated a sequence of events that destroyed the plant, but it was not because of a miscalculation, it was because we didn’t consider that an operator would turn off the emergency core cooling system! I ultimately became the only person who really understood the Reactor Protection System (RPS). It was satisfying to be the resident expert, but it made it difficult for me to move to something I wanted to do in a different division. I developed the methods for determining RPS setpoints and personally determined these for every large power reactor we built. I also did the work that resulted in the licensing of the first digital RPS approved by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

After training several people to do my job, I managed to move to the Contract Research Division, which was the most memorable and enjoyable part of my career. I mentioned some of that in an earlier question. All in all, I had great experiences doing things that most people could not even know about. My last 6 years (before retirement) were spent in the nuclear weapons program. I ended up working in Washington, DC for most of that time, as a Senior Technical Advisor to the Department of Energy. On one trip, I went to Mound, Ohio. The old part of this site was built very deep underground and designed to withstand a direct nuclear blast. It was amazing to see that something like that even existed. I was with a small group and we went on to Fernald. During the trip, someone wanted to visit a vault where weapons grade materials were kept. We went through 3 or 4 checkpoints where we had to go though various presentations of security clearances, etc. and then ended up in a round concrete room. The walls were decorated with machine gun ports and the guys behind them were actually holding the machine guns. I understood the old quip about “shooting fish in a barrel,” from the perspective of the fish. After they finally let us out of what amounted to a cage, we saw the vault, which was a major letdown, then we had to repeat each step in reverse. This sort of thing does not appeal to me at all. I was never happy working with security that involved man traps, armed guards, magnetometers, sniffers, x-ray, and endless security checks.

One thing that I enjoyed was teaching/lecturing. For whatever reason, I became the go to person for delivering lectures to our reactor customers, federal regulatory agencies (including one from Italy), and prospective customers. My lectures were always well received, but we were getting feedback that our Loss of Coolant lectures were not well received. This is an area that is focused on heat transfer and hydraulics. I had not worked in the area, but agreed to take over the lectures, if the engineers there would give me some time, explaining their modeling. I figured it out, designed, and delivered lectures that generated accolades from our customers.

Jacobsen: Why pursue this particular job path?

Williams: From childhood, I knew I wanted to go into science, but had no specific area of interest. By high school, I was more focused on chemistry and won awards on the studies I did with fuel cells that I designed and built, then with my studies of gas chromatography, using a system that I designed, built, then altered into various configurations. [These led to multiple awards, up to and including a first and second at the International Science and Engineering Fairs.] When I had to pick a major, I only considered the math load. I selected physics because I figured it was more math heavy than anything else. I was right at the academic level, but by the time I entered the nuclear business, we had mainframe computers and did most of our work using numerical methods (beating the answers out, by iteration). At that time reactors were the big deal for electric utilities and they paid off big for those who bought them. Ultimately, interveners found a way to stop the industry by endless (pointless) law suits that had no merit, but they delayed construction. At that time we were in the highest inflation period of modern times, so the utilities simply couldn’t pay the cost of their loans. It was a case of the interveners losing every battle, but winning the war.

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?

Williams: Very bright people have the ability to understand and deal with multiple complex disciplines and to solve problems that are beyond even bright people. The spectrum of intelligence is defined by the structures and properties of the brain and can only be degraded by environmental encounters. That means we have not found a way to increase intelligence. The brain is built from our genetic instructions and is intelligent to the extent that its components are efficient and suffer few flaws. For example, we know that tissue integrity in both gray and white matter influences intelligence, as do the multiple factors that relate to mental speed (white matter tracts, hub connections, myelination, nerve conduction velocity, etc.). Ultimately, any brain feature that has a range of efficiency between individuals is going to favor the more efficient brain.

Studies of large populations and high end intelligence have shown that extreme intelligence is not associated with one or a few genes. It is simply part of the normal distribution of the huge number of factors that each contribute to phenotypic intelligence. We are at one of the big new directions of discovery in cognitive science: genetics. Within the past few years Genome Wide Association Studies (GWAS) have been done with large sample sizes. With over 1.2 million people represented, researchers have found more than 1,200 single nucleotide polymorphisms that are associated with intelligence. Despite this number, the effect size is only around 10%. Despite the small effect size, polygenic scores (PGS) have been derived from the GWAS and used to predict intelligence, even in embryos. These PGS have produced almost perfect (greater than correlations of 0.90) predictions of mean intelligence differences between breeding groups.

As the brain matures, the heritability of g (the sine qua non of intelligence) increases from around 40% in early childhood to about 85% in adults. This increase in the genotype is found in other traits as well. Despite the lower heritability found in young children, measurements done for ages 6 to 12 months are predictive of adult IQ and educational achievements. [Adult IQ, r = 0.59; Adult academic achievement, r = 0.53 (both corrected for unreliability)]

In the case of genius, as I previously noted, intelligence, creativity, and personality all have to be at optimum levels. This is an extremely rare event. Geniuses are typically born to families that have not shown outstanding performance in academics, invention, creativity, etc. Relatively few geniuses have children and many do not marry. Those who do have children rarely produce another genius (there are a few possible exceptions that we might find over the past several centuries).

Neither the general public nor those who teach at any level have even a modest understanding of intelligence. Russell Warne has been uncovering the details of just how little people understand. This year he did a survey of teachers asking them to rate a number of statements about intelligence on a Likert scale. Sadly, the results were not surprising. In recent years, he has surveyed US universities and found that most didn’t offer courses on intelligence and the psychology courses they taught used textbooks that primarily discussed discredited models (Gardner’s multiple intelligences) and often did not even mention g. He has written a book on the subject of myths about intelligence: In the Know: 35 Myths About Human Intelligence.

Myths

I will offer a few comments on just 3 of the many myths that are commonly accepted as facts.

Group differences

The single most damaging failure to understand is that there are large intelligence differences between breeding groups. These are differences in g and these are overwhelmingly genetic. The differences explain many of the conflicts we see between nations, within national groups, and between individuals. They explain differences in academic achievement, in job performance, in crime rates, wealth, income, health, and longevity. These differences have been known for 150 years and are forcefully denied by the proponents of political correctness. Sex differences also cause some people to get upset and deny the differences. The reality is that, around age 16 males show a higher mean intelligence and a higher variability. These combine to cause a rapidly increasing male to female ratio in the right tail. There is controversy over the difference at the mean, but my conclusion is that it has turned up in a large number of independent studies and seems to be real. The difference we see most often is around 4 points, but a few studies have shown up to 6 points.

Heritability

Those who want to argue that all humans are born with identical abilities deny the very high heritability of g. We can and have measured this heritability using diverse methods that show essentially the same result. Those methods are as follows:

The correlation between MZA twins–This correlation is used directly—not squared.

Falconer’s Formula–This method was developed by Falconer and MacKay. It computed heritability by doubling the difference between the correlations of same-sex MZT and

DZT twins. Numbers are typically r = 0.88 and 0.51 respectively. After correction for reliability the numbers become .98 and .56, respectively. The difference is 0.42, so the computed heritability is 0.84.

Richard Lynn also reported two studies of heritability in India, both using Falconer’s Formula. One study yielded heritability of 0.81 and the other 0.90. After correction for reliability, these become 0.90 and 1.00, respectively.

1.0 Minus the Environmental Component–Adoption studies (and others) have shown that the environmental component is about 15% in adults (see papers by Posthuma, Haier, Lynn, and various others). This method produces the typically cited level of heritability in adults of 85%.

Path Analysis–This technique was invented in the 1920s by Sewall Wright. The method incorporates multiple linear regression to apportion the contributions of each of the multiple causal variables to the variance in the single outcome. The assumed links between the causal variables can be tested and rejected if they do not fit the assumed causation. This is not a test of causation, but provides a means of determining magnitude and of establishing the existence or nonexistence of the assumed causality link. The method is general and has been used to study diseases, occupations, etc. One study that used this method was based on the Texas Adoption Project (300 adoptees). The analysis used the IQs of mother, father, their natural children, and their adopted children (after about 17 years of adoption). The heritability derived from this study was 0.78 before correction for reliability. With correction it is about 0.86.

Brain Imaging–Within the past decade papers have appeared with heritability estimates based on brain imaging of MZT and DZT twins. Imaging by Paul Thompson showed that the brain structure was heritable at the level predicted by other methods (listed above). PGS (previously mentioned) predict between group differences with strong correlation coefficients, as already discussed.

Environmental factors–People want to believe that intelligence is molded by parental interactions, socioeconomic status, school quality, etc. No, it’s genes. Stephen Pinker wrote a whole book on this topic (The Blank Slate).

Multiple intelligences–Howard Gardner invented a model that has strong appeal to the public, but which is not supported by data and does not withstand scrutiny. He showed that it is profitable to tell people what they want to hear, even if it is incorrect.

Flynn Effect and g

Another case of people wanting to accept pop-science explanations, without understanding the details. In this case, the public believes that intelligence is increasing and some believe that it is increasing in a way that will eliminate between group differences. IQ scores have been unstable for a long time and have mostly increased. The effect is different in different nations and is different as a function of time in most nations. We now have a reversal in a good many European nations. The problem is that these score changes have been shown to be artifacts and are not due to changes in g. For example, some of the instability is due to increased guessing (the Brand Effect) and some are due to the method of scoring the test, which has nothing to do with intelligence. Meanwhile there is considerable evidence that g is declining, at least in Western nations and China.

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

Williams: Over 20 years ago, I attended a presentation by Jay Glass, author of The Animal Within Us. He described exactly what I had concluded several years earlier, based on the same source material (the study of chimps). He concluded that humans are significantly like our nearest relatives in that we are genetically predisposed to organize in a dynamic hierarchical structure. Chimps and humans have this social structure (other animals as well). I think we are so drawn to this need to have a hierarchy that we don’t stop with the chief, king, or satrap, but go on to spontaneously invent gods with magical powers and elaborate stories of their adventures, including the creation of the universe and man.

In cognitive science, religion has been studied extensively. In every case (national and individual studies) the finding has been a negative correlation between measures of religiosity and intelligence. Some researchers have approached the topic by studying the degree of dogmatism in individual religious beliefs. The more dogmatic (fundamentalist) the beliefs, the lower the IQ. I can recall that, as a child, I noticed that the religious denominations in my immediate surroundings were clearly stratified by SES. I didn’t know why at that time, but today it is obviously a case of grouping by wealth and education, both of which are products of intelligence. Scientists typically show low percentages who hold religious beliefs.

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

Williams: It plays to my interest. There are things that are difficult or impossible to understand from a purely scientific perspective. Ethics is one example. Yet most of the things we see are subject to scientific study and understanding. This applies even to relatively etherial things, such as emotions.

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

Williams: Virtually all of the tests I have taken were quite a long time ago, before I had an interest in cognition. I previously mentioned two tests I took in college. I think there were various others during high school. About 30 years ago, I took two tests administered by Mensa. I have no idea what they were and what the scores were, but I used them to join Mensa, the International Society for Philosophical Enquiry, and the Triple Nine Society. The latter two admit at the 99.9th percentile. I have not had any interest in hobby tests and have written about my concerns for their validity on numerous occasions. My last effort will presumably appear in the journal Noesis (Mega Society – not a member) in February.

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.

Williams: I have no idea. When I have taken tests that had consequences, I managed to do well enough. I have not engaged in the “test taking as entertainment” practice.

Jacobsen: What ethical philosophy makes some sense, even the most workable sense to you? What social philosophy makes some sense, even the most workable sense to you? What economic philosophy makes some sense, even the most workable sense to you? What political philosophy makes some sense, even the most workable sense to you? What worldview-encompassing philosophical system makes some sense, even the most workable sense to you?

Williams: I will combine the philosophy questions into one reply. Let me start with an observation by geneticist Robert Plomin. He was being honored with the Distinguished Career Interview at an ISIR (International Society for Intelligence Research) conference. As he discussed his career path, he mentioned that he began his university studies in philosophy. At some point, he realized that things that can be measured are not part of philosophy and changed majors. This reflects my view of philosophy. My interests lie in science, so that is what I read. My formal education did not include any courses on philosophy, so I don’t think in terms of Kant or Nietzsche. The one philosopher who has attracted my interest is Bertrand Russell; I found his essays about religion interesting. My belief about ethics is that, as usual with this sort of topic, there are different perspectives that can be argued endlessly. The thing I am most bothered by is another party attempting to impose an ethical standard on me. We see a lot of this as ethics is blended with politics and I believe it has become a social cancer. This relates to my previous comments about how the huge between group gaps in intelligence have serious consequences.

My view of economics is that of von Mises and Friedman. I think we have valid predictive models of economic behaviors and that we should follow those in government and fiscal policies. I consider myself to be a libertarian at heart. Unfortunately, I don’t see a path from the present political divide in the US towards a more harmonious and prosperous society. We have reached the point mentioned by Alexander Fraser Tytler at which people will vote benefits for themselves from the treasury at the expense of destroying the economic stability of the nation. This is an outcome that returns to the intelligence issue and, in particular, the decline in intellectual capital due to the negative correlation between intelligence and fertility rate.

As a matter of understanding why I see so many things as ultimately being matters relating to cognitive abilities, I think Douglas Detterman explained the gravity of it well: “From very early, I was convinced that intelligence was the most important thing of all to understand, more important than the origin of the universe, more important than climate change, more important than curing cancer, more important than anything else. That is because human intelligence is our major adaptive function and only by optimizing it will we be able to save ourselves and other living things from ultimate destruction. It is as simple as that.” [Detterman is the founder of ISIR and of its journal, Intelligence.]

While I am being pessimistic, I will share my conclusion about group conflicts. Despite all of the idealistic things that some people believe and others would like to believe, world history should have taught us all that humans are truly aggressive and will repeatedly commit atrocities and engage in wars. I see no end to it and think it is a part of our species behavior. In my lifetime we have had a world war, countless smaller wars, multiple instances of genocide, and see that these are not restricted to small, backward nations, but are done on a grand scale by the same nations that have given us artistic beauty and scientific understanding.

Jacobsen: What provides meaning in life for you?

Williams: The things that are meaningful to me are those that many people hold dear: family, liberty, and nature. I have had the opportunity to live comfortably and to enjoy a great deal of autonomy. I have surrounded myself with a zoo-like population of animals, forest, and a beautiful place to enjoy nature. I have gotten to know my Canada geese as individuals and spent hours watching the other creatures that live here with me.

Jacobsen: To set the stage for the further conversation, what comprises intelligence in the abstract?

Williams: I think g is the best match to “abstract.” It is a latent trait, so it can only be known by statistical manipulation of measurements. We have Arthur Jensen to thank for convincing skeptical researchers that the essence of intelligence is this single factor that Charles Spearman discovered in 1904. Jensen had the persistence to meet every argument with data and analysis. Today intelligence research is g research.

Jacobsen: What are the mainstream and fringe theories of human intelligence on offer over time?

Williams: Today g theory is accepted as the best representation of intelligence, defining its structure via factor analysis and linking the biology of intelligence to the outward measurements that relate to it. As I have already noted Gardner’s model is very popular among laymen. It is the sort of thing that drives researchers crazy. Gardner did not derive his model from data, did not use an inductive process to construct it, and has been unable to show that it can be demonstrated as correct from real world measurements. The thing multiple intelligences implies is that if someone has a low academic ability, they have something else to make up for it in a zero sum sense. It sounds nice, but it is nonsense. The real world is not so fair. What we have is the positive manifold, which is the way Spearman described his discovery that people who test at a given level on one category of cognitive tasks will test at a similar level on virtually all cognitive tasks. Of course it’s unfair… it means that bright people are likely to excel at almost every kind of task, while dull people will find most such tasks difficult or impossible. It is from the positive manifold that Spearman was able to reveal the general factor g (Spearman’s g) using factor analysis, which he invented.

Robert Sternberg also invented a model that he calls Triarchic theory. It consists of dividing intelligence into practical, creative, and analytical. As is the case with multiple intelligence, it sounds good to people who want to believe that g is not the answer. Some years ago, Linda Gottfredson did a detailed dissection (published in Intelligence) of his “theory,” showing that it does not withstand scrutiny.

Aside from the models presented by Gardner and Sternberg, there have been various other proposed models that have been abandoned. For example, Joy Paul Gilford offered a “structure of intellect” model. This complex model was designed with 150 cells, each of which represented an ability (Gardner magnified). There are a variety of other models that have been assembled, but the only one that is significant is Cattell’s model which was basically an argument against g. Instead of one top factor, he used two: fluid intelligence and crystallized intelligence. We still use these as stratum II factors, but they are grouped with other broad abilities. The structural model that won out was the Cattell-Horn-Carroll model that serves as the basis for both the Wechsler tests and the Woodcock-Johnson. Carroll tweaked the model that Cattell and Horn were using, so that g was extracted as the single stratum III factor. This model is g theory in practice. [Despite its popularity and usefulness, the CHC model is somewhat arbitrary and is not the true structure of intelligence. That honor goes to the VPR model (verbal, perceptual, and rotational) developed by Wendy Johnson and Thomas Bouchard.]

Appendix I: Footnotes

[1] Retired Nuclear Physicist; Member, Triple Nine Society; Member, Mensa International; Member, International Society for Philosophical Enquiry.

[2] Individual Publication Date: October 15, 2020: http://www.in-sightjournal.com/williams-1; Full Issue Publication Date: January 1, 2021: https://in-sightjournal.com/insight-issues/.

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2023-03-24

Conversation with Hakan E. Kayioglu on Family, Background, Philosophy, Genius, and Ethics: Member, Glia Society (1)

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

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

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2020/10/15

Abstract

Hakan E. Kayioglu is a Member of the Glia Society. He discusses: growing up; stories helped provide a sense of an extended self; the family background; the experience with peers and schoolmates; the purpose of intelligence tests; high intelligence; geniuses; the greatest geniuses in history; a genius from a profoundly intelligent person; some work experiences and educational certifications; some of the more important aspects of the idea of the gifted and geniuses; some social and political views; the God concept or gods idea; science; me of the tests taken and scores earned (with standard deviations); the range of the scores; and ethical philosophy.

Keywords: genius, Hakan E. Kayioglu, intelligence, IQ, Istanbul, Turkey.

Conversation with Hakan E. Kayioglu on Family, Background, Philosophy, Genius, and Ethics: Member, Glia Society (1)

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

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

Hakan E. Kayioglu: No prominent family stories were told except that my paternal grandfather was a very intelligent and learned man who had been amongst the best 3 students in the university he attended in Istanbul early 20th century. I learned that my father also was the first ranking student in his local high school graduating with a record level cumulative GPA. He said he had graduated as the fourth best student at the university.

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

Kayioglu: Probably yes in youth but not much in my later years in adulthood. I think family stories might have put some burden, a certain sense of obligation on my subconscious to be successful and achieve better than most at least in school.

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

Kayioglu: My parents were born in a village close to a historical town, Söğüt, of Bilecik province in Turkey. I learned from my father that our paternal ancestors, at least seven generations back before my father, were all born and grown in the same village as well as my mother’s paternal ancestors. Söğüt is one of the first towns where the Ottomans started to evolve in the 13th century. It is about 300 km south east of Istanbul. I was born in 1964 in a city in the northern part of Turkey but most of my childhood, but most of my childhood, teenage and university years were spent in Ankara, the capital city of Turkey. We also had been to the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus for a couple of years during my high school education. My native language is Turkish.

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

Kayioglu: Quite well. I had no problems interacting with my peers and schoolmates throughout my education and in social life. I was probably a bit selective of close friends based on common interests, mutual understanding and accord. For intellectual pursuits I was mostly alone and on my own, doing my reading in diverse fields, constantly acquiring encyclopedic knowledge. So, I had to confine myself to sharing and enjoying with my friends only social life normally as a 14 year old boy couldn’t find ways to discuss higher level topics for lack of intellectual peers. I usually had to satisfy that need by discussing with older people in school, in the circle of acquaintances of my family and sometimes with teachers.

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

Kayioglu: Intelligence tests give a reasonably accurate measure of one’s intellectual capacity in a comparative scale. To me, it is also a dopamine shower and a sort of ecstasy when I solve a difficult problem; a short term nervous breakdown when I fail to find the solution. The most attractive feature and benefit of especially a good high-range intelligence test is that it teaches one to think on one’s own thinking, and I believe it improves the “quality of thinking” by raising one’s awareness on one’s own logical fallacies, forcing to use one’s mind in extreme diligence, precision, to check every divergent possibility available to his mind. In the end, one either finds the solution or not, but the very process of deep, layered and detailed thinking is itself rewarding on its own even in case of failure simply because it then teaches at least how not to think.

Jacobsen: When was high intelligence discovered for you?

Kayioglu: I was formally tested when I started elementary school a couple of months before age seven. In Turkey, especially in those years I.Q. testing was not popular. It is known but not popular even now. But, years later I learned that somehow the educational management system had started a pilot study to identify intellectually gifted children in the area I lived in (Ankara), and upon my teacher’s noticing some intellectual brilliance about me and contacting the local authority I had the chance to be tested by a professional psychologist. I remember being tested by an old lady, asking me questions and recording my answers, sometimes also tape-recording my voice. I don’t know which test it was but my father told the true story to me years later on an occasion of discussing intelligence at home when I was 16 years old. He said: “Son, they told me you were found to be intellectually as capable as a 12-year-old. They recommended you be skipped at least one grade in elementary school but I didn’t accept that for fear of bullying and developmental issues that may arise.”

My parents also told me that I showed some signs of superior intelligence very early as I was able to speak in full sentences when I just turned my first year. I also invented some novel words at age 2 for objects whose names I didn’t know but needed to refer to. Those words were obtained in accordance with the derivation rules of Turkish but were not in colloquial use. I still remember two of them: tutamak (door handle) derived from “tut”, meaning “to hold” in Turkish, and “bağlaç” (belt) from “bağla” meaning “to fasten”.

I learned the alphabet at 4 and could read and write the names of family members. This happened soon after I was exposed to toys consisting of the letters of the alphabet. I remember a dialogue between my parents, wherein my father expressed his fear that I seemed to learn how to read and write soon if he didn’t hide the letters and thus he wouldn’t want to let me be able to read before the normal school age for fear of problems with my peers.

As a peculiarity and maybe a sign of cognitive precocity, I also have vivid early memories before age 2 dating back to when I was 16 months old although mainstream psychology does not credit.

Kayioglu: Well, I think extreme reactions to geniuses may stem partly, or in combination, from socio-cultural conditioning, jealousy, ignorance, misinterpretation, a need for psychological compensation for one’s low self esteem.

Jacobsen: Who seems like the greatest geniuses in history to you?

Kayioglu: The guy who invented the wheel, Euclid, Ibn Sina (Avicenna), Newton, Euler, Gödel, Albert Einstein, and Ramanujan.

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

Kayioglu: A profoundly intelligent person, if not already a genius, is no more than being profoundly intelligent. Genius, to me and most others, requires the presence and manifestation of extraordinary level of inventiveness and/or creativity in any field that involves it. Some typical personality traits are also said to co-exist with genius, but maybe the most common trait is conscientiousness. So, genius can be said to be a unique and optimal combination of high enough intelligence (not necessarily profoundly), conscientiousness and creativity. On the ground, it seems to me, lies ample curiosity and a very strong need to understand as a driving force.

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

Kayioglu: I graduated from Middle East Technical University’s Chemical Engineering Department with a B.Sc. degree.

Soon after graduation I enrolled in the graduate school for a M.Sc. with an intention to obtain a PhD afterwards and pursue an academic life. But I decided to drop out before completing the first semester simply because I felt offended and discouraged when I was told during the interview by the department head that I would not be employed as a research assistant although I had the highest score at the exam. Reasons put forward were not related to my ability or academic standing but to my prospective attitude. The department head, based on her past observations about me, was just not sure enough if I would remain stable and consistently motivated in a long-term and demanding academic job.

As I had never thought of myself as someone to work in a factory environment throughout my education I didn’t want to hunt for an engineering job in a factory because I felt as a research oriented type of fellow. I didn’t want to go to other universities around for a similar position and degree either. So, I remained idle and unemployed for a couple of months. Then I applied for a vacant position as a translator in a government office. After the assessment formalities I was employed as an official translator. Though successful and happy with my job and work environment, it was a radically different career path which I soon discovered would probably not continue for long.

In the meanwhile I was informed by a friend that some government agencies and companies were granting scholarship to eligible candidates in many fields for higher education abroad – mostly in Europe, the United States of America and Canada – to be employed in various positions, including research engineering, upon return to Turkey after earning M.Sc and/or Ph.D. That was it! I was interested in and applied for a research engineering position offered to chemical engineering graduates who were to obtain a M.Sc. degree in petroleum engineering in the U.S.A. First I had to pass a hard exam held once a year nationwide to be an eligible candidate. I took the exam and got the highest score among some 250 applicants that year.

I was accepted by several universities after meeting requirements for the GRE and TOEFL during my stay with a host family in California in 1988, and I chose the University of Tulsa in Oklahoma. I spent one year by taking both undergraduate and graduate courses in petroleum engineering at Tulsa. Next year I decided to change my school and enrolled in Colorado School of Mines. I moved to Golden, Colorado. But, towards the end of my first semester there, it was too disappointing to have realized, just by chance from reading an announcement on the board, that I would not be able to complete my M.Sc. on the subject I was asked to study by the company, because that subject was only possible to study within the scope of a postdoctoral fellowship offered by another university! Surprised and upset, I discussed the situation with the authorities in the sponsoring company to resolve the issue proposing them also some practical alternatives like changing the subject of thesis or going for a professional engineering degree instead of a M.Sc., but they didn’t accept and could not propose a reasonable solution to satisfy both parties.

Truly frustrated and discouraged, the only way out from the deadlock, it seemed to me then, was to leave everything behind and return to my country to start a new life. For I felt I lost my stamina and was cross with my luck. So I dropped the graduate school, returned home and did nothing for a year until I felt good enough and recovered from depression.

Having completed the mandatory military service, I found a job to work as a chemical engineer in the research department of a factory producing refractory bricks and mortars. Later, I also specialised in quality control and management systems and ensured the entire factory implemented the QM systems and got certified in accordance with international standards. I also became one of the IRCA (International Register of Certified Auditors) certified provisional auditors for quality systems. Aside from managing the quality system in the factory, I also established a small laboratory for on-site internal calibration of measuring devices in use in the factory; giving personally, or arranging necessary training required to all employees from top management to workers.

Later I was also involved as a manager in the installation and development of a new production unit in the factory to manufacture sliding-gate refractory plates that are sold and used in the iron and steel industry. I worked in the refractory company for 7 years.

In November 1998 I moved to Eskisehir, the city I have been living since then, in order to run my own business by starting up a small company to provide calibration and quality systems consulting services with a partner. Because of some financial adversities unfortunately we had to close the company in 2000.

Between March 2000 and January 2020 I worked in a glass tableware production factory that belongs to a large corporation in the glassware industry in the position of Quality Control Chief until 2014, and Quality Manager in 2014 – 2020. Over the years I specialised in quality control and management systems based on international standards such as quality management (ISO 9001), environmental management (ISO 14001), food safety (ISO 22000), information security management (ISO 27001), social compliance management systems (e.g BSCI), and also became partly involved in energy management (ISO 50001) and occupational health and safety management (ISO 45001). Apart from managerial tasks I was involved in, I also contributed to various technical works and researches on product design and development, test development and improvement, quality improvement, organizational development, digital transformation projects, development of automated systems for visual quality, 6 sigma projects etc.

I hold a couple dozen certificates in topics of quality management systems, auditing/assessing, quality improvement techniques as well as managerial skills.

As of January 2020, having fulfilled official requirements, I asked for my resignation and I am now a retired person with some free time and for the first time in 30 years, but only to turn my two decade hobby into a small business: teaching and working as a practicing astrologer on birth time rectification.

Currently I am enjoying free time while at the same time writing a book on the subject and doing some preparations for a different business life.

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?

Kayioglu: I have been into books and articles on intelligence, creativity and genius since my teenage years as a topic of interest. I was keenly interested in the topic especially in my young age that I even had chosen to write on the topic of identification and education of the gifted and submitted a term paper of some 50 pages when I took the expository writing course in English in my freshman year at the university. It was only in order to call attention to the subject. Because I was aware by that time that many, if not most, of the intellectually gifted children and young people were lost and wasted due to many different reasons.

That being said, I believe this is the biggest waste among all sorts of wastes. Imagine for a moment that just because we wasted for this or that reason all geniuses such that humanity didn’t ever have Euclid, Archimedes, Al Khwarazmi, Avicenna, Galileo, Gauss, Euler, Newton, Einstein, Madam Curie, Schrödinger, Tesla, Shakespeare, Mozart, Bach, Da Vinci, Goethe and all other geniuses not mentioned herein; what could be our civilization like? We owe most of our civilization today and in the past to gifted and creative people, the big share always going to geniuses. Period.

The myths surrounding the geniuses usually stem from hearsay, movies, media which often emphasize and portray their eccentricity and savant-like peculiarities presented sometimes in an exaggerated way, so that most of the more important personality traits such as insatiable curiosity, truth seeking, dedication to work, diligence, perfectionism, very high and sustained concentration, determination, obsessiveness etc. are not given due consideration thus leading to a distorted view about genius. A good percentage of ordinary people think that genius comes hand in hand with madness. It is true some of them were also mad but most were certainly less than that. They were actually mad only about their work.

Another false idea, if not a myth, is to assume a genius is always a profoundly intelligent person. This is hardly true. A person having extreme intelligence but lacking genius traits like high level of creativity, diligence, persistence or conscientiousness is not supposed to create products at genius level. For instance, we have many such extremely intelligent individuals in today’s super high I.Q. societies who do not come up with compatibly creative output. There are examples from history also. John Von Neumann for instance had extreme cognitive power that was said by his contemporaries to be unmatched, yet he was not equally creative. By all intellectual standards, it appears, he was sure a genius as far as raw intelligence and cognitive ability is concerned, but not a true genius in terms of the real meaning of the term.

Therefore, it seems, one must have the optimal combination and amount of the required traits to be a genius. If the personality traits are accompanied by an extreme intelligence, that person may even be a candidate for a universal genius like some of the polymathic universal geniuses in history. But, I am of the opinion that in our time it is highly unlikely for the world to see a universal genius simply because too many fields of specialization, all having its diversity and depth and some being interrelated, are beyond any mortal’s capacity to encompass and absorb.

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

Kayioglu: I have been living in a culture where people usually care for the poor, the old and the underprivileged in general. Compassion and charity are kept in high regard. As someone who was raised in such a culture, this puts me closer to political systems that value social welfare and humanitarian ideals.

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

Kayioglu: I believe that everything exists in God’s imagination only. By everything I literally mean everything, the universe we live in and also all other possible universes that we may not be aware of. God, in my understanding and belief system, refers to an undivided endlessness, wholeness and oneness beyond or apart from which nothing can exist on its own. In other words, the only ultimately aware Being who is the source of all other beings. Separateness and otherness is illusory. Each and every being is one of His infinite ways of manifestations as a kind of self projection, projection of a bundle of His names (divine qualities) out of infinitely many . In a sense, we are living in a matrix created in God’s imagination.

I came close to such an understanding in my high school years by reasoning and contemplation. Later, studying islamic sufism shaped my understanding of religion over the years since then. I was really impressed by and owe gratitude to especially two thinkers in this regard among many: Mohiuddin Ibni Arabi, a 13th century sufi mystic, philosopher, poet and scholar; and more recently Ahmed Hulusi, a contemporary sufi thinker.

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

Kayioglu: In my mature years now, I see that I have always been fascinated by the “scientific thinking” itself rather more than the particular topics of interest in sciences, be it hard sciences or soft sciences. Conceptualization, hypothesis formation, experimentation, testing the hypothesis against facts and findings, drawing conclusions, then a critique. It must be a beautiful adventure. While I was being educated as an engineer, one of the things that I found most interesting and instructive was to discover the importance of underlying assumptions one often needed to make in order to simplify and be able to solve a real engineering problem. This taught me how things differ and a theory turns out to be when real life problems are faced.

I understand that science and engineering, to varying degrees, seem to be an oversimplified model of the reality that we are exposed to. No less, but also no more. In the search for understanding the workings of the universe science absolutely is a strong and indispensable tool, but I doubt that it is the strongest tool when it comes to search for the ultimate truth, especially when we consider the metaphysical implications of the logical limit imposed by the Incompleteness Theorem that Kurt Gödel had introduced and proved.

I suspect that science will ever reach a level where human intellect will no longer need philosophy, metaphysics and religion unless of course some day humanity totally becomes devoid of soul and discards the need to search for meaning (maybe there is no!).

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

Kayioglu: I was not informed of a score for the test I took when I started elementary school. I was only informed to be 5 years ahead of my peers. But a quick calculation would place my childhood ratio I.Q in a range of 165 – 175.

In the last year of junior high school I took a nationwide exam open only to eligible students satisfying grade requirements (about 15 percent of the student population). First phase of the exam was an intellectual aptitude test resembling an I.Q. test. I obtained the highest 34th score among some 17000 mates. This roughly corresponds to a rarity score of 1 in 3000 – 4000. Assuming normal distribution, this would have corresponded to an I.Q. above 150 sd15 if it were normed by rarity.

I also took two self administered timed I.Q. tests at 16 which were said to be normed to ceilings of 145 sd 15 and 200 sd16. On the former I hit the ceiling, and on the latter 169. I don’t remember the name of the first test, but the latter was, if I don’t misremember, a Turkish version of the CMMT.

In 2004 I took the Mensa’s entrance test RAPM, but because as a policy Mensa did not give a score, I received a formal letter reporting only that I was eligible to enter Mensa. In 2005 I took Cooijmans Intelligence Test – Form 2E with a score of 156 I.Q. sd15 based on the preliminary norming, and was admitted to the Glia Society based on a 149 I.Q. after the norming in December 2005. Later in 2006 I took Paul Cooijmans’ QMC#4 test with a score of 143 I.Q. sd15.

In both tests I feel I did not do my best because I didn’t put the maximum effort needed for such tests. Years passed without attempting a new test due to lack of time and energy. I have recently completed in my free time after retirement another test authored by Paul Cooijmans, but not sent it yet for scoring; currently reviewing my solutions to make sure I have done my best this time. Last three tests mentioned above are all untimed and unsupervised high-range I.Q. tests authored by Paul Cooijmans.

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.

Kayioglu: My scores on adult scale have varied between 143 to 149 which seem to be pretty consistent. I think the scores do not scatter much if one invests enough time and effort, does all the tests at adult age, the tests contain mixed item types covering a wider range of abilities rather than focusing on a single type ability such as consisting of verbal-only, or spatial-only; the tests have high enough ceiling, and of course if the test quality is high, that is, the tests are all psychometrically good.

That last condition may not be present in some tests. Most of the supervised tests do not have high enough ceilings for the exceptionally gifted. If a test has a ceiling of 130, another one 145, all Giga Society members with I.Q.’s of 190+ taking all three tests would have a score variation from 130 to 190! So, even if those three different tests are psychometrically perfect, and other conditions above met, one would still observe 60 I.Q. points a difference – apparently a very large discrepancy – between the lowest and the highest scores they obtained.

Obviously, if one or more of the conditions above are not met, then it is likely to get a wide scattering of scores differing at times 2 or more standard deviations for the same person. In my case for example, the condition of “investing enough time and effort” above was not fully met. If, for instance, I get a score well above this on the latest test I did, then it becomes quite clear that the spread is my fault, not the tests’. In the example above for the hypothetical Giga persons, it’s the ceiling that is guilty, not the testees.

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

Kayioglu: No particular philosophy as a whole, without implying myself not favoring moral principles. I only want to point out the highly subjective and complex nature of ethics. Given the observation that human beings, societies and life arising out of interactions between them are too complex and dynamic, it is overwhelmingly difficult to offer a universal philosophy in the first place. I find it superfluous to elaborate more on this as it must be obvious when one especially considers the immense complexity of nonlinear systems and myriad of factors related to culture, genetics, belief systems, religion, education, upbringing, ration, intelligence, geography, technology, individual differences, biases etc. to name a few.

I am not as erudite as to claim that I studied all major schools of ethical philosophies to offer a perspective, but simply because of the complex nature of the matter, I don’t think any particular ethical philosophy can address all or even most of all problems effectively. So, to me, the nature and depth of the problem defies human intellect at its core. Consequently, this requires taking into account non-rational and even irrational elements of human beings if one has to deal with ethics.

Therefore, on an individual level anyone (here “anyone” also includes the most advanced AI to imagine) is doomed to choose one’s way under uncertainty based on such factors said above.

On a personal level, I have moral and ethical principles that I have adopted in the culture I was raised and am trying to follow, but ethical philosophy is, and I think, will always remain to be an open question that needs to be re-addressed, reviewed and revised according to the dynamics of the age human beings live in.

Appendix I: Footnotes

[1] Member, Glia Society.

[2] Individual Publication Date: October 15, 2020: http://www.in-sightjournal.com/kayioglu-1; Full Issue Publication Date: January 1, 2021: https://in-sightjournal.com/insight-issues/.

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2023-03-24

Conversation with Mhedi Banafshei on Egalitarianism, Convergent Intellectual Interests, Trust, Confidence and Humility, and “Broadening of Horizons”: Member, World Genius Directory (3)

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

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

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2020/10/15

Abstract

Mhedi Banafshei is a Member of the World Genius Directory. He discusses: high-IQ communities defined within the parameters; egalitarianism; common things; certain intellectual interests’ the high-IQ societies; the issues around the legitimacy of high-IQ societies; the issues around the “existence of differences of intelligence altogether”; some of the reasons of others for joining the high-IQ societies; examples of individuals who could only be identified as geniuses; inappropriate ways of putting forth one’s ideas; the important lesson on resilience in the midst of reality; a gifted person learn to trust, drop their guard, and trust their natural inclinations of interests to guide them in life; “answers that are weighted differently rather than just considered as either correct or incorrect”; the injustices of the past; high-IQ societies matching “most things in life”; the precarious balance between humility and confidence; some programs available for the “broadening of horizons” of the gifted and the talented; and speculation as to the reasons for “those with IQs above 150 or so… less likely to have careers of prestigious positions.”

Keywords: confidence, egalitarianism, high-IQ societies, geniuses, humility, injustices, interests, Mhedi Banafshei, World Genius Directory.

Conversation with Mhedi Banafshei on Egalitarianism, Convergent Intellectual Interests, Trust, Confidence and Humility, and “Broadening of Horizons”: Member, World Genius Directory (3)

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

Scott Douglas Jacobsen: What makes high-IQ communities defined within the parameters of any “social factor which indicates something about human values or something meaningful in terms of experiences of life is a foundation of community”?

Mhedi Banafshei[1],[2]*: Naturally, many members of high IQ societies are quite adept at being critical thinkers. Those who aren’t inclined to superficially analyze things are likely to find friends among themselves, in the same way that those who’re simply led by popular opinion and the media attract each other. The theory that one can only meaningfully communicate with those within two standard deviations of one’s own IQ score does have some truth to it, even if it doesn’t explain everything.

Jacobsen: Why is egalitarianism a common trait within the high-IQ societies?

Banafshei: I suppose many of us are smart enough to know that the value of something achieved is not determined by the superficial characteristics of the achiever.

Jacobsen: What are some of the common things to help “identify people with whom they have more than one thing in common”?

Banafshei: I think it helps to try to listen better than you talk. People will reveal things well enough, and soon enough, when you do that.

Jacobsen: You stated, “Given that having a high IQ does generally relate to a somewhat higher likelihood of forming certain intellectual interests, such societies are giving many opportunities to not only find those with similar interests but also those who happen to be equally cognitively equipped in relation to exploration of the subjects of mutual investment.” I ask: What seem like such “certain intellectual interests” in which “societies are giving many opportunities”?

Banafshei: It hasn’t been difficult for me to find knowledgeable people within IQ societies to converse with about the subjects I’m interested in, which relate to some of the abstract topics of philosophy, mathematics and psychology. Many of us find IQ societies to be very handy in terms of just learning about almost any subject for purposes of curiosity and intellectual development even, without there necessarily being any desire of academic ambition. And for this reason, IQ societies can have an educational value for the intelligent that can’t be simply replaced by formal education. In terms of the aforementioned, I’ve found the IQ societies founded by Iakovos Koukas to be very good and believe they’ll pave the way of the high, and especially ultra-high, IQ sphere.

Jacobsen: Do the high-IQ societies seem more important to a country culture or less important in general now?

Banafshei: IQ societies are of limited relevance in most countries because options are very limited in terms of the existence of nationally based IQ societies. Currently, many countries only have Mensa chapters and little else of serious development. While higher IQs are not very common, enough people exist with IQs at or above the third standard deviation to make the creation of national societies of such viable. With the realization of this, importance would manifest.

Jacobsen: What seem like the issues around the legitimacy of high-IQ societies?

Banafshei: The main ones are the questions of intelligence itself. Since a considerable number of questions still surround intelligence, many who happen not to have any confirmation of possessing high intelligence are more comfortable assuming the concept of intelligence is merely an abstract philosophical one of little real-life consequence or that the point of diminishing returns is much lower than what is likely to be the case.

Jacobsen: What seem like the issues around the “existence of differences of intelligence altogether”?

Banafshei: For reasons of political correctness, the education systems of many countries avoid assessing the intelligence levels of children and young pupils unless there is very obviously a need for it in terms of special needs, or teachers subjectively make formal judgments of such. The result of this is that many schools do a very poor job at identifying high, and sometimes even very low, intelligence. As well as the more important educational consequences this can have for many people, this reinforces social denial of the realities of intelligence related to the dunning kruger effect. Inevitably, intelligent people are undermined.

Jacobsen: What were some of the reasons of others for joining the high-IQ societies known to you?

Banafshei: I know some who’ve joined with the hope they could find an appropriate partner, some who’ve wanted to learn from others, some who’ve wanted to find high IQ friends and even some who’ve simply been in the business of collecting as many certificates as possible.

Jacobsen: Any examples of individuals who could only be identified as geniuses, as such, after the fact?

Banafshei: Individual examples are not as important as the general principle that contributions often need expansion of context to be properly understood.

Jacobsen: What are inappropriate ways of putting forth one’s ideas? What are more appropriate manners in which to put someone’s ideas forward to others?

Banafshei: The universally inappropriate way would be to present ideas dishonestly. What’s appropriate depends on the idea itself and the range of people it can appeal to.

Jacobsen: If “failure is a part of life no matter what your IQ is,” what is the important lesson on resilience in the midst of this reality? What are some other similar realities for the gifted and talented to ingest as if the proverbial bitter pill?

Banafshei: That while high intelligence is a good asset, it’s rarely sufficient on it’s own. It should be understood that even those who’re regarded as highly intelligent, or even geniuses, are not perfectly intelligent. Intelligence is relative, and the smartest are not as far ahead as some suppose. It’s only logical that some highly intelligent people become complacent in life due to being able to sometimes get by more easily. But that is an often disastrous mistake. In the long run, the winners are always those who are well-rounded participants who possess many positive attributes of human success. The proverbial pill is that intelligent people would often find themselves much more easily overtaken by people of seemingly much lower cognitive ability than they may guess if they are led to believe intelligence is any guarantee of anything. It may seem like an obvious idea, but given the fact that the correlation between intelligence and success isn’t much higher, the need of it’s expression seems apparent.

Jacobsen: How can a gifted person learn to trust, drop their guard, and trust their natural inclinations of interests to guide them in life?

Banafshei: It’s important that they know themselves. Many of the ideas and expectations of prevailing cultures are not very accommodating of the essence of individuals who are statistical minorities of cognitive ability and/or personality. Life isn’t predicated on a monolithic one-size-fits-all philosophical framework of meaning. Those who’ll often find themselves at odds with the world, due to giftedness or anything else, would generally be better off if they try to forge their own senses of meaning and direction rather than continue to try to meet the, sometimes antithetical, standards of normalcy.

Jacobsen: Can you expand on the idea of “answers that are weighted differently rather than just considered as either correct or incorrect,” please?

Banafshei: While the abilities of cognitive tasks correlate with each other, there is still variation in terms of the subtest profiles of supervised IQ tests, and it’s also been found in relation to high range testing that some people of contextually moderate ability sometimes solve some of the hardest items, the hardest items which are also solved by many of the most intelligent test-takers. In relation to this, it’s clear that often there are a range of test answers which could be regarded as more or less statistically correct rather than categorically either. The application of this could lead to more precise estimations.

Jacobsen: What is done to ‘curb’ the injustices of the past? What is done to curb the curbing, so as to re-create the injustices of the past?

Banafshei: The range of both is too vast to be properly specified without writing a book, which I probably wouldn’t be qualified to write. An interesting context of this question is the circumstances in the US in terms of the current issues being dealt with relating to American minorities, and particularly African Americans, as the United States has been a focal point of matters of justice for a considerable period of time. Currently, it seems that radical opposing forces of politics are becoming more prominent there, and this may be in part because of the pervasiveness of the questionable modern notion that the things which are most representative of justice also happen to be the least offensive overall and the most easily presentable to society in association with causing minimal tension, this may have inhibited healthy debates in connection with growing problems and concerns of various kinds. Those who are seemingly the least biased in terms of radicalism will be crucial to the formation of things.

Jacobsen: You note most things in life, a lot, in relation to high-IQ societies. Does the consideration of high-IQ societies matching “most things in life” speak a lot about the nature of high-IQ and its associated societies built around attainers of said status?

Banafshei: Obviously, high IQ societies exist within contexts of general ones and like most, if not all, elements of subculture, they are highly influenced by the cultures of their surroundings. The dilemma of social groups which develop to function for niche purposes is that while they need to form norms of their own, they are nonetheless bound by the prominent cultural realities of their societal foundation. It’s difficult to say to what extent IQ societies tend to be structurally reflective of dominant systems, but participants thereof should certainly consider themselves relatively competent potential explorers of this matter.

Jacobsen: What is the precarious balance between humility and confidence?

Banafshei: A sense of responsibility is important. When one appreciates the importance of their actions in relation to others as well as themselves, it’s often easier to maintain balance of mindset.

Jacobsen: What are some programs available for the “broadening of horizons” of the gifted and the talented?

Banafshei: When in school, it’s important that the educational needs of gifted children are accommodated by the implementation of personalized pathways of learning. The simple fact is, good nurture of the most able children is of incalculable importance to the societal productivity of the future. If the question is thought of generally in relation to all of such people, then I’d say gifted/talented people should be focused on finding the right way of doing things for themselves rather than simply following the example of others of a similar kind.

Jacobsen: Any speculation as to the reasons for “those with IQs above 150 or so… less likely to have careers of prestigious positions”?

Banafshei: Firstly, it should be clear to us all that difficulties of this kind don’t apply to everyone with IQs above this level. Given that one’s general intelligence doesn’t function independently of other human factors, whether or not problems of this kind will exist for a high IQ individual, and what the mechanisms of their existence/non-existence would be, depends on a host of personal, cultural, socioeconomic, and circumstantial factors, of course. In my own case, while I’m not sure such a notion applies in relation to my non-participation in the elite professions, I can say that some of the difficulties I’ve had in my formative years have related to my perceptions of interpreting things differently and apparently being more naturally evaluative/critical of the social activities, ideologies and fact related claims of the social systems of my engagement.

Appendix I: Footnotes

[1] Member, World Genius Directory.

[2] Individual Publication Date: October 15, 2020: http://www.in-sightjournal.com/banafshei-3; Full Issue Publication Date: January 1, 2021: https://in-sightjournal.com/insight-issues/.

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2023-03-24

Conversation with Mohammed Karim Benazzi Jabri on Family, Intelligence, Genius, Islam, Faith, and Intelligence Test Scores: Member, World Genius Directory (1)

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

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

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2020/10/08

Abstract

Mohammed Karim Benazzi Jabri is a Member of the World Genius Directory. He discusses: growing up; an extended self; family background; peers and schoolmates; the purpose of intelligence tests; high intelligence; the greatest geniuses in history; a genius from a profoundly intelligent person; some work experiences and educational certifications; some of the more important aspects of the idea of the gifted; some social and political views; thoughts on the God concept or gods idea; science; me of the tests taken and scores earned (with standard deviations); the range of the scores; and ethical philosophy.

Keywords: France, Islam, Mohammed Karim Benazzi Jabri, Morocco, World Genius Directory.

Conversation with Mohammed Karim Benazzi Jabri on Family, Intelligence, Genius, Islam, Faith, and Intelligence Test Scores: Member, World Genius Directory (1)

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

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

Mohammed Karim Benazzi Jabri[1],[2]*: Perhaps the most interesting was that of my grandfather on my mother’s side, he was a revolutionary who fought for years against the French resistance against the occupation of Morocco by France in 1912, he always told us with great pride of his adventures and his tricks and how close he was to death on several occasions with the desire to help force the French out of Moroccan territory.

My paternal grandmother was a healer. She used to cure patients with hepatitis and other ailments with medicinal herbs and other natural remedies, since at that time doctors were scarce and everyone with an illness went to healers and curanderos. But perhaps the one that left a very deep impression on me was the unpleasant experience of my mother’s illness as a child. For several years she had repeated psychotic outbreaks with hallucinations, she also had phobias of an obsessive nature and was under psychiatric treatment. It was a very hard time for me and my siblings.

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

Jabri: There was a positive and a negative part.

The positive part was from my father who is also a doctor by profession. He taught me several values that have served me throughout my life such as generosity, humility, the importance of family and that you have to work very hard to achieve your goals. He loved his country and his work. As soon as he got his medical degree in France he went back to practice medicine in Morocco and to take care of my grandparents who were already very old and with many health problems. He is a very beloved doctor in my city, he was nicknamed the doctor of the poor because he treated them without charging them for the consultation and without receiving anything in return, after treating them he even gave them money to buy their medicines. He was honest in his work and very modest. He has always wanted me to be a doctor just like him even though I had other preferences for other careers at first.

The negative part was living through these difficult times of my mother’s illness that contributed negatively to me. As a result, I too ended up developing anxious depressions and some types of phobias.

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

Jabri: My great-grandparents are of Berber origin were born in Feguig a city that is in the east of Morocco, near the mountains of the atlas on the border with allergy surrounded by a wild desert and mountains, a very hot city, then my grandparents had to move

Looking for a job and a better future in the city of Oujda, it is the city where I was born and grew up until I took the road to Spain to continue my studies. We are a large family of five siblings. In Morocco, in marriages it is common to have enough children thinking that when they are older they will take care of their parents and help support the family. There it is socially frowned upon to admit the parents when they are older in the residences for the elderly, it is part of the Moroccan culture.

The religion in Morocco is Muslim, the official language is Arabic and there are several dialects depending on each region, the second official language is French. My city is small and conservative, but each time the new generation is having a more open and more liberal mentality, although the traditions and customs of our ancestors are maintained but now with a certain touch of modernity. My parents are very religious, I would say they are fanatics, they pray five times a day, they do Ramadan and have made a pilgrimage to Mecca. I grew up in that religious environment, hence my Muslim religion, I consider myself an open person with a different view of the world unlike most of my countrymen, grows up with a certain degree of ostracism towards some customs and habits that are part of Moroccan culture and that remain to this day, although I retain my religious beliefs.

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

Jabri: In both primary and secondary school I had a pretty bad time, there the teachers’ method of teaching consists of you learning things by force, if you don’t do your homework they punish you, they mistreat you physically and psychologically by hitting you, insulting you. I was afraid to go to school, which caused me anxiety and a lot of nervousness. As for the relationship with my classmates, it was not bad at all. There were good moments when we laughed and had a lot of fun, and other bad moments when we were upset and fought with some of our classmates. Once at school, things improved a lot and I stopped suffering so much from the mistreatment and aggressive behaviour of the teachers. I always had very few friends, at most two or three, I was very shy and a little unsociable. I enjoyed spending hours talking with my father about medical and other scientific topics.

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

Jabri: The purpose of the intelligence tests for me. If we talk about the high-rank tests, in part, they serve to entertain me, I have fun spending sometimes hours trying to solve some test, looking for more and more creative solutions for each item, since they are very complex tests that require much imagination and many hours to get to solve the items of a given test. And in part, they are also used as a psychometric measure of the g with variable reliability depending on the type of test and the author who designed the test. It is a different way of estimating the ci compared to classic tests such as the WAIS and other time-limited tests, which are rather static, simple tests and depend largely on how fast you are and the processing speed you possess. Psychological tests are sometimes less reliable for people who are susceptible to problems of anxiety, stress or if you suffer from a psychological disorder or simply if you take them without having slept well the previous night or any other circumstance that may negatively influence the final result of the test.

Jacobsen: When was high intelligence discovered for you?

Jabri: As a child, I did not take any psychological tests to determine my IQ, but I entered school at an early age and finished the courses with good grades. In school, I got the first grades in subjects like math, physics or chemistry and not so good in other subjects that were less interesting to me, where I was bored and wanted to finish the class as soon as possible. A little over two years ago, thanks to a friend who knows him through Quora and who had told me about the high ranking tests, I tried to take several tests in a small period of time and they didn’t turn out badly, I got quite high scores in most cases. But throughout my life I have always had a mistrust of myself in my abilities, I suffered from the impostor syndrome.

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

Jabri: For me, the most outstanding in the Arab world is Ibn Sina. He was a philosopher, scientist, doctor, mathematician. I contribute many works on geometry, astronomy, logic and psychology and natural sciences.

Albert Einstein is famous for his special and general theories of relativity.

Besides, I have a special admiration for Nicolas Tesla. Engineer, physicist, inventor, he laid the foundations of the second industrial revolution, although it did not have a happy ending because of his mental disorders, he died alone and poor despite his contributions to science.

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

Jabri: Albert Einstein, said ‘that we are all geniuses. but if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live a life believing it is stupid)’

Geniuses are not only intelligent, but they are also very creative, they are usually great inventors, painters, musicians, philosophers. A genius is partly capable of understanding reality, which leads to generating transformations that benefit everyone. We attribute the great scientific advances we have achieved today, thanks to their great ideas, theories, thoughts and inventions that revolutionized an entire world

A deeply intelligent person, he has cognitive skills, much understanding to solve difficult and complex problems with divergent thinking. High ability to adapt to the circumstances and diverse situations that life presents.

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

Jabri: In Morocco, I started to study biology, then I had to continue my studies in Spain where I studied a year of chemical engineering and changed my career to medicine where I graduated as a doctor. Afterwards, I worked as a doctor for a while in an outpatient clinic in Valencia, currently, I am practicing my profession in a private clinic.

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?

Jabri: Throughout history, a series of stereotypes have been created, myths deeply rooted in society regarding the gifted that are not completely true, they are merely beliefs that often do not correspond to reality. They were considered as misfits, unsociable, they are supermen and superwomen who stood out in all areas and can perform any job without any difficulty, at the academic level is thought to get the best grades, and usually have a high academic performance, achieving both school and professional success. Nothing could be further from the truth than the fact that few people perform in an outstanding way academically, either because of lack of motivation or because of boredom in class. Many times they end up failing at school and a considerable percentage of them end up leaving school. They are emotionally labile, extremely sensitive, in fact, they are vulnerable, and if they do not receive the necessary attention and support and a specific education from an early age to unfold their potential and so that talent is not lost, they do not achieve the desired goals that are expected of them on an academic and professional level. Many develop psychological problems from feeling frustrated, they end up having anxiety, depressive pictures, sometimes obsessive behaviours and various types of phobias.

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

Jabri: Today we live in a capitalist society, which is dominated by business deregulation, unemployment, injustice, poverty and economic inequality. Economic growth seems to benefit only the highest class of society, unscrupulous billionaires, who seek to make their fortunes at the expense of the poorest, without concern for human dignity, in an attempt to enrich themselves using all the means at their disposal, sometimes illegal, without concern for the generation of more poverty, environmental pollution and destruction of the natural habitat, violence. Pharmaceutical companies make billions of dollars in profits, taking out more and more expensive drugs that are out of reach of many people, they care more about how much money they make than about people’s own health, not everyone can pay what it costs for example the drugs to treat the various types of cancer, especially in the poorest countries.

In order to come to power, in the electoral campaigns before the elections, politicians often make false promises that then do not comply, sometimes financing their election campaigns or political parties with money obtained illegally, really only look after their political interests most of the time that what their people really need, we see each time the emergence of ultra-right parties, radical with their speeches divide society by promoting xenophobia, gender violence, social inequality, as in Spain with some political parties such as the party of Vox. Sometimes politicians in an attitude of manipulating people use religious arguments to attract more voters. Now with the crisis of the COVID-19, apart from the mismanagement of the pandemic by many governments, the rulers of different countries do not agree among themselves. We see at the beginning of the pandemic, a divided European Union. Richer countries in a selfish attitude try to recruit all the medical equipment, the drugs that seem to have some effect on the COVID-19, depriving other countries with fewer economic resources, lack of solidarity. Perhaps, we are undoubtedly facing the worst face of humanity.

I would like there to be solidarity among countries around the world to win the game of the pandemic we are living today. More coordination between countries, more collaboration. At the social level, that there be justice, eradicating poverty, social injustice, child exploitation, and less investment in arming and allocating this money to invest in universal health care, fighting unemployment. I would like to see the extinction of anarchist governments, dictatorial regimes and more care for ecology and the environment.

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

Jabri: Religions all have the same purpose, to establish social norms and rules, to put order and justice. These norms do not differ much between one religion and another, they have the same basis for the purpose of worshipping one god in either the Muslim, Christian or Jewish religion…for a reward in life as well as in the afterlife, promising an eternal life after death. Before religion people lived in a wild and disorderly way, it was chaotic, people killed, stole, raped, there was no justice. Almost all religions come with various prohibitions and restrictions that greatly limit people’s freedoms in order to have a sin-free life.

Having one religion or another depends a lot on the social, family and cultural environment of the place where you were born and raised, on the education you received. The Muslim religion its parishioners are the most faithful to their religion in the sense that they follow it and practice it in a more passionate way and with more fanaticism but as always there are exceptions. The parents pass it on to their descendants and so it is perpetuated and passed on from generation to generation. With time we see that religion is fading and losing weight, in many occasions you find people who say they have faith, believe in God but do not practice it or practice it partially, both in the Christian and Muslim religion, although less frequently in the latter, especially among the youngest because the mentality and lifestyle, is sometimes incompatible and does not fit with the times of now.

As for me, I believe in God and try to live with faith. It is difficult for me to conceive of the idea that this universe with this harmonious balance has been created from nothing, hence my need to believe in a creator. I follow the Muslim religion because my parents are Muslims and I have been educated and taught since childhood to practice the Muslim religion and by my own convictions. For me Islam preaches non-violence, respect and solidarity. Unfortunately, some radical extremists or terrorist groups justify their actions by misinterpreting the Koran and the Muslim religion. With their violent acts, they have greatly damaged the image of Islam and Muslims around the world.

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

Jabri: Thanks to science man came to step on the moon for the first time and who knows in the not so distant future we will reach Tuesday, we discover other galaxies, extraterrestrial life. In the field of medicine, which is constantly being renewed, science has given us much, thanks to the discovery of drugs, vaccines have saved millions of lives throughout history, in parallel with technological advances and their applications in the field of medicine have led to a revolution in modern medicine. Science in all its fields implies greater development associated with an improvement in the quality of life, social equality and in general the well-being of the population.

In my opinion, governments need to invest more in education, research, and seek greater dissemination of information and knowledge, such as opening more libraries, cultural centers, and more accessibility to the Internet. To try to train more and more qualified, prepared and trained people, which would lead to an improvement of our society as a whole.

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

Jabri: I did high-grade tests from several authors, among them Mathema by Dr. Jason Betts where I got my maximum score of 158, cosmic by James Dorsey also with a score of 158, the ISPE test and from other authors like Marco Ripa, Alexi Edin and Ivan Ivec among others.

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.

Jabri: My range is between 144-158, depending on the type of test and the author who designed the test, my lack of knowledge of English limits me when doing verbal tests.

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

Jabri: Religion and my parents’ education have taught me values such as honesty, solidarity, compassion, trying to help others as much as I can, respect for others regardless of their ethnicity, religious beliefs or any other human condition, I live a life free of prejudice. Also because of my profession as a doctor, I must act according to ethical principles, I try to be honest, transparent in my work, I am very understanding and empathetic with my patients, trying to do my job in the best possible way. In my day to day life, I try to take advantage and enjoy the best moments that life has to offer and adapt to difficult circumstances, I always try to give my best.

Appendix I: Footnotes

[1] Member, World Genius Directory.

[2] Individual Publication Date: October 8, 2020: http://www.in-sightjournal.com/jabri-1; Full Issue Publication Date: January 1, 2021: https://in-sightjournal.com/insight-issues/.

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2023-03-24

Conversation with Heather Dugan on Relationships, Life, and Ruth Bader Ginsburg: Author

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

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

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2020/10/08

Abstract

Heather Dugan is an author, advice columnist, and feature writer. She was a finalist in the USA Book Awards and the Indie Next Generation Book Awards. She recently published Date Like a Grownup. She discusses: dating like a grown up; look to someone as a potential partner or someone as a summer fling; change and growth; lifestyle and potential preconditions; the narrative inside of the woman’s mind; young woman vet ‘sharks’ or inauthentic men; the challenge for Millennial women looking for relationships; factors are the most important to make a relationship last; the loss of the late Ruth Bader Ginsburg; persistence; women to see themselves as making independent choices in more connection with their real selves in their lives; and challenges rather than primarily as tragedies.

Keywords: Heather Dugan, life, love, relationships, Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

Conversation with Heather Dugan on Relationships, Life, and Ruth Bader Ginsburg: Author

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

Scott Douglas Jacobsen: When you’re considering dating, and dating like a grown up, what are some lessons you’ve learned in reflection?

Heather Dugan[1],[2]: One of the things that got me started on writing that book. If you had a difficult situation, a lot of friends would like to bail you out, “You can pretend you have an emergency.” I wanted to do it differently. You feel a lot more empowered and happy with your choices if you can face people directly. I started this for Date Like a Grownup: Anecdotes, Admissions of Guilt & Advice Between Friends.[3] The big scenes I come back to are understanding who you are. A lot of the time, people begin dating the second time around thinking that they’re the same person as the first time around. They don’t realize, maybe, that they’ll be looking for different qualities.

Have yourself in a position where you have a life bigger than dating, it means that you need good, strong friend relationships. [Laughing] Otherwise, it is like trying to find dinner in a convenience store when starving or hungry.

Jacobsen: [Laughing].

Dugan: Then you tend to grab the least-worst option or the last text message. If you’re solid in your self-understanding, then you can wait for the best fit for you. It fits into some other things like filtering out people who may be nice, but do not fit. It is a self-assessment – being honest with who you are. We have such need for a relationship. Where they will cloak a candidate with all of their hopes and dreams, they want to see this persona s the person that they want. Something that resembles a dream. Then the person [Laughing] does a bad little strip tease and reveals who they are. You just weren’t will to see that.

Jacobsen: This is good information. Also, the framework for coming to vet a potential candidate – let’s call them – for a relationship, this will differ for each individual, but there are trends in terms of what people want where they are in life. For someone of a younger cohort, how do they, typically, if they are a young woman, look to someone as a potential partner or someone as a summer fling – so to speak?

Dugan: My book is really geared more towards for people looking for the long-term relationship. I don’t think that you need to filter. If that is your intention, short fling, there are some things. It is where your attraction is; that is what that boils down to. You may want some shared activities. If you want some legs on it, you have to look deeper than that. Because you can find chemistry in shared activities a lot of different places. If you want it to last longer than a summer, you have to find some other commonalities. One of the big things that will make the difference is static versus a dynamic partner.

It can cause a lot of friction. One wants to stay the same. They aren’t curious. There is nothing wrong with that. But that kind of person is not going to be comfortable in being with someone who wants to learn and grow. Even two people who want to grow, they may not even have the exact same interests. I think it is important to have the same mindset of the curiosity. Because you will always have things to share. Actually, it is better if you don’t share your whole lives together. Otherwise, you suck the oxygen out of the relationship.

Jacobsen: When we talk about change and growth, change is more neutral and can go in any number of directions, including dissolution. Growth has more positive connotations. It has this sense of adding things to the unit, to the couple, rather than detracting from it. What are the positive things, concrete manifestations, of growth here?

Dugan: A lot of times, this last book I wrote about the transitions of people individually, but the effects on couples as well. These are life changing events. When a couple weathers things together, they find strength and learn to appreciate and rely on each other in new ways. Other times, the deficits become clear. If a couple is to grow, then I think it is a matter of each of them being able to use the strengths of them. It takes knowing the strengths of the other person and the strength of oneself. Growing, it is creativity in there too. If we are growing, we are trying new things. One of my lessons to my youngest, “You saw the mistakes of your sister. You saw the mistakes of your brother. Make your own mistakes.”

Obviously, with a couple, in the context of a romantic relationship, you want to be growing, learning. A manifestation – to be more specific – is growing together and finding new things to talk about, new activities to share together, probably meeting new people to talk with. A lot of it is fresh water flowing into the relationship. It guarantees that you’re going to have new information, new opportunities. It is what tends to drive the growth. It is integrating what you’re learning into your life.

Jacobsen: For young women, younger people in general, they, typically, do not have to worry about a lot of health issues. As they get older, the probability of them having any variety of health issues from the very severe to the minor rise. Different health issues arise as well. When people are looking for the long-term partner when they are younger, how should they factor into account lifestyle and potential preconditions an individual might have who they might be looking to have legal and economic ties to – for a lifetime, potentially?

Dugan: In the beginning, if you are young and starting out, philosophy will be important. You mention later having some evidence of those ideas. Are you financially frugal? Do you enjoy spending lavishly? You want to be compatible on that. Part of that is going to be a shared activity thing. Is this somebody who likes to go running or going out, or staying in watching Netflix? Hopefully, your diets are compatible. In terms of health, it is all a roll of the die on it. If you are healthy, hopefully, you will be attracted to someone compatible that way. In the years that transpire, there are other things that grow beyond the initial physical attraction and other things. So, you’re able to weather things like a health issue.

Because, big and small, they do happen. People do bump into things. You do get stronger. I’ve had ankle surgery. I am still hiking in Colorado. You learn to push through. If you are in a couple, it becomes part of your story. Anytime you can make something part of the story. It is good.

Jacobsen: When a relationship is going well for an older person, what is the narrative inside of the woman’s mind? If a younger woman, what is the narrative there as well? Are there differences, in other words?

Dugan: I will have to think about the younger side of it. Because people share things, but you don’t know the whole internal narrative. You always begin relationships with a lot of hope and with a lot of history. Older people have more history. A lot of times, I think that can put a ballast on it. But it doesn’t make it go away. People react in different ways. It depends on how mentally healthy they are. Some people, unfortunately, have a difficult time without drama. I do a lot of speaking on relationships in general. It is so important to catch. People do these patterns based on past experiences, which end up sabotaging relationships, sometimes.

If things are going well, and if the person is emotionally healthy, then the excitement comes from enjoying life together rather than creating drama. There is some peace in that. But you are planning for a future they share. Again, for the younger, there is not the history there. But everyone brings some history. In the beginning, you are dating the possibility of a person, almost. As we go along through life, we get chiselled. It is almost like a sculpting process. I see that happening. You reveal more and more of yourself as you grow into yourself.

Jacobsen: How can a young woman vet ‘sharks’ or inauthentic men who can make wild promises but have no intention of fulfilling them? Or are simply not competent in life, in life tasks and goals, to fulfill some of the promises that they make, even with good intent?

Dugan: It is important to give people time to show who they are. It is difficult to know, immediately. You may have clicks on things that look like a relationship will go a while. But you have to have some glitches along the ay. You have to deal with a malfunctioning toilet or delaying travel plans. Travelling together is a great way to see how flexible people are; somebody might make promises. You look for how they treat you. Words are one thing. What do they do? I often tell people in terms of evaluating the quality of the relationship.

A lot of people, they are weighing it, “Is it valuable to say or should I move on?” Is it diminishing you? Are you able to be your best self? If anybody is having to diminish who they are in order to keep the relationship afloat, it is not going to work in the long-term. That’s a time to have, at least, a discussion together to see if it is something that can be understood and rectified. But that situation, if somebody is squashing somebody else’s capacity to grow or is trying to keep them within a certain framework, then you’re likely to get to get a defensive response. It is better to live alone than to not live authentically as yourself.

Jacobsen: What do you see as the challenge for Millennial women looking for relationships, family, if they are heterosexual, a husband and family? As Pew Research finds, most young men and women do want marriage and family in the United States.

Dugan: I’ve encouraged my children. I’ve told them, “Don’t get married until you’re at least 30.” It is great if you can find someone who you click with and can do things together. There is no rush. You need to be stable in who you are before having children. It launches you into another orbit. I’ll be honest. It is not like you become a parent and suddenly have everything figured out. It is one of the first things I had my kids understood when they were older. “You’ve got it from here.” We don’t have to start a family immediately. I can understand when some people are tentative to move in that direction. I hear what you’re saying, ultimately. It is important to make sure it is a solid relationship. There are a lot of wobbly things in the world right now.

Hopefully, a relationship when you’re younger makes things in the world a little more stable, at least in your vicinity. Is it easy to relax with them? I remember back in relationships. Here is one party that is happy, which has nothing to do with me, it is something carried with them. People show you their best self. That is what we do. Over time, more and more, we reveal parts of ourselves that we are unsure of being worthy for other people to see.

Jacobsen: What factors are the most important to make a relationship last? Based on the research and the advice in the column, what strategies should people keep in mind?

Dugan: I think flexibility is huge. Rigidity has killed more things. It is difficult when people decide there is one way of living, one way of doing things. It is important to embrace things that come your way, to incorporate that into what you’re already building. Kindness, you have to be able, even in the midst of difficult times when there is a crisis or someone is not feeling well/afraid, to know the line and not to vent on your partner. To be kind, it is final. That’s what keeps things afloat, I think. Showing respect, you will not agree on everything. Respecting their choices and letting them have them, that shows love to the highest.

Unfortunately, it is hard to dial it down to a couple. But flexibility, kindness, respect, and a sense of commitment to something bigger than yourself, the promoting of each other in terms of appreciating their ability to be their unique self, not wishing for some other self – letting them be their self on their time. So, you can have the safe, calm space or a haven from the world.

Jacobsen: Unfortunately, there was the loss of the late Ruth Bader Ginsburg late last month. She has been a pillar for a lot of women’s rights progress, nationally, in the United States, whether in Supreme Court decisions or in commentary. So, as a mother, how can you approach speaking about the legacy of former Justice Ginsburg in regards to the work that she has done, and the strength of women and the importance of gender equality in the United States?

Dugan: I like to use those conversations as a way of empowering my kids and to help them tap into their own possibilities. On the topic of legacy, I would begin talking about how these develop over time. She didn’t become a circuit judge until 60. There’s a lot of work there. A lot of constancy, integrity, to get to the position, to be the same in all situations. The reliability of the decision-making there for her. It is helping your daughter understand who RBG is to so many people and thinking, maybe, the things she would hope people know about herself. Now, and what kinds of things would she like to build towards for her own legacy, another thing, too, the consistency thing; the constancy of being the same person in all situations. It is important to talk about integrity and to be the same in all situations.

It can be difficult for young women and for young men for that matter. Can you be the same person with your friends group? It is understandable that, maybe, you speak differently with adults than with kids. Are you able to be the same person with adults and with kids? If you are a person of respectful of other people’s ideas, are you different with one friend group than with another?

Jacobsen: You had a note about persistence as well. What is the example of persistence in Ginsburg’s life?

Dugan: The whole going first thing, my kids have heard a lot, “If not you, then who?” The idea that somebody has to take the first step for things to change. It wasn’t one step. As we said, her legacy, she went at this creatively. She was striving for equality through the use of the law, but she came at it through different viewpoints. As part of her push for women’s rights, she argued widowers should receive death benefits. It was creative to find that and make that as part of the puzzle. I would go on to the value of creative problem solving, where there are different approaches for the same situation to move yourself forward. Talking about what it means to be a pioneer, that “no” is always part of the process. You are going to hear, “No.” Women need to understand it. Because they are going to hear it. When I was younger, “No,” would stop me in my tracks, now, it is more information.

Jacobsen: [Laughing].

Dugan: It is not judgment on a person. When they are more aware, then they can blow through them easier and then make their next attempts, I would ask about times when she heard, “No,” when she thought that she should have heard, “Yes,” when she thought that she was capable. Arming our kids with those first words, so they have that launching pad, the moment when you are first feeling the stress of the situation. It can be hard to find the words. It can give them the confidence to push past and find the dialogue rather than giving up. RBG, her life is such a rich history and example. There are a lot of different answers to learn on how she progressed through her journey.

Jacobsen: How can one allow women to see themselves as making independent choices in more connection with their real selves in their lives?

Dugan: I think you have to build that confidence in self. A lot of people spend their 30s, 40s, and 50s repairing a confidence damaged in childhood, unfortunately. Talking with your daughter that she will make decisions totally different from you, it’s totally fine. RBG pursued a different path than her mom. She couldn’t attend college. But her mother was her fan. Talk about the ways the two of you are similar and different, it allows her to be different within the family. The fact that she can change her mind. That’s part of gaining information. It does mean that you do change your mind. RBG exhibited an open-mindedness, even as she held onto core values. She socialized quite a lot with Scalia. There are a lot of great anecdotes out of that. Her challenges made her stronger, because of him. If you integrate the good parts into your own, and crystallize what you really good think, it is a good thing. We need discuss active listening and discussing vs. arguing, being able to take in the information the other person is preparing rather than preparing the rebuttal [Laughing].

Jacobsen: [Laughing].

Dugan: It is affirming that that is a sign of strength. That apologizing is a sign of strength. She apologized for comments about Donald Trump and Colin Kaepernick. She said things that she thought later weren’t the best and was strong enough later to say that. Saying, “Sorry,” doesn’t make you a weaker person, it makes people respect you more if you own up to it. Was there a time when people apologized to you, and then you liked them better because you felt they were more real with you? Maybe, you ask about times that she’s gotten information and changed her own mind. It will help her be more open to that kind of thing.

Jacobsen: As a wrap-up question for the session today, I want to ask about some of your difficulties in your life that you have experienced and taken those on board as challenges rather than primarily as tragedies, so as to become stronger.

Dugan: It has been a journey [Laughing]. Now and then, people will say, “You’ve had such a charmed life.” I just want to laugh [Laughing]. I had a call today. I mentioned. There was a time in life when I lost three close family members, had a major surgery, was going through divorce proceedings, was trying to raise kids as a single mother, and my mother required care. I got very disconnected from the whole world. It was a very difficult, dark time. I didn’t know that I could create anything better out of my life. I think my children were part of it, certainly, of moving forward. It was a greater responsibility for everybody. If you have something bigger than yourself, then that always helps. I have always been one of those people who has been curious. There is always an expectation. I want to see what it is [Laughing].

I’ve mentioned the previous ankle surgery. I find workarounds. Most of the time, when something is blocked, I have begun to find ways around them and see them as detours. Plan B is almost always better than Plan A because it includes possibilities and spontaneity, which didn’t enter my brain. I didn’t have the idea. [Laughing] I think having this sense of purpose and looking for workarounds in Plan B. It makes all the difference. The purpose part, for me, is helping other people maximize their life experience. It is such a big and important purpose. I don’t think I could stop.

Jacobsen: Heather, it’s been a delight. Thank you so much for your time today.

Dugan: Well, thank you, I appreciate chatting. If I can ever help you with anything, just give me a call.

Appendix I: Footnotes

[1] Author; Columnist.

[2] Individual Publication Date: October 8, 2020: http://www.in-sightjournal.com/dugan; Full Issue Publication Date: January 1, 2021: https://in-sightjournal.com/insight-issues/.

[3]Blurb from Amazon (Hyperlinked in the main text): “Date Like a Grownup examines the impact of loneliness and social obsolescence on men and women in their second single lives and provides punctuating proof that looking for love from a place of isolation is as unwise as grocery shopping on an empty stomach. A USA Book Awards and Next Generation Book Awards finalist, Date Like a Grownup is “a witty and insightful look at dating the second time around, “a refreshing peek into the challenges of building midlife relationships” and “a toolkit for moving past the loneliness toward a relationship built for the future.” Unlike most relationship manuals, this book does NOT guide the reader through game-playing and winning temporary partners. Instead, Ms. Dugan presents a personalized strategy for building a life foundation that facilitates finding and growing a “right fit” relationship. Topics include: effective filtering, social media and online dating, how to avoid isolation and “space-filler” choices and how to strategically begin building a larger social network. Engaging narratives such as “The Percocet Proposal” and “Need Meets Greed” underline specific dating principles outlined in the book and affirm that none of us are immune to bad choices. These real-life outtakes from interviewed men and women are often funny and always insightful. Heather Dugan is a speaker, discussion facilitator and connection coach, a writer/advice columnist and frequent media expert on topics related to relationships, dating, connection, combatting isolation and work/family issues. Founder of Cabernet Coaches, a social connection group that encourages and enables women to build bigger relational foundations, Heather is dedicated to high impact, face-to-face friendship as a means of change. Her videos, articles and books promote active enablement, meaningful connection and proactive decision-making with a twist of humor and the affirming good nature of a friend who has traveled the same road. With at least half of adult population attempting a Do-Over on their most committed relationship—and many getting it wrong yet a second time—Date Like a Grownup provides time-saving truths for the millions of men and women navigating midlife dating.”

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2023-03-24

Conversation with Justin Duplantis on Giftedness, Deviancy, “Vidya,” and the National Association for Gifted Children: Member, Triple Nine Society (5)

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

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

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2020/10/08

Abstract

Justin Duplantis is a Member of the Triple Nine Society and the former Editor of its journal entitled Vidya. He discusses: nuanced facets of giftedness; some ways individuals who are gifted can be derailed in childhood development; the higher risk factors for gifted youth becoming deviant; learning styles; the capacity to make better decisions; internal policies for helping new members who may be younger and having issues; an issue of Vidya to this particular issue; the National Association for Gifted Children; the doctoral research; and the Zone of Proximal Development.

Keywords: giftedness, IQ, Justin Duplantis, National Association for Gifted Children.

Conversation with Justin Duplantis on Giftedness, Deviancy, “Vidya,” and the National Association for Gifted Children: Member, Triple Nine Society (5)

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

Scott Douglas Jacobsen: What are some of the nuanced facets of giftedness important for understanding nature of the gifts?

Justin Duplantis: Traditional schooling is tailored to those of average intelligence. The general population requires information to be conveyed numerous times, prior to its retention. Gifted youth do not require such repetition, so once the concepts are understood, the child becomes bored and restless. This, inevitably, results in the child attempting to locate something in which to entertain themselves. This is generally something that directly contradicts the classroom rules, resulting in a reprimand, as opposed to a redirect. These gifted youth are subsequently labelled deviant, as opposed to an exploration into their behaviour, which would have resulted in the proper labelling of the child as gifted.

Jacobsen: What are some ways individuals who are gifted can be derailed in childhood development?

Duplantis: As stated above, if the child is labelled deviant, as opposed to gifted, this could lead that child down a path that would inhibit growth and disable them from fulfilling their potential.

Jacobsen: In adolescence, what would be some of the higher risk factors for gifted youth becoming deviant? Is there an innate aspect to this running off the rails? We have cases of Sufiah Yusof becoming, later, a prostitute. We have the case of Keith Raniere ruining several people’s lives and facing significant time in jail, potentially for life, as a cult leader. Bobby Fischer derailed into exile and anti-Semitism. J. Robert Oppenheimer tried to kill his tutor. Lots of stories like this abound.

Duplantis: I believe this is a two-part response that goes with nature versus nurture theory. Although there are exceptions to every rule, gifted individuals tend to fall into one of two extreme categories. There are those that have the need to try everything once and those that are uninterested in taking risks at all. The higher the standard deviation, the more likely that individual is to fall into one of these two categories. Due to this, there is a high propensity for nefarious behaviour by those who fall into the “try everything once” category. This is fueled by the need for the next thrill. I am unable to relate, as I fall into the opposite category, having never smoked, done any recreational drug, or even tasted alcohol. On the other side of the coin, nurture is certainly a factor and I strongly believe, as referenced above, that the identification of giftedness at an early age is vital. My five year old’s preliminary IQ test was done at three and he ceilinged out the test at 150 IQ, so we are unsure where he actually lies. He started Kindergarten this week and has exhibited behavioural issues already, due to his boredom. If, as parents, we were unaware of his potential there is a probability that this unbecoming behaviour could result in future issues. Instead, his teacher is aware of his giftedness and is exploring creative ways to keep him engaged.

Jacobsen: When you speak of learning styles, what is the theoretical and empirical foundation for this view?

Duplantis: Different learning styles are common among all demographics in society, so this phenomenon is not limited to the gifted population.

Jacobsen: Young adults, ideally, have more fully-developed and integrated brains for the capacity to make better decisions. Yet, still, their minds can go into deviancy, even mental illness. What are some of the ways in which this can be induced externally if not by internal factors? (Obviously, we’re talking ratios here.)

Duplantis: I strongly believe this starts in childhood and adolescence. It is vital that the mental stimulation and hunger for knowledge that gifted youth possess be channelled in the proper direction. Without this, the deviant road is the most convenient, for its excitement.

Jacobsen: For Vidya, have there been any previous issues of the journal dealing with this particular problem? Have there been internal policies for helping new members who may be younger and having issues, i.e., providing community, giving encouragement, supporting them socially and intellectually, etc.?

Duplantis: I am unaware if there have been any past articles that are specifically geared towards this. With that said, at the annual gathering each year there is generally someone that speaks on giftedness and provides advice and resources.

Jacobsen: If this hasn’t been done, would you consider devoting an issue of Vidya to this particular issue?

Duplantis: This has absolutely been on my mind, as well as conducting a presentation at a future annual gathering. With that said, I want to ensure that the primary information that is provided is factual, as opposed to opinionated; therefore, I am going to wait and do so until after ascertaining my PhD.

Jacobsen: With organizations like the National Association for Gifted Children, they provide supports for the gifted. It is an acknowledgement of the differential in performance in different areas for the youth. In What is Giftedness?, they state:

Students with gifts and talents perform—or have the capability to perform—at higher levels compared to others of the same age, experience, and environment in one or more domains. They require modification(s) to their educational experience(s) to learn and realize their potential. Student with gifts and talents:

Come from all racial, ethnic, and cultural populations, as well as all economic strata.
Require sufficient access to appropriate learning opportunities to realize their potential.
Can have learning and processing disorders that require specialized intervention and accommodation.
Need support and guidance to develop socially and emotionally as well as in their areas of talent.

What are the strengths and weaknesses of this definition?

Duplantis: This is an all-encompassing definition. Just as the term Autism is used to describe individuals with developmental delays in one or more areas. There are many subcategories that are yet to be defined that fall within these larger categories. In some school districts, for instance, they have gifted theatre classes. The students must go through a rigorous testing process to be deemed gifted in theatre. This is completely separate from academic giftedness.

Jacobsen: Is this close to the definition used in the doctoral research for you?

Duplantis: My research is not generically focused, as this definition suggests. I am solely focused upon overall intellectual giftedness, as defined by IQ.

Jacobsen: Something featuring prominently as the theoretical construct for the NAGC is the Zone of Proximal Development. Who invented this terminology and theory? What is it? How is this important for parents of gifted children?

Duplantis: Lev Vygotsky developed this in the early 20th century. It essentially indicates that there are items in which an individual is capable of learning on their own, other items that need assistance from another individual to learn, and those items in which the individual is simply incapable of learning. The toughest sector for the gifted community is the sector of items that simply are unable to be learned. This is a much smaller quantity, as compared to the general population. Due to this, the gifted individual and their circle of influence (ie family, friends, educators, etc) find it inconceivable that a gifted person would be unable to learn a certain subject. This created frustration and often times feelings of worthlessness. Although there are many distinct differences between the average individual and the gifted, at the end of the day we are all human and face similar struggles. Human first. Gifted second.

Appendix I: Footnotes

[1] Justin Duplantis is a Member of the Triple Nine Society and the former Editor of its journal entitled Vidya.

[2] Individual Publication Date: October 8, 2020: http://www.in-sightjournal.com/duplantis-5; Full Issue Publication Date: January 1, 2021: https://in-sightjournal.com/insight-issues/.

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2023-03-24

Ask Two Geniuses with Dr. Christian Sorensen and Kirk Kirkpatrick on Science’s Earliest Manifestations, the Modern Sciences, Human Nature, and a Unifying Framework: Independent Metaphysician & Philosopher; Businessman (1)

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

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

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2020/10/01

Abstract

Keywords: Christian Sorensen, genius, human nature, Kirk Kirkpatrick, science, scientific methodology, unifying framework.

Ask Two Geniuses with Dr. Christian Sorensen and Kirk Kirkpatrick on Science’s Earliest Manifestations, the Modern Sciences, Human Nature, and a Unifying Framework: Independent Metaphysician & Philosopher; Businessman (1)

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

Scott Douglas Jacobsen: The sciences seem like the name of the game of the 20^th century and potentially the 21^st century with the 21^st century probably more as an era of engineering and technological application than discovery, necessarily, because most of the unifying principles and theoretical foundations for fields have been discovered. The eras of broad strokes have been done in most of the major fields of inquiry, except ToEs, GUTs, and psychology, maybe some others. To start off, when you think of more ancient notions of “science,” as such, what were its earliest procedural manifestations?

Dr. Christian Sorensen[1]: I think that believing that this is an era that is more of technological application than of theoretical discoveries, is an irrational and illusory belief, because as such, has frequently been expressed since science decided to turn into a science, which in my opinion has to do metaphorically speaking, with what occurs with the digestive phenomenon of post-prandial depression, where it is erroneously believed, that because it’s felt the sensation of complete satiety with a hint of dysthymic humour, that then the sensation of hunger will never be felt again, in other words in some fictitious way, it is thought with regret, due to a vagal compression of the heart with a full stomach, that the appetite might have disappeared forever. In this sense, I think that in science, theory and technique, are inseparable momentum of a same cycle, due to the fact, that there exist what I will name a contingent positive feedback, therefore as themselves, necessarily they cannot act deferred, which means that the application of the current technique, at a certain moment, immediately remits to a model or theoretical system, which is updated, and at the same time forces an updating of the first technique that is applied again but modified. From my point of view, in strict semantic rigor, the earliest technical procedural applications of science, coincided with Descartes’s Discourse of the Method and with the development of the scientific or empirical experimental method, that gave rise to physics, biology and chemistry as classical basic sciences.

Kirk Kirkpatrick[2],[3]*: Science is a system of organized knowledge derived from observation, deduction, experimentation, and induction which is used to make predictions about the laws and structure of reality. Science predates writing systems which means the earliest procedural manifestations are not available to the modern man. We can deduce what the earliest types of science were. They were most certainly agricultural techniques that were passed along orally.

“The eras of broad strokes have been done in most of the major fields of inquiry, except ToEs, GUTs, and psychology, maybe some others” is not accurate. We have not come close to a systematic understanding of reality. In fact, we are scratching the surface. When we can explain the two-slit experiment or quantum entanglement, perhaps we will be close but I doubt it. “The universe is not only queerer than we suppose, but queerer than we can suppose.” J.B.S. Haldane. The more we know, the more we learn we do not know.

One of the problems with the quoted statement is that it presupposes that everything “CAN BE” known. I would maintain it is not at all clear that the sum total of the Universe can be known. Einstein certainly believed that it could and this belief was perhaps his biggest stumbling block.

“The advancement of the arts, from year to year, taxes our credulity and seems to presage the arrival of that period when human improvement must end.” Patent Office Commissioner, Henry Ellsworth in a report to Congress in 1843.

Jacobsen: How does this differ from the modern sciences inasmuch as changes happened to the epistemologies and practical applications of the sciences, including fine points of crucial detail such as peer review?

Sorensen: It differs, that in their origins, it was inconceivable that something different from the natural sciences would be considered as science, therefore the technical applications derived contextually from these, and especially the epistemology deduced from them, had a systemic consistency which allowed their progress, both from a theoretical and technological point of view. Nevertheless, as modernity progressed, the path went through post-modernity, and entered into an era that I will denominate post-paradigmatic era, which as such among other things has just begun, and has demonstrated as a matter of fact, that science by itself, has evolved paradoxically and dissociatively, since on the one hand, it is possible to verify a coherent and forceful theoretical and technical development, in relation to the classical sciences, which to a certain extent, reached a limit that forces a questioning and redefinition of their object as observable phenomena of study, and consequently to a rethinking of the scientific method in itself, and on the other hand, what is verified is a scientific setback, when it’s examined over time, what has happened with the development of pseudosciences, and with their pretension of being or of becoming science, which although regarding that status they demonstrate the contrary, they continue to consider themselves as science and to seek scientific reputability. I think that the last, is what has occurred fundamentally with the so-called social sciences, which as other pseudoscientific disciplines, they have productively developed numerous theoretical models, that lack a methodological correlation, able to support them with their apparent ground-breaking discoveries and with their truly useless contributions. The lasting, has resulted in technical applications, that operate practically almost exclusively by trial and error, and that have derived nominalistically speaking, in hollow epistemologies, which when analyzed as a whole, I consider that determine scientific failures. If the aforementioned is visualized in perspective, and a conclusion by synthesis is extracted from it, then I think, that it may be possible to propose, that science, in terms of what would be a truly qualitative leap, what it currently needs, is a scientific revolution, not from the point of view of the search for new paradigms, but instead through the exploration of other dimensions of consciousness, which in a functional sense, means to enrich the digital thought, though they might be intellectually intuitive, through what I will name the analogical perceptions.

Kirkpatrick: The organization and systematization of the sciences have advanced precipitously. The methods not so much so. Aristotle delineated the lines of reasoning and most of the advancement since then have been footnotes. The biggest changes from ancient science are that there should be no more references to the supernatural in the study of science. No one sees an effect and yells, “The Hand of GOD!” For the earliest users of science, magic and science were the same things. Even today, sufficiently advanced science seems like magic to the person who does not understand it.

Jacobsen: To a field without a unifying framework for knowledge, psychology is and is not a science by all appearances. Yet, it’s one of the big ways to study human nature, outside of, maybe, incisive literature or something like this. What is human nature as defined by you?

Sorensen: I think that if what is intended to be studied is human nature, but in a more encompassing and comprehensive sense, rather than in a reductive manner, then it is more appropriate to do so from what would be for me a sort of philosophical anthropology, than from what would be a psychological field, since I will define human nature, as a material body endowed with a rational substance, where its intelligents acts as mind and soul simultaneously, while its eternality, leads it to transcend to what I will denominate as a spirit in being.

Kirkpatrick: The question might be better formulated from “To a field without a unifying framework for knowledge, psychology is and is not a science by all appearances,” should be, “To a field without an UNDERSTOOD unifying framework for knowledge, psychology is and is not a science by all appearances.” Human nature has many meanings. Plato thought that humans were rational animals, and he felt our nature was defined by our souls and the ability to reason rather than physical effects from our bodies. Aristotle disagreed and thought that both body and soul contributed to our human nature. Trying to differentiate our nature from some type of science is a mistake. Science is the sum total of all reality and nothing exists outside of it. Psychology and human nature (why one acts) is simply one of the most complex sciences since the subject of its study, the practical applications of the processing of the human brain, is one of the most complex areas of science due to our almost total lack of understanding of Consciousness.

Human nature is that attribute which differentiates humans from other things. Most likely, it is sentience. And I firmly believe that as we build Artificial Intelligence which comes closer and closer to humans, one will see this AI taken on elements of “Human Nature.”

Jacobsen: Why is there a lack of a unifying framework about human nature, about the entire makeup of a human being?

Sorensen: There is a lack of a unifying framework, because the operational aspects of human nature are evident, and therefore there is a general consensus regarding those properties, nevertheless due to the fact that the origin of these aspects is not evident, then there exists a discrepancy with respect to them. In consequence if it is not factible, due to etiological reasons, to combine the operational factors with their causes or principles as a unique definition, neither is then possible to arrive to what I will name a noetic consensus of human nature.

Kirkpatrick: Because there is a lack of a unifying framework about everything we know; in the same way there is a lack of unifying framework in the understanding of the nature of energy and matter. No single branch of science has a truly unifying framework; just a framework more unifying than the framework that come before.

Jacobsen: How might, or are, the sciences converging and providing some deep insights into this?

Sorensen: I think this would be possible, as long as sciences without feeling threatened, are capable of questioning themselves, about the possibility of studying phenomena that are not observable through any medium, which are additionally not experimentally replicable, and that can be of a single occurrence, thus opening up to the study of other realities, that although are not empirical, and may require a methodological readjustment, can nevertheless allow sciences to arrive at valid knowledge, which at least they can approximate asymptotically, that is to say ideally towards the truth.

Kirkpatrick: This question shows us it is appropriate to remember that science is the study of reality. Differing fields of science study different aspects of reality. In this way sciences must converge since all science is the study one thing. A good example is illustrated by the scientific fields of chemistry and physics. The earliest chemists were alchemists, which tried to understand the different constituents of matter and how these interacted. Likewise, builders and soothsayers became early physicists as astrology morphed into Astronomy and construction needed engineering principles. As the chemists learned more about their field, they notice that much of the fine details are solidly in the realm of physics and vice versa. It is not that sciences are converging, it is that our understanding of the compartments of reality lead us to door that open into other compartments of reality as we try and get the big picture.

Appendix I: Footnotes

[1] Christian is a Philosopher that comes from Belgium. What identifies him the most and above all is simplicity, for everything is better with “vanilla flavour.” Perhaps, for this reason, his intellectual passion is criticism and irony, in the sense of trying to reveal what “hides behind the mask,” and give birth to the true. For him, ignorance and knowledge never “cross paths.” What he likes the most in his leisure time, is to go for a walk with his wife.

[2] Kirk is an American businessman.

[3] Individual Publication Date: October 1, 2020: http://www.in-sightjournal.com/kirkpatrick-sorensen-1; Full Issue Publication Date: January 1, 2021: https://in-sightjournal.com/insight-issues/.

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2023-03-24

Conversation with Heiðrún Ósk Sigfúsdóttir on Artificial Intelligence in Ethical and Sustainable Fashion Design in Iceland: Founder, Rebutia (2)

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

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

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2020/10/01

Abstract

Heiðrún Ósk Sigfúsdóttir is the Chief Executive Office of Dimmblá and Chief Executive Officer of Rebutia. She discusses: potential industry partners connected through the university system in Iceland; artificial intelligence and ethical and sustainable fashion dynamics; and style for Dimmblá.

Keywords: artificial intelligence, Dimmblá, Heiðrún Ósk Sigfúsdóttir, Rebutia, sustainable fashion.

Conversation with Heiðrún Ósk Sigfúsdóttir on Artificial Intelligence and Sustainable Fashion Design in Iceland: Chief Executive Officer, Rebutia (1)

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

Scott Douglas Jacobsen: With the University of Iceland and Reykjavik University, how are potential industry partners connected through the university system in Iceland and small business owners & startups such as yourselves?

Heiðrún Ósk Sigfúsdóttir[1],[2]: When we are developing the artificial intelligence into our service, when we applied for the grant, we spoke with Reykjavik University. They have a department within the university, which is an A.I. department. They have been working with companies. They are really respected by the Research Development Grant that we get. They are really respected by them. I am sure that this collaboration is helping, or did help us, to get the grant, definitely. When they, Reykjavik University, sign an agreement, they worked with us, and bigger companies in Iceland, to develop an A.I. for them. The agreement says that, since they get so much innovation and knowledge from every research that they do in the development work, they can use it for the benefit of other companies; that are not in competition. So, let’s say, Marel (machining manufacturer in Garðabær, Iceland) are developing a fishing machine with A.I. This A.I. that they are developing for them could be helpful for us. In our case, there might be some angle there, “Yes, oh, we can use this.”

They are, actually, profiting other companies, helping them out, grow faster, and be better in international competition later on. It is a huge benefit for companies to collaborate with the university. Now, funny that you say this, I am, actually, applying for another grant in collaboration with the University of Iceland. It is a collaboration with a student for the Summer. I have an idea about what we want to do; I applied with the student. They get their angle into the application. They might think something different than I do. Then we get new views on the application, “Oh! We can go to this direction and complete this in three months.” Of course, both the student and the university, and the society, van benefit, because, if we see this person is a good fit for the new company, we can hire them. It can be a good benefit for when we are growing the economy here in Iceland. This is one of the reasons, probably, that the government decided to spend more money on the start-ups. This kind of collaboration is really great for everyone, I think.

Jacobsen: Some of the economic hits that came to Iceland’s economic shores. They have been the 2008 crash. They’ve been the counter-intuitive boom from the explosion, volcanic eruption [Laughing].

Sigfúsdóttir: [Laughing].

Jacobsen: Based on my knowledge so far of Icelandic history and the people, it’s a survival culture. It’s a culture where, to quote Laxness, is “independent people.”

Sigfúsdóttir: Yes.

Jacobsen: Right? It is a people where the men went out; the women handled themselves. They’re fine.

Sigfúsdóttir: [Laughing].

Jacobsen: When men weren’t acting properly in the sexual dynamics of life for men and women…

Sigfúsdóttir: …

Jacobsen: …there was a MeToo before MeToo. When bankers were involved in kind of financial ill-dealings, they were dealt with according to, where law. And they got their penalties. There are cases in the United States, where they were bailed out wih over $700 billion (USD) when the banks were acting bad. So, it was a nanny state for the super-rich. Then when it came to the MeToo movement and the TimesUp movement, we see this in the United States, but only in the last few years since, not only the election of Donald Trump but also, the explosion of the myth around a lot of these prominent male figures in Hollywood.

Sigfúsdóttir: Yes, exactly, definitely.

Jacobsen: So, Iceland is way, way, ahead. How are these artificial intelligence and ethical and sustainable fashion dynamics fitting into the larger weave of Icelandic history and culture, where it’s ahead of the curve and very conscious of things that are right and things that are wrong well ahead of their time?

Sigfúsdóttir: I think, we are a small society. We are 350,000 people.

Jacobsen: [Laughing].

Sigfúsdóttir: [Laughing] That’s the nature of Iceland. Like you talked about in the beginning, you went to the bar [Ed. Pre-interview conversation]. Accidentally, you meet your cousin.

Jacobsen: Right [Laughing].

Sigfúsdóttir: [Laughing] You have to go to check [Ed. The digital application is called Íslendinga-App, which references Íslendingabók or The Book of Icelanders.] If someone who you were dating was someone related to you [Laughing]. That is the problem that we have had in Iceland. I think because we are, basically, a small community.

Jacobsen: That’s a good way to put it.

Sigfúsdóttir: Heritage is our nature. It is our heritage. It is all around us. I live in the city. After five minutes, I can, actually, be in the woods. Of course, I live in the suburban area. However, I only have to travel five minutes to have the river, to have the woods, and to have the beautiful valley, which is untouched. I think I can tell, at least from my perspective, and the people around me. When I was growing up, I spent a lot of time with my grandma. I still remember; she saved everything. She kept jars. I am drinking from a jar now [Laughing].

Jacobsen: [Laughing].

Sigfúsdóttir: I still remember it. She needed a bedroom table. She went to her basement to make one. A table and other stuff, they were putting this together. Then she had a nice table for her bedroom. We just built it, out of stuff that she found. She never bought a bag when grocery shopping. This is 30 years back. She was concerned. She reused. People were poor. They did not have the money. So, they just had to adapt. I think because we were a poor country; people, we learned from our grandparents. This was a way of living. You had to survive with the small things that you had. You had to repurpose things. We learned a lot from our grandparents and being so close to nature. Many of us in the younger generation have gone travelling in Iceland. We are only a few minutes from Reykjavik. You are amazed, “Like, wow!” We have the highlands and so much untouched nature. Many people, when the tourism was really high in Iceland, were scared as well.

Because when there was so much tourism in Iceland, when you travel abroad or to the United States, you pay for everything. It wasn’t the case in Iceland. You could see the waterfalls and everything, but then thing changed with so much tourism. Suddenly, we were standing in line. A few years back, you were standing alone. Nobody was there. That was the best thing. Now, it was crowded with people. People were paying to see something. Even us Icelanders, at least, we had to pay for everything. For us, it was like, “Really?! I am travelling in my own country.” We are so close to nature. We might be brought up by parents, grandparents, who didn’t have much and had to make the most of things. I think this has, definitely, made us more conscious. At least, some of us [Laughing], most of us.

Jacobsen: [Laughing] The township where I live is hovering around 120,000 or 130,000. The capital of Iceland with Reykjavik is floating around the same number.

Sigfúsdóttir: Vancouver, I went there when I worked for an orthopedic company. I liked Vancouver. It is so beautiful there. Oh my God! This is a place I could imagine living. You could go out. You could be like, “What am I going to do today? Should I go skiing, swimming at sea?” [Laughing].

Jacobsen: A big thing, I think, for a lot of Vancouverites. I live in the Greater Vancouver Area. I live on the outskirts in a small town called Fort Langley. It was the first capital of British Columbia. It was a colony before Canada was a country. To get to Downtown Vancouver, it is a significant amount of travel relative to a European’s idea of travel. You can walk from one corner of Reykjavik to the other in about an hour. That’s the length of the drive to Downtown Vancouver.

Sigfúsdóttir: Yes, exactly. That’s a benefit of Iceland, or Reykjavik [Laughing].

Jacobsen: Yes, Canadians don’t understand how other people view them because provinces that we have are bigger than most countries. That really puts it into perspective, I think. I think Canada has a lot of Icelandic-Canadians as well, maybe 100,000.

Sigfúsdóttir: Exactly, true.

Jacobsen: What other areas could we touch on that are relevant to others to cover the relevant dynamics of Iceland? I think the fashion rooted in the culture. With Dimmblá, every fashion company has a particular style. You’re rooted in Iceland. Other than things like Sky Blue and Nay Blue. Things like this. What other things are you thinking in terms of style for Dimmblá?

Sigfúsdóttir: I have been going away from fashion a bit. Because I have been focusing on sustainable living. What I have been designing is basically the accessories, like scarves, of course, I was designing the dresses with a designer before. We were always thinking about what we wanted to capture: As a woman, what you would be feeling when you were wearing the Dimmblá clothing. That’s mostly what I was thinking. It was for women who were free spirit going out into nature. Something reminding her of the nature and the comfort. Someone who is, actually, a traveller who has been around the world, basically. Because what I have learned, you begin to appreciate things more, especially, for me, when I travel, “Oh wow, we have this at home.” You start to appreciate your nature and your heritage more when you start travelling. So, when people are travelling more and learning about new culture, I have seen that for many cases. People start to appreciate. They start to get more conscious about things around them after travelling, learning new culture.

You want to, basically, (not save) keep the heritage and the nature. I see this when people come to Iceland. They travel and come to Iceland and see the nature. They go, “Oh wow, you have managed to keep nature so untouched. It is amazing how much nature that you have.” Then they start to say, “You have to keep it. You have to make sure that it is not ruined. It is the feeling when in nature and close to nature. It is the feeling, which I that want to inspire with my products. You want to get this sustainable and to not be affected by the chemicals or the pollution, which are so-often used in this business. I think that’s a really important perspective for me, in everything I do. I want to inspire people and make the right choices, basically. When you buy something, you know this is something authentic. They believe in this. It is something that you want to be a part of.

Jacobsen: Thank you for the opportunity and your time, Heiðrún.

Sigfúsdóttir: [Laughing].

Appendix I: Footnotes

[1] Founder & Chief Executive Officer, Dimmblá; Co-Founder & Chief Executive Officer, Rebutia.

[2]Individual Publication Date: October 1, 2020: http://www.in-sightjournal.com/Sigfúsdóttir-2; Full Issue Publication Date: January 1, 2021: https://in-sightjournal.com/insight-issues/.

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2023-03-24

Conversation with Anas El Husseini on Private Forums, Email Newsletters, Journals, Common Elements, Apps, Megalomaniacs, Thoth, and Balanced Intelligence: Member, Glia Society (3)

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

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

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2020/10/01

Abstract

Anas El-Husseini is a Member of the Glia Society. He discusses: private forums; the email newsletters; the journals for the high-IQ societies; some common elements; private forums, email newsletters, and journals; apps for communication; long-term online platforms; “Die silently”; some intents of society founders and administrators; a reasonable and coherent society; the alternative tests; historical cases of high-IQ societies becoming particularly acrimonious and destructive; the Glia society; the reason for taking the test in the first place; some first impressions of the tests; the general impression of the content of Thoth; the general contents and reasons for submitting to Thoth; some of the sources of humour found in megalomaniacs; the source of the emotional, verbal, and logical deficits in megalomaniacs; the loss of interest in I.Q. tests; balanced intelligence; and efforts to bring everything under the same roof.

Keywords: Anas El Husseini, Glia Society, IQ, megalomaniacs, Paul Cooijmans, Thoth.

Conversation with Anas El Husseini on Private Forums, Email Newsletters, Journals, Common Elements, Apps, Megalomaniacs, Thoth, and Balanced Intelligence: Member, Glia Society (3)

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

Scott Douglas Jacobsen: How do the private forums work in the high-IQ communities?

Anas El Husseini[1],[2]*: They are more or less like public forums, but with different types of topics sometimes, and with less traffic (due to the usually low membership). The communications there are rather high in quality, not only in the content’s side, but also in the presentation and the verbal ability.

Jacobsen: What tends to be the content of the email newsletters?

El Husseini: They vary from I.Q.-related tests/contests/articles to more common topics like personal choices of music. They contain sometimes articles or stories written by society members and published in I.Q. journals or elsewhere. Philosophical discussions occasionally take place there. They are also generally open to all kinds of intellectual communications, whether trivial or major.

Jacobsen: How common are the journals for the high-IQ societies?

El Husseini: They seem like a tradition for high I.Q. societies. If you find such a society without a dedicated journal, or with a journal that does not publish new issues any more, you will be right to assume that that society has become defunct.

Jacobsen: What tend to be some common elements of them?

El Husseini: Basically, there are articles authored by society members looking for a place that allows them to be published verbatim. However, some journals like Thoth accept copy from non-members too, so you get to see some bizarre content (since I.Q. societies tend to attract megalomaniacs and other types of people). Other people like to write about their personal achievements, memories and life experiences and publish it there.

Jacobsen: What could make the private forums, email newsletters, and journals more engaging?

El Husseini: Modernization and rules. First, people have been preferring live chat and social apps over email lately, since the latter usually requires more formality in communications. Second, it is my opinion that the stricter the rules of the forum, the less people become inclined to participate. However, rules are very essential in such forums, since they are there to regulate and not to restrict freedoms. One should set a balance between forum rules and the allowed behavior in order to avoid compromising the principles of the society and the freedom of its members.

Jacobsen: Could the creation of apps for communication bridge the generations of individual members who exist within the high-IQ societies?

El Husseini: I think so, as I explained in an earlier answer.

Jacobsen: Not only member cognitive rarity cutoff for entry, there seems to be the facet of longevity and a long-term growth trajectory of a society for communication. Mensa International started a long time ago and continue to grow past 130,000+ members. It’s a feat. In fact, with online availability and access, could long-term online platforms provide a basis for sufficient membership, trust, and will to move into “physical events” and “meetings”?

El Husseini: No doubt that online presence has increased the outreach of high I.Q. societies, but those seem to have reach their limits in terms of increasing members nowadays. Talking about the higher range of I.Q. societies, they tend to either decrease in new membership because they became dormant, or they increase at an almost fixed rate every year for the last decade.

Jacobsen: I like the phrase, “Die silently.” It seems true. Based on some preliminary analyses of the landscape of the high-IQ, we can note the trend there. Many listings of societies lead to dead links, i.e., likely defunct societies. Any suggestions to memberships on prodding the administrators to maintain focus and energy on the society, so as not to “die silently”?

El Husseini: In brief, the administrator must be fully involved, dedicate a good amount of his own time for this role, and manages to keep the other members engaged and interested in activities and discussions.

Jacobsen: What are some intents of society founders and administrators that can lead them inevitably into oblivion without a change of course?

El Husseini: I do not think there are any intents within society admins that lead to that result. It is usually inaction and passiveness that are the main culprits.

Jacobsen: What cutoff seems most conducive to a reasonable and coherent society without restricting the growth and access of the society?

El Husseini: A good compromise between freedom and regulations seems like a good basic conduct, although not trivial to achieve.

Jacobsen: Why do so many societies focus on the aspects of the alternative tests as opposed to mainstream intelligence tests?

El Husseini: Mainstream intelligence tests have their weak points. They are so common that their patterns are found in almost every online I.Q. test, so people can learn or get trained to memorize those patterns and achieve an I.Q. score higher than their real I.Q. Furthermore, many of those tests have a low cut-offs, i.e. they cannot measure I.Q. higher than 140 or 150 on a standard deviation of 15.

Jacobsen: Any historical cases of high-IQ societies becoming particularly acrimonious and destructive based on personality conflicts?

El Husseini: None that I know of.

Jacobsen: Why decide to join the Glia society in December of 2012?

El Husseini: I was looking into joining Mensa first, but it had no branches in my country and it required supervised I.Q. tests. I found the alternative in online I.Q. societies, many of which admit members based on the scores of recognized unsupervised I.Q. tests.

Jacobsen: With “an I.Q. score of 149 (S.D. 15) on the ‘Psychometrically Activated Grids Acerbate Neuroticism’ test,” what was the reason for taking the test in the first place?

El Husseini: Part of the reason was to solve the extraordinary puzzles in there. The other part was to get admitted to Glia Society.

Jacobsen: What were some first impressions of the tests?

El Husseini: I have tried some of Paul Cooijmans tests before. My opinion is that they were always top-quality. Their questions are unique, very challenging, and give a great satisfaction when one manages to solve them.

Jacobsen: What is the general impression of the content of Thoth to you?

El Husseini: I almost always find something of interest in Thoth, sometimes even an image or just a line. Although, most members seldom send content to be published there nowadays, there are other members who still keep at publishing steadily.

Jacobsen: What were the general contents and reasons for submitting to Thoth several years ago twice?

El Husseini: I had joined the society recently then, so I wanted to see the impact of my writings in the journal. One of the contents I published was a call for engaging society members in some group action. It didn’t get any response or feedback, so I let it go.

Jacobsen: What are some of the sources of humour found in megalomaniacs?

El Husseini: They threaten you sometimes with things they obviously cannot do, or things they can do but it will only hurt them back. They tend to be illogical and contradictory too. They cannot think that they can be wrong in any way. All of that make them say things or in act in ways that render them as objects of humor to me.

Jacobsen: What seems like the source of the emotional, verbal, and logical deficits in megalomaniacs?

El Husseini: It is mainly their failure at assessing their own abilities, and overestimating them, that make them think that they are perfect at their current level and that they don’t need to learn more nor to add any more skills to their arsenal.

Jacobsen: You stated, “I was also fond *at the time* of I.Q. tests, and high I.Q. communities were a source of tests and puzzles of a rare and high quality.” [Emphasis added.] Why the loss of interest in I.Q. tests?

El Husseini: Excellent I.Q. tests are rare. There exist few that show up now and then, which I usually participate in. Otherwise, I try to find interesting and new challenges elsewhere.

Jacobsen: Balanced intelligence seems probably most important for a satisfying life of the highly intelligent person. Community or a social circle is one facet of balance. How do you get the sense of balance out of the Glia Society? Does this seem similar for most others in the communities inasmuch as these exist?

El Husseini: A balance exists between opposites. Highly intelligent people are not necessarily anti-social, but many of them may not find a lot of people that they can befriend. I.Q. societies exist to bring such people closer to each other. The funny thing is that in such societies, there exists a diversity in philosophies and views which may oppose each other, requiring therefore a new kind of balance between them.

Jacobsen: Some efforts exist to bring everything under the same roof, as networked or associative efforts to unify the entire front of the high-IQ. In some ways, this makes sense. In another sense, a diverse ecosystem of independently evolving communities can make a more interesting and variegated tapestry of the highly intelligent. In fact, this may make more sense, as these individuals seem more prone to independence of thought and small collectives may be the trade-off between individualism implied by independence of thought, in general, and collectivistic impulses with an instinct to socialize. What do you think about these efforts?

El Husseini: I have seen a couple of those attempts, none of which seems to achieve its goal, most likely due to the owner(s) of such groups or the participating societies. I personally think that intelligent people who just want to socialize do not need a private group to do so. One may find a good companion or partner with people who have very different levels of intelligence. Some other people get attracted to their opposites. For those reasons, I do not see that collective communities were a success.

Appendix I: Footnotes

[1] Member, Glia Society.

[2] Individual Publication Date: October 1, 2020: http://www.in-sightjournal.com/husseini-3; Full Issue Publication Date: January 1, 2021: https://in-sightjournal.com/insight-issues/.

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2023-03-24

Conversation with Richard May (“May-Tzu”/”MayTzu”/”Mayzi”) on Zen Koans, Stupidity, Ideologies, Taoism, G.I. Gurdjieff, Marxism, and May’s Razor for Obfuscation: Co-Editor, “Noesis: The Journal of the Mega Society” (3)

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

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

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2020/10/01

Abstract

Richard May (“May-Tzu”/“MayTzu”/“Mayzi”) is a Member of the Mega Society based on a qualifying score on the Mega Test (before 1995) prior to the compromise of the Mega Test and Co-Editor of Noesis: The Journal of the Mega Society. In self-description, May states: “Not even forgotten in the cosmic microwave background (CMB), I’m an Amish yuppie, born near the rarified regions of Laputa, then and often, above suburban Boston. I’ve done occasional consulting and frequent Sisyphean shlepping. Kafka and Munch have been my therapists and allies. Occasionally I’ve strived to descend from the mists to attain the mythic orientation known as having one’s feet upon the Earth. An ailurophile and a cerebrotonic ectomorph, I write for beings which do not, and never will, exist — writings for no one. I’ve been awarded an M.A. degree, mirabile dictu, in the humanities/philosophy, and U.S. patent for a board game of possible interest to extraterrestrials. I’m a member of the Mega Society, the Omega Society and formerly of Mensa. I’m the founder of the Exa Society, the transfinite Aleph-3 Society and of the renowned Laputans Manqué. I’m a biographee in Who’s Who in the Brane World. My interests include the realization of the idea of humans as incomplete beings with the capacity to complete their own evolution by effecting a change in their being and consciousness. In a moment of presence to myself in inner silence, when I see Richard May’s non-being, ‘I’ am. You can meet me if you go to an empty room.” Some other resources include Stains Upon the Silence: something for no one, McGinnis Genealogy of Crown Point, New York: Hiram Porter McGinnis, Swines List, Solipsist Soliloquies, Board Game, Lulu blog, Memoir of a Non-Irish Non-Jew, and May-Tzu’s posterous. He discusses: a favourite Zen koan; other ethical system formulations; different formulations of the Golden Rule; the ‘religion’ of the Dalai Lama; crossing the other side of the river in Buddhism; “Thought without measurement”; “In Praise of Stupidity”: wisdom and compassion; preventing intelligence levels reaching averages too high; “Know Thy -”; “Ideologies”; “ideologies” in general labelled “a secular theology of lies”; “Real plolitik among the Laputan Taoists”; “Utopia”; “Understanding”; men don’t understand their wives; “Prolegomena To Any Future Obfuscation”; the “reality of existence and the existence of reality” have no “single relationship”; reality and polyamory; metaphysicians; and stage magicians.

Keywords: G.I. Gurdjieff, IQ, koan, Marxism, May’s Razor, Mega Society, obfuscation, prolegomena, Richard May, Stains Upon the Silence, Zen.

Conversation with Richard May (“May-Tzu”/”MayTzu”/”Mayzi”) on Zen Koans, Stupidity, Ideologies, Taoism, G.I. Gurdjieff, Marxism, and May’s Razor for Obfuscation: Co-Editor, “Noesis: The Journal of the Mega Society” (3)

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

Scott Douglas Jacobsen: Side question before starting today, what is a favourite Zen koan for you, or two?

Richard May[1],[2]*: My favorite Zen koan is: “What is a favourite Zen koan for you, or two?” Another favorite Zen koan of mine is: “Why is reality so ahead of its time in its polyamorousness?” — In general I think one koan is as good, i. e., ‘useful’, as another. I don’t think I have favorites.

“What is the taste of Braille shadows?” is a koan of my own invention.

Jacobsen: We talked a bit about ethical systems in the second session. What other ethical system formulations make sense to you?

May: The negative formulation of the “golden rule.”

Jacobsen: There are different formulations of the Golden Rule. There can be trotting out of the Golden Rule as if only a Western concept, or only a Christian idea or Jesus Christ’s idea. These are Western and Christian conceits inasmuch as we know and can comment on them within the backyard with the noisy, barking dog of the world. The Golden Rule has been stated as positive, as negative, as neutral. What other formulations, specifically, of the Golden Rule make sense to you?

May: The negative formulation of the golden rule, which is the same in Judaism (attributed to Hillel the Elder) and Confucianism. (The positive formulation which is close, but not as logically excellent, is attributed to Jesus. “Do unto others … ”)

I.e., “Do *not* do to others what you would not want them to do to you.”

This is what Hillel supposedly said to a gentile in the ancient world when asked to explain Judaism to him while standing on one leg!

From Wikipedia:

He is popularly known as the author of two sayings: (1) “If I am not for myself, who will be for me? And being for myself, what am ‘I’? And if not now, when?”^[4] and (2) the expression of the ethic of reciprocity, or “Golden Rule“: “That which is hateful to you, do not do to your fellow. That is the whole Torah; the rest is the explanation; go and learn.”

Jacobsen: What is the ‘religion’ of the Dalai Lama regarding ethics, and science for that matter?

May: TheDalai Lama says that his religion is *kindness*, i.e., compassion for all sentient beings. He also said that if any tenet of Buddhism is inconsistent with modern science, then Buddhism must change. Once when asked at a lecture what happens to our consciousness after death the Dalai Lama stood in silence for three or four minutes.

Jacobsen: What is crossing the other side of the river in Buddhism, and then discarding the proverbial raft?

May: After you cross to the other side of the river, i.e., attain enlightenment or liberation from the illusion of personal identity, you should discard the raft, i.e., Buddhism. Atheist and neuroscientist Sam Harris seems to have an understanding of Buddhism and the human situation. Buddhism also maintains that everything is transient and, hence, one day there will be no Buddhism.

Jacobsen: In “Thought without measurement,” you echo Wittgenstein about the relation of comedy and great philosophical works. Why?

May: No, I have not echoed Wittgenstein but reversed him!

Wittgenstein wrote: “A serious and good philosophical work could be written consisting entirely of jokes.”

Whereas I wrote:

Thought without measurement

A hilarious comedy could be written consisting entirely of serious and good philosophical works.

Here I meant that philosophy ends where measurement begins. The domain of philosophy is diminishing historically as scientific knowledges increases

Jacobsen: “In Praise of Stupidity” speaks to the “primitive species” homo sapiens. The species that works in the destruction of one another in tribal warfare and of the environment sustaining its livelihood, not too bright in other words. You speak to the possible evolutionary function of relative stupidity. In that, a highly intelligent species, relative to the present, would probably self-annihilate, where lower mean intelligence of the species leads to a higher probability of surviving in the Darwinian world of nature. You point to an evolution of human intelligence beyond human compassion and wisdom. What seem like the drivers for an increase in intelligence beyond human compassion and wisdom?

May: Natural selection during inter-species competition found little utility in what we call, “compassion and wisdom.” A predator should not feel compassion towards his prey. But the development of weapons of mass destruction by any species on any planet, e.g., Homo sapiens on Earth, would be a game changer. Planets are bio-cultural Petrie dishes in the universe. To get from a Type-0 civilization to a Type-1 civilization or beyond will require much less intra-species self-cannibalism. Only some unknown percentage of ‘advanced’ civilizations would graduate from a Type-0 civilization to a Type-1 civilization. Some don’t make it out of their Petrie dishes.

Jacobsen: How are you defining wisdom and compassion here, as counter-forces to raw intelligence?

May: I’m not sure how to define “wisdom.” Apparently wisdom is traditionally identified by a consensus of individuals who are not considered wise by themselves or others.

Jacobsen: What is preventing intelligence levels reaching averages too high and leading to a greater potential to use the proportionate lack of wisdom and void of compassion to destroy the species, as we head into a self-scorched Earth scenario?

May: Social services and medicine in the modern Western world have produced a dysgenic breeding pattern. I do not imply that I think we ought to abandon social services and modern medicine. But only that social engineering and medicine can and often do have unintended consequences. The ‘absolute IQ’ is probably lower today than it was in ancient Greece, for example. Aldous Huxley mentions that in *Brave New World Revisited*.

But what is the purpose of intelligence and human intelligence in particular? Just to enable the organism to survive, eat, live long enough to produce offspring, who survive, eat, live long enough to have offspring, who survive, eat, live long enough to have offspring, who – – – . After reproduction and some nurturance of one’s offspring, just drop dead. This is Nature’s program for us.

The purpose of human intelligence is not to develop a unified field theory, a Theory of Everything or cosmological theories. Such theories are not necessary for “survive-eat-reproduce-die DNA-replication machines” developed by natural selection.

Cosmology may be beyond the pay grade of Homo sapiens as presently evolved. Just as various threshold levels of IQ, i.e., an approximate range of scores, are associated with different human occupations and professions and every known species has obvious limits of cognitive ability, why would Homo sapiens as presently evolved be an exception to this? Pure anthropocentrism — man is considered by himself to be the center of the universe and the crest jewel of the cosmos, and without inherent cognitive limits as a species.

Many individuals with high IQs today apparently believe that they can do cosmology and theoretical physics without any graduate degrees in physics, as Newton and others did hundreds of years ago; maybe, but maybe not. In my view even credentialed cosmologists and theoretical physicists may not really be doing cosmology today. E.g., String theory, M-theory and Hugh Everett’s Many Worlds hypothesis may only be beautiful mathematical-metaphysics, if none are experimentally disconfirmable. If a theory cannot be disconfirmed experimentally, how can it be considered physical science?

Why do very high levels of theoretical intelligence even exist? Why has this level of intelligence evolved? Albert Einstein didn’t have more progeny than Genghis Khan or Attila-the-Hun. He was vastly less ‘successful’ from an biological evolutionary perspective.

Unless you think we are “images of (some sort of) ‘God’,” images of something at a higher level, maybe holographic images of the cosmos or that the Hermetic principal “As above, so below” applies somehow in ‘our’ universe, then why is there intelligence beyond the eat-replicate-die level?

Until or unless Homo sapiens takes control of its own evolution at a biological-level and an AI-level, by gene-editing/genetic engineering and brain implants a la Yuval Noah Harari, we are basically Chimps with WMDs; we are Koko the gorilla at the Princeton Institute for Advanced Studies.

Jacobsen: In “Know Thy -,” you state, “I don’t know anything until I see myself announcing it on television.” How long have you been playing the part of Socrates?

May: You apparently assume that Socrates was not playing the part of May-Tzu by reverse causality from his future event-horizon, a la M.I.T.’s Seth Lloyd.

Actually “Know thy -” was intended as humor. It was inspired by a certain well-known political leader who, when asked when he had learned of this or that event, claimed that he only learned of it by watching television. So I took it a bit further by writing that “I don’t know anything until I see myself announcing it on television.”

Jacobsen: “Ideologies” speaks to a few points. One on preferable values compared to those that aren’t. What makes “freedom, peace and prosperity” preferable to “their absence or negation”?

May: Our paleo-mammalian brain and cerebral cortex seem to have innate preferences. Other species of animals also appear to seek ‘prosperity’ and freedom as innate positive reinforcers as well.

Jacobsen: Why are “ideologies” in general labelled “a secular theology of lies”? What would make an ideology not a “convenient lie” and more truth than merely “a bit of truth”?

May: Ideologies are secular in that they are not usually theocentric or claimed to be direct revelations from the God of the Bible — quite. Ideologies have in common with theologies that they are not empirically based. You can postdictively interpret history through an ideological lens but you cannot do controlled experiments to test and potentially falsify ideologically-based predictions.

“What would make an ideology not a “convenient lie” and more truth than merely “a bit of truth”?”

If an ideology were philosophy or science, rather than an tendentious admixture of disinformation and truth, a reality-map intended to influence or control our behavior, then it would be more objective and useful to its adherents.

Jacobsen: “Real plolitik [sic] among the Laputan Taoists,” you exhibit the Taoist philosophy, and the paradoxical way of thinking about the different parts of the world, almost like an inverted thinking into redundancy to make a not-so obvious point seem obvious, as a form of education. What is Taoist reasoning or logic, inasmuch as it exists (or not)? What is, perhaps, a better title for it?

May: The following principles and theorems taken from https://phiyakushi.wordpress.com/2012/03/09/seven-principles-of-the-order-of-the-universe-and-twelve-theorems-of-the-unifying-principle/ summarize Taoist principles:

SEVEN PRINCIPLES OF THE ORDER OF THE UNIVERSE

All things are differentiations of One Infinity
Everything Changes; nothing is stationary
All antagonisms are complementary
All phenomena are unique; there is nothing identical
All phenomena have a front and back
The greater the front, the greater the back
All phenomena have a beginning and an end

TWELVE THEOREMS OF THE UNIFYING PRINCIPLE

One infinity manifests itself into the two universal tendencies of Yin and Yang; complementary and antagonistic poles of endless change.
Yin and Yang are arising continuously out of the ceaseless eternal movement of One Infinite Universe.
Yin appears as centrifugalilty, Yang appears as centripetalilty. The activities of Yin and Yang together create energy and all phenomena.
Yin attracts Yang. Yang attracts Yin.
Yin repels Yin. Yang repels Yang.
Yin and Yang combine in an infinite variety of proportion, creating an infinite variety of phenomena. The strength of attraction or repulsion always represents the degree of difference or similarity.
All phenomena are relative and ephemeral, constantly changing their direction towards more Yin or more Yang.
Nothing is solely Yin or absolutely Yang. Everything is created by both tendencies together.
There is no neutrality; either Yin or Yang is always dominating.
Great Yin attracts small Yin. Great Yang attracts small yang.
Yin, at the extreme point, changes into Yang. Yang, at the extreme point, changes into Yin.
Yang always focuses towards the center. Yin always diffuses toward the periphery.

“Realpolitik Among the Laputan Taoists,” is a better tittle for it. The irony between the meaning of realpolitik and the description of the Laputa Taoists ought to be clear.

Jacobsen: For “Utopia,” is this a recipe for the ‘leadership’ of the current administration of the United States with a particular disability of ill-calibrated ego and grand greed?

May: No, it is a play on the Marxist dictum: “From each according to his ability, to each according to his need.“ —> From each according to his disability, to each according to his greed. — Think Venezuela!

Jacobsen: “Understanding” perfectly exemplifies a big issue of the major religions of the world. Any further ‘issues’?

May: “Understanding” applies to the revealed Abrahamic religions, each of which claims to have the final, complete and perfectly understood ‘revelation’ of the One-and-Only-One True God. The only exception to this is the Baha’i religion, in which revelation is considered to be an ongoing process.

Jacobson: Also, why don’t men understand their wives so much, even not at all?

May: I think a person cannot understand another person beyond his own level of self-understanding. G.I. Gurdjieff wrote that understanding was the arithmetic mean of knowledge and being. Being was defined as the average level of attention of the individual, not his level of attention at any given moment, and his genetic hardwiring.

Jacobsen: “Prolegomena To Any Future Obfuscation” poses this question to no one, “What is the relationship between the reality of existence and the existence of reality? Your answer: Plural, “…in N-valued logic there may be gradations or degrees of existence and/or non-existence, a quantized set of values approaching a continuum as its limit. Ideally in this case the continuum mapped upon various topological structures in N-dimensional hyperspace, in order to maximize the degree of lucidity of the obfuscation.” This then leads to a statement on parsimony or (William of) Ockham’s Razor: “…entities should not be multiplied unnecessarily.” You posit “May’s Razor,” or, “Words should not be simplified unnecessarily.” How does May’s Razor apply, in particular, to metaphysics?

May: This writing was satire, inspired by the incomprehensibly obscure writings of an individual on one of the high-IQ lists. “Words should not be simplified unnecessarily,” because someone may grasp what you are talking about and be able to refute it.

Jacobsen: Why is reality simply a ‘plural relationship,’ or where the “reality of existence and the existence of reality” have no “single relationship” and, in fact, have “multiple relationships”?

May: This was all meant as satirical humor.

Jacobsen: Why is reality so ahead of its time in its polyamorousness? [Ed. Play on the phrase “multiple relationships” regarding the “reality of existence and the existence of reality.”]

May: Is this a koan?

I don’t quite understand how “reality could be … ahead of it’s time,” even a smidgen, let alone “so ahead.” What this could possibly have to do with amorousness, poly- or otherwise, must be one of the deep mysteries.

Jacobsen: Why are metaphysicians prone to super-overcomplicated-complexifications of ideational-concepts about extra-meta-super-reality?

May: “Philosophy is a battle against the bewitchment of our intelligence by means of language.” — Ludwig Wittgenstein

Jacobsen: Are stage magicians like Penn & Teller, and James Randi, better than metaphysicians because they explain the trick and in straightforward terms (with an entertaining presentation)?

May: “better”? — “because”? — “entertaining”?

A magician could make this question disappear, but would the essence of the question still remain?

Appendix I: Footnotes

[1] Member, Mega Society; Co-Editor, Noesis: The Journal of the Mega Society.

[2] Individual Publication Date: October 1, 2020: http://www.in-sightjournal.com/may-3; Full Issue Publication Date: January 1, 2021: https://in-sightjournal.com/insight-issues/.

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2023-03-24

Conversation with Graham Powell on Issue X of “WIN ONE” with Gwyneth Wesley Rolph, Anna Konnikova, Thomas J. Hally, Claus Volko, Greg A. Grove, Therese Waneck, Beaux Clemmons, Manahel Thabet, Karyn Huntting Peters, Marco Ripà, and Alan Wing-Lun: Co-Editor, “Phenomenon” (9)

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

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

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2020/09/22

Abstract

His Lordship of Roscelines, Graham Powell, earned the “best mark ever given for acting during his” B.A. (Hons.) degree in “Drama and Theatre Studies at Middlesex University in 1990” and the “Best Dissertation Prize” for an M.A. in Human Resource Management from the University of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, England in 1994. Powell is an Honorary Member of STHIQ Society, Former President of sPIqr Society, Vice President of Atlantiq Society, and a member of British Mensa, IHIQS, Ingenium, Mysterium, High Potentials Society, Elateneos, Milenija, Logiq, and Epida. He is the Full-Time Co-Editor of WIN ONE (WIN-ON-line Edition) since 2010 or nearly a decade. He represents World Intelligence Network Italia. He is the Public Relations Co-Supervisor, Fellow of the Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce, and a Member of the European Council for High Ability. He discusses: a different tone; “Biofeedback” by Gwyneth Wesley Rolph, and Mastermind: How to Think Like Sherlock Holmes by Anna Konnikova; “A Brief History of IQ Tests” by Thomas J. Hally; “Feedback on ‘Atheism’….” by Dr. Claus D. Volko; “The Lost Child” by Therese Waneck; “Another Friend Dies From AIDS” by Beaux Clemmons; “As I Recall” by Hally; “A festive poem” and “The Challenge”; “Gödel and the Limits of Computability” by Volko; “Epigrahams” and “The Editor’s Anagdoku”; “X-Test Solutions Finally Revealed!” by Marco Ripà; Alan Wing-Lun published “About ‘Codin’ Code Al Coda’”; “Theme from Love, Injury, Fear, Embarrassment.”

Keywords: giftedness, Graham Powell, United Arab Emirates, WIN ONE, World Intelligence Network.

Conversation with Graham Powell on Issue X of “WIN ONE” with Gwyneth Wesley Rolph, Anna Konnikova, Thomas J. Hally, Claus Volko, Greg A. Grove, Therese Waneck, Beaux Clemmons, Manahel Thabet, Karyn Huntting Peters, Marco Ripà, and Alan Wing-Lun: Co-Editor, “Phenomenon” (9)

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

Scott Douglas Jacobsen: Issue X set a different tone than the previous issue of WIN ONE. It opens with the quote, “To the tranquil mind, flowers are great friends, radiating beauty without recourse to words.” Why this quote or statement for this particular issue? Who owns the quote? You note the problems inherent in the issues of the early 21^st century with some turbulent times while also acknowledging the benefits in the ease of travel for in-person discussions within members of the meta-society known as the World Intelligence Network. How important was the tenth issue to get right? Once more, you solo edited. What is the workload in terms of hours and level of effort per issue, as the size and scale of the issue began to stabilize?

Graham Powell[1],[2]: Yes, Scott, this Edition took on a new ‘voice’, I think this a corollary of the meeting of minds at the 12th Asia-Pacific Conference on Giftedness, plus the fact that I was in Al Ain at the time, an Emirate that is part of the United Arab Emirates. In the heat of the desert, the mood was reflective. Usually I was walking to the Internet Cafe in temperatures above body temperature. I reflected on the beautiful flowers at my home in Sardinia – the quotation is my own. It was a struggle to get this edition finished, especially as many of the inclusions arrived late, so, yes, repeated treks to the internet cafe took some pluck as the hours ticked by and the deadline got closer and closer. There is a mood in this edition of discussion and, I think, a little remorse; there is poetry and an artistic intensity that is greater than in previous editions. I wanted everything to be right, yes, despite the challenges. The world was in the middle of an economic meltdown and the effects on people’s daily lives were coming through. There is always a kind of backwash to the wave of macroeconomic hardships, which is tough to bear. It strikes homesteads across the world and this was being reflected on people’s faces. I put in a great deal of effort for this edition too, having time to do that, but also because it was the beginning of an era whereby people had other things to concentrate on. Much of this edition came from friends, or via my own hand. I had just met Gwyneth Wesley Rolph (prior to going to the Emirates) and that was great. I am pleased that she has now realised her potential and is pursuing what, at that time, was a dream. Her research on intelligence and related neurophysiology reminds me of the work by Rex Jung, who I admire greatly.

Jacobsen: “Biofeedback” by Gwyneth Wesley Rolph covers the issue of biofeedback as a research topic. The article provides some grand claims about health benefits and the forms of equipment used for the biofeedback, e.g., EMG or electromyography, temperature or thermal feedback, galvanic skin response training, heart rate variability training, neurofeedback through the EEG or electroencephalogram, and others.[3] Does biofeedback still seem reasonable as a practice and valid as a tool for self-knowledge and awareness? You reviewed Mastermind: How to Think Like Sherlock Holmes by Anna Konnikova (Dr. Maria Konnikova) in “A book review.” She writes about the fictional personhood of Holmes. His personality, abilities, and how this ties to modern psychological research with some reference to the work of Professors Mahzarin Banaji and Anthony Greenwald by you. The most important point, or takeaway for me, comes from the way in which Holmes focused on a goal to filter information, as a means to solve problems before him, as per “Peter Gollwitzer’s 5 Goal-orientated Behaviour traits.” Sections included mindfulness and motivation, interpretation of the world as the world, the DMM or default mode network, the importance of common sense found through deduction or, more properly, induction/abduction described as “systemised common sense,” and knowledge of self. You gave an enthusiastic review of Mastermind: How to Think Like Sherlock Holmes. What was some feedback on the text since the publication of the review? How has Dr. Konnikova’s career progressed?

Powell: Interesting that you ask about this, Scott, because I am involved in neurofeedback at the moment, a new adventure that has taken me back to Dubai. It is, indeed, just that: feedback. In my work, there’s low electrical input, mainly just sensors. People undergoing the feedback monitor their responses alongside the technician and they are ‘rewarded’ via a notification system. This reward system is decided upon via consultation. I have undergone some of the light and sound sessions and it is effective. I have found that my sleep patterns have returned to a healthy rhythm, with theta waves being emitted more than previously. As such, I think the three main goals espoused by Gwyneth are being met: I self regulate, know more about how the brain is functioning, and I am taking the results into my everyday life. I have a hunch that the other forms of biofeedback can have similar effects, hence Gwyneth’s three, generic goals.

As for Maria Konnikova Hamilton (her full name), her writing career has progressed and she has produced several books of note, her latest book resulting in her becoming a gambler in casinos. She is about to move on from that, but, unfortunately, due to a certain amount of fame, she has distanced herself from me these days, so I don’t know in what direction she is about to go.

Jacobsen: “A Brief History of IQ Tests” by Thomas J. Hally talked about the history of low range and normal range testing, and high range testing, of general intelligence with a tip of the hat to Paul Cooijmans, Ron Hoeflin, Robert Lato, Laurent Dubois, Mislav Predavec, Jonathan Wai, Kenneth Ferrell, Jeff Leonard, Jason Betts, and Ivan Ivec. Of course, noting, the test scores do not define the person and the HRT test creators remained all men at the time. This may stay the same into the present. However, as a caveat, as a singular trait pervading aspects of an individual’s life, access to joining societies, access to contribute to and write in journals, and the like, the test scores, at minimum, define part of the person, if defined in an extended sense of “person” as in an extended relational self. What are the issues of high range tests from the most serious to the trivial? What are the benefits of high range tests over low range and normal range tests? How do the politics and personalities of the HRT world impact the dynamics of the societies, the development of tests, and so on? If someone donates money to a high IQ society and to the career of an individual within the HRT world, and if one exists as a member of a society in which a test developer uses individuals for the purpose of increasing the relevant sample size of the tests in development, do these amount to financial conflicts of interest and other forms of conflict of interest? How do these considerations impact the legitimacy of the creation of some tests and some societies in the 3-sigma and higher world of the high IQ?

Powell: Okay, let us break this down, then push people in a direction to learn more. A fundamental issue is said to be the lack of people to provide data, though the current world population is 7.8 billion, which statistically indicates the possibility of at least one person having an IQ of 201, SD16. One in 7.2 billion reach that score. It also equates to one in nearly a million scoring 176 SD 16, (1:982,001), so a quantitative sample of at least 7,385 is possible. This poses the following problem: from where can we find these people? I think a more serious consideration is: how many of these people wish to participate collectively? Having spoken face to face with one such person, the related anecdotes don’t bode well for these people to interact. A further example is an article by Michael Ferguson, who calls them ‘The Inappropriately Excluded’. In a previous round, I cited Hollingworth’s research and the issues of the isolationism of a group which would now, utilizing Gaussian distribution IQ scores, be considered to have an IQ score of around IQ 159 SD 15, or above. Ferguson also refers to this. Generally, the HRTs may identify certain people, but my knowledge about the interactions which take place at the very high IQ level, does not make for pleasant reading. That’s the ‘trivial part’.

As for conflicts of interest, attempting to identify and further research and data collation is necessary. If there is a monetary gain in doing that, I provisionally say that it is fine. In the end, individuals have a choice about whether to participate, or not. At the IQ societal level, I don’t think the funding of individuals occurs very much, at least not due to particular membership of a society. Rather, members of the very exclusive societies can make themselves available for exceptional research and development work – if they so desire. It’s a vicious circle for them, really: the opportunities are there, if they want to run the gauntlet of what may seem banal. As stated before, in the end, many of the plethora of tests are not sufficiently tested to be both reliable and verifiable. In the end, I’m not sure how beneficial all this is to these people anyway. Other factors in life are more important than an IQ score.

Jacobsen: “Feedback on ‘Atheism’….” by Dr. Claus D. Volko provided a short retort to the eighth issue article by Phil Elauria. His critique focusing on the non-need to move to multi-valued logic where classical binary logic suffices to resolve proposed problems in logic. Any thoughts on the retort by Dr. Volko? “The Writer’s Dilemma” by Thomas J. Hally provides an implicitly amusing frolic on the nature of writers, literacy, mathematicians, and other intellectual types. In “Juggler of Day,” a poem by Emily Dickinson, accompanied pictorially by Dr. Greg A. Grove, we discover a new fact: Dr. Grove’s synesthesia or cross-talk between senses. “Emily Dickinson Eats Out” by Dr. Grove was a charming little piece. You wrote “Meeting In-flight.” Where was this a trip towards at the time – other than someone’s lips? Or was this more of an imaginary production? “Not Quite Carbon Copies” by Hally is a delightful, and humorous, observation-bound poem on sex and gender dynamics in general. What made this poem stand out to you? “The Lost Child” by Therese Waneck put forth a one-word poem, in a way, which brought to mind, “Cooked.” What words and images come to mind for you, in this poem? “Dying Dawns” by Waneck brings the sorrow known to and expressed by many elderly friends to me, in intimate conversations. What does this poem evoke for you? “Renewal” by Hally brings forth a strangely depressing but hopeful tale of reflection on the generation and the hope for the metaphysical and spiritual – “transformation” – in spite of the flaws, failures, and follies of the generation. I am ambivalent on an emotional judgment of this piece. What do you think, feel?

Powell: I tried to encourage feedback on the pieces in the magazine, so Claus-Dieter’s was a welcome inclusion within this edition. I recognized the logical sequence that Claus-Dieter proposes, though I had to liaise with him on it at that point in time. It was a steep learning curve for me, so rewarding too. One of the joys of editorship is learning along the way. A curious aftermath was the fact that Phil Elauria took a course in Computer Programming and it is at the core of his career path now, though I’ve no idea if this intervention by Claus-Dieter made Phil consider entering that job sector. All I do know is that Phil is proving successful in his new job.

As for Doctor Grove and his synaesthesia, I knew about it and indeed took part in an experiment involving art. Greg loves music by Scriabin, whose atonal scale was influenced by synaesthesia. Greg also loves the poetry of Emily Dickinson, hence the artwork. Greg would make a fascinating person to interview.

The Meeting In-flight poem is a modern version of Meeting at Night by Robert Browning, though I must confess that it is also based on a real-life experience in Izmir, Turkey. I think Tom Hally and I share a poetic interest in these facets to life, though I am perhaps more of a romantic. That comes out in Renewal, too. Tom is more sardonic in his outlook.

Therese Waneck’s poems always entreat me. Like Emily Dickinson’s, they are bijou expressions, yet pierce to the core. I love Therese’s work.

Jacobsen: “Another Friend Dies From AIDS” by Beaux Clemmons portrays a moving depiction of loss, of death and coping, and moving on, once the shock disappears. Clemmons, as a Christian, comes to confront an apparent injustice with anger at purported love for his Creator. Doubt, anger, and a generally pissed off demeanour seeps through portions of the text, understandably. In a seriocomic stance, Clemmons pretends God is imaginary, not present, and remains unconvinced of the view here in the thought experiment too, which belies a certain agnosticism, implicitly. Clemmons ends on a re-invigoration of strength by putting the feelings to text. What stood out about this piece to you?

Powell: Beau (his actual name) is a devout Christian who I’ve known and, indeed, assisted sometimes for a few years, now. This piece arrived as I was walking through around 45 degrees centigrade to publish the magazine from the internet café in Al Ain. It was a heartfelt piece, one which clearly made Beau question many aspects to life, his sexuality, his beliefs, the seemingly unfair judgement that is bestowed upon us at times. I had to go back through the scorching heat to add his article. Beau expressed that he had to let the emotions go and was keen that I help him by publishing the piece. I think it was a cathartic experience for him, which these occasions often require, whatever your belief.

Jacobsen: “As I Recall” by Hally opens with the psychological knowledge of the most prominent memories tending to be emotional ones. Although, Professor Elizabeth Loftus’s, from the University of California, Irvine, memory research may buffer direct statements about this, especially in regards to Rich False Memories, for example. Hally’s focus is “arousal” and “valence” and “mood” as integral to strong, detailed, and lasting memories. A wonderful, concise, and effective summary of memory research to this point, at an intermediate level. Does educational material, as opposed to that which requires some interpreting, become more easily accepted into the journal? You wrote “A festive poem” and “The Challenge,” which provided some mental food for thought. “WIN Meetings” provide some further context of the relationships between executive members of WIN with visits to Dubai in April and June of 2013 with pictures of Dr. Thabet, Dr. Katsioulis, and Dr. Karyn Huntting Peters. How were the subsequent meetings in person with Drs. Thabet, Katsioulis, and Peters? What have been fruitful dialogues since that time?

Powell: I think people like to learn, yes. I also did a little research and high IQ people are not interested in doing puzzles within magazines. I didn’t realize that at the time, but it seems to be a prevailing viewpoint.

On a different tack, I was pleased to make the interactions of WIN members evident visually, which had been done in an earlier WIN magazine, G2G Manifest. There was quite a lot of interaction while I was in the Middle East, so it was a great opportunity, in that respect. The three WIN members that you cite are at the epicentre of my high IQ experience, even to this day. We continue to change the world, I am sure, in a positive manner.

Jacobsen: Dr. Volko wrote “Gödel and the Limits of Computability.” In it, he describes the ways in which the two incompleteness theorems – 1) incomplete and consistent, or complete and inconsistent and 2) consistent systems cannot be proven consistent within their own formalities – describe the limits of computability. Any further thoughts on the incompleteness theorems for you? Any known additional theorems adjunct to these two theorems? What do these theorems appear to mean for computability and human computation? What stands out about Dr. Volko’s material over the years? “Epigrahams,” clever as well as entertaining as a word, connects to “The Editor’s Anagdoku.” What inspired the tying of these together? Also, what is the image behind the text, the background picture?

Powell: I think you would do best to ask Claus-Dieter about the theorems and the lasting nature of his work. The magazine is largely a snapshot of intellectual considerations at certain moments in time. As I said before, my real-life interactions with the people you mentioned previously are more significant to me now and take up a great deal of my time. The results of that will become clear, I am sure. Please watch the media.

Regarding the Epigrahams, I have kept a journal since April 1983. The Epigrahams were a collection of epigrams from those journals. As I hinted near the beginning of this interview, in the desert, reflections on matters often bring quite original thoughts, with neologisms, if you will. I like anagrams and I also enjoy writing the occasional Sudoku, so some of the anagrams and a Sudoku combined to produce the Anagdoku. The picture behind the text (the watermark) I don’t recall now, though I am sure it is an engraving which is redolent of the work of William Blake, so it is a hark back to the cover of Edition VI, which was very much styled on Blake’s Songs of Innocence.

Jacobsen: “X-Test Solutions Finally Revealed!” by Marco Ripà pulled a first with the exposing and exposition on the solutions to an IQ test developed by the test creator himself. Not too much commentary here in the question other than the unique laying out the solutions to problems on an IQ test, as if Penn & Teller. Any thoughts on the prospect of benefiting from the practice of HRT with provision of the solutions for an educational purpose? You did accept and publish the article after all. Then there were some individual images of famous mostly dead smart people for consideration as parts in a puzzle inside the issue as a whole. Alan Wing-Lun published “About ‘Codin’ Code Al Coda’” in response to the ‘composing’ (I was a bit loose in the language before, sorry, and so partially wrong, in a prior interview part) of the puzzle and the literal zero correct responses sent in about the puzzle, in spite of a competition placed for it. He ends, humorously, on a quote by Oscar Wilde stating, “I refuse to have a battle of wits with an unarmed man.” What comes to mind when a puzzle remains so difficult for the international high IQ community that no correct solutions come into the creator of the puzzle until after a competition and not during?

Powell: I remember that a couple of the items in Marco’s test had been compromised, by unscrupulous people either asking for the answers, or by giving the items as puzzles to solve, thereby gaining insight via other people offering solutions, or by actually giving the solutions. Marco was getting frustrated about this, as one can understand, and he decided that he would submit all the answers and put his X Test into IQ-testing history. We also moved on, with another type of test. It is computer generated and changes each time a person decides to take the test. It was a bold move by Marco and Gaetano Morelli, with a small contribution by me towards the end of the project – what was really a consideration of the best practical way to administer the test, though I did check the workings of it too.

Jacobsen: You composed “Music: ‘Theme from Love, Injury, Fear, Embarrassment’.” Then comes a rapid succession of solutions to puzzles throughout the issue. If you had to guess, how many readers look to the solutions before solving the puzzle? How many get them right on the easier puzzles and on the harder puzzles (excluding the one with zero solutions)?

Powell: As I mentioned before, generally, it seems that high IQ people are not interested in puzzle solving when reading online magazines. Occasionally, people compliment me on the ingenious nature of the puzzles, but I sense that less than 1% of readers do them. The lack of solutions submitted for Alan’s conundrum I feel validates my point. As a point of further interest, the music you cite was composed in 1988 for my play Love Injury Fear Embarrassment, which was performed at the Betchworth Festival, Surrey, England, that autumn.

Jacobsen: Thank you for the opportunity and your time, Graham.

Powell: It was a pleasure, Scott.

References

Clemmons, B. (2013, August 5). Another friend…. Retrieved from www.iqsociety.org/issues/WIN_ONE_10.pdf.

Grove, G.A., Powell, G., Hally, T.J., and Waneck, T. (2013, August 5). Poetry and Artwork. Retrieved from www.iqsociety.org/issues/WIN_ONE_10.pdf.

Hally, T.J. (2013, August 5). A Brief History of IQ Tests. Retrieved from www.iqsociety.org/issues/WIN_ONE_10.pdf.

Hally, T.J. (2013, August 5). As I Recall. Retrieved from www.iqsociety.org/issues/WIN_ONE_10.pdf.

Hally, T.J. (2013, August 5). The Writer’s Dilemma. Retrieved from www.iqsociety.org/issues/WIN_ONE_10.pdf.

Ho, A.W. (2013, August 5). Codin’ Code Al Coda Music Score. Retrieved from www.iqsociety.org/issues/WIN_ONE_10.pdf.

Powell, G. (2013, August 5). A book review. Retrieved from www.iqsociety.org/issues/WIN_ONE_10.pdf.

Powell, G. (2013, August 5). A Festive Meal (puzzle). Retrieved from www.iqsociety.org/issues/WIN_ONE_10.pdf.

Powell, G. (2013, August 5). Puzzle Answers — A Festive Meal, Anagdoku and Famous People Montage. Retrieved from www.iqsociety.org/issues/WIN_ONE_10.pdf.

Powell, G. (2013, August 5). Epigrahams. Retrieved from www.iqsociety.org/issues/WIN_ONE_10.pdf.

Powell, G. (2013, August 5). Introduction by the editor. Retrieved from www.iqsociety.org/issues/WIN_ONE_10.pdf.

Powell, G. (2013, August 5). Music: “Theme from Love, Injury, Fear, Embarrassment”. Retrieved from www.iqsociety.org/issues/WIN_ONE_10.pdf.

Ripà, M. (2013, July). The X-Test Solutions. Retrieved from www.iqsociety.org/issues/WIN_ONE_10.pdf.

Rolph, G.W. (2013, August 5). Biofeedback. Retrieved from www.iqsociety.org/issues/WIN_ONE_10.pdf.

Volko, C.D. (2013, August 5). Feedback on “Atheism”…. Retrieved from www.iqsociety.org/issues/WIN_ONE_10.pdf.

Volko, C.D. (2013, August 5). Gödel and the Limits of Computability. Retrieved from www.iqsociety.org/issues/WIN_ONE_10.pdf.

Wing-Lun, W. (2013, August 5). About “Codin’ Code Al Coda”. Retrieved from www.iqsociety.org/issues/WIN_ONE_10.pdf.

World Intelligence Network. (2013, August 5). Photos of WIN Meetings. Retrieved from www.iqsociety.org/issues/WIN_ONE_10.pdf.

World Intelligence Network. (2013, August 5). The Editor’s Anagdoku. Retrieved from www.iqsociety.org/issues/WIN_ONE_10.pdf.

World Intelligence Network. (2013, August 5). The Famous People (photo) Quiz. Retrieved from www.iqsociety.org/issues/WIN_ONE_10.pdf.

Appendix I: Footnotes

[1] Co-Editor, “Phenomenon” (World Intelligence Network).

[2] Individual Publication Date: September 22, 2020: http://www.in-sightjournal.com/powell-9; Full Issue Publication Date: January 1, 2021: https://in-sightjournal.com/insight-issues/.

[3] “Feedback,” in full, states:

Biofeedback can be used for a variety of purposes, including, but not limited to, the alleviation or reduction of anxiety and stress, muscle tension, high blood pressure, asthma and other breathing difficulties, irritable bowel syndrome and other disorders of the digestive system, temporomandibular joint disorder, back problems, chronic pain, headaches and migraine, insomnia, major depressive disorder, heart disease, diabetes, chronic fatigue syndrome and fibromyalgia.

It can be used by medical doctors, chiropractors, mental health practitioners, dentists and other healthcare providers in conjunction with existing standard health treatment plans, or by specialist biofeedback providers to assist clients with various conditions.

Rolph, G.W. (2013, August 5). Biofeedback. Retrieved from www.iqsociety.org/issues/WIN_ONE_10.pdf.

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2023-03-24

Conversation with Sigurður Rúnarsson on Norwegian and Icelandic Humanism: Humanist Officiant, Siðmennt/The Icelandic Ethical Humanist Association & The Norwegian Humanist Association

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

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

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2020/09/22

Abstract

Sigurður Rúnarsson was born in Iceland in 1974 and works as a humanist officiant for both Siðmennt (The Icelandic Ethical Humanist Association) since 2013 and HEF (The Norwegian Humanist Association) from 2015. He was on the board of HEF in Drammen and Lier (Norway) local affiliate and served as a board member alternate for Buskerud county affiliate in Norway. He now lives in Oslo, Norway, but works both in Iceland and Norway. Hediscusses: a global, internationalist outlook on the world in Iceland; young people talk about religion; gender equality part of the erosion of religious traditionalism; tourism; the sensibilities of Iceland; the humanist community in Norway; the humanist community in Iceland; become a humanist officiant; a humanist ceremony; intriguing requests and outcomes for some humanist ceremonies; and final feelings or thoughts.

Keywords: Humanism, Iceland, Norway, Siðmennt, Sigurður Rúnarsson, The Norwegian Humanist Association.

Conversation with Sigurður Rúnarsson on Norwegian and Icelandic Humanism: Humanist Officiant, Siðmennt/The Icelandic Ethical Humanist Association & The Norwegian Humanist Association

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

Scott Douglas Jacobsen: I went to Iceland last year in the Summer. All light during the day; mostly light-ish during the night with pubs and bars open until 4:00 am or later – completely baffling and incomprehensible to a North American and, as I was told by Europeans, to Europeans. Also, a super gender-equal country by most metrics, as I found out based on conversations with many Icelandic women and looking at the real statistics. The public opinion matches the statistical rankings of gender equality – truly a remarkable achievement. How does this gender equality and openness of the people and tourism create the basis for a global, internationalist outlook on the world in Iceland?

Sigurður Rúnarsson: We have been going from Christian opening hours to more normal humans [Laughing]…

Jacobsen: …[Laughing]…

Rúnarsson: …opening hours for restaurants and bars. So, that’s what really has been happening in Iceland for the last 30 years because we have been so tightly connected to the church, the state church. We cannot have restaurants, bars, and clubs open on Good Friday. We cannot have them open on Easter Day, and so on. Because we have been very tightly connected with the Christian religion and the church. So, to address that, it is the state furthering itself from the Christian values in many ways. Because when I was younger, we had to close at 2 o’clock or 3 o’clock. But it is getting longer and longer opening hours for the clubs. Things are changing. We are distancing ourselves from the religion.

Jacobsen: How is this influencing the way young people talk about religion?

Rúnarsson: In Iceland, and, actually, in Norway too, young people do not talk that much about religion. They’re not very connected with religion. Until, it comes to the age of about 14 years old, when they are supposed to be confirmed. Religion, for young people, if that’s the question, is not something people talk about or practice in Iceland. So, in many ways, it is like a private club somewhere in the background. There are some people practicing the religion. But many people who are doing that; they are doing this very privately. They don’t boast about it, don’t tell others about, even if they go to young Christian camps, which we still have. It is not very much spoken about. People don’t talk about it in school. It is a private thing. It is getting more and more unusual or special to be very religious in many ways. Young people try to steer away from talks.

Jacobsen: I want to focus on gender equality too. Because most religions through most of the last several thousand years have had an emphasis on not being fair or equal to women. Iceland, according to the World Economic Forum, has been the most gender-equal country in the world for many years, probably almost a decade straight. Obviously, this is a conscious move and affects culture. I can give a personal example. When I was in the pubs in Iceland, it was a common and casual thing: if a guy likes a gal, he buys her a drink, which is normal in North America and expected, but the reverse was also the case. If a girl liked a guy, she would buy him a drink. So, it was less a gender thing and more, “Do you like this person? Do you make an offer to them?” It was different. Is gender equality part of the erosion of religious traditionalism?

Rúnarsson: I think the short answer is, “Yes.” I think the long answer is, “Women don’t want to be owned anymore.”

Jacobsen: Right.

Rúnarsson: They don’t want to be in debt or get the feeling that they owe a man something because of all of the drinks. I think we have come so far in equality in Iceland. It is not about religion anymore. It is about the independence of the woman. The women, they are exactly the same free spirit as men. They can do what they like with their mind, body, and soul. They can have boyfriends and lovers. They can choose to buy a guy a drink. They don’t owe anybody anything. This is more to do with the independence of the woman. In the last years with the Me Too revolution, but it started much sooner in Iceland, women went out and fought for equal pay. They fought for an equal pension. All of those things. We have gone through them for the lost 30 or 40 years. You are seeing something today at the bars; a process that has been boiling for 40 or 50 years in Iceland. You are seeing very strong, independent women who take matters into their own hands. They go by the Iceland women’s strong spirit. Definitely, Iceland women possess it.

Jacobsen: At the University of Iceland bookstore, one of the gentlemen behind the counter recommended a book to me. I think it was called Independent People. I did buy it. It was by Laxness.

Rúnarsson: [Laughing] By Halldór Laxness, yes, winner of the 1955 Nobel Prize in Literature.

Jacobsen: I was told this was the most famous or prominent late/deceased author in Iceland. He told me, “This particular author really got the heart of what Iceland is, Icelandic people are, truly about.” I think it goes right to the point that you’re making in terms of the evolution over the last 30 to 40 years of independent people.

Rúnarsson: Yes.

Jacobsen: That really encapsulated a lot of my experience there. It really did.

Rúnarsson: I think, without being a book critic, and I have read this book, but not in recent years, that he is writing about how the men and the fathers control everything. In the book, in a clever way, he is talking about how the mothers and the women control a lot without it being at the forefront. So, women’s equality, he is dipping his toe into it. This is very early, the last century. So, he is, actually, describing the beginning of women’s evolution or revolution. I think, in many ways, Iceland as in other countries, like in Africa, and so on, the mothers have always controlled things a lot, e.g., the ‘big mommas’ or whatever you call this – when the mother controls the home, the food, the food supplies, the children, and the men are more outside working. This is very early 1920 to 1935, where this book is written and taking place in Iceland in the early 20th century. You can probably see this in the book. But I don’t have the details. This is starting there. I don’t know if this is the same feeling that you get. When we Icelanders read it, we definitely see a man writing the book. But he is definitely talking about how the mothers and grandmothers are teaching their children and grandchildren how to do their job, how to do the work of the farm, even speaking the Icelandic language correctly.

Jacobsen: Fishing still is a big, but was a much bigger, part of the economy.

Rúnarsson: Fishing hasn’t really reduced in the last 50 years. But we have had other export industries that have grown bigger. Fishing is as big as it was before. But we have had other IT, medical, and, of course, tourism, starting to be bigger than fishing export. Fishing is, definitely, as big as before. At least, we are catching as much cod as before. We have had other technological advantages, as well as tourism being much bigger in Iceland than it was.

Jacobsen: How about tourism? Is this a big industry and a way in which there’s an internationalist view of the world, but by Icelanders?

Rúnarsson: I don’t think so. I really don’t think so. I think Icelanders are very well informed. They watch a lot of foreign TV. We have always watched TV in the original language and with text instead of dubbing. We have seen a lot of TV from the States. We have seen a lot of TV from the UK. We have seen a lot of TV from the Nordic countries, from Germany. We are very well informed about international politics. I am not sure how big the tourism industry has done for us. I think this comes from within the Icelandic soul and from within the Icelandic culture. We’ve always been explorers in many ways. Before, we got a lot of our international information from Denmark because Denmark used to be our mother country until 1944. We had a Danish crown over us until 1944 in the Second World War. Copenhagen used to be our capital city. That’s just in recent years. For example, with my grandparents, they remember that. So, before, we got all the information from Scandinavia, mainly from Denmark. After the information revolution, we started to see Sky News, CNN, and Al Jazeera. We have Icelandic News Television. In many ways, we are interested in the world. We have always looked for information. We have never been closed in our small country.

Now, I am talking about the last 30 years. Before, we only got the information from the capital city of Copenhagen in Denmark. In the last 50 years, we’ve been educating our students abroad. We sent them to universities; or, they have chosen to go to universities abroad. They go on to academic teaching and working, e.g., doctors, historians, and whatnot. We are very interested in what’s happening in the world. We have always, some percentage of us, been up to date in everything in international politics. For example, let’s just say, India, everyone was watching what was happening when she was running for office or Putin when he was going from the presidency to be the prime minister and from being prime minister to being president. We were always watching international politics, of other countries. Let’s not forget the States, we are very interested in what happens in the States, in the pre-caucuses, and have been for many years. So, tourism is only expanding in the last 10, 15, or 20 years. I don’t think that we get our information from tourists or because of the tourists. I think we started much earlier doing that.

Jacobsen: What do you consider the sensibilities of Iceland that are easily aligned, now, with Humanism? What values of Iceland are similar to the values of Humanism?

Rúnarsson: I think, in many ways, my previous answer to the interest with international things, international politics and discussions, are also a primer to this. In many ways, we are very taken by technology, very taken by science in everything, of course, nature, and religion. You could say, “Where science deepens the theories of Christianity,” for example, “about the Earth, the weather, the plagues, medicine, and many things.” So, I think when you have a nation, which is much better than before. People start to wonder, “Why are we believing in a book – Bible (New Testament, Old Testament)?” It is just storybooks, like Hansel and Gretel. It is just storybooks. After they grow up, you could say; they grow out of this – we call it – “children’s belief in God.” Somehow, the children believe in God, but not the parents. But the parents allow them. I think many parents have, in many ways, relaxed about it. Because the parents found out when they grew up. They just went away from this religious belief and thing. Children, somehow, do this when they get older. I think the answer is that people are aligning with the humanist take on life, the human, and the world – the mind, science, not least all the beautiful things in the world like music and art. We have a relaxed attitude against everything.

The humanists in Iceland are not very extreme. They take part in public talks about the church and religion, but not very extreme. They do a lot of services to the people or to their congregation. They do naming conventions, confirmations (coming of age), weddings and do funerals. They are providing these essential services and ceremonies to the people, where people can relax and go on with, if you can say, a typical ceremony without the burden of religion. I think, in many ways, Iceland started the humanist revolution in Iceland with – we call it – “a citizen confirmation,” where a 14-year-old girl. What do you call this in English, “Coming of age”? Many people were enlightened. They didn’t need to go through the church system or back to the church. Their parents hadn’t been in their church for many years. A part of the success of the humanists in Iceland and the reason that people are aligning with them is that they have a relaxed attitude against procedures and religion. But they are still doing ceremonies in a way that the people want to have them done. Siðmennt humanists have taken a position in some cases on assisted death, opening hours of public places that I mentioned at the beginning of the interview – opening hours of restaurants and bars, how we are not able to play Bingo on Friday and such.

They have been trying to take part in public discussions and telling the governments to relax a little bit with the old law that banned this and that on Easter days and Christmas days. For example, there are not many years since we weren’t allowed to have restaurants open on Christmas Day. Then we had already started Christmas trips to Iceland for foreigners. We have had problems finding a restaurant for travellers.

Jacobsen: [Laughing].

Rúnarsson: Because out of religious belief, we are not allowed to be open on Christmas Day, Long Friday, and Easter Day, and so on. So, it was very strange, very old-fashioned thinking. We needed to correct it; and, we did. So, it is much better now. The humanists have been taking a lead in some or, actually, many of the discussions, where rules and regulations are still built on church rules or religious rules. I think humanists are aligned with the thinking of many people in Iceland. I think that’s part of the magic that has happened with the humanists in the later years.

Jacobsen: How is the humanist community in Norway?

Rúnarsson: The humanist community in Norway is big and well known amidst the Norwegian people. The Norwegian Humanist Association has, as of 2018, over 90,000 members registered in the organization.

Jacobsen: How is the humanist community in Iceland? How do these two compare to one another?

Rúnarsson: In March 2007 a giant step towards this goal was taken when Baard Thalberg, one of the leaders/trainers at the Norwegian Humanist Association’s ceremonies service came and held a training program for Icelandic celebrants. The course was aimed primarily at training celebrants for secular funerals but also covered baby namings and weddings. Of the 10 Icelanders who undertook this training, 6 of them became the first official Siðmennt celebrants when our ceremonies service was inaugurated in May 2008. Siðmennt has run several training programs in recent years and now has 25 celebrants.

Jacobsen: How does one become a humanist officiant?

Rúnarsson: I got to know of humanist ceremonies through my upbringing in Reykjavik. Siðmennt – the Icelandic Ethical Humanist Association was founded in February 1990, a year after a group organized the first coming of age education program or civil confirmation (Icel. borgaraleg ferming) in Iceland.

Even though, I did not take part in their ceremony; I always found this new approach to teenagers fascinating and heard of many that went through their course.

Later, Siðmennt started offering celebrant for civil funerals and weddings. And it was in 2010 that my brother and his fiancée where married in a humanist ceremony at Geysir in Iceland by a humanist celebrant on behalf of Siðmennt.

In 2013 I was working at a funeral home as a funeral director as I hade done from 1990 when I was 16 years old in my family business.

That year we got surprisingly many requests for funerals without priests or a church being involved. We arranged for that and some ceremonies were conducted by a humanist celebrant and somewhere just conducted by us, the funeral directors and family member. After this experience, I contacted Siðmennt and met with them. I signed up for the course they were starting for new humanist celebrants in the fall of 2013 and graduated a few months later with a diploma and a license from the Icelandic government, arranged for by Siðmennt as a registered secular life stance organization, to officiate weddings. The following week I got my first chance to conduct a funeral for a woman and soon after that, I had my first naming convention for a young girl. This was the start of my career as a humanist officiant both in Iceland and Norway.

I’m still doing humanist ceremonies today. 2019 was a very busy year for me as I conducted over 20 humanist ceremonies in Iceland and Norway, both wedding and naming conventions, where over 70 children got a name. 2020 is already looking to be the busiest as I have 10 weddings already booked until Christmas 2020.

More ceremonies will follow, but naming ceremonies in Iceland tend to be booked with very short notice.

The custom in Iceland for naming ceremonies is to hold one ceremony for every child, and they are either held in the home of the parents or family member or in a small venue like a hotel or community halls.

In Norway the procedure is different. There the parent’s book in advance on one of the prearranged naming convention days of one of the local branches of the Human-Etisk Forbund (The Norwegian Humanist Association) and up to 10 children are joined with parents and family in a public ceremony in one of the community halls.

Jacobsen: What makes a humanist ceremony aligned with the principles of Humanism? What are the necessities and negotiables of humanist ceremonies?

Rúnarsson: People can choose ceremonies, which are purely secular or those which also contain Humanistic values. Our naming conventions do not involve inducting the child into our life stance organization, the way baptism involves induction into a religious organization. Siðmennt discourages people from enrolling babies and children into life stance organizations until the age of 16. For this reason, our civil confirmation program does not require joining Siðmennt and is open to everyone. Neither our naming conventions nor our confirmations require any oath or commitment to follow any leader or accept any dogma, as is done in Christian confirmations.

Siðmennt supports human dignity, human rights, and a broad-minded diverse secular society.

Jacobsen: What have been some intriguing requests and outcomes for some humanist ceremonies?

Rúnarsson: The vast and changeable nature of Iceland, the venues in Iceland, the clothes we the celebrants wear. Standing on a stone or a cliff, near bubbling volcanic waters and blue lagoons, the gazing wind, the rain and snowstorm, performing and conducting the ceremonies in sync with the magnificent nature and unpredictable and ever-changing weather.

Over 50% of weddings conducted by Siðmennt, in 2019, was for foreign citizens travelling for the sole purpose of getting married there. Many of them only travel alone and have nobody from their family or friends circle.

Jacobsen: Any final feelings or thoughts in conclusion based on the conversation today?

Rúnarsson: Many of the things that I have already said also apply with Norway. I think, in many ways, this is Scandinavian thinking. Of the four Nordic countries, Denmark and Sweden have not gone as far as Iceland and Norway. So, but there is more to be done in this part of the world, the humanists in Scandinavia and the Nordic countries need to work more together and put pressure on governments to relax in the same way that the governments in Norway and Iceland have done. That’s probably my special take on the matter because I worked in Norway and Iceland.

Jacobsen: Thank you for the opportunity and your time, Sigurður.

Rúnarsson: Sure! You can find more information here: https://Siðmennt.is/english/history/.

Appendix I: Footnotes

[1] Humanist Officiant, Humanist Officiant, Siðmennt/The Icelandic Ethical Humanist Association; Humanist Officiant, The Norwegian Humanist Association.

[2]Individual Publication Date: September 22, 2020: http://www.in-sightjournal.com/rúnarsson; Full Issue Publication Date: January 1, 2021: https://in-sightjournal.com/insight-issues/.

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2023-03-24

Conversation with Glia Society Member #479: Member, Glia Society (1)

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

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

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2020/09/22

Abstract

This is an interview with Glia Society Member 479. They discuss: growing up; an extended self; the family background; the experience with peers and schoolmates; the purpose of intelligence tests; high intelligence; the geniuses of the past; the greatest geniuses in history; a genius from a profoundly intelligent person; some work experiences; important aspects of the idea of the gifted and geniuses; some social and political views; the God concept or gods idea; science; some of the tests taken and scores earned (with standard deviations); the range of the scores; and ethical philosophy.

Keywords: 479, Paul Cooijmans, Glia Society, intelligence, IQ.

Conversation with Glia Society Member #479: Member, Glia Society (1)

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

*Minor corrections based on interviewee request.*

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

Glia Society Member #479[1],[2]*: Given the nature of the interview, I cannot say too much about that. I do recall some interesting episodes involving adultery or extrasensory perception.

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

#479: No, not really. I think of myself as an individual person and feel little need to submerge my identity into a kin-group.

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

#479: Middle-class WASP-y.

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

#479: My only response to this is that I never had a girlfriend in high school and I am still pissed off about that.

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

#479: If you’re referring specifically to my hobby taking high-range tests, then the purpose is that they’re fun to solve and give me insight into my own mental ability profile. More generally, intelligence tests can be useful clinical instruments for assessing one’s cognitive functioning, and provide insight into intelligence itself, which is the most important thing that can be studied. One might call it meta-science, for it is the brain researching itself.

Also, high-range tests will be very useful for quantitative directional selection once I finally get around to starting that Pacific island eugenics program with a bunch of kidnapped National Merit Scholars.

Jacobsen: When was high intelligence discovered for you?

#479: I hit most of my developmental milestones early, so I guess you could say that it was discovered in toddlerhood, if you define high intelligence by age-peer norms. I think that’s disingenuous, though, so I’d have to say when I qualified for Mensa, significantly surpassing the entry requirement on the supervised test battery that they gave me. I later gained deeper insight into my mental ability profile with high-range tests, particularly those of Paul Cooijmans.

#479: I don’t have a comprehensive answer to this question, but what I do know is that geniuses inherently tend to promulgate views which contradict some societal or institutional dogma, e.g., Galileo. That probably explains most of it.

Also, I can’t confidently confirm or deny your assertion that many geniuses alive today seem camera shy without knowing whom you consider geniuses. That is the sort of observation which I am unwilling to accept based entirely on a secondhand opinion. In any case, I think there are extremely few true geniuses alive today, possibly because the sciences, each straining in its own direction, have advanced so far that the barrier for a single person to make a revolutionary contribution is exceedingly high. Besides myself, of course, we probably only know the names of a few.

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

#479: I suspect that there have been people throughout history who would now be considered amongst the greatest geniuses in history, if only they had been recognized as brilliant or otherwise experienced different life circumstances. This would include myself, of course.

Restricting our universe of discourse to well-known geniuses, and ranking them by their intellectual productivity rather than hypothetical potential, Isaac Newton is almost certainly at the top. Second place would probably go to Albert Einstein, and then third to Carl Gauss. Other people near the top include Leonhard Euler, John von Neumann, Nikola Tesla, and Dmitri Mendeleev.

As for tremendous intellects who have received relatively little public notice, but whom I have been lucky enough to discover, I would like to draw attention to Paul Erdős (a borderline case in terms of fame), Stanisław Lem (author of the most eloquent and profound fiction I have ever read), and Chris Langan (a disagreeable person, but a misunderstood intellectual).

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

#479: That’s nearly an apples-to-oranges comparison, and somewhat like asking what differentiates an extremely tall person from a top basketball player. To succeed in the NBA, one is practically required to be uncommonly tall, but beyond that, yet greater height brings diminishing returns, while other factors like work ethic, physical strength, and aiming ability become increasingly relevant.

I concur with Arthur Jensen and Paul Cooijmans that exceedingly intelligent people are actually less likely to become geniuses than are people of somewhat lower, but still very high, intelligence. I have observed that people whose intelligence I judge as extremely high, both inside and outside of the high-I.Q. world, tend to be almost depressingly normal, and therefore lack the mixture of non-cognitive personality traits required for genius. This is vaguely analogous to how the tallest people in the world, like well over 7 foot (2.13m) usually don’t excel in sports, since they suffer from chronic mobility problems. The tallest man alive, Sultan Kösen, relies on crutches to ambulate.

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

#479: I am currently attending a well-regarded university, majoring in a STEM field. For reasons of privacy, I would rather not say more.

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?

#479: I don’t have much to say about this that hasn’t already been said elsewhere, so I won’t. I refer the reader who is interested in these topics to the articles on Paul Cooijmans’ website.

What I would like to point out is that, for a highly intelligent person, perhaps the greatest thing about living in a society which emphasizes personal responsibility and economic independence is that they can make half of an effort and still succeed. If they actually apply themselves as much as regular people, or more so, then life will certainly roll out the red carpet for them.

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

#479: My interest is almost totally detached from contemporary politics. Ephesians 6:12 somewhat applies here, although we fight against flesh and blood simultaneously with principalities and powers. Different political ideologies purport that they can solve our problems by organizing humans in certain ways, but the quality of a structure is bounded above by its constituent material. “Oh ye seekers of perpetual motion, how many chimeras have you pursued in vain? Go and take your place with the alchemists.” That line from Leonardo da Vinci would hold true after “perpetual motion” is replaced by something like “social justice” or “collective happiness.”

The only way to induce permanent, significant, positive change in society is by altering the invisible hand of psychology, which underpins human behavior. One might call it psychohistory or one might call it cliodynamics, but the point is the same: human societies are subject to long-term behavioral trends, which are opaque to everyone or almost everyone, and which may be impossible to observe at smaller scales. For instance, old people like to complain about how “kids these days have no work ethic,” which is a common source of intergenerational conflict (“ok boomer”), and they’re largely right. That’s mainly because relatively recent increases in labor productivity, made possible by modern technology, have made people’s lives easier. When you make it so that people are wealthier, can have more fun in their free time, and don’t need to input as many hours of labor to generate the same output, then don’t be surprised when they don’t want to work as much as people used to!

Some kind of genetic improvement of humanity is necessitated, to improve average intelligence and other traits. The details of how such an initiative is to be implemented are, unfortunately, left to the reader. But do consider how many people died under Communist regimes. If a bunch of dirty reds can shift the demographics so hugely, we can do it too! Also, better nutrition will improve intelligence in malnourished populations, with iodine supplementation probably being the best route for that. The egalitarian taboo of discussing group differences in intelligence has actually harmed those populations by making it politically incorrect to address the root cause of their problems, which is low I.Q. Yes, indeed, imagine how good UNICEF could do with just a few dropships full of iodized salt.

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

#479: I am an avowed atheist, insofar as theism concerns belief in the deities supposed by popular contemporary religions. However, I do have idiosyncratic beliefs about what I associate with “God,” if only because my atheism leaves a void in my personal share of the collective unconscious where religion would normally go. I believe in absolute truth, the fundamental interconnected monism of all things physical and aphysical, and the potential for humanity to transcend itself through technological singularity. I presume that many people would associate each of these things with “God,” or at least ascribe quasi-divine attributes to them, but I reject that as mere poetic metaphor. Nonetheless, “God” is a convenient referent for them, and therefore what I shall adopt in the forthcoming summary of my metaphysical para-religion.

The below explanation is rather long and difficult, so here’s the TL;DR version: Math exists because it can’t not exist. Groups of mathematical truths, through some unknown mechanism, give rise to an objective reality. Groups of physical objects, through some unknown mechanism, give rise to consciousness.

Now, for the longer version:

[begin dissertation]

Everything, everything under everything and everything over everything, is an absolute monad, whose universe of discourse may for the purpose of explanation be separated into three teleogically disjoint essences. At the root of this structure is mathematics, the domain of propositions which are independently and indisputably true, and therefore monopolize the aseity required for an uncaused cause, serving as axioms for the cosmos and thereby sidestepping arguments from universal causation. Note that “mathematics,” as used in this context, refers to logical structures which occupy some imperceptible realm which I have termed “infospace,” and therefore does not necessarily describe a collection of structures which is bijective to those mathematical structures which are known to humans. We only know them, and perhaps can only know them, by abstract descriptions of their properties, not specific designations or descriptions of the structures within this complex. The collection of propositions which underlie the nomos, and thereby permit the instantiation of the cosmos and nous, may be finite, or it may be infinite; it may include mathematical structures with which we are familiar, or it may be not; it may be possible to identify them as discrete propositions in order to study their emergent phenomena and determine what demarcates truths which exert influence from infospace from truths which exist only as symbolic constructs, or it may not.

Physics is the second level of the existential hierarchy, emanating from the propositions which reside in infospace. It provides a medium through which the atomic propositions can interact with each other and thereby coalesce into novel entities, like a primordial soup catalyzing the acquisition of form beyond what infospace can provide. As Wittgenstein said, the world is all that is case. Note that “physics,” in this context, is not equivalent to the usual understanding of physics in the scientific sense, nor is it necessarily limited to our perceptions of the physical universe. I use “physics” to denote any objective reality which possess properties beyond those of infospace but does not experience qualia.

Consciousness is the third level, and probably the highest. Like propositions somehow engender an objective external reality, physical objects can somehow combine to create qualia. We must accept this without asking how. Although we may eventually discover which collections of physical states give rise to conscious agents, I am nearly certain that the underlying mechanism cannot be empirically determined, even in principle. If it can be determined at all, then it will have to be done through analysis of the absolute truths in infospace themselves, wherein all the secrets of the universe reside. In a poetic sense, that is perhaps the fundamental teleology of the pleroma: to create conscious minds capable of reasoning about metaphysics and thereby let itself be known.

If that hypothetical teleology turns out to be more than a poetic metaphor, then perhaps it gives us hope for an afterlife, whereupon we shall be freed from the boundary layer imposed on us by the Demiurge of physics, and therewith sublime into infospace ourselves, entering into a Gnostic paradise of eternal life and unlimited knowledge. “O, let not the pains of death that come upon thee enter into my body. I am the god Tem, and I am in the foremost part of the sky, and the power which protecteth me is that which is with all the gods forever.” But I wouldn’t count on it.

A counterintuitive remark which I must make for the sake of logical completeness is that physics may not exist at all, in which case the three-layer hierarchy could be reduced to mind-body dualism, wherein mathematics give rise to qualia without an intermediary layer of objective reality. Descartes’ evil demon is applicable, in that case.

Attempting to map this belief structure onto contemporary theology, I see profound parallels with the Christian doctrine of Trinitarianism, which combines a monotheistic God with multiple consubstantial “persons,” namely the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. My own mathematical “God” likewise manifests in three superficially different hypostases which reduce to the same ultimate Ein Sof. However, because the three aspects of my God are apparently hierarchical and interdependent, perhaps it is more nearly isomorphic to heresies such as Modalistic Monarchianism, with the pure apeiron emanating first from the pleroma (mathematical), and from there to the Demiurge (physical), and finally to noesis (qualiac).

[end dissertation]

That may have been difficult to read, but it’s actually full of oversimplifications and imprecise language, which I hope to remedy in a future treatment of these subjects. I am not certain of it all yet myself, and my views have continuously morphed over the past few years, even though I was nearly certain of their correctness at every point in that process.

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

#479: Science is fundamentally an epistemologically untenable construct, but once you ignore Descartes’ evil demon, it’s given us Internet pornography and electric scooters, so clearly it plays an important role in the lives of most specimens of Homo sapiens, despite the widespread failure of that species’ members to live up to their taxonomy.

Oh, yes, and you all should do yourselves and favor and read about the Technological Singularity and other transhumanist topics. Eliezer Yudkowsky is worth looking into, although I don’t agree with everything he says.

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

#479: My scores on good heterogeneous tests tend to cluster around I.Q. 150. I prefer not to specify further. One thing I will say, though, is that my results tend to cluster shockingly closely together, even on tests which seem to be of less than high quality. Whatever the tests are measuring, my portion of it seems to be nearly static and subject to objective analysis.

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.

#479: The full range is extremely wide, spanning from about 90 to 180. However, much like the bell curve itself, they are mainly clustered around the center, with a few outliers in either direction. Again, for reasons of privacy, I would rather not say too much.

Pertaining to this discussion, I would like to mention that a characteristic shortcoming observable in discussions in the high-I.Q. world is an apparently deficient number-sense with regards to score rarity. For example, suppose you take a high-range test and score the equivalent of I.Q. 160, with a standard deviation of 15, a standard error of 1 raw score point, and (your raw score – 2) and (your raw score + 2) normed at I.Q. 158 and 161 respectively. Then your 95% confidence interval, spanning plus or minus 2 standard errors from your actual score, ranges from a rarity of 1/18,120 to 1/41,916. Three I.Q. points have more than doubled your score’s rarity! Considering that most tests have far wider confidence intervals, and that norms are unreliable at such altitudes regardless of measurement error, we can conclude that pinpointing someone’s level in mental ability relative to the general population is infeasible. Even someone who conscientiously takes many tests in order to better estimate their I.Q. with assistance from the law of large numbers will still have their results tainted by the myriad other sources of systemic bias: less conscientious or fraudulent scores disrupting norms, norms based on self-selected candidates which may not be representative of the general population, bad problems, and more. Results from psychometric tests, especially but not exclusively high-range tests, are bound by inexactitude, and whoever propounds otherwise has lost their perspective amongst the orders of magnitude. Perhaps only in astrophysics would such an imprecise measurement otherwise be taken seriously.

Ultimately, I think that exact I.Q.’s from high-range tests are meaningless. High-range testing is, at best, sufficient to place you in a relative range of intelligence. Note the two words there: relative, meaning that your exact score is almost certainly inaccurate; and range, meaning that it’s almost certainly imprecise. For instance, if your average score over many high-quality heterogeneous tests is 170, and someone else’s average score is 150, then you’re probably the more intelligent of the two. That’s all that can meaningfully be said, other than that you’re both in the hic sunt dracones region of psychometrics.

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

#479: Utilitarianism, by virtue of harnessing the boreal truth of mathematics, is ultimately the only workable ethical philosophy. We must maximize the integral of total positive qualia, summed over all conscious agents in reality, from now as time goes to infinity. However, since we are limited by our agent-relative perceptions, we lack the omniscience required to apply utilitarianism. Therefore, I rather recommend a more intuitively applicable conception of ethics, combining deontology with morality and virtue ethics: Be wonderful to each other. If I have anything to say about it, which I probably don’t, that opus magnum may someday be realized.

Appendix I: Footnotes

[1] Member, Glia Society.

[2] Individual Publication Date: September 22, 2020: http://www.in-sightjournal.com/479-1; Full Issue Publication Date: January 1, 2021: https://in-sightjournal.com/insight-issues/.

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2023-03-23

Pith 332: I feel you

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Personal)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2023/03/23

I feel you: Traces of your heart’s desire murmur in your every movement; I sense you as a second instinct, as a rose the Sun.

See “Glue”.

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2023-03-23

Pith 331: Human Intelligence

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Personal)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2023/03/23

Human Intelligence: Homo sapiens, computation with human emphasis; artificial intelligence, computation with different ratios of human emphasis.

See “There’s nothing artificial about artificial intelligence. It’s another form of natural intelligence, like human intelligence. Otherwise, Universe’s Principles of Existence wouldn’t permit it.”

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2023-03-23

Pith 330: Universe as Multiform Data

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Personal)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2023/03/23

Universe as Multiform Data: Any mathematical object is geometric, thus mathematical; anything geometric and mathematical is informational, thus computable.

See “Is it geometric, mathematical, quantum, spatiotemporal, informational…? It’s all of them at different scales, whether actualized objects from the abstracted mathematical or actualized subjects differentiated superficially from actualized objects as such within Universe, pluripotential efficacy is optimal, not maximal, efficiency given the constraints of the Principles of Existence”.

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2023-03-23

Pith 329: Show jumpers

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Personal)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2023/03/23

Show jumpers: By the standards set by Canadian society, most show jumping women are dating, in common law relationships, or are married, to sub-par men — “losers” or quasi-self-such; what’s the explanatory gap?

See “To be empowered and truly independent in all spheres, thus alone though together”.

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2023-03-23

Pith 328: If I, If you

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Personal)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2023/03/23

If I, If you: If I am an economic unit, then I am a utility; if you are a reproduction unit, then you are a utility.

See “What is the function of a human?”.

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2023-03-23

Pith 327: “We’ll be calling you ‘Beet Pulp Boy’”

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Personal)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2023/03/23

“We’ll be calling you ‘Beet Pulp Boy’”: A boy, a man, a horse person, a stablehand, a learner, en route to knowledge of the equine; and, I still lean to behavioural comforts.

See “Everyone can teach”.

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2023-03-23

Pith 326: I am the Sound Absolute

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Personal)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2023/03/23

I am the Sound Absolute: All, everywhere in all times where no space is and no time happens; and so, my name is Silence.

See “Paradoxiform”.

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2023-03-23

Pith 325: My tether

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Personal)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2023/03/23

My tether: I’m tied to your wings; is that so we can fly or so we drag?

See “Binary, baby”.

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2023-03-23

Pith 324: The Solipsist

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Personal)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2023/03/23

The Solipsist: When I go, we all go; when you go, some of me goes too, or maybe that’s backwards.

See “Our informed form of the outer, outwards”.

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2023-03-23

Pith 323: Dot, Line, Plane, Cube, Tesseract

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Personal)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2023/03/23

Dot, Line, Plane, Cube, Tesseract: 0-, 1-, 2-, 3-, 4-dimensional objects; embedded geometric operative commutativity.

See “Associativity”.

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2023-03-23

Pith 322: “Well, he deserved it”

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Personal)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2023/03/23

“Well, he deserved it”: You physically assaulted him; then, that’s the response.

See “What is right, anyway?”.

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2023-03-23

Pith 321: Trust of N women

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Personal)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2023/03/23

Trust of N women: I trust, x, any N of women as much as she/they trust, y, their self or one another in any given moment; a proportionality fit for contemporary judicial interpersonal interpretations.

See “Welcome to Law Land”.

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2023-03-23

Pith 320: Female March

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Personal)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2023/03/23

Female March: I see females advance, and males withdraw almost entirely; and yet, I still see men, and in fact, only men now.

See “Feminist Strand Error”.

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2023-03-23

Pith 319: Christianity’s Western Fall

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Personal)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2023/03/23

Christianity’s Western Fall: Its Winter isn’t questionable, as they’re being replaced; the question is the consequence of their self-radicalization upon everyone else deemed not them, or not sufficiently them.

See “Crusaders or Jackasses on the sociopolitical march”.

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2023-03-22

Women of the High-Range Discussion with Anja Jaenicke, Beatrice Rescazzi, Monika Orski, and Dr. Sandra Schlick: Actress & Poet, Germany; President, AtlantIQ Society; Board Member, Mensa International; Thesis Supervisor, University of Applied Sciences and Arts Northwestern Switzerland (1)

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

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

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2020/09/15

Abstract

Anja Jaenicke is a German Poet and Actor. Beatrice Rescazzi is the President of the AtlantIQ Society. Monika Orski is the former Ordförande/Chairman, Mensa Sverige/Mensa Sweden (2015-2019) and a current Board Member (International) of Mensa International. Sandra Schlick has the expertise and interest in Managing Mathematics, Statistics, and Research Methodology with a focus on online teaching, training and thesis supervision. They discuss: true humanities; a real humanities education; a declining emphasis on humanities educations in academe; reduced import of the humanities; high-IQ societies incorporate achievements in the humanities into their admission criteria; high-IQ societies include a humanities sub-community or community into its operations for the benefit of those so inclined; some personal and professional involvements in the humanities inside of and outside of the high-IQ communities; historical geniuses; writers or poets understood more fully and portrayed more realistically girls, adult women, and elder women; striking or clear examples of the written works or poetry exemplifying this assessment; women, in general, dominate the humanities; how the particular factors play out in different areas of professional and personal life; high-IQ groups harbour more men than women; women dominate in the humanities; and a more well-rounded human being, a cultured person.

Keywords: Anja Jaenicke, Beatrice Rescazzi, education, geniuses, high-IQ, high-IQ societies, history, humanities, Mensa Sweden, Monika Orski, poets, Sandra Schlick, writers.

Women of the High-Range Discussion with Anja Jaenicke, Beatrice Rescazzi, Monika Orski, and Dr. Sandra Schlick: Actress & Poet, Germany; President, AtlantIQ Society; Board Member, Mensa International; Thesis Supervisor, University of Applied Sciences and Arts Northwestern Switzerland (1)

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

Scott Douglas Jacobsen: With some preliminary introductions to one another and proposals of subject matter, we will cover, in this group discussion: the humanities in general, the arts in general, large scale issues, climate change, democratic protections, the furtherance of democracy and human rights, how to work with the gifted and to be a leader, future scenarios for the economy and business regarding the coronavirus pandemic, and then proceed with some open discussion. To the subject of humanities, if we take a look at the vast array of high-IQ societies on offer, only a few truly focus on the humanities as a secondary, even a co-primary, admission criteria to their particularized community. Defining terms, what is true humanities to you?

Anja Jaenicke[1]*: A holistic knowledge of the human capacity.

One of the most frequently asked questions is the general inclusion of theological studies into the humanities. In German the humanities are called “Geisteswissenschaft” meaning spiritual science. As long as theological studies are focused on historical, cultural and archeological evidence there is nothing to say against it. But as soon as it leaves too much room for speculations and superstition it becomes dogmatic and no longer belongs in the academic realm. But that of course can be said for every branch of scientific studies too.

Beatrice Rescazzi[2]*: If I wanted to upset the vocabulary and give my personal definition of human sciences, I imagine that someone would have to complain. Especially those who, unlike me, are experienced graduates in this subject. The human sciences are those disciplines that study the human being and society, by definition. Maybe, as a non-expert on the subject I can criticize here and there how the information is reported in the books, given that there are cultural biases on the origin and development of human societies, institutions, social relationships and the foundations of social life. In general there is a western-centric view, with biases regarding culture, race, sex, religion and language being considered predominant.

Monika Orski[3]*: I would use the rather common definition that humanities are the branches of learning that have a cultural character. Thus humanities include academic topics as diverse as literature, archeology and philosophy, to name only a few, and can be contrasted with natural sciences and social sciences.

Dr. Sandra Schlick[4],[5]*: Thinking apart literature and definitions, in times of Corona, humanity means to help each other, respect the rules from the governments – yes, in terms of taking distance, using masks, not gathering. Also, to help each other in coping with the crisis, to make kind of human information chains by reporting to each other potential risky situations and to discuss these. Thinking in a broader context, being human means to not focus just on oneself but to understand the other the context, being other humans, be it nature and animals. Humanity is driven by respect, despite role models do not suggest it always.

Jacobsen: What would be a real humanities education to you?

Jaenicke: Much of our past history and culture has been documented only by chronicle writers with a theological background. If you think about the Constitutions of Clarendon made by Henry II. Plantagenet and Thomas Becket, they were one of the first official attempts at reforming and separating the clerical and royal authorities and jurisdictions. And that was in the year 1164. Please think about how many religious conflicts and wars we had since that time. Only if we understand the history and the psyche of our ancestors can we gain knowledge about ourselves and the needs to form peaceful and free future societies.

Rescazzi: In my opinion, true social science education should give due weight to all the cultures and people who have contributed to human development, without placing ethnic groups, women or peoples in the background in order to glorify a specific model of person and culture.

Orski: Not being an expert in education, and with only graduate-level education in a small segment of the broad field of humanities myself, I don’t consider myself qualified to really suggest a curriculum. In general terms, I would suggest that it’s always good to set a broad overview to start with, then to let those interested dive into more specialized education on specifics topics.

Schlick: In education to have a view on communities and teams, to motivate exchange and to critically evaluate existing role models.

Jacobsen: Why is there is a declining emphasis on humanities educations in academe?

Jaenicke: The more knowledge is available to us the more complex it becomes. The trend in education is to higher specialization. But of course, economical reasons play a role too.

Rescazzi: I can’t pretend I know what the statistical trends are on the humanities today at the academy compared to other disciplines, and explain to you the reason why there is a decline or not.

Orski: I wish I knew… I think that in general, academia in many countries has become more of professional training institutes, which in part takes over the more general teaching of knowledge to form a base for further research. Also, a strong emphasis on industry and profits accentuates this tendency.

Schlick: Good question, academia has become more and more business alike and driven by profit. When we speak of humanity it does not exclude economics but it evaluates how far we do not damage others by thinking economically. In this context, academia is at risk to drive economics with too few perspectives on humanities.

Jacobsen: Is this reduced import of the humanities a positive, a negative, or both in different parts depending on the disciplines, in general?

Jaenicke: “Science arose from poetry, when time changes the two can meet again on a higher level as friends.” J.W. Goethe

Rescazzi: If there is a decline in humanitarian discipline students, I can assume that some other disciplines have taken over. Is the decline due to a greater participation of female students in scientific disciplines, is it due to a choice towards studies that guarantee a better salary, or to a growing lack of interest in this subject or to something else? I don’t have enough data to judge.

Orski: In general, I would say it’s a negative. But there are always limits to how much we can learn – or how much we can teach – in a set amount of time. There are sure to be cases where this general negative is less of a negative than the alternatives would be.

Schlick: As said above, a sole focus on economics might provide quick wins, but is at risk to oversee longer-term consequences.

Jacobsen: What high-IQ societies incorporate achievements in the humanities into their admission criteria?

Jaenicke: There are quite a lot of IQ societies. If you take a look, you will be surprised.

Rescazzi: AtlantIQ, ISI-S, Chorium and some other societies about writing and poetry, for example, include humanities communities. Thus, the humanities include: literature, philosophy, history, religion, languages, art history, philology, semiotics, visual arts and performing arts. I am interested in all these topics, as I always like reading to learn about everything. Specifically, I am fascinated by Stoic philosophy, by history: especially by deepening the everyday life of people and what is not found in school books (history of food, living conditions, detailed biographies, history of chemistry, history of biology, discoveries, etc.). I have also read a lot about philosophy and religions, in search of what unites and distinguishes them, but also as doors open to the mentality of different peoples. Regarding languages, in addition to English, I speak Italian, the dialect of my area, and Esperanto. Instead, I know very little German and Japanese (Hiragana only), because at times I abandon their study. I paint with various techniques, but more frequently I create computer drawings. 3D drawing is both fun and a means of creating objects which I then 3D print. As for the performing arts, I don’t think anyone wants to see me dance. Anyway, I love to sing. When I was younger, I sang in a local rock band for a little while. Once, talking to friends, I was criticizing disco music. A funny challenge arose that I would have to compose an entire CD in one day and sell at least one copy, proving that I too could write something better than those slavish sounds. That CD is called “Athmosfera” and I sold it to a fan who listened to the demos of each song before buying. Take this, bad music!

Orski: The high-IQ societies I know of only use IQ as their admission criteria, which means that no kind of achievement has any impact on the admission decisions.

Schlick: I recall some are explicitly mentioned aspects thereof, but frankly, there are a lot of high-IQ societies out there and I wonder, which ones might set the bar alongside the WIN network.

Jacobsen: What high-IQ societies include a humanities sub-community or community into its operations for the benefit of those so inclined?

Jaenicke: When I have been looking for IQ societies, I found many very appealing approaches.

Rescazzi: See my previous answer.

Orski: Well, I wouldn’t really know about the internal organization of all high-IQ societies, but Mensa, being by far the largest one, lets members create meetings and interest groups for whatever topics they are interested in, and helps promote those within the society. I know of several book clubs, philosophy discussion groups and other groups for different humanities interests. Those are open groups, and any member of Mensa can join them at any time.

Schlick: As above this question is quite specific and asks for detailed knowledge on certain communities.

Jacobsen: What have been some personal and professional involvements in the humanities inside of and outside of the high-IQ communities?

Jaenicke: Please take a look at my resume of life achievements.

Rescazzi: In the professional field, having designed some websites and graphics for a period, I could say that I have been involved in the professional field of the visual arts. In the world of high IQ, I am the editor and designer of a magazine, in which I also write articles on the most disparate topics. I am an honorary / distinguished member of some societies that include artistic and musical talents in the admission, such as Chorium and ISI-S.

Orski: I have a BA in literature, but the degree I actually use professionally is an M.Sc. in computer science and engineering, so I wouldn’t really say I have professional involvement in the humanities. However, as a published writer, including works of fiction, I guess I can claim some kind of relation to the humanities. And within Mensa, I write book reviews for the Swedish Mensa magazine and organize book club meetings with my local group in Stockholm.

Schlick: For me this is definitively in adult education where I train students. Training can only be a success when looking at the person as a whole alongside the role of the student. Talking about problems with the curriculum or topic or aims in live (private and professional) can boost motivation and is to the benefit of both, student and docent.

Jacobsen: When I ask about historical geniuses, most reference Goethe, Sidis, da Vinci, Einstein, and a handful of others, in fact, the list is a shortlist. What geniuses in history and at present stand out regarding productivity and works coming out of the humanities?

Jaenicke: Even though the humanities stand in the shadow of our modern education system, the list of great minded people in the humanities would be too long to publish in this context.

Rescazzi: In the field of music, I would certainly say Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Johann Sebastian Bach. Also: Ludwig van Beethoven, Igor Stravinsky, Claudio Monteverdi, Richard Wagner, Amy Beach, Luzzasco Luzzaschi, György Ligeti, Arvo Pärt, Krzysztof Penderecki, Barbara Strozzi. In the philosophical field there are many: Socrates, Marcus Aurelius, Jiddu Krishnamurti, Baruch Spinoza, Friedrich Nietzsche, Bertrand Russell, Confucius, Hypatia of Alexandria, Immanuel Kant, Sun Tzu, Laura Bassi, Homer, Pascal. In literature, I would mention: William Shakespeare, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Mark Twain, Imru ‘al-Qais Junduh bin Hujr al-Kindi, Sei Shonagon, Virginia Woolf, Dante Alighieri, Agatha Christie, Qu Yuan, Murasaki Shikibu. There are so many painters, I will mention just a few: Rembrandt van Rijn, William Turner, Paul Cézanne, Mary Cassatt, Tamara de Lempicka, Katsushika Hokusai, Pablo Picasso, Leonardo da Vinci, Wang Wei, Vincent Van Gogh, Lucian Freud.

Orski: The list might be a shortlist, but as genius is truly rare such a list is bound to be short. Also, I’m rather reluctant to try and make lists of the sort. However, da Vinci will qualify for a humanities focus, and I would say that so will Murasaki, and maybe Austen.

Schlick: Despite probably few like my answer, I like the humanitarian activity of Bill Gates and his wife. Just wonder, how far this question can give us an indication of role models?

Jacobsen: Since this is a discussion of women in the high-range with a male as a moderator or butler of sorts, what writers or poets understood more fully and portrayed more realistically girls, adult women, and elder women than others? Why them?

Jaenicke: Oh, there are quite a few.

Rescazzi: It depends on the historical period. Of course, Jane Austin and Louisa May Alcott painted their female characters with accuracy, although we should keep in mind that they were all women from another era. Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë painted a female character who becomes an independent and spirited survivor after having grown up an orphan in a cruel environment. Unfortunately, courage is a virtue that is rarely recognized in women, but which the author shows us with mastery in the resilience of the protagonist. Another good portrait of a female character is given by Elizabeth Strout, with her Olive Kitteridge. Olive is brought to a deeper understanding of herself and her life, and she also offers profound insights into the human condition: its conflicts, its tragedies and joys, and the endurance it requires, through her own eyes.

Orski: A good literary portrait lets us see the general through the highly specific. Thus, I would be reluctant to point to portraits of women in general, but rather to specific portraits of specific women, that give the opportunity to see the world as they might see it and the limitations of those women’s lives. To mention a few writers: Selma Lagerlöf (of course I start with a Swedish classic), Charlotte Brontë, Doris Lessing, Ludmila Ulitskaya, Amelie Nothomb, Olga Tokarczuk. I could go on and on making lists.

Schlick: I confess that I did not read or write poems since my teenage times.

Jacobsen: Following from the previous two questions, any particular striking or clear examples of the written works or poetry exemplifying this assessment?

Jaenicke: One of the oldest examples is a poem in Occitan from the 11th century called “Tomida femina.”

Rescazzi: In my opinion, most of all, Emily Dickinson is the writer who, through the themes of nature, love and death, reflects and captures not only the small moments of everyday life, but also the most important themes and battles that involved the rest of the company: it is she herself who, through her great sensitivity, the emphatic digressions and elaborate metaphors of his poems, describes how a woman thinks and perceives the world. Turning to my favourite literary genre, I find that the brilliant Isaac Asimov had thoroughly understood the female soul. His female characters are delicate and profound, they are free from stereotypes and their presence in his novels is balanced, not hidden. The classic schemes in which the male protagonist is the obvious companion of a subordinate female figure, often highly sexualized and lacking in personal aspirations, do not exist in Asimov’s far-sighted novels. Asimov’s female characters are girls and women who, like men in their own way, think, dream, ask questions and seek answers. It is therefore incredible that a science fiction writer is the one who best described reality.

Orski: I think that is highly individual, depending on personal taste but also the experiences you will understand for the first time from a literary work because they are far from your own life. To reach for a nearby contemporary example, the Neapolitan novel series by Elena Ferrante, starting with the novel that got the English title My Brilliant Friend, provided me with a view into lives I could not really imagine before this reading.

Schlick: As a teenager I did like Rimbaud, Baudelaire, and of course the existentialists such as Sartre and Camus. Nowadays I do like e.g. the dark tower from Steven King.

Jacobsen: Women earn far more degrees in the humanities than men, at the baccalaureate, masters, and doctoral levels. In short, women, in general, dominate the humanities and earn their relevant credentials more often than men. What factors explain this phenomenon?

Jaenicke: I personally know many men who are interested in the humanities.

Rescazzi: I think that women dominate the humanist topics because it is in their nature to give more attention to feelings, social dynamics and communication, in all its forms.

Orski: Aren’t there statistics on this, from many countries? Thus no need to speculate. Low pay in relation to the work expected, cultural standards and norms, etc.

Schlick: It’s the phenomenon that a) no blue-collar, and b) best friends (also girls) who go into certain areas. In fact, my first degree was machine construct engineer, I guess I am the wrong person to ask that. Still, I teach the maths and statistics, I like steel and becoming dirty at work, but also like managing and conceptualizing, that’s why I earned my Ph.D. in the field of strategic management and deal with around 10 DBA and MSc projects in my area of expertise. So, I do not have a much better explanation. I was the sole woman engineer student in my class, there was another one in my year, we became number 3 and 4 in 20 years being engineers.

Jacobsen: How do these particular factors play out in different areas of professional and personal life – either as a set or as individuate factors?

Jaenicke: Even those who come from the studies of mathematics and natural science, I do not think it is a gender problem.

Rescazzi: There is a great growth of female doctors, who already occupied the more traditional nursing and child care jobs. Even in politics, which is part of the humanities, there is a growth of female elements and so also in the arts. Without the restrictions imposed by inequality, women are generally more likely to communicate, care for others and for society. Hence the growth in their presence in those careers that are aimed at people.

Orski: We are all part of the societies we live in, and the surrounding society is always part of us. You have probably heard the joke that “men tend to choose high paying professions – like a doctor, engineer, CEO, etc, while women naturally go towards lower-paying jobs like female doctor, female engineer, and female CEO.” So those factors will be there, and while we all have to navigate them, we can also work to gradually change them.

Schlick: I have definitively to fight much more and gaining recognition costs me a lot of time. To advance in a career is extremely hard. On the one hand, it might be that I am female, on the other being talented also can be a curse, it’s not easy to think quick and to be forced to talk slow and explain things several times.

Jacobsen: High-IQ groups harbour more men than women, probably at all levels, whether societies, interest groups, or ‘listings’/rankings. Why?

Jaenicke: I think that any kind of creative person be it female or male has a tendency to stand apart from society. Good art, philosophy and even law have seldom come from beneficial and friendly spaces. But I think that in our time artists and other people in the humanities are often underestimated because our measurement for value has changed over time. That is nothing to worry about, it is part of history. Every time has its own achievements and greatness.

Rescazzi: There are two main reasons for the low number of women joining high-IQ societies. The first is cultural. Statistically, gifted girls are less recognized than boys. A character factor also intervenes: females tend to doubt their potential more, with a more widespread Impostor Syndrome, while males are generally more inclined to overestimate themselves and flaunt their skills. Furthermore, the traditional division of duties prevents women from having free time to devote to themselves, due to occupations at home: it is worrying to note that there are no adhesions by women from the more traditionalist countries at all. The other reason is that there is indeed a difference in the brains of men and women: the distribution of IQ in the male and female populations is different, with a greater variation in the male than in the female with the latter more concentrated in the average values. It means that among males there are both more subnormal and gifted individuals, while in females both the subnormal and the gifted are rarer (some links grouped in this article: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Variability_hypothesis#Modern_studies).

Orski: That is another “I wish I knew”. However, I can say that for the high-IQ group I really know, Mensa Sweden, the gender distribution among members simply reflects the gender distribution among candidates. However, the success rate of candidates who take the admission test administered by Mensa Sweden is slightly higher for women than for men. Not a large difference, but visible. If we could only persuade as many women as men to take the admission test, the gender balance for this particular society might even out with time.

Schlick: Women have to work very hard, it’s time-consuming to go for “clubs”, also high-IQ ones.

Jacobsen: If women dominate in the humanities, and if a society wishes to include more women into their membership, how would incorporation of more humanities orientations and foci make these, potentially, more individually beneficial and friendly spaces for women based on statistical tendencies of interest and talent?

Rescazzi: In my opinion, it would be enough for women to choose their preferred careers without obstacles. Politics, medicine, music and others are still often considered the prerogative of men while women have shown that they can equal and in some cases surpass men in these fields, who are sometimes attracted simply by the position of power rather than by the discipline itself.

Orski: Depends on the society, of course. Some might achieve this through more diversified activities. Others might look more to a broader benefit to the surrounding community or to human society as a whole.

Schlick: I feel very comfortable that you – Scott – bring us together and manage the discussion round. This could bring new motivation to high IQ societies. Moderated thematic discussion clusters might be a potential way.

Jacobsen: How do the humanities make a more well-rounded human being, a cultured person, and give insight into human nature inasmuch as we understand it?

Jaenicke: I want to answer the left out question of how the humanities make a more rounded and cultivated human being, here at the end because it is quintessential. Humans have produced art from the beginning of time. Art was the engine of self-awareness and science but also a channel to other realities that we can not explain until today. Who are we? Why are we here? Where did we come from and where do we go?

Science which evolved from the greater arts could only give little explanation about the phenomena of altered consciousness and after death. But art can! Often without the direct communication of man-made words. Listen to Bach for half an hour and you will understand much more of your questions than we all together can give to you. Look at the wonderful pyramids, cathedrals and castles men have built and understand the holism of art, mathematics, astrology, physics and music. Look at paintings of renaissance artists and Cromagnon cave man and understand the human soul. Do not wait for our stuttering and overly intellectual tries to explain something that is not explainable in words alone.

Go and find out yourself.

Rescazzi: Kant said: “Two things fill the mind with ever new and increasing admiration and awe, the more often and steadily we reflect upon them: the starry heavens above me and the moral law within me.” These two elements of our existence – what is outside of us, that is the universe and all that it contains; and what is within ourselves, with our mind and thoughts – are the observed and the observer, and the one influences the other. If we limit ourselves to looking at what is outside of us, without looking within ourselves, we do not have a yardstick to understand the universe. We must first understand how we think and reason, what we are influenced and limited by. On the other hand, it is by observing what is outside of us that we obtain information about our existence, that we understand our place and size compared to everything else around us. So to increase our knowledge, we cannot exclude the humanistic side, we cannot overlook the observer, that is the imperfect instrument that attempts to measure the universe. It is therefore not possible to open the door of knowledge without the key of the human element.

Orski: Well, yes. To mention only a few things: A basic knowledge of history and that societies and cultures change over time is essential to understanding the world around us. To learn about other people’s thoughts is essential to be able to expand your own thinking. And while no one can really get to know and talk to hundreds of people in-depth, we can all read novels that let us understand how others might function and react to different situations.

Schlick: Very shortly, we are humans and we do live in networks, otherwise, we would not survive. The “homo economicus” is proven not to be as efficient as humans caring for each other.

Appendix I: Footnotes

[1] Anja Jaenicke is a German actor, director, screenwriter, poet, artist and Thinker cum Arte. She has contributed to over one hundred TV and film productions and won several film awards. Anja has published nine poetry volumes in the English language and is a regular author for city connect magazine, Cambridge. She loves drawing and painting and recently published a book with drawings about an insane penguin named Werner.

[2] Beatrice Rescazzi is the President of the AtlantIQ Society. She has been an optician, orthoptist, eye surgery assistant for years, and teaches computer science in adult courses. She is an autodidact regarding 3D printing construction, 3D printing, electronics, robotics, and more. She has an abiding interest in inventions to help vulnerable people and the environment, astronomy, general science, informatics, space missions, 2D and 3D drawing and design, as well as languages and arts. She has taken part in competitions for design, inventions, and space projects. She is an Esperantist.

[3] Monika Orski is the former Ordförande/Chairman, Mensa Sverige/Mensa Sweden (2015-2019) and a current Board Member (International) of Mensa International. She earned an M.Sc. in Computer Science and Engineering, and a B.A. in Literature. She has been volunteering for Mensa at different organizational levels. She is a Jill of all trades with a core line of professional work devoted to IT emphasizing solutions architecture for large systems. She is a public speaker, lecturer, and published author. Two, recently, published books are a collection of short stories and a non-fiction book on leading intelligent people. The texts have been published in Swedish.

[4]Dr. Sandra Schlick has the expertise and interest in Managing Mathematics, Statistics, and Methodology for Business Engineers while having a focus on online training. She supervises M.Sc. theses in Business Information and D.B.A. theses in Business Management. Managing Mathematics, Statistics, Methodology for Business Engineers with a focus on online training. Her areas of competence can be seen in the “Competency Map.” That is to say, her areas of expertise and experience mapped in a visualization presentation. Schlick’s affiliations are the Fernfachhochschule Schweiz: University of Applied Sciences, the University of Applied Sciences and Arts Northwestern Switzerland, the Kalaidos University of Applied Sciences, and AKAD.

[5] Individual Publication Date: September 15, 2020: http://www.in-sightjournal.com/womenhrt-1; Full Issue Publication Date: January 1, 2021: https://in-sightjournal.com/insight-issues/.

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2023-03-22

Conversation with Dr. Heinrich Siemens on 195 IQ (S.D. 15), CIT5, Cooijmans, Conscientiousness, Mennonites, Plautdietsch, God, the Three Sonnets Test, and Tweeback Verlag: Linguist (2)

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

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

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2020/09/15

Abstract

Heinrich Siemens was born as a member of a Low German community in Latvia, or the former Soviet Union. His family spoke Plautdietsch and read the Luther Bible in High German. He has performed very well on HRIQ tests of Ronald K. Hoeflin, Paul Cooijmans, Jonathan Wai, Theodosis Prousalis, and others. Some results have been above 5 sigma or 5 standard deviations. He developed the Three Sonnets Test (www.tweeback.com/hriq/Three-Sonnets.pdf). A lot of his life resolves around Plautdietsch language. He is the president of the international association of speakers of the language. He founded a publishing house devoted to this language: www.tweeback.com. Siemens enjoys the philosophy of Wittgenstein in particular and the philosophy of language in general. He has a film interest in directors including Bergman, Kubrick, Melville, Tarkovsky, Tarr, von Trier. If in Plautdietsch, he enjoys films by Alexandra Kulak & Ruslan Fedotov, Carlos Reygadas, Nora Fingscheidt, and others. He discusses: 195 S.D. 15 on the Cooijmans Intelligence Test 5 or the CIT5; the feeling when the score came back from Cooijmans; thoughts on the directories, rankings, and listings available; the length of time one should take on an alternative test; pre-Soviet and post-Soviet experience of the “Low German community”; life until age 11; life as an adolescent; knowing one’s “limits” a sign of both intelligence and conscientiousness; Mennonites baptize only adults; the main contribution to Germanic life and work via the Plautdietsch speaking people and the Mennonites; the Soviet Union; pacifism as crucial for the Mennonites; religion; individual autonomy in the selection of religion; being against baptism; belonging to the “cultural community of Mennonites, but not to a congregation”; life “without God”; the trajectory of the “careful consideration” about God; the ‘final nails’; the Bible “misused”; freedom of religion; the things lost in non-intergenerational homes; the reason for this becoming a hobby at age 45; the Three Sonnets test; the demographics of the test-takers; finding out about giftedness later in life in the international high-range community; the leap from the previous “highest score” on “the verbal section of the Marathon Test with IQ 180 S.D. 15” to the “195 S.D. 15 on the Cooijmans Intelligence Test 5 or the CIT5”; marathon test-takers; individuals taking 5, 10, 20, 50, or more high-range tests; and Tweeback Verlag.

Keywords: 195, CIT5, Cooijmans, conscientiousness, God, Heinrich Siemens, Mennonites, Plautdietsch, Tweeback Verlag.

Conversation with Dr. Heinrich Siemens on 195 IQ (S.D. 15), CIT5, Cooijmans, Conscientiousness, Mennonites, Plautdietsch, God, the Three Sonnets Test, and Tweeback Verlag: Linguist (2)

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

Scott Douglas Jacobsen: Some news since the previous coverage. As noted in the prior interview, on the legendary Titan Test, you scored 45/48. Furthermore, you have “performed very well on HRIQ tests of Ronald K. Hoeflin, Paul Cooijmans, Jonathan Wai, Theodosis Prousalis, and others” with “some results… above 5 sigma or 5 standard deviations.” With the recent news, as stated on the World Genius Directory [Ed. Ranking], you scored 195 S.D. 15 on the Cooijmans Intelligence Test 5 or the CIT5, which corresponds to a score of 28 out of 40. A cognitive rarity of 1 in 8,299,126,114 based on the preliminary (September 2020) norms statistics on the CIT5. Any early feelings on the achievement?

Dr. Heinrich Siemens[1],[2]*: It feels great. To be honest, I do not believe in statistics in these high ranges. What does it mean that I have outscored 8,299,126,113 of the adult population, when there are only 7,800,000,000 people living on earth, including many non-adults? The problem is not the lack of data, but the fact that a priori there is not enough data to make significant statements. But even if Paul should change the norm, the raw score of 28/40 on an extremely hard test and the membership in the Giga society will remain and I am proud of that.

Jacobsen: What was the feeling when the score came back from Cooijmans, the “psychometitor,” to you?

Siemens: It was just like when Ron Hoeflin told me that I was accepted into the Mega society. Sometimes, you have a wish and you do not really believe that it could come true. And then it does happen, and you are happy.

Jacobsen: Any thoughts on the directories, rankings, and listings available when they require some form of rigorousness in validation of the scores on good tests from reliable and trustworthy alternative test constructors? All “directories, rankings, and listings,” as a side note, in presentation and tacit intent appear far more as rankings and, thus, the titles of directory, listing, or ranking, should collapse into “ranking,” in personal opinion. Unless, some other explicit differentiation of intent tied to alternative presentation structure.

Siemens: Do we need such rankings? Why do we have world championships in chess or in sports? Why Olympic Games? It is in the nature of mankind to compete with others. But animals can also jump and run. If cognitive abilities are the outstanding feature of human beings, then this competition is much more important than it is in sports. But then it should also be fair. One of the biggest problems of the HRIQ community is that the norms of the tests are so different. Every test maker works with his own currency for the determination of the IQ value and in the end (in all of these rankings and listings) we behave as if 150 euros = 150 dollars = 150 rubles. There should be a procedure to determine the norms of tests in a uniform way. There are now huge amounts of data from Paul Cooijmans, Theodosis Prousalis, Jason Betts, Domagoj Kuttle, and, perhaps, a few others. One could compare all tests of different test makers with more than (let us say) 20 or 30 submissions. I am sure many test takers have taken tests by different test makers. Based on this, it should be possible to adjust the norms, so that in the end it is equally difficult or easy to get a certain IQ certified for each test. If someone creates a new test, a norm should only be published as soon as a minimum number of test takers, whose IQ is already confirmed by other tests, have submitted their answers. Then rankings and listings would be much more significant than they are at present.

Jacobsen: How long should one take on an alternative test to score as well as innate intelligence provides them rather than underestimating intelligence for them?

Siemens: I am sometimes asked how much time I needed for a specific test. This is a difficult question. I started dealing with CIT5 years ago when it was published. Then other things came up and I forgot about it. Now I have dusted off my old pages because I remembered that this year the contest ends. I changed some answers, added some others. I usually try to think of a difficult question in the evening before I go to sleep. Then I can use the night because the brain continues to think about it while I sleep. Sometimes I wake up in the morning and see the solution light up like a revelation. Probably everyone has their own way of solving IQ tests, but if someone is still looking for a personal approach, you can try my method.

Jacobsen: What encapsulates this pre-Soviet and post-Soviet experience of the “Low German community” experience?

Siemens: In the Soviet Union, the Plautdietsch people lived in more or less isolated settlements, so that life in the family, but also on the street and sometimes even at work, largely took place in Plautdietsch. The Luther Bible was read in High German. Russian, the lingua franca of the Soviet Union, was spoken with other nationalities. In some republics, the national language was also spoken, in my case Latvian. People lived multilingually. Every language had its domain. We still have this situation in the isolated Latin American Plautdietsch settlements, where the number of speakers is increasing rapidly. But in Germany, where most of the Plautdietsch people emigrated after the collapse of the Soviet Union, the language is highly endangered, similar to Canada and the US after World War II.

Jacobsen: What was life like until age 11 as a child?

Siemens: We lived in a small town in Latvia, almost rural. (Of course, there was no free Latvia at that time, but my birthplace Sigulda is in Latvia nowadays). We had a big garden, chickens and every year a pig. As children we played outside a lot. We had books, but no mass media. We lived in a multigenerational household with my grandmothers. The grandfathers had starved to death in Stalin’s Gulag. My parents both grew up without a father.

Jacobsen: At and after age 11, what was life as an adolescent for you?

Siemens: I lived a rather lonely life. I never had close friends. I lived in a world of books and imagination. In Germany we have a special school system, which is not often found in the world. At the age of 10, the children are divided into different types of schools. The main problem is that this division depends much more on the social background of the parents than on the cognitive abilities of the child. For example, there is the so-called Gymnasium for the children of academics (the word has a completely different meaning in German than the word “gym” in English, and both no longer have anything to do with the original meaning in Greek because you don’t walk around naked in either one); at the other end of the spectrum, there is the so-called Hauptschule for the children of socially disadvantaged parents and children with a migration background. This is the official term in a country where there is officially no discrimination, but children born in Germany are not simply German if they have a grandmother born in Anatolia or Siberia. Well, in my case, it was even migration foreground; and so, I attended the Hauptschule. But fortunately, the system is not completely impermeable, so I went to the Gymnasium later. I then became a Diploma Mathematician (a degree which is no longer in use, comparable to a Master of Arts) and to complete the Septem Artes and complement the quadrivium in the trivial direction, I changed the faculty and wrote my Ph.D. thesis in linguistics.

Jacobsen: Is knowing one’s “limits” a sign of both intelligence and conscientiousness?

Siemens: The concept of limit involves the idea that there are two sides to it. An intelligent person is characterized by the fact that s*he finds the other side of the limits more interesting and challenging than her*his own side. Limits are there to be crossed. And consciousness is created by not only crossing borders, but by making this process itself the object of reflection. Noblesse oblige, especially cognitive noblesse. Therefore, intelligence is worthless if it is not accompanied by conscientiousness.

Jacobsen: Why do Mennonites baptize only adults – not to individuals considering from the outside, but the rationale from individual believers who practice & believe in a proper way? As the Dutch were German, and thus amount to a branch of more ancient German peoples, as a German ethnic group, where I live, Dutch Christian farmers came to Canada and settled the land there. I live in British Columbia, Canada. In addition, a large contingent of this “Bible Belt” of Canada or Langley consider themselves Mennonites, interesting coincidence for the conversation today, as they exist in every aspect of life for me. Through various town and Township of Langley positions, I remain in contact with the culture and the peoples, aware, as I harbour significant Dutch, Germanic in other words, heritage too.

Siemens: Yeah, that’s what can happen, you look for someone for an interview on the other side of the world and end up with a Mennonite just like at home in your local supermarket or pub.

I consider it one of the greatest achievements of the Baptizers movement of the 16th century that it was left to each person to decide whether to participate in a rite of initiation into a religion, so I reject the baptism (as well as circumcision, sorry to my Muslim and Jewish friends) of children. There is an age of consent in every country in the world. It should also protect the victims from religious attacks by adults. By the way, I also reject the term Anabaptist used in English. It was invented by the Catholic Church and was used as an excuse to burn or drown the Baptizers. They only baptize once, and that is when they are adults, so there is definitely no re-baptism or ana-baptism. Even with the Westphalian Peace, 120 years after the Baptizers movement, the principle of Cuius regio eius religio still applied. It was not until the Age of Enlightenment that the right to an individual confession of faith (or non-faith) was generally recognized. The Baptizers had already advocated for this principle centuries earlier.

Jacobsen: What seems like the main contribution to Germanic life and work via the Plautdietsch speaking people and the Mennonites too?

Siemens: The most important contributions of Mennonites to world cultural heritage are 1. the individual confession of faith in the 16th century, 2. the invention of the cable car by the Gdansk Mennonite Adam Wiebe in the 17th century, 3. the first civilian alternative service for conscientious objectors in 19th century Russia, and 4. the most famous Plautdietsch family was invented in the 20th century by the Mennonite Matt Groening: the Simpsons.

Jacobsen: How did the Soviet Union change the nature of the culture of the peoples for you?

Siemens: The early Christians lived in communist communities. Part of the Baptizers movement, the Hutterites, have lived in communist communities for 500 years. In the principle “Everybody gives what he can, everybody gets what he needs” and with a classless society in which Mammon does not rule, the ideal of the Soviet Union is in essence hardly different from Christian utopias. It is a pity that such ideas have been corrupted as a form of government for a long time by the Soviet rulers, especially by Stalin’s terror.

Jacobsen: What makes “pacifism… crucial for Mennonites” too?

Siemens: The early Baptizers and thus also the Mennonites saw the Sermon on the Mount, and pacifism as its central component, as the basic law of human coexistence. To uphold this principle, they emigrated again and again to new countries and continents, often to areas that had been considered uninhabitable until then, such as the Paraguayan Chaco.

Jacobsen: Also, theological-definitional question, what is religion? Then, what is religion, to you?

Siemens: Individual religion probably arose from the need to explain the cause of effects when no natural causes could be found and therefore supernatural ones were considered. Organized religion arose as some people claimed to have preferential access to the Deity. They demanded submission from the believers and in return offered answers to difficult questions and, above all, a meaning to life. I personally refuse submission to authority and to difficult questions I prefer to seek the answers myself. In most cases, the questions about the meaning of life are much more exciting than the proposed answers, and philosophical books can be much more helpful than religious dogmas. Since atheism is also a belief, I would probably consider myself an agnostic, but such a label is not important for me.

Jacobsen: Why is individual autonomy in the selection of religion important to you?

Siemens: When it comes to the most important questions in life, everyone should have the right to seek their own answers. That is my view of humanity.

Jacobsen: Why choose “against being baptized”?

Siemens: In the Soviet Union, the practice of religion was persecuted. If the Soviet Union still existed in its former form, and if I still lived there, I would probably have been baptized and, maybe, even become a Mennonite preacher, as my parents always wanted me to be and, perhaps, still do. Anything else would have been a sign of cowardice and betrayal. But I am glad that it has come to this. I am free to choose. By refusing baptism, I can show that I have become alienated from the faith in a supernatural being.

Jacobsen: Why “belong to the cultural community of Mennonites, but not to a congregation”?

Siemens: Many Mennonites have lost their faith, often out of disappointment with the way the congregation dealt with them when they were unwilling to submit to religious authorities with regard to life-style, sexuality, etc. They still think of themselves as Mennonites, even if some believers see it differently. In order to save them for the cultural community, we have founded an international association (Plautdietsch-Freunde e. V.), in which all who feel that they belong to the cultural community of Mennonites (defined by the common language) can meet. Perhaps half of our members are in Mennonite (or other) congregations, the other half are not. But since we do not ask anybody about it, I do not know the exact percentage.

Jacobsen: Why live life “without God”? What defines God in this sense of “without” or “a-,” in reference to “-theism” as in “a-theism” for you – in a pragmatic sense of life without God rather than a formal implied ontological stance of the concept “God”?

Siemens: Some people need someone to take their hand and show them how to align their lives with respect to a higher being. I don’t.

Jacobsen: What constituted the trajectory of the “careful consideration”?

Siemens: When I still attended church, I often felt obliged to give witness to my faith, for example at school. However, I noticed more and more how insincere this was, when scientific explanations contradicted those of the believers. I believed one, gave witness to the other, and did not feel good about it. So, I stopped witnessing the other. Let us suppose that our universe, space and time, arose from an initial singularity. Did God exist before because he is eternal? The idea that anything, even God, existed before the origin of time seems contradictory to me. If God came into existence later, when the laws of nature already applied, he must have had a cause, as nothing comes from nothing (Parmenides). But this contradicts the concept of God as taught by Christianity. So, God himself must be the prima causa, an unmoved mover (Aristotle). Okay, if someone is happy with this, he should call the initial singularity God. But this is a wheel that does not move anything.

Jacobsen: What were the ‘final nails’ – proverbial, so-called – to this careful consideration? Why “maybe because of Ockham’s razor”? How big was the beard to begin with for you?

Siemens: The final nail was even literally a beard. The Baptizers have different ideas about what the lower half of a man’s face should look like. The Amish, for example, let the beard grow (because God lets it grow), but they shave the moustache. Well, actually God lets it grow too, but for some obscure reason that is something completely different. I grew up in a congregation where men had to shave. The theological argument was derived from the fact that it is written: “Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.” Little children do not wear beards, quod erat demonstrandum. When I stopped shaving, I got in big trouble with the church leadership. So, I grabbed Ockham’s Razor. However, instead of shaving my beard, I shaved my faith.

Jacobsen: How is the Bible “misused”?

Siemens: I just gave you an example.

Jacobsen: Why is freedom of religion important to you, as either a concept or as a human right?

Siemens: There were always times when religion gave important impulses for the coexistence of people, for example in the Sermon on the Mount. But for some centuries now, secular initiatives have taken this place. For us, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights is the standard that determines our actions. In comparison, many church’s standards seem outdated and contradict not only human rights, but often also constitutions, for example with regard to the role of women or sexual self-determination.

Jacobsen: What is lost in non-intergenerational homes – more than parent-child, e.g., grandparents or great grandparents?

Siemens: In situations of language transition, for example in connection with migration, the three-generation rule often applies. The elderly speak one language, their children are bilingual, and their grandchildren are monolingual again. This is how languages die. Multi-generational households help to prevent or at least delay this process. By talking to their grandparents, the grandchildren learn their language. This is how Plautdietsch was able to survive in the diaspora over the centuries.

Jacobsen: As identified in the first session, you have taken tests from some of the most respected alternative test constructors for the higher scores in the tests taken by you: “My most successful test results include the Titan test by Ronald K. Hoeflin (raw score 45/48), the Test of the Beheaded Man (33/40), the Marathon Test (108/111), both by Paul Cooijmans, many different tests and some won contests by Theodosis Prousalis, SLSE 48 (30/48) by Jonathan Wai, etc. Usually, the results were beyond 5 standard deviations.” Why did this take until 45 to become a hobby?

Siemens: I simply did not know these people or HRIQ tests before. It was a coincidence that I stumbled upon an interview with a member of the Giga society and so Paul came to my attention. With further research, I found Ron, Theodosis, and the others.

Jacobsen: As prospective test-takers look into tests to spend some time for themselves, what are some of the benefits of taking the Three Sonnets test? Why the title, “Three Sonnets”?

Siemens: The Shakespeare Sonnet has the ideal form to express a thought. One develops an idea from three perspectives and summarizes the result in a couplet. (The Russian poet Pushkin proved that you can write an entire novel in Shakespeare’s sonnets. You should read Eugene Onegin, if you haven’t done it yet). My test tries to be not just a sequence of questions, but a real composition, like a poem or a piece of music. It consists of three sonnets: an overture in which the central idea is developed and the later motives are already intoned, a numerical section and a verbal one. In each sonnet, the central idea is illuminated from three angles and summarized in the couplet, just like Shakespeare did. By the way, I would like to draw your attention to verses 29-32 of my test, which represent the quintessence of the test. When you have answered these questions, you have solved one of the central problems that literary studies have been arguing about for decades without being able to solve it. (And I am not referring to the question of who wrote Shakespeare’s works, for the answer is trivial: it was not Shakespeare himself, but a completely unknown author whose real name was Shakespeare.) Like any scientific thesis, my test ends with two footnotes.

Jacobsen: How many people have taken the Three Sonnets test? What are the demographics of the test-takers?

Siemens: Unfortunately, far too few have taken the test so far, so I cannot say anything about demographics or preliminary norms. But I would like to use my 15 minutes of fame to draw attention to this test once again. Perhaps the first step is the hardest. You have to discover the entry. Once you have crossed the threshold, it is no longer time-consuming. Do not let the first impression discourage you. I would be happy if as many of you as possible submit solutions. (The only hint: it was published on Towel Day.)

Jacobsen: Side note, how common is finding out about giftedness later in life in the international high-range community, as you found out at age 45? I like the alignment of the 45 on the legendary Titan Test with it.

Siemens: I have not even noticed this coincidence before. Maybe I should have waited another three years, then I would have had 48/48 correct answers 😉 I do not have the slightest idea at what age other people start to deal with HRIQ tests. You should ask those who have been making many tests for years and therefore have a lot of data.

Jacobsen: What seems like the context in which to interpret the leap from the previous “highest score” on “the verbal section of the Marathon Test with IQ 180 S.D. 15” to the aforementioned “195 S.D. 15 on the Cooijmans Intelligence Test 5 or the CIT5”?

Siemens: The difference is exactly one standard deviation, such leaps are very rare because the intelligence of adults is assumed to be relatively constant, at least until it decreases with age. One explanation is probably that Paul usually publishes preliminary norms at a very early stage, which in my opinion is very problematic, especially in areas where one can hardly expect to get much empirical data. On the other hand, this is not Paul’s first test that I have taken, and from one test to the next, one increasingly understands the test maker’s way of thinking.

Jacobsen: When marathon test-takers of the high-range world exhibit ranges of 30 points (S.D. 15) – plus or minus a few – on the alternative tests, what seems like a reasonable manner in which to interpret the scores?

Siemens: As I already said, such leaps are very rare and could be an indication that something went wrong with the norming process.

Jacobsen: What seems to explain individuals taking 5, 10, 20, 50, or more high-range tests? It helps with the furtherance of the data collection efforts. All the power to them. It seems like a huge time sink, though, at the same time.

Siemens: Of course, every test maker is happy to receive as many submissions as possible, because they are the basis for a profound norming process. Everyone spends as much time with his hobby as he can spare. A hard test is often time consuming. But “time sink” sounds too derogatory. There are certainly worse things to spend time on than passing cognitive challenges.

Jacobsen: Have other publishers arisen alongside Tweeback Verlag working in this niche? If not, why not? If so, why so? What were the books needing publishing (plug, plug)?

Siemens: Most Mennonites still use a different written language and Plautdietsch is only spoken. Therefore, the market for Plautdietsch books is very small. I don’t know of any other publisher that specializes in this niche. Plautdietsch developed late as a literary language. The first major works were written about 100 years ago and the most important Plautdietsch author, Arnold Dyck, died exactly 50 years ago. That is why we are presenting an Arnold Dyck Award for the first time this year to encourage more people to write in Plautdietsch.

Appendix I: Footnotes

[1] Linguist; Founder, Tweeback Verlag; Member, Mega Society; Member, Giga Society.

[2] Individual Publication Date: September 15, 2020: http://www.in-sightjournal.com/siemens-2; Full Issue Publication Date: January 1, 2021: https://in-sightjournal.com/insight-issues/.

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2023-03-22

Free of Charge 4 – “Humanist Manifesto II,” Kurtz and Wilson, Moral Devotion, Creative Imagination, and Free Speech

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

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

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2020/09/15

Abstract

Dr. Herb Silverman is the Founder of the Secular Coalition for America, the Founder of the Secular Humanists of the Lowcountry, and the Founder of the Atheist/Humanist Alliance student group at the College of Charleston. He authored Complex variables (1975), Candidate Without a Prayer: An Autobiography of a Jewish Atheist in the Bible Belt (2012) and An Atheist Stranger in a Strange Religious Land: Selected Writings from the Bible Belt (2017). He co-authored The Fundamentals of Extremism: The Christian Right in America (2003) with Kimberley Blaker and Edward S. Buckner, Complex Variables with Applications (2007) with Saminathan Ponnusamy, and Short Reflections on Secularism (2019), Short Reflections on American Secularism’s History and Philosophy (2020), and Short Reflections on Age and Youth (2020). He discusses: the course of a Jewish life, of a secular humanist life; Kurtz and Wilson in the opening; the varieties of referenced humanisms; “moral devotion and creative imagination”; freedom of speech and freedom of the press connected in a humanistic framework; opposition to governmental policies; and “freedom of association, and artistic, scientific, and cultural freedom.”

Keywords: freedom of expression, freedom of speech, Herb Silverman, Humanism, Humanist Manifesto II.

Free of Charge 4 – “Humanist Manifesto II,” Kurtz and Wilson, Moral Devotion, Creative Imagination, and Free Speech

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

Scott Douglas Jacobsen: Humanist Manifesto II (1973) provided a much bleaker reflection, at its outset, on human nature than Humanist Manifesto I (1933). Humanist Manifesto II started with a joint statement by Paul Kurtz and Edwin H. Wilson:

It is forty years since Humanist Manifesto I (1933) appeared. Events since then make that earlier statement seem far too optimistic. Nazism has shown the depths of brutality of which humanity is capable. Other totalitarian regimes have suppressed human rights without ending poverty. Science has sometimes brought evil as well as good. Recent decades have shown that inhuman wars can be made in the name of peace. The beginnings of police states, even in democratic societies, widespread government espionage, and other abuses of power by military, political, and industrial elites, and the continuance of unyielding racism, all present a different and difficult social outlook. In various societies, the demands of women and minority groups for equal rights effectively challenge our generation.

As we approach the twenty-first century, however, an affirmative and hopeful vision is needed. Faith, commensurate with advancing knowledge, is also necessary. In the choice between despair and hope, humanists respond in this Humanist Manifesto II with a positive declaration for times of uncertainty.

As in 1933, humanists still believe that traditional theism, especially faith in the prayer-hearing God, assumed to live and care for persons, to hear and understand their prayers, and to be able to do something about them, is an unproved and outmoded faith. Salvationism, based on mere affirmation, still appears as harmful, diverting people with false hopes of heaven hereafter. Reasonable minds look to other means for survival.

Those who sign Humanist Manifesto II disclaim that they are setting forth a binding credo; their individual views would be stated in widely varying ways. This statement is, however, reaching for vision in a time that needs direction. It is social analysis in an effort at consensus. New statements should be developed to supersede this, but for today it is our conviction that humanism offers an alternative that can serve present-day needs and guide humankind toward the future. (American Humanist Association, 1973)

Smart men, Kurtz and Wilson, however, as with personal sensibilities for me, I take early enthusiasm with some salting and other flavouring to the stew of Humanism as an evolving ethical philosophy in which the prior “earlier statement” or early enthusiasm seemed “far too optimistic.”

In their case, “Nazism has shown the depths of brutality of which humanity is capable,” as well as “other totalitarian regimes.” In fact, even the perennial issue fought for now, “In various societies, the demands of women and minority groups for equal rights effectively challenge our generation” with the ever-present issue of “traditional theism” or the “outmoded faith” seen in “Salvationism.” Humanism as part – ahem – salvation from these “false hopes” or “false ‘theologies of hope’ and messianic theologies.” Freedom of expression is tapped here some more with some emphasis on “creativity.” It comes in many forms throughout the world as a tendency in human thought, “Many kinds of humanism exist in the contemporary world. The varieties and emphases of naturalistic humanism include ‘scientific,’ ‘ethical,’ ‘democratic,’ ‘religious,’ and ‘Marxist’ humanism. Free thought, atheism, agnosticism, skepticism, deism, rationalism, ethical culture, and liberal religion all claim to be heir to the humanist tradition.” They spoke astutely to “cultivation of moral devotion and creative imagination” as “an expression of genuine ‘spiritual’ experience and aspiration” in which the spirit of freedom of expression is, well, expressed or well expressed. More directly, they speak to “freedom of speech and the press… the legal right of opposition to governmental policies… freedom of association, and artistic, scientific, and cultural freedom…” as well as the need to “safeguard, extend, and implement the principles of human freedom evolved from the Magna Carta to the Bill of Rights, the Rights of Man, and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.” To humanists, in regards to freedom of expression, in spite of the tempered Humanism in Humanist Manifesto II – in the opinions of Kurtz and Wilson (and myself, and likely many others) – compared to Humanist Manifesto I, these represent ‘sacred’ values of a kind. Over the course of a Jewish life, of a secular humanist life in particular, how has the individualized Humanism changed for you?

Dr. Herb Silverman[1],[2]: You asked how my Jewish life and secular humanist life have changed. I grew up in an Orthodox community and had an Orthodox Bar Mitzvah in 1955 when I was 13. My family mainly instilled in me that I shouldn’t trust goyim (gentiles) because of what they did to us in the Holocaust, and that I should marry a nice Jewish girl. (My wife, Sharon Fratepietro, is not Jewish.)

In Hebrew school, my rabbi refused to answer my question, “Who created God?” He told me the question was inappropriate, but I assumed he just had no answer. One of my best teachers in Hebrew school asked, “Why does the Torah (Hebrew Bible) say ‘God of Abraham, God of Isaac, and God of Jacob,’ instead of the more concise ‘God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob’?” His explanation was that each had a different god, and we must search for and find our own god. I took his statement seriously and my search, beginning at age 12, led me to a god who did not exist. I decided to follow all the things in the Torah that made sense to me, like performing mitzvahs (good deeds), but I stopped doing things like fasting on Yom Kippur, the day that God allegedly determines who shall live and who shall die in the coming year. Perhaps that is when I became a humanist without having even heard the term.

As an adult, I first learned about Humanism from the American Humanist Association, and later became a board member of that organization. I still considered myself a Jew because there is no requirement for a Jew to believe in God. I eventually found a proper home for myself in Judaism when I learned about and joined the Society for Humanistic Judaism (https://shj.org), with its atheist rabbis. SHJ is a member organization of the Secular Coalition for America and has an active social justice program known as Jews for a Secular Democracy.

Jacobsen: Do you agree with Kurtz and Wilson in the opening, as an aside?

Silverman: I agree with them that Humanist Manifesto I was too optimistic about what the state of the world would be like after 1933, and that we need a more realistic vision. One sentence I was uncomfortable with was “Faith, commensurate with advancing knowledge, is also necessary.” I prefer to leave the word “faith” to theists. The authors correctly add that traditional theism, especially faith in a prayer-hearing God, makes no sense. It was wise of them to say, “New statements should be developed to supersede this,” one of which is known as Humanist Manifesto III. We should note that these manifestos are written on paper by humans, not written on stone tablets by an alleged deity, and no humanist is obliged to follow all of their assertions.

Jacobsen: How are the varieties of referenced humanisms connected via the idea of freedom of expression?

Silverman: I think all these referenced humanisms include freedom of expression, whether stated explicitly or implicitly. The humanists I know all think everybody has the right to express ideas and opinions freely, though we should try to avoid making false or misleading statements. Some people consider themselves theistic humanists, and might wish to silence those in their flock who have problems believing in the type of god they espouse. My idea of humanism precludes supernaturalism.

Jacobsen: What is this “moral devotion and creative imagination” inherent in the idea of freedom of expression as played out in the lives of freer human beings?

Silverman: I think we have a moral obligation to speak out against injustices, and it helps to imagine what kinds of injustices are suffered by people who are viewed as different from us in artificial ways. Unfortunately, some people use their imagination to develop “fake news” and consider this to be an appropriate form of freedom of expression. The moral problem with such freedom of expression is that fake news can unfairly hurt innocent people. One example is known as “Pizzagate.” This was a baseless rumor circulated in 2016 that Hillary Clinton and other Democrats were heading up a child sex-trafficking ring out of a specific Washington pizzeria. Based on such rumors and hate speech, a gunman with an assault rifle opened fire at the pizzeria, hoping to save the alleged abused children.

Jacobsen: How are freedom of speech and freedom of the press connected in a humanistic framework? How are they being attacked in the United States today?

Silverman: Freedom of speech and freedom of the press are guaranteed by the First Amendment of the United States Constitution. Humanists support this right to speak out verbally, in writing, and by action. Some Americans want to take away the right to burn the American flag, which thankfully the US Supreme Court ruled was constitutionally protected speech. There are also attempts to censor works of art that touch on sensitive issues like religion or sexuality. I think it is fine for people to attack verbally or in writing what someone else says. The problem occurs when someone thinks he has the right to use intimidation, threats, or violence. The way to attack bad speech is with good speech. I still believe the saying I learned as a child: “Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me.”

Jacobsen: How is opposition to governmental policies being prevented in America today?

Silverman: Opposition to government policies is not being prevented. Many individuals and media have spoken against President Trump’s policies (or lack thereof) on the pandemic, healthcare, climate change, international alliances, and countless social justice issues. Unfortunately, from my perspective, the Republican-controlled US Senate gives Trump whatever he wants. So, opposition to government policies can best be achieved by Americans voting in the upcoming election.

Jacobsen: Regarding “freedom of association, and artistic, scientific, and cultural freedom,” what brings these together in one bundle so as to unite them under a banner of common expansion of freedom for more humanistic societies?

Silverman: Humanistic societies recognize that humanism is a progressive philosophy of life that, without supernaturalism, affirms our ability and responsibility to lead ethical lives of personal fulfillment for the greater good of humanity. Humanism promotes democracy, civil liberties, human freedoms, separation of religion and government, and elimination of discrimination based on race, religion, sex, age, or national origin. Humanists respect the scientific method and recognize that we are an integral part of nature, the result of unguided evolutionary change, and that ethical values are derived from human need and interest as tested by experience.

Jacobsen: Thank you for the opportunity and your time, Dr. Silverman.

Silverman: You’re most welcome.

References

American Humanist Association. (1973). Humanist Manifesto II. Retrieved from https://americanhumanist.org/what-is-humanism/manifesto2/.

Appendix I: Footnotes

[1] Founder, Secular Coalition for America; Founder, Secular Humanists of the Low Country; Founder, Atheist/Humanist Alliance, College of Charleston.

[2] Individual Publication Date: September 15, 2020: http://www.in-sightjournal.com/free-of-charge-4; Full Issue Publication Date: January 1, 2021: https://in-sightjournal.com/insight-issues/.

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2023-03-22

Conversation with Professor Helga Ögmundardóttir on Laxness, Pivotal Early Moments, Iceland Then and Now, and Hydropower in Iceland Highland: Assistant Professor, Social and Human Sciences, University of Iceland (1)

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

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

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2020/09/15

Abstract

Professor Helga Ögmundardóttir is an Assistant Professor in Social and Human Sciences at the University of Iceland. She discusses: family background; some pivotal moments of early life; some early indications of interest in anthropology; the culture of childhood with the culture of Iceland now; Uppsala for the Ph.D. in Anthropology; Ph.D. dissertation was entitled “The Shepherds of Þjórsárver.: Traditional Use and Hydropower Development in the Commons of the Icelandic Highland” (2011); the central thesis and question about the traditional use and development of hydropower in the Iceland Highland; the main findings of the thesis; and some of the teaching content.

Keywords: Helga Ögmundardóttir, human sciences, hydropower, social sciences, University of Iceland.

Conversation with Professor Helga Ögmundardóttir on Laxness, Pivotal Early Moments, Iceland Then and Now, and Hydropower in Iceland Highland: Assistant Professor, Social and Human Sciences, University of Iceland (1)

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

Scott Douglas Jacobsen: For this first round of questions, naturally, I would like to start from the beginning. I should note. These interviews take place within a context of simply falling in love with Iceland. It has its issues, as with any country. But it is so lovely and functional, and democratic, and gender equal, and intelligently run, etc., compared to so many other places on Earth. Francis Fukuyama once said, “How do we get to Denmark?” I completely disagree. Well, I agree. Denmark is great. It’s a tough road to progress to there. However! I will give a modern riff on it, “How do we get to Iceland?” Part of the answer sits with the people. Another lies within the context of the development from earlier lives into the present to produce political structure, economic diversity, gender-equal policies, and the formation of a sociocultural structure dynamic to suit the needs of men and women for individual Icelandic citizens to pursue their best selves, their best lives. What was family background for you? I am aware of the culture described by Laxness and the idea of ‘Independent People.’

Helga Ögmundardóttir: I am born in 1965, my parents in 1944, my grandfathers both in 1912, my maternal grandmother in 1918 and the other one 1921, so my great-grandparents were 19^th century people, and of them I remember all of them very well, except my paternal grandfather who died just before I was born. He is my namesake, I’m his oldest grandchild and he never even knew I would be born. But my grandmother, his wife, my “amma”, married again and her husband became my “afi” and I loved him much. And I remember my great-great grandfather on my father’s side, my “langafi” well, and my “langamma” – my mother’s grandmother. We always were very close as an extended family, on both my parents’ side, so the strings in my upbringing cover a very broad time-spectrum, stretching far back in Icelandic history, but I’m also a product of 20^th century modernistic aspirations, nationalistic ideas of recent independence (Iceland got full independence from Denmark in 1944) and then we have post-everything being the context of my personal and professional life today. Now that my parents are both deceased and I am now a member of the “oldest” generation in my family, I see the ties of blood disappear, alas, and the feeling of belonging to a clan belongs to the past for me. But as for the Laxness-related ideas, I resent all attempts at dividing people, whether on nationalistic notes, in terms of the modernistic idea of the “developed” vs. the “underdeveloped/developing”, which is probably both the cause and effect of my anthropological identity today. I appreciate him as a writer who had enormous influence on Icelandic society in the 20^th century; his respect for gone generations, as well as the way he depicts them in a funny and often sarcastic way. He – Halldór Laxness – and my grandfather were cousins, so he was also a part of the idea I was raised with, of the extended family contributing to what I am and where I come from, both genetically and socio-culturally. But what mostly formed my identity from early on is this contradictory mix of “old” and “new”, probably more than anything else because my father was a historian, philologist and folklorist and we were very close. Her was “in the past”, so to speak, telling me about our past all the time, my mother “in the present” as a political activist, both a socialist and a feminist, and even if we were somehow not very close, I always looked up to her as a role model and a brave woman who stood by her ideas about a better world.

Jacobsen: What were some pivotal moments of early life for you?

Ögmundardóttir: I cannot name any specific events or moments; I recall my early life rather badly as I don’t really recall the specificities of events, but more the atmosphere, smells and sounds, feelings, perceptions in general, that I now connect with moments and events, in my mind. But being sent to a farm in northern Iceland as a 10 years old for two summers, to help with the farm-work, that was a great thing for me as I was and am fascinated by animals, and as a 12 years old starting to work in a fish-factory, for many summers to come, that was a big disappointment since my farm-life was thereby over and instead of being outside, free, in the short Icelandic summer, I was confined inside a wet and noisy fish-factory from June to August. Well, we got well paid, I guess, but the money went to my parents’ account as a contribution to our common economy. This was the tradition then and I could do little to object – well, I had my little “rebellions” but they never changed anything. The deaths of dear ones, close relatives, of my pets as well, had profound impact on me as well as a child and teenager. The first time I went abroad, as a 9 years old, to Denmark with my parents, was revolutionary! I saw frogs for the first time, tall trees, huge palaces, trains, could be outside in shorts into the night as it was warm enough… and the list goes on! I was lucky to have marvelous teachers in primary and secondary school, and I read books like there was no tomorrow – I finished all the children’s books in the city library quite early and went on to the grown-ups’ department and many books had profound influence on me, whether books for children or not. We didn’t have a TV until I was several years old and watching telly in my friends’ homes or – even more importantly – the American army-base’s TV-station; now that was a life-changing thing! I could see it in my cousin’s home in Hafnarfjörður, which was close enough to the Keflavik-base to get the signal. And there are countless good and bad “things” I could name as influential, some had impact that left their mark on me early and have since lost some influence – fortunately for the negative ones – others have increasingly popped up in my memory as something that has been there all the time but are now gaining meaning and my understanding of them growing. This is how we – at least I – have been throughout life, and I see us as fairly fluid beings with a complex, changing identity, not at all clearly bound but reaching out to the world all the time; and the world “coming to” or merging with us, not least.

Jacobsen: Were there some early indications of interest in anthropology? Or was this something happening more in early university education?

Ögmundardóttir: I talked about my wonderful teachers when in primary school; I would trace my interest in the world, other people, other cultures to their methods and the material we used to learn from. I will not go into details as that would require a whole essay, but in short, we learned all the classical subjects through learning about different nations and human groups all over the world. As an example, we learned mathematics by following the news on the radio about what cargo-ships were coming and going to and from Iceland – being an island in the middle of the Atlantic, shipping was vital for us – and we made schemes about all the ships and what type they were – size, route, days at sea, types and amount of cargo, etc. and calculated all kinds of information out of that. Another project was to pretend to be farmers in Scandinavia and the northwestern British Isles in the 10^th century, heading for a new land somewhere in the northwestern Atlantic Ocean, and decide what to take with us on our ships, how much, how long it would take, how much each member could eat per day and so on and so forth. We basically relived the settlement of Iceland but not on nationalistic terms but practical and creative ones – and of course we learned about any other subject you have to learn in school with these and other such projects and exercises. To make a long story short; when I discovered anthropology, its interdisciplinary character and local-global focus fascinated me and I found myself totally at home in its bosom. But I really didn’t know that something like anthropology existed as an academic subject until I sat in my first class of Introduction to anthropology, really. But there was no turning back, I was stuck and even if the way through university studies, all the way through a PhD was windy and bumpy, it was somehow meant to be because for me, anthropology is a way of life, not just “my job”.

Jacobsen: If you compared the culture of childhood with the culture of Iceland now, what are the major differences? I like to make a comparison, even with Canada. We closed the last Residential School in 1996 or the same year the Hon. Vigdis resigned after 16 years of leadership in Iceland. People love Trudeau, in general. Yet, our history is two decades behind Iceland. It is in the fine details of gender equality that Iceland excels in what I love and term “pragmatic gender egalitarianism.”

Ögmundardóttir: The major differences – what we have now full-force, but weren’t back then or were just somehow in the background and/or emerging: The internet, globalization of everything, more or less, tourism (although we have a little breathing-hole now because of covid), and last but not least: an environmental crisis affecting all and everything. Concerning gender issues here; we are in many ways moving forward but in some other terms we’re just as much struggling as everyone else. And what’s more, steps forward are NOT here to stay – they so easily are erased by bad laws, changes in our values and thus society – how we interact and see and evaluate each other – so it’s like anything we fight for, believing it’s for improvement, it’s precarious and its existence is only real if we practice what we preach, so to speak. We have domestic violence that is more often than not directed towards women and children, we have rapes and other sexual violence that also affects women more than men, we still have a salary-gap between men and women that cannot be explained with anything but their gender, and so on. Although I want to shake the boat more and stop this duality-view of humans as either male of female – we are so much more complex and it’s very old-fashioned to focus so much on male-female equality. But I know what you mean, in many ways we are ahead and when I talk to my friends abroad, in countries where it’s basically life-threatening to be a woman, I am rather pleased with the situation here.

Jacobsen: Now, why go to Uppsala for the Ph.D. in Anthropology?

Ögmundardóttir: I had taken my undergraduate in Gothenburg and Stockholm, my MA in Iceland, and there was no doubt in my mind I wanted to go abroad for my PhD. And I simply searched for a programme and a supervisor who fit my topic of interest and found that in the Department of cultural anthropology at Uppsala University. I couldn’t afford a university that cost much, so Scandinavia was a good choice. I took my two little girls with me to Sweden and the school-system there for young children was appealing to me. I had friends in the country already and by going there I would be closer to them. I knew the language and the system, had a social security number already and slipped into the system easily.

Jacobsen: You Ph.D. dissertation was entitled “The Shepherds of Þjórsárver.: Traditional Use and Hydropower Development in the Commons of the Icelandic Highland” (2011). What is the feeling in getting the Ph.D.?

Ögmundardóttir: It was nice, of course, but also a little sad because it meant I would have no reason to stay there longer, really; Uppsala is close to my heart and my best friends since decades live there or close by, and I miss them every day. But it meant I had a certificate to wave, so to speak, and my words had increased weight in discussions – and we can argue if that is right and fair or not – and last but not least, I had more freedom to be mobile as an academic which is the best thing of all for a restless soul like me who needs freedom more than most other things to thrive.

Jacobsen: What was the central thesis and question about the traditional use and development of hydropower in the Iceland Highland? Also, for those who do not recognize the terminology from Anglo ancient law, what is the commons?

Ögmundardóttir: The commons is this space – in terms of geographical space, but also social and cultural space – where we in a way become equal, in terms of access and ability to be present and heard/seen. I cannot pretend to give the one and only definition of “the commons” but for me, these traits are important. To define a certain area, resource, phenomenon of various kind, that everyone (either all humans or a certain group of humans) has equal access to, is an old way of relating to each other and to our surroundings/environment, and it has lasted and endured in most areas of the world since – most likely – the beginning of human time, in spite of all kinds of political and economic attempts at eliminating them, the commons, by those who believe in private property and want to take them as theirs to use and thereby prevent others from enjoying their treasures, of whatever kind they are. Our atmosphere is a commons, space is (still) a commons, big parts of the earth’s oceans, much of our freshwater, etc. (although the privatization of water is increasing and posing problems to many, especially the poor). My thesis was about the social, cultural and political means people have to protect a piece of land – in this case the commons of a specific rural municipality in Iceland – against state and corporate encroachment. The theme is the familiar one of a hydropower dam-building plan that would destroy a wetland ecosystem, Þjórsárver, and reduce its cultural value and thus hurt the common identity of the community that has used it for centuries, both in terms of access to grazing for their sheep, and as a mental and social refuge from the repetition of daily life. It also has a scientific and conservation value and is one of the last untouched patches of vegetation and birdlife in the highland of Iceland. It is both a strength and a weakness that the area the farmers want to keep intact is a commons; the strength is that they have a common responsibility for it, it being an area of ancient common use, and it is a part of their common identity, but also their weakness because not everyone agrees on its worth and value, as some farmers don’t have sheep and have not emotional nor social ties to the area. But the picture is more complex than that because even people in the community who don’t have sheep and even never have still would never allow its destruction, and the issue of families, family ties, party politics, economic interests within the are and so on, cross-cut the mobilization against the dam scheme.

Jacobsen: What were the main findings of the thesis?

Ögmundardóttir: Well, some of it I talked about in the former answer, but basically these several dozens of farming families have managed to prevent the National power company, owned by the Icelandic state, from building the reservoir Norðlingaölduveita, for decades now (the original plan even dates back to the beginning of the 20^th century). Against all odds, against nationalistic ideas of progress of a newly free nation, against the dominant party politics ideology, against very strong industrial and corporate economic interests, they have succeeded with an amazing “toolkit” to stop the plan, sometimes so close to defeat that I sweat when I think about it! Their knowledge and resourcefulness has enabled them to play the multiple strings of resistance, and it has not least been their ties to foreign aid from natural scientists and activists that has made the difference between defeat and victory. Iceland is not an island in all meanings of the term – we are a part of the world and what we do here with “our” nature is not our private business, and when the eyes of the world are on us doing “the wrong thing”, our vain politicians (well, some of them!) often understand that it matters how you talk and behave; it’s not just your fellow country-people who hear you! And “my” farmers have also played their political party-cards well, pulling strings that have strategically helped them bringing forward their cause. And the fact that all Icelanders belong to families and clans (I sometimes call them tribes – Iceland is really an industrialized tribal society, you know!) has enabled my farmers to pull the strings of family- and blood ties which are of great importance here if you want to get anywhere with your ideas and life in general.

Jacobsen: To some of the teaching content for you, what is the state of globalization now? What is the state of ethnography?

Ögmundardóttir: Ethnography has become a fashionable way to do anything between interviewing people about their driving behavior, through cities and institutions being inclusive in planning and constructing, to saving the world from the ills of climate change. Now, my engineering colleagues are incorporating ethnographic methods into their university programs, wanting to learn about qualitative methods, participant observation, action research and I don’t know what! As an example. I remember being a part of groups of interdisciplinary researchers dealing with, let’s say emissions or sustainable fisheries, 20 years ago as the only qualitative, female researcher (two boxes ticked by hiring me!) to now being one of several social and humanities researchers and the qualitative methods being an integrative part of the premise of the project (in order to get funding – again; boxes ticked!) and not just an add-on towards the end, when the modelers and oceanographers and biologists and engineers had done their part – the bulk of the project, in terms of manpower, time and money. Well, I might be a bit unfair here, but overall the scientific landscape has changed and I find myself in the situation of being THE ethnographer, wanted (alive, not dead!) in research because environmental issues cannot be dealt with but by many disciplines in cooperation and communication. Alas, less and less time is allocated to do the research, which is against anything ethnographic – and my task is to somehow fix that. For me, ethnography is a way of life, again, it is how I cope with reality, both for good and bad – I find it hard to put my ethnographic self aside when I’m not at work, sometimes I succeed, sometimes it just happens automatically, but above all it has become my coping method to deal with the globalized world with all its horrors and heavens. And to teach this approach to the human condition is such a privilege – I would have given up and turned to something else if I didn’t have to opportunity to explore ethnography with my students. That is the essence of anthropology to me.

Appendix I: Footnotes

[1] Assistant Professor, Social and Human Sciences, University of Iceland.

[2]Individual Publication Date: September 15, 2020: http://www.in-sightjournal.com/Ögmundardóttir-1; Full Issue Publication Date: January 1, 2021: https://in-sightjournal.com/insight-issues/.

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2023-03-22

Conversation with Dr. Giuseppe Corrente on the Mafia and the Vatican: Computer Science Teacher, Torino University (8)

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

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

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2020/09/15

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: the Mafia and the Vatican; the origin of the mafia in Italy; mobbing-bossing; the Mafia offshoots; the great companies; the Mafia attractive to some Italians; the benefits of joining of the Mafia; southern Italy; and conclusion.

Keywords: Giuseppe Corrente, Italy, Mafia, Vatican.

Conversation with Dr. Giuseppe Corrente on the Mafia and the Vatican: Computer Science Teacher, Torino University (8)

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

Scott Douglas Jacobsen: Sir, shall we finish? Italy is known for two big organizations: the Mafia and the Vatican. Although, the Vatican appears to have its own autonomous region as recognized by the United Nations with the Holy See. What is the origin of the Roman Catholic Church and the Vatican in Italy?

Dr. Giuseppe Corrente[1],[2]*: The Vatican is a state inside a state, a small state in Rome. The fact that is in Italy exercises enormous power in education, politics, government, moral in the course of past decades and in the present. The Roman Catholic Church history is fused with that of the whole Occident since the origin.

Jacobsen: What is the origin of the mafia in Italy?

Corrente: The origin of the mafia is determined by Sicilian way to dominate poor agricultural masses since 1800. Now it is diffused in all the world, but has its roots in southern Italy. It is also a way of thinking diffused in the population and not only a criminal organization.

Jacobsen: What in the heck is mobbing-bossing?

Corrente: If a hierarchical superior wants take over you, not only as an employee but in your whole life, this is bossing. It is also known as vertical mobbing.

Jacobsen: What are the Mafia offshoots in institutions?

Corrente: In many ways, but the one that mostly I have noticed is an indirect one: in the way of thinking, in the style of managing. The reflection of the Mafia in companies and institutions in this sense is above all the bossing as the main style of personnel management.

Jacobsen: What are the great companies in Italy?

Corrente: Multinationals, or their local branch, sited mainly in Northern Italy.

Jacobsen: What makes the Mafia attractive to some Italians?

Corrente: Unemployment. If Southern Italy is seen only as a way to take funding by companies and is not seen or cured by the Institutions, then the Mafia is a consequence.

Jacobsen: What are some of the benefits of joining the Mafia? What are the obvious downsides of joining the Mafia?

Corrente: Mirage of many, many money. The risk of life and to become a Mafia slave.

Jacobsen: What makes southern Italy a huge for great companies?

Corrente: In the past for the possibility of funding and the lack of control of their use. I hope this is not true for the present, but I am not sure.

Jacobsen: Any final feelings or thoughts in conclusion based on the series of interviews?

Corrente: I am very grateful for the opportunity to tell some parts of my life and of my ideas.

Jacobsen: Thank you for the opportunity and your time, Giuseppe.

Appendix I: Footnotes

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

[2] Individual Publication Date: September 15, 2020: http://www.in-sightjournal.com/corrente-8; Full Issue Publication Date: January 1, 2021: https://in-sightjournal.com/insight-issues/.

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2023-03-22

Norwegians of the High-Range Discussion with Erik Haereid, Eivind Olsen, and Tor Arne Jørgensen: Statistician & Actuarial Scientist; Chair, Mensa Norway; 2019 Genius of the Year – Europe, World Genius Directory (1)

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

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

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2020/09/15

Abstract

Erik Haereid is an Actuarial Scientist and Statistician. Eivind Olsen is the Chair of Mensa Norway. Tor Arne Jørgensen is the 2019 Genius of the Year – Europe. They discuss: the high-IQ communities available in Norway; membership in Mensa Norway; the issues perceived in running a high-IQ national group; the qualifications for Mensa Norway; the culture of Norway on mainstream intelligence tests and alternative tests; the considered importance of high-IQ and high-IQ societies; the flavours of the high-IQ societies; some of the unique, or nearly distinct, qualities of Norwegian culture mapped onto the high-IQ communities; and some of the plans and expected developments for Mensa Norway.

Keywords: Erik Haereid, Eivind Olsen, IQ, Mensa, Mensa Norway, Tor Arne Jørgensen.

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

Scott Douglas Jacobsen: One of the most respected, for longevity and size, high-IQ organizations in the world is Mensa International. No question about it. Some see Mensa International as nothing more than a gigantic social club. Others see the organization as a means by which to connect and politic with the movers and shakers of some of the high-IQ community globally or within a national context. Nonetheless, its stability belies a particular functionality of aim and purpose, and structure, compared to all other high-IQ societies and, thusly, deserves proper praise and adulation. Another aspect of the global focus of Mensa International is the appropriate functionality in breaking apart the big organization into national sub-organizations with chairs. For example, Mensa Norway is one of the national groups for Mensa International. As it so happens, we have the leader of Mensa Norway here today with Mr. Olsen. Also, we have alternative test very high scorers in the presence of Mr. Haereid and Mr. Jørgensen. All from Norway. With Mensa and with Norway, and based on suggestions from participants, the start with Mensa Norway seems like a functional starting point here. Also, it can provide a basis to get down to brass tax about the fundamentals of Norwegian culture and its high-IQ communities, as such. Let’s begin, as per usual, with some softball questions, what are the high-IQ communities available in Norway, whether formal or informal of which you are aware at this time?

Erik Haereid[1]*: I am only aware of Mensa Norway, and became a member at age 49, in 2013. I have never been involved in that kind of organization earlier.

Tor Arne Jørgensen[2]*: None that I`m aware of today as informal goes, and as formal goes we have only Mensa Norway.

Eivind Olsen[3],[4]: I’ll expose my ignorance even at this first question, and set myself up to receive a proper intellectual beating. I’m not really aware of any other high-IQ society/community in Norway. Sure, there are some international societies that have some Norwegian members, but I don’t have the impression that there’s much activity.

Jacobsen: How much does membership in Mensa Norway cost? Who is a member here? What are some of the demographics of Mensa Norway? How has Mensa Norway been helpful in connecting to the national high-IQ community for each of you?

Haereid: 500 Norwegian kroner a year.

2% of the 2% smartest in Norway are members of Mensa Norway; about 2,000 members out of theoretically 100,000 members. Who are those 2% of the 2%? A fine mixture. Men, women, quite young, quite old, highly educated, no education, a variety of different works, different political views, different moral views, some nice, some not so nice, and so on. From all over the country.

Anyway, I think the 98% other Norwegians that theoretically qualify for Mensa is, on average, other types than those who are members. I know some people, quite a few actually, who would qualify for Mensa but don’t dare to try the test. That’s one difference; the courage, belief in themselves, bigger ego maybe. And I guess Mensans are more occupied with their and other’s IQ, and not especially more intellectual than the other equal intelligent bunch. It’s obviously about making friendship with someone who thinks like yourself, because “no one else does”.

But it’s also about this identification. Some exaggerating being different from the rest, the normal part of the population, because they want to feel better as to intelligence, and then they can claim that they don’t belong among normal people. In other words: I think Mensans feel more odd than equally intelligent people outside Mensa, in average. The focus is IQ and intelligence, or puzzles and brain games, more than using one’s intelligence to something useful in the general society. Maybe. It’s diverse also inside Mensa. I see people there discuss a variety of themes, most daily problems, in ways that people with more normal intelligence wouldn’t. At least not in such an intellectual language. That’s something. I miss more existential discussions, though.

The egos are generally big, but maybe not more among Mensans than others. It’s difficult to say. In Mensa and in general in high IQ communities it’s more specific focus on IQ-measures, intelligence per se and competition between members.

That said, it’s not easy to be different. Many highly intelligent people are treated bad in a universal harsh environment. It’s about normality everywhere.

The national high IQ community is, to me, Mensa. I don’t feel especially welcomed. I think this varies depending on who you ask. To me it’s more about suspicion and subtle attacks. I guess the reason is mixed; I am not very social and inviting as a person. Stubborn. Demanding, I guess. And I score high on unauthorized IQ-tests. That doesn’t sound well in Mensa. It’s also about personal traits, and what you write and how people interpret that. Mensans and people in the high IQ communities are in that respect not different from others.

Jørgensen: I am not a member of Mensa Norway, but within the near future a Mensa membership could be exciting to explore. So by that I leave the follow-up questions to my peers.

Olsen: The membership fee for a full year is 500 NOK (approximately 57 USD or 48 EUR), if you’re 18+. There’s a 50 % discount if you’re under the age of 18, and a 50 % discount if you join from 1st of July until 31st of October. Yes, the discounts stack. Our gender distribution is about 77.5 % male, 22.5 % female, and < 1 % identifying as other/unknown. Approx. 30 % of our members are in the 31-40 age bracket. Our youngest member recently started in their first year at school, and a handful of current members were born before WW2.

Mensa was the first high-IQ society I joined (I was recruited by my fiancée, before we were a couple), and we have several friends here. So far I haven’t really seen the need to pursue more obscure societies. I don’t even know if I would qualify for any of the “higher” societies.

Jacobsen: For the two who aren’t leaders of a national high-IQ group, what seem like some of the issues perceived in running a high-IQ national group? For the one who is a leader of a national group, what are some of the difficulties of bringing together the high-IQ communities under the same umbrella?

Haereid: To unify a lot of un-unifiable single individuals. It’s a lot of different intelligent people with strong individual opinions, and therefore a lot of ME.

To make objective goals with plans that fulfills the original idea of Mensa from the post WW2 when established in 1946; to gather the most intelligent people to create ideas to avoid future wars and holocaust-scenarios. Including racism and social polarization. It seems that this is forgotten or repressed.

Jørgensen: Well it is hard to say as I have no personal experience in leading a high-IQ group, but I would expect from what I have previous seen in the various groups by portraying the role of active leadership, followed by scrutiny with reference to the group-leaders’ personal innovative engagement within the various thematic forums thus creating and securing oversight with reference to group stability.

Olsen: Here in Norway, I guess a big part of the hindrance is that there doesn’t seem to be any other active hiqh-IQ societies here.

Jacobsen: To the qualifications for Mensa Norway, what are the measurement tools demanded for membership? What is the standard deviation? What is available for members of the community? What is the range of scores of the members if this is known and available for public consumption/presentation? Who is the highest scorer on a mainstream intelligence test in Norway?

Haereid: When I got into Mensa, it was the spatial FRT-A test; a timed 20 minutes with 45 items. It’s a generally accepted, proctored test, with the aim of discriminating intelligence between those who are within and outside the top 2% of the population. The scores are treated by a professional psychometrician. The standard deviation used is 15 on that test; IQ>=131.

I think there are many proctored, mainstream tests that can be used, like WAIS. But Eivind knows more about this, I guess.

The scores are not available. The FRT-A and similar tests are built on equality; its purpose is to measure if you have over or under 131 in IQ; if you are among or outside the top 2% of the general population, not to measure your detailed IQ beyond that.

Who is the highest scorer on a mainstream intelligence test in Norway? I would like to hear from Eivind who that is. I don’t know.

Jørgensen: As to the highest scorer on mainstream intelligence tests in Norway I would say Haereid, I would also rank him as the one to beat to reach top spot.

Olsen: We have the same requirements as other Mensa countries. You’ll need to have taken a reputable and recognized test in a supervised / monitored setting. You’ll need a score within the top 2 %, but you’re not required to take the test we provide; several other tests are valid. The test we do provide gives a score in SD 15. When people join based on another test, it’s quite often a WISC or WAIS test administered by a psychologist.

We don’t have any easily available, good statistics of the scores our members have received, except that we are fairly confident they are all within the top 2 %. Most of them join based on the test we provide, and the highest score accessible there is top 1 % (“IQ 135 or higher, at SD 15”). I have taken a non-scientific approach and asked several people I know what their score was, and it seemed to be approximately 50/50 split between 2 % and 1 %.

I don’t know who the highest scorer on any reputable intelligence in Norway is. I believe the usual reputable tests, such as the Wechsler tests, only go up to 160 @ SD15, and I’m sure there must be multiple people attaining that score.

Don’t get me started on inflated IQ scores where one conveniently lists their SD24-score without mentioning the SD and compares it to someone elses SD15-score, or where people get described as “having a higher IQ than Einstein!”…

Jacobsen: The World Genius Directory does seem to demand certification of the tests and the test scores from testees. This can be helpful. As far as I am aware, Mensa International and the Triple Nine Society – and some others – are similarly demanding and, in fact, more stringent with the requirement of mainstream intelligence tests only as opposed to mainstream intelligence tests and alternative tests for admissions. Indeed, if one examines the World Genius Directory, they can see the degrees to which the alternative tests far outnumber the mainstream intelligence test. For example, in terms of the test scores earned and submitted, Erik earned 185 S.D. 15 on the N-VRA80, while Tor earned a 172 S.D. 15 on the Lexiq. How is the culture of Norway on mainstream intelligence tests and alternative tests? How seriously is either taken? How are these incorporated into the international, national, or local organizations having various cutoffs and criteria for membership?

Haereid: Mensa is strict. Not only as to admission, but also respect; there is an anti-alternative IQ-test culture. In Mensa, and I may exaggerate, are these untimed tests, many of them beautiful cognitive challenges with proper or at least quite good norms, seen as severe diseases. But I see some Norwegian mensans on the scoreboards on these alternative tests. That pleases me.

I am among the top scorers on several different alternative tests, in all categories (numerical, verbal and spatial) with high credibility in the high-IQ-environment, through many years (since 2013), and I still get critical questions from some; even though I beat most people with IQ-scores from 160 to 175 (S.D. 15) on mainstream, proctored, accepted tests, like WAIS. Some norms are, obviously, not good. Some are quite good, even though they can’t beat norms on tests like WAIS; it’s not enough data.

It seems that some have fastened in the speed-thing; “intelligence has only to do with speed”. Of course, speed is a factor, and important too. But why not include the kind of tests that has to do with solving complex problems and necessarily take some more time than 20 or 120 minutes? I guess this is debated thoroughly in the psychological environments, but anyway. I am not the only one in the high IQ community that asks this. Of course, there is a significant correlation in IQ, between the mainstream and alternative tests mentioned. To me this is obvious.

Jørgensen: As to the how the general culture of the alternative intelligence tests and its acceptance by reference to its streamline counterpart, the supervised intelligence tests. This by ground of unbalanced relationship for the sake of its professional structure and seriousness rating. Further,o the incorporation of these tests when based on the grounds of validation by relying on one for its confirmation of its counterpart, thus factualized with the following reference to the incorporation of todays standard deviation is set to the basis of the equalization principle.

Olsen: We (Mensa) can only accept scores from reputable tests that are properly normed, and that are taken in a supervised setting. We need to have confidence that you took your own test without getting any help from friends or family. And I’ll admit that I’m somewhat sceptical of the validity and reliability of any test that’s normed based on response from 10-15 people.

Jacobsen: In America, there has been a long-term decline in the considered importance of high-IQ and high-IQ societies; in fact, there’s a continuous decrease over decades of the perceived import of IQ in general. How is this trend, if any, in Norway?

Haereid: That’s interesting. It’s the opposite in Norway. We have a rise in focus, and with the Mozart of Chess Magnus Carlsen in our backyard, its importance is increasing. I don’t know if this is the case within the educational system. Tor Arne could say more about that. In general, it has gained more respect. That’s my impression.

Why is it a decline in America, do you think?

Jørgensen: The obvious response to the question at hand is to only give my support to the notion of decline, based on my personal opinion to have a high intelligence has never been looked upon as a «big deal» in any form or shape, only physical activity is viewed as any proper degree of importance in Norway.

Olsen: Whether high IQ is of importance depends entirely on who you ask. Of course, having high IQ doesn’t make you a better person, it doesn’t guarantee that you’re don’t have any glaringly negative personality issues, and it doesn’t ensure you’ll have great success in life, but there can’t be any doubt that in general higher IQ gives you access to a somewhat better toolbox. Whether you use the tools for anything worthwile is a completely different matter.

I’d also like to mention a comic strip; it’s an goldie oldie from Savage Chickens: https://www.savagechickens.com/2008/12/iq-test.html

Regarding the importance of IQ societies: it is what we make of it. Several of our members consider us to be a social environment for them. And we are that too, but not *only* that. Like pretty much every volunteer organisation, we do what we can with what our volunteers can or will provide. For example, we recently spent some time and effort into writing and sending our answer(s) to an open hearing regarding a new “law of education” here in Norway. The proposed changes to the law would have made it more difficult for gifted children to get an individually adjusted education.

Jacobsen: In terms of the flavours of the high-IQ societies, of which there are many, what seem like some of the overlaps of the styles and contents of Norwegian high-IQ individuals and societies?

Haereid: I think there are many equal traits among high IQ people independent of nation; some general ones, like stubbornness, knowing best, strong opinions, fast (and often wrong) conclusions, feeling alone and isolated, victims of bullying, nerdy, ironic. A winner in one’s own view and a loser in the normal population. This is the same in Norway as anywhere else.

Jørgensen: The general search for innovative commitment within various fields of interest such as politics, technology, and space exploration. Futher more, intelligence testing of varying degree of difficulty in the search for what is possible to achieve considering one`s mental qualities.

Olsen: I know there’s some overlap. Some of our members are also members in one or more other high IQ societies, but I don’t have the impression that it’s something many of our members do. Disclaimer: I don’t have hard facts / numbers to back this up. This is just my gut feeling, after having conversations with several members.

Jacobsen: Following from the previous question, what seem like some of the unique, or nearly distinct, qualities of Norwegian culture mapped onto the high-IQ communities, inasmuch as these exist to various types and degrees?

Haereid: At the moment I can’t come up with any specific.

Generally, Norway is a social democracy, with traditionally a rural population. We are not very social, but kind if people (want to and dare to) learn to know us. We hate small talk, I guess, and fumble when we meet any from abroad that are better than us in being nice to strangers. That’s not one of our strengths. We are not very nice to strangers, who we treat like trespassers; people we don’t know, foreigners, can experience Norwegians as ignorant and rejective. But often it’s shyness, based on a history under suppression. Norwegians can be quite rude, and seemingly lack empathy. It’s not our best trait. But we can also be the best friend if we feel comfort and learn to trust the people around us. Norwegians are intelligent. But it’s not always that visible because of the shyness and introvert behavior; you have to read between the lines. I think Norwegians are complicated, and that includes the highly intelligent ones.

Jørgensen: With that notion in mind from previous question, there is a clear link in order to not undermine their qualities in order to «fit in» with their own, and not overestimate these qualities solely based on their sociocultural perspective within its contextual contemporary momentum.

Olsen: I guess modesty might be a Scandinavian thing; it does seem like several members are afraid that others will know they’re a member. Not because they’re ashamed of the organization, but because they think it might be considered bragging.

Some members are asking if they should put their Mensa membership on their resume / CV, also fearing that it might be seen as bragging.

Personally, I don’t see why it should be a problem that someone finds out you’re a member. For me it boils down to if, how and when I inform people. It’s never the first thing I tell people, unless it’s relevant. If I meet someone in a social setting, I *never* introduce myself as “Eivind Olsen, chair of Mensa Norway”, but I will do that if it’s relevant, for example if I’m being interviewed by media. I don’t even try to argue that “you should listen to me because my IQ score is probably higher than yours” – that’s the quickest path to losing any discussion, really. I don’t flash my membership card unless I have a good reason. One good reason would be when I buy hamburgers at the regular meeting place of my local Mensa chapter, since I will then get a discount.

Jacobsen: What are some of the plans and expected developments for Mensa Norway in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, whether in 2020, 2021, even potentially beyond?

Olsen: All our physical activities were put on hold for a while but we’re now opening up more and more again. We have our annual “national test day” in 2 weeks, and all our proctors have been informed about the extra precautions we are taking, such as ensuring people keep their distance, and making sure there’s plenty of disinfectant available (for external use only). We are still growing, but somewhat slower than we would have expected had this been a non-coronavirus year. Some of our bigger plans have had to slow down due to the situation but we’re hoping we can pick up the lost speed.

Appendix I: Footnotes

He did his military duty in His Majesty The King’s Guard (Drilltroppen)).

Then the consultant company started to grow, and he quitted BI and used his full time in NIA (Nordic Insurance Administration). This was in 1998/99, and he has been there since.

Eivind Olsen is a member of Mensa Norway since 2014, having filled various roles since then (chair of Mensa Bergen regional group, national test coordinator, deputy board member, and now chair).

He was born in Bergen, Norway, in 1976, but has lived in a few other places in Norway, including military service in the far north of the country.

He is currently residing in Bergen, Norway, with his significant other, 2+2 offspring, 2 cats and a turtle.

[4] Individual Publication Date: September 15, 2020: http://www.in-sightjournal.com/norway-1; Full Issue Publication Date: January 1, 2021: https://in-sightjournal.com/insight-issues/.

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2023-03-22

Conversation with Anonymous Canadian High-IQ Community Member on High-IQ, the Sciences, Vancouver, and The University of British Columbia: Member, International Society for Philosophical Enquiry (ISPE) (2)

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

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

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2020/09/15

Abstract

This is an interview with an anonymous Canadian member of the high-IQ communities. He discusses: The University of British Columbia; some of the benefits of the higher IQ in personal life; some of the benefits of the higher IQ in professional life; statistics and mathematics; the local Vancouver culture; the campus culture; the degree in mathematics and statistics; the family background in high-level academics; this career in the sciences; and research question.

Keywords: campus culture, high-IQ, IQ, The University of British Columbia, Vancouver.

Conversation with Anonymous Canadian High-IQ Community Member on High-IQ, the Sciences, Vancouver, and The University of British Columbia: Member, International Society for Philosophical Enquiry (ISPE) (2)

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

Scott Douglas Jacobsen: So, you’re studying at The University of British Columbia. You’re scoring high on alternative tests. You’re new to the community. What are some of the insights garnered through some of the mathematics and statistics education at The University of British Columbia for you?

Anonymous Canadian High-IQ Community Member[1],[2]*: I learn most things on my own time, rather than relying on my education. Through my general education, I was quite pleased with my philosophy professor, and I even had a 3-hour conversation with him through office hours one time. He was knowledgeable on many subjects and had even let me borrow a few scholarly books and articles. I usually find it challenging to approach professors, which was the first time, but I found it quite a fantastic experience. I think some insights gained through my education thus far are how to encourage in-depth conversations about thought-provoking topics, listen carefully, consider other viewpoints, and learn voraciously. Even to hear all types of voices, such as those from peer-reviewed journal articles (holds most weight), professors, books, blogs, the internet, the general public, etc. Thanks to my current insights garnered, I think academia is a viable option for me to pursue in the future.

Jacobsen: What do you feel has been some of the benefits of the higher IQ in personal life?

Anonymous Canadian High-IQ Community Member: One benefit is self-confidence. It is important to feel satisfied in one’s ability to live life with the mindset that one can continue to grow, despite any setback. Of course, one should not go around bragging about one’s intelligence, as that will not yield any benefits socially. Even if you knew your I.Q. was much higher than someone else’s, it is not polite to show any signs of a superiority complex. Confidence and arrogance, while similar, are not the same. I think when being confident, you don’t view others as a threat, and instead, you can focus on using one’s higher I.Q. to try to benefit others. Arrogance points to low self-esteem because you feel threatened by other people and believe you must defend yourself. Confident people don’t have to repeatedly rub their achievements in people’s faces because they know their value. Knowing I have a high I.Q. made me recognize that I can probably succeed in a lot of things if the mindset and personality are at an appropriate level. Still, I should also be making positive contributions to other people’s lives at the same time.

Jacobsen: What do you feel has been some of the benefits of the higher IQ in professional life?

Anonymous Canadian High-IQ Community Member: Given that IQ tests, like standardized tests, measure fundamental life skills, there are many benefits. My intelligence has helped me out tremendously, despite figuring things out relatively late in my life. It has helped me thrive in a STEM field at a reasonably elite University (top 40) despite a very poor work ethic since high school.

An exceptionally high IQ will likely help me comprehend difficult material, perform complex actions, or learn the intricate skills necessary for demanding tasks. Examples of cognitively demanding activities include STEM careers, mental sports (Chess, eSports, mental Olympians), music composition, and the like. The correlation between IQ and occupational success is lower in occupations that are less demanding and more repetitive. Sometimes, high IQ individuals will perform exceptionally poorly on tasks that correlate weakly with general intelligence.

Jacobsen: Why did you decide to pursue statistics and mathematics?

Anonymous Canadian High-IQ Community Member: Going into university, I wasn’t so sure what I’d like because I never took academics seriously and had some of the poorest work ethic imaginable. I still did well in mathematics-based courses because they seemed to come naturally, perhaps because my culture had also prepared me more in mathematics. I believe aptitudes, interests, culture, and career prospects played decisive roles. My mathematical skills are currently higher than my verbal skills, so a STEM field made sense. On standardized tests, I can solve math problems considerably faster than verbal problems. However, my verbal reasoning skills have risen exceptionally quickly since university had begun. Culture has played a profound role because, like most immigrant parents (Chinese and Indian I can speak about), it does not look terrific if one decides to study a field that doesn’t lead to a secure job. Most try to look down on the arts and humanities as entirely useless. If I wasn’t worried about money, I would probably just major in Philosophy or Psychology and pursue my passions. It’s a bit late for that now since I took too many courses related to mathematics and statistics and performed well, so it would be a waste to turn away from it. I decided that I should probably try to obtain a double major in Statistics or Mathematics alongside Philosophy. I decided this was perhaps the best way to have a balance. It is hard to be very proficient in both domains, but someone of my caliber of intelligence should tackle the challenge.

Parents and peers have influenced me. I was encouraged to major in Computer Science by parents and pursue either Law or Medicine by peers. I was stuck deciding what type of career to choose, but I decided on these three fields at the start of university because I wanted to do what my friends did. However, my inner urge was telling myself to pursue the most important questions of our time. I spent more time learning about Philosophy, Psychology, and various other fields than my education, which has negatively impacted my academic performance. I made virtually my whole life based on my deepest interests instead of focusing solely on my STEM education. I don’t regret anything since it was what my inner drives told me I ought to do, rather than what my parents or peers would expect me to do instead. I hope to graduate with reasonable skills in statistics and mathematics to gain a job in case I decide to give up on research. This way, I get to study in a lucrative field and learn something I’m more interested in at the same time. My verbal reasoning abilities and vocabulary has been growing at an extraordinary rate and may even surpass my mathematical skills in time.

Life is arduous when you’re a late bloomer and giving it your all to discover what suits you. I’m gratified of myself for effectuating my interests in such a short amount of time.

Jacobsen: Do you find the local Vancouver culture conducive to the flourishing of high-IQ types?

Anonymous Canadian High-IQ Community Member: High IQ types are always more likely to flourish. However, no culture seems to be able to allow outliers and outsiders (geniuses) to succeed. People who are too different in both intelligence and personality will be way out of the norm. In today’s society, people are obsessed with STEM, whereas the genius follows their inner motivation to pursue abstract problems. Geniuses can never flourish without the right support and recognition to pursue their passions.

Jacobsen: How is the campus culture at The University of British Columbia?

Anonymous Canadian High-IQ Community Member: I don’t partake in campus culture, so I’m not totally sure. Every school I have attended has always been packed with Chinese people. Everywhere on campus, you can see Chinese students, both international and domestic, and in classes as well. I don’t care about which school I attend in Canada quite honestly; they are all the same to me. The elite universities are somehow overrepresented by East Asian’s, so Chinese culture will likely be of the most influence. UBC probably has many Chinese influences, such as in its style, food, and language. I tend to eat Chinese food quite a bit on campus, and every time I go, I see a bunch of Chinese students, whereas I tend to sit alone in my own world. Regardless, I am not the right person to ask regarding this.

Jacobsen: When you graduate with the degree in mathematics and statistics, what do you hope to pursue – more education or work relevant to the qualifications of mathematics and statistics?

Anonymous Canadian High-IQ Community Member: I might pursue a master’s in Mathematics, Statistics, or Philosophy. I had someone tell me I should aim for a Ph.D. in Cognitive Psychology. These programs can prepare me for a career in science. My STEM education will help me find a job, but it will be valuable in research additionally. Only academic research will fully employ my full capabilities, but I can do reasonably well in a standard setting, but I will likely not enjoy it. I am still early into my degree, so my aspirations may very well change in a few years, but I think at this moment, I have to do my best. I hope to graduate with ample skills to gain a job, but I will concentrate on academic research and try to reach the top of anything I wish to pursue.

Jacobsen: Do you find the family background in high-level academics an inspiration to pursue formal education more?

Anonymous Canadian High-IQ Community Member: No. Given that my family expects a lot from me, it makes me nervous and gives me tremendous pressure to perform admirably. Eternally I was not too fond of school and felt it was too dull for me. I did very well at times, but I think I didn’t feel very motivated unless I felt I could reach the top. Given that I didn’t take academics earnestly in the past, I still had a fear of failure because I was far behind everyone else in preparation and motivation. I feel that my peers influenced me a lot and made me take academics more seriously. In my senior year of high school, many of my classmates were striving for professional careers, so I just decided to follow them. I didn’t want to disappoint my parents, and I also didn’t want to be the only one among my peers to be way out of the norm. I decided I should aim to attend the best schools and the most prestigious programs and careers, although I later realized how pathetic I was to conform to such trivial matters. I discerned that I didn’t need any of this for motivation to pursue formal education more. My inspiration comes from my desire to acquire more knowledge and learn about the world, to fulfill my need for intellectual stimulation. Financial independence has never been a thing I worried about. My major worry is whether or not I will be able to reach the top of my career and solve the most challenging problems, against all odds. I am not guaranteed to become successful, but given that I have put a lot of energy into finding my academic passion, I can still reach my potential, despite being a late bloomer and gaining motivation at a very late stage of my life.

Jacobsen: If you pursue this career in the sciences, what sciences will most interest you? Why those?

Anonymous Canadian High-IQ Community Member: Given that the subject of intelligence has had a profound impact on my life, I would choose to become an intelligence researcher. There are too many important topics and creative ideas I have in store. I consider this field a domain of importance, given its complexity and social value.

The International Society for Intelligence Research (ISIR) may be an organization I am interested in. Intelligence researchers are, without a doubt, the brightest in the broad field of psychology, and many individuals come from a variety of areas aside from psychology. Many intelligence researchers are self-taught statisticians. It is also a secret, but many intelligence researchers were once members of the most elite IQ societies (above Mensa with strict requirements) such as the Triple Nine Society (TNS), International Society for Philosophical Enquiry (ISPE), and the Prometheus society.

Intelligence is a bit of a taboo subject, and the topic is not given the undivided attention in university as it deserves. Most of the general public is not well educated on this subject, so I believe I can help fill in those gaps in all those myths that pervade our culture. It also seems like I may be destined to be the one to do this. I have had amazing conversations with the general public who are entirely clueless, and many times people tell me how grateful they are for sharing. They find the things I have to say to be very interesting, but they may not have the same level of intellectual curiosity I do.

My philosophical interests are related to the philosophy of science, philosophy of biology, philosophy of race, philosophy of genius, epistemology, and rationality.

To briefly discuss genius once again, some philosophers touch on this subject. Genius is vital to me because I realized that there is a high probability that I could be a genius. I have always had trouble understanding myself, but somehow this one label related to me more than anything else. Giftedness and Prodigiousness also influenced me and are likely what I am interested in as well.

I have not found much interest in mathematics or statistics research, but the skills acquired from my education will be invaluable to a career in research.

Jacobsen: What research question would most interest you?

Anonymous Canadian High-IQ Community Member: The research question that has interested me ever since I graduated high school was the controversial subject about the causes of group differences in IQ test scores within and between nations.

I want to pursue something useful to society and is complicated enough to feel intellectually satisfied. I am not here to solve social problems, but the truth may likely assist that indirectly. Finding all the environmental causes of group differences is an abstract problem.

The race and IQ subject has been in my head for over a year now, and it is a fascinating debate, despite its turbulent history. Intelligence isn’t taught seriously in university because different ethnic groups score differently, on average, on IQ tests. Solving this problem entirely would likely put an end to the taboo.

There are many different perspectives on this taboo subject, but it is my best opinion that the totality of evidence points to a solely environmental cause for group differences.

It just seems like I should be the one to solve this problem since I have developed the skills to rationally and honestly solve this problem, without racism/prejudice or political/personal bias. James Flynn was one of my favorite academics, and he had unfortunately passed away recently. It seems like the individual most likely to succeed him may very possibly be me. I understand his views the most and have conversed with him as well. His interest in race and IQ was due to his political opinions (he has publicly stated). However, he has been sincere and respectable, in addition to having profoundly contributed to the subject of intelligence.

Many people who believe there may be some genetic basis for the gaps (yet they can’t provide a percentage), but who are also afraid of how the research will be used, will likely ask the questions “Give me one reason this research benefits the world” or “What’s the point?” Some will go into flames and tell me whatever the answer may be; the consequences are too destructive. This implies that they believe in what they do not want. These people wish this subject to somehow be ignored for thousands of years. This is a fallacy. These individuals never provide any evidence for their assertions and always rely on fallacious arguments. The statement that IQ is mostly based on genetics is entirely worthless. Any reasonable person should not be afraid of tackling this problem honestly. These people cannot see that their opinions are not based on rational scientific reasoning. I see the differences as likely to be minor and of unknown direction.

I am not very political, but I have given enough thought to why solving this problem will benefit the world. Aside from ending the taboo on IQ, I have realized that there is no rational reason to delay the inevitable. The causes of group differences are of crucial scientific interest, and if done fairly and honestly, can benefit the world. Many people tell me that the differences cannot be entirely environmental and say that I should ignore this subject altogether. These individuals never provide any evidence for their assertions and, when confronted, merely say that genetics influence intelligence, and thus group average differences must have some genetic component. This statement is ignorant and irrelevant to the subject at hand. Even if this is true, it is better to find all the environmental factors that handicap specific groups in society rather than ignore them. With that said, any argument that relies on trying to delay the inevitable can be very easily refuted. An appeal to consequences is just another fallacy I have no time for.

It is better for the answer to come out as soon as possible. I can not wait 500 years for this question to be settled because I will not be alive. Is it better for the truth to be known now, in 100 years, 500 years, or in 50,000 years? Any honest and reasonable person will immediately answer now. Anyone who says that we should never look for the truth exposes themselves as not believing that significant environmental factors influence these outcomes. If we never study the subject honestly, how can we find the environmental factors that can help certain groups advance in society? Also, note that no one will say any of these things in public, but only privately express their concerns. The wide range of viewpoints from the general public needs unpacking, and understanding the social experiences of different ethnic groups requires a candid examination. After this is settled, the IQ taboo should disappear. If we can not talk about this, then society has failed. No knowledge is dangerous by itself, only how we use it.

If we can give everyone a decent life, we wouldn’t need to worry about superficial things like race or IQ. At the moment, however, these things are not insignificant because they impact outcomes and overall life experience. If we ever reach that point for everyone in the world, where we wouldn’t need to care too much about IQ or race, life will be more pleasant for everyone worldwide. When I look at people, I try not to see color. I understand individuals for who they are. If everyone can live a satisfactory life, maybe if we glanced at one another, perhaps we would still detect color, but hopefully, we will notice something else standing behind it.

Appendix I: Footnotes

[1] Member, International Society for Philosophical Enquiry (ISPE).

[2] Individual Publication Date: September 15, 2020: http://www.in-sightjournal.com/anonymouscanada-2; Full Issue Publication Date: January 1, 2021: https://in-sightjournal.com/insight-issues/.

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2023-03-22

Conversation with Beatrice Rescazzi on Membership and Qualifications: President, AtlantIQ Society (2)

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

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

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2020/09/08

Abstract

Beatrice Rescazzi is the President of the AtlantIQ Society. She discusses: general internal dynamics of the AtlantIQ Society; the “most striking and distinctive thing about high IQ groups of women”; the listed tests; admission criteria; FAQs section; and membership.

Keywords: AtlantIQ, Beatrice Rescazzi, membership, qualifications, tests.

Conversation with Beatrice Rescazzi on Membership and Qualifications: President, AtlantIQ Society (2)

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

Scott Douglas Jacobsen: Let’s get into some of the general internal dynamics of AtlantIQ Society now, what is the current headcount of the membership? What are some general indications as to the demographics of the community in AtlantIQ Society? How does this current membership size and demographic compare to the beginnings, the early days, of AtlantIQ Society? What were some of the earliest productions of the community out of AtlantIQ?

Beatrice Rescazzi[1],[2]*: There are 210 members at the moment. I collected some stats in 2011 about their IQ and the language spoken by the members. The magazine was born a few months after the foundation of the society itself, which is now more than 10 years ago. Along with that, we created an affiliation with UNICEF on behalf of the entire society, and the members sent about 500 dollars to UNICEF for their humanitarian projects.

Jacobsen: What are some amusing facts women have in the high-IQ communities discuss amongst themselves about the general community, even about some of the controversies and personality feuds involving mostly the men?

Rescazzi: The most striking and distinctive thing about high IQ groups of women is that no one ever talks about their IQ, IQ tests, scores and comparisons with others. The main topic is of a political nature, followed by social issues, social justice, ethics, equality, books, art, space launches, artificial intelligence and more. I can’t think of any particular joke about the men in the group, but sometimes funny memes with male / female stereotypes are posted.

Jacobsen: You have a list of the admission criteria, as follows:

Accepted IQ tests:

EMC-30R (raw score=10)
HART-26 (raw score=8)
MRI-30R (raw score=14)
Tractatus Logicus 37 (raw score=10)
Logima Strictica 36 (raw score=8)
Esoterica (raw score=6)
LSHR (raw score=6)
LSHR Light (raw score=12)
Einplex (raw score=13)
Triplex (raw score=6)
Verba 66 (raw score=22)
DIGIT (raw score=18)
SLSE 48 (raw score=6)
TetrastIQ Light (raw score=15)
Cooijmans intelligence Test (raw score=23)

Other IQ tests can be considered and accepted.
in any case, acceptance is always at the will of either the President and/or the Officers.

(AtlantIQ Society, 2019a)

Why these tests? With the listed tests by Alexi Edin (e.g., the 2016 Extreme Matrix Challenge – 30: Revised, the 2017 High Abstract Reasoning Trial – 26, the 2017 Matrix Reasoning Index – 30: Revised, and the 2017 Digits Investigate General Intelligence Trial), Christopher Collin (e.g., the 2008 Tractatus Logicus 37), Robert Lato (e.g., the 1999 Logima Strictica 36), Mislav Predavec (e.g., the 2007 Esoterica and the 2008 Verba 66), Ivan Ivec (e.g., the LSHR, the LSHR Light, Einplex, and Triplex), Jonathan Wai (e.g., the 2003 Strict Logic Spatial Examination 48), Gabriel Garofalo (e.g., the TetrastIQ Light), and Paul Cooijmans (e.g., the 2009 Cooijmans Intelligence Test – Form 3E), why these test authors? Following from the last question, what made these particular authors’ tests, or the tests listed of these test creators, appealing and worthy of admission criteria stature?

Rescazzi: AtlantIQ tests are selected based on reliability criteria, in comparison to average scores of other tests, based on the number of people who have taken the test, based on the norming phase and if the test has been compromised by online answers. In the Admission & Info page of the AtlantIQ website it is written that “Other IQ tests can be considered and accepted.” This includes a multitude of other tests, ranging from classic ones to newer ones that are considered when evaluating the submission, taking into consideration the other elements necessary for membership.

Some tests, which I call “slot-machine” type tests, are usually not accepted, because I consider them unethical: in fact they exploit people’s low self-esteem to push them to spend money and repeat the tests indefinitely until they reach the highest possible score. Moreover, these tests are automatically corrected by a program, and therefore have no reason to take a lot of money from the testee people with each new attempt.

I am embittered by the maniacal fixation for the IQ score in this environment: where are the innovative ideas, the depth of thoughts, the superior global vision that must also apply to the people themselves? Is there only IQ in people, or is it the yardstick that measures their whole value? No. And intelligence certainly cannot just be enclosed in a fallacious number eradicated from what should be a full assessment of the potential performed by a psychometrist psychologist. Of course, that score measures a potential, but we must not compare it to intelligence itself or anything more important than what it represents.

Jacobsen: Let’s say someone qualifies, what does membership confer upon, or get, the new member into AtlantIQ Society?

Rescazzi: When a person is accepted as a member of AtlantIQ, he/she becomes a life member and has access to a reserved area of the site where he/she has access to the private group, the library, can take part in challenges, and can take decisions on the society itself by means of questionnaires.

References

AtlantIQ Society. (2019a). Admission and Info: Accepted IQ Tests. Retrieved from www.atlantiqsociety.com/admission-and-info.html.

Collin, C. (2008, September). Tractatus Logicus 37. Retrieved from news.generiq.net/TL37/tl37.html.

Cooijmans, P. (2009). Cooijmans Intelligence Test – Form 3E. Retrieved from https://iq-tests-for-the-high-range.com/cooijmans_intelligence_test.html.

Edin, A. (2016). Extreme Matrix Challenge – 30: Revised. Retrieved from media.iqlati.net/2017/11/EMC-30R.pdf.

Edin, A. (2017c). Digits Investigate General Intelligence Trial. Retrieved from media.iqlati.net/2018/09/DIGIT.pdf.

Edin, A. (2017b). High Abstract Reasoning Trial – 26. Retrieved from media.iqlati.net/2019/02/HART-26.pdf.

Edin, A. (2017a). Matrix Reasoning Index – 30: Revised. Retrieved from media.iqlati.net/2018/01/MRI-30R.pdf.

Garofalo, G. (n.d.). TetrastIQ Light. Retrieved from https://tetrastiqlight.weebly.com/the-test.html.

Ivec, I. (n.d.). Einplex. Retrieved from ivec.ultimaiq.net/einplex.htm.

Ivec, I. (n.d.). LSHR. Retrieved from ivec.ultimaiq.net/lshr.html.

Ivec, I. (n.d.). LSHR Light. Retrieved from ivec.ultimaiq.net/lshr_light.htm.

Ivec, I. (n.d.). Triplex. Retrieved from ivec.ultimaiq.net/triplex.html.

Lato, R. (1999). Logima Strictica 36. Retrieved from news.generiq.net/LS36/ls36.html.

Predavec, M. (2007, November). Esoterica. Retrieved from news.generiq.net/Trilogica/esoterica.html.

Predavec, M. (2008, September). Verba 66. Retrieved from news.generiq.net/Verba66/verba66.html.

Appendix I: Footnotes

[1] President, AtlantIQ Society.

[2] Individual Publication Date: September 8, 2020: http://www.in-sightjournal.com/rescazzi-2; Full Issue Publication Date: September 1, 2020: https://in-sightjournal.com/insight-issues/.

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2023-03-22

Conversation with Heiðrún Ósk Sigfúsdóttir on Sustainable Fashion in Iceland: Founder, Dimmblá (1)

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

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

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2020/09/08

Abstract

Heiðrún Ósk Sigfúsdóttir is the Chief Executive Office of Dimmblá and Chief Executive Officer of Rebutia. She discusses: new developments on Dimmblá; Dimmblá and Rebutia; the second company start; and sustainability in fashion.

Keywords: Dimmblá, Heiðrún Ósk Sigfúsdóttir, Rebutia, sustainable fashion.

Conversation with Heiðrún Ósk Sigfúsdóttir on Sustainable Fashion in Iceland: Chief Executive Officer, Dimmblá (1)

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

Scott Douglas Jacobsen: Okay, so, it’s been several years since we last talked.

Heiðrún Ósk Sigfúsdóttir[1],[2]: Yes [Laughing].

Jacobsen: We’ve collaborated twice. I was an editor [Ed. and writer] for Trusted Clothes. We did an interview for Dimmblá. Secondly, you’re one of the few people, in fact, who I’ve permitted to do interview with me.

Sigfúsdóttir: [Laughing].

Jacobsen: I have been offered several. It was for your blog. So, I appreciate the opportunity to take part in that. So, here we are again, a third time, this time we will be focusing on something of which I am already aware, which is Dimmblá, and then a second thing which I only became aware only based on a conversation before the interview. It was the start-up that you’re beginning to – well – start up. Let’s start on known ground, what are some new developments on Dimmblá and then preface this on some conversation on ethical and sustainable fashion for those who may not know what it is?

Sigfúsdóttir: For developments for Dimmblá, basically, for years, when I had been working for Dimmblá, my passion became more and more on educating people more. In Iceland with Dimmblá, I was one of the first to start with an sustainable ethical brand. People were, more or less, shocked to see, “Why is this more expensive? Why do I buy something expensive? Why don’t I go to a fast fashion store and buy something 1/3^rd of the price of this?” I started to do my newsletters and blog to, more or less, educate people. It is, more or less, helping them. It is not preaching to them. It is more like I don’t want people to get scared. I don’t want to scare children. I want people to be more aware of what they can do to do better in their daily life. It is not simply by me. Because, now, I am presenting brands, which I love and am a collaborator. For example, tomorrow, I am going live with a brand in Budapest. She is making amazing stuff from plastic straws and cork from the bottle.

So, I thought, “Okay, it is not only my brand, which I want to present. I want to present them. The small brands and startups that need to get to the market. However, I don’t have the knowledge of how to present themselves or do the marketing. However, I have experience and want to make use of it, and to present them. Also, I want to get to the masses of people of how to live a more sustainable life.” That’s, basically, the direction that I went. Even now, I started with accessories, scarves. I did a little bit of dresses, but I never wanted to go into mass production of anything. So, I started the pre-orders. Now, I am doing organic cosmetics or skincare. That’s the next thing that will come out from Dimmblá. This is my passion. I think there’s an occasion. This is what brought me to start the other company. I was really sure about my purpose. My purpose was to bring people service that will have reduced impact on the world. That’s exactly what I always think about; everything I do for Dimmblá. Also, everything I do for my other company, Rebutia. This one purpose has driven me forward.

Jacobsen: What does Dimmblá mean? What does Rebutia mean?

Sigfúsdóttir: [Laughing] Okay, so, Dimmblá is, basically, a Navy Blue. When I chose Dimmblá, I wanted to have something, which represented the nature of Iceland. When I started to think about the nature of Iceland, this is Navy Blue. We see this in so many things. When you see some of the collections that I did with the glacier collection, you see a lot of this colour. It is not that I wanted to see everything in blue [Laughing], as some may have thought, because it was Navy Blue. It was because I wanted something representing nature, so I chose this name. With Rebutia, so, you know what we’re doing to make the connection. We are developing an artificially intelligent stylist. [Laughing] Yes. It is a stylist online, which will help you pick the correct clothes, according to body structure, hobbies, and occupation.

Jacobsen: That’s amazing.

Sigfúsdóttir: [Laughing] So, this has, actually, been in development for some years. Now, we are working with Reykjavik University, not University of Iceland. We got the grant this year. It is 20,000,000ISK. That’s like ~200,000CAD. So, we got the grant. We are full speed now, in development, for the next months. We are a team of 4 people. We have two software engineers working with us. Then we have a stylist with 20 years of background as a stylist for companies and people in Iceland.

Jacobsen: That’s amazing. So, Dimmblá started in 2014. When did the second company start, or at least its in-development planning phases?

Sigfúsdóttir: Yes, so, we have been working; basically, it is a funny story. I started in 2018 to work on an idea that I had to start something new. In the beginning, I thought that this was the direction to go with Dimmblá. That was renting clothes. However, I needed the platform to help me with that. Then one of my friends here in Iceland. This is one of the things. We are all connected in some way or another. Basically, you only need to talk to someone, as we’re only connected in seven steps.

Jacobsen: Seven degrees of Kevin Bacon!

Sigfúsdóttir: [Laughing] Yes, my friend called me. I remember this call. I was on a Summer vacation in Akureyri. She called me to talk with me. She said, “What are you doing now?” I told her about this idea. I had a partner in Sweden by that time. I was telling her about this idea. She said, “Oh my God,” this was in 2018, “I have to introduce you to my friend,” or, “a person who I talked to.” She mentioned them developing a platform, which I could use. I said, “Really.” She connected us.” My stylist who I am working with. She had been developing this platform for 3 or 4 years. She had been working on this with programmers. We started the company last year in February. We had been starting last year and deciding how we were going to continue this. We found out, basically, renting clothes has been done, of course, as you know. There are so many companies like that.

When we started to think about it, we thought, “That’s a lot of waste. You send the clothes back and forth. You are cleaning the clothes. Everything is included. So, in the end, how can you be saving the environment by doing this?” So, we thought that it would be better to use the platform, which had already been used. The raw software, to build on it. We decided to make out a stylist that chooses the correct clothes for you. Then you purchase the clothes. What do you want to do? You want to reduce the turn rate. We want to drastically reduce the turn rate of cloths. So, people are more confident when they are buying clothes online. Same thing with today with increased people buying things online. We want to be sure that we are, actually, purchasing the right clothes. So, you don’t have to return them. I think this will also save the retailers a lot of money. The clothes returned are, usually, not resold.

We were chosen to participate in an accelerator in Iceland last year, Startup Reykjavik. We were met in a competition in Finland, which we won in September of last year. Then we got the grant [Laughing] We are full speed now. It is an awesome project, our company. We are a talented team. I think that’s been a little bit tough fro me with Dimmblá. I started this as my idea. It was my baby. I was alone. I really wanted to build another company. I wanted to have a talented team. When you start a company, you can’t do everything yourself. Then you have to have to hire people, which I have done with Dimmblá. It is different than just having the great team from the start. Where, of course, there are two founders, female founders, with Rebutia. It is a totally different experience than starting Dimmblá. This is, of course, more technology than fashion companies. So, the ethical and the sustainable part is that we are using the resources. We are not affecting the environment negatively.

For example, the re-using of materials or repurposing or using materials made without harming nature. The ethical part, for me, I think, in the future, we should not have to ask, “Is this sustainable? Is this ethical?”

Jacobsen: [Laughing].

Sigfúsdóttir: How far away? I have to ask, “Is this fabric sustainable? Is this company fair trade?” No, everything will be like that. Of course! Why should it be any different?

Jacobsen: Some people may not realize. When you mentioned how regular materials and clothes are not reused, not only are they not reused, they are thrown into the ocean or the landfills. Most of those clothes, the vast majority of the materials for those are polyester.

Sigfúsdóttir: And that’s why you can’t reuse it. I don’t want to give any names. There is a fast fashion chain. It says, ‘You can return all the clothes. So, we can reuse all the materials.’ Sorry, we are just not there, yet [Laughing]. It’s just not possible. I know some people might be all into this “greenwashing.” Maybe, that’s the name for it. I mean, I don’t know. What do they do with the material, when we know it’s not possible to re-manufacture them from plastic? I don’t know.

Jacobsen: They do the same things as always with false advertising, instead, with the public facing of it.

Sigfúsdóttir: I don’t want to say. They are making an effort. That’s always good. I applaud everyone who is making an effort to make things better. When you are making false statements, that’s another thing.

Appendix I: Footnotes

[1] Founder & Chief Executive Officer, Dimmblá; Co-Founder & Chief Executive Officer, Rebutia.

[2] Individual Publication Date: September 8, 2020: http://www.in-sightjournal.com/Sigfúsdóttir-1; Full Issue Publication Date: September 1, 2020: https://in-sightjournal.com/insight-issues/.

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2023-03-22

Conversation with Richard May (“May-Tzu”/”MayTzu”/”Mayzi”) on “Stains Upon the Silence”: Co-Editor, “Noesis: The Journal of the Mega Society” (2)

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

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

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2020/09/08

Abstract

Richard May (“May-Tzu”/”MayTzu”/”Mayzi”) is a Member of the Mega Society based on a qualifying score on the Mega Test (before 1995) prior to the compromise of the Mega Test and Co-Editor of Noesis: The Journal of the Mega Society. In self-description, May states: “Not even forgotten in the cosmic microwave background (CMB), I’m an Amish yuppie, born near the rarified regions of Laputa, then and often, above suburban Boston. I’ve done occasional consulting and frequent Sisyphean shlepping. Kafka and Munch have been my therapists and allies. Occasionally I’ve strived to descend from the mists to attain the mythic orientation known as having one’s feet upon the Earth. An ailurophile and a cerebrotonic ectomorph, I write for beings which do not, and never will, exist — writings for no one. I’ve been awarded an M.A. degree, mirabile dictu, in the humanities/philosophy, and U.S. patent for a board game of possible interest to extraterrestrials. I’m a member of the Mega Society, the Omega Society and formerly of Mensa. I’m the founder of the Exa Society, the transfinite Aleph-3 Society and of the renowned Laputans Manqué. I’m a biographee in Who’s Who in the Brane World. My interests include the realization of the idea of humans as incomplete beings with the capacity to complete their own evolution by effecting a change in their being and consciousness. In a moment of presence to myself in inner silence, when I see Richard May’s non-being, ‘I’ am. You can meet me if you go to an empty room.” Some other resources include Stains Upon the Silence: something for no one, McGinnis Genealogy of Crown Point, New York: Hiram Porter McGinnis, Swines List, Solipsist Soliloquies, Board Game, Lulu blog, Memoir of a Non-Irish Non-Jew, and May-Tzu’s posterous. He discusses: “Stains Upon the Silence: something for no one” (2011); the intended meaning of the title; MayTzu or May-Tzu; the cover; a cross-section with “philosophy, cosmology, poetry and humor”; an atheist; Jorge Luis Borges in The Library of Babel; transontological studies; the conservation of information; “two fundamental theorems of quantum mechanics”; information; and information, knowledge, and wisdom.

Keywords: information, knowledge, IQ, Mega Society, Richard May, Stains Upon the Silence, wisdom.

Conversation with Richard May (“May-Tzu”/”MayTzu”/”Mayzi”) on “Stains Upon the Silence”: Co-Editor, “Noesis: The Journal of the Mega Society” (2)

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

Scott Douglas Jacobsen: Okay, now, we come to the fun bits. The greatest hits of May-Tzu in three thematic parts based on three books while bound to one singular interview and segmented into parts. Your first book for analysis is entitled “Stains Upon the Silence: something for no one” (2011). Why this title?

Richard May[1],[2]*: I think the expression that “each word is a stain upon the silence” originated with Samuel Beckett, who may have implied that his words were less true and beautiful than silence. The silence of pure consciousness in the moment is suggested to and by me, but not necessarily meant by Beckett, analogous to sunyata, the Buddhistic void.

“— Something for no one” anticipates that the book is unlikely to immediately be made into a hit TV series or become a popular film. Only the subset of the general population with both fairly high cognitive ability and a degree of “right-brainedness” and/or appreciation of artistic creativity are likely to value the work. These two factors probably have a correlation of about zero (0). So this is not a large potential audience.

Jacobsen: What is the intended meaning of the title?

May: What I’ve said above.

Jacobsen: Is it MayTzu or May-Tzu?

May: Google says it’s either. But May-Tzu is Wade-Giles. Today May-Tzu should apparently be written Mayzi, as Lao-Tzu is Laozi. The former is Wade-Giles, the latter pinyin.

Jacobsen: Who designed the cover?

May: The image was my idea. Someone who knew how to edit files, a digital artist of sorts, brought it into existence.

Jacobsen: Why make a cross-section with “philosophy, cosmology, poetry and humor” in it?

May: Why not? The universe is a Rorschach inkblot interpreted by human intelligence as a geometric theorem and also a geometric theorem interpreted by human intelligence as a Rorschach inkblot. “A complete and perfect philosophical work could be written consisting entirely of jokes” — Ludwig Wittgenstein

Jacobsen: Are you an atheist? Rather, how are you defining the “-theist” god so as to provide an “a-”?

May: I find the existence of Zeus somewhat improbable. Was the Buddha an atheist? Was Patanjali an atheist? Is advaita Vedanta atheism? Is the philosophia perennis atheism? Atheists seemed to be mostly focused on the personality of the Adorable Yahweh, and on the exoteric level of the Abrahamic religions. As Gurdjieff, among others, recognized there are different levels of religions, e.g. exoteric and esoteric, and different levels of humans beings.

Remember May-Tzu’s wager: “It is extremely improbable that God exists. But it is certain that I don’t exist. Therefore, the existence of God is a much better bet.”

Jacobsen: You quote Jorge Luis Borges in The Library of Babel on page 3, which says, “I know of an uncouth region whose librarians repudiate the vain and superstitious custom of finding a meaning in books and equate it with that of finding a meaning in dreams or in the chaotic lines of one’s palm … … … the books signify nothing in themselves. This dictum, we shall see, is not entirely fallacious.” Why quote him in this book? Why do books “signify nothing” in and of themselves?

May: Borges’ mind resonates with me; Borges is hilarious. But he attributes the view to the librarians of an *uncouth* region. If life, itself, is “full of sound and fury, signifying nothing,” then what of the literature of those who live it?

Jacobsen: What would be “transontological studies”?

May: Studies across different levels of Being, a bit beyond transgender. Maybe academic pretense also.

Jacobsen: If we take the musing in the “Preface” on the conservation of information, how might this effect considerations about human mentation and computational capacities of digital computers?

May: Maybe everything and every thing is immortal as information. Then all sorts of Immortal Dreck would exist, floating throughout space-time everlastingly as information, perhaps including human personalities.

I don’t understand how it would affect the computational capacities of digital computers. But the conservation of information may be beyond my pay grade or even the pay grade of Homo sapiens, as presently evolved.

Jacobsen: Do these “two fundamental theorems of quantum mechanics” imply a link to the ‘fundamentals’ or base of the dynamic construct called the universe and that which we – recently, mind us – deemed “information” for the proposed conservation of information if tying this knot to G.I. Gurdjieff who “maintained that all knowledge was material”?

May: I don’t understand the question.

Jacobsen: Following from the previous question, you focused on the contextualizations of information with “knowledge” and “wisdom.” In this framework, we come to the idea of the triplet linkage between information, knowledge, and wisdom. Human operators make distinctions between these. Why would the universe make such a distinction? This seems like an jump-gap with hidden premises, potentially, needing filling for more complete consideration.

May: I think, as Sir Fred Hoyle suggested, that our brains, and presumably brains in general, including exo-brains and AI, follow the logic of the universe, not vice versa. The distinctions between information, knowledge and wisdom may be natural language attempts to designate an information hierarchy of increasing levels of generality and utility, both objectively (isomorphic to ‘external’ reality and intersubjectively testable) and subjectively (isomorphic to ‘internal’ reality). — Sometimes questions have hidden premises too.

Jacobsen: Following from the previous question, we have the idea of the conservation of information and “memories,” human remembrances, as incorporative of information. Why would the universe constitutionally organize the information on the large scale akin to the manner of the human mind, so as to make the connection between human memories as a form of information? This seems similar to the dilemma with information, knowledge, and wisdom, stated in the context before.

May: I continue to think, as Sir Fred Hoyle suggested, that our brains, and presumably brains in general, including exo-brains and AI, follow the logic of the universe, not vice versa. The distinctions between information, knowledge and wisdom may be natural language attempts to designate an information hierarchy of increasing levels of generality and utility, both objectively (isomorphic to ‘external’ reality and intersubjectively testable) and subjectively (isomorphic to ‘internal’ reality).

Appendix I: Footnotes

[1] Member, Mega Society; Co-Editor, Noesis: The Journal of the Mega Society.

[2] Individual Publication Date: September 8, 2020: http://www.in-sightjournal.com/may-2; Full Issue Publication Date: September 1, 2020: https://in-sightjournal.com/insight-issues/.

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2023-03-22

Ask Two Geniuses with Dr. Christian Sorensen and Erik Haereid on Linguistic Breaks, Mind Maps, Truth, Irrational and Indeterminate, Conflicted and Contradictory Reality, Multinary Forms of Thinking, and “1+1=1”: Independent Philosopher & Metaphysician; Statistician & Actuarial Scientist (3)

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

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

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2020/09/01

Abstract

Rick Rosner and I conduct a conversational series entitled Ask A Genius on a variety of subjects through In-Sight Publishing on the personal and professional website for Rick. This series with Erik and Christian build on this idea. Erik Haereid earned a score at 185, on the N-VRA80. He is an expert in Actuarial Sciences. Christian Sorensen earned a score at 185+, i.e., at least 186, on the WAIS-R. He is an expert in philosophy. Both scores on a standard deviation of 15. A sigma of ~5.67 for Erik – a general intelligence rarity of 1 in 136,975,305 – and a sigma of ~5.67+ for Christian – a general intelligence rarity of more than 1 in 136,975,305, at least 1 in 202,496,482. Neither splitting hairs nor a competition here; we agreed to a discussion, hopefully, for the edification of the audience here. 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. This amounts to a joint interview or conversation with Christian Sorensen, Erik Haereid, and myself. They discuss: the real world and language; “emotional divine experiences”; our “mind map” implying a ‘projection of sense experience categorized into patterns with reason for thought’; eternality of truth; the power of definition; dis-prove or dis-evidence the assumption; offshoring of previously conscious awareness requiring processing; intuitive grasp of reality; a trialectic and quadralectic, etc., form of thinking about reality; forms of reasoning; reality “intrinsically contradictory and conflicted”; modern rational tools; contact points about reality; thoughts maps grounded in experience; the relationship between the thoughts and experience; the real and unreal; emotion and thinking as part of thoughts; the quality of the thoughts or the maps; the “irrational and indeterministic”; statistics; 1) our thoughts and mind structures and 2) the outputs in life and societal organization with new thoughts and new frameworks for individual and collective operation; a capital “T” Truth cannot be reached ever; ‘1 plus 1 sometimes equal 1 if one knows how to count to 3’; the arithmetic principles of annihilation and symmetry; pseudo-indeterminism; “the beginning”; 1 + 1 always equalling 2; comprehension of indeterminism and determinism; a greater understanding of the reality; principles would imply never – not simply “sometimes” – producing 2 with 1 + 1; and predictable and determinate.

Keywords: Christian Sorensen, conflicted, contradictory, Erik Haereid, indeterminate, irrational, linguistic breaks, mind maps, multinary, reality, truth.

Ask Two Geniuses with Dr. Christian Sorensen and Erik Haereid on Linguistic Breaks, Mind Maps, Truth, Irrational and Indeterminate, Conflicted and Contradictory Reality, Multinary Forms of Thinking, and “1+1=1”: Independent Philosopher & Metaphysician; Statistician & Actuarial Scientist (3)

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

Scott Douglas Jacobsen: Christian, you spoke about a “linguistic break” and the “purpose of the idea of paradox.” On “the purpose of the idea of paradox,” with “a distinction between logical validity and truth,” the implausibility of logic’s relation to truth, and truth’s relation to logic, in a chain of reasoning from language and linguistic structure and the reality of the world. What is the purpose of the idea of a paradox in this sense to elucidate the apparency of a linguistic disjunction with the truth? How much does language approximate truth – simply sufficiently for good enough evolved organisms such as ourselves to survive in the world? More directly on the “linguistic break,” what does this Grand Canyon between the real world and language mean for the attainment of capital “T” Truth in some form for consciousnesses in the universe – in fact, any iteration of the current dynamics of the universe – including homo sapiens?

Dr. Christian Sorensen[1]*: I think that the whole question must be put in negative, and start from its end in order to understand the originative reason. Therefore I will start from reality, which going backwards with the question, is the cause of everything, since what occurs following an evolutionary sense, is that nobody actually has ever wanted to know anything about reality, because in turn there is nothing more terrifying and distressing than reality as such. This conflictual knot, is what paradoxically speaking, has made survival possible, in consequence the truth, which should arises from the relationship between reality and language, is subject to the above, and to what I will denominate as the original mythical repression of the primary symbol, that consequently, is lost and leaves a space of emptiness. The mythical repression of the primary symbol, is what produces the linguistic break, due to the fact that indeed, if a piece is missing, then it is possible that the language circulates through metaphors that lead to significations, that emerge from a particular significant in relation to the rest of the significants within the chain, nevertheless not with a related reality, which ultimately implies in its meaning at the same time, a disconnection with the signified thing, since the effort to squeeze reality through the truth, always shows regardless of the discursive coherence, that something in every linguistic act escapes throughout symbolization.

Jacobsen: Erik, you spoke more to “intuition, feelings, multiple meanings, semantics” regarding paradox, especially the God concept in which something unproven or unevidenced becomes proof or evidence of “God.” What did you mean by “emotional divine experiences”?

Erik Haereid[2][3]*: Sometimes our emotions bring us into a profound feeling, a state where we feel that everything is right. It’s like being connected to reality, to the truth. We can, more or less, explain what kind of intrinsic physical phenomena going on, but not what make these processes happen.

I didn’t mean that the unproven is a proof of “God”. We reveal hidden material all the time. But I suppose that we will never be able to reveal everything. There will always be, in every event and entity, a power of definition or free will or creator that is beyond our imagination abilities.

It has nothing to do with God in the common meaning, but with how we bodily involve experiences. Sometimes I can feel “God” when I watch ants building their anthill, or when I drink my coffee and watch the sunrise. And those experiences become more or less a part of me, depending on how my body internalizes it. The unproven becomes evidence of that we do not know everything. The point is to declare scientifically, logically, rationally a respect for what we don’t know. To claim there is a God is not within that respect, because then you define something that we don’t know. The only thing we know is that we can’t know everything, for how do we prove that?

Jacobsen: If a “continuous search for truth,” as the benchmark, and the “search for a logical reality” in our “mind map” implying a ‘projection of sense experience categorized into patterns with reason for thought,’ why is this an “eternal and continuous” process?

Haereid: I don’t know if it’s literally eternal. Truth is reality. We want to see, understand, reality; confined and imprisoned into our bodily and mental construction. Since this is impossible, we search for the optimal approximation. By optimizing our thoughts, or map of reality if you want, we get closer to reality; our interaction with reality will increase, there will be more inputs and outputs. We read the constantly improving inner map while walking in the real or true environment. Our search for truth is actually a search for a better projection of truth. One of our goals is to move or interact as best as possible in the real world, and one of our tools is our cognition and world of thoughts. This mental construction’s content is rational per se. Our mind filters or choose the parts of reality that fits into our rational construction, through a translation.

I guess that by evolving increasingly larger mental space of rational connections to reality, we become better and wider in our contact with reality, and this is a goal. It enhances us. As entities we drive for, want and need this improving connection. Maybe or maybe not forever. But it’s something divine with the contact between us as entities and the rest of reality, and our brain is a tool to improve the contact points. It’s about feeling safe and in charge, having control. We create illusions, maps, over a reality that make us feel in charge. And we live from there. The problem is that we are continuously awakened by irrationality and in conflicts with the parts of reality that is not rational and under our control. Until we can rest in a sort of total rational existence, we will fight and struggle with irrationality. If we one day in evolution reach the point of total rationality, it’s an illusion that we rest in. It’s not that we have understood or seen reality, that’s impossible, but that we have ended our journey of gaining more wisdom and insight. Then we have understood that the aim is not infinite amounts of knowledge, but an optimization of knowledge adapted to the human creature. Then we could say that the struggle or conflict between Apollo and Dionysus, between the super-ego and id, between control and libido, is ended.

Jacobsen: Why can eternality of truth, the “Truth” mentioned in the question to Christian, never be ascertained by a human “mind map”?

Haereid: Because we, humans, will never know if what we see as a complete understanding and insight to the Truth contains everything. It’s because of our limitations as creatures. To know that, we have to be the power of definition ourselves. And if we one day think we are, how can we know that there is nothing more, that this idea is just only that; a narcissistic idea? If everything is like we think it is because we experience it (it’s no surprises anymore), it does not prove that it is like this, because we can’t prove that we really have experienced everything. A proved TOE (theory of everything) doesn’t prove that this proves everything, just that there is a perfect rational internal map connected to parts of reality.

Reality has unlimited content. Humans task is to combine as much of this content with our body structure as possible; within our limitations. One way of doing this is to limit our interactions with reality (experiences, sense perceptions), like we do in the virtual reality where we are more in charge of creation. And like psychopaths, fundamentalists and racists do by manipulating others into their limited views. Another way is to open up for whatever content reality shows us, and treat it inside a system like science, to evolve understanding.

Jacobsen: Why is the power of definition the point of the ‘beginning of it all’?

Haereid: Since there is something, and this has a beginning or a point of creation. But this is an idea confined in the logic of the human brain. It’s reasonable. It’s difficult to think of something as infinite. So, when we talk about infinite, we talk about something that we don’t understand. It’s irrational. Beginnings, endings and infinity demand something beyond rational thoughts. We will never capture it with our mind.

There is no explanation that fulfills what we can’t imagine or think of. How can we know that we have explained everything when we prove that we have? How can we establish such a proof? I don’t know what is outside my limits of imagination, and that’s what I call free will or power of definition. It’s a label of what I don’t know and never can know. If I said that one day I maybe will know, I would lie, like people who say that God exists. We don’t know that. It’s impossible to establish knowledge about what we never are able to internalize or capture with our mind.

Jacobsen: ‘What would dis-prove or dis-evidence the assumption (“my assumption”)?

Haereid: To make everyone accept that “my assumption” is false.

Jacobsen: Does this automaticity, offshoring of previously conscious awareness requiring processing to the non-conscious ‘mind,’ help adaptability in new and old environments, i.e., as new problems are dealt with using fresh mental resources and old problems can be automated to previous cognition?

Haereid: When we deal with new problems, we think about that problem in ways that make us aware; we use our conscious mind to solve novel problems. Like learning to drive a car. When you have learned it, you don’t think about every move you take driving it. In this process we use every stored knowledge, every inherited wisdom, any available information learned, inherited or transferred in ways we yet don’t know about or understand, to solve that problem as best as we can to fulfill what we need and wish.

Jacobsen: Erik, following from the previous question (and Part Two), when we take the “conscious rational methods” as a formulation of the ‘intuitive’ “multinary form of thinking,”, why is this intuitive grasp of reality adaptable into formalizations at all?

Our way of thinking, rationality, time-space projection, is a language constructed for humans to “see” or comprehend reality; make us interact better with reality. Parts of reality are interpreted into this human language. The power of definition, nature, god, creator or whatever has created this feature, use this either as a goal in itself or as a tool to achieve some kind of inner or unconscious wisdom. Why our thoughts and consciousness are like it is, is impossible to say. And human will always try to find answers to this, and through this process converging towards a larger consciousness, either as a tool or goal.

Another comment: I said that one possibility is that our consciousness is a tool to achieve a higher degree of truth, and when we do, our consciousness vanishes. Then it has done its job for us. Another view is to think of our consciousness as a goal in itself, not as reality, still as a map of reality, but as a map that optimizes reality for human. Our mind is the reality’s way of giving humans a best way of being aware of reality, sense it, experience it and live it in expansions of here and now; in time and space. It’s a communication tool. When we reach as close as we can, when our mind pictures reality as best as possible confined into what a human brain is, we have reached our potential as humans, and can optimize our lives. If so, the goal could be seen as a complete consciousness, and not as in my other assumption where I pictured a path where the mind map converged into reality, and then disappeared; that humans aim was to discover and develop a complete or perfect map related to reality, and then disappear. Move into the next level of beings or entities, where we are unconscious or conscious on another level than we are as humans. It’s easier to think of consciousness as a goal in itself, because that’s what we can relate to. That’s how we see it now. We learn, develop, in an accumulation of wisdom through generations and history. Why I suggest the other option is that I see life or entities as part of a process, and not as a finite ruler. We will die, extinct, go into other forms, sooner or later. I think it’s convenient to see us as tools for something going on. And as a tool we have our mind. What’s the point with that? Where does consciousness go after human extinction? Why this kind of evolution; what is it good for? Why consciousness at all?

Maybe we need to evolve our consciousness to the mentioned high or perfect level where the mind map fits reality as far as possible, and exactly then we transform into a new form that need that insight to evolve further. That’s a thought.

Jacobsen: Christian, in a dialectic, what points of reference become implied in the analysis of the dialectic for coming at a representation of the real and the unreal? In a prior interview, we talked about trialectics, quadralectics, as an advancement in complexity of the formal or more traditional dialectic. What would be implied by a trialectic and quadralectic, etc., form of thinking about reality? How would this alter, not fundamentally, the Hegelian idea of thesis and antithesis for a synthesis? Christian, what forms of reasoning seem the hardest for the human brain to compute? Why?

Sorensen: In the dialectic representation of the reality and unreality what is fundamental is the presence of the opposition of symbolic terms, that as such individually are blind, but that when placed in a linguistic chain produce a sense in terms of meaning as a third term, that by itself is also blind, since as such does not means anything, nevertheless allows ideational mobility. Therefore I believe that the dialectic, trialectic and quadrilectic, are sort of polygons, where the points are the opposing terms, and the edges are the opposing relationships between these, which in turn end up converging in what I will denominate as fugue point of meaning, that as intermediate, is the third term of the synthesis within the discursive circulation of the symbolic chain. I think that the cryptic ideal forms, are the most difficult to assimilate, because the brain is used to digital and univocal meanings, and to the sensitive connection with the world, as a primary source of knowledge.

Jacobsen: Erik, what forms of reasoning seem the hardest for the human brain to compute? Why?

Haereid: Abductive reasoning is the easiest. We make decisions naturally based on what we think is actual, possible and not, all the time. This is inborn. Deductive reasoning seems to be the hardest. Our brains are quite new, and our cognitive abilities “underdeveloped”; we need more time to catch and develop the mental devices and their possibilities.

We can travel into fictions and experience it as real in one sense, and communicate it, like we do in any virtual reality. If all our movability and empirical senses where shut down, our lives would be limited to a virtual reality. Then this is the reality. But because we experience things with our senses, and also are able to live in fictive sceneries, we have two separate existences. Deduction is therefore linked to empirics. To prove mental images and logical theories, we have to experience empirically, because this is also a crucial part of humanity; our lives are not only in our thoughts, in a book or a computer game.

The more we exclude our contact with reality, by e.g. solely live in computer games, in movies, books and so on, in virtual creations of reality, the more we construct our own reality or map if you want. Then it’s easier to think that reality is what we think, because we have constructed what we want the reality to be like. The more we are in contact with reality, the more we collide with it and meet its irrational challenges. It’s easier to live in a virtual “reality” because we can create it ourselves. Then the contradictions are easier to solve.

The beauty about our mental reality separated from empirics is that we can make it as we want. We can agree upon the rules, and in a common virtual mutual existence of social harmony become whole. We can remove irrationality and make everything under control, given that we are passive and not separate into any empirical activity. To exclude discrimination, we would have to make rules and opportunities that everyone could use and benefit on. This is simpler in virtual reality than in real sensed reality. It’s not the symbols, language, mathematics, constructed thoughts that are the problematic part of our lives, but the combination of that and the sensed experiences. If we could rely on reason, life would be easy. I guess that’s one reason why we have developed reason; it lets us control our lives into a larger degree than if we were limited to a face to face reality with the empirical world. I think that’s the reason why computer programs and virtual realities are exploding. It’s controllable. We get closer to a defining power. If we can manage to create a reality that we fully control, we can “prove” (make the illusion that we have proved) that everything is determined or rational. Then we have showed that we, or whatever that drives us, is the defining power of reality. But still we can’t know what this defining power is or where it comes from, only that we have created complete rationality inside our view of reality. Let’s say that we are part of such a process, where complete control and rationality is the goal and final outcome. This makes natural sense. We are the dominating species, and want control, because that gives us more power. Evolving a mental device that gives us the illusion of control, e.g. logics, is a proper instrument to gain more control. In this context we do not profit on an uncontrollable empirical reality. We want control, and therefore we want to prove a TOE. Or we take control over the empirical reality to make us feel more in power, and to make our mental devices fit the empirical ones.

Our aim is to make the mind maps fit the empirical reality, but also to make the empirical reality more like our mind maps, because it’s easier for us to control the latter one. A mental problem appears when we ask why is that, and where does it end. This will forever be a mental problem for us. Why do we want control/power? What’s the point? Maybe it’s life itself. But life, before our complex mental devices, was an empirical journey and not a mental one. OK, so “we” understood that evolving mentality gave us better opportunities to survive as a species. But the dichotomy is that we drive apart from empirical experiences because this take the control and power away from us. Every time we “loose our brain” we get into more risks for damage and death. The solution is obviously to control the empirical world; remove every danger. And we try to do that as well as creating virtual realities, fictions, illusions and logics that make us feel powerful. But still this is only an explanation of how we increase our survival, and not of why we want to survive and live. Life per se is still an enigma. That’s why I conclude with that life as phenomenon is irrational. In general, you could say that at some starting point there are no explanation, no reason beyond. It’s just there. And what is just there is, when we try to make it reasonable, established by a defining power or on something irrational; that’s only an expression of what we don’t control nor have any power over.

What could happen when we gain complete power? As said, one thought is that we are at The End; we all die, all human consciousness disappears, and we go let’s say into a next and higher level. Another thought is that we go into a circuit of conscious harmony or eternal lives; a fulfillment of what we now and forever want and strive for.

Jacobsen: Christian, why is reality “intrinsically contradictory and conflicted”? What substantiates the claim of the ‘intrinsic’ nature of the (internal) ‘conflict’ and (internal) ‘contradictions’? With this intrinsic nature of a conflicted and contradictory reality, what connects these two sets of two points of ‘intrinsic contradiction & ungraspability’ and ‘intrinsic conflict & unreality’? With nothing to say to no one in particular about the ultimate in specific, an interesting part of this becomes neither the spoken in general or the universally unspeakable; the junction means something. What does this mean for the meaningful statements at the linguistic breaking point or the “linguistic break” between that which “nothing could be pronounced at all” and many things have been and continue to be said all the time? What is an example of a linguistic border to the breaking point? Something leading to the unspeakable (in definition, not in the sense of a horror film creature). Christian and Erik, with modern rational tools, e.g., statistics, to inform thoughts about the world, insofar as we can know the real world, do these tools provide unprecedented or more precise maps and, therefore, understandings of the world? Even with the same genetic equipment across the species, how does this change 1) our thoughts and mind structures and 2) the outputs in life and societal organization with new thoughts and new frameworks for individual and collective operation? If a capital “T” Truth cannot be reached ever, would this mean a continuous and never-ending change in “1)” and “2)” in proportion to one another?

Sorensen: If it is assumed that the contradiction, is equivalent to the opposition, and that this last is a necessary condition for the conflict, and on the other hand, it is accepted that in reality the opposition of things exists as something evident, then it can be deduced, because contradiction exists, that reality is inherently conflicted. On the other side, ungraspability and unreality, have little to do with the contradictory and conflictive nature of reality, since ungraspability is a cognitive consequence, which does not derives from the nature of reality, but rather does it from the nature of logos. Likewise although unreality is a condition of reality as such, as long as it’s a fact that it is nothing in itself, it is imperatively conclusive that then anything can be caused by such thing. The linguistic break occurs, because there exists, shining by its absence, only one and exclusively one signifier, that I will name as mute signifier, which as such it is unspeakable and unpronounceable, because if it is translated linguistically speaking into a word, it is indeed one but because of its emptiness. An illustrating example of the aforementioned, is what happens with poetry, which tries to explain figuratively, what is inexpressible through everyday’s language. In fact the statistics informs of something, but this is not equivalent to assume that doing so, is an approximation to something in truth terms, since what actually always does, is an approach more to what it is not, than to what it is, not for nothing its effort moves towards the acceptance of the null hypotheses in its empirical verification process. I think that this, though it can be felt as an ungrateful disagreement, is what makes individual and collective developments possible, because in itself, is intrinsically linked to movement, which in my opinion is the most fundamental action of the phenomenon of life. In similar manner, although I think that the most permanent thing is change, I also believe that this factual inertia, has an encoded meaning that despite it may be theoretically infinite, has a decryption limit in reality.

Jacobsen: Erik, any other contact points about reality and informed consciousness than ‘sensation, perception, feeling, and thinking’?

Haereid: Expression; output. Input and output, information in and out, is our contact and communication with reality. Physically we choose and amplifies received information, regulates it, making it into mental images, thoughts and projections of reality. We translate something un-understandable into something else, which we can relate to, which we understand and operate within. We can say something about the translation process, but not about the input to it. We know about the physical entities like the nervous system, hormones, neurotransmitters and so on. We build AI-processors based on knowledge of how we think our brain works.

By choosing and excluding (on/off) we can draw a picture based on what information we choose. But we cannot say much about the information we reject. By amplifying we can make chosen information more or less important to us. But we don’t know much about why we choose what we choose.

Jacobsen: Why are thoughts maps grounded in experience?

Haereid: We are born or created with the ability to see the world or reality in these mental images, in time-space-modus. Some of the content may be inherited, most of it learned and experienced. Experiences justifies and improves these maps. Experiences are our unconscious contact with reality, and experiences as projections into mind is our picture of these experiences. When we see, get distanced to, our experiences, we are obviously better fitted to improve in the real world; make our moves better towards whatever goal we have. But it’s still a projection, it’s not reality per se. When we think our thoughts and mental images is reality, we live in an illusion.

Jacobsen: While “thoughts are maps,” and to “sense, perceive, feel, [and] think” become the mediums by which the maps (the thoughts) are informed as experienced about reality, what does this state about the relationship between the thoughts and experience?

Haereid: Reality is sensed as, let’s call it information. Some sort of input to our body-system occurs, and we adapt it, internalize and process it, store it and combine old (stored in our memory) and new information to make an increasing better image or map, an illusion, of reality. You could say that the human body-system work making mess into order, or an inverse entropy. Our common brain’s mission is to collect all chaos in the Universe created once, into an understandable whole. It’s like we try to force an arbitrary evolution into systems of rationality. But this is us, this is a part of the chaos. So, human have a mission. This is an entity in the Universe. Even though we never will know why and where, we can trust in it because it’s actually there. Maybe human consciousness and our strive for logic is a universal appendix, or maybe it’s some higher meaning with it. We don’t know.

Thoughts are translated information, like in computers. The software programs are processes treating some input, information, and translate it into space-time figures; a user interface. Experiences are inputs, coming from reality, a world that we only have illusions about, but something that provide us with impulses. Our senses make these inputs registered before internalized. To maintain, survive and live as organisms or entities we have some needs, and we treat information in coordination with our needs. Our mental images are a product of our needs; we see and think what we want to see and think. What we don’t want or need, we suppress or ignore. It’s like when we have used all our repertoire of methods to rationalize and suppress, and reality becomes to uncomfortable and clammy, we choose to die; lock down the system. We call some of these clammy phenomena for diseases and accidents.

Jacobsen: What differentiates the real and unreal in this proposed framework of statistical and multi-modal maps of the world?

Haereid: Mentally, consciously, we don’t know what is real since we only have the ability to create images and representations or approximations of reality. We are in contact with reality when we experience; all the time. When we sense whatever, we experience, and that is real.

The real is the input, information; signals that we catch, receive and process with our inborn system of senses and other processing tools. Our expressions are real as signals delivered into reality and processed by other entities, like humans who create their images and representations of it. Since we can’t make a true image of the real, we have to trust more or less our images of reality. E.g. through logical systems like mathematics and statistics.

Jacobsen: With emotion and thinking as part of thoughts, does this make the maps, the thoughts, about reality as inextricably biased in the intra-psychic direction of the emoting, feeling when projected ‘outwards’ and asserted as the real world in which the entity operates?

Haereid: Yes.

Emotions are amplifiers of information; it’s an internal weight that make us suppress, ignore or focus. It’s a measure of importance as to our needs. E.g. we need to understand, create a rational picture of reality, and therefore we feel happy when we process information and combinations that enhance this feature, and sad, anxious or disgust when some information make the picture irrational. Emotions help us to choose the parts of reality (input) that help us evolve optimally.

Jacobsen: Should the quality of the thoughts or the maps continue to deteriorate, in general, with middle and elder age as the sense organs become less sensitive, and so the inputs – ‘sensation, perception, feeling, and thinking’ – lose speed, fidelity, and breadth?

Haereid: Age make us generally more indifferent and dependent of habits; more prejudiced. We relate on what we already know and have stored. Our senses are weakened, yes. Mentally we become more confined, pleased, but not necessarily less creative and right. The past becomes more important; with age a thinking human will get the opportunity to see the same information from new angles. Additional information is not necessarily an advantage. With new information and ditto processes we tend to exclude and make shortcuts to get through the aim; understand, reaching our needs. It’s not always about making the mind map, the space of knowledge and understanding, increasingly bigger. It’s about dealing with the knowledge we have until then. Something is more important than other things. If you believe that the goal is to understand everything, then you will stress gaining as much knowledge as possible and make rational coherence as fast as possible within the systems of brains (collective mind).

Jacobsen: Why equate the “irrational and indeterministic”?

Haereid: When something is indeterministic it is a power of definition (my expression), or free will, if you like. It has no rational cause. It’s unpredictable. That makes indeterministic events irrational. If something is seemingly irrational, but after some research not, then it’s not irrational. Rationality and determinism are ways of interpreting and living in an irrational and indeterministic reality. It’s no explanation why it is like this. And this proposition is as said an assumption. We don’t know.

Jacobsen: Erik, with modern rational tools, e.g., statistics, to inform thoughts about the world, insofar as we can know the real world, do these tools provide unprecedented or more precise maps and, therefore, understandings of the world?

Haereid: Yes. Rational tools like statistics is ways of making us see, be aware of more parts (images) of reality. It improves our interactions with reality as real entities. As humans we are restricted to live in rationality, into order. And to do that we need to extract (translate) order from disorder in the chaotic reality. But order is not restricted to some limited amount of information. We evolve by collecting increasingly amounts of information, and make order out of it. This is the main purpose of human lives, seemingly. Evolving rational tools is part of this evolution. But our brains are constructed as though we believe that everything is order; we just have to collect some huge more amounts of information and put it into rationality (We want everything to be orderly; that’s part of our construction). But it’s, in my view, more reasonably that we never will explain the definition of power.

Jacobsen: Even with the same genetic equipment across the species, how does this change 1) our thoughts and mind structures and 2) the outputs in life and societal organization with new thoughts and new frameworks for individual and collective operation?

Haereid: I think individual and group-related narcissism and racism, and the opposite, self-hate, depression and suicide, are interim flaws or failures or appendixes to a better solution for the individuals and collective. The survival of the fittest is natures temporary act to get in power of controlling the evolution. On that road nature provide us with aggression and violence combined with opposing nurturing and compassion. Pure aggression leads us to perfection, which is the same as less variation and finally extinction. Pure compassion leads us to stop in evolution and no development. Then we will not be able to understand what we want to, and to get that control we strive for, whatever reason this is. This is a shuttle between safety and change.

It’s the manifold that define human cognition and mind, the Earth and life/nature. One conclusion could therefore be that the goal is more diversity under the rules of rationality, with the brain and consciousness as basic instruments. This leads to a possible infinite diverse reality, since the mind is an instrument to draw an increasingly more proper map over (parts of) reality. The reason why we restrict ourselves to perfectionism could be that we don’t have (yet) the capacity to embrace and internalize larger parts of reality into our logical structures. We choose what we can overcome at each moment.

We restrict diversity because we can’t understand it yet, and by understanding we create safety. While we are safe, we get energy for more diversity and more wisdom and evolution. Humans can be seen as one of natures instruments to internalize both variety (much information) and control (rationality).

There are species with the same genetic equipment, and the social structures will be a function of how far nature or life has come to reach its final goal. Peace is a function of safety, and safety is a function of feeling satisfied with being where we are. The day we are satisfied we know what we can and will know, we will relax and include everything that we sense and have in mind. Then we are at the point of optimal consciousness; where the mind as best reflects the invisible reality. Then the struggle is over. If we get there, we will live in harmony among species. The rules of nature will change because nature has reached its goal.

Jacobsen: If a capital “T” Truth cannot be reached ever, would this mean a continuous and never-ending change in “1)” and “2)” in proportion to one another?

Haereid: I think I answered this in the last question.

Jacobsen: Christian, why does ‘1 plus 1 sometimes equal 1 if one knows how to count to 3’?

Sorensen: Because 1+1= 1. In any case, I think that jealousy appeared in the evolution of human being when he learned to count to 3.

Jacobsen: Erik, why stick to the arithmetic principles of annihilation and symmetry?

Haereid: Because that’s one language which I am familiar with. I could push the limits and make several other interpretations.

Jacobsen: Christian, what is pseudo-indeterminism?

Sorensen: I think that pseudo indeterminism is equivalent to freedom, which is similar to a stain on clothes, since if a reverse reasoning is followed respect to the stain, it’s deductible that the more it is erased or made disappeared, which is analogous to the case of freedom when it is proclaimed or demanded, then more the underground of determinism and predestination will arise as indelible marks. Therefore I think that liberty in terms of pseudo indeterminism, is nothing else than what I will denominate as vitalist reactive formation, which means that a change of the original negative feeling that’s an expression of despair is done, in order to seek and replace it for another positive one of autonomy and of serenity of conscience.

Jacobsen: Erik, what is “the beginning”?

Haereid: Rationally, it’s chaos. Beyond our understanding, it’s a power of definition. A free will.

Jacobsen: Why is this, in arithmetic, always the case with 1 + 1 always equalling 2?

Haereid: It’s a definition and a logical consequence. It’s communication; an agreement. It doesn’t have to be that way. It’s a part of our common, objective mind map. It’s an example of how we humans squeeze chaotic reality into understandable order. It’s a compass. But it’s also misleading since it’s only a part of and an image of reality.

Jacobsen: Christian, what principles would imply never – not simply “sometimes” – producing 2 with 1 + 1? Are the degrees of comprehension of indeterminism and determinism, or the apparency of indeterminism and determinism, in the universe bound by the minds considering the two? In that, some things seem predictable and determinate to some, and unpredictable and indeterminate to others, where this means a greater understanding of the reality – or a greater accuracy in thoughts about the real world – within a bounded situation provides better predictive capacities to some in contrast to others. Does higher relative intelligence function in this manner?

Sorensen: I think that 1 + 1 is 1 and not 2 in two phenomena, one that’s plausible and another that’s certain, which are respectively that of ideal love and that of death. Something similar occurs with the mind and the understanding of reality, since in my opinion the unicity, the higher degree of intelligence and understandings are directly proportional, meanwhile a higher degree of intelligence with a predictable and determinable understandings of reality are inversely proportional.

Jacobsen: Erik, what principles would imply never – not simply “sometimes” – producing 2 with 1 + 1?

Jacobsen: Are the degrees of comprehension of indeterminism and determinism, or the apparency of indeterminism and determinism, in the universe bound by the minds considering the two?

Haereid: Yes. As insinuated, humans want the world to be deterministic, because that’s how we are constructed. We force ourselves by extracting the fitting pieces from reality and place it into suitable patterns that we can deal with. We see the world as deterministic, and each time reality shows us something else, we use energy to explain or twist these new inputs into our pleasant system of comprehension. We forget what we do not get.

Jacobsen: In that, some things seem predictable and determinate to some, and unpredictable and indeterminate to others, where this means a greater understanding of the reality – or a greater accuracy in thoughts about the real world – within a bounded situation provides better predictive capacities to some in contrast to others. Does higher relative intelligence function in this manner?

Haereid: The human mind is about processing input or information received from reality (I repeat myself…). Due to several causes, some are better to estimate or predict future events than others; their internal maps and processors are better. But this means that they are better in adapting the mind to the part of reality that fits the mind, and not necessarily better to understand reality. Such people are better to project parts of reality into a human language, and contribute to an evolution of that part. The consequence is that human interaction with reality increases (increasing in inputs and outputs); there are more connecting points between humans and reality. In that human view, reality will seem more and more deterministic, because we tend not to think of what we don’t see. We control amounts of thoughts, but not what we do not know or think of. But intelligent people also have a greater fantasy and therefore make more mistakes about reality; creating images that do not fit into reality.

Appendix I: Footnotes

[1] Dr. Christian Sorensen is a Philosopher that comes from Belgium. What identifies him the most and above all is simplicity, for everything is better with “vanilla flavour.” Perhaps, for this reason, his intellectual passion is criticism and irony, in the sense of trying to reveal what “hides behind the mask,” and give birth to the true. For him, ignorance and knowledge never “cross paths.” What he likes the most in his leisure time, is to go for a walk with his wife.

[2] Erik Haereid has been a member of Mensa since 2013, and is among the top scorers on several of the most credible IQ-tests in the unstandardized HRT-environment. He is listed in the World Genius Directory. He is also a member of several other high IQ Societies.

He did his military duty in His Majesty The King’s Guard (Drilltroppen)).

Then the consultant company started to grow, and he quitted BI and used his full time in NIA (Nordic Insurance Administration). This was in 1998/99, and he has been there since.

[3] Individual Publication Date: September 1, 2020: http://www.in-sightjournal.com/haereid-sorensen-3; Full Issue Publication Date: September 1, 2020: https://in-sightjournal.com/insight-issues/.

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2023-03-22

Conversation with Beatrice Rescazzi on Family, Genius, and Community: President, AtlantIQ (1)

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

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

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2020/09/01

Abstract

Beatrice Rescazzi is the President of AtlantIQ. She discusses: the trend in the high-IQ societies; family history; some crucial or pivotal moments of upbringing; some of the gifts; the asynchronous development of the gifted and talented; the overexcitability of the gifted and talented; educational; professional; a high-IQ community; AtlantIQ; functional, active, and existent high-IQ societies; become involved with or members of AtlantIQ; Graham Powell; more important figures within the high-IQ community or communities; some of the greatest geniuses in history; few women geniuses in the history of world; few women who are in the high-IQ communities; a respectful and positive space for women; a similar set of issues for members of the LGBTI community; favourite hobbies; favourite colour; top 5 favourite books; the rankings or listings within the high-IQ societies; and importance of publications like those published by AtlantIQ, the Triple Nine Society, and others.

Keywords: AtlantIQ, Beatrice Rescazzi, community, family, genius.

Conversation with Beatrice Rescazzi on Family, Genius, and Community: President, AtlantIQ (1)

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

Scott Douglas Jacobsen: I have been interviewing members of and working intensively with members of the high-IQ communities at a wide range of rarities for a number of years now in a number of different capacities. In an effort to compile and analyze every resource available now, so far, in the preliminary analysis, I have noticed the graveyard for most societies, or as AtlantIQ lists them as “dead” societies. Why is this the trend in the high-IQ societies?

Beatrice Rescazzi[1],[2]*: While the first high-IQ societies were physically existing, with real addresses and meeting places, over time new societies were born exclusively online. Since the resources required to run an online group are fewer, I think that even those founders who also had less time and passion to devote, have created new high IQ companies more easily, but they also closed just as easily. Either way, my societies graveyard is to be taken with some humor.

Jacobsen: Taking a step back, what is family history, e.g., geography, culture, language, and religion or lack thereof?

Rescazzi: First, I would love to be more interesting than that but, my family has been native to north-central Italy since time immemorial: the surnames in my family all show origins in the area between Florence and Venice, at least since 1300.

As for the culture, although I love my birthplace with all its wonderful art and tradition, and it seems that my ancestors were couch potatoes who never ventured into faraway places, I have always felt like a citizen of the world: I do not recognize the need for state borders; I believe that it is everyone’s duty to resolve the problems that afflict people even in the most distant geographical areas; and I believe in full international collaboration for the common good of the whole humanity.

As far as politics and religions are concerned, I know I’m unpopular when I say that I see both of them primarily as dangerous means of division, and act like filters that stand between the observer and the world. We know that the human brain – like other organs – has evolved to waste as few resources as possible: consequently it is more natural for us to jump to easy conclusions rather than “waste energy” and continue to ask ourselves questions, study and overcome the cognitive dissonances that keep us in the pleasant convinction of having the best ideology and the best possible cult. Whenever we label ourselves as followers of the political party “X” or religion “Y”, we are not only looking at the whole world through that filter, but we are creating a division from others. I study with pleasure the different ideas and thoughts of philosophers and prophets, but I take care not to embrace any ideologies, parties, religions and beliefs and to maintain a global and inclusive vision without any filter before my eyes.

As for languages, as you can see, unfortunately my English is a little ungrammatical. Yet, I guess it’s still good enough that I might be elected President of the United States. In a discontinuous way I study other languages that intrigue me such as Japanese and Esperanto, above all.

Jacobsen: What were some crucial or pivotal moments of upbringing?

Rescazzi: Since all the readers will be tired of reading my interview up to this point, I can tell you a secret, Scott: I hated school for many years. My problem was following a boring program instead of being able to get the answers to my many questions right away. Hence, many crucial moments in my upbringing were negative. I didn’t fit especially at Catholic private middle school, where bullying, hypocrisy and closed-mindedness were at home.

When I came home from school, on the other hand, I had huge libraries with many thematic encyclopedias, grammars, essays, novels … I also had my Commodore 64 with programs of astronomy, musical composition, creation of sprites, text speech. So, for many years, school for me was a place I couldn’t wait to leave to go home to finally read, study and code.

It was only when I started university that I was able to really manage my time and learning methods.

Jacobsen: When did you find out about some of the gifts for yourself?

Rescazzi: I have not known that I am gifted for many years. I’ve always felt like a fish out of water but if you ask around, many feel that way, and so in itself it doesn’t mean anything. I did not coincide with the stereotype of the bespectacled male child who does great at school. Furthermore, the type of intelligence where I shine the most is the spatial-visual type, which has little relevance at school, where abstract subjects are given more prominence.

When I was around sixteen, I bought a quiz book for fun. At the end of the book there were tables with a score each. I realized that my scores were sometimes reaching the extreme upper limit or even exceeding it. Because it appeared from the book that I was very good at math while I was not in school, I considered that book very unreliable, and I left and forgot it in my library.

Many years later, when the Internet became available, I learned about giftedness, psychometrics and more about other neurodiversities such as sensory synaesthesia, which is also one of my characteristics. I began to delve into these topics and discovered that the quiz book bought years ago, now yellowed by time, had been written by the famous psychologist Hans J. Eysenck.

So I began to consider the possibility that my different way of thinking could result from a different IQ than the norm. I took some tests online, to find that they confirmed my hypothesis. I discovered that logical-mathematical intelligence has nothing to do with grades in mathematics at school, even for those who are dyscalculic.

Some tests were considered valid for entering groups with gifted individuals. So, as a fish out of water, I finally found myself in good company becoming a member to many high IQ societies. Later I went to a psychologist to have a more precise profile of my potential. So, I was pretty slow to realize that I was gifted…

Jacobsen: What are some important things to keep in mind about the asynchronous development of the gifted and talented?

Rescazzi: In my opinion, the most important things to keep in mind about the asynchronous development of the gifted and talented, is that giving little importance or ignoring people’s feelings can lead to very serious consequences, both immediately and in subsequent years. Second, the talent of gifted children is in danger of being wasted. These children do not always have the strength to overcome the loneliness that comes from misunderstanding with their peers, teachers and sometimes families as well. Great importance must be given to the development of a balanced emotional sphere, which will allow the child to manage their feelings and make right decisions in life. Unfortunately, we still tend to believe today that intelligence is sufficient to understand everything, while the emotional part is even an obstacle to reasoning. But this is an outdated concept, and it is dangerous to perpetuate it, especially when you see how many depressed people there are among the gifted, who then become unable to manage their own lives and be successful, even with the highest IQ.

Jacobsen: What are some important things to keep in mind about the overexcitability of the gifted and talented?

Rescazzi: With regard to overexcitability, in my opinion it is necessary that more information be disseminated on this and on all aspects of giftedness. In this way, people who are in contact with the talented child understand that having a high IQ is not just having bright ideas, but there are also other characteristics, which also manifest themselves in behavior and character. The greater the understanding of the strengths and limitations of talented children, the more it will be possible to support them in their educational path. Children who are 2E (twice exceptional) should expecially be kept in mind.

Jacobsen: What did you pursue educationally in young adulthood and moving forward?

Rescazzi: At the University I mainly studied ophthalmology, optics, orthoptics, computer science. Subsequently I followed several university and non-university courses on every topic that ignites my curiosity. If I am not busy, I study many hours a day on my own, be it with a course or with manuals and books.

Jacobsen: What did you pursue professionally in young adulthood and moving forward?

Rescazzi: My working career includes optician, orthoptist, eye surgery assistant, and also computer science teacher in adult courses. Being fond of learning, I taught myself many things including electronics, robotics, and also, how to build 3D printers and 3D print, and this has become a more frequent activity of mine in recent years, since one of my projects is to make medical devices easily accessible to everyone. Some of my inventions and designs appear in the issues of Leonardo – the society magazine.

Jacobsen: Now, when did you find a high-IQ community?

Rescazzi: I found the first high-IQ community in 2009. It was the International High IQ Society.

Jacobsen: With AtlantIQ, why did you found a high-IQ community?

Rescazzi: It seemed to me that many high IQ societies didn’t give much prominence to the actual abilities of the gifted. It is true that the Intelligent Quotient is the expression of a potential, but I wanted to bring together the people who actually use that potential and express it in the most varied forms. The “low” cut-off required for admission to the AtlantIQ Society along with the submission of documentation proving special skills in the arts and sciences, on the one hand includes more talented people, on the other excludes those who only collect IQ tests without having anything intellectually interesting to offer.

Furthermore, it seems to me that knowledge is put aside a bit in many societies, while in my opinion, a thirsty mind requires numerous inputs and resources. So I also created a virtual library with over two thousand books, that is accessible to every member. I also decided that it was time to found a society with totally free admission, where even students, artists, unemployed – who cannot pay a fee plus the cost of the tests, which are required in many other societies – are welcome. High-IQ society doesn’t have to be a club, in my opinion.

Jacobsen: In some of my preliminary analysis or review, why is AtlantIQ one of the few functional, active, and existent high-IQ societies compared to a graveyard of others? Even of those who may be functional, there are a large number who are barely active or who may be paralytic – not so for the AtlantIQ community.

Rescazzi: I suppose that AtlantIQ reflects a bit my way of being, which is that of a very active person.

Jacobsen: How can people become involved with or members of AtlantIQ?

Rescazzi: I’m not a fan of social media, but as they are a popular medium to communicate and share, there is an AtlantIQ Facebook group for those interested in the AtlantIQ high IQ Society.

Instead, for those wishing to become a member, there is detailed information for submissions on the dedicated page of the website: www.atlantiqsociety.com

Jacobsen: How has Graham Powell been an important support for the AtlantIQ community and development of the society?

Rescazzi: Graham Powell holds the position of Vice President and as such presents our quarterly magazine with me. Thanks to his linguistic knowledge he can amend articles written by contributors. In fact, once I complete the graphics, layout and content, Graham revises the text and sometimes contributes his poems himself. In the past he has participated in meetings abroad with representatives of other high IQ societies as an exponent of AtlantIQ. Depending on the society’s activities, he can also hold the position of judge or consultant.

Jacobsen: Who are some of the more important figures within the high-IQ community or communities inasmuch as it or they exist? Why them?

Rescazzi: There are two main types of members in the high IQ community: those who like to brag and draw attention, publish their test results, and pose as philosophers. And there are the modest people, who listen instead of talk, whose name is not so well known, who use their skills to solve problems, put into practice brilliant ideas, and study to improve themselves, without making a lot of noise.

My admiration goes to the latter.

Jacobsen: Who do you consider some of the greatest geniuses in history?

Rescazzi: It is no coincidence that I have dedicated the AtlantIQ Society to Leonardo da Vinci. I consider him an incomparable polyhedric genius.

We know of Archimedes his numerous brilliant inventions, and although many of his writings have been lost, there is still enough material to consider him a true genius.

I would also like to say Socrates, but since he left nothing in writing, there is even the remote possibility that Socrates never even existed and that his words are to be attributed to others.

There is a cultural bias in Western culture and schoolbooks that universal men like Shen Kuo and other brilliant characters from distant cultures aren’t even named. Similarly to Leonardo, he mastered a wide range of different subjects, but 400 years earlier.

Finally, a modern day genius that I admire is Elon Musk. He certainly doesn’t hold the patent record – like the incredible Shunpei Yamazaki – but Musk has the rare gift of shaping the future and thinking so outside the box that it arouses bewilderment to people who believed they knew what was possible and what was not.

Jacobsen: Why are there so few women geniuses in the history of world who have been permitted to flourish?

Rescazzi: The answer partially lies in your question: “… who have been permitted to flourish.” The smaller build of the female gender together with a less aggressive soul has led to suppose in many societies that women should be kept in a condition of subjection, where their rights are permits. This has done nothing but keep many human communities of the Earth in a condition of backwardness and low dignity. Because it’s the way people treat others that shows how much people are worth. The evolution towards a society free from sexual prejudices is still in progress, and has not yet begun in many parts of the world.

Jacobsen: Why are there so few women who are in the high-IQ communities?

Rescazzi: There are two main reasons for the low number of women joining high-IQ societies.

The first is cultural. Statistically, gifted girls are less recognized than boys. A character factor also intervenes: females tend to doubt their potential more, with a more widespread Impostor Syndrome, while males are generally more inclined to overestimate themselves and flaunt their skills. Furthermore, the traditional division of duties prevents women from having free time to devote to themselves, due to occupations at home: it is worrying to note that there are no adhesions by women from the more traditionalist countries at all.

The other reason is that there is indeed a difference in the brains of men and women: the distribution of IQ in the male and female populations is different, with a greater variation in the male than in the female with the latter more concentrated in the average values. It means that among males there are both more subnormal and gifted individuals, while in females both the subnormal and the gifted are rarer (some links grouped in this article: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Variability_hypothesis#Modern_studies)

Jacobsen: What can be done to create a respectful and positive space for women in the high-IQ communities?

Rescazzi: I think it is important to start with general education to respect others at school and in families, avoiding stereotypes and differences in education from early childhood. As long as there are things like silly pink toys for girls and interesting blue toys for boys – as is still the case even in the most advanced societies – we will not be able to have people who are truly free to be as they are and able to follow their aspirations. You may know that women from Mensa and other high IQ societies have created a separate social media group that includes both women and those who recognize themselves as such: it happened because the large male majority in other high IQ groups more often makes these places a source of quarrels based on competition and vanity, while there is a lack of sensitivity to address certain issues, such as homosexuality, mental illness or bullying.

Obviously, this is a generalization, and there are also many talented men with mature and respectful behavior, but we know that even a few individuals in a group are enough to create toxic dynamics and an inhospitable environment for a certain type of people.

Jacobsen: Is it a similar set of issues for members of the LGBTI community within the high-IQ communities (similar to women)?

Rescazzi: I know of homophobic individuals in high IQ societies, and I believe that this, together with other manifestations of intolerance towards diversity, discredits the very value of the much inflated IQ measurement, which evidently does not take into account deficiencies in judgment and sensitivity. Everyone is welcome in the AtlantIQ Society, if it needs to be said.

Jacobsen: What are favourite hobbies?

Rescazzi: Good for you that you have specified “favorites”, narrowing the field a bit, because I cultivate a lot of hobbies, and I don’t know how much space I am given here. Among my favorites are astronomy and space missions, which I follow with such great diligence that in the end I have also infected my husband with this interest. I love all new technologies and I love to experiment with the 3D printing by creating a bit of everything, from Martian habitats for competitions to optical instruments and useful objects for those who need them, such as the face shields that I 3D printed for the healthcare workers during the pandemic. I am interested in robotics, and lately, in the branch of soft robotics. The mascot that appears at the bottom of the list of members on the website of the AtlantIQ society, is called Verbo and is one of my robots. I like nutrition, herbalism, food history and cooking by inventing healthy desserts. I like to draw (2D and 3D), and manage the company’s Leonardo magazine in the graphic field, in the publication, in the contents I write and receive from members. I love to learn, invent and build. I love computer science, programming languages, collecting and restoring retro computers… I stop here.

Jacobsen: What’s your favourite colour?

Rescazzi: Purple. Besides being a beautiful color, it’s interesting from a physics point of view as no single frequency of electromagnetic radiation can create purple: there is no such thing as a purple light in the electromagnetic spectrum (not to be confused with violet). The purple pigment was also very valuable and rare in nature and has a very interesting history.

Jacobsen: What are your top 5 favourite books?

Rescazzi: It’s a difficult question because I’m an avid reader, so I’ve tried to limit the number to ten, but not without doing wrong to other titles that I love equally.

Freedom from the Known by Jiddu Krishnamurti.

Ulysses’ Lies. The Adventure of Logic from Parmenides to Amartya Sen by Piergiorgio Odifreddi

Reality Is Not What It Seems: The Journey to Quantum Gravity by Carlo Rovelli

The Crowd: A Study of the Popular Mind by Gustave Le Bon

Journey to the Center of the Earth by Jules Verne

The Caves of Steel by Isaac Asimov

The Art of Loving by Erich Fromm.

Kinds of Minds: Towards an Understanding of Consciousness by Daniel C. Dennett

The Philosophy of Moral Development by Lawrence Kohlberg

Meeting with Japan by Fosco Maraini

Jacobsen: What explains the rankings or listings within the high-IQ societies? Why is this an endeavour to list the highest of the highest in this niche community?

Rescazzi: I’m sorry to be brutally honest, but those lists are nothing more than an expression of vanity. Some members literally pay to appear in “genius lists”, and like to show this IQ number of theirs like it corresponds to the amount of what they are worth, which in my opinion is counterproductive to their own value and dignity as a person, now reduced to a mere number. Yet, this number seems enough to make them self-proclaim geniuses.

It should be remembered that the IQ shown in many lists and societies is often based on online tests that may not be very accurate, or have even already been compromised by the presence of answers on the internet. In the best case, it represents the measure of a potential, leaving out things like critical thinking, creativity, self-perception, maturity, sense of reality, emotional balance and many other skills that could divide a person who simply scores high on a test from a properly intelligent person.

On the same wave, we’ve also seen the creation of high-IQ societies that ridiculously restricted entry to anyone but the founder, or a few others, just to point out that an online test had given him an incredibly high score. Unfortunately these monstrous scores, which if confirmed would overshadow those of Leonardo da Vinci and Albert Einstein put together, do not show correspondence with any achievements of the same level in life. To me, it doesn’t look much different from those superficial busty women who are all about their physical appearance and whose giant breasts are fake. Here, I said it. Now, if I become the most hated member of the high IQ community, it’s your fault, Scott …

Jacobsen: What is the importance of publications like those published by AtlantIQ, the Triple Nine Society, and others?

Rescazzi: I can answer for the AtlantIQ Society only: Leonardo magazine is a means for all AtlantIQ members to express themselves, to inform others and get informed, to get to know the Society and its members, to learn new things and stay updated. It is a free magazine that also includes many guest authors and can be read and downloaded for free by anyone.

Many thanks to Scott Jacobsen for this interview, who like a gentleman didn’t ask my age not even in dog years.

Appendix I: Footnotes

[1] President, AtlantIQ.

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

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2023-03-22

Conversation with Richard Sheen on the Meaning from Life: Independent Artist, Philosopher, Photographer, and Theologian (6)

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

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

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2020/09/01

Abstract

Richard Sheen is a young independent artist, philosopher, photographer and theologian based in New Zealand. He has studied at Tsinghua University of China and The University of Auckland in New Zealand, and holds degrees in Philosophy and Theological Studies. Originally raised atheist but later came to Christianity, Richard is dedicated to the efforts of human rights and equality, nature conservation, mental health, and to bridge the gap of understanding between the secular and the religious. Richard’s research efforts primarily focus on the epistemic and doxastic frameworks of theism and atheism, the foundations of rational theism and reasonable faith in God, the moral and practical implications of these frameworks of understanding, and the rebuttal of biased and irrational understandings and worship of God. He seeks to reconcile the apparent conflict between science and religion, and to find solutions to problems facing our environmental, societal and existential circumstances as human beings with love and integrity. Richard is also a proponent for healthy, sustainable and eco-friendly lifestyles, and was a frequent participant in competitive sports, fitness training, and strategy gaming. Richard holds publications and awards from Mensa New Zealand and The University of Auckland, and has pending publications for the United Sigma Intelligence Association and CATHOLIQ Society. He discusses: the importance of understanding where other people are coming from in life; passion into ordinary considerations of daily living; love; meaning; these descriptions of love and meaning relate to understanding and compassion; and the meaning of it all – of life and existence.

Keywords: life, meaning, philosophy, Richard Sheen, theology.

Conversation with Richard Sheen on the Meaning from Life: Independent Artist, Philosopher, Photographer, and Theologian (6)

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

Scott Douglas Jacobsen: Understanding and compassion reflect different sides of the same coin in humanizing others and oneself, the realization of the gap between seemingly very different people as not quite as big as one thought before. The realization of the frailty of the human frame and flesh. That which, from many religious points of view, God gave Mankind as a gift and blessing while cursed by the fallen nature of Satan and Evil, and the fundamental Sin of Adam and Eve at the beginning of Man in the Garden of Eden with the Redemption of Mankind in the death, burial, and Resurrection of, God made Man in, Jesus Christ. From naturalistic views, that particular organism, primate or human animal, which evolved to be good enough for the perpetuation of form or survival based on various selection pressures in its relevant ancestral environment, where this implies various capacities, limitations, and flaws in a naturalistic, evolved order. In either case, the understanding of human vulnerability remains marked in many ways, probably not in others. This universalization, in a normal person, typically, induces more compassion for other people. While taking into account the in-depth responses on reason and faith, science, metaphysics, ethics, philosophy, society, the human person and humanity, and the like, what brings these together in the acknowledgement of the importance of understanding where other people are coming from in life?

Richard Sheen[1],[2]*: I believe what truly brings people together, regardless of occasion, is the acknowledgement and realisation of universal values – of which the most important and central value is love. From a philosophical perspective, it is sometimes understood that we, as sentient human beings capable of rationality and free will, are “cast” into existence in this world – we are here not by our own volition, we simply open our eyes one day and find that we happen to exist, without even knowing what the concept of “existence” means at first. Our constant struggle to grasp for meaning, purpose, and the contemplation of finality gives us the motivation to continue to unravel the reasons behind our own existence, and ponder upon the eternal curiosity of why there is something rather than nothing. Through this constant struggle with meaning and reason, we come to realise that we are all seeking a common goal – an answer, or perhaps something to soothe the soul’s uncertainty, for the Ultimate Concern, as Paul Tillich would put it.

The Ultimate Concern is the one concern which qualifies all other concerns as preliminary, and in itself provides the answer to the meaning of life. This concern demands total surrender and sacrifice of all other concerns in its pursuit. For Tillich, who is a theologian, this one greatest concern is faith and God, or more precisely, an “ecstatic passion” for God through faith that transcends the profane and ordinary. For many others, it may be the well-being of their parents, their children, their academic and financial success in life, and in the most petty of cases, simple basal pleasure unguided by any principle or faculties of the intellect. There are perhaps as many concerns as there are people who have ever existed, but the one concern that brings us together universally, is love, as the Christian teaching preaches for. To those of us who follow this path, the understanding, pursuit and realisation of love within this limited world through the faith and teachings of Jesus Christ becomes the Ultimate Concern in which we seek to align our words and actions with. At the end of the crossroads, I believe that all concerns ultimately gather at the destination of love, be it love for the self, for others, or for the greater good. This desire for and gradual realisation of love from oneself to one another is what truly brings forth a deepest level of understanding and compassion for one another as human beings. In colloquial terms, in order to understand one another, we need to “be in the shoes of one another”, allowing us to gain insight into the concerns of others, and ultimately, be able to understand and show compassion towards others.

The differential nature of our concerns naturally lead to disagreements, and in many cases, these conflicts cloud our judgement and lead us astray. A concern for the greater good is not universally shared between all of mankind, as there are those who are concerned only for their own personal interest. Dead ends in our pursuit for meaning and purpose occur ubiquitously, particularly within today’s world of social media where distractions and diversions constantly hammer at our capacity to focus. We are met with disagreements, conflicts, and a constant reaffirmation of our egotistical desires, all of which lead us away from the purposes of love. But the power of love brings us together in spite of our differences, it demolishes the ego and restores our faith in the good of the world. Regardless of religious or naturalistic interpretations of our earthly bodies, the capacity and yearning for love is what we must embrace in order to achieve the kind of understanding and compassion that we both desire for mankind as a whole.

Jacobsen: How does this, to you, bring compassion into ordinary considerations of daily living, where the advanced ideas are brought down to the dirt?

Sheen: The capacity to experience and love one another is our foundational faculty in which compassion stems from. While one does not necessarily have to love another in any colloquial sense to be able to understand and show compassion towards another, one must at least be able to acknowledge each other as persons, rather than objects or mere means to an end in order for such compassion to arise. As such, from a most fundamental level, compassion arises from our purest capacity to love and care for one another as both an emotional response, and as a rational desire to care for another solely for the well-being of the other. This may be slightly different for non-human animals (or non-persons), however the universal pattern is the acknowledgement and acceptance of others not as mere objects or means to an end, but as ends themselves. This way, we allow ourselves to see and experience the world through the perspective of the other, and hence, extend our ability to care for one another based on the needs of the other. This empathy and perspective from the bonding of love and understanding is what I believe brings compassion to reality.

Jacobsen: What is love to you? Some philosophers, even metaphysicians, simply leave this question alone, probably, because of the profound importance in all of our lives of this deep portion of human nature. Something experienced by most or all, yet ineffable in many ways.

Sheen: This is a question that I have wrestled with for many years, but am yet to understand. For me, I often refer to the Bible in terms of understanding what love is, and there seems to be multiple layers to this question. Love can manifest in many ways, in the narrowest sense it would imply some sort of desire within us, a desire or enjoyment of something, such as eating mango. Love can also manifest as a feeling of intimacy or attraction towards someone, such as romantic love. It can also manifest as genuine care for the well-being of another, such as brotherly or parental love. But I believe the greatest of love is Godly love, which is distinct from the former types of love, but lays out the foundation for all other forms of love.

Godly love is unconditional, it does not depend on some quality or characteristic in the object, or demand something in return in order to manifest itself – there is no reciprocal relationship in Godly love. Godly love, according to the Bible, is unconditional, ever-persevering and humble. Unlike all other types of love, Godly love does not involve some sort of emotional desire or transactional relationship (e.g. I love mango because it provides the tasty sensation in my mouth when I eat it). Godly love seeks truth and justice in eternal faith and hope, it denies falsehood and selfishness, and rejects evil in all its forms. Godly love is the unconditional teleological framework of the moral good. It is the love that disarms all hatred and animosity, as we are called to love our enemies by Jesus Christ. In practice, Godly love is the love that wills nothing but the good, unconditionally, for any and all, in accordance to the teleological framework of the highest moral goodness. In this sense, Godly love is selfless, it does not distinguish between the self or the other, nor does it demand any sort of quality or characteristic in order to manifest itself. Godly love wills for the reformation of the criminal, the abstinence of the alcoholic, and the well-being of the single mother. It’s will for good persists eternally, in faith and humility. It is this Godly love that we Christians aspire to learn and practice, and suffice to say, it is hard.

Jacobsen: What is meaning to you? Is this simply a synonym for significance? Those things, along a gradient, more significant than others to an individual or a collective seen as more meaningful reflecting an intrinsic and generated sense of meaning rather than imposed from outside individual people. Or is meaning something much different, requiring a belief of a higher-order power and source of it?

Sheen: Meaning or purpose as I see it, is the foundational motive or impetus of any and all human action, be it a petty desire for pleasure or a noble ambition to make the world a better place. I use the term meaning and purpose in roughly interchangeable ways because they both refer to the fundamental “teleology of action” – the reason(s) why an action of a free agent occurred in the first place. I personally see the meaning or purpose behind actions as the most important of all qualities or characteristics that make up our actions.

From a philosophical point of view we can see everything, including every relation in the world as largely belonging to one of three categories: logical, causal, or teleological. Logical entities are atemporal, as formal logic alone does not refer to temporality unlike causal entities. The equation 1 + 1 = 2 carries the same information regardless whether you read it from left to right or vice versa. Causal entities are always temporal, as the existence of particular contingent beings are necessarily preceded by something else that led to its existence. Causal relations reflect the temporal order in which one thing is followed by another. Teleology is unique in that it applies only to rational free agents such as human beings. Teleology is the meaning or purpose behind an action, it is the value that drives a free agent in pursuing a certain thing or result, and the greatest teleology or meaning, I believe, is Godly love.

Godly love, as the highest order teleological framework for the moral good, is necessitated as a prerequisite to all other forms of love, as love pertains to the good, and all subjective good must rely on the foundational concept or ideal of an objective good (otherwise we would have no idea what constitutes “goodness” at all). All other forms of meaning are hence partial representations of Godly love, not all of which are truly good. For example, an alcoholic’s love for beer is focused only on the pleasure of consumption, but looses sight of the perseverance for universal goodness, given that he is harming himself and those around him by constantly over-drinking. In this sense, the alcoholic’s “love” is a partial representation of the fullest extent of love that is Godly love. It is a poor imitation of Godly love, manifested within the worldly shallows of immediate pleasure.

I personally believe that it is imperative that a belief in a high-order (God as the ultimate teleological foundation of all meaning and purpose) is necessary for any and all forms of meaning or purpose to be valid, otherwise there would be no grounding as to why we should trust or cherish any of it. At the very bottom of the debate, the foundational disagreement between theism and atheism, as I see it, is the debate whether there is some sort of inherent meaning to life and existence, or if everything is merely an illusion of a perpetually unexplainable “accident” out of chance (which I term as the “accident of the gaps” argument, a satirical twist of the ubiquitous “god of the gaps” argument). I guess this quote by C.S Lewis might shed more light in this context:

“Supposing there was no intelligence behind the universe, no creative mind. In that case, nobody designed my brain for the purpose of thinking. It is merely that when the atoms inside my skull happen, for physical or chemical reasons, to arrange themselves in a certain way, this gives me, as a by-product, the sensation I call thought. But, if so, how can I trust my own thinking to be true?”

As a further extension of this perplexing situation, if it were the case that there is no ultimate purpose or meaning as an overarching teleology of the entirety of existence, even the question “Is there some sort of ultimate meaning?” wouldn’t make sense, as the very blueprints of meaning that led to the arise of such curiosity would not exist, any and all fragments of meaning would then be lost within the void of logical certainty and causal determinism.

Jacobsen: Do these descriptions of love and meaning relate to understanding and compassion?

Sheen: I believe they do, as understanding seeks truth, so does Godly love. Love without understanding can be misguided, as despite good intentions, it is possible to provide the incorrect aid to another even in genuine love, and make things a lot worse in the long run. For example, giving money or continuing to supply a homeless alcoholic with beer might seem like a charity on the outside, but the continued indulgence in alcohol will only lead to death and destruction for both the homeless alcoholic and those around him. If one only supports the homeless alcoholic with money without knowing what he intends to use them for, one may in reality be leading him down the path of destruction, despite one’s good intentions. In this sense, love and understanding are closely related – one cannot practice love effectively without understanding. This is also the reason why the Bible stresses the importance of truth in love, as love without understanding of truth can easily be led astray.

Jacobsen: What, in the end, is the meaning of it all – of life and existence?

Sheen: That will really depend on who you ask. I do not proclaim to be able to find and identify the meaning for other’s lives, nor am I arrogant enough to define or regulate the purpose other people’s actions. I can only answer for myself, and my life’s meaning is to strive for love, justice and equality for all, and be able to best contribute to these purposes for our society with my greatest strengths and abilities. Love, altruistic justice, and compassion is what I seek as the highest meaning for my life, and at the centre of this triangle is God, realised through faith and a never ending pursuit of Godly love. To seek understanding, and bring forth realisation of the Grand Teleology of Design that is the realisation of the highest good in our universe, and be able to share this wisdom with others and actualise this divine image of the Kingdom of God, in spite of all the evils and imperfections of our world…perhaps at the heart of my desires, this love and reverence for the ultimate moral goodness is what pushes me forward.

Jacobsen: Thank you for the opportunity and your time, Richard.

Appendix I: Footnotes

[1] Independent Artist, Philosopher, Photographer, and Theologian.

[2] Individual Publication Date: September 1, 2020: http://www.in-sightjournal.com/sheen-6; Full Issue Publication Date: September 1, 2020: https://in-sightjournal.com/insight-issues/.

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2023-03-22

Conversation with Paul Cooijmans on Introduction to the Glia Society: Administrator, Glia Society (1)

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

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

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2020/09/01

Abstract

Paul Cooijmans is an Independent Psychometitor and Administrator of the Glia Society, and Administrator of the Giga Society. He discusses: creation of the Glia Society; the 99.9th-percentile; cognitive rarity in the general population does one begin to observe true thinking about a subject matter; what passes for ‘thinking’ in the general population; the Glia Society “nerve-centred” in Europe; the Administrator’s cognitive rarity; Glia Society “has several hundred members”; other names or titles brainstormed in the earlier stages of development of the Glia Society; the journal Thoth; the tasks performed by the “founder and other members”; and the growth trajectory of the Glia Society since its inception.

Keywords: 99.9^th-percentile, Europe, Glia Society, membership, Paul Cooijmans.

Conversation with Paul Cooijmans on Introduction to the Glia Society: Administrator, Glia Society (1)

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

Scott Douglas Jacobsen: This interview will focus on the Glia Society. Several years ago, we focused on the Giga Society. You administrate for the Giga Society. You administrate for the Glia Society. Why create the Glia Society as “an international internet-based organization for friendly contact between intelligent individuals”? (Cooijmans, n.d.a) That is to say, is there a deeper reason than the noble and admirable aim of looking to construct a digitally-based community of intelligent people?

Paul Cooijmans[1],[2]*: First, I must say that it was not the aim to construct a digitally-based community. In 1997, I did not have an Internet connection, and all communication regarding and within the Glia Society was conducted via regular correspondence. I did not have an electronic computer either but used a typewriter, and the first three issues of the journal Thoth were produced on that typewriter. From the fourth issue onward, I used an old computer with M.S. DOS and WordPerfect 5.1 that someone gave me, and an old dot-matrix printer, but still had no Internet. Only in January 2001, I bought a modern computer and got Internet access, and that was the first time I used the Internet and electronic mail. Around midnight of the day on which I got Internet access, I had a web site online, and from that moment on, the Glia Society had an online existence (it had been advertised online by a few friends of mine in the years before already though).

Now to the actual question as to the deeper reason, it was so that I was not fully satisfied with the existing I.Q. societies that I knew at the time. The two main problems I saw were (1) the limited freedom of speech, the censorship, the editorial changes and vicious manipulations, in short the lack of fora for verbatim communication and publication, and (2) the too permissive admissions policies of societies, which were, in my perception, selecting below their proclaimed level, partly on purpose, partly through incompetence in psychometrics. I wanted to do better on both accounts; so, to select truly at the nominal level, and to allow uncensored communication and publication. In my view, I have succeeded, although only a limited audience can appreciate that. The truth seems to be that many people really like censorship and curtailed freedom of speech, and that many people like loose and permissive admissions policies. Such people find the Glia Society too strict and rigid, and really believe that anyone interested should be able to join an I.Q. society and feel intelligent or “gifted” in one’s own way. Some of those people are secretly against selecting by I.Q. altogether, and only join I.Q. societies to keep an eye on what is going on, or to destroy them from the inside, like a kind of moles or wolves in sheep’s clothes.

A consequence of the absolute freedom of speech and absence of censorship, combined with the strictly intelligence-based and otherwise non-discriminatory admission policy, is that the “moles” just referred to are able to join and wreak havoc on the society’s communication fora from time to time. Some highly intelligent people have this anti-intelligence attitude, and join purposely to cause trouble, for instance by passive-aggressively sabotaging discussions and conversations that bona fide members are trying to have. Due to its very open nature, the Glia Society is vulnerable to such abuse. On the whole though, my experience is that a strict admission policy and absolute freedom of speech result in a surprisingly diverse membership and that this is appreciated by people who are not afraid of differences.

Jacobsen: Why focus on the 99.9th-percentile?

Cooijmans: My considerations were that actually the 99.5th centile in intelligence, according to my experience with testing and communicating with people of whom I knew the scores, would suffice for the group I had in mind. However, I was anticipating the inflation that inevitably occurs when people take many tests purposely to qualify. Due to the imperfect correlations between tests, a person’s scores are always spread around one’s true level, with some scores above and some below it, and the more tests a person takes, the wider the range of scores (do notice that a widening of the range is not the same as a rise of scores on the whole). This is true for any kind of measurement, not just I.Q. testing. Also, others told me that a cut-off like 99.5 was so unusual that it would confuse people. 99.9 was more common.

So it became 99.9. Soon I discovered that homogeneous (one-sided) tests were letting through apparently unqualified candidates, and for that reason I put the pass level for such tests at 99.99 for some years, which worked well, except that people did not understand the reason for it and mistook it for having “two classes of membership”. Eventually, I decided to set it at 99.9 again, but require qualifying scores on each of two homogeneous tests of different contents types (or on one heterogeneous test, of course). This latter system works excellently.

It has astounded me for many years that most other I.Q. societies do not treat homogeneous tests appropriately, and are thus selecting well below their intended level (for this and for several other reasons, which I will not name because the answer becomes too long then).

Jacobsen: What cognitive rarity in the general population does one begin to observe true thinking about a subject matter?

Cooijmans: I believe that occurs at about the level of 1 in 200 in general intelligence. To avoid misunderstanding, and strictly speaking, it is necessary to specify here that meant is the most intelligent 1 in 200, not the least intelligent 1 in 200; after all, with only the first sentence of this answer given, the latter interpretation would also be possible.

Jacobsen: What passes for ‘thinking’ in the general population, where this ‘thinking’ appears more as thought-ing?

Cooijmans: I do not know what thought-ing is, but for instance the mere possession or even availability of knowledge is often mistaken for intelligence. Sometimes you hear the possibility mentioned of connecting the human brain to a computer so that “all the knowledge in the world” will be instantly available, and this is then spoken of in terms like “then we will all be geniuses”, as if there will be no more differences in intelligence left. But of course, the difference between, say, someone of I.Q. 70 and someone of I.Q. 140 will not change the slightest bit when both come to possess all the knowledge in the world; the person with the higher I.Q. will be better able to use that knowledge. One’s intelligence level is not altered by the amount of knowledge available to one; nor by one’s amount of education, for that matter (the notion that an academic style of working and having an academic title guarantee the ability to “think” may also be an example).

Something similar can be said about improving one’s I.Q. test scores by fraud or practising; some think that their intelligence truly becomes higher that way, but the gains are hollow with regard to thinking.

Another example of confusing an activity with “thinking” that is not thinking is “brainstorming”, and really any form of conferencing, be it in person or by video or telephone. When I was working as a programmer for a company in the summer of 2007, a colleague insisted on meeting me to discuss the project we were working on. He collected me by car in the morning and took me to his house. There I sat the entire day, with him rambling uninterruptedly about anything that occurred to him. I could not get a word in edgeways, in fact he only stopped speaking to swallow the odd pill now and then; Ritalin, one presumes. It was a fully wasted day work-wise for both of us, but he did not seem to notice that, and was even flabbergasted when I asked him to drive me home early in the evening; he had probably hoped to keep “working” like that all night!

The next morning he was again standing at my front door ringing the bell; but we had not agreed on another meeting, so I did not answer and hid in the kitchen until he had gone, thus preventing one more wasted day. Half an hour later an electronic mail message from him arrived. It was empty. For reasons like this I believe that companies could work much more efficiently by honouring the principle of “talking is not work” and thus prohibiting any talk-meetings during paid work hours. Extraverted people may not like this, but boy will it increase productivity!

Jacobsen: Why have the Glia Society “nerve-centred” in Europe? (Cooijmans, n.d.b)

Cooijmans: Because I am living in Europe, and because there was no higher-I.Q. society based in Europe yet at the time (1997). They were all in the United States I think, so “nerve-centred in Europe” was what one calls a “unique selling point”. In this context I should mention that I have also claimed to have introduced the concepts of high-range testing and higher-I.Q. societies to Europe; it is hard to show with certainty that this is fully true, but no one has contradicted it in almost a quarter of a century.

Jacobsen: Where does the Administrator’s cognitive rarity lie, whether a singular number or a range? Does this provide the Administrator the basis for reasonable grounds for the administration of hundreds in the Glia Society?

Cooijmans: To my utmost regret, it would undermine my credibility to claim that I possess a specific intelligence level in the high range, when my scientific quest is to find out whether or not it is possible at all to measure intelligence in that range. It is so that in the 1990s I took a number of intelligence tests used by mainstream psychology, including the hardest ones available at the time in my country (the Drenth test series) but also the W.A.I.S. and more, and my scores were the highest that were possible according to the norm tables, with raw scores that were (much) higher than what was needed for those highest norms. I was told that it was impossible to measure intelligence meaningfully in the range beyond the highest norms. I took this as an inducement to start my high-range test project.

No intelligence level provides grounds for the administration of hundreds in a society; in order to be able to do that, one needs other personality traits next to high intelligence, in particular in the realm of conscientiousness. Perhaps a certain “je ne sais quoi” will help too (but I do not know what).

Jacobsen: The Glia Society “has several hundred members in more than thirty countries on five continents, the lion’s share residing in Europe and North America…” (Cooijmans, n.d.b) Surprisingly, there exist fewer than 10 in the Netherlands. (Ibid.)

Cooijmans: This is not a question. I will therefore assume that the intended question has accidentally fallen off and read something like, “How on Earth is it possible that there exist so few members in the Netherlands, considering the fact that the society’s founder and Administrator is a Netherlander, and one of the most interesting and brilliant ones at that? One would expect every intelligent inhabitant of the low countries to jump at the chance of joining the society under these tantalizing conditions!”

Well, that is an excellent question, and I could scarcely have formulated it better myself. The fact of the matter is that my country is suffering to an extreme degree under the ideological terror of cultural Marxism, and for several generations now the public has been indoctrinated from childhood on with notions like “intelligence is not important or valuable in itself”, “we do not even know what intelligence is, let alone that we could measure it”, and “all individuals have the same inborn potential and any observed differences result solely from social-environmental influences”. With such fallacies so deeply ingrained in the collective mind, I.Q. societies and I.Q. tests are not enjoying much positive interest. Popular sayings in the Netherlands include “Act normally, then you are already acting crazy enough”, and “No one is allowed to stick out above the mowing field”. Also, a prophet is never honoured in one’s own town.

A sublime illumination of the anti-intellectual nature of current Marxist radicalism was the proposal, one or two years ago, to abolish “het”, one of the two definite articles in Netherlandic. Words need “de” or “het” in front of them, depending on their linguistic sex. Immigrants often get it wrong and say “de” where “het” is required. So, the use of “het” by native Netherlanders is “racist” because it makes immigrants feel stupid, according to these activists, and we should stop using the word altogether. Such ideas are fully serious, and if you as much as bat an eye, this reveals you to be a “racist”.

There is little interest in what I do from people in the Netherlands, and reactions have sometimes been acidic, like “Testing and selecting is where the dividing of people starts!” (the implication being that where it ends is in the gas chambers). I have been studying this anti-test attitude on and off over the years, and suspect it is rooted in the following circumstances: (1) The Netherlands has been very open to immigration for a number of centuries, and as a result has been extensively occupied by a caste of people who have undermined the nation from within; (2) The Netherlands has been deeply involved in worldwide trade for centuries and entertains a huge export surplus, so has a business interest in not emphasizing or ignoring group differences, such as in intelligence; (3) The Netherlands has been involved in the Second World War, and the “never again” reflex to that is so strong that anything or anyone that can be even remotely connected to the Nazis is fair game and can be attacked with all ethical constraints dropped. For instance, in 2002 when a right-wing politician was heading to win the elections, his political opponents and the media openly compared him and his ideas to Nazism, and a far-left activist shot him dead a few days before the elections. The murderer received a nominal sentence of eighteen years but was released after a mere twelve years and is now completely free, despite never having regretted his deed and consistently having violated the conditions of his release.

Jacobsen: The Glia Society was entitled as such because the glia “is a type of brain cell — the glia, glial, or neuroglia cell — that in various ways supports and feeds the neurons. Einstein had many more glia cells per neuron than has the average person. Members are analogous to neurons. The Glia Society is a worldwide network of linked brains; a hyper-brain. What were other names or titles brainstormed in the earlier stages of development of the Glia Society if any? Why those names in particular?

Cooijmans: A variant proposed by someone was “Glial Society”, which supposedly sounded better. Another potential name that did not make it – to my disappointment because I liked it a lot – is one I can not name, for reasons I can not name. If you pay good attention you may come across it on occasion though.

Jacobsen: Why name the journal Thoth? The members, one assumes, are alive.

Cooijmans: Thoth, the Egyptian god, is one of the earliest entities in history to be connected to intellectual matters like science, wisdom, writing, art, magic and so on. He is credited with the invention of writing, mathematics, astronomy, and much more. To find an earlier intellectual, one might need to go back to the days of Atlantis, but I did not think of that at the time.

Jacobsen: What are the tasks performed by the “founder and other members”? (Ibid.) Do those “other members” have roles? (Ibid.)

Cooijmans: These tasks include the making of the journal, the admission of members and keeping of the membership list, the administration of communication fora and admission of members thereto, the verifying whether there are non-members on the fora, the keeping of a list of accepted tests, making and maintaining the public web location, and so on. Other members than the founder have done things like creating and administrating communication fora, making the journal, verifying whether there are non-members on the fora, designing the logo, and serving as Ombudsman.

In this context it may be interesting to note that online communication fora tend to get infested with non-members if one does not regularly clean them up. A requirement that has to be made is that a member’s profile on a forum must be able to be connected to the member’s entry in the society’s member list. Some can or will not understand this, and use anonymous or pseudonymous profiles on fora. When confronted with this by the forum inspector, they may not-understandingly respond like, “But you know me! I am [this or that person]!” But of course, such incidental self-identification when confronted does not help; it must be possible for any member to identify any forum profile by comparing it to the official member list.

Jacobsen: What has been the growth trajectory of the Glia Society since its inception?

Cooijmans: Below is a list of numbers of members that joined per year. One should keep in mind that the society went online in 2001. From 2008 on, the admission policy was tightened by requiring either a qualifying score on a heterogeneous test (with at least two different problem types) or two qualifying scores on two homogeneous (one-sided) tests with different contents types.

1997 5

1998 8

1999 17

2000 19

2001 41

2002 39

2003 31

2004 33

2005 32

2006 24

2007 40

2008 14

2009 14

2010 13

2011 14

2012 6

2013 11

2014 15

2015 20

2016 16

2017 13

2018 13

2019 17

2020 9 (until 29 July)

Year unknown 23

References

Cooijmans, P. (n.d.a). The Glia Society: General Information. Retrieved from http://gliasociety.org/general_information.html.

Cooijmans, P. (n.d.a). The Glia Society: The World-wide Hyperbrain. Retrieved from http://gliasociety.org/.

Appendix I: Footnotes

[1] Administrator, Giga Society; Administrator, Glia Society.

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

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2023-03-22

Free of Charge 3 – “Humanist Manifesto I” and the Path of Freethought

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

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

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2020/09/01

Abstract

Dr. Herb Silverman is the Founder of the Secular Coalition for America, the Founder of the Secular Humanists of the Lowcountry, and the Founder of the Atheist/Humanist Alliance student group at the College of Charleston. He authored Complex variables (1975), Candidate Without a Prayer: An Autobiography of a Jewish Atheist in the Bible Belt (2012) and An Atheist Stranger in a Strange Religious Land: Selected Writings from the Bible Belt (2017). He co-authored The Fundamentals of Extremism: The Christian Right in America (2003) with Kimberley Blaker and Edward S. Buckner, Complex Variables with Applications (2007) with Saminathan Ponnusamy, and Short Reflections on Secularism (2019), Short Reflections on American Secularism’s History and Philosophy (2020), and Short Reflections on Age and Youth (2020). He discusses: Humanist Manifesto I; freedom of speech; religious humanism; consistent parts over time; and freedom of speech or freedom of expression.

Keywords: freedom of expression, freedom of speech, Herb Silverman, Humanism, Humanist Manifesto I.

Free of Charge 3 – “Humanist Manifesto I” and the Path of Freethought

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

Scott Douglas Jacobsen: The original documentation of the humanist movements began with the Humanist Manifesto I from 1933 with an opening descriptive quotation by Raymond B. Bragg:

The Manifesto is a product of many minds. It was designed to represent a developing point of view, not a new creed. The individuals whose signatures appear would, had they been writing individual statements, have stated the propositions in differing terms. The importance of the document is that more than thirty men have come to general agreement on matters of final concern and that these men are undoubtedly representative of a large number who are forging a new philosophy out of the materials of the modern world. (American Humanist Association, 1933)

The obvious values delineated within an evolutionary perspective on a worldview, a collective effort for this worldview as presented, the bias of the times inherent in the language of “men,” while working against or in contradistinction to the views of the past or old philosophies with its replacement in this “new philosophy out of the materials of the modern world.” In much of the old world, religion reigned supreme; critics, doubters, unbelievers, and dissenters were shunned, banished, and killed. In this “new philosophy,” these “critics, doubters, unbelievers, and dissenters”^[1] came together as “men” to ‘forge a new philosophy.’ In review of the fundamental tenets proposed in the outdated and historical document, the formal foundations of modern or American Humanism, i.e., “religious humanism,”^[2] none of the speak to freedom of speech, free speech, free expression, or freedom of expression. In turn, they focus more on the proposition of a paradigm shift into a continual evolution paradigm in which change becomes inevitable without dogma and an emphasis on Humanism as a religious philosophy bound to a natural self-existent armature entitled “the Universe.” First question, why was freedom of expression^[³^] in general not emphasized at the time?

Dr. Herb Silverman[1]^,[2]: To me, freedom of expression must include freedom of speech, as well as freedom of the press and the right to peaceably assemble. So my answer to this question will include my answer to your second question about freedom of speech.

Perhaps freedom of expression was assumed because it is included in the First Amendment to the U. S. Constitution. Humanist Manifesto I (1933) is so-called because it was the first attempt to describe a formal humanist philosophy without any gods. The writers knew there would be additional manifestos as we increased our knowledge and cultural attitudes changed. The document speaks of social justice and scientific optimism. It refers to “socialized and cooperative economic order” and “equitable distribution of the means of life.” Though it wasn’t explicit, it seemed to favor socialism. There was no mention of racism, sexism, minority rights, or environmentalism.

Humanist Manifesto II (1973) promotes democracy, civil liberties, human freedoms, separation of church and state, and elimination of discrimination based on race, religion, sex, age, or national origin. It also refers to ecological damage and overpopulation.

I was on the American Humanist Association Board in 2003 when we approved Humanist Manifesto III. We defined Humanism as a progressive philosophy of life that, without supernaturalism, affirms our ability and responsibility to lead ethical lives of personal fulfillment that aspire to the greater good of humanity. (I hoped to get “atheism” into the definition, but had to be satisfied by “without supernaturalism.”) This document also says that humanists are guided by reason and inspired by compassion. It adds that humans are an integral part of nature, the result of unguided evolutionary change and that ethical values are derived from human need and interest as tested by experience.

Jacobsen: Second question, why was freedom of speech^[4], in particular, excluded, too?

Silverman: See answer above.

Jacobsen: What did this document provide for the foundations of modern Humanism through its “religious humanism”?

Silverman: “Religious Humanism” was an integral part of Humanist Manifesto I. The phrase is still used today by some freethinkers, though it is not without controversy. Ethical Culture societies as well as many Unitarian Universalist congregations describe themselves as religious humanists. There seems to be no difference in worldviews between secular humanists and religious humanists. Secular humanists see their worldview as a philosophy, while religious humanists see it as a religion.

But that depends on your definition of religion. Secular humanists think of religion as theistic. Religious humanists say that religion is that which serves the personal and social needs of a group of people sharing the same philosophical worldview. They say religious humanism offers a basis for moral values, an inspiring set of ideals, methods for dealing with life’s harsher realities, a rationale for living life joyously, and an overall sense of purpose.

When I first became a board member of the American Humanist Association, I discovered it called itself religious, for tax advantages, I argued for abandoning its religious designation, and it eventually did. One of its affiliates to which I belong, Humanist Society, is religious, because that helps members in some states be allowed to perform weddings. I am a humanist celebrant who, in South Carolina, has performed several weddings, none of which were religious.

Jacobsen: What parts have the humanist movements kept as consistent parts over time because of the value of the principles?

Silverman: The movements have always had an evolutionary, atheistic worldview, though often with different terminology. What I said about Humanist Manifesto III in my first answer is a summary of what I think has always been the essence of humanism. We defined Humanism as a progressive philosophy of life that, without supernaturalism, affirms our ability and responsibility to lead ethical lives of personal fulfillment that aspire to the greater good of humanity.

Jacobsen: Do freedom of speech or freedom of expression seem like fundamentally humanist values?

Silverman: They are fundamental humanist values, as well as fundamental values in any democratic society.

Jacobsen: Thank you for the opportunity and your time, Dr. Silverman.

Silverman: Thank you.

References

American Humanist Association. (1933). Humanist Manifesto I. Retrieved from https://americanhumanist.org/what-is-humanism/manifesto1/.

Cornell Law School. (n.d.). First Amendment. Retrieved from https://www.law.cornell.edu/constitution/first_amendment.

Appendix I: Footnotes

[1] Founder, Secular Coalition for America.

[2] Individual Publication Date: September 1, 2020: http://www.in-sightjournal.com/free-of-charge-3; Full Issue Publication Date: May 1, 2020: https://in-sightjournal.com/insight-issues/.

[3] In this context, a “Member State” refers to a nation, country, or state with approved and formal status within the United Nations.

^[3] The signatories to the Humanist Manifesto I (1933) as follows:

See American Humanist Association (1933).

^[4] Ibid.

^[5] In international rights, in Canadian law and the constitution, in regional rights stipulations, in the European Union, in the U.K., and in many other nation-states, the rights stipulations continually reference the right to “freedom of expression” as opposed to the more particular “freedom of speech.” The Americans emphasize “freedom of speech”; whereas, most others place more import on the generic and general “freedom of expression.”

^[6] See Cornell Law School (n.d.).

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Pith 318: “Do you want to contribute anything to society?”

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Personal)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2023/03/21

“Do you want to contribute anything to society?”: You don’t even know what classes I’m taking; yet, you presume to know character.

See “No response is necessary”.

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2023-03-22

Pith 317: Men on a construction crew, women at a ranch

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Personal)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2023/03/21

Men on a construction crew, women at a ranch: Majority men on site and majority women at facility are very similar; they end up having a lot of ‘work’ to do, standing around and talking.

See “Both can wear helmets, but not hearing protection”.

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2023-03-22

Pith 316: “Then, man up!”

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Personal)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2023/03/21

“Then, man up!”: The modern empowered woman, unenlightened; I’d rather enlightened, because that is where true power arises.

See “Stereotyping men to the grave”.

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Pith 315: A bottle of wine in one sitting, barely over 5’1″

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Personal)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2023/03/21

A bottle of wine in one sitting, barely over 5’1″: How much to dry ennui and tears, dear?

See “Another lost one”.

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Pith 314: I am a silver mirror

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Personal)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2023/03/21

I am a silver mirror: What you see in me, you see in yourself; and, the bloodless see nothing.

See “Reflection’s reflection in reflection”.

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Pith 313: “It’s so someone would love them”

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Personal)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2023/03/21

“It’s so someone would love them”: A clinical psychologist instructor on why crack mothers who have crack babies knowing the status of the fetus and of the crack father’s (and their) addiction; love wounds can be the most ghastly and soul penetrating, leaving a crater to fill.

See “Love conquers not all, but some, as it consumes too”.

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2023-03-22

Pith 312: The Camouflage Poem

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Personal)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2023/03/21

The Camouflage Poem: ; .

See “”.

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Pith 311: Barn ladies are fucking tough

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Personal)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2023/03/21

Barn ladies are fucking tough: Tear an ACL or MCL, maybe; get on with the day, Jesus Christ.

See “Don’t limit a woman”.

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Pith 310: “She’s kind of a cow”

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Personal)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2023/03/21

“She’s kind of a cow”: She’s 10, which is allowed; [Insert laughter].

See “Step-sisters brawl”.

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Pith 309: “Mmmm, I’m horny now”

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Personal)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2023/03/21

“Mmmm, I’m horny now”: To paraphrase Austin Powers; no, no, it’s not right when you’re drunk.

See “You could’ve shot your shot, Scott!”.

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2023-03-22

Pith 308: If I

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Personal)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2023/03/21

If I: Demetri Martin’s confessional peak.

See “Art”.

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Pith 307: Tide in, tide out

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Personal)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2023/03/21

Tide in, tide out: In and out, in & out, out and out, in & in, out; I am the tide.

See “What do single changes mean?”.

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2023-03-21

Conversation with Emily on Postsecondary Education in Iceland: International Officer, Stúdentaráð – Háskóli Íslands, University of Iceland (1)

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

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

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2020/09/01

Abstract

Emily is the International Officer in the Stúdentaráð – Háskóli Íslands at the University of Iceland. She discusses: personal background or story; individual narrative lead into becoming a part of the University of Iceland; the position of the International Officer at the Stúdentaráð Háskóla Íslands; tasks and responsibilities; prospective international students; and the primary and secondary further information important for attending the University of Iceland.

Keywords: Emily, International Officer, Stúdentaráð – Háskóli Íslands, University of Iceland.

Conversation with Emily on Postsecondary Education in Iceland: International Officer, Stúdentaráð – Háskóli Íslands, University of Iceland (1)

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

Scott Douglas Jacobsen: What is the personal background or story for you?

Emily[1],[2]: I am half Icelandic and half German, but grew up in Sweden. In Sweden I attended the German International School, which quickly gave me insight into the importance of international work and friendships. After graduating, I moved to the Netherlands and took the first year of the Bachelor program Liberal Arts and Sciences. From there I moved to Berlin to work and take some time off school / university to find out which academic field interested me the most.

Jacobsen: How did this individual narrative lead into becoming a part of the University of Iceland?

Emily: The University of Iceland was not my first choice. Even though I had spent most summers of my childhood in Iceland, I never thought I’d move here full-time. In the summer of 2013, I started working as a tour guide in Iceland and did this every summer thereafter. I decided to study psychology in 2017 and got accepted to the VU Amsterdam. I went back to Berlin after spending my summer in Iceland working, to pack my things and get on a train to Amsterdam. Even though this decision seemed appealing, my gut feeling told me to go back to Iceland. So I called the course registration office, luckily I had already applied but never accepted my study offer, and asked if they’d still have me – one week before courses started. They told me yes, given that I’d show up in person by the end of the week to enroll and pay my tuition. Long story short: by the end of the week I had cancelled my plans to go to Amsterdam, booked a Friday flight back to Iceland and was sprinting into the admissions office two minutes before closing. Today, I am very glad I had a change of heart and came to Iceland!

Jacobsen: How did you earn the position of the International Officer at the Stúdentaráð Háskóla Íslands?

Emily: During my three-year program in psychology at the University of Iceland, I was active in my student association and was thereby introduced to student politics. By the end of my studies I applied to the position of the International Officer of the Student Council. Being half Icelandic, but at the same time sort of belonging to the group of international students, I have gained insight into both “worlds” within the university and know some of the challenges that students from other countries might face during their studies. Also, having been an international student at the University of Tilburg in the Netherlands is a great source of inspiration for, for example, the development of the mentor system at the University of Iceland.

Jacobsen: Now, within the remit of the International Officer station at the Stúdentaráð Háskóla Íslands, what tasks and responsibilities come with the position?

Emily: The International Officer of the Student Council acts as a contact person for all international students, both exchange students and those who have moved to Iceland, as well as students of the University of Iceland applying as mentors for exchange students. The International Officer oversees the International Committee, that consists of students of the university, and works closely with the International Office. Together, they organize many events for international students and help them become a part of Icelandic student life. The International Officer also ensures that the rights of foreign students are taken into regard both by the university and the student community.

Jacobsen: As prospective international students look to the University of Iceland, what should they primarily keep in mind about Icelandic culture and attending the university? Even things like demographics, for example, there are only a few hundred Canadians registered in all of Iceland based on the census data.

Emily: The University of Iceland is attracting more and more international students each year, creating a big community of curious travelers who explore the island together. However, due to language barriers, it is sometimes tricky to mix them with the larger group of local students, as some courses are only available in Icelandic. Since the increasing group of international students is quite new to the University of Iceland, it is still adapting to this growing group of international students and will add more courses in English over time. Only last week, the University of Iceland alongside its eight partner universities of the AURORA alliance, have been granted financial aid from the European Commission, which will promote the internationalization at home, as well as mobility of AURORA university students. The University of Iceland has been an active member of the AURORA network, advocating sustainability and research, diversity, inclusion, and societal engagement.

But coming back to international students who are new to the University of Iceland, the advice that I give everyone coming to Iceland is: give it time. Both Icelandic words and friends will come naturally, and you’ll be surprised how many cozy events are happening during the cold and dark winter days.

Jacobsen: Where can students find the primary and secondary further information important for attending the University of Iceland?

Emily: Both https://english.hi.is/ and http://student.is/node/142 are great sources of information for all students of the university. Otherwise, I recommend liking facebook pages, such as Háskóli Íslands, Stúdentaráð Háskóla Íslands, and International Student Life at the University of Iceland, as well as joining resembling facebook groups.

All international students will also have the opportunity to apply for a mentor, which will help them integrate in the local student community. There will be 1-2 mentors of the University of Iceland overseeing groups of 5-8 international students, which is a great start to finding friends at the university. And I definitely recommend taking part in all activities during the Orientation Days at the beginning of the semester!

Appendix I: Footnotes

[1] International Officer, Stúdentaráð – Háskóli Íslands, University of Iceland.

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

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Conversation with Richard May (“May-Tzu”/”MayTzu”/”Mayzi”) on Some General Background and Generic Views: Co-Editor, “Noesis: The Journal of the Mega Society” (1)

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

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

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2020/09/01

Abstract

Richard May (“May-Tzu”/”MayTzu”/”Mayzi”) is a Member of the Mega Society based on a qualifying score on the Mega Test (before 1995) prior to the compromise of the Mega Test and Co-Editor of Noesis: The Journal of the Mega Society. In self-description, May states: “Not even forgotten in the cosmic microwave background (CMB), I’m an Amish yuppie, born near the rarified regions of Laputa, then and often, above suburban Boston. I’ve done occasional consulting and frequent Sisyphean shlepping. Kafka and Munch have been my therapists and allies. Occasionally I’ve strived to descend from the mists to attain the mythic orientation known as having one’s feet upon the Earth. An ailurophile and a cerebrotonic ectomorph, I write for beings which do not, and never will, exist — writings for no one. I’ve been awarded an M.A. degree, mirabile dictu, in the humanities/philosophy, and U.S. patent for a board game of possible interest to extraterrestrials. I’m a member of the Mega Society, the Omega Society and formerly of Mensa. I’m the founder of the Exa Society, the transfinite Aleph-3 Society and of the renowned Laputans Manqué. I’m a biographee in Who’s Who in the Brane World. My interests include the realization of the idea of humans as incomplete beings with the capacity to complete their own evolution by effecting a change in their being and consciousness. In a moment of presence to myself in inner silence, when I see Richard May’s non-being, ‘I’ am. You can meet me if you go to an empty room.” Some other resources include Stains Upon the Silence: something for no one, McGinnis Genealogy of Crown Point, New York: Hiram Porter McGinnis, Swines List, Solipsist Soliloquies, Board Game, Lulu blog, Memoir of a Non-Irish Non-Jew, and May-Tzu’s posterous. He discusses: growing up; a sense of an extended self; family background; the experience with peers and schoolmates as a child and an adolescent; the purpose of intelligence tests; high intelligence; geniuses of the past; the greatest geniuses in history; a genius from a profoundly intelligent person; some work experiences and educational certifications; the more important aspects of the idea of the gifted and geniuses; some social and political views; the God concept; science; some of the tests taken and scores earned (with standard deviations); the range of the scores; and ethical philosophy.

Keywords: general background, generic views, IQ, Mega Society, Richard May.

Conversation with Richard May (“May-Tzu”/”MayTzu”/”Mayzi”) on Some General Background and Generic Views: Co-Editor, “Noesis: The Journal of the Mega Society” (1)

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

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

Richard May[1],[2]*: Mother said that she was an orphan and “didn’t know who her parents were.” But she knew her mother’s sister. It was all very coherent and logical. Once she said her father was a minister. I listened in silence. Once she said we were Danish, after talking to her brother on the phone. Danish had been substituted for Irish, I’m sure. I never interrogated Mother, naively preferring a passive psychoanalytic or Rogerian approach.

Father said his grandfather, who “looked very Jewish and wore a yarmulke in his jewelry business, fooled the Jews, by pretending to be a Jew.” However, we were the Jews we ‘fooled’ on father’s side of the family. “Truth is the safest lie,” is a Yiddish proverb. There were no true family stories of interest. The lies of otherwise honest parents inspired me to research my background.

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

May: No, belatedly at age 53 finding the hidden truth provided a sense of family legacy.

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

May: Mother was from Northern New York. Father was from Boston, Mass. We spoke English, which was not unusual in those areas at the time. There was not much religion at home. Nothing to rebel against. A children’s book on “Jesus,” when I was very young. An angel candle to protect me from goblins coming down the chimney at night. There was a little lip service to God now and then. We usually said grace before Sunday dinner.

I’ve only gone to church about five times in my life, all during childhood only. Father’s originally Jewish side had become Unitarian, I guess. Mother seemed to think she was some sort of Protestant, alternating in a quantum fashion between Episcopal and Baptist. I correctly perceived this as not even farcical. At one point as a young child I told Mother that I did not believe in church. She cried.

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

May: I had a crush on a girl in the first grade. She liked my art work. It may have been o.k. till puberty. I was always chosen last along with a slightly retarded epileptic for sports teams in high school gym class. I was somewhat proud of this distinction. Guess I didn’t fit in. Almost didn’t graduate from high school and then university because of gym requirements.

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

May: Maybe the purpose of intelligence tests is to attempt to measure intelligence.

Jacobsen: When was high intelligence discovered for you?

May: Did SETI finally announce that they made a breakthrough? But SETI has never discovered me, as far as I’m aware.

Jacobsen: When you think of the ways in which the geniuses of 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.

May: Humans are tribal and primitive even today, to varying degrees. Differences of any kind among us are often not well tolerated.

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

May: Oh, you mean Mensa!

No?

— Archimedes, Euclid, Newton, Gauss, Einstein, and von Neumann come to mind.

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

May: Focused hard work in an intellectual discipline(s) over many years, original insights and thinking out of the box. Also the conventions historians used in identifying geniuses in various time periods. Herman Hesse wrote that in his view many geniuses were never noticed or recognized by their contemporaries or even later.

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

May: Sisyphean shlepping, including ID checking in a bar, with a B.S. in psychology and a M.A. in Humanities/Philosophy.

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?

May: Myths may not necessarily be false propositions to be dispelled by truths, I think. Otherwise I have no thoughts on this.

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

I’m a political atheist with regard to ideologies and political process:

“Ideologies

Freedom, peace and prosperity are preferable to their absence or negation. Marxists say that property is theft; Libertarians say that taxation is theft. But ideologies, themselves, are theft: theft of reason; theft of truth; a secular theology of lies; paleomammalian delusions shared by the herd; 1 dimensional maps of hyperdimensional territories of phenomenal processes and individual values; attempts to depict a higher-dimensional polytope on a 1-dimensional line segment; maps far more useful to the mapmaker than the individual trying to find his way. There are no up-wingers or down-wingers; no front-wingers or back-wingers. Ideology is a bit of truth simplified to a convenient lie. — May–Tzu”

Humans are unconscious automata, as G. I. Gurdjieff stressed. In Christian language we are not redeemed, i.e., we are just too f*cked up as a species and we have a Type-O civilization. (We are probably actually less intelligent today than were the ancient Greeks.) It may be worth noting, however, that everything turns into its opposite in the relative world, including in the political arena.

“In Praise Of Stupidity

Homo sapiens is a primitive species whose primary activity is internecine tribal warfare and whose secondary activity is destruction of the ecosystem. Obviously human wisdom and compassion have not evolved as rapidly as the intelligence associated with technology and weaponry. Maybe for this reason “human stupidity” actually has survival value for our species. If the mean absolute I.Q. were 150 rather than 100, and if there were no correspondingly increased levels of wisdom and compassion, then perhaps we would have eradicated our species from the planet. Is stupidity, itself, the long awaited but unrecognized Messiah? — May-Tzu”

“There is infinite hope, but not for us.” — Franz Kafka

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

May: There are a quite a few thoughts on the above topics are in my “Stains Upon the Silence — something for no one.” — But having thoughts is not thinking.

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

May: To the extent that science is an apolitical approximation of truth, science is my ‘religion’ or worldview; Science not scientism. But remember the disinvitation of physics Nobel laureate Brian Josephson from a Cambridge University physics conference and the banning of Rupert Sheldrake and laser physicist Russell Targ, who did research for the C.I.A. for years, from TED Talks.

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

May: I stopped taking IQ tests after the Mega Test on which I scored about 4.7+ sigma, qualifying me for the Mega Society. I took no later-developed tests after that. My score range is between mostly between 3 and 4.7 sigma.

Incidentally I make no claims about my alleged ‘high intelligence’. This is neither humility nor false humility. I was raised to be stupid.

My mother repeatedly said that I was “just like her,”odd given that she appeared to be a female. She would refer to herself as “my stupid mother” and shortly after say, “You’re just like me.” She was orphaned in a rural area and had a 10th. grade formal educational level, although she usually didn’t sound like it.

An uncle on my father’s side, who boasted of having a very high IQ score, gave me a vast dictionary- encyclopedia in my early teens. I remember avidly looking up and studying various topics for hours. Mother told me that my thirst for knowledge “was just because my brain was developing” and reassured me that I would “get over it.”

My father’s father was said to have been a professorial-sounding brilliant autodidact who had dropped out of elementary school. He was said to have read a book a day, had a extensive vocabulary and corrected people’s grammar. But Grandfather had bipolar disorder. Therefore, my father apparently associated high intelligence and erudition with ‘madness’ and disapproved of my attraction to books, where they could be found.

In short I took these tests to attempt to demonstrate something to myself, not to impress others. I don’t generally feel highly intelligent and usually assume that others are more intelligent than I am, at least until I’ve observed them.

But — in an absolute sense — how brilliant are actual human geniuses standing before the cosmos?

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.

May: My score range is mostly between about 3 and 4.7+ sigmas. My lowest score was about 2 sigmas. My friend Grady M Towers claimed that everyone has as many IQs as they have taken IQ tests. Anne Anastasi wrote that IQ is not a property of an organism, but an index of a sample of behavior.

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

May: Buddhist ethics.

Appendix I: Footnotes

[1] Member, Mega Society; Co-Editor, Noesis: The Journal of the Mega Society.

[2] Individual Publication Date: September 1, 2020: http://www.in-sightjournal.com/may-1; Full Issue Publication Date: January 1, 2021: https://in-sightjournal.com/insight-issues/.

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2023-03-21

An Interview with Anonymous Canadian High-IQ Community Member on Family, Intelligence Testing, and Worldview (Part One)

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

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

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2020/08/22

Abstract

This is an interview with an anonymous Canadian member of the high-IQ communities. He discusses: the family background; experience with peers and schoolmates; the purpose of intelligence tests; high intelligence; the extreme reactions to and treatment of geniuses; the greatest geniuses in history; a genius from a profoundly intelligent person; some work experiences and educational certifications; some social and political views; science; some of the tests taken and scores earned (with standard deviations); the range of the scores; and ethical philosophy.

Keywords: intelligence, IQ, The University of British Columbia.

An Interview with Anonymous Canadian High-IQ Community Member on Family, Intelligence Testing, and Worldview (Part One)[1]^,[2]*

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

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

Anonymous Canadian High-IQ Community Member: I was born in Ontario, Canada. My parents came from China and immigrated to Canada with little proficiency in English. My mom did not attend university, but my father received an M.Sc. Applied Physics degree at the Chinese Academy of Science, China, and is now working as a software engineer. My father has two brothers. One had received a medical degree at a university in China, and his other brother received a Ph.D. in Chemistry from the California Institute of Technology (Caltech).

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

Anonymous Canadian High-IQ Community Member: Typically poor. Most of my classmates saw me as awkward. However, I have been influenced by schoolmates and peers a lot. Although I was detached continuously and struggled to fit in, there remain times where I’d miss everyone from high school and elementary. In school, the only real connection I had was the tennis team and the chess club. My relationships with teachers were often just as poor, but I had a fairly good rapport with a few teachers. I was always poverty-stricken at appreciating social cues and was quite vexatious to others. I was regularly a person who could be joked about.

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

Anonymous Canadian High-IQ Community Member: It isn’t easy to assess one’s own intelligence relative to others, but IQ tests do a good (but far from perfect) job at it. IQ is a comparative measure that is a score achieved on a test relative to a group or person. In contrast, intelligence is one’s pure learning potential and is ideally measured in absolute terms. Intelligence increases from childhood onwards but starts to decrease somewhere in early adulthood slowly.

Let me describe some problems with IQ tests, but do not destroy the usefulness of the tests. The validity of an IQ test lies in its g-loading, which you can take as an index of a mental task’s complexity. Different IQ tests differ on g-loading, hence its validity. In terms of reliability, even the best IQ test has a reliability of 0.9 when re-testing an individual. IQ tests do not only measure g, as they also measure group factors (numerical, verbal, and spatial) and test specificity. The g factor is the only predictive aspect of an IQ test, and it is possible to reduce the g-loading of a test (which would increase test specificity) and lower the validity of the test. There are also problems with the test ceiling as most tests are not designed to measure exceptional intelligence and top out at 160 (extrapolations are rare and inaccurate), or mostly below 150. The further you move away from the mean, the lower the reliability and validity.

IQ and intelligence are correlated, but not the same. Average IQ scores have been rising in the twentieth century (Flynn effect), without an increase in the general factor, which shows that IQ tests measure things that are not related to intelligence. IQ tests are indirect and imperfect measures of intelligence but are still predictive of outcomes.

It is also true that extremely intelligent people can score low on IQ tests, and not so bright individuals may score highly. IQ scores will always overestimate or underestimate someone’s intelligence. For highly intelligent people who score low, it can be explained by the fact that the tests measure things not related to intelligence, which can be affected by motivation, concentration, poor sleep, nerves, pain, and mental illness. Some of these things influence an individual for an entire lifetime but are irrelevant concerning their real intelligence. On the other hand, those who score highly on the tests might have been those who are more exposed to thinking and problem-solving in those ways, while intelligence has not increased. James Flynn believes that higher education in our society helps us think in ways that allow us to score higher on those tests. People will get better at them through practice or thinking in ways that can strengthen one’s performance on a test, despite no gain in actual intelligence.

Educational achievement is a reasonably good proxy for someone’s intelligence. However, the grades an individual achieves are heavily influenced by factors unrelated to intelligence, such as work ethic, interests, and motivation. Standardized test scores are even more trustworthy as a measure of intelligence since the problems presented are less likely to be exposed to in the classroom, but scores are still significantly affected by factors other than intelligence. IQ scores are, of course, the best proxies for psychometric g, the essence of intelligence. Even though IQ test scores are the purest measures of intelligence around, they are still far from perfect and miss out on things.

Therefore, despite all the criticisms, IQ tests are valuable because they are the best measures of intelligence (especially comprehensive tests) that correlate with performance in activities that require information processing/learning/problem-solving ability. An IQ score at age 11 correlates with an IQ score at age 18 at .6, and it should be noted that the heritability of IQ scores increase as people age. The heritability of IQ in childhood is around .4-.5, whereas the heritability in adulthood is about .7-.8 (in developed nations). Despite this, an IQ score in childhood is predictive of adult SES and future academic performance.

People like to mention Richard Feynman’s IQ score of 125 on some unknown school test, without the standard deviation and the test name. His actual intelligence relative to all adults is more likely to be 170-180 or higher. 170 (SD = 15) is almost at the 1 in a million mark, so it doesn’t matter how he scores on an IQ test. Einstein would not likely score highly on every test, but his intelligence is off the charts. The principal purpose of the IQ test is for me to get an idea of how likely it is for me to succeed in the future, but to see how my intelligence stacks up relative to others by indirect methods.

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

Anonymous Canadian High-IQ Community Member: Unfortunately, too late. When I entered university, I assumed that I had merely average ability relative to other science students at a relatively elite institution. Realistically it should have been evident that I was above average given that I never cared about my school achievement, but only did it because everyone else cared (I studied about three times less than most of my peers in high school and paid little attention in class due to boredom). Although now I have come to accept that I am far above the norm. It is somewhat likely for me to be the most intelligent person on the entire campus. There were hundreds, if not millions, of signs just waiting on me to recognize that my level of intelligence was something that needed attention. Only after being administered a comprehensive IQ test that measures a wide range of cognitive skills was when I have fully come to fruition with it. I always liked to think I had a reasonably high IQ, but nothing too extreme, so I was in a bit of shock. I started looking back at my life to see what could justify extreme learning ability since I was suffering from imposter syndrome. I did not believe my current level of achievement was commensurate with the score I had achieved. Thinking deeply about my past, it seemed like I had found the solution at last.

It is challenging to self-estimate one’s IQ, but later I began to reflect on my exceptional cognitive abilities. Educational achievement is somewhat reasonable to estimate an IQ, but by itself, it only correlates at .5 with IQ scores, so there is room for much error. The correlation should rise if we consider the difficulty of one’s major and the quality of students in an institution. The average IQ at UBC is high, but most accepted individuals had very high levels of conscientiousness for schoolwork, which may overestimate their intelligence.

The average IQ of UBC STEM and philosophy graduates is likely to be around the 98th percentile, and I was sure I was above average among this group. STEM fields are complicated and more g-loaded than non-STEM fields; thus, their students’ average IQ is higher. Based on educational achievement (difficulty of major, grades, # of years, the rank of institution), I had self-estimated my IQ to be around the 99th percentile among the general population. I was confident I was above average among the STEM students, but the problem was how far above. I was a bit insecure back then (apparently almost everyone in university is, to be honest), given that I wanted to achieve the most extraordinary things but did not want to waste my time pursuing unachievable things. It is crucial for me to have a higher IQ than others because I had a poor work ethic, some mental illness, social awkwardness, and spent a lot of energy finding out what I should pursue. These facts all make it much more difficult for me to succeed.

It is impossible to know my true intelligence relative to the general unselected adult population due to the lack of validity for higher range IQs. No professional IQ test claims to measure above 160, so any individual who claims an IQ above 160 is merely just guessing. I’ll do some guessing as well.

I wanted to accomplish the most amazing things, so I needed to be world-shakingly smart. I realized I didn’t need IQ tests to confirm my intelligence. Based on academic achievement alone, I could estimate my intelligence to be about the 99th percentile of the general population. However, it is obvious that this is a far underestimate of my true intelligence relative to individuals near my age group.

If IQ tests did not exist, I realized that there was enough evidence that my intelligence was unusually higher than most. However, I was slightly insecure (like everyone is) and decided to confirm my intelligence, even though I now see myself as a fool for having to do so. In terms of grades alone, I would not be in the top 5% of my class overall. Still, there are instances where I seem to have been near the top of my class, such as in Calculus and Philosophy courses (which indicate high verbal and mathematical intelligence). For example, the average for a Calculus class may have been around the high 60s, whereas I managed to earn a grade in the high 90s. Majoring in a STEM field is a reasonable proxy for high IQ, whereas philosophy majors typically score among the highest on verbal reasoning. Being a student of both a verbal and mathematical domain indicates very high general ability. These types of individuals will almost always score highly on standardized tests such as the GRE.

A 150 IQ score (1 in 2330) indicates being the most intelligent in a high school. A 160 IQ (1 in 30,000) may mean you are among the most intelligent people in an entire school district. An individual with a true IQ of 180+ (1 in 2 million) may be among the most intelligent in a country. An individual with a 190+ true IQ (1 in several billion) would be among the world’s most intelligent.

I apologize if this sounds like bragging, but here are the most essential things (combined with high academic achievement) that indicate prodigious intelligence and have helped me make sense of everything. I don’t care about my intelligence anymore, but my future achievement should decide how extreme my intelligence truly is:

1) I self-taught myself (autodidact) various academic disciplines for two full years and spent an entire year dedicated to the subject of intelligence. I had read hundreds of books, peer-reviewed journal articles, YouTube videos, blogs, and more. If I keep going, I do believe I have a chance to make a profound contribution to science. I think I have been able to gain the amount of knowledge equivalent to an undergraduate degree in only one year.

2) At the age of 13, I had become fascinated by true crime documentaries and studied controversial, in-depth, and emotional investigations and documentaries thoroughly. My favorite shows were 48 Hours Mystery, Dateline Mystery, and Crime Scene Investigation.

3) I self-taught myself tennis without coaching from a trained professional and managed to reach a level comparable to high-level provincial level tournament players around my age (around top 50 in the province for those under 18). My parents did not encourage me to play as they are not familiar with sports at all. I started around the age of 12 and reached that level in around five years. I have never practiced with players much better than I am, nor did my parents buy me expensive tennis rackets, strings, shoes, or have the time or money to send me to a coach or participate in the most competitive tournaments. I practiced amongst recreational level adult players and amateur level players my own age at a local tennis court and then joined a tennis club at the age of 14. In club tournaments (non-ranked tournaments), I managed to beat provincial level players several times. These players not only love tennis, but they are pushed by their parents, taught by a top coach, have many friends at a high level to practice with, and have lots of necessary equipment, training, and resources. I had created my own playstyle, which helped me virtually become the best non-coached player in the world. The reason I can win matches is because of my composure, mental fortitude, my agility, and my exceptional problem-solving ability. I will likely hold my skills throughout life and continue to win awards from my tennis club. I have won various awards from my high school, but also in club tournaments and league matches for my club. I do not play much tennis now, but I should continue to be at the top of club-level tennis for the rest of my life. (held with competence).

4) I self-taught myself chess at the age of 14, and in less than six months, I had already reached a level where I could take a 2000 rated player down to endgame when I entered my first tournament. The point is, if I started early and were coached, I would have won that match easily. Since I quickly quit chess after a year of serious study, I can not know how far I could have reached.

5) I was always very good at various video games and ended up competing in one of them. I became a professional level player in a competitive video game in my teenage years. I showed signs of being a child prodigy (as others have tried to label me), which led to others encouraging me to attend tournaments. When I attended my very first tournament, I managed to win without dropping a single game. The rarity of an individual winning their first tournament is likely to occur in 1 in 10000 cases. I lived in a city where there was no one to play with, and I lived far away from tournaments; and on top of that, my parents did not support me and often looked down on me for competing in video games instead of studying. When I relocated to British Columbia for my studies, the next iteration of the game came out. I became dominant nationally very quickly despite a long hiatus. At UBC, I am the best player in the school by a longshot and likely among the best among all University students in North America. Among university players right now in North America (Canada, USA, Mexico), I would say that I am somewhere in the top 10 (I like to think I’m #1). If there are around 50000 competitive level players in North America and university simultaneously, that would mean I’m about three to four standard deviations above the mean in terms of skill. Prior to the pandemic, my results would indicate that I am somewhere in the top 15 in Canada, which would equate to being around the world’s top 100.

5. Jacobsen: When you think of the ways in which the geniuses 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.

Anonymous Canadian High-IQ Community Member: The mockery of the genius is due to the fact that they are an outlier in numerous salient characteristics that portray an individual, such as one’s personality and intelligence. Ordinary people vastly outnumber brilliant people because it is a consequence of the bell curve’s nature. Too often, geniuses are treated like they have no place in this world. Besides, many geniuses have trouble understanding allegories, jokes, irony, and sarcasm. They may also have problems with conforming to unwritten social norms or recognizing social cues.

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

Anonymous Canadian High-IQ Community Member: Galileo Galilei and Charles Darwin are two individuals I consider to be great geniuses who have changed the world. The greatest geniuses are those in science, but creative brilliance also occurs in music composition, art, and video games.

Given the recent passing of James Flynn, I would like to discuss his contribution to science briefly. He was an honest and objective scientist, regardless of any political view he may have held. He respected those who disagreed with him and responded to every argument one by one, instead of making fallacious arguments. His work is already somewhat being discussed in scientific literature and lecture halls. I am hesitant to call anyone a true genius in the 21st century, but his contributions will undoubtedly influence future generations.

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

Anonymous Canadian High-IQ Community Member: Compared to the genius, a profoundly intelligent person likely never achieves anything of extreme intellectual note but does have the capacity to learn very rapidly and solve difficult problems. Most of the STEM and philosophy professors at an elite university are profoundly intelligent, but a potential genius is rare, let alone a true genius.

I would first like to discuss the characteristics of genius. A genius is an individual that occurs when a constellation of necessary but not sufficient traits exist at maximum expression. Geniuses are born, not made. However, environmental factors can prevent the genius from becoming a true genius. The necessary traits are intelligence, creativity, zeal, and persistence. Intelligence = general ability (g) = efficiency of information processing, productivity = endogenous cortical stimulation, and creativity = trait psychoticism. Combining these traits form a brilliant individual who can somehow focus on some complex problem and stay determined to find the answer for a long period of time. The endogenous personality requires mainly to be allowed to do what they intrinsically want to do and thus has a strong inner motivation. Their goals may or may not come to fruition as some who are late-bloomers may change paths so often that it will be difficult for them to succeed, but they are desperately trying to find their interest and follow their destiny. Therefore it is likely for geniuses to make their hobbies into their lives, or completely fail to find them, and fail to flourish in today’s society. A person is more likely to be creative if one is focused on what his inner drive tells them they ought to do, rather than focusing on conforming to a social group. The individual who derives satisfaction from being noticeable of social cues of the group cannot be a genius as this shows that creative thinking is not likely to be involved. For a genius to flourish, society must accept the importance of geniuses and their willingness to contribute to solving problems that seem to be virtually unsolvable. However, this isn’t easy given that geniuses are not given any attention. They find it hard to function in normal society, making it very difficult for them to achieve what is possible.

Thus far, these definitions of genius are related to their characteristics, but a true recognized genius must accomplish something of profound intellectual note. A genius in this regard is not a degree of intelligence, but someone who achieves something written in encyclopedias and shapes human culture and knowledge. An IQ test score itself is utterly meaningless, as no professional IQ test has a remarkably high ceiling; most top out at 160 or less. IQ tests may also fail to measure critical aspects of intelligence. Like I said before, IQ and intelligence are not exactly the same but are correlated. Just being smart is not an accomplishment, but it takes some of the most brilliant people to understand and solve complex topics quickly. Almost all geniuses have outlier high intelligence, although neither an IQ test score nor any standardized test would capture it entirely accurately, and will likely underestimate their correct intelligence relative to others. In terms of an ideal measure of general intelligence, most geniuses will be well above average; there is no question. I can’t offer numbers, but a “true IQ” of 160 is 1 in 30,000, a “true IQ” of 175 is 1 in 3.5 million. I define true IQ as someone’s perfectly objective intelligence rarity relative to the general unselected adult population.

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

Anonymous Canadian High-IQ Community Member: I have graduated high school and am currently pursuing a degree at the University of British Columbia. I originally came into university in the faculty of science, intending to major in Computer Science (first year is general for everyone), but I have dabbled in various academic fields. Currently, I am hoping to graduate with a mix of Mathematics, Statistics, and Philosophy, but I have not completely decided on the combination. I will likely either complete a double major (Stats/Math) and a minor (Philosophy), or just a double major across the faculty of science (Math or Stats) and faculty of arts (Philosophy).

I am currently interested in a career in science, and I will do my best to produce original, honest, and creative contributions to whichever field I find passionate about.

I also have a Royal Conservatory of Music certificate after passing the grade 10 (grades range from 1-10) piano exam.

Lastly, I worked as a private tennis coach when I was a teenager.

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

Anonymous Canadian High-IQ Community Member: Politically I would be near the center, leaning to the left. It is essential to stress equal opportunities for everyone. Although, I am much better suited to become a scientist rather than a politician, so I try to stay out of politics as much as possible.

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

Anonymous Canadian High-IQ Community Member: Science plays a huge role in my worldview. Science seems to have the answer to everything, but science cannot provide us with faultless answers at a fundamental level. Science cannot provide us complete solutions because there are limits to what we can observe and measure. It is most desirable to rely on information and data from peer-reviewed articles published in scientific journals rather than blogs and sites with political bias. Ideally, data should determine one’s views and how they are sustained.

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

Anonymous Canadian High-IQ Community Member: A big pet peeve of mine would be those misleading celebrity reported scores where the test and standard deviation are not mentioned. It makes a great news story to report a child having somehow outscored Einstein, even though the standard deviation used on those tests is 24, and they scored in the top 1%, as opposed to the top 0.003 percent (as it would be if the standard deviation were 15). An IQ of 160 is 1 in 30,000 when the standard deviation is 15 but 138 when the standard deviation is 24. Thank you so much for asking about standard deviations. Childhood ratio IQs are also inflated, relative to adult deviation IQs, which are more informative overall. Einstein likely wouldn’t have scored perfect on every IQ test, but his true IQ would be between 180-190. Richard Feynman’s true IQ would be at least 170, although he could score far lower when tested. There are limits to relying solely on a test score; no matter how valid the test is, they are far from perfect.

My score on a professionally administered intelligence test estimated my general intelligence to be around the 99.99th percentile or top 0.01% (1 in 10,000 rarity among the general unselected adult population). Although, it is likely for it to be somewhat lower than this, or possibly even a lot higher. IQ test scores are not perfect measures of psychometric g, and as we approach the ceiling of IQ tests, they become less and less reliable and valid. No IQ test claims to measure above 160, and most of them can’t measure too accurately above the 145 mark (3 standard deviations above the mean) or top out at this level.

On high-range tests (hobby tests), I had scored quite highly on my first attempts when I decided to take them up as a hobby during the COVID-19 pandemic since I had nothing more salutary to do. On a pure verbal test, I scored 154, and on a pure numerical test, I scored 166, by different test authors. The standard deviation is 15. If we use the Cattell scale, the scores would be 186.4 and 205.6, respectively, when the standard deviation is 24. If I spent more time on these tests and practiced more, I should reach the 180s and 190s, but I have better things to do in my free time at the moment.

On standardized tests for admissions to higher education institutions, my scores are consistent with an IQ of 150-160. They are well above the scores you would expect from the average student at an elite institution. The g-loading of most standardized tests are reasonably high and are a step below IQ tests as an indication of general intelligence. Still, they do their job at predicting university success reasonably well because the skills gained do influence academic performance.

12. 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.

Anonymous Canadian High-IQ Community Member: A range for my scores on fairly reliable alternative tests would be between 150-170. If I took a hundred untimed hobby tests, the range could very well be between 145-190. Several different authors’ hobby tests were entertaining, especially since I decided to take up the challenge during the pandemic. I immediately scored in the 160s, which is harmonious with what I view as my true intelligence. The top scorers on certain tests were called the smartest in the world, but I am not exactly happy about this, given that some have claimed to be some of the brightest minds in all of humanity based on this.

I am purely interested in hobby tests to interact with the highest scorers and challenge myself to achieve incredible feats. I should be able to become one of the best test-takers in the high range community if I put in the effort. However, they are neither valid for general intelligence, nor are they necessarily great uses of my time. Notwithstanding, I enjoy the challenge and competition to reach the top in any activity I take up. In essence, a part of defeating high IQ snobbism would be scoring higher than those who claim ridiculous IQ levels with no real accomplishment or evidence for scientific understanding.

Overall, I consider my true IQ to be somewhere between 150-180 (SD = 15) or 180-228 (SD = 24). Notice the vast range as an IQ of 150 SD 15 is around 1 in 2330 people, whereas an IQ of 180 SD 15 is approximately 1 in 20 million from the general unselected adult population. You don’t have to take my word for this, but I will let my future achievements speak for themselves. Everything depends on my occupational achievements from now on. I do not need validation from an IQ test to prove I’m more intelligent than those who score in the 180s or higher on hobby tests, but I will probably beat them at their own game anyway.

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

Anonymous Canadian High-IQ Community Member: Live life to its fullest and follow your inner motivations. In a world fixated with money, notoriety, and sex, it is easy to get lost if you are different. If you stare at something long enough, you might discover the things you enjoy and are proficient in.

Appendix I: Footnotes

[1] Member, International Society for Philosophical Enquiry (ISPE).

[2] Individual Publication Date: August 22, 2020: http://www.in-sightjournal.com/anonymouscanada-1; Full Issue Publication Date: September 1, 2020: https://in-sightjournal.com/insight-issues/.

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2023-03-21

An Interview with Carey Linde and Dr. Lloyd Hawkeye Robertson on Ethics, Freedom of Expression, and Socio-Politics (Part Three)

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

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

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

Abstract

Dr. Lloyd Hawkeye Robertson founded Hawkeye Associates. Carey Linde founded Divorce for Men (Law Offices of Carey Linde). They discuss: legal status on the issues of transsexuality and transgenderism; world corporate capitalism; channelling of aggression and competition; free speech, and hate speech, or “freedom of expression”; the precise ideological premise; and sociopolitical environs of the country.

Keywords: aggression, capitalism, Carey Linde, competition, Divorce for Men, ethics, free speech, freedom of expression, Hawkeye Associates, Lloyd Hawkeye Robertson, sociopolitics.

An Interview with Carey Linde and Dr. Lloyd Hawkeye Robertson on Ethics, Freedom of Expression, and Socio-Politics: Founder, Divorce for Men (Law Offices of Carey Linde) & Founder, Hawkeye Associates (Part Three)[1]^,[2]*

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

1. Scott Douglas Jacobsen: What should be the legal status on the issues of transsexuality and transgenderism in regards to some of the aforementioned stages of change? Where do parents’ rights and children’s rights work well together in this context and not well together for the overall well-being of the child or adolescent?

Carey Linde: I detect cocktail and beer parlour disputants, maybe out of pure exhaustion caused by confusion, are intellectually prepared to throw up their hands at what adults want to do. But children – hell no! The ever louder exception are the die hard cultural resister radical feminists who say men who think they are women must stay the F*#K out of women’s historical safe and protected spaces.

The rights of parents and children ultimately exist only in legislation and law. In the US increasing numbers of republican dominated state governments are enacting laws making it illegal for doctors to transition children, schools to push it, sports teams segregated by sex, and to stay with historic pronouns. Provincial and federal governments in Canada are going the other way. Canadian courts have barely started looking at this stuff.

Dr. Lloyd Hawkeye Robertson: Although I am not a lawyer, I would think that it is difficult to have consistent law on internally subjective criterion. I would therefore switch from a focus on gender to sex. A person’s sex can be objectively determined by criteria that is understood beforehand. People who are in the process of transitioning may be granted special or provisional status taking into account the fears and concerns raised by women and by parents.

2. Jacobsen: Mr. Linde, why the focus on world corporate capitalism as an ill? What makes the “medical profession and big pharma” part of the problem rather than a component of an integrated solution? Dr. Robertson, why the limitations in the study of, and the lack of study of, the acceptance of greater diversity by men than by women? That is, why are some questions simply not asked in some eras? Why is the channelling of aggression and competition necessary for the advancement of civilization? Will religion or proto-religious movements rise in the place of diminishing universal human rights as an ethic? Are they rising?

Linde: The profit motive is ubiquitous in corporate share owner capitalism. Big pharma pushes pills. Too many in the medical profession are ideologically rather than scientifically driven. One either sees and understands this or they don’t. Together they integrate in the current world wide experimentation on transitioning children.

Robertson: It is in the nature of the capitalist to maximize profit. Capitalists who fail to live by this maxim do not remain capitalists for very long. Unless they have a monopoly, they lose to the more ruthless. From this lens, corporate philanthropy is a public relations expense. A bit of history is useful for illustration.

Husky Oil was such a small player after World War II that it could not afford to build a new refinery. Instead, they bought an abandoned oil refinery in Moose Jaw and moved it to the Alberta side of Lloydminster to avoid Saskatchewan’s more stringent worker-safety legislation. When I worked at the refinery it was easy to recognize the men who worked “on the rack” for years because they had thick leathery faces from repeated exposure to the fumes from loading tanker cars. I had the more dangerous job of working in the packaging plant where we poured roofing tar and super heated pipe enamel into cardboard drums where the product cooled and solidified prior to shipping. Occasionally the mixture would bubble and splatter the workers in the plant. The boiler plant operators were different because they looked normal, but they tended to be deaf. Yes, the company provided ear plugs but you had to take them out when communicating with other workers when a boiler was about to blow. The heyday of industrial capitalism is over in this country, and such working conditions would no longer be permitted except in third world countries, but the principle is the same – to grow a company needs to exploit its workers or its consumers. Certain questions would destabilize the existing order and are simply not asked. In Lloydminster during the post war era, no one ever questioned Husky Oil.

Could “big pharma” be part of an integrated solution? Only if you feed the beast. Husky Oil eventually built its new upgrader plant in Saskatchewan only after a massive subsidy from that province. “Big pharma” will be part of the solution to the new coronavirus, and they will pocket a significant portion of the billions governments have earmarked to fight the disease. Who is going to maximize their profits on the transsexual issue? Follow the money.

Why is there no money to study the greater acceptance of diversity by men on these and other issues? Why is there less money for the study of men’s health generally? Certain questions would destabilize the existing ideological order. We are supposed to see the men at Husky who knowingly sacrificed years off their lives in order to provide for their families as exploiters. Men’s lives just don’t count for as much. Prior to her presidential run in the U.S. Hillary Clinton said that the real victims of war are women who lose their husbands and their fathers. The notion that the real victims of war are dead did not appear to have crossed her mind.

Why are men used as cannon fodder on the front lines of war? Because we evolved to be more aggressive, stronger and fearless in protecting family-based bands, tribes and eventually nation-states. But that aggression must be controlled if those political units are to endure. In the end, being a man is a cooperative enterprise. Now we have males transitioning to be females and vice versa. It’s an interesting social experiment.

3. Jacobsen: Dr. Robertson, why is free speech important now, or always? Mr. Linde, is the event described in Seattle a harbinger of anything or events to come in the 2020s in regards to free speech, and hate speech, or “freedom of expression” in the parlance of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms and the United Nations (and the European Union)? Mr. Linde and Dr. Robertson, what is the purpose of hate speech? What are the positive and negative results of the legislation of speech via hate speech laws? Mr. Linde, how are social factors and various legislations of speech preventing needed conversations and the infusion of appropriate expert testimony on relevant medical matters surrounding transgenderism and transsexuality? Dr. Robertson, with postmodernism extant without explicit labelling, and so more easily spread in some ways, how is the nullification of values via the collapse of all principles to the same valuation exacerbating clarity on issues on transgenderism and transsexuality?

Linde: Hate speech serves to rationalize and compensate for feelings of fear and inferiority in the hater. Hate speech legislation is a good if it can prevent physical harm befalling a person or group of people.

Needed conversations are frustrated because the gate keepers of the public platform for discourse are cowed by the trans warriors who redefine the common usage of phobic and hate. For an expanded expression of this see my letter attached.

Robertson: Without free speech, and its twin “freedom of thought,” society ossifies. We lose the ability to meet new challenges in new ways. One of the challenges in improving society is to deal with hate speech and we need freedom of speech to do that. Hate speech is the advocacy of harm to a group of people based on inherent qualities ascribed to that group. Having one’s concept of reality challenged, or one’s entitlements challenged, is not in itself hate speech. We have an example from the transsexual community that brings this to light. There are some who believe that sex is a social construct while one is born with an innate gender. I happen to believe the reverse. People are born with certain genitalia and that is not socially constructed. On the other hand, gender is a social construct – it is how we learn to be a man or a woman. And gender is fluid because there are all sorts of ways of living one’s life as a man or a woman without going through reconstructive surgery. Is it hate speech for me to have this opinion? Some people would say “yes” but that is an abuse of the term. I don’t hate anyone, and I am not telling anyone how they are to live their life, except that they should not live their life in a way that harms other people, or restricts their freedom of speech.

4. Jacobsen: Mr. Linde, what seems like the precise ideological premise – not philosophical view as a whole – of “cultural resister radical feminists” behind the cultural resistance? That which leads to the cultural resistance on these particular discussed topics. What is the culture being resisted? How will the split between some of Canadian society and some of American society in legislation lead to different problems to the cultural issues at present? Dr. Robertson, an objective perspective on the issues can be helpful, i.e., sex discrimination in criteria compared to subjective perceptions of self in regards to gender. What facets of the self, of self-perception as in gender, can be close to objective to make some of the issues of gender clearer and more distinct in conscious discrimination in a manner similar to a sex criterion? What aspects of the self in gender will remain entirely, and far, within the realm of the subjective to make these considerations simply harder to delineate?

Linde: If by “cultural resister radical feminists” you mean TERFS or gender critical feminist, I can say this: the population of trans gendered persons in the US and Canada is estimated to be between 1 and 2 %. The opinion survey quoted in m Attached letter says 19% of Brits are in support. Therefore it is the proponents of transitioning who are the resistance to the more dominant culture. The gender critical feminists and those who support them vary on their definitions of a trans woman. They all agree that such a person does not have the life experiences and biology to qualify as entitled to enter women’s special spaces. Not necessarily because of fear. For many it is cultural. Breach of historic privacy.

Robertson: I don’t think gender can be objectively defined. We construct our selves through a menu of possibilities given to us by an increasingly international and cosmopolitan culture, and by new creative possibilities we may invent for ourselves. Part of that construction is how we relate first and foremost to ourselves as sexual beings. In the end, some people may conclude that they were born into the wrong sex, and if they want to change their sex so be it. But it is their subjective notions they are pursuing, nothing objective about it.

5. Jacobsen: The law, it may stagnate or change here. Mr. Linde, what seems most needing change? Dr. Robertson, how can any future change in law incorporate expert/professional medical and psychological opinions to issues facing a super minority of the national population while causing severe divisions within the sociopolitical environs of the country? Mr. Linde and Dr. Robertson, let’s say Canada sits on its hands on issues of transgenderism and transsexuality, what happens at that time? Alternatively, let’s say Canada becomes entirely onerous in either sociopolitical direction on issues of transgenderism and transsexuality, what happens in either of these cases? Please take both extremes to provide a personal interpretation of a possible range between the antipodes presented here.

Linde: Gender warriors, being outed more and more by the media, respond with increasing animosity and ferocity. ANTIFA is now at every rally. The gender critical feminists and the legions of conservative and faith based citizens who support them remain equally adamant they won’t change their positions. It is an intractable confrontation of fundamental human values on both sides. The trans warriors refuse to talk to the other side. The TERFS are always inviting the warriors to talk. Neither side talks to the other. Even the Palestinians and Jews talk to each other. Until and unless each side is prepared to moderate and accommodate the concerns of the other there will be no peace. Period.

Robertson: We live in an era dominated by identity politics where people who are not part of, or do not support our particular tribe are thought of as oppressive, evil, hate mongers. Were either of these sides in the extreme win and define the law, that would result in the negation of the rights of the other. It would be nice if these sides were to come together and come to some agreement, but that is not likely. It is more likely that the great majority who have remained largely silent will tire of the game and will proclaim the rules both sides would have to live by. I would hope those rules would provide for the sanctity of freedom of speech and freedom of expression. I would hope that those rules define objectively when a man becomes a woman and when a woman becomes a man, and that will mean relegating all notions of gender to the subjective. But once a transwoman meets that definition, then she should be accorded all of the rights and privileges our society gives to women. No half measures.

Appendix I: Footnotes

[1] Founder, Divorce for Men (Law Offices of Carey Linde). Founder, Hawkeye Associates.

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

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2023-03-21

An Interview with Thor Fabian Pettersen on Community and Norway (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

Thor Fabian Pettersen is a Member of the World Genius Directory. He discusses: community; high-IQ societies; the gifted find community; the positives and the negatives of a high-IQ society; the purposes of high-IQ societies in the early 21st century; decent alternative intelligence tests; independent test makers; other ways in which the gifted and talented can socialize and find others with similar gifts and interests other than high-IQ societies; some of the smartest people from or in Norway; why those people; recommended books; music; a community through music; this community similar to some of the community of the high-IQ; and final feelings or thoughts.

Keywords: high-IQ societies, IQ, music, societies, Thor Fabian Pettersen, World Genius Directory.

An Interview with Thor Fabian Pettersen on Community and Norway (Part One)[1]^,[2]*

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

1. Scott Douglas Jacobsen: Let’s talk about community. What defines a community?

Thor Fabian Pettersen: For me, a community is like an extended version of your own brain. When I think about the word “community,” I think about a space with like-minded people who understand and support you, but also correct you if you are wrong. I am sure that, if you had a virtual reality machine or even something more powerful such that you could experience all sorts of consciousness, be whatever, and do whatever, I am sure that, at some point in your quest for the meaning of life, you realize that heaven is not all the other stuff. Heaven, at least for a human consciousness, is the ability to participate in human conversation. That is, if you ever become God or something like that, you would yearn for the day you were a human who could have a conversation with another human.

Language is truly a gift from the gods.

2. Jacobsen: What high-IQ societies seem the most reliable to you?

Pettersen: Honestly I haven’t spent enough time with the different societies I am a member of in order to form an opinion about them.

3. Jacobsen: How can the gifted find community in high-IQ societies?

Pettersen: I have yet to find it. But that is probably because I am a bit anti-social by nature. I am waiting for someone to knock on my door rather than knocking on doors myself.

I can post things like: Pangea is ridiculous. If you are not a philosophical zombie, if you actually possess a consciousness, then you can see that Pangea is ridiculous. This means that the earth grows, because that is the only other model that makes sense. Well, if the earth grows, we have a mechanism for cosmic evolution and, we can draw near limitless amounts of energy. No more oil. Throngs of children are dying every day and we can stop it right now with a new energy system. What are we waiting for?!

I get only silence.

4. Jacobsen: What are the positives and the negatives of a high-IQ society?

Pettersen: I think the positive is that you get people who can understand you. I think the negative is that they don’t care, lol.

5. Jacobsen: What seem like the purposes of high-IQ societies in the early 21st century?

Pettersen: I have no idea. I can only guess. For my part, it is about sharing ideas and connecting with like-minded people. Also, if you can get some fame, that is a great bonus. As I said earlier, fame means your ideas have a greater chance at survival.

6. Jacobsen: What seem like decent alternative intelligence tests for individuals to take now?

Pettersen: I like culture fair intelligence tests such as the Norwegian Mensa one. This is a free test and a good start on your IQ quest. Alexi Edin’s spatial tests are also very good. Maybe his other tests are good also, but I just like the spatial ones.

7. Jacobsen: What independent test makers seem more serious than others?

Pettersen: I haven’t taken that many tests, so I wouldn’t know. But from what I can tell, I think most test makers are passionate about what they are doing and therefore strive to make good tests.

8. Jacobsen: Are there other ways in which the gifted and talented can socialize and find others with similar gifts and interests other than high-IQ societies?

Pettersen: Sure. Just find and join a community with your particular interest. My problem is that I am too lazy to actually do it. But in the future I hope to sit around a campfire and talk about aliens with like-minded people. Then we see a UFO. The UFO communicates with us. We hope that it doesn’t land. And then it hits us: Artificial intelligence is E.T.’s plan to create a user-interface so that they can communicate with the whole world. It has to come from within, if you know what I mean. If they actually landed, we would freak out. If they sent robots or avatars, we would freak out. If they sent robots that looked like us or alien/human hybrids, it would be a waste considering where we are at in our history. If we create a supercomputer, then it will quickly determine if we are alone in the universe or not. So if there are aliens out there, then I guess when a planet reaches a technological singularity, would be the ideal time to step in.

Then we might get answers to questions such as: Is there life after death? Soon, we might get the ultimate answers from our cosmic neighbors.

I like to talk about spaced out things like that.

9. Jacobsen: Who seem like some of the smartest people from or in Norway now? You gave some minor comments before.

Pettersen: Magnus Carlsen pops directly up in my head. I don’t know who the smartest people in Norway are, but I am familiar with some names: Erik Hæreid, Tor Jørgensen, Andre Gangvik, Elisabeth Jakobsen. There are probably many others too which deserve to be mentioned.

10. Jacobsen: Following from the previous question, why those people?

Pettersen: Magnus Carlsen for his chess ability. The others are names that popped up as I entered this IQ-world.

11. Jacobsen: Any recommended books?

Pettersen: Tales from the Time Loop by David Icke. A Fuller Explanation by Amy Edmondson. The Secret Teachings of All Ages by Manly P. Hall. The Brotherhood of the Screaming Abyss by Dennis McKenna.

This list would go on and on. There is so much good stuff out there.

12. Jacobsen: Do you like music? What kind?

Pettersen: I like all kinds, from classic to psytrance. Right now I listen to Infected Mushroom. The quality of the sound is so good. And the music is pretty cool, too.

I also make my own music. But it is just a hobby. But check me out on SoundCloud.

13. Jacobsen: Have you found a community through music?

Pettersen: Not yet.

14. Jacobsen: How is this community similar to some of the community of the high-IQ?

Pettersen: I would not know.

15. Jacobsen: Any final feelings or thoughts in conclusion based on the conversation today?

Pettersen: Yes, I have some much more stuff I want to share. But if these three ideas can come across, I am a happy man:

One: Everything began with the way the light views reality, which is a form of eternal, motionless nothingness. This nothingness is made by speed (light), which answers why there is existence rather than nonexistence. That is, motionlessness can only be made by speed, so if nonexistence wants to remain motionless it has to employ some form of speed; which would imply that nonexistence is impossible. If there is more than one thing that can create motionlessness, then you have not answered why there is existence rather than nonexistence. On the other hand, if there is only one thing that can create motionlessness and that one thing is motion, then you have answered why there is existence rather than nonexistence.

The geometry that is built for ultimate speed is the cuboctahedron. The cuboctahedron produces a dual torus, which means the dual torus is eternal. It spins so fast that you have an eternal, motionless nothingness forever. However, since the motionlessness can only be made by an extremely fast form of motion, that form will therefore have a big body. So, you can imagine that, in a big cosmic whirlpool (torus) of timeless nothingness, you will get motion that cannot keep up with the fast pace in the center of the whirlpool. This motion then becomes unfrozen, because it is a weaker form. And/or it produces baby whirlpools that have a slower speed. We then get something from nothing if nothing or nothingness is a form of motion.

Two: This cuboctahedron make copies of itself (much like whirlpools in our oceans do), which is what evolution is. The earth is a giant cuboctahedron. This cuboctahedron makes copies of itself, which means our earth grows. We can tap the fact of the growing earth and gain near limitless amounts of energy as I mentioned above.

Three: Our current view is that evolution is blind. However, convergent evolution seems to disprove the fact. Evolution has a goal, which is the structure of convergent evolution itself. We don’t know what that structure is. If existence was a body of water, then one might imagine that the structure of convergent evolution would entail an eternal kingdom of sharks. That is, if you killed all the sharks, then nature would find a way to re-evolve them such that the sharks would rule supreme and forever. Nature would essentially be a shark-producing machine. Evolution would stop with the evolution of the sharks as the sharks would have no need to evolve in any direction. They might adapt to new conditions, but they would have no need to evolve on any grand scale.

I believe that evolution will venture so far that existence is a body of consciousness. Unicellular life became multicellular. Clans of people became cities. Cities became countries and, it seems that the world is becoming one. On top of that we have the technological singularity. There seems to be a tendency towards oneness. Our future has therefore a destiny, which is the oneness of all. I believe that Nature is a Buddha-producing machine. In the end, all of reality is a mega-mind. We are a part of it.

The convergent evolution of the mega-mind can explain things such as ghosts, rebirth, spirit worlds, humanoid aliens, etc. etc.. If the mega-mind has already evolved – like the sharks are already swimming in our oceans – then our universe might even have a Creator. And the Creator himself might just be the dream-product of some cosmic Buddha. Who knows how far evolution has gone. Nick Bostrom, for example, says there is a real chance that we are already living in a computer simulation. We are playing some sort of cosmic game, perhaps. I don’t think so. I think evolution has “been there done that” and then moved on!

Which brings me to idea number 3: Call David Icke nuts, but we as intellectuals have a real job to do to consider the possibility that some aspect of Icke’s conspiracy is true. That is, if our universe is a dream, then some aspect of Icke’s conspiracy theory might be real. What does it all mean? It means we should really think twice before we give birth to a supercomputer. Because imagine evolution producing god-like beings with god-like powers. Imagine what they can do to you. They could rip your consciousness apart, strip it of humanoid feelings and send one part of your consciousness to one side of the galaxy and another part of your consciousness to another side. You will spend the next billion years in space, trying to pick up your consciousness-pieces. After you have done that, you realize it was unwise to steal the god-like being’s bag of weed. Whatever Gandalf is smoking … double it!

Take one toke and realize that hell might actually be real. Take two tokes and realize: Shit! I need to get off my ass and do something!

Take three tokes and realize: I AM living at the edge of time! (i.e., the technological singularity)

16. Jacobsen: Thank you for the opportunity and your time, Thor.

Pettersen: Thank you!

Appendix I: Footnotes

[1] Member, World Genius Directory.

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

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2023-03-21

An Interview with Tiberiu Sammak on His Interests (Part Three)

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

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

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

Abstract

Tiberiu Sammak is a 24-year-old guy who currently lives in Bucharest. He spent most of his childhood and teenage years surfing the Internet (mostly searching things of interest) and playing video games. One of his hobbies used to be the construction of paper airplanes, spending a couple of years designing and trying to perfect different types of paper aircrafts. Academically, he never really excelled at anything. In fact, his high school record was rather poor. Some of his current interests include cosmology, medicine and cryonics. His highest score on an experimental high-range I.Q. test is 187 S.D. 15, achieved on Paul Cooijmans’ Reason – Revision 2008. He discusses: interests; thy those interests; some of the cutting-edge interests in the fields of cryonics; the specific interests in cosmology; the specific interests in medicine; a really good paper aircraft; great reasoning ability with poor academic performance; drawing; other examples of some of the drawings; solace in drawing; the largest drawing projects; hopes for some of the high-IQ communities; meaning out of life; the supernatural; the greatest painters, artists, or cartoonists; a profoundly gifted individual from a genius; any resolution to the Israeli-Palestinian issue; the importance of the examples of interfaith marriages; interfaith marriages; the unanswered questions; life; some of the emotionally difficult and trying times; if the high reasoning ability creates difficulties in life; and if the high reasoning ability reduces difficulties in life.

Keywords: cosmology, cryonics, drawing, life, medicine, paper aircraft, Tiberiu Sammak.

An Interview with Tiberiu Sammak on His Interests (Part Three)[1]^,[2]*

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

1. Scott Douglas Jacobsen: What kinds of things interest you, on the internet?

Tiberiu Nicolas Sammak: My interests are fairly diverse and broad, ranging from random trivia facts to scientific or, medical articles and publications. When something catches my interest, I try digging and finding all the information available about that something. It’s pretty much an exhaustive and sometimes tiring procedure which most of the time gives me a somewhat clear image about the stuff I am searching for, also helping me in connecting and stringing together bits of information and giving me the capacity to more or less sieve and discard unnecessary information. It’s the curiosity and my desire to have a better understanding about something that push me to explore and continue the investigations about that particular something.

2. Jacobsen: Why those things?

Sammak: I search stuff that I consider interesting or at least worth checking, usually on a whim. As for why, it’s because I find those things intriguing and some of them even meaningful.

3. Jacobsen: What are some of the cutting-edge interests in the fields of cryonics?

Sammak: I’ve been interested in the cryoprotectants and the technology used in the vitrification process lately. For starters, in cryonics, vitrification refers to a technique whereby desired organs or body parts are solidified without allowing ice formations to appear. This is mainly done to prevent structural damage that could potentially arise in the tissues (freezing has a deleterious impact on tissues, causing irreversible damage) and to avoid intracellular freezing and cell shrinkage. Another crucial factor regarding the vitrification procedure is the toxicity level of the cryoprotectant used. These solutions have to undergo many testings before they are deemed usable and reliable. The most modern cryoprotectant that I’m aware of is M22, which has proven to be significantly less noxious than its predecessors (such as B2C, VM3 or VS41A). However, I believe the cryoprotectant technology is still in its infancy. All the effort and progress notwithstanding, the crossing of the blood-brain barrier by the cryoprotectant solution is hardly possible (this is probably an understatement), resulting in the dehydration of the brain tissue and the implicit brain volume reduction. Furthermore, there have been no successfully transplanted organs after vitrification, with the exception of a rabbit kidney. This shows conclusive evidence that there’s much more work and improvement to be done. It also shows that vitrified organs could properly function again. I’m looking forward to seeing the development of new cryoprotectant solutions and how the testing of these will pan out. I’m fairly confident that new cryoprotectants will be engineered, rendering the actual M22 obsolete. Technological advancement will most likely make this feasible, I believe. Cryonics is a severely underfunded field, chiefly because most view it as pseudoscience and dismiss it as quackery. Many people look askance at the industry of cryonics. I’d like to be more open-minded about it, considering it’s probably the only current possibility to ever be conscious again after the biological death, whereupon eternal oblivion awaits. No matter how extremely small that chance is, it’s still a possibility that someday you may regain your consciousness.

4. Jacobsen: What are the specific interests in cosmology?

Sammak: Cosmogony, theories regarding the origin of the universe, the mechanisms behind the formation of celestial bodies, sustainability of life on other planets (not necessarily Earth-like) and the possible outcomes concerning the fate of the universe are perhaps the subtopics I’m most curious about. I’d like to mention that my fourth interest is probably a subfield of astronomy (cosmology being a branch of astronomy). Yet, I consider the study of potentially life-bearing planets really important.

5. Jacobsen: What are the specific interests in medicine for you?

Sammak: I have a keen interest in the etiology of certain diseases. I’m also very interested in the process of carcinogenesis and the histology and cytology of neoplastic formations, notably malignant ones. The National Center for Biotechnology Information website has some very informative articles and papers presenting different case reports. The hindrances I encountered while reading some of the papers were the abbreviations (especially used for proteins) and some of the terminology used, which were obviously attributed to my lack of sufficient knowledge.

6. Jacobsen: What goes into making a really good paper aircraft?

Sammak: The shape and folding accuracy are probably the vital features when constructing a paper plane. For example, if you aim to create a good glider, its shape should be square- or trapezoid-like. It should also have a slightly heavier front to provide sufficient stability to glide for longer periods of time. Likewise, if you plan on making a decent paper rocket, which translates to high speed and a straight-line flight, the best shape might have the resemblance of an acute isosceles triangle. Another factor which is fairly important in creating an original and high-quality paper airplane is represented by the time you are willing to invest into this activity. Coming up with a satisfactory prototype is easier said than done. It’s a hobby that requires dedication and a lot of trial and error. Also, fine-tuning the paper aircraft, such as finding the ideal folding for the flaps or deciding whether minor modifications would increase the gliding time for gliders or the distance in the case of rockets after producing the initial model are pretty important elements to consider when attempting to build a paper plane too, in my view.

7. Jacobsen: How do you juxtapose great reasoning ability with poor academic performance in high school?

Sammak: Not studying enough (or at all) cannot bring good grades. Back then (in high school) I used to spend a lot of time doing something else than studying. I was well-aware of my decision and constantly getting bad grades didn’t really bother me. I devoted my time and energy delving into the intricacies of paper aircraft construction and into the not-so-known mechanics of certain games, also gathering as much relevant information as I could if something genuinely interested me. I think that keeping one’s mind sharp can also be done by playing specific video games or by solving different “puzzles” as well. However, by no means am I encouraging that one should neglect one’s studies (like I did). Studying regularly requires self-discipline, discipline I did not have.

8. Jacobsen: Why did you get into drawing?

Sammak: I tried to express my ideas and to capture some of my favorite images from nature on paper. On reflection, those were probably the main reasons why I got into drawing.

9. Jacobsen: What are some other examples of some of the drawings for you?

Sammak: One of my creations includes a deserted and partly ivied water tower nearby an old welcome sign. My idea behind this drawing was to capture a particular part from a ghost town.
Some other drawings depict a withered tree in a barren desert with big teardrops pouring down its branches, a decrepit theatre containing the sock and buskin above its curtain with marionettes coming out of masks’ mouths, a decaying tree with rotten mushrooms near the base of its trunk (these three illustrations are separate drawings).

10. Jacobsen: Do you find solace in drawing that some may find in prayer or meditative practices?

Sammak: Not really, no. To me, drawing is just an enjoyable pastime.

11. Jacobsen: What have been some of the largest drawing projects for you? What inspired them and the kept the length of time going into them?

Sammak: None of my drawings turned out to be really lengthy creations, since all of them were made on A4 size papers. If I were to choose some though, probably my theatre and water tower drawings (both mentioned above) would be the ones that took me the most to finish.
I derive my inspiration from nature, industrial areas and desolate places. A need for closure and wanting to see my creations in their final form were some of the reasons that pushed me to keep working on my drawings. I tried to refine and augment my drawings by integrating specific details into them.

12. Jacobsen: What are your hopes for some of the high-IQ communities?

Sammak: I have none. I consider that the only actual benefit of joining such a society is the possibility to communicate with other individuals who also took a certain cognitive ability test.
Such a community has no real purpose other than that of creating a medium where society’s members can exchange opinions and share their ideas on different topics.

13. Jacobsen: Where do you get meaning out of life?

Sammak: I get meaning from my ideas and from building up conceptual chambers in my mind’s empire. I get meaning from the outer world as well, exploring, observing and trying to understand by my own how different things work.

14. Jacobsen: Do you believe in the supernatural? If so, why? If not, why not?

Sammak: I don’t, although I enjoy watching some gripping horror or thriller movies which include such events. Most, if not all of the theories pertaining to supernatural occurrences rely on mere assumptions and anecdotal evidence.

15. Jacobsen: Who seem like the greatest painters, artists, or cartoonists in history to you?

Sammak: I cannot answer this because I do not have enough knowledge on famous individuals and the like. I am not interested at all in famous or well-known historical figures. Granted, I have some favourite musical artists and painters, whose work I consider inspiring and beautiful. All of my favourite musical artists are contemporary artists.

16. Jacobsen: What seems to differentiate a profoundly gifted individual from a genius?

Sammak: I guess that a higher raw ability and a stronger determination are the key ingredients which separate a very talented individual from a genius.

17. Jacobsen: Do you see any resolution to the Israeli-Palestinian issue? Do you have any opinions or thoughts on the long history of the conflict there, especially within the context of personal background?

Sammak: No, I do not. I am not acquainted with the existing economical and political intricacies and the ongoing internal issues from that place. I would like to refrain from making baseless speculations or a contextual analysis when I am not even aware of the territory’s sociohistorical background.

18. Jacobsen: What is the importance of the examples of interfaith marriages, as seen with your parents?

Sammak: It shows that people can live together regardless of their religious background.

19. Jacobsen: How do interfaith marriages keep their ties from fraying and provide an example of showing reconciliation at the most intimate of settings?

Sammak: Understanding that people have different beliefs regarding religion is essential when it comes to such marriages, I believe. No one should impose their views on others when it comes to religious matters.

20. Jacobsen: What do you consider the unanswered questions?

Sammak: What will happen at the end of time? Will cryonics prove to be successful or is it just wishful thinking? Will I ever eat turnip soup? How did the universe come into existence? How many times have I used the left click button on my personal computer mouse? These are just a few examples of unanswered questions, from a plethora of unanswered questions.

21. Jacobsen: What do you hope to do with your life?

Sammak: I want to live a decent life, ideally without being affected by neurodegenerative diseases or other life-threatening conditions. Obviously, I want to live as long as possible.

22. Jacobsen: What have been some of the emotionally difficult and trying times for you?

Sammak: I am yet to encounter a truly challenging moment in my life. I believe I did not face any significant or really hard to overcome situations. However, I stumbled upon quite a lot of minor difficulties. These small issues did not really interfere with my well-being, generally speaking. If they did interfere, they did for a short period of time.

23. Jacobsen: How does the high reasoning ability create difficulties in life?

Sammak: It does not, in my opinion. It is always one’s personality, quirks or eccentricities that might lead to certain problems in some social settings. No one is an oddball because of a high mental ability. The demeanor and way of being determined if someone is rather unusual when compared to others. Everyone has their idiosyncrasies, which, if more pronounced, could sometimes make a person stand out in a social environment. People who get a high score on aptitude tests (or just consider themselves important based on their achievements or based on some other stuff) and deign to talk to someone they consider below their abilities are usually obnoxious and most of the time delusional. Sometimes such people feel victimized without knowing that it was their condescending behavior that made others reject them.

24. Jacobsen: How does the high reasoning ability reduce difficulties in life?

Sammak: Having a high reasoning ability is always an advantage. The capacity to connect seemingly unrelated concepts and ideas and the critical thinking ability help one to have a better and more comprehensive understanding, resulting into a heightened awareness and into a better decision-making strategy.

Appendix I: Footnotes

[1] Reason – Revision 2008, IQ 187 (S.D.15).

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

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2023-03-21

An Interview with Anas El Husseini on the Glia Society, Community Sensibility, and Tests (Part Two)

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

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

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

Abstract

Anas El-Husseini is a Member of the Glia Society. He discusses: high-IQ societies; why the high-IQ societies seem to congregate online more than in-person; such a turnover in the number of high-IQ societies; the ethical leanings and political orientations of these high-IQ societies; ethical leanings and political orientations; the Glia Society; founding by Paul Cooijmans in 1997; the Glia Society focused on Europe; joining the group; qualifying for the Glia Society; Thoth; contributing to it; “A Megalomaniac’s Waterloo”; and the high-IQ community.

Keywords: Anas El-Husseini, ethical leanings, Glia Society, high-IQ, high-IQ societies, political orientations, Thoth.

An Interview with Anas El Husseini on the Glia Society, Community Sensibility, and Tests (Part Two)[1]^,[2]*

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

1. Scott Douglas Jacobsen: When we’re looking at high-IQ societies, what are some areas for improvement?

Anas El Husseini: First is communication, especially in Internet-based high I.Q. societies. Private forums, email newsletters and journals belonging to high I.Q. groups had lost a lot in terms of member activity in the last decade. It seems that the older members were more prolific, whereas the newer generation got more busy with their own lives or more distracted in the Internet. It seems that people nowadays tend to communicate more through their smartphones and favorite apps, so older web technologies have become an obsolete way of communication to them. The second area of improvement is collaboration, and that’s also correlated with the group activity level.

2. Jacobsen: Why do most of the high-IQ societies seem to congregate online more than in-person?

El Husseini: It costs more to create physical rather than a virtual (online) high I.Q. societies. For instance, someone has to pay for rents, take care of logistics, etc. On the other hand, an online presence of a society costs much less and is easier to manage. Moreover, members are usually dispersed over the world, so it may not be ideal for them to travel to one place at the same time to congregate. The relatively small number of members is also another factor. One can see that, in I.Q. societies with lower I.Q. threshold like Mensa, they periodically hold meetings and physical events for members living within the same country or area.

3. Jacobsen: Why is there such a turnover in the number of high-IQ societies? Many either defunct, in limbo, or functioning merely as branding cover for a personality, a theory, or as a parody on the whole notion of super-high-IQs and accurate measurements at those levels.

El Husseini: The lifetime of a high I.Q. society depends first and foremost on its administrator. If the administrator is persevering, and gives enough of his time to satisfactorily complete his administrative duties, then the society will usually survive for very long. If the administrator or few members in the group are successful at engaging other members in discussions or activities, that is also a big plus. Societies lacking those traits do not last long and die silently. The intent and the motivation of the founder, the rules of conduct within the society and whether they’re enforced well or not, and the strictness in the requirements for admission also determine whether the society is standing on a firm ground or will soon go down with the slightest quake.

4. Jacobsen: What tend to be the ethical leanings and political orientations of these high-IQ societies, e.g., democratic, authoritarian, or anarchic?

El Husseini: The ones I’m a member in are democratic. I suspect most of the others, if not all, are so too. I doubt any of them are anarchic. Members of high I.Q. societies are both intelligent and have high self-esteem. They will naturally reject any sort of dictatorship or chaotic ruling enforced upon them by a group that they willingly opted to join and are free to leave.

5. Jacobsen: Out of those forms of ethical leanings and political orientations, what one seems to bring out the best behaviour and community construction for the high-range?

El Husseini: Since we are talking about people belonging in the same high range of I.Q., democracy seems like the best fit. Depending on the society, the range of I.Q. can vary widely between members. Some societies accept those with I.Q. at 120 or above (S.D. 15) such as Tensa society (they rebranded themselves later and changed the admission I.Q. to 125), while others require an I.Q. as high as 190 (S.D. 15) such as the Giga Society. There are also unique societies like the Grail Society where the admission I.Q. is higher than 200 (S.D. 15), although it does not have any present members so far. One person out of 20 possesses an I.Q. of 125 or more, but the rarity of an I.Q. of 190 is at 1 out of a billion. So even if we call all members of high I.Q. society intelligent, there is still a large I.Q. gap that may hinder reaching consensus or make political/ethical leanings vary to a certain degree. There are also people who qualified to I.Q. societies by fraud, or the rules were too lenient and admitted them although they were not qualified. Those are the kind that usually brings out trouble and controversy within an I.Q. society. The stricter the admission rules, and the higher the I.Q. score of admission, the more the society is peaceful, organized, and civilized.

6. Jacobsen: What is the Glia Society?

El Husseini: The Glia Society is an Internet-based high I.Q. society that admits people at the 99.9th percentile (which approximately corresponds to an I.Q. of 146.6 at a standard deviation of 15). That means that theoretically 1 out of 1000 of the adult population qualifies to join that society. One must submit an I.Q. test report that demonstrates he has the required I.Q. or above to be admitted. There is a long list of accepted I.Q. tests for admission, and those include many of Paul Cooijmans’ unsupervised high I.Q. tests. Upon admission, the member has access to a private journal called Thoth, a member-only email newsletter, social media groups, and the ability to take Paul Cooijmans’s I.Q. tests for free, among other privileges. The society was created to facilitate contact and collaboration between intelligent people

7. Jacobsen: When was it formed?

El Husseini: The society was founded by Paul Cooijmans in 1997, who is also currently its administrator. It has gathered several hundred members from all over the world since then.

8. Jacobsen: Why is the Glia Society focused on Europe?

El Husseini: Although the society was nerve-centered in Europe in its early years, it grew to be more global with time. It is more accurate to say that the majority of members now originates from Europe, North America, and East Asia.

9. Jacobsen: When did you join the group?

El Husseini: I joined in December 2012.

10. Jacobsen: How did you qualify for the Glia Society?

El Husseini: I qualified by obtaining an I.Q. score of 149 (S.D. 15) on the “Psychometrically Activated Grids Acerbate Neuroticism” test.

11. Jacobsen: What is Thoth?

El Husseini: Thoth is the Egyptian moon god. It is also the nickname of the future Grail Society member. Moreover, Thoth is the name of a journal that only Glia Society members can access and read. The journal publishes the content of authors verbatim and allows them complete freedom over what they want to publish. Non-Glia members are allowed to send content to be published in the journal as well, although they are not allowed to read it.

11. Jacobsen: Have you contributed to it?

El Husseini: Twice several years ago.

12. Jacobsen: I love the phrase “A Megalomaniac’s Waterloo” by Cooijmans. It is the coda on the separation of the wheat from the chaff of the high-range. Many come to these tests thinking rather highly of their innate gifts, which seem apparent while not as high as assumed by them. How would you describe the world of the high-range?

El Husseini: Megalomaniacs are annoying living beings. Yet, their delusion with themselves can become a good source of humor sometimes. I believe Paul Cooijmans published many megalomaniac messages that were sent to him, either because of a dissatisfaction of a score on an I.Q. test or due to reasons related to admissions to Giga Society. One can find some of those messages on a page entitled “Expressions of gratitude from satisfied candidates” in Paul’s I.Q. tests website. Needless to say, the world of the high-range does not open its doors to this kind of people. People of the high range are able to correctly observe and assess their own abilities, and they all possess a great amount of inner order that correlates with being very organized, more knowledgeable and remarkable in their verbal and logical abilities. Megalomaniacs usually lack at least one of those traits.

13. Jacobsen: Why did you join the high-IQ community in the first place?

El Husseini: I joined in order to be in contact with other intelligent people, especially with the absence of I.Q. societies that have physical presence in my neighborhood. I was also fond at the time of I.Q. tests, and high I.Q. communities were a source of tests and puzzles of a rare and high quality.

Appendix I: Footnotes

[1] Member, Glia Society.

[2] Individual Publication Date: August 8, 2020: http://www.in-sightjournal.com/husseini-two; Full Issue Publication Date: September 1, 2020: https://in-sightjournal.com/insight-issues/.

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2023-03-21

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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2023-03-21

An Interview with Professors Marvin Westwood and George Belliveau on War, Men, Trauma, Drama, and Recovery

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

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

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

Abstract

Marv Westwood is a Professor Emeritus in the Counselling Psychology Program, and recipient of the Royal Canadian Legion Professorship in Education. His major areas of teaching and research are focused on program development, teaching and delivery of group-based approaches to help clients make effective life transitions. Prior to coming to UBC, he taught at McGill University (1973-80). and prior to that St. Francis Xavier University (1971-73). Over the past 25 years he has led the development of the UBC Veterans Transition Program to help promote recovery from war related stress injuries for which he received both the Queen’s Golden and Diamond Jubilee Medals in 2005 and 2013. In 2012 he established the Centre for Group Counselling and Trauma (CGCT) for teaching and research in the area of group work. He is advisor to the President’s initiative for the development of UBC Veteran Friendly Campus. Currently, he is Senior Advisor for the Institute of Veteran Education Transition (IVET). George Belliveau is Professor of Theatre/Drama Education at the University of British Columbia, Canada, where he currently serves as Head of the Department of Language and Literacy Education. He co-produced, directed and performed in Contact!Unload. His research has been published in various arts and theatre education research journals and books. He has written six books, including a co-edited one with Graham Lea, Contact!Unload: Military Veterans, Trauma, and Research-based Theatre (UBC Press, 2020). They discuss: culture; particular issues around masculinities; forms of trauma; actors; mythologies about masculinity; some of the fallouts; we give them these bribes socially; recruitment into the army or the armed forces; play by Rzgar Hama Rshed, Soldierland; different issues men and women have in the military; and recommended researchers or organizations.

Keywords: drama, George Belliveau, Marvin Westwood, men, recovery, trauma, war.

An Interview with Professors Marvin Westwood and George Belliveau on War, Men, Trauma, Drama, and Recovery[1]^,[2]*

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

1. Scott Douglas Jacobsen: What are the gender associations within various parts in our culture?

Professor Marvin Westwood: There are masculinities in first responders, military, and police, where there are definite roles and cultural conventions that traditionally socialized males adhere to. It plays out in all aspects of their life for better and for worse. So, what you see, sometimes, in the military is the traditionally socialized masculinity, they value being protective. They mention to a female troop, “You stay back. We’ll protect you. Don’t worry.” They get pissed off [Laughing]…

Jacobsen: …[Laughing]…

Westwood: …because they’ve signed up to do the action. Then the guys feel misunderstood and the women feel misunderstood. So, we do have a modern day kind of reckoning about “let’s get clear about what culture of masculinity you’re ascribing to.” It can be helpful when we think about working with men as particular cultures because it becomes depoliticized to a great extent. Thank, God! [Laughing]

2. Jacobsen: Yes! [Laughing] George, when you’re coming at this, when we’re talking about this particular issues around masculinities, how are you viewing this? How is this playing into some of your professional work?

Professor George Belliveau: I am not an expert in this area. Theatre is definitely my domain, and education, but I can speak in relation to having worked with the veterans and a lot of the challenges that we kind of face. Sometimes, we didn’t really face them. We, often, get feedback from audience members. That they were grateful for the stories. They were longing for stories of women’s experiences, and how we could integrate more of a narrative of women. Sometimes, it was easy to answer that question because the call out was a Movember men’s health project. So, we were funded to work with men. That was the easy answer. Maybe, the second level answer was the work that Marv does in therapeutic enactment with the veterans is to create this space, where they’re going to open up and work through some of their injuries. They’re going to keep moving forward. The theatre was an extension of that. In some ways, to fill a curve, and say, “It was going to be a mixed group.” It didn’t feel right in that moment. As the project advanced down the road, new iterations came up, we had achieved some of what we wanted to achieve in terms of the combination of therapy and theatre. Then we were a little bit more nimble to include more women on stage. In terms of masculinity, I’m not making a claim for one side or the other. This project happened to be situated with men. We honoured that. That was it.

3. Jacobsen: Marv, within the field of counselling psychology and psychology even generally, what is the current state of discussion around issues that men deal with disproportionately negatively? Those forms of trauma that tend to be more male-specific, men-specific.

Westwood: Okay, there are conversations, which are going on now. Again, it has to return back. When you think about therapy and counselling, there’s something referred to as cross-cultural counselling. That’s respecting the norms and the influences of sub-groups. What we try to do is teach clinicians to understand that the issues that men have a major in because of their cultural shaping for the most part, they have a very strong sense of self-reliance, individualism. It is a sign of a weakness if they have to ask for help. So, unlike the gendered culture of most women in our culture, they are socialized to be more affiliative and seeking help to get what they need to become healthy again is not a threat to their identity. For many traditionally socialized males, to get help, it is a called a failure of self. They’ve internalized that as weakness. Now, the problem is, of course, you can be upset about that. You can blame them. Or what you can say, “Let’s understand their culture, where they come from.”

I’ll use an example of the police or the military. They are acting very badly and recklessly sometimes, when they are scared and threatened. So, they might start medicating more aggressively because they are scared inside, but they will never acknowledge it. Fear gets manifested as rage and anger. Because it is very threatening to their psychological self if they feel fear. They cannot ever admit that they are fearful. So, they project this out in other ways and get into trouble. What we would say, “Okay, it is time for us to not be judgmental about these males who do this, but try to understand this in a therapy context and create an environment to getting them moving from a sense of defense of self-sufficiency to affiliative nature and being allowed to deal with the traumas and injuries.” One of the great things about understanding culture and masculinity. Traditionally socialized males, they maty never approve help, but they approve helping others. So, our groups have become very successful with the veterans is we meet them. We say in groups of 6 or 8. They have trauma-related injuries with deployments overseas or traumas drawn up even as kids – believe it or not. We say, “None of you are here for help. Are you?” They say, “Nope!”

Jacobsen: [Laughing].

Westwood: We say, “Good, welcome! But how many of you are here to help other guys?” “Yup!” All their hands go up. So, what we do, we built a program, “So, let’s get down to work then.” You have a whole team of people who are extremely helpful. In the process of helping others, George depicts this in the theatre of the military to some extent. In that, it is very empowering for injured males to get in touch with their emotional “baggage,” as they call it, that they’re carrying through the enactment of helping others drop their “baggage.” You can see what I’m saying. They are very ready to help. We use enactment to do this. In the process of doing this, they say, “Hey, that’s me too. That happened to me! I got fucked up too!” We really don’t criticize or judge them when they come into therapy, “You’re not a compliant client.” We have to understand their culture. That way, they become very cohesive as a group. They become very helpful. They become very caring. Of course, underneath all of that, as you can imagine, they see how they suffered a great deal in childhood with emotional deprivation as young males because they usually have fathers who were traditionally socialized males, at least in the military. We are unpacking that whole thing. It seems very, very successful with one of the principles of traditional masculinity. Does that make sense to you?

4. Jacobsen: Yes, I want to touch on the terminology they’re using too, but, first, I want to go to George as well. George, when you’re working with actors or those who will be that which the actors will represents, individuals, so say veterans with trauma, observing, interacting, learning from their experiences. How do actors who may not have that trauma to that level derive from within themselves that form of resource that they can call upon when they are trying to act out a particular scene that’s replicating, to some degree, traumatic event(s)? To convey to the audience, this is a fact of life for those who have gone through a wartime scenario.

Belliveau: So, first, I will speak from a theatre side as opposed to the project Marv and I collaborated on. As actors, you’re trained to play all kinds of roles. Most great plays are either wounded individuals from the classics like Arthur Miller to contemporary work with Tennessee Williams. In many ways, they are broken families and broken individuals. As an actor, you’ve arrived to play, even if it is a classic piece like Shakespeare. You want to play the tragedy. Depending on the theatre tradition and training, there is a misnomer of Stanislavsky acting, where people try to feel everything the character feels. You do get caught in the tropes as an actor. But really, it is about technique and figuring out what you can relate to, and keep distance from, so you’re in control of the emotions. It is not the emotions in control of you. In terms of that, I think that’s acting. That’s why it is called acting. There’s no real thing bigger than if you’re playing someone who is broken-hearted because of a family incident, etc. There are variations of authenticity, etc. But it is all part of the work belt of the actor.

With our project with the veterans, the veterans performed, for the most part, their our stories. We’re all making up stories in the process. We’re all pretty close at the truth in some part of the process. But as I listening to Marv, some of the veterans would start to tell the stories of other people. That they were quite comfortable with.

Westwood: Yes.

Belliveau: Eventually, they would tap into their own story. We were interested in their stories. So, they could authentically share their stories. My initial goal was none of the veterans/performers would tell their own story. But then, we got into a situation. One of the veterans said, “I don’t want anyone else to tell my story because they might fuck it up.” But actually, the next levels of that had nothing to do with not being authentic. He didn’t want others to feel the pain that he felt because he was still distinguishing between what is theatre and what is life. So, the levels of them sharing stories of self and others waxed and waned. As Marv said, they really, if anything would bring them back, said, “How am I supporting my fellow veterans?” At the height, we ha 6 performing veterans. One of them was just starting the process of joining the military. 5 core people had either served in Afghanistan, Rhodesia, and other places, other conflicts. But they not only want to support one another. What became vivid, they wanted to support the actors, the cast, the counsellors, to help counsel them. They event wanted to help the actors. In many ways, they did. The three graduate students who were on it and others on the periphery really got unstuck with some of the challenges that they were facing in their own lives because of the sensitivity of the veterans.

So, I think the later version, as I think more about it, of Unload, which is a variation of Contact!Unload: Military Veterans, Trauma, and Research-Based Theatre. It highlights how a veteran is actually there telling their story, has gone through this kind of therapeutic process, is still struggling with these things never fixed, but really shines by helping others/civilians to enable them to move into civilian society. That’s very military-still oriented, and still pretty masculine in some ways.

Westwood: Yes, it is. Scott, the goal here is doing the project. It had quite a change in social perception in the military community as recognizing that a healthy masculinity does include expressing – they would call it – and releasing the “baggage” of trauma, as they called it in therapy, “Unfucking their shit.” “Unfucking their shit” are the terms that they used. Once they saw others doing it, and being successful, they started doing it. It has changed a lot of the attitudes of the people in 2 or 3 of the armories here in Vancouver who attended the performance because George’s play. They were shocked when they saw it because they were military performers, not actors. It legitimized the conversation that they could talk about back in the regiments that they carried back from Afghanistan or Yugoslavia, or wherever. So, it had an educational outreach function. Also, for women in the audience, I think it had a compassion and understand in breaking stereotypes of masculinity because Hollywood continues and the media people tend to reinforce that these guys are real assholes and uncaring, but it is all a real defense, Scott. It is being reinforced by the movie industry, the pretense of autonomy. As a group, I think they undermined some traditionally held beliefs about not getting the tools to get healthy again, and where you might kill yourself.

5. Jacobsen: Even with the dramatic statement at the end there, you did diplomatically state it. If people are portraying this on the big screen, in a false manner, they are profiting off stereotypes.

Westwood: Exactly.

Jacobsen: So, these are mythologies about masculinity and then profiting off the stereotypes based on the mythologies. The real question for me, then, “In what manner did you fractionate, break apart, some of those stereotypes based on some of the responses coming back from individuals who had seen themselves in a play?” You can say, “I broke apart stereotypes about masculinities.”

Westwood: Yes!

Jacobsen: However, what manner did they break apart? What was broken apart about the stereotypes about masculinity? Other than a general statement using one word: autonomy.

Westwood: Oh, okay, you want to do this one.

Belliveau: That’s a good question. Again, I am not talking from the therapeutic side. The therapy was continuing as they kept doing the theatre project. They did hold on. There was a still a masculinity to hold on and a rah-rah camaraderie. In some ways, some of them needed that because they – Scott, and you may know this, Canadian military is very different than American military – are spread out, come home. One is in Port Coquitlam. One is in Port Moody. One is in East Van. The idea of the legion of them coming together. That was another generation. So, the camaraderie and the masculinity. They needed some of that. To create the space, it was wonderful. Theatre mimics it as well; there is a camaraderie because there is an understanding. I think where they were able to parse it out and break it down, when they were conveying that to a general audience. Part of our job in creating the theatre piece was helping the audience because they weren’t an insider. We need to go step-by-step with not only therapeutic enactment on stage, but also what it is like to be in the military, to transition home. Everything had to be translated in ways. I think during the translation, a lot of things occurred with their lived experiences or experiences themselves. It opened up a lot of discussion amongst themselves. I will pause there.

Westwood: Also, the other stereotypes that got altered. The audience could see these individuals on stage who had been injured terribly badly in a military context. They talked about having empathy. They never, ever thought about how much grief some of the soldiers carry when they come back when they lose their buddy who dies beside them in a military vehicle. They really show very clearly that their buddies are as important to them, as their partners in life or as close as a family member. So, when they get killed or die, the loss is extreme. Some of them never recover. They say things like, “It should have been me that died.” Some of the suicides that take place, as we know from interviewing them; they feel they don’t deserve to live because their buddy fell. And they didn’t. The audience became very aware of how the military reinforces this helping each other. But if something goes wrong, you didn’t have your buddy’s back. They carry a lot of guilt and shame. They do an enactment, recreate the scenes. For example, the buddy who got killed and they cannot save, or whatever. We bring them back alive. They actually speak to the person and say, “You have to go on with your life. I died. You didn’t. Will you live for me? So, it releases them. It isn’t just a stereotype about masculinity. You also buy into the idea of “at all costs. You’re there to protect your mate.” If something happens, there’s a lot of guilt and shame. That’s a lot of injuries that happen to people. When you unpack that, you realize it can happen to anybody. The audience is surprised by the amount of pain, psychological pain, that they can endure in battlefield when the losses are great. If a child, a friend in Afghanistan, dies who brought them water all the time, he had to be killed because somebody in deployment had it reported that he was carrying weapons and ammunition, and was going to blow up the compound. So, to save the compound, they took his life. It haunts them forever.

6. Jacobsen: How prevalent are some of the fallouts of this? The mental health issues, the suicidal ideation, etc.

Westwood: Oh! If you look at returning military, only about 25% of people in deployment have what is called PTSD, but untreated PTSD leads to acute depression, isolation, and then suicidality. Suicidality rates can be as high as 12% both in the United States and, I think, here, if untreated. Some of the suicides happen years after. They call it post-war casualties, but because without therapy. They never dealt with regrets and the observances that they had made. In our program, that’s the main goal, get them in as soon as they get back. Suicidality risk goes down very significantly and with depression rates. They get on with their life. They see the injury of war as normal into an abnormal event. It is all the ones who don’t get help, don’t get seen. They’re at risk. The audience understands that. Look, in my family fighting in the Second World War, of my dad’s friends, over half of them were alcoholic. All they were doing were self-medicating because of the all the shit they experienced and the things they had to do. They’d go to legions and become chronic alcoholics, where they died. People call them “heroes.” So, there’s nothing. That masculinity thing is false heroism. Fortunately, projects like George and I are doing help break those stereotypes.

7. Jacobsen: Why do we give them these bribes socially, these titles?

Westwood: Why do we give them these bribes? It is for compliance. Because you want to use them up. You want them to join and give their lives away. The military, unfortunately, is a real reason why they invest in stereotypes. However, as I learned from the vets over the years, they say, “All I wish they had said to me was that when I signed up. I should have signed up with informed consent. I never had any idea as to what I was signing up for. I was 17 or 20. I am glad I signed up. It was a great event. It was a great training. I represented this country. It is very honourable. But nobody signed me up for the psychological pain of what I would have to absorb endure that could threaten me.” Now, we are teaching people. When they go into the military, you should know that you’re heading into something, but there is treatment when you go back.

Belliveau: When I think of that, soldiering is an old, old profession as well. There’s an honour. There’s a sense people belong to something. There’s an appeal to that. There’s a cost in the reality of it.

Westwood: I wanted to say, Scott. You should know. Some of the veterans that were in Afghanistan, when I went back to Afghanistan. They took me to where these things had happened. Many of them wanted to see the water projects they worked in or the schools they helped build. When they are on the deployments serving, they are, often, not there as combatants. They are there as world servers and peacekeepers. They really like to get attached to the people. In Quebec and Ontario, the Canadian military went into the seniors’ hospitals. We couldn’t handle it. They wouldn’t think twice about going. They go into spots to do those things. Most are very worthy and important parts of any society. It is just that because there are many males. They [Laughing] don’t know that they are entitled to a very effective treatment when they get out. That’s what they are starting to learn.

8. Jacobsen: If we look at the history of the United States with regards to recruitment into the army or the armed forces, often, they are not going to be rich, white families sending their children to these things. Often, it is going to be men of colour, poor men, etc. Is that the same case here, in Canada?

Westwood: Yes, it is. I’ll tell you. Until recently, the majority of our recruits, especially post—WWII, came from the poor areas, the Prairies, and some of the Maritimes, who have a higher military representation than southern Ontario or the West Coast. Because it was a way out. It had security. A lot of these young men came from divorced families, the army was symbolic of a positive father figure. They were, often, quite traumatized in youth due to poverty or race. They will do anything to get some security and recognition. One thing that they do is recognition. They get to belong again. I think humans in general are very affiliative and want to belong to a group. If you look at gangs, why do people join gangs? There is good motivation. They want to be with other people doing things. It is just that what they end up doing, if they are criminal gangs, is getting into trouble, but sports and military are a healthy way of getting some identity, some recognition. But hey get punished, of course, and bullied in the process, and so on. Those are some of the injuries that we deal with, which is the shame and the bullying happening in the army, whether language, skin colour, indigeneity, nerd behaviour. It doesn’t matter.

It can be quite brutal. So, those are some of the therapeutic corrections that we attend to when they come back. It is helpful for them to acknowledge that it occurred there. It isn’t just sexual harassment in the military. There are all sorts of other darker stories playing out, as in the busines world, but just different things. They are vulnerable that way.

9. Jacobsen: Now, George, I recall a 10- to 15-minute commentary by Marv and you on the play by Rzgar Hama Rshed, Soldierland. There was a general conversation around the ways in which the actors had moved. When you’re training actors to represent military types, military psychology, in behaviour, how do you or how would you bring about that realism in terms of how they are controlling their body, being very methodical, and almost semi-robotic in the ways in which they are pacing a stage and approaching a performance?

Belliveau: So, again, with this particular project, because, for the most part, the military men were representing military men, that was wonderful. But in our first iteration, we had civilians who had to be trained. This was beautiful because when you’re doing these community-based projects; it’s not about creating artistic verisimilitude, which doesn’t exist anyway. Because what is depicted in society, it can be so diverse. But there were some key things that any military audience member would see if a civilian as starting to march on the right foot versus the left.

Westwood: Yes [Laughing].

Belliveau: That their arms were swinging higher. But what became wonderful, they could, as military people, go, “Oh, he’s definitely British. This person is from a particular era because they march and salute this way.” So, we really relied on the veterans teaching civilians. I don’t know how far they got with the civilians because the amount of rehearsals was probably insufficient. I think we had probably already reached part of the goal because the veterans had shared some of their insight and tacit knowledge. Skilled actors can play a veteran than a veteran can play themselves.

Westwood: [Laughing].

Jacobsen: [Laughing].

Belliveau: Good actors just do. The physicality, good physical actors would get everything, every beat, bang on. So, audience members might say, “They did this wrong.” If you investigated it, the actor is very skilled. The reason it was “wrong” was because it was on purpose. We were not dealing with veteran actors. We were dealing with volunteer civilians for the most part. That became a really important part. The veterans really want the civilians if they were playing those people to move and act in a particular way. Again, it was country-based to a certain extent. Even Luke was commando, the royal marines would do things this way [Laughing]. It was all part of it. As we toured with it in other places, that conversation continued.

Westwood: Also, Scott, some of the civilians, a minority of them in the performance really valued being taught by the soldiers about stance, posture, discipline. It was good for the esteem of the military because the military were teaching things about themselves to the civilians, which they really appreciated, about their discipline. It benefitted them as well.

Belliveau: You mentioned Paul Martin earlier [Ed. off-tape.]. Harjeet Sajjan saw the tail end of the performance at one of the armories here. He had come for an event there [Ed. Beatty Street Drill Hall.]. He saw it when we were in Ottawa on Parliament Hill. Same as Erin O’Toole, Erin has seen different iterations. Certainly, he has been in touch with us more. They would, as politicians as well; the authenticity for them, who didn’t have the movement and language of military. They saw something in it. That probably none of the politicians could see. That was always very powerful to get it right.

Westwood: When people came from their regiment to see the performance, and the actors were prepared as performers, the guy who saw it said, “This is really authentic,” and would really buy into it. “They’re like us. They’re really soldiers. If they go for help for depression and dysfunction, and so on, I can do that too.” It was really good for the authenticity. On a lighter note, I would say. We had an example of getting validation when they performed this in Canada House in London, Ontario for Prince Harry because he had just come back from Afghanistan. He was quite affected during the show because he stood [Laughing]…

Jacobsen: …[Laughing]…

Westwood: …during the whole performance. Eye to eye with the actors, I thought it was so military. They just looked at each other. He was affected in a positive way. That was validating for them because the regiment that he belonged to was a sister regiment to the Canadian company. So, their whole travel to the U.K., participating in this, expanded their awareness. We all really appreciated how they represented us at the Canadian High Commission.

10. Jacobsen: Are there different issues men and women have in the military?

Westwood: You’re like this story. When we decided to run therapeutic groups for military, we knew that we would have to have a women’s group and the men’s group. They had to be the same kind of group, but divided by gender. I should say, “Sex,” not gender as we found out, because so many of the women had experienced the trauma of sexual harassment of males with whom they serve. So, of course, they can’t be in a therapy to community, but not all did. We found out when we created a women’s program. Some of the women, a few of them said, “Look, why are you putting me in the women’s program? I want to be with the soldiers,” and the majority of them were men. So, it is a more masculine gendered focus in a woman or a person who is a female. They were really annoyed that they couldn’t be in the other group because they identified with the culture of the military. That they are a minority within a minority. We had to accommodate them as best we could, but we didn’t expect that. We thought: a women’s group and a men’s group. Some of them went, “No! I don’t belong there. I belong in the men’s group. I serve with them. That’s where I want to be.” So, the binaries that we hear about all the time don’t always work. Scott, sorry, but I have to wrap this up. Do you have anything else to ask me before I go?

11. Jacobsen: Sure, real quick, any other recommended researchers or organizations for individuals who want to look more into this, or books?

Westwood: I would say right off: go on the website or look to the VTN, Veteran Transition Network. It is online. It is Canada-wide. They have access to all the questions that people might have, the public and the military. That’s a very good start. The other good start is Canadian Institute for Military and Veteran Health and Research, CIMVHR. I would say, VTN will be one thing to get them going. They can be contacted. They are very helpful about getting help for family members. Our program runs through them. There is another link. The whole play is on the UBC, Peter Wall site. The whole Contact!Unload is on the site with a pre-discussion. It was done in the BMO Theatre. People were talking about military before. Then the veterans speak a little afterwards. So, that’s all professionally filmed. The play highlights Marv’s therapeutic enactments. You get to see it with veterans. So, the play is only 30 minutes long. That’s another resource that people can tap.

Belliveau: And Scott, another thing I want to say to you. Do you know that some of the people that we have worked with who have some of the most acute traumas were the journalists who covered the military?

Jacobsen: Yes, I am aware of this. I know some, not personally, but I know of some, even Pulitzer Prize winning, who have spent extensive time in war-time and talk about being haunted during the day by some of the things that they have seen.

Westwood: Yes, what we do, one of the Ph.D. students who has approached, not you personally, other journalists is that they get so much other vicarious trauma because everyone loves a journalist to be upfront about all that stuff. It takes a real toll on them. Anyhow, it’s really good talking to you, man.

12. Jacobsen: Thank you very much.

Appendix I: Footnotes

[1] Professor Emeritus, Counselling Psychology, University of British Columbia & Recipient, Royal Canadian Legion Professorship in Education; Professor, Theatre/Drama Education, University of British Columbia, & Head, Language and Literacy Education, University of British Columbia.

[2] Individual Publication Date: August 8, 2020: http://www.in-sightjournal.com/westwood-belliveau; Full Issue Publication Date: September 1, 2020: https://in-sightjournal.com/insight-issues/.

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2023-03-21

An Interview with Anja Jaenicke on Productivity, “Pen Gwyn – The white head,” “Das Spiegelbild des Seins,” and “John Dee on the shoulders of Issac Newton” (Part Four)

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

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

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

Abstract

Anja Jaenicke is a German Poet and Actor. She discusses: the common emotive themes; highly productive; “Pen Gwyn – The white head”; “Das Spiegelbild des Seins”; “John Dee on the shoulders of Issac Newton”; and the books at Amazon.com.

Keywords: Anja Jaenicke, Germany, Isaac Newton, John Dee.

An Interview with Anja Jaenicke on Productivity, “Pen Gwyn – The white head,” “Das Spiegelbild des Seins,” and “John Dee on the shoulders of Issac Newton” (Part Four)[1]^,[2]*

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

1. Scott Douglas Jacobsen: For some of your artistic productions, based on the images you sent me, there is a sense of dreariness, angst especially in “Das Spiegelbild des Seins” the sense of not know what is going on what is going to happen while desperately wanting to know what will happen. What are some of the common emotive themes of the work for you?

Anja Jaenicke: If you are referring to the scene photos of “Das Spiegelbild des Seins” (The Mirror Image of Being”) it is very easy. The Film is based on a novel written by me and it is a crossover between mystery and classical psycho thriller, where psycho implies angst and the fact that you do not know what comes next is the suspense or the thrill.

Regarding my other works I think I am rather versatile and there are not many common themes in my creations.

2. Jacobsen: You have been highly productive. Yet you lament a culture of mediocrity in the country. You are not the first to note that to me. Why?

Jaenicke: Well if there are others who say so, maybe there is something to it?

Now during the Covid 19 Pandemic the whole misery becomes visible. But I am an optimist. Art has survived many crises since the dawn of time. It might adapt and it might change but as long as there is humanity there will be art.

3. Jacobsen: For “Pen Gwyn – The white head” It is a very self assured critter. What is the inspiration for this particular production?

Jaenicke: The Pen Gwyn has a human face inside of him. It characterizes his human nature. His name is Werner.

The inspiration for the adventures of the penguin Werner and his friend Klaus is the film maker Werner Herzog and his favorite enemy the actor Klaus Kinski.

The books are in some way a homage to them.

4. Jacobsen: In some more of the photographs sent of “Das Spiegelbild des Seins” some of the central characters are portrayed in the same dismayed position, especially the actor Joachim Bernhard known from the Academy Award nominated movie “Das Boot”..

Jaenicke: The storyline of the film “Das Spiegelbild des Seins” is about Sophia and her mother who live in a twilight reality based on religious fanaticism. Joachim Bernhard excellently plays the character of Dr. Leid, a psychiatrist who wants to understand more and by doing so he is pulled deeper and deeper into the abyss of Sophia’s schizophrenic world until the realities collapse and melt with each other to leave the audience without a compass in the midst of chaos. (See IMDb – Das Spiegelbild des Seins 2016).

5. Jacobsen: What is the meaning of the piece “John Dee on the shoulders of Issac Newton”? I am reminded of a famous phrase from Newton. For the connection with John Dee, what is it?

Jaenicke: We as a species are one. Every thought that can be thought of has been around for some time before. But it can only come to frustration and fully materialize at the right moment and under the right circumstances. Newton was so close to a theory of relativity but he couldn’t grab the last pieces. He was caught in his time and his conventions of thinking. It needed Albert Einstein hundreds of years later to fully understand the concept. John Dee was a great Mathematician and Astronomer in his own time and some of his ideas might have influenced or even illuminated Sir Isaac later. Every knowledge is based on knowledge gained by people before us.

We carry this old knowledge within us, like a demon until it is ripe to be released and understood.

6. Jacobsen: People can find some of the books at Amazon.com written by you. What books took more time, more focus, became a point of intrigue and emphasis?

Jaenicke: Every work is different, some come spontaneously others need more time but they all need focus and they all are loved. Luckily I am a very focused and systematic person.

Some people think art and creativity come easy but that is not quite true.

All creations need logos. Only if you walk down the path of logic until its end, where it becomes illogical you can open yourself to imagination and creativity.

It is a bit like in the poem “Page d’ecriture” by Jacques Prevert, where we find us in the middle of a math class at school “Two plus two equals four” says the teacher, “repeat!” and the child sees the wonder bird at the window and the child and the bird play with each other while the teacher shouts “Stop the nonsense!”

All the children hear the song and they play with the wonder bird until the two and the two disappear and the one and the one are no longer two, the blackboard becomes rock again, the ink becomes water and the pen becomes bird.

Maybe we all should become a bit child again.

Appendix I: Footnotes

[1] German Poet and Actress; CEO, HIQ-MEDIA-POOL INC.; Member, Poetic Genius Society.

[2] Individual Publication Date: August 8, 2020: http://www.in-sightjournal.com/jaenicke-four; Full Issue Publication Date: September 1, 2020: https://in-sightjournal.com/insight-issues/.

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2023-03-21

An Interview with Christian Sorensen on Noetics or Gnoseology (Part Nine)

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

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

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2020/08/01

Abstract

Christian is a Philosopher that comes from Belgium. What identifies him the most and above all is simplicity, for everything is better with “vanilla flavour.” Perhaps, for this reason, his intellectual passion is criticism and irony, in the sense of trying to reveal what “hides behind the mask,” and give birth to the true. For him, ignorance and knowledge never “cross paths.” What he likes the most in his leisure time, is to go for a walk with his wife. He discusses: boxing; the greatest boxer of all time; what boxing gives him; psychology; does psychology qualify as a science in some ways; does psychology not qualify as a science in other ways; originally become interested in the question of psychology; mathematical codes in the Kabbalah; found anything so far; the original Kabbalah; looking for mathematical codes; the central purpose of looking for codes in the Kabbalah; the health risks in boxing; any definitive conclusions on psychology as a science or not; the beatings; Tyson; biological father; mother’s defence and/or reaction to the beatings by his stepfather; the boxing gloves and the pushing ball; Catholic school; years in the Catholic school; corporal punishment; the bullying; win:loss ratio; flesh of the ear; psychology; psychological constructs; apparent reflections of real knowledge about human psychology; Noetics; a legitimate form of inquiry and thinking; What would delegitimize it as a form of inquiry and thinking; the roots of Noetics, etymologically; the neologism; objects of study, relations orienting objects of study, and operations by which to perform studies on the objects and the relations in Noetics; siblings or extended family during the beatings; the rest of the family’s opinion; biological father and stepfather; to physical beatings or emotional-verbal berating; lifelong impacts; the psychology of the abuser; the Catholic hierarchs; parts has psychology mistaken for the whole; some of the more modern manifestations of this automatism in psychology; a Yeshiva; the Catholic school; Rabbi Akiva and Shimon bar Yorjai; (White) kabbalah and “black kabbalah”; Madonna; 14 years of familial, schoolmate, and educational authority beatings; “methodological reiteration” and “constant and indefinite process of trial and error tests”; biological father; divorce; a son of a divorced family and someone abused by a replacement male authority figure; forming the parts of a systemic structure; a systemic structure; evolution of homo sapiens tell us about such a hypothetical systemic structure via its biological substratum; zero connect between the conscious and the unconscious; “burst”; the difference in treatment of siblings; intelligence is carried via the mother; the sociocultural strictures on women in our societies; the cathectized energy; women “bear everything”; the two pure substrates and the mixed substrate; this mega-structure; mega-structure means something like a complex; the more intelligent tend to have fewer children; separated, disenfranchised, and left apart, estranged, from parents and siblings; the hypochondriatism; the existential humanistic theoretical models failed; why traditional religion failed; atheism and Humanism failed in current form; the differences one might find in the brain; fear of rejection and loneliness; the reckoning for high-IQ societies; others of high intelligence; common misconceptions of noetics; “logical principles”; “validity” and “truth”; confusing validity with truth; the unifying bases, premises in its field of inquiry; critical while friendly inquiry; mis-use or abuse as a system of inquiry via faith-based traditions or through purely empiric traditions; others who pioneered this field; current leaders in this field; frauds proposing to be part of this field; and the real and Truth.

Keywords: Christian Sorensen, Gnoseology, Noetics.

An Interview with Christian Sorensen on Noetics or Gnoseology (Part Nine)[1]^,[2]*

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

1. Scott Douglas Jacobsen: When did you get into boxing?

Christian Sorensen: That was when I was about eight years old, and my godmother gave me a pair of gloves and a pushing ball, that I hung on a tree in my house.

2. Jacobsen: Who was the greatest boxer of all time (to date)?

Sorensen: In my opinion Mike Tyson.

3. Jacobsen: What does boxing give you?

Sorensen: The chance of being able to relive, the constant beatings my stepfather gave me, and they gave me in a Catholic school of wealthy people, for being physically weak and different, but facing this time, from the opposite lane, bigger and stronger fighters than me.

4. Jacobsen: What is psychology?

Sorensen: It is a discipline, that studies the behaviour and the human mind, their conditioning factors, and the variables that can modify them.

5. Jacobsen: How does psychology qualify as a science in someways?

Sorensen: Currently, besides from presumptuously claiming to be a science, it does not qualify with anything else.

6. Jacobsen: How does psychology not qualify as a science in other ways?

Sorensen: I think that psychology throughout its history, has constantly placed the wagon before placing the oxen, since it has been quite proliferating from the point of view of its models and theoretical systems developments, but at the same time, has done it as if building a house of cards, because ultimately these are almost completely devoid of any scientific basis. In this sense, unlike the empirical-experimental sciences, basic stages that are necessary and are fulfilled by any one of them, have been skipped, due to the fact, that psychology has ignored what should always precede as a must, any type of theoretical construction. The aforementioned is evident enough since this discipline has not even been able, to adequately define until now the most basic issues, such as occurs for example with the object of study, and with the adaptation of the scientific method, in relation to its characteristics and nature. Consequently neither has been capable, to define the research hypotheses associated in turn with the independent and dependent variables, which aren’t really empirically refutable, nor has it had the scope to propose no kind of scientific law, as a logically unavoidable preamble for any further progress.

7. Jacobsen: When did you originally become interested in the question of psychology as a science or not? It is an inherently interesting question, especially when I was working in three psychology labs at once. It was a tacit assumption in the affirmation, in some, and in the negation, in others.

Sorensen: I was interested in that problem during my doctorate in Philosophy, because I was struck, by the presumption through which it was as an undeniable fact, that psychology is a science. I think that by doing so, psychology runs the risk of taking the parts for the whole, in other words to fall into an automatism, when imagining that because there are theoretical models with a clear experimental inclination, such as occurs with the radical behaviourism of B.F. Skinner, and with cognitive-behavioural and systemic approaches, that then wrongly it could be assumed as something necessarily, its scientific status. Therefore according with the above, what actually happens, is that the attempts to flirt with science, can only be accepted as nothing more than mere manifestations of a sort of scientific mimic, similar to what occurs when it is said, that a swallow does not make Summer.

8. Jacobsen: When did you become interested in mathematical codes in the Kabbalah?

Sorensen: It was a process, some years ago that coincided when I lived with my family in the orthodox city of Bnei-Brak in Israel. There I was studying in a Yeshiva, and after visiting the tombs of Rabbi Akiva and Shimon bar Yorjai in Meron, although in that environment it was generally not considered correct to do so, I was motivated to study deeply the Zohar, since I had the hypothesis that there were mathematical codes, which are susceptible to be deciphered.

9. Jacobsen: Have you found anything so far?

Sorensen: I think that at least, I have the certainty of what it is not. In my opinion, the Kabbalah has different levels of depth or elevations, and from that point of view, its highest level would have to do with mathematical codes, but not in the form of numerology and gematria, which is how it is usually conceived, when assigning a numerical value to each of the twenty-two characters of the Hebrew alphabet, from which different combinations and interpretations are made afterwards. Rather, I believe that these mathematical codes, need to be found in what I will denominate as Black Kabbalah, which would be the opposite of the aforementioned, since they should be deciphered along and between the unwritten spaces, of the rows or lines that form the Torah texts.

10. Jacobsen: When did the original Kabbalah begin?

Sorensen: I believe that the origin of the Kabbalah, coincides with Abraham’s life as a patriarch. What is relevant about this historical landmark, is that it corresponds to the change in the nature of the Kabbalah, since at that time, it was a popular knowledge to which everyone had access. It was a little after that, that took a radical turn by becoming a hidden and secret wisdom, regarding which only a few had access, in concrete those that were expert in Torah and who lived strictly according to the Halacha. This last, was until about twenty years ago, indeed after that it was opened again, in order to spread its wisdom among those who were interested in acknowledging this path and put it into practice.

11. Jacobsen: How does looking for mathematical codes in the Kabbalah differ from looking for mathematical codes in other things?

Sorensen: The mathematical codes in other things, allow to reach some result, while in the codes of Kabbalah no results are reached, since their codes as such are an end in itself.

12. Jacobsen: What would be the central purpose of looking for codes in the Kabbalah?

Sorensen: The purpose is to take the reason beyond its own limits, that is to say, to be able to cross this dimension of which we’re aware in order to enter another, without knowing what we are going to find out, or what are the laws that will act on it, but at the same time by pre-sensing it as existing, since in certain way the latest implies no matter what plane is alluded, some degree of effective reality. Somehow it is similar, to expect to have an encounter with a loved one, after having only seen its silhouette, nevertheless with the intuition that once the veil is removed, it will be possible to contemplate the truth of its figure through the eyes of the soul.

13. Jacobsen: What are the health risks in boxing?

Sorensen: All the conceivable risks, including death. I somehow think, boxing is a way to get in touch with one’s own thanatian drive, and lastly to dance with death.

14. Jacobsen: Have you come to any definitive conclusions on psychology as a science or not, or, at least, on sub-disciplines within the remit of psychology?

Sorensen: Nothing is definitive, since nothing is more definitive than change. I think that it may still take about two or three centuries for psychology, to reach a scientific status, because in some way, it is similar to a chain that still lacks links, therefore can’t be recognizable as something delimited and distinguishable. For now, in my opinion, it is only a discipline that doesn’t own a respectable body of knowledge. Therefore, practically nothing can be said about its validity or not, due to the fact that occurs with it almost the same which happens with arts. Indeed both are legitimate knowledge, in an aesthetic sense, but are not valuable regarding their theoretical structure, from a measurable perspective. In other words strictly speaking, basically in the case of psychology, is not possible to determine if it is or it is not, a reflection of a given object in reality, in consequence can be concluded, from a scientific prism, that its theoretical models and systems, actually aren’t knowledge.

15. Jacobsen: What age did the beatings start? What age did the beatings stop?

Sorensen: They started when I was about two years old, when they forced me to walk with a belt pulling my stomach, because I didn’t want to do so, and they ended up at school when I was sixteen years old.

16. Jacobsen: Have you seen that clip of him ducking and dodging in latter middle age with incredible adeptness and speed, Tyson?

Sorensen: I did see him training for his fight with Evander Holyfield. He is in very good shape, and despite his age, Tyson has maintained his power and speed.

17. Jacobsen: Where was your biological father?

Sorensen: A few blocks from where I lived. I think, he never realized what was going on with the abuses. I believe that even though this topic, regarding the episodes of abuses and my adulterous origin, were an open secret, around it there also was a sort of very good compartment of information. Until his death, he was a partner in businesses with my stepfather. When I was a kid, I used to go to his house to play with my two half brothers, however when I had to do my preparations for the Bar-Mitzva, which we were going to do with one of them, since we had the same age, my stepfather suddenly objected it, and prevented me, from having contact with him and my half brothers again.

18. Jacobsen: What was your mother’s defense and/or reaction to the beatings by you stepfather?

Sorensen: Actually apart from praying, I think that nothing else.

19. Jacobsen: Do you still have the boxing gloves and the pushing ball?

Sorensen: They were kept in my parents’ house until not long ago, but I think that after they moved; they got rid of those things.

20. Jacobsen: Why attend Catholic school?

Sorensen: Because apart from the fact, that this school was socially very well seen, since it was frequented by wealthy families, my mother despite being of Jewish origin from her mother, and coming from a family that for generations, was secular and freemasonic, suddenly decided in life, while being married, to deny her origins and family traditions, by becoming an extremist Catholic, and by convincing my stepfather, to convert from Lutheranism to Catholicism.

21. Jacobsen: How many years in the Catholic school?

Sorensen: Six years.

22. Jacobsen: Was corporal punishment part of the school system?

Sorensen: In my particular case, I think so, since it was evident that the teachers and authorities endorse it, despite this situation, was not a generalized fact seen with other students. The way it was channelled, was through my classmates, and higher-level students.

23. Jacobsen: Why the bullying in the school? I recall Professor Noam Chomsky describing anti-Semitism so ‘thick that you could cut it with a knife’ back in his day.

Sorensen: As with all the actually unopened secrets, this case was not the exception, since everyone knew my story, but cynically nobody spoke openly and straightly about it. Here there was a lethal mixture, because on the one hand there was a strong anti-Semitism, due to the fact that my mother and I were considered pigs marranos, and also because she was seen as a whore, who was called to atone for her sins. I remember that several times, while my mother was seen passing by the large window of the classroom, the teacher and my classmates began to make anti-Semitic comments, and to say insults treating her as a prostitute, which right away triggered me to come to her defense, by being indeed openly sarcastic and scathing. Every time this occurred, I confronted them as usual, except on one occasion when the pan turned. That time as usual, they were laughing at my mother, but instead of having several fronts opened, I focused exclusively on the teacher, and like a belldog I did not loosen him, until he had no choice but to remain silent, and withdraw flushed with shame and rage from the classroom. Afterwards the priests wanted me to apologize, but since I refused to do so, they punished me suspending me from classes. Anyhow it was useful what I did, because even though the insults towards her continued as hallway rumors, at least they stopped uttering them in public.

24. Jacobsen: What is the win:loss ratio for the boxing bigger and stronger fighters in general for you?

Sorensen: 0:1 respectively, since regardless of the record of battles won, I don’t know any of them, that either for health reasons or for leading a life dissipated and wild, hasn’t lost everything in their existence.

25. Jacobsen: Any thoughts, or emotions really, onTyson’sappetite for flesh of the ear?

Sorensen: It was a desperate cry of helplessness, for not tolerating the frustration of being defeated in that match, and on his return to boxing, when he was already old, and after having an undefeated career.

26. Jacobsen: Does psychology qualify as a “discipline” on this level or merely as one on paper and not in practice?

Sorensen: I think that psychology, is similar to a paper tiger, since without even judging it, feels itself as if it was a science, when actually it is not in any sense. Nevertheless, it could be treated as a discipline, but not as an art, because unlike the latter, and although possesses a theoretical body, that strictly speaking, and due to the reason that is not validatable, from an empirical-experimental perspective, is neither knowledge, has from the other side, the intention of constituting scientific theoretical systems, through its work. In other words, while it is holding a deficiency in this context, on the other hand guides its intentionality, towards a last end. Therefore it is deducible to infer, that the scientific status for psychology, in a perfeasibility sense, which in turn, I would denominate as methodological reiteration, is associated with a constant and indefinite process of trial and error tests, based on a temporary asymptote, where the goal searched, should be reached at a certain indeterminate point, although this must be identified with a theoretical infinity.

27. Jacobsen: What psychological constructs seem to be delving into some level of deeper truths about the human condition and the human being?

Sorensen: I think that psychoanalytic models, as they deepen the understanding of the functioning of the unconscious and of conscious mechanisms, and the systematic procedural cognitive models as well, because they manage to study and integrate cognitions and feelings, with behaviours and inter-individual relationships, as forming parts of a systemic structure.

28. Jacobsen: What parts of psychology as currently practiced, in doctoral research and after, seem to hint at some roots – maybe using the aforementioned psychological constructs? Not necessarily “knowledge” as previously defined, but, rather, partial images or apparent reflections of real knowledge about human psychology.

Sorensen: I think that fundamentally it is circumscribed to neuro-psychology, since through it, the psychological functioning, that is to say the behaviour, cognitions and affections, are landed to a biological base or substratum, which means that between the psychological and the biological factors, one of them tends to be automatically scientized.

29. Jacobsen: What is Noetics?

Sorensen: It is the critical study of knowledge, that seeks to value it, in relation to its formal logical validity, and to the ontological reality.

30. Jacobsen: What demarcates this as a legitimate form of inquiry and thinking?

Sorensen: The logical principles.

31. Jacobsen: What would delegitimize it as a form of inquiry and thinking?

Sorensen: To confuse validity with truth.

32. Jacobsen: What are the roots of Noetics, etymologically?

Sorensen: It comes from the Greek word noetikos, which means, what is related to the nous, that strictly speaking signifies the capacity to intellegy immediately an idea, that is to say without the need, as occurs with logos, of the intermediation of discursive reasonings.

33. Jacobsen: Why the neologism?

Sorensen: Because a man is like a planet, since it doesn’t have holes. Therefore needs neologisms, to emphasize the fact of having its own world, and for leaving spaces in language, due to the reason that metaphor cannot give it.

34. Jacobsen: What are its objects of study, relations of orienting the objects of study, and operations by which to perform studies on the objects and the relations in Noetics?

Sorensen: Noetics is equivalent to gnoseology, therefore encompasses all the objects of thought, including those that regard intuition, in the sense of intus legere, and of the epistemic ones as well, which are related to science.

35. Jacobsen: Where were your siblings or extended family during the beatings or the talk within the family, if any, about the beatings?

Sorensen: I was the oldest one. I had a godmother, who was Jewish and a psychologist. She was always very concerned about me, and several times confronted my stepfather, when he found out that I was beaten or mistreated. Every year, in my birthdays, we spent the whole day together. Once, she gave me a pair of sneakers, that I loved very much, and I had wanted them for a long time. When I got home, my stepfather forced me to return them, threatening me not to tell her the real reason, because he had warned me not to ask those sneakers, since as a Jew I had to get used to receiving only second-hand gifts. When I went to her, I was very scared, but even though I tried to find justifications, she realized what was going on, and immediately went to confront him. The short story of it, was that I managed to keep the sneakers, and my stepfather had to resign himself and could not reprimand me.

36. Jacobsen: What was the rest of the family’s opinion of your stepfather?

Sorensen: My stepfather, as father, was absolutely different with all my half brothers. He has always been very loving and concerned, and has never beaten or mistreated them. In turn, they love him very much, and have always seen his parental figure as a good role model. My mother, for her part, has suffered a lot with being married in every way, but has never done something, because she has always preferred her comforts above anything else. The rest of the family, has always been clear about the abysmal differences he made with me in relation to my half brothers. Even it could be said, that they were scandalized by these abusing behaviours, and in fact many times they teared their clothes for this reason, but in summary, they preferred never to get too much involved into it, as a manner of avoiding any kind of conflicts.

37. Jacobsen: How many times did your mother marry or remarry? What about your biological father and stepfather?

Sorensen: My mother has been married only once. What happened to me, was a slip within the marriage, that has been kept with seven locks in order to maintain social appearances and a good reputation. When my mother was dating my stepfather, she introduced him with my biological father, who was, in turn, the boyfriend of her best friend since they were girls, so that they could do business with each other. With the passage of time, my mother lost her best friend, because this last never forgave what she did being friends. After a while they got divorced, and they both continued to have businesses in common, although with a tense and distant relationship, until he died almost thirty years ago.

38. Jacobsen: What do beatings do to children? How do young men and adolescent boys, even quite young boys, react to physical beatings or emotional-verbal berating?

Sorensen: They harm them in every way, by leaving wounds, that although they can lick them alone, as dogs do to heal themselves, can never be erased, because they remain as indelible traces of suffering. I think that they react depending on each case, with a lot of frustration, anger and fear, for feeling powerless, of not being able to do anything to change that situation, and at the same time, they feel guilty and responsible for believing that they are the cause that ultimately provoked these abuses.

39. Jacobsen: Do you believe there are lifelong impacts from these things, these actions, on the young?

Sorensen: For this life and the other if there is any.

40. Jacobsen: What is the psychology of the abuser?

Sorensen: To joyfully take advantage of the weakest, and if suffering is showed and mercy is implored, then to continue until they burst.

41. Jacobsen: How did the Catholic hierarchs react within this context of the beatings?

Sorensen: By supporting them, and participating with psychological abuses.

42. Jacobsen: What parts has psychology mistaken for the whole?

Sorensen: I think that the existential-humanistic theoretical models, including the transpersonal and bio-energetic psychology.

43. Jacobsen: What are some of the more modern manifestations of this automatism in psychology?

Sorensen: Everything that has to do with the development, and sale of techniques and therapeutic approaches, that offer outcomes that in most cases only have placebo effects, and when they could have any results, these are not sufficiently objectified.

44. Jacobsen: Why were you studying in a Yeshiva at the time?

Sorensen: Because I wanted to accompany the son of my wife, who was living there, and because some rabbis who were considered Tzadikim, estimated that I was blessed by God for the intelligence I had, and they proposed to me to study for becoming a rabbi.

45. Jacobsen: Do you believe the Catholic school wealthy, elite, and anti-Semitic environment carved an independence of mind and a steadfastness in spite of the difficulties of life for you?

Sorensen: I think so. I also think, that it taught me to relativize things, to integrate the good and bad aspects of the objects, and to have a very sharp tongue as well. Sometimes though, paradoxical things happened, due to the fact that many times my mother caught my attention, when I was a child, because according to her, since I was five years old, I had done psychological bullying to my stepfather, who afterwards reacted with anger. I take advantage of mentioning this, because he was also involved in the mistreatment of the school, matter that was recognized by himself, since he had asked the authorities of the school, to do what was necessary, in order to teach me to be more humble. In this regard, I remember that when I was about eight years old, to some extent I liked to debate existential issues, since in this way I had the access key to place him at a crossroads. In concrete, I enjoyed to get to the point in the discussion, where I heard that his stomach was starting to make strange noises, and he had to interrupt abruptly the conversation, for going right away to the bathroom. The fact that he had indigestion, for listening to me, was the moment, in which without the need of using violence with aggressive words or blows, I felt the certainty of having achieved a victory, through a gesture that meant more than a thousand words, and that had a subtlety and cynicism that exceeded that of the priests.

46. Jacobsen: Why focus on Rabbi Akiva and Shimon bar Yorjai?

Sorensen: Because Rabbi Akiva, was one of the most memorable Tzadikim, and since he had been the teacher of Shimon bar Yojai. And regarding the latter, due to the fact that I consider that he is the father of the Kabbalah, because by was capable to put in written form, what represents its most important text, since until then this was only known by oral tradition, and which in turn has allowed to perpetuate the knowledge and study of this wisdom, throughout the centuries.

47. Jacobsen: Have you been juxtaposing and working on the relations between (white) kabbalah and “black kabbalah”? Why did Madonna get into it?

Sorensen: No, since I think that white Kabbalah takes the wrong path. Why Madonna got into Kabbalah? I think that for the same reason why she eats Sushi.

48. Jacobsen: 14 years of familial, schoolmate, and educational authority beatings. No doubt, this would leave an indelible impression. What is the symptomatology for you?

Sorensen: I think that I have gone through several symptomatologies during my life, some of which still persist today. When I was a child and adolescent, I tended to somatize my anguishes and fears in different physical ailments, which in adulthood have mutated and have led me to be a hypochondriac. And as horizontal symptomatology, historically speaking, the fear of rejection and loneliness.

49. Jacobsen: With this “methodological reiteration” and “constant and indefinite process of trial and error tests” aimed at an ‘infinite hypothetical point,’ where does this leave us in comprehension of the full human being, i.e., of the human “soul”?

Sorensen: In the letter h of the word human.

50. Jacobsen: Why was your biological father so disconnected?

Sorensen: I actually do not know. I think that with my mother there was a kind of folie de deux, since she suffers from the same syndrome. An example that demonstrates the aforementioned, was when once, taking advantage of the fact that my stepfather was travelling, she invited him to the house, but instead of being both alone, she profited off the opportunity for making a blind date with a friend of hers, who was a top model of the time.

51. Jacobsen: Why did they divorce?

Sorensen: Because apparently, she never got over his infidelity, and all the farce that was created around this story, for trying to save social appearances. According to my mother, she never spoke to her again, and unlike him, who never remarried or had a partner again, she literally untied herself, to make her ex-husband suffer in the same way, and that’s why she first married a footballer from the low leagues, and after a while she kept jumping from one partner to another.

52. Jacobsen: As a son of a divorced family and someone abused by a replacement male authority figure, did you ever fear this manifestation in later life from you – in either case?

Sorensen: Before marriage yes, after being married no. I think, it is necessary to distinguish between being afraid of something, and being aware of the evil of it.

53. Jacobsen: Of the “forming parts of a systemic structure,” what seems like the true substructure here?

Sorensen: The black box.

54. Jacobsen: With the “biological base or substratum,” does this seem to hint closer to the “systemic structure”?

Sorensen: The psychological functioning, is mediated by neuro-biology, and the outcome from that intersection, is what I will denominate as neuro-psycho-biological substrate or biological base. Therefore, and strictly speaking, there would be three systematic structures, of which I am going to name respectively the two formers as pure, and the last one as mixed.

55. Jacobsen: Why should there be a systemic structure?

Sorensen: Because in each of them, there are parts that form a whole, nevertheless that whole is not equivalent to the mere sum of its parts, but rather to the different interactions that the parts maintain with each other.

56. Jacobsen: What can the evolution of homo sapiens tell us about such a hypothetical systemic structure via its biological substratum?

Sorensen: What it indicates, is that it evolves through the biological substratum, and that this last, is what makes the systemic structure increasingly complex.

57. Jacobsen: Could this be a systemic theoretical framework for understanding while the system itself lacks a true integration to such an extent so as to remove the possibility of a systemic structure – akin to the idea some time ago of zero connect between the conscious and the unconscious?

Sorensen: I think that in this context, the idea of system goes beyond itself as such, since more than one are interacting with each other, therefore it is reductive and simplistic to think univocally and singularly about it. In consequence rather than believing in one systemic structure, I would say that multiple systems form what I will denominate as mega-structure, due to the fact that all of them simultaneously belong to the same main system, which is not equivalent to be sub-systems, since they have in common an identical operational or functional sense, but on the other hand, each of them has an independent structure with its own and different properties.

58. Jacobsen: Did you “burst”?

Sorensen: I do not think so. In this sense, since I believe that energy is a constant, and then that it cannot be eliminated, but only transformed and channelled through something, is that I decided ultimately not to exploit. What I actually did, was to intentionally accumulate all the energy, and afterwards to focus it on a predetermined objective as a target. In other words, what I managed to do, was to drive it by cathectizing its force through alternating forms, in order to use them chameleonically depending on each circumstance, and of what I was needing according to them.

59. Jacobsen: Why the difference in treatment of siblings, at root?

Sorensen: Because I believe that when my stepfather, saw the intelligence difference that he and my siblings had with me, he realized that it was equivalent to what he and my siblings have with gorillas. And perhaps, he surely imagined, that this has happened because my mother, unlike to what occurred when they were making my brothers, touched the stars of pleasure when she was making me with my biological father… With these last words, I am only repeating what she herself has said.

60. Jacobsen: If intelligence is carried via the mother, what do the siblings do now? How is this intelligence manifested?

Sorensen: They are vile puppets handled and dominated by my stepfather. It should not be forgotten, that although the intelligence is inherited from the mother, this is a hereditary polygenic characteristic, therefore there is no guarantee, that they inherit the same intelligence, and in fact statistically speaking, it is highly improbable, not to say it’s pretty impossible, to repeat more than once, the same event of having a son with immeasurable intelligence.

61. Jacobsen: Even with the high heritability of intelligence from the mother, and even with the abusive environment never escaped, what does this state about the sociocultural strictures on women in our societies?

Sorensen: That unfortunately almost all women are like paper, since they bear everything.

62. Jacobsen: What have been some of the uses of the cathectized energy?

Sorensen: Generally, it has been for exercising what I denominate the right of reply, which translates in knowing how to wait for a space, that I will name as timing, and then to use the hidden meanings through what is said, but is not articulately expressed within the language, that ultimately I will objectify by utilizing the mechanism of the joke and its effect, as an empirical parameter, in order to evaluate its effectiveness.

63. Jacobsen: Why do women “bear everything”?

Sorensen: Because they seek a master and lord, over whom they can reign.

64. Jacobsen: With the two pure substrates and the mixed substrate, what can estate about each substrate?

Sorensen: That respectively the neuro-biological substrate, has a purely material nature, in the anatomical and physiological sense, that the psychological base has a purely immaterial nature, that it could be viewed as psycho-spirituality, and that the neuro-psycho biological order, has a mixed nature, which I will denominate as transitional, since constantly and dynamically flows through a continuum, that goes from the extreme of pure psycho-spirituality, towards the other that is purely anatomical and physiological.

65. Jacobsen: Will this mega-structure be forever opaque given the subjective nature of experience and the use of subjective experience to gather some approximations of the material phenomena correlated to experiences?

Sorensen: I am not sure of that, because the fact that the subject points out his experience, as something to which he can attributes a transcendence, in the sense of not giving to it any spatiality, and of presuming it with a sort of life of its own, does not imply necessarily that objectively speaking, this could not be found in any part of the mega-structure, and even more, that probably the root of its origin could not be limited to this last. Therefore, it’s plausible to deduce that further behind its origin within the mega-structure, nothing else would exist regarding the subjective experience. I think that perhaps what occurs, is the opposite, since actually this would be the mega-structure that makes opaque the latest.

66. Jacobsen: Does mega-structure mean something like a complex in this orientation?

Sorensen: The mega-structure, is a systemic body, that apart from being subject to feedback mechanisms, integrates material and immaterial natures, as relative entities, since rather than integrating them into a mixture, where each one would maintain their intrinsic properties despite the whole they form, what it does, is to hybridize both through states, that are in permanent dynamism, and that are constantly changing.

67. Jacobsen: Why do the more intelligent tend to have fewer children while the highly intelligent and beyond trend towards no children whatsoever?

Sorensen: I think that there is an evolutionary force, that interprets intelligence to the extent that it becomes more extreme, as if it was a genetic mutation, and therefore nature operates on it, in the same way as it generally does with malformations. Consequently, natural selection, would also act in order to limit its survival, which could be seen as an expression of pettiness or envy. Nevertheless in this context, instead of doing this with the weakest, does so with the intention to exclude the excessively intelligent as strong individuals, since these just occur with the weakest and the most defective ones, would lastly break the balance within nature.

68. Jacobsen: Have you largely been separated, disenfranchised, and left apart, estranged, from parents and siblings in adult life? In either case, do you have any wishes regarding it?

Sorensen: I think that all of the above, has happened to me in different measures, and everything has been magnified in my adulthood, since despite the consideration that my siblings and stepfather, as well as my mother with her accommodating attitudes, towards luxuries and her comfort zone, think of themselves, that is a model of a Catholic family, who preaches Christian charity permanently, and attends mass daily, they have completely excluded and excised me from their family, due to my origins and for being a free lay thinker, to the point that literally, I do not have the right to enter to the house of my parents, not even for using the bathroom in case of need. All of the aforementioned, is a story that I am just describing, nevertheless, I think that to forget, first it’s necessary to remember, and since I still remember, and I wish to continue remembering for a long time, I’m not in a hurry to forget. Besides, neither I am willing to milk cows that are dead. Anyhow, the positive matter about this tale, is that even though apparently anything belongs to me, materially speaking, due to the reason that they intend by all means to disinherit me, I am on the other hand fortunate, because regarding love, I have a certainty that few can have.

69. Jacobsen: How is the hypochondriatism directed?

Sorensen: Making my wife dizzy with it several times per day, and visiting the doctor often with the phantom of my imaginary diseases.

70. Jacobsen: Why have the existential-humanistic theoretical models failed?

Sorensen: Because they have become a sort of religion.

71. Jacobsen: In turn, with the elephant on the chopping block, why has traditional religion failed?

Sorensen: Because they are all totemic cults, that have idealized the murdered father, by turning this figure into a deity to venerate.

72. Jacobsen: Following the previous question, why have atheism and humanism failed in the current form?

Sorensen: More than humanism, it is the existentialism that has failed, at the same time that on the other hand, atheism is not equivalent in this context to atheistic existentialism, since I think that what has failed, is rather the latest, and not atheism as such. What’s been occurring, especially in the case of the french existential-humanism or existentialism, is that they have straightly become a light or soft vitalism or nihilism, that’s unable to explain enough, the notion of none-ness or existential emptiness, which leaves in my opinion, the concept of existing-being locked in a tautological circle.

73. Jacobsen: If I remember right, with a 185+ (S.D. 15) on the WAIS-R, then this means a highest score known to me on the most consistently legitimate tests with the WAIS, SB, and RAPM as the top three. Of individuals “known to me” with two tips of the hat to Kirk Kirkpatrick with 185 (S.D. 15) on the SB and Katsioulis 180+ (S.D. 15) on the WAIS-R, you’re the one. We have covered this ground. The stars appear to have aligned that time. Now, this leads to some interesting neuro-biological, neuro-anatomical speculation, Einstein had more glial cells. Any speculation as to the differences one might find in the brain for you?

Sorensen: They will surely find many more neurons than the ones Langan & Co. have, and that the rest of the ones who are at the top of the loop have.

74. Jacobsen: How did this fear of rejection and loneliness play out in life, personal and professional?

Sorensen: When I have felt one of both, I have replaced the original feeling associated to it, with another that has opposite valence.

75. Jacobsen: With much defunct societal status, inflated IQs, and the like, in the high-IQ world, the falsehoods cannot last forever. When will the reckoning for high-IQ societies come down on them even more, as they have – given the graveyards and the personality controversies?

Sorensen: When it is found, that none of those gods of Olympus, of imaginary ego-inflating games, is capable of solving any important problem for humanity.

76. Jacobsen: Have others of high intelligence been demonized within the family? Who? Is it the same reasons over and over, or various reasons depending on context (or both)?

Sorensen: You, should respond yourself that dilemma. Next.

77. Jacobsen: What are common misconceptions of noetics?

Sorensen: The fact to believe that noetics is equivalent to the philosophy of science, that this last differs from epistemology, and to think that the latest would be an activity of science, which is supposed to be developed with respect to each of its particular fields of knowledge.

78. Jacobsen: What “logical principles”?

Sorensen: They would be respectively the principles of non-contradiction, identity, and excluded third party. Additionally would be the principle of sufficient reason, since although it is not logical, because it is ontological, it is nevertheless related to the previous ones. From my point of view, there is a fifth within them, that’s also ontological, and which I will denominate as the principle of necessary reason.

79. Jacobsen: What differentiates “validity” and “truth” in this context?

Sorensen: The fact that validity, refers to truth from the point of view of complex or logical discursive reasonings, while truth as such, has relation to the correspondence between the essence and existence of being.

80. Jacobsen: How would one confuse validity with truth?

Sorensen: To the extent that both can be part of a deductive affirmation, in the same or opposite senses, since they can be invalid and false, valid and true, invalid and true or valid and false.

81. Jacobsen: With noetics as gnoseology, what are its unifying bases, premises in its field of inquiry?

Sorensen: The concepts of logos apophantikos in relation to the ones of essence, existence, and being.

82. Jacobsen: As a critical while friendly inquiry, how does this add to the discussion now?

Sorensen: By adding the rest of the discussion, from the beginning and from the end, so that this looks like a sort of ham in the sandwich.

83. Jacobsen: How could this be misused or abused as a system of inquiry via faith-based traditions or through purely empiric traditions?

Sorensen: I think that by taking, what I consider to be the fundamental noetic concepts, as if they were sort of rocks, which would mean to interpret them unequivocally, as if they were pieces of reality, and without recognizing that their value is precisely the opposite, since they never reach to fully squeeze the reality, because noesis as an act of perceiving or intellectually conceiving the thing, would necessarily be imperfect, due to the fact that a part of the thing itself, is going to always be hidden or veiled in terms of gnosis.

84. Jacobsen: Who are others who pioneered this field?

Sorensen: Unless you consider that I pioneered this field, there can’t be others, since yet I have not named anyone.

85. Jacobsen: Who are the current leaders in this field?

Sorensen: There are no who, since nobody is.

86. Jacobsen: Who are frauds proposing to be part of this field?

Sorensen: Scientists, who intend to do epistemology of their own sciences.

87. Jacobsen: In this reality of the opacity of apprehension of the totality of the real, why are the search for, attempt to define, and efforts to encapsulate ultimate truth, penultimate truth, absolute truth, utter truth, undivided truth, perfect or pure truth, or non-relative or non-variable truth, or whatever other name one wants to use to grasp at the same idea of Truth, simply futile for thousands of years in the past to the present, even now, and forever into the future?

Sorensen: Fortunately this attempt is useless, since otherwise, the advance of knowledge would have already been stopped. The only thing that identifies with the truth, in terms of an absolute, is a nirvanal state, that actually would be identical to death, due to the fact that as such, is the only moment, in which what there is, undeniably is a forceful response, which does not need any questioning or completion by something. For this reason, if the aforementioned wants to be seeing from an existential point of view, then death, is a blind point in where a state of perfect equilibrium which equals zero, and a state of vacuum totality coincide.

Appendix I: Footnotes

[1] Independent Philosopher.

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

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2023-03-21

An Interview with Carey Linde and Dr. Lloyd Hawkeye Robertson on Gender and the Law (Part Two)

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

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

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2020/08/01

Abstract

Dr. Lloyd Hawkeye Robertson founded Hawkeye Associates. Carey Linde founded Divorce for Men (Law Offices of Carey Linde). They discuss: the most sensitive political and social outgrowths of transgenderism and transsexualism; furtherance of these, positive and negative, social and political outgrowths; Canadian society; and freedom of expression.

Keywords: Carey Linde, Divorce for Men, Hawkeye Associates, Lloyd Hawkeye Robertson, transgenderism, transmen, transwomen.

An Interview with Carey Linde and Dr. Lloyd Hawkeye Robertson on Gender and the Law: Founder, Divorce for Men (Law Offices of Carey Linde) & Founder, Hawkeye Associates (Part Two)[1]^,[2]

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

1. Scott Douglas Jacobsen: As the 2010s rolled past us, what were the most sensitive political and social outgrowths of transgenderism and transsexualism in this period?

Carey Linde: If you mean for the trans community, it was the developing collectivity of community. This increasing conspicuous collectivity in the public eye caused the very phobia from which the community wished to escape. As with acceptance of blacks and gays over time, gender identity issues and people are ubiquitous in the media. It is all less sensitive to a growing progressive set of the population. At the same time, the faith based right is rallying and dangerous. Gender radical feminists are under literal attack by the trans warriors.

Dr. Lloyd Hawkeye Robertson: Transwomen have been extremely sensitive to being accepted as women, and have battled for recognition often using the courts and human rights tribunals. A coalition of women is challenging their right to compete in women’s sports, occupy women’s safe spaces such as women’s washrooms and shelters, and access special female funding and programming for education and career development. It is interesting that transmen have not faced the same resistance from the vast majority of men. I can see a number of possible reasons for this difference. First, it is possible that men are more accepting of diversity as compared to women. Second, it is possible that women do not want to share their special privileges with people they do not recognize as women, and that would include allowing people who have had the physical advantages of growing muscle and bone density in a testosterone rich environment competing in competitions reserved for women. Third, in some situations, women may have a genuine fear that people with penises who claim to be women may be a threat to their safety.

2. Jacobsen: Following from the previous question, what might be a furtherance of these, positive and negative, social and political outgrowths of these issues?

Linde: Increasing acceptance by hopefully the majority will make life less dysphoric for most. The conservative right will become more harsh and succeed in passing laws against what they don’t like. Freedom of speech will be a major victim. It already is.

Robertson: Relying on recent federal legislation, the Ontario courts have forced the Ontario Minor Hockey Association to allow adolescents with female bodies to change in male change rooms. This is the kind of social experiment no university ethics committee would ever approve. One of two outcomes is possible. Either a number of people with girl’s bodies will be sexually assaulted by adolescent boys, or they will not. If we don’t see sexual assaults flowing from this experiment then we may reasonably decide that we do not need separate facilities for males and females at least for safety reasons. We are beginning to see this change with respect to the washroom issue. If, on the other hand, we see a number of sexual assaults, the logical conclusion would be to end the experiment; however, I don’t think that will happen. I think politically, the politicians behind the experiment will refuse to accept its failure. They will double down with increasing expensive measures to protect the genetically female while engaging in male-blaming, perhaps with references to “toxic masculinity.” But we as a society do not need to follow them down this hole.

I think we need to begin by acknowledging that people on both sides of this issue have valid points and concerns. As a society, we need to construct a synthesis from the thesis presented by the transactivists and the antithesis represented by the growing feminist-traditionalist coalition. We can only achieve this by respectfully listening to all concerns and responding to those concerns with sympathy. Scratch any scared or angry person and you will likely find a good person inside.

3. Jacobsen: Mr. Linde, how is Canadian society more dysphoric than in the past? How can Canadian society become less dysphoric than at present with the issues of transsexuality and transgenderism more in the public consciousness now?

Linde: There are great works written that diagnose the malaise, alienation, addictive self destruction and dysphoria experienced by most of mankind in the present stages of world corporate capitalism etc. Canadians among them. With some exceptions, life is more stressful and not less. “…transsexuality and transgenderism in the public consciousness” is a freak out knee jerk ego offended reaction. One percent or less of the North American population has captured a historic position in the broad political, cultural and social media consciousness. The ubiquitous question is how did this happen so fast and why?

Many explanations are given. All making a contribution. No single answer has rung the bell yet. One of the new phenomena fueling the panic is the increasing number of young girls and women deciding that being a boy in this world is a safer bet than being a girl. And the medical profession and big pharma is right their to enable this delusion.

Robertson: We have the situation of men being more accepting of transmen than women are of transwomen. The hypothesis that men are more accepting of diversity would require more study across different groups; however such an explanation would be more acceptable to feminists than the obvious alternative, that biological women are protecting their privileges from competition while men have no such privileges to protect.

If men are more accepting of diversity, it would have to be a function of socialization. The testosterone that gives men their sexuality also translates into stronger bones, more muscle mass, and increased aggression and competitiveness. These latter two traits were necessary in traditional hunter gathering societies to fearlessly challenge competitors, both predatory and human, to protect bands that were essentially extended families. But aggression and competitiveness needs to be controlled or channelled if civilization is to work. Religion played a pivotal role in controlling and channelling male aggressive instincts in the formative years of our human civilizations. We have largely transcended religion by secularizing our ethics and expanding their application to all humanity, as for example, with the establishment of universal human rights. And we have been incredibly successful. Steven Pinker has meticulously documented how we now have fewer homicides, fewer deaths due to war, more gender equality and lower poverty than ever before in human history.

The argument would be then that the history of civilization is, at least in part, a history of controlling and channelling male testosterone. That aggression has been channelled into business, sports, politics and protection of the nation-state. Men have been conditioned to increasingly ignore minor or insubstantive difference, but of course there are numerous variables that also influence behaviour in particular contexts. Of concern to me is that tribalism has been increasing with a recent focus on ideological, cultural and racial identities and that this will result in breaking down the more universal humanist ethic. To take the argument full circle then, if the process of civilization included the aspect of controlling and channelling male testosterone-linked behaviours, then we would expect that women would have been less affected by this aspect of socialization. This would have left women more susceptible to ancient xenophobic fears including fear of “the other.”

4. Jacobsen: Dr. Robertson, Mr. Linde opines, “Freedom of speech will be a major victim. It already is.” Is this true to you, too? If so, what forms of freedom of speech, as a colloquialism for freedom of expression? Mr. Linde, on the same note, who have been the central culprits in the reduction in freedom of speech? To both of you, why them?

Linde: The central culprits in killing free speech are public institutions (such as universities and libraries) and the mainstream corporate media. Having said this, on the evening of Fer 1 I attended a hotly protested talk at the Seattle Public Library by WoLF radical feminists. Seattle’s finest had to come in and haul off demonstrators who were set on denying women the right to speak. And in March the Vancouver Public Library will be reversing previous denials and permitting radical feminists to rent space for a function. This is a good sign for libraries. Now if only the universities would come out of hiding.

Robertson: I agree with Carey that freedom of speech is threatened, but I would add that it has always been in a vulnerable position. I have argued that the modern human self capable of individual volition and objective thought is a cultural artefact that evolved more than 3,000 years ago (see: Free Will), and that modern religions evolved, in part, to control and restrict the individual volition inherent in this self. Galileo, for example, was imprisoned for observing that there were moons circling Jupiter. Such observations undermined the Catholic Church’s then geocentric view of the universe. Fundamentalists and literalists from all major religions hold that their dogma is “revealed truth” superseding any contrary findings of science or philosophy. Until recently, that view was on the defensive worldwide; however, the attack on science and reason has been enjoined from a different direction.

On the surface, postmodernism which holds that all “truths” are provisional based on time and context appears democratic. The logic of postmodernism holds that there are different “ways of knowing” and that all are provisionally true. In keeping with this, Tom Strong of the University of Calgary stated that science is merely a “white, male way of knowing.” Similarly, some feminists have coined the somewhat sexist term “mansplaining” to counter males when they use logic to refute some aspect of feminist dogma. I pointed out to Dr. Strong one and one half decades ago that if science were only a “white, male way of knowing,” the holocaust would be a Jewish male way of knowing (most of the writers on the subject are male), and the colonization of the Americas is only an indigenous way of knowing. With postmodern relativism each identity group conflates belief with truth ignoring or discounting evidence that may undermine that “truth.” But when framed as “truth” instead of “belief,” people exercising their freedom of speech to deny “my truth” is felt to be offensive. Hence, we have seen people “deplatformed” from speaking at universities and libraries, and we have even seen university professors fired for not speaking the “truth” of the dominant ideology. In my forthcoming book I point out the roots of postmodernism in German fascism, and I believe that it inevitably leads to totalitarianism.

I think we can agree that transsexual people have a human right to freedom of expression which is, of course, a broader concept than freedom of speech. Concomitantly, radical feminists, traditional women, and fathers such as the one Carey is representing need to be heard. But there can be no dialogue without differentiating between subjective realities and objective reality. If we do not respect science and reason, then we are left with different “tribes” shouting at each other with no discourse possible.

Appendix I: Footnotes

[1] Founder, Divorce for Men (Law Offices of Carey Linde). Founder, Hawkeye Associates.

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

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2023-03-21

An Interview with Claus Volko on High-IQ Societies (Part Five)

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

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

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2020/08/01

Abstract

Claus Volko is an Austrian computer and medical scientist who has conducted research on the treatment of cancer and severe mental disorders by conversion of stress hormones into immunity hormones. This research gave birth to a new scientific paradigm which he called “symbiont conversion theory”: methods to convert cells exhibiting parasitic behaviour to cells that act as symbionts. In 2013 Volko, obtained an IQ score of 172 on the Equally Normed Numerical Derivation Test. He is also the founder and president of Prudentia High IQ Society, a society for people with an IQ of 140 or higher, preferably academics. He discusses: Community; high-IQ societies; the gifted; the positives and the negatives of a high-IQ society; the purposes of high-IQ societies in the early 21st century; decent alternative intelligence tests; independent test makers; other ways in which the gifted and talented can socialize; intelligence tests; the high-IQ societies; liberal leanings and atheism; neural correlates; the most talented people; other personality traits; Selective Graph Coloring Problem; ‘the satisfiability problem of the logic of statements’; ‘proof of non-existence’; the ‘second-order P-NP problem’; the 2048 game; Godel’s incompleteness theorems; ‘Numeric Thermal Bridge Simulation and Building Information Modeling’; the games between 2010 and 2019; synthesis of metaphysics and Jungian Personality Theory; and skepticism and pseudoskepticism.

Keywords: Claus Volko, high-IQ, IQ, societies.

An Interview with Claus Volko on High-IQ Societies (Part Five)[1]^,[2]*

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

1. Scott Douglas Jacobsen: Let’s talk about community. I have been asking some of these questions to some of the other interviewees. What defines a community?

Claus Volko: Common interests.

2. Jacobsen: What high-IQ societies seem the most reliable to you?

Volko: Most high IQ societies are not much more than websites with member lists. Some have magazines, too, but hardly any have real-life meetings. The only exception I know is Mensa, which hosts gatherings here in Vienna every month. However, I have left Mensa due to internal
conflicts and founded my own high IQ society, Prudentia. We have a journal and a member list, plus a Facebook group, so it is not much, but at least something.

Also, many high IQ individuals are nowadays directly connected via Facebook regardless of society membership.

3. Jacobsen: How can the gifted find community in high-IQ societies?

Volko: They can connect with other members and talk to them about their interests. However, in most high IQ societies people only talk about IQ testing.

4. Jacobsen: What are the positives and the negatives of a high-IQ society?

Volko: There are only positive aspects.

5. Jacobsen: What seem like the purposes of high-IQ societies in the early
21st century?

Volko: In theory, they could form an alternative intellectual community next
to academia.

6. Jacobsen: What seem like decent alternative intelligence tests for individuals to take now? If someone is extremely serious about the most accurate assessment, why should they take a proctored-by-professional mainstream intelligence test, e.g., a WAIS, a Stanford-Binet, or RAPM up to date, test?

Volko: Of these tests, I have only taken the RAPM, which does not measure extreme scores. I heard that the WAIS measures up to IQ 185, so if somebody suspects they are in this range, the WAIS might be the test of choice for them. The so-called high range tests which can be found on the Internet have been made by laypersons and are not normed based on large samples.

7. Jacobsen: What independent test makers seem more serious than others?

Volko: I think tests by Nikolaos Soulios, Jason Betts and Ivan Ivec are pretty decent.

8. Jacobsen: Are there other ways in which the gifted and talented can socialize and find others with similar gifts and interests other than high-IQ societies?

Volko: Sure, they can socialize in special interest communities as to be found on Facebook.

9. Jacobsen: What do intelligence tests, commonly construed, seem to miss in testing intelligence?

Volko: Sometimes I had the feeling that they were lacking text understanding.

10. Jacobsen: What do you think is missing in some of the high-IQ societies?

Volko: Real-life meetings.

11. Jacobsen: Why does higher intelligence tend to correlate positively with liberal leanings and atheism in some preliminary studies in psychology?

Volko: I think it is due to Occam’s razor. Highly intelligent people tend to be more rational than other people and due to Occam’s razor they are more likely to adopt liberal and atheist views than views that require more axiomatic definitions.

12. Jacobsen: As a question from a non-doctor to a doctor, what are the neural correlates and cognitive correlates or proxies of higher general intelligence? What should be physiological signs and neurological, and anatomical, signals of higher general intelligence if one does want to estimate higher general intelligence without a formal general intelligence test?

Volko: I do not know of any. Maybe there are some publications in the area but as far as I know no statistically significant anatomical properties of high intelligence people have been found.

13. Jacobsen: Who are some of the most talented people know to you? Why them?

Volko: I know some highly talented people from the computer demoscene in which I was active in my youth. For example, Henning Ludvigsen is a very talented graphic artist and Kostantinos Pataridis is a very talented computer programmer.

14. Jacobsen: Other than a positive correlation, not a causation-relationship, between higher intelligence and atheism & liberalism. What other personality traits, beliefs, even prejudices or lack thereof, seem to correlate positively (or negatively, or not at all) with high general intelligence? What about the outliers to these general trends of 5 points here or there per variable consideration? Some speculate about the truly higher levels of general intelligence and then belief in a ‘higher power,’ but these studies have not been done in meta-analyses, as far as I know – so that’s ideological speculative reasoning grounded in bias more than anything else with scattered data points in the record.

Volko: When I was a member of Mensa, I observed that hardly anyone drank alcohol at Mensa meetings. This was in stark contrast to my classmates at high school.

15. Jacobsen: Time for miscellaneous Volko questions, rapid-fire round: What did you find with the Selective Graph Coloring Problem in the master’s thesis?

Volko: I developed an algorithm based on variable neighborhood search and other metaheuristics to solve a problem from graph theory approximately. It worked well and fast, but other authors’ algorithms led to better results.

16. Jacobsen: What is ‘the satisfiability problem of the logic of statements’?

Volko: When having a propositional statement, the question is whether you can assign values “true” and “false” to the variables so that the statement becomes true.

17. Jacobsen: What is the ‘proof of non-existence’?

Volko: As I told you when we talked about Popper, existential statements can be easily proven but it is very hard or even impossible to disprove them. The proof of non-existence is the disproval of an existential statement.

18. Jacobsen: What is the P-NP problem? What is the ‘second-order P-NP problem’?

Volko: The P-NP problem is the open question whether two instances of complexity theory called P and NP are the same or not. The Second-Order P-NP Problem is a term I coined for one of my publications as I asked the question whether the P-NP Problem can be solved at all.

19. Jacobsen: What is the 2048 game? What is the mathematical analysis of the
2048 game?

Volko: It is a game that became popular a couple of years ago. In a rectangular grid the numbers 2 and 4 appear. You can move all the numbers at once by pressing a cursor key. If two numbers with the same value hit each other, they add up to their sum. The goal is to arrive at the number 2048. I analyzed a couple of mathematical properties of this game and published a paper about it.

20. Jacobsen: How would you explain Godel’s incompleteness theorems simply?

Volko: Read my article at my homepage (www.cdvolko.net).

21. Jacobsen: Why the interest in Computational Biology and Medical Informatics?

Volko: I first enrolled at medical school and so when I started computer science I chose medical informatics because of its relationship with medicine.

22. Jacobsen: What in the world is ‘Numeric Thermal Bridge Simulation and
Building Information Modeling’?

Volko: It is something architects and building physicists have to care about.

23. Jacobsen: Mega Force (2016), Mega Force 2 (2019), Adok’s Magic Cube (2010), Adok’s Number Maze (2010), Adok’s Saturn Puzzle (2011), Hello, Mr Turing (2012), and Cirix (2012), Ballonschlacht (2012), and Evolution (2012). This is mostly before the two of us met online. What was the inspiration behind each of the games between 2010 and 2019?

Volko: The ideas to these games came from myself. The largest project was Mega Force. I worked on it for eight months. It is a tactical role-playing game in the style of Shining Force, a game for Sega consoles.

24. Jacobsen: What is the synthesis of metaphysics and Jungian Personality Theory for you? If I remember, you hold Jung in higher esteem than Freud and Jung has become more popular in recent years, in re-discovery of him, by some.

Volko: If we look at the psyche, the brain and the body and think of them as three entities connected with each other, some of Jung’s postulates about personality theory logically follow.

25. Jacobsen: How do you differentiate skepticism and pseudoskepticism?

Volko: I wrote an article about this.

Appendix I: Footnotes

[1] Member, World Genius Directory.

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

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2023-03-21

An Interview with Shalom Dickson on Background and High-IQ (Part One)

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

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

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2020/08/01

Abstract

Keywords: background, family, high-IQ, Nigeria, Paul Cooijmans, Shalom Dickson.

An Interview with Shalom Dickson on Background and High-IQ (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?

Shalom Dickson: Oh, there were stories. Of royalty, excellence, and influence. Some of those I found particularly exciting involved a great-grandfather who was a warrior, ruler, and healer who was known for delivering babies via cesarean section.

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

Dickson: Primarily, learning about my ancestors in such a manner inspired a rather spiritual sense of connectedness. There are likely other effects, perhaps in the domain of self-esteem, that I have taken for granted. I was inspired by the work my father did. A master of many, he had a background in medicine but developed himself in engineering, manufacturing, and business. Retrospectively, this provided me with a rather broad view of possibility, which included a flexible limitation on what one person could achieve through ingenuity and hard work. I have now resolved that the two most important ingredients for inspiring purposeful ambition in children are to expand their perspective on what is possible and then to provide them with an immediate means to exercise their will. One should basically say, “this is the map of the continent, and here is a bicycle.”

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

Dickson: My parents are from the Yoruba ‘tribe’ of south-western Nigeria. The ethnic diversity within this group is, yet, so great that one would have to mention the specific town to paint an accurate picture of the culture=language+food+dressing. Although my birth certificate says Lagos, Nigeria, I spent most of my earlier years without much influence from that culture, living in neighboring Cameroon until before my 7th birthday, when we moved to south-eastern Nigeria, a distinct cluster of ethnicities. Even if I had spent all of the initial years in Lagos, that would have mostly exposed me to the more generalized variant of the Yoruba culture. In any case, the academic language was ‘English’, while the unofficial language was the local pidgin. Growing up under such dynamic cultural conditions must have largely contributed to the ethnic dissociation that characterizes my identity.

My home was a strictly Pentecostal Christian one. I was raised with a solid education in scripture and doctrine. My first public speaking engagement was a sermon in the large adult auditorium on a certain children’s day event. The first book I read extensively and evaluated critically was the Bible. But I was largely autonomous in Faith, never quite having my spiritual identity enveloped in some religious organization. My father, a religious leader, often criticized practices that were at odds with Christianity’s original derivative of the Bible. I engaged in a lot of church activities from singing and drama to preaching, usually in a leadership capacity, but my orientation was that of a reformer. And this rebellious tendency eventually led me to a markedly unconventional spiritual inclination. One of my earlier ‘SMH’ moments in reaction to religious irrationality was when a teacher went from prescribing respect for the religious independence of others to, practically, granting exclusive proliferation rights to Christianity in the same breath because, as she retrieved, the Bible commands thus.

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

Dickson: For the exact reasons, I had very pleasant and unpleasant experiences. But I am hedonically economical and have always not expected to derive much excitement from social interactions. As such, I managed an independent development, was often preoccupied with creative endeavors, and got by with a couple of friends per time. One could still consider my life as a series of personal and collaborative projects.

My mother claims that I was speaking meaningfully at 10 months. I remember some of our earliest conversations but nothing that must have been from before marking year 1. My reading, however, was a painful process until later, as I interpreted symbols in a rather primitive way. (Interestingly, the solution to the intellectual challenges arising from this peculiarity was to read faster, not slower, as I learned rather late.) I started school early and skipped a couple of grades so that I was 6 years old finishing primary 4. This set me 2 – 4 years away from my age mates. The outcome was not sufficiently challenging, as I still topped all the classes up till that point. I remember it being rumored by teachers that I was the best performing student in a certain test in the entire school. I later realized this must have been some aptitude test. I think acceleration, not merely grade-skipping, is what would have worked.

As I grew older, school became increasingly counter-constructive. I had endured the preliminary science presentations in junior secondary school, hoping to begin ‘real science’ in the senior phase. I was greatly disappointed that the material was nothing like those in the books I had been busying with. In any case, school was never satisfying. One of the moments that highlight my frustration was when, in primary school, I listed in an answer about “respecting leaders”, “age should not be considered when respecting a leader”. The teacher, in her infinite wisdom, ‘corrected’ my statement as “a leader should be respected regardless of age”. The logical error was highly troubling. It is disastrous that one should be educated under such circumstances.

A series of events greatly deviated my interests from classwork and, eventually, my performance – when studying, however minimal, became necessary. These events, largely as a result of relocation, cost me 2 years so that I would graduate secondary school at a more relatable age of 16. During this period, I wore every color on the academic performance spectrum, the least stellar ones more frequent in the last 3 years of secondary schooling. As a result, I happened on quite a range of experiences with my schoolteachers – sometimes during the same period, scattered across classes. Although I maintained a steady dose of brilliant friends teachers in my history tend to have a very emotional reaction to results, but for one. The head economics teacher, not in charge of my class, who talent-hunted me for a creative project and, disappointed by my average score sheet balance, thereafter insisted I reflected my abilities in my test results. The outcome was an A+ within 2 weeks, the only one I earned in senior secondary school. I received several conflicting, ultimately unhelpful career advice from teachers who noted core competences in their areas of interest.

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

Dickson: One may begin to think about intelligence tests as some means to evaluate a person’s mental abilities compared to the human capacity for reasoning and other features of cognition. This anthropocentric notion of intelligence is useful in as much as one merely considers it as a tool for functioning in human societies, and to this degree, cognitive ability testing has been successful! The immediate limitation of this view is that other human features are useful for social functioning but are not intelligence although they co-operate it; for example, sensing. Another problem is that we may not readily acknowledge intelligence in other systems whose ‘cognitive’ architectures are markedly dissimilar to ours, especially if they do not share our interests. This knowledge is useful in our development of artificial general intelligence and our interactions with other life forms. Although one may say they are comfortable with not knowing much about non-human representations of it, one human-concerning implication is that if we cannot identify intelligence in others, we do not distinguish it accurately in ourselves.

We have now returned to a question some may have already asked in the first line: why should we care about measuring intelligence at all? The benefits of intelligence are numerous, and I find them appreciable even to those who are reprehensive of the idea itself. Social functioning is a mere by-product of the fundamental usefulness, and one only finds a limit to the use of intelligence when they assume that social functioning is its alpha and omega. And even then, the idea of the diminishing returns is misguided; Society fails at positioning intelligent people optimally, and so some will naturally not be able to apply their abilities. The root property is the capacity for problem-solving, of which the primary use is reality configuration. As long as there are problems to solve, one cannot find any level of intelligence to be an excess. The problem of ability positioning is itself a problem requiring intelligence, but if one must solve it for oneself, it requires drive and self-discipline as well. Deficiency in one area does not equate to insufficiency in the other. Another reason for the apparent diminishing returns is that our current tests may not measure the same thing for everyone as they detect only the outcomes and not the thinking processes, including what facts are used. In any case, we care about measuring intelligence because we care about problems and solubility. High-range cognitive ability tests are a good way to source members for projects with a high intellectual requirement.

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

Dickson: It became obvious to me soon enough during childhood that there were differences in reasoning ability among people, and that this could lead one—even as a child—to arrive at conclusions that others, as adults, could not achieve or found incredible. At school, beyond score sheets, it was clear that some people had a better grasp of the material than others, although one principal would try to convince us that “everybody’s brain is the same,” in the name of science. However, it was only much later – close to adulthood – that I became familiar with the scientific study of intelligence and a possible “high IQ”.

7. Jacobsen: When you think of the ways in which the geniuses of 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.

Dickson: Geniuses generally differ from experts in the nature of their mastery. While the latter may master trends and techniques, the former master fundamental principles. The works of geniuses in any field stem from thinking processes which are beneath the conventions of the field. Hence, the implications of these works can be applied to various areas, only being adopted according to convenience.

One can visualize the situation thus: The entirety of knowledge are represented as patterns in a space. There are odd patterns – uncharted territory – and even patterns. The goal of a genius is mastering odd patterns, which may eventually be adapted into the even patterns. When the work of a genius is found useful to the current trends of pattern expansion, they are praised. When not, all that is seen is the absurdity of oddity. As such, they are treated with hostility.

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

Dickson: I do not have an exact candidate at this moment because I would want to be right in such an evaluation, but the image in my head is somewhat Goethesque. I am particularly attracted to the universal thinker and polymath types. Of course, the archetypal Renaissance man – Leonardo da Vinci – comes to mind as well. My favorite, however, is Einstein, because our personalities, epistemic structures, and worldviews seem to align the most (coincidentally, I was nicknamed Einstein in my A’ level school, and I embraced it for that deeper connection I had extracted we shared). Well, Einstein himself is reported to have owned 50 volumes of Goethe literature in his library.

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

Dickson: Profound giftedness is a categorization based on the observation that people, especially obvious in children, of certain IQ levels and above tend to share markedly distinct characteristics, even among intelligent people. Such individuals are regarded as geniuses in popular culture, but without much luck, as the test of time turn out no remarkable creation for most of them, and one would find questions like, “I have an IQ of [something high]. Why don’t I feel like a genius?” on internet fora.

A genius, on the other hand, is a person of truly original creative expression. Optionally, one could leave the job to history’s selectivity to determine such individuals. But this requires that the works are found relevant by a community, having at least some implications that are not incredibly advanced. If the relevance of one’s work is not within sight, it cannot be known whether they are “ahead of their time” or simply not on the timeline. A perfect definition of genius must cater to such ones onto whom the angel of fame may not cast her torchlight, even posthumously. Beyond poetics, though, I must not speak of such a model of genius without referring you to the efficient work of Paul Cooijmans. He has identified, interacting in synergy, three factors; to wit, intelligence, conscientiousness, and associative horizon. An insight I had was that these factors are high-level representations of fundamental elements of existence. Geniuses ‘maximize’ these elements in varying proportions.

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

Dickson: I have worked in quite a few areas including teaching (physics and English), marketing, research, product design, content development, academic consulting, and management. More recently, I briefly had an interesting role in a top technical talent development institute where I experimented with high-range cognitive ability testing as means for screening candidates. I soon returned to face my entrepreneurial ambitions, launching a startup via the Lagos chapter of the Founder Institute, the world’s largest pre-seed accelerator, as a project under internovent – an organization dedicated to developing solutions of socioeconomic importance.

My last academic certification was the Cambridge International General Certificate of Education: Advanced Level, a pre-university education certificate. A notable feature in my career is that I often received job offers without sending in applications. As such, I have not had to compete with candidates on the basis of certification. A side effect, however, is that I get asked the question about why I did not pursue a university degree a lot.

Dickson: If one holds strict presumptions about how genius should appear, it may not be easily recognized in people who come from certain groups or whose works are applied to certain fields. Many Hollywood movies operating on the supposed tie between genius and IQ usually fail on two counts: in the representing thinking and decision theories at certain intelligence levels (sometimes favoring complicated solutions), and in expressing the true characteristics of geniuses. Some, however, do these excellently. Meanwhile, the British series, Sherlock, is my favorite show, in this regard; it exaggerates in just the right places.

One can be a genius and pass for a crackpot at the same time. This is in part due to the unconventional, autodidact nature of their learning, the effects being more pronounced in some than others. There are no ‘artistic geniuses’ or ‘philosophical geniuses’. There are just specialist masters and savants who may or may not be geniuses. Any perceived humility is an accidental property, and it is not true that ‘real geniuses’ are humble. In fact, without intellectual audacity (often treated as arrogance), no great knowledge can be unraveled. Geniuses abhor mediocrity; and this is a useful trait for exceptional productions.

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

Dickson: Here are some of my ruminations on society and politics:

For an individual living in solitude all their life, all their decisions are based on their preferences; the possibility of a successor who arrives posthumously introduces reasons to adjust his preferences slightly, one roommate adds a constraining factor to the individual’s activities but provides new possibilities for mutual actions; but many interesting features of society begin to emerge when we introduce a third roommate. They begin to make decisions not only based on mutual preferences but assumptions about the preferences of others – to fill gaps in their knowledge. A social culture soon emerges, in a large part, from the conference of such assumptions, appointing the group a mind of its own, even with tendencies towards actions and beliefs that are at odds with the wishes of each member. The group can be improved to reflect the values of the members by increasing its metacognition = the members’ awareness of the group dynamics – through communication. A notable effect in this model is that the least conforming individuals with strong ideas are more likely to influence the society. The timescale for the materialization of their influence is a function of relevance to change.

We can consider supersociety, a system of such smaller societies. Ours has a particularly interesting feature called mortality. People start things they cannot finish, inherit assumptions they did not make, contribute to the fostering of ideals they do not hold. Individual intentions seem like mere excuses for the fulfillment of the grand scheme of humanity. There is a deeper, spiritual sense of interconnectedness beneath physical interaction, bearing the flow of ideas.

I find interesting, the epistemic evolution of supersociety. Given that humans continue to exist in some form, the one consistent feature over time, even between periods of regression, should be an advancement in knowledge. Following this thought, my vision for humanity is the inevitable existence, at some point in its future, of a societal state termed a Transgressive Equilibrium. Such a society, having attained mastery of reality configuration (including reality simulation capabilities), can know all it needs to know and do all it wishes to do, resulting in an optimal complex of economy and culture. Our current level of being and humanness is just a phase in the course of the cosmic drive for self-understanding, as we may extrapolate from the learning patterns of society. At individual and at the species level, in cognition, the experience of entities are bound by the Curse of Nonrecognition: intelligent entities recognize intelligibility within this boundary of sense-ness, even though they are present in the larger environment. Owing to our capacity for communication and metacognition, our emergent entity – Humanity – is able to overcome the Curse of Nonrecognition via the following mechanism:

A single to a few humans reach some original insight.
A group of experts develops an understanding around this, growing the body of knowledge in their field.
Society finds usefulness in the application of such knowledge, and a growing number of people live in a world enhanced by such applications.
This improves the quality of common knowledge and more people are capable of understanding future insights.

Thus, the sphere of recognition expands for Humanity over generations.

A beneficial political arrangement for progress optimizes for vision and integrity in elected leaders, surrounded by people of high ability. Societies with elements of democracy are the only ones where we can negotiate our social preferences fairly. Ones where the capacity for sound judgment in the people is prioritized are the only ones where we can extract the full benefits of democracy. Capable individuals are more likely to make decisions that matter over a broad range of circumstances. The whole progress when the individual is optimally positioned for ability. Many sociopolitical problems are rooted in inefficient talent configuration; this is the primary problem upon whose solution all others are defined. Particularly, many of the inefficiencies of developing societies such as Nigeria are based on the problem of arrangement and not content, and the more complex the required arrangement, the probability that one arrives there by chance reduces, despite having the right ingredients. Within the scope of my intervention activities are schemes to Map-out Nigeria’s Brain, and to inspire an intellectual culture.

On groups, I think a considerable proportion of social tensions in modern society is based on false group identities; a futile attempt to force biologic or genetic groups into social groups (i.e. systems) with a shared purpose and a common reality. Social systems are formed on the bases of family, friendship, and socioeconomic interests. Particularly, groups solely based on gender and race cannot achieve the unity they seek to. Even though they face common struggles, we cannot consider them as isolated victim groups. We can compare this to a football team versus an ‘Association of Goalkeepers’. No progress will come from demonstrations about the tribulations of goalkeepers at the hand (or feet) of strikers, because when all is said and done, the goalkeepers must return to their teams, to which they are functionally loyal. Productive change can only come from addressing the disadvantages embedded in the rules of the game, and by renegotiating the social contract.

Racism is elusive. To the extent that it truly exists, we cannot extinguish it. To the extent that we find cheap actions to extinguish, they are likely not going to eliminate racism. For many, it is a fact that there are individuals who are prejudiced against certain racial groups. But since we cannot exactly crucify anyone for thinking ‘racist thoughts’, we resort to attack those who treat others unjustly. However, we are unable to prove intent from observing actions, and injustice exists within racial groups. Hence, we have one set of people who painfully express their experience of oppression and others who simply do not see it. Trying to establish the facts of racism is useful, and it is a justified sentiment. Yet, there are tradeoffs, so that the optimal strategy is to treat injustice as injustice in general, and motivations as individual cases. However painful it is, injustice should not be called anything else but its already ignoble name, unless specifically implied by the action.

These are some of the views through which I make the most sense of the world.

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

Dickson: The God-question is treated simplistically as a binary problem, requiring a YES-or-NO answer. In general, atheists would like to think they have an obvious NO, whereas theists should believe that they have arrived at a compelling YES. In reality, though, most of the theists have simply adopted a convenient response, while the atheists have abandoned the question. Meanwhile, it is not true that God is merely an invention of man whereby the inventor bears the burden of proof. The three fundamental questions, WHAT, HOW, and WHY applied to reality, implies a God-problem that must be solved. There is a God-question for every level of intelligence and awareness. The answer to this question becomes more abstract and more sophisticated along the dimensions respectively. A point of contention may be over how much abstraction the concept can bear while retaining its meaning. At a stage, it all becomes a matter of linguistic gymnastics.

The majority of people are incapable of evaluating the God-question intelligently, and as such, must approach it animalistically; in terms of their survival. Luckily for this majority, the software of religion is built on the framework of belief and make-belief. Intelligence is only rewarded in religion as much as it can help rationalize irrationality. There is great room for ‘intellectricks’ within religions, and while some of the tenets of Faith are sublime, the case that “religion is good; the problem is with the people”, is no different than saying “fire is good; the problem is with the heat”. The only genuine way to approach theology is to subject the ideas to intellectual rigor, without making any disingenuous claims to a monopoly on true interpretation.

On the subject of revelation, that which is not subject to reason must have no consequence on the rules of physical interactions. Jesus is quoted to have said, “I speak to you of earthly things and you do not understand, how then could you understand of heavenly things?” An interesting fact about this statement, apart from the obvious effects of the distinction between heavenly and earthly things, is that what he considered an earthly thing was the process of salvation. I wonder how many Christians understand the implication of this idea because it does not reflect much in the demonstrations of their common thinking that they do.

The problems with the Big Questions is that they are easy to ask at this point, where everyone may have adopted the confusion templates from various cultures, but difficult to recognize answers for. For instance, to a popular dilemma in my childhood, asking, “if God created the world, who created God?”, I once suggested that the universe created God and he went back in time to create the universe. As one can imagine, this suggestion was met with great hostility. The crux here is not whether the idea is true or not, but that the discussants were incapable of dealing with that level of perplexity. Some people are able to recognize powerful ideas, however raw, regardless of the source, while others must be spoon-fed from the premastications of authority. Traditional education has failed to deliver on its promise to improve this condition beyond a point.

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

Dickson: The principles and ideals of science form one part of the most prominent influences on my approach to knowledge and learning, although one can see how scientific movements may degrade into a state no better driven by rationality than religion. Since childhood, I always formed internal representations of information using an intuitive approximation of the scientific method, with lots of induction and abduction. On the other hand, my intellectual dynamic is characterized by a deep prescientific, philosophical experience, which is both analytic and poetic. I eventually address matters using the kind of thinking with which I can extract the most meaningful interpretations. Fundamentally, I consider my approach as adisciplinary rather than interdisciplinary. It is upon this that selected thinkings may be developed as found necessary in such cases.

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

Dickson: Expressed in a standard deviation of 15, my initial scores on experimental high-range intelligence tests, which are untimed and unsupervised, were within the 140-to-160 range on tests by Jason Betts and one other author. I have now learned that one ought to spend up to 10 times more time than I have on those tests to perform maximally. This makes me wonder what the difficulty-validity relationship is on tests of advanced cognitive ability.

I have never been tested by a psychologist on conventional tests. However, I hit the ceiling score on a version of Raven’s matrices taken unofficially years ago.

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.

Dickson: My initial experience with Paul Cooijmans’ tests was like an electric shock, with scores lower than my previous low. I cannot go into many details on the situation except to say that I have overcome the curses now. I look forward to enjoying more of the problems.

I think all new candidates of high-range tests should know that if there is any task they had to exert their thinking on to the highest degree, this, by definition, should be it. I have wasted beautiful tests not realizing these things, underestimating how much ‘intelligons’ were needed to be captured. It is impossible to cheat by spending time, and as long as one does not cheat, they cannot overperform (one may only ‘overperform’ if the problems are biased towards their area of educational training). One should think most responsibly about their participation in the testing, as there is no point if it is not handled appropriately.

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

Dickson: I find Kantian ethics to be rather intuitive. One is to note, however, that the “rational being” in the categorical imperative is not necessarily a human being. It is questionable whether humans are rational beings at all, and unquestionable that not all humans are equally rational. Thus, ethics cannot be objective if it is optimized for ‘human’ morality. This is a key reason for the numerous perspectives on the subject, where one can find them to be different attempts at the same thing. With enough reason and less selfishness, every ethical theory at its best corresponds to ‘utilitarianism within one’s power’. The ultimate ethical framework must contain a solution to the question, what is the purpose of humanity?

To think clearly about ethics, I find it useful to consider what feature of humanness raises the matter of rightness in the first place. If an ethical theory is an attempt to do that which is right, then, it has requirements in the departments of intelligence – of the ability to know what is right (a truth), and consciousness – of the will to act how it’s right. Thus, a highly intelligent being can decide what is right, regardless of their inclination to execute it; while a highly conscientious being can act in some supposedly right manner, needing not to figure it out for themselves. Intelligence offers the capacity for induction, enabling the manipulation of more complex scenarios involving more time, space, and particles. Consequently, considering scales, ethical theories must be based on the preferences of the most intelligent (and rational) beings whose decisions may make little sense to the ignorant in the short-term (in contrast to Asimov’s laws of robotics); while advancement in knowledge and must be encouraged as this improves the capacity to execute ethical resolves. Humans, in today’s sense, are simply an approximation of such a being, the true Homo epistemicus; the citizens of a Transgressive Equilibrium.

Appendix I: Footnotes

[1] Member, Glia Society.

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

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2023-03-21

An Interview with Mhedi Banafshei on High-IQ Societies and Values (Part Two)

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

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

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2020/08/01

Abstract

Mhedi Banafshei is a Member of the World Genius Directory. He discusses: community; values of the high-IQ communities; the gifted and community; positives and negatives of the high-IQ societies; purposes of the high-IQ societies; greater insights from the high-IQ; egos getting in the way; alternative ways for the gifted and talented to socialize; individualism as a blessing and a curse; intelligence tests; nations’ foundational crimes; things missing in the high-IQ societies; higher intelligence, liberalism and atheism; talented people; pieces of advice; improving sense of scale and social skills; and meritocracy in North America.

Keywords: high-IQ, individualism, meritocracy, Mhedi Banafshei, North America, social skills.

An Interview with Mhedi Banafshei on High-IQ Societies and Values (Part Two)[1]^,[2]*

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

1. Scott Douglas Jacobsen: Let’s talk about community. What defines a community?

Mhedi Banafshei: Any social factor which indicates something about human values or something meaningful in terms of experiences of life is a foundation of community. Prevailing human motivations have determined the formalization of some communities while inhibiting the expression of others. Social progression is in part achieved by challenging societal expectations of how the members of various groups should function in terms of the groups to which they belong. It’s important that there’s greater emphasis of some positive communities (such as those related to areas of learning) as well as a questioning of those which certainly aren’t failing as a result of not being recognized well enough.

2. Jacobsen: Do the high-IQ communities seem more heterogeneous or homogeneous in various identity backgrounds and in ideological/philosophical commitments? Why?

Banafshei: While some values do seem to be shared by most participants of these communities, such as those relating to egalitarianism, there’s still lots of variation in terms of the subject of the question. The reasons for this are likely to be very similar to those which explain variation in society as a whole.

3. Jacobsen: How can the gifted find community in high-IQ societies?

Banafshei: By first understanding the importance of IQ but also the boundaries of it. Two people could have intelligence in common but still have very different worldviews and values. In such a case, they would not necessarily be able to develop any productive association of their combination. Just like in regular society, a high-IQ society member has to find ways to identify people with whom they have more than one thing in common.

4. Jacobsen: What are the positives and the negatives of a high-IQ society?

Banafshei: Given that having a high IQ does generally relate to a somewhat higher likelihood of forming certain intellectual interests, such societies are giving many opportunities to not only find those with similar interests but also those who happen to be equally cognitively equipped in relation to exploration of the subjects of mutual investment. In terms of the negatives, I think it’s worthwhile to first consider how factors external to high IQ societies may impact them. Of course, the status of high IQ societies within general societies will influence their functioning. There would be a positive acceleration of the evolution of high societies if work is done to make the public more familiar with them as a means of both group expansion and normalization. Many people question the legitimacy of high IQ societies, and even the existence of differences of intelligence altogether. I think these are still issues of enough significance to justify their prioritization of addressing the aforementioned.

5. Jacobsen: What seem like the purposes of high-IQ societies in the early 21^st century?

Banafshei: There’s a vast range of reasons people join such societies. And I believe there need not be any purpose that all members can agree on. Among some of my own primary reasons is my desire to gain greater depths of insight of the minds of extraordinary thinkers.

6. Jacobsen: What are some of those “greater depths of insights of the minds”? How can some of the “extraordinary thinkers” of the high-IQ societies be drowned out by the non-extraordinary, while non-ordinary, thinkers in the high-IQ societies? What differentiates the extraordinary thinker from the greater than ordinary thinker?

Banafshei: It relates to the fact that some very smart people have reasonably come to the conclusion that a life of emphasised learning is likely to be the one of most personal productivity. The difference between geniuses and those who are not is often only clear after conclusion of their activities. The idea that’s brilliant isn’t always clearly so from the outset. In terms of people being ‘drowned out’, so to speak, I think it’s primarily a matter of some people freely deciding to disengage, rather than one of them being undermined in some way. People have the responsibility of asserting what they have to put forth, and others need not be accommodating of anything which has not been introduced with confidence. I believe this is applicable in relation to life in general.

7. Jacobsen: What do you make the egos largely getting in the way of some societies proclaiming noble aims and utterly failing?

Banafshei: I think it’s only natural to envision things beyond what can be easily achieved within a short period of time. Having a high IQ is no guarantee of being successful if one is not also wise in terms of their objectives. Failure is a part of life no matter what your IQ is.

8. Jacobsen: Are there other ways in which the gifted and talented can socialize and find others with similar gifts and interests other than high-IQ societies?

Banafshei: I guess if one can find those with similar interests, finding those with similar gifts in addition to that wouldn’t be much harder in most cases. Especially for those who live in cities, there are usually many options of social events/clubs in connection to a wide variety of subjects. I think exploring what the internet has to offer in the form of forums is very often not a waste of time either. However, I do think the best way of meeting likeminded people, regardless of giftedness, is for one to simply be open about the things in relation to which they are inclined. When someone’s objective of exemplifying their individuality is more apparent than their willingness of conformity, the processes of their socializing is almost always more efficient.

9. Jacobsen: Why is individualism the blessing and the curse of the high-IQ world?

Banafshei: I guess it depends on how you define that. It’s not my belief that the high-IQ world has any marked ‘curses’ or ‘blessings’ relative to any society that’s been formed for purposes of people of some commonality.

10. Jacobsen: What do intelligence tests, commonly construed, seem to miss in testing intelligence?

Banafshei: The inclusion of items which would have answers that are weighted differently rather than just considered as either correct or incorrect. It’s likely that a well-developed system of such a thing could function not only to ascertain IQ well but also reveal the nature and significance of different cognitive profiles that may not be explainable only by differentiation of IQ.

11. Jacobsen: Do you think nations’ foundational crimes should be answered (for)? If so, how? If not, why not?

Banafshei: The best way of addressing problems of this nature would be to develop societies which would counteract the imbalances of past injustices by means of ensuring the institutional legacies that reinforce the realities which were foundational to past oppression are curbed. If greater fairness of society is achieved in some places, social divisions relating to disagreements of controversial subjects of restoration would be reduced without there being any need of introducing polices of them.

12. Jacobsen: What do you think is missing in some of the high-IQ societies?

Banafshei: Some of the ones I’m a member of have lots of members who’ve simply become inactive. In most situations when people are not compelled to do any work, such as is the case in terms of non-professional organisations, it’s not unusual for many to hope others will form something of value that they could then simply participate in relation to while expending little. High IQ societies are no exception to this rule. As it is in terms of most things in life, a little willingness of effort and optimism could have a great impact.

13. Jacobsen: Why does higher intelligence tend to correlate positively with liberal leanings and atheism in some preliminary studies in psychology?

Banafshei: It’s difficult to say. Of course, correlations are most meaningful when complicating factors are controlled for, and as many of us who are not even statisticians know, it can be a very complex matter. Besides, even if it is the case that most smart people are in agreement about some broad ideas, the implications of the possible disagreements of the variations of them should be considered.

14. Jacobsen: Who are some of the most talented people know to you? Why them?

Banafshei: I guess I’m lucky enough to know a good number of talented people of various kinds. I hesitate to form any opinion about whether any should be considered as more talented than others, and whether some types of talents should be thought of as more significant. In light of it not being easy to determine the ultimate importance of any individual type of talent, I believe it’s infinitely more important to focus on the perfection of our aptitudes than to waste any time making subjectively motivated comparisons of perceived levels of talent and, worse, comparisons of different types of ability.

15. Jacobsen: To the young, what are some important pieces of advice about a) humility and b) building character & discipline?

Banafshei: While humility is valuable for some purposes, it shouldn’t be cherished to the extent that would be to the detriment of confidence. Even if notions of personal superiority should be dismissed, it should be done so with the acceptance that we would all be better off if more people had greater confidence in themselves and their visions. The world would obviously be a better place if more people realize their potential. The first step of this, of course, would be the emergence of greater efficiency of identifying capabilities. In terms of character building and discipline, I think it’s worthwhile to invest in what is often generally referred to as the broadening of horizons. As we learn, experience and explore new things, we gain broader perspectives which are of value in terms of life navigation and self-identification. It’s not difficult to attain development of character and discipline when there’s expansion of learning.

16. Jacobsen: What are non-tangible skills needing building more among the gifted and talented young than others because of the ease of some facets of life for them?

Banafshei: The skill of adapting to the forms of communication of those who function and think very differently to the cognitively advanced. It’s understandable that many gifted people sometimes experience frustration as a result of interaction with those who are close to the opposite of intellectually gifted, but if one has an IQ at the 99.99th percentile, they would be better off trying to understand and connect with people at the 50th percentile than on intending to limit themselves to 1/10000th of the population.

17. Jacobsen: How does this improve their sense of scale and social skills? Does this differentiate individuals who succeed and fail in many professional domains in spite of the vast gifts handed to them largely by genetic lottery?

Banafshei: It is commonly thought that being smart generally results in people getting ahead. There’s actually some evidence that those with IQs above 150 or so may actually be somewhat less likely to have careers of prestigious positions. Although it’s not entirely clear what explains findings of this nature, it’s logical that positive efforts of communication are important in relation to this.

18. Jacobsen: Do you think meritocracy in North America is more myth than truth or more fact than fable?

Banafshei: The challenging political circumstances of the USA clearly show the need for progress, which is also evidenced by many statistics of public interest. And while indicating that things need to change, they also indicate that meaningful progress is likely in the process of being made. When problems are subjects of inaction, that’s when there should be real concern. Anyway, I live in the UK, so my perspective is factually limited. Not everything can be known on the basis of crude indicators, and people’s notions and beliefs of idealized systems are almost always critical factors of the trajectories things take.

Appendix I: Footnotes

[1] Member, World Genius Directory.

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

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2023-03-21

An Interview with Anas El-Husseini on Background, Test Scores, and Views (Part One)

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

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

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2020/08/01

Abstract

Anas El-Husseini is a Member of the Glia Society. He discusses: growing up; an extended self; the family background; experience with peers and schoolmates; the purpose of intelligence tests; high intelligence discovered; geniuses; the greatest geniuses in history; a genius from a profoundly intelligent person; some work experiences and educational certifications; the more important aspects of the idea of the gifted and geniuses; some social and political views; the God concept; science; the tests taken and scores earned; the range of the scores; scores earned on alternative intelligence tests; and ethical philosophy.

Keywords: Anas El-Husseini, Glia Society, high-IQ, Lebanon, test scores, views.

An Interview with Anas El-Husseini on Background, Test Scores, and Views (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?

Anas El Husseini: I was born in a big city (big relatively to the size of the country), and people in the cities here seem less interested to talk about family ancestors or carry on with family legacies. At least, that’s how it was in the last century or so. People originating from villages or small towns, on the other hand, are usually very proud and attached to their ancestral legacy, and they hang onto it even when they move to bigger cities. As a result, and despite the fact that I belong to branch of a large family, I do not know much about my direct ancestor history, except for some random memories narrated sometimes by the elders of the family.

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

El Husseini: Not family stories themselves for the reason explained before, but stories coming from classic literature (especially eastern literature) have often played a role in emphasizing moral traits and pointing out good and bad personal traits for me.

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

El Husseini: I live in Tripoli, a city located on the eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea, and the second largest city in Lebanon. Lebanon is small country in the Middle East. It is famous for its richness of historical heritage, variety of climates (there is an hour or so by car between the sea and the snowy mountains), and diversity of religious and non-religious beliefs. Where I live, the climate is moderate to hot, the official spoken language is the Arabic language (although most people can speak or understand a bit of French or English), and about 90% of the city inhabitants are Muslims, the rest being mostly Christians. Neighboring towns and cities have different distributions of Muslims and Christians (the 2 major religions in Lebanon), if we disregard the different sects that derive from each religion and exist in this country as well.

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

El Husseini: In the years of childhood and adolescence, I had many friends but only so few (and sometimes none) close friends or real friends. Although I considered my relationship was good with most my schoolmates, I was surprised to find out later that my good sentiments towards the others were sometimes not reciprocated. One fellow student once told me that he did not like me because I am the favorite student to the teachers. Others would swap their friendships with me and a rival schoolmate depending on whoever they’re currently allied with and is more useful to them.

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

El Husseini: They were initially mental challenges, which I often used to seek out since I was young in the form of puzzles and games first. Later on, they became a gateway to find highly intelligent people and enter a world private to them.

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

El Husseini: When I was 10 years old, I was enrolled in a summer school specialized for students with high grades. We had been submitted to a test of unknown nature to me at the time, and we were asked to answer as much questions as we can. I knew later it was an I.Q. test (I don’t currently remember any of the questions so I don’t know the test name). I was the second top scorer then, but they informed me that my score is relatively higher than the top scorer since I was 4 years older than him.

El Husseini: Most geniuses seem to be introverts, which explains why they are camera shy, but that’s the minor reason. Geniuses often don’t blend well in their surroundings. They can be misunderstood, too fast for the others, have “weird” likings/dislikings, etc. On the other hand, the outside world (other people) in the eyes of the genius is often illogical and contradictory. This creates a wall of isolation, and the more the genius tries to apply his logic outside the more this wall thickens, and conflicts sure come after. We see a lot of geniuses recognized only after deaths, because during their lifetimes, they were either ignored or fought by those carry envy or ignorance.

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

El Husseini: There are so many whom I consider great geniuses in history. Leonardo Da Vinci is one of them for reasons too obvious to explain. Another genius is probably one of the less known to the readers of those lines, Ibn Taymiyyah. He lived in the 13th-14th century A.D., and was a Muslim scholar who, aside from his vast knowledge in all contemporary religions, was also a logician, a philosopher, a judge, a linguistic, a prolific writer, and many other things. He was well ahead of his time and one can hardly find a type of science that Ibn Taymiyyah had not had his share of knowledge from. He was imprisoned more than once because of his teachings and writings that were not to the likings to his contemporary scholars. Some of his rivals who were close to the ruler then, so they conspired against him which led to his imprisonment. He died in his prison, but the whole city accompanied his funeral to the graveyard, except for three people who were the cause of his incarceration.

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

El Husseini: I am not an expert in the high intelligence terminology, but I find no unified definition for the term “Genius”. There are definitions that are very loose, and others with so much constraints that they exclude people who could be considered geniuses. I consider that the genius traits depicted in Paul Cooijmans articles about the Genius are very accurate and comprehensive, although I do not agree with him on some of them. I do not consider the ethical traits are required for one to be considered a genius. Unethical and evil geniuses can exist, and there are geniuses who turned from unethical to ethical during their lifetimes, and that’s found both in history and in the present time. A genius is born genius, but his ethical compass may not be always fixed at birth. One of the major influences on the ethical compass of a genius is ironically one of the traits that are remarked in geniuses: the strong ego. A strong ego can result sometimes in envy, arrogance and even a denial of the truth. Any of those traits can the downfall of personal ethics. That being said, another way to distinguish a genius from a profoundly intelligent is the effect of his/her works on the outside world. An intelligent person will soon cease to exist after his death, but a genius will be immortalized by the sparkling traces that he/she left behind.

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

El Husseini: My educational certifications include some in the fields of programming, networking, linguistics, calligraphy and other stuff. My work experiences consist of teaching, developing computer and mobile software, and various IT skills.

El Husseini: People often confuse the notation of genius with that of a successful man. A genius may not be always able to convince others with his ways or thinkings, let alone reach a financial success out of them. On the other hand, the success achieved by persons whom people call “geniuses”, are often built on the sweat of others, or on the results of unethical conducts. Moreover, some of those so-called geniuses may have just bought the credit of the work with their money. A genius needs not to spend money or manipulate the public to prove his worth. So real geniuses, usually lacking the tools to spread their works or ideas without opposition, can be neglected till after their deaths. However, seldom you will find a genius, even if strongly opposed or mocked, that was neglected by history, or whose effects did not reveal their true worth even after a while.

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

El Husseini: I consider that most political parties are very much like business corporations. They care most about their gains, and any other claims by them is just a step to gain more trust to achieve their aforementioned main goal. This is true even in a democratic ruling with a large population or with a small population that has much diversity (my country belonging to the latter type). There are examples of smaller more homogeneous populations were democracy proves suitable and the elected ruler was able fulfill his role justly without having hidden agendas or putting some egoistical goals first. I find the democratic ruling not always suitable for every country because it always assumes all are people are equal. It is correct that all people are, and should be, treated equal regarding their rights. But to make the opinions of the intelligent and the idiot, the educated and the ignorant, the expert and the layman, etc all the same in formulating the laws and the lifestyles of a whole country seem very bizarre, especially when there are powerful and rich parties that can bias the opinions of common people towards them (not necessarily by bribing), and it will still appear as a democracy. Most people consider the equality of votes as a common required right, although they do not consider expert’s and non-expert’s opinions equal on other more trivial matters. For that reason, I consider that a more just ruling system is a one where the ruler is elected by the elite of his population.

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

El Husseini: Personally, I have followed several lines of logic, and they all led me to the one and same conclusion. Here is one of them. If we follow the origin of species, the origin of nature, and the origin of the universe, whether we assume the creation of three were interdependent or otherwise, we are bound to arrive to few origins: the origin matter, the first movement, and the origin law of physics. The origin matter exists because we know that the universe is finite and is changing with time, so it must have an origin at some point of time that differs in shape and characteristics. The moving universe we observe today is a result of an initial push, because a static object cannot generate movement on its own, thus the first movement must have existed. The origin law of physics are the most basic laws of movement, electricity, magnetism, etc from which all other secondary natural laws derived later, such as laws of chemistry and of biology. For those three origins to exist, they either existed on their own, or an external party has caused them to exist. Void, quiet, and chaos can exist on their own, because they’re the representation of nothingness. Their opposites cannot exist on their own, otherwise they will be eternal, but since they are both finite in space (as the size of universe) and in time (every part of the universe has a definite starting and ending times, a definite duration of existence, a definite period of movement or change, etc), that makes it impossible for those origins to be infinite and eternal. The other option requires an external entity to create those origins. This entity must possess the qualities that the origins are lacking: infinity (opposed to limitation in space), eternity (opposed to limitation in time) and will (opposed to chaos); otherwise this entity will be another origin incapable on its own. This entity, or the origin of origins, is what is commonly called as God or gods. If the existence of a God entity is established by logic, everything beyond it, and everything dependent on it, is much easier to deduce. Take as an example the question of one God or multiple ones. If there are two or more gods: either they’re all equal or one is stronger than the rest. If there is stronger one, he will overpower or nullify the rest, and only one will remain. If they’re equal, their wills are bound to contradict at some point since they are independent entities, which will threaten the whole existence of a creation like the universe, or create opposite rules or phenomenons at the same time. From the overall stability of the universe (it didn’t cease to exist at some point then re-existed), and from the consistency within its natural rules, we can safely eliminate the possibility of equal gods as well, which leaves the remaining possibility of one God.

This was my line of logic about the origins and God. It extends far than that to reach the topic of religions, but going on with it will make the answer much too long, so I will leave the rest for another occasion perhaps.

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

El Husseini: Science, with its different categories (such as physics, chemistry, biology, etc), is the representation of the laws of universe as they really are and as we observe them. As time passes, our inventory of the knowledge of those laws grows up. It happens sometimes that our knowledge of science diminishes due to destroying of science records (by wars or by parties against the science or its people) or nonexistence of historical records about an era or some phenomenons in it (for example, we still don’t know for sure how the pyramids were built). Science is independent from affections, sentiments and political views (or any other views for that matter), and must be always treated as such. For instance, claiming that genres are different than sexes is unscientific, since sexuality is biologically tied to sexual organs, sexual glands and sexual chromosomes. Claiming a state that contradicts with the biological state is contradicting biology and therefore contradicting science itself.

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

El Husseini: Aside from the unknown I.Q. test I took when I was 10 years old, I took the Stanford-Binet test, in addition to unsupervised high I.Q. tests written by people from high I.Q. societies. Out of those, I took several of Paul Cooijmans tests (all use I.Q. points at S.D. 15), such as the Test of Beheaded Man (I.Q. 143), Reason Behind Multiple Choice (I.Q. 136), Isis (I.Q. 154), Bonsai (I.Q. 148), PAGAN (I.Q. 165), Sargasso (I.Q. 143), and others. I also took ENSDT test authored by Marco Ripa, and other tests by various authors.

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.

El Husseini: My scores on Paul Cooijmans tests varied, if I remember correctly, between 130 and 165 (S.D. 15). I think I generally scored better on tests that have more logical questions, and less on tests that have more spatial questions, which may explain the wide range between my lowest and highest scores.

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

El Husseini: Ethical philosophies that focus on justice, truth, honesty, doing good to others (or doing to others what you want to be done to you), and avoiding harming or cheating others, are generally what makes sense to me.

Appendix I: Footnotes

[1] Member, Glia Society.

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

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2023-03-21

An Interview with Charles Peden on the Glia Society and High-IQ Societies (Part Two)

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

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

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2020/08/01

Abstract

Charles Peden is a Member of the Glia Society. He discusses: growing up; an extended self; the family background; experience with peers and schoolmates; the purpose of intelligence tests; high intelligence discovered; geniuses; the greatest geniuses in history; a genius from a profoundly intelligent person; some work experiences and educational certifications; the more important aspects of the idea of the gifted and geniuses; some social and political views; the God concept; science; the tests taken and scores earned; the range of the scores; scores earned on alternative intelligence tests; and ethical philosophy.

Keywords: Charles Peden, experiences, genius, Glia Society, high-IQ, Paul Cooijmans.

An Interview with Charles Peden on the Glia Society and High-IQ Societies (Part Two)[1]^,[2]*

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

1. Scott Douglas Jacobsen: When we’re looking at high-IQ societies, what are some areas for improvement?

Charles Peden: Religions have group services at regular intervals that reinforce their beliefs. The periodic meetings also serve to reinforce the social cohesion amongst the members. Religions also have written guidance that serves to allow the disparate members to function as a group and leverage their influence throughout the world and within their local communities. I think there is much that can be learned from such functions which may increase the interest in, and influence of, high I.Q. societies. But I have no detailed plan.

The journal Thoth is a form of periodic reinforcement as is the GliaWebNews.

2. Jacobsen: Why do most of the high-IQ societies seem to congregate online more than in-person?

Peden: People who have a specialized interest in high-range I.Q. testing seem to be randomly interspersed throughout the world. Of course, the internet allows people with specialized interests to unite virtually, irrespective of how they are separated physically. In my case, I do not personally know anyone who has qualified for a high I.Q. society, so the only fellowship I get to experience from my achievement is through online connections.

Peden: There seems to be no shortage of intentions in the world. I personally have a vast reserve of good intentions, so I recognize them when I see them. What is truly remarkable and valuable is the grind of keeping one’s self on track, even when one’s glamorous expectations begin to ‘moo’.

4. Jacobsen: What tends to be the ethical leanings and political orientations of these high-IQ societies, e.g., democratic, authoritarian, or anarchic?

Peden: I am not so familiar with other high I.Q. societies outside of the Glia Society. But I haven’t noticed any sort of thematic political connection amongst famous (to me) high I.Q. celebrities (i.e., Scott Adams, Rick Rosner, Jamie Loftus, James Woods, The Amazing Randi, etc.).

5. Jacobsen: Out of those forms of ethical leanings and political orientations, what one seem to bring out the best behaviour and community construction for the high-range?

Peden: I don’t know if I am projecting, but to me it appears that high-range people seem very kind in general. It’s as if they see others as deserving of kindness and respect unless the others do something to violate that right.

6. Jacobsen: What is the Glia Society?

Peden: It is a community created to reward aspiring individuals for pushing themselves to attain the standard required for admission. This concept has roots that seem ubiquitous throughout tribal cultures worldwide. The main difference being that the Glia Society has rites of passage that are based on contemporary measurements of intelligence.

7. Jacobsen: Why is the Glia Society focused on Europe?

Peden: The quiet truth is the ‘Mecca’ of the Glia Society springs from the Netherlandic town of Lieshout — Paul Cooijmans’s home town. The growth extends outward from there, but I don’t think of it as being ‘focused’ on Europe. Society members are worldwide.

8. Jacobsen: When did you join the group?

Peden: I believe I qualified in 2014 and joined soon after qualifying.

9. Jacobsen: How did you qualify for the Glia Society?

Peden: I achieved a qualifying score on the Cartoons of Shock I.Q. test.

10. Jacobsen: What is Thoth?

Peden: There is the journal of the Glia Society which is called “Thoth”. There is also a future Grail Society member who has been in contact with Paul Cooijmans who is also called Thoth. I think “Thoth” was also an ancient Egyptian god.

11. Jacobsen: Have you contributed to it?

Peden: I have made contributions to the journal Thoth since before I became a member. It is not required to be a member of the Glia Society before making contributions to the society’s journal.

12. Jacobsen: I love the phrase “A Megalomaniac’s Waterloo” by Cooijmans. It is the coda on the separating of the wheat from the chaff of the high-range. Many come to these tests thinking rather highly of their innate gifts, which seem apparent while not as high as assumed by them. How would you describe the world of the high-range?

Peden: High-range I.Q. results can play havoc with one’s ego. I think it is helpful to realize that intelligence appears most pronounced in the context of novel situations. But intelligence can seem inferior when one is among those with more experience. Intelligence is an ability that can have an enhancing effect on what one does, including the stories one tells themselves of how valuable they are.

13. Jacobsen: Why did you join the high-IQ community in the first place?

Peden: Life can be difficult and sometimes finding a niche where one is good enough can be very validating. Joining a high I.Q. community has become my shield against life’s many ‘demons’ of ostracism.

Appendix I: Footnotes

[1] Member, Glia Society.

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

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2023-03-21

An Interview with Adeline Sede Kamga on Women’s Rights in Africa

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

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

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2020/08/01

Abstract

Adeline Sede Kamga is the Founder/CEO of FabAfriq Media Group, a Creative and Innovative Marketing and communication agency with offices in the UK and Cameroon operating both in Europe and Africa. A change leader and inspirational speaker with over fifteen years of experience. She has expertise working across different areas in the corporate, business and community world. She is committed to delivering quality projects in Corporate PR and Communications, Change management, Executive Coaching. She has a BA in Corporate Communications, MA in Human Resource Management at Coventry University UK and professional qualifications such as CIPD, PRINCE2 & Dip in Business Administration. Adeline is an expert in Corporate communications and PR, including digital communication and eventing. As a trained executive coach, she has worked with blue chip companies from varied sectors, helping them gain visibility across Africa and the rest of the world. Her previous experience in HR, gave her hands-on experience working in different HR projects with one of the largest employers in Europe (Birmingham City Council) & subsequently as a consultant. Amongst some of her expertise are change management, People Management, T & D and Strategic HR. She has led on many strategic and restructuring projects, leading to successful change management system & implementations. Adeline is also a founding member of FEPPSAC (Women editors of Central Africa), a UN Central Africa Office initiative to work with women in the print magazine industry. This group seeks to help drive the United Nations mandate of women, peace and security in Central Africa. She is dynamic, innovative, and tenacious. Gifted with a sharp mind and innate ability to connect with others and an insatiable thirst for excellence. In 2016, Adeline launched a Pan Excellence In People Management initiative for change called The Corporate Awards & The Corporate Women in Leadership program. Adeline invests in inspiring and empowering young leaders through speaking engagements and mentoring programs. She is married to a very supportive husband and has 3 kids. adeline.sede@fabafriq.com. She discusses: the common problems of women around the world; specifically African-based women’s issues now; the 2010s; the 2020s; the various companies and collaborators; the LGBTI community; religion; increase the good and decrease the bad manifestations of religious faith when it comes to the inculcation of more fair, just, and equitable societies for all; the next big projects; recently relaunched publishing efforts; and authors, books, or organizations.

Keywords: Adeline Sede Kamga, Africa, FabAfriq, women’s rights.

An Interview with Adeline Sede Kamga on Women’s Rights in Africa: CEO, FabAfriq Media Group[1]^,[2]

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

1. Scott Douglas Jacobsen: Obviously, standing as an outstanding woman in different countries will have different levels of difficulty in the ways in which there are problems for the respective women, while, at the same time, we will see some commonalities. What do you see as the common problems of women around the world?

Adeline Sede Kamga: Gender inequality has been a major concern for women around the world. The lack of women in positions of decision making clearly shows that more women need to be given the opportunity to influence policies. It has been a historic movement for women since Beijing as it is no longer uncommon for women to run businesses or hold job titles in the upper ranks of management. Many women also do jobs that are traditionally male dominated. For all the progress that has been made, we still see some common problems women face even though more subtle than before, but still make appearances in all parts of society, from education and the workforce to the media and politics.

Access to education and healthcare is at the top of my list, purely because these two are the base. Once we are educated and in good health, we can do anything we truly set our minds to. The right to have logistical protection over violence, rape, abuse – the list is endless. We can easily eradicate some societal issues faced by women if we are educated and empowered to make decisions that affect us directly. Just to add to the list, I will say women face gender-based violence, abuse, gender pay gaps and restrictive reproductive rights. Moreover, there is still gender equality, female genital mutilation, economic & financial empowerment, the power of the women’s vote & lack of opportunities to influence policies concerning them directly.

2. Jacobsen: What do you see as some of the more specifically African-based women’s issues now?

Kamga: Africa has an overly complex social, economic, and political patterns, with a clear difference between the rich and the poor. There are issues related to deep-rooted poverty, harmful traditional practices, restrictive laws, and social attitudes which continue to affect African women. Of Course, we can state that most women feel there is a lack of respect, promotion, protection, and fulfilment of human rights when it comes to women. Please note that my list is not exhaustive, you can comfortably add these to the ones listed on the global issues affecting women around the world.

3. Jacobsen: When you reflect on the 2010s, what were the most significant areas of improvement and decline for African women?

Kamga: In December 2008, a proposal for an Africa Women’s Decade (2010- 2020) was initiated by the African Union (AU) Ministers for Gender and Women Affairs at their meeting held in Maseru, Lesotho. The idea was adopted in February 2009 by the AU at the 12th Ordinary Summit of Heads of State and Government, in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. This was adopted and took a fast pace to implementation.

According to the African Women Decade report published by Make Every Woman Count, the UN, World Economic Forum, and other organisations have recorded an improvement in standards. There has been some improvement in Education with Seychelles, Swaziland, and Ethiopian topping the chart with more than 90% of achieving their Decade’s goals. While Cameroon, Rwanda, Kenya and South Africa and others have seen an increase in Economic Empowerment. There has not been a recorded decline that I can talk about, but I guess we should stick on the positives

4. Jacobsen: Looking ahead to the 2020s, what will be the most significant issues facing women?

Kamga: Owning their space! Women give excuses more than men. A few % of women own their success and talk about it. This is a big issue as far as I am concerned because it does not foster an environment where younger women can learn from. Role modelling is very important, and I feel we are not doing enough. Also, if most of the issues mentioned above are not addressed correctly, then we will be pointing out the same issues. However, there has been a rise in the number of platforms encouraging women to take control of their socio-economic stand in the community and we are counting on such.

5. Jacobsen: How are the various companies and collaborators for you working on these specific issues now?

Kamga: We launched the corporate women in Leadership initiative to help corporates deal with such issues affecting women at work. Most of our clients have collaborated beyond measures and we are quite pleased to see more corporations joining their voices to these. Prudential Beneficial Insurance Cameroon for example, has assigned some of its female staff to speak on our panel and mentor younger women towards achieving their goals. Others have even initiated internal associations such as Ecobank Cameroon which created an association of Ecobank Women to help support each other. We also partnered with the UN to use our platform to drive Peace and security in the community and this theme is very popular during our events. So far, I think both corporate and the public sectors are working alongside to create a much more conducive environment for women. However, I think women in politics are not encouraged enough and they should work towards this as well.

6. Jacobsen: What about the LGBTI community, as stipulated by the UN LGBTI Core Group? The L, B, T, and I community of women who are having a difficult time in Africa. What is being done to help these minority sub-demographics deal with their specific issues?

Kamga: Unfortunately, LGBTI is not an area of discussion in most African countries. While South Africa, St Helene and a few others have given this a legal status most African countries are still to come to terms about sexual orientation.

7. Jacobsen: Religion is important to many Africans. How is religion a force for good at times in Africa? How is religion a force for bad at times in Africa?

Kamga: With regards to good or bad, religion is individualistic. Meaning everyone has a right to their opinion and just like in the western world, no one forces, or obliges anyone to be religious. However, we can all confirm the importance of religion because it creates a safer and much calmer environment with regards to how people behave or act during certain circumstances. It is in line with this that I can state that religion is a force when a community needs to come together to achieve a certain level of peace, security, goodwill and more. The church is most often seen as a sanctuary, where people take their personal challenges to be resolved and this has a world for many.

For bad, religion has become a huge business opportunity for most. The rate of unemployment in Africa is high, so anyone who is eloquent and fluent with words can set up a church purely to extort. There are many men of God who have amassed wealth from the community. Most people have been blindfolded that separating the good from the bad is hard. Most recently, a young lady was raped and killed in a church in Nigeria This also might mean some churches are involved in occult or bad practices.

But then again Scott, as mentioned, I can only give my opinion with regards to what I believe, not what is fact! What might be good to me, might be bad to the other and vice versa.

8. Jacobsen: How can we increase the good and decrease the bad manifestations of religious faith when it comes to the inculcation of more fair, just, and equitable societies for all?

Unfortunately, religion is a very sensitive topic in Africa and most Africans believe that salvation is personal. When we talk of GOOD here, I am looking at what is good for me. With regards to what is good for the other I can truly not give much of an opinion. In order to have a better society, we should establish what is good and what is bad. There is so much going on now that we feel we are not in control of our lives anymore.

However, there are chapters in the bible that explain what is required from everyone to live Good. With regards to bad manifestations, I would like to focus on practices. We should focus on the scriptures to increase the good. We should look at implications on others before we react, we should wear people’s shoes to see where they pinch. By putting ourselves in the other’s position, we can easily determine what to do and what not to do. So, it is advisable for people to time and understand the bible.

The government should also put in place rules and regulations around some religious practices. Of Course, they should have clear facts, evidence, and standards.

There are some religious practices that incite hate and discrimination. First of all, there are a lot of churches in Africa and this influences the religious orientation of others. People should be educated on how to be in control of what affects their lives. Awareness of fake practices should be raised, and perpetrators should be punished by law.

9. Jacobsen: What are the next big projects for you?

Kamga: Our next big project is our 10th anniversary celebration. We have had to put it on hold because of COVID but we’ll pick up for next year. We are also working on our blueprint which will contain research gathered from our 5 years of running The Corporate Awards: Celebrating Excellence in People Management. Report will focus on our findings and recommendations will be provided at the end.

10. Jacobsen: What have been some of the recently relaunched publishing efforts by you?

Kamga: We recently relaunched FabAfriq Magazine. We are also in the process of launching our Web App for news items. We are exhausted but truly looking forward.

11. Jacobsen: Any recommendations authors, books, or organizations for the audience here today?

Kamga: Yes, I would like to recommend a remarkably interesting book on Leadership and Religion. This is written by a priest and it might be interesting to interview him. Our readers should definitely check out https://www.amazon.co.uk/Philosophy-History-Challenge-African-Thinker/dp/6202304200 and thank me later.

12. Jacobsen: Thank you for the opportunity and your time, Adeline.

Kamga: The pleasure is all mine.

Appendix I: Footnotes

[1] CEO, FabAfriq Media Group.

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

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2023-03-21

Pith 306: “Let me tell you something.”

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Personal)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2023/03/21

“Let me tell you something”: Burned Out Bob is not burned out, he is the jet; and I am the jet stream.

See “Sure, Bob, I’ll give college a try”.

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2023-03-21

Pith 305: “I only care about myself.”

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Personal)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2023/03/21

“I only care about myself”: A traumatized youth becomes an adult, has a child, and cares only for herself and her immediate extension; a wandering rock and pebble shooting for meaning and finding nothing.

See “Carried for life?”.

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2023-03-21

Pith 304: To sing, and dance, and love, then leave

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Personal)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2023/03/21

To sing, and dance, and love, then leave: I love cultures where singing is still a cultural item and not a commodity; an understanding of the cyclical quality of life.

See “Hit the heart, beat the soul, catch the rhythm”.

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2023-03-21

Pith 303: Love and Sorrow

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

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

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2023/03/20

Love and Sorrow: Even though, I do not love you, anymore; I feel sorrow in your absence, a bit.

See “Life doesn’t come in neat packages”.

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2023-03-21

Pith 302: I don’t believe in racial superiority, because I don’t believe in race

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Personal)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2023/03/20

I don’t believe in racial superiority, because I don’t believe in race: The conversation in meaningless categories is, by definition, meaningless; and, therefore, a subject matter that does not matter because of the ‘subject’.

See “This doesn’t negate positive and negative impacts, depending on viewpoint, of those who adhere to it, or have been impacted by it, as we all have been”.

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2023-03-20

An Interview with Andrew Watters on His Life, Views, and Societies Built Around Intelligence

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

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

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2020/08/01

Abstract

Andrew Watters is a Member of the World Genius Directory. His website biography states, “I am a polymath* based in my hometown of San Mateo, California, USA. I have a law degree from U.C. Hastings College of the Law in San Francisco, a bachelor’s degree from UCLA, and fourteen to twenty years of professional experience in multiple industries.” You can learn more about him here. He discusses: familial or personal background; some pivotal moments of life; the savant-ism; law; movie or film; project; some social difficulties; met others with savant syndrome; some differences; overexcitability; the historical accounts of those considered geniuses; asynchrony; countries incorporating the gifts and talents of the gifted and talented into the society in a more functional, compassionate way; issues facing the world; far-right nationalism; the place of children or the young in society; greater asynchrony; mainstream intelligence tests; alternative tests; test creators; high-IQ societies; more intermediate takers; the pressures socially on women to conform in different ways; religion; science; philosophy; ethics; the societies that are extant; economic system; political philosophy; social philosophy; strongman leadership; certain authoritarian or autocratic societies and the ways in which they are using technology to suppress their populations; the Steven Pinkerite, and some others like the late Hans Rosling, view of things; the Trump Administration in general and President Trump in particular managing or handling the coronavirus pandemic; the threat of Christian nationalism or Dominionism; the unrest over the longstanding ethnic tensions in the United States; Western Europe; the United States into the 2020s now; the attitudes of allies of the United States at this time; importance of intelligence; a non-carbon-based construct; human societies and the image of the human being; if he welcomes this or not; books, authors, or speakers; the onslaught of science; idea of a personal religious experience being proof or evidence of a creator or some kind of personal god; arguments for morality; the Cosmological Argument or the more popular Kalam Cosmological Argument; the Ontological Argument; outside of Leonardo da Vinci; today; ongoing projects; high-IQ societies are self-annihilating based on the graveyard of them; and those who do have a lot of gifts, but they aren’t interested in societies built around cognitive ability.

Keywords: Andrew Watters, asynchrony, Europe, god, high-IQ, overexcitability, religion, United States.

An Interview with Andrew Watters on His Life, Views, and Societies Built Around Intelligence[1],[2]*

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

1. Scott Douglas Jacobsen: In terms of familial or personal background, what are some geographic, cultural, linguistic, even religious or not?

Andrew Watters: So, English is the native language from the U.S.A., from California. Cultural background is traditional, white, middle-class upbringing [Laughing].

2. Jacobsen: When it came to some pivotal moments of life, as a highly gifted person, these can come up in a variety of ways. One can be formal testing. Another can be parents seeing various verbal and behavioural proxies early in life to show more rapid intellectual development. How did this come about for you in life? Is it in earlier life? Is it later in life?

Watters: There were several moments in my life that I experienced that other people in my peer group didn’t experience. For example, in elementary school, I would be the kid to always volunteer to answer questions because I knew the answer, and knew the answer before everyone else. I would get to the point with the teacher saying, “Listen, let someone else answer, because you have answered too many questions.”

Jacobsen: [Laughing].

Watters: This is from early life. Later in life, I experienced an illness that left me with a mental heightened awareness. I believe this is acquired savant syndrome.

3. Jacobsen: What is the savant-ism direct towards?

Watters: That’s the thing. It is not expected in typical savant syndrome. It is more in multiple areas, e.g., the creative arts and in computer programming, and in the law practice, and the analytical side, which I have. I find these things that are easier for me than for other people.

4. Jacobsen: How have you used them?

Watters: I went a 12-picture motion picture series called Truth Warrior, which is an original set of 12 screenplays set in a shared cinematic universe. I am about 80% done with it.

Jacobsen: Congratulations!

Watters: Thanks, it is one example. I have come up with multiple business ideas, which I am pursuing. It is an ability, not a disability. I am very happy with that.

5. Jacobsen: How did it show itself in law?

Watters: In law, it was an awareness of or a perception of things others didn’t see. The connections between things that most attorneys would not see. It was hard at first because I communicating in a way that other attorneys were not used to or understand. I was able to bring it around and then able to communicate with other people. Also, I was able to use my abilities to further the interest of my clients.

6. Jacobsen: When it comes to this movie or film project, what is the basis for it? Why the number 12?

Watters: The number 12 is not significant, but then I had 2 more ideas. It is an idea that popped into my head one day. I was not happy with my life. I decided to write motion pictures.

7. Jacobsen: When you’re taking some of these creative arts projects, the programming, and the law, when you’re speaking of the law in a non-standard way, how does this acquired savant-ism lead to certain confusions among those who already have expertise in some of those areas but notice a proficiency in someone who is speak their language in a non-standard way? How does this arise? What are some social difficulties coming from it?

Watters: There aren’t too many social difficulties since I am 15 years into it. I am aware of how lawyers talk to one another. I see things that many lawyers don’t . It can be challenging because I find myself assessing different aspects of their competence or experience, which they’re not used to being told. That can arise in terms of social difficulties in the criticism which I, sometimes, convey to attorneys are not at a level where I feel that they need to be in terms of social skills or otherwise.

8. Jacobsen: Have you met others with savant syndrome?

Watters: I don’t know if I have ever met others with acquired savant syndrome. But I do, however, know others who are exceptionally gifted and have difficulties in communicating.

9. Jacobsen: If you take comparisons between 1 sigma above the norm, 3 sigma above the norm, even 5 sigma above the norm, what do you notice are some differences in the way that they behave or speak?

Watters: I notice quite a bit of differences in the ability to communicate with those who have exceptional gifts. I know someone who is a local telecom company owner. She is exceptionally gifted, but slightly autistic and lacks a certain social awareness. But she is really good at making ideas happen that would be beneficial to the company.

10. Jacobsen: What do you make this phenomena of overexcitability? Those with the exceptional or profound gifts do tend to experience emotions in a similarly heightened fashion, in a similar manner in which they process information a lot more deeply, a lot more comprehensively, and faster.

Watters: I think those who have unusual gifts may correlate with a heightened mood or a heightened ability to perceive. So, they may be seeing things normal people may not see. It can magnify what their reaction is to a particular emotional event or issue. So, they end up being more reactive and more unstable in terms of the reaction to what would be normal to most people.

11. Jacobsen: If you are taking some of the historical accounts of those considered geniuses by and large, who stands out to you? Those who have died.

Watters: A typical polymath who comes out to me is Leonardo da Vinci who was not well-regarded in his time and then was well-regarded after the fact. I think the lack of ability to be accepted by society results in people who have these abilities being shunned and isolated or marginalized.

12. Jacobsen: What do you make of asynchrony? We talked about overexcitability. As you know, it is someone far ahead of their age group chronologically in terms of intellectual development while being right smack on the age for their emotional age in terms of their chronological age.

Watters: I think it is a continuing challenge. For instance, in school, I didn’t fit, in terms of the advancement or the expected range of skill level during biological age. So, I felt like I was bored in normal school. It wasn’t any use to me at the time. It is a continuing challenge in society.

You have to pick kids who are at the level and select them for a particular program or advance them beyond their biological age.

13. Jacobsen: What countries incorporate the gifts and talents of the gifted and talented into the society in a more functional, compassionate way than others?

Watters: My initial impression would be China and Japan. But that’s a guess. I don’t know their education systems, but that’s my understanding.

14. Jacobsen: When you look at some of the issues facing the world now, obviously, anyone can pick any number of them from any number of areas because there are many and more problems are known in addition to being created. What ones would you mark out as especially important for folks now?

Watters: Nationalism is a big one. The nationalist movement and the far-right movements are devastating or damaging to cohesion for society. It is a big and important issue to watch out for. What the child’s and young adult’s role is in society, those would be my top two: nationalism and young adult roles/positions in society.

15. Jacobsen: What manifestations of far-right nationalism most concern you?

Watters: I would say the move towards a nationalist or a fascist government, and the unbridled patriotism, e.g., the “Make America Great Again” movement. I am not criticizing them for patriotism. I am not. It is more like a dangerous sense of entitlement or ‘we are the best and deserve the best.’ That sort of thing. That’s what concerns me.

16. Jacobsen: What about the place of children or the young in society?

Watters: I think we are burdening children with a role that they are not responsible for, by make them responsible for things they can’t control, e.g., helicopter parenting. A manifestation of that is making children grow up before their years and not letting them be kids.

17. Jacobsen: If we take one step back to asynchrony, I want to take one step there. Do you think there is a lot greater asynchrony in boys than in girls, men than in women?

Watters: I’d say, “No,” because the distribution of high intelligence. Biologically, there may be a more significantly increase in men with these abilities, but, at the same time, women are under different pressures in society and otherwise. I would say, in terms of asynchrony, “My tentative would be about equal in terms of the sexes.”

18. Jacobsen: Which mainstream intelligence tests do you consider the most reliable?

Watters: Mainstream intelligence tests, iqtest.com was a good one. It was super accurate for me. It was confirmed by some professionally administered IQ tests I had done, recently.

19. Jacobsen: What about alternative tests? What ones seem, when they are aiming for the high-range areas of intelligence, to tend to bring the most accurate, realistic measurements for the individual taking them?

Watters: My opinion is the Jason Betts tests were very accurate for me. I felt like I was solving a significant percentage of the problems. Those were accurate to the point where they were like the iqtest.com results. So, I think those are scientifically valid.

20. Jacobsen: What other test creators impress you?

Watters: Ronald Hoeflin and Paul Cooijmans. I was extremely impressed by Paul Cooijmans’s tests. I was blown away by how hard they were and how accurate I believed they would be, but I haven’t taken any professionally. I looked at them, though.

21. Jacobsen: When it comes to some of the issues of community, if you look at the World Intelligence Network of Dr. Evangelos Katsioulis Dr. Manahel Thabet, both of them have produced repository in a way, or their staff have done this, of about 84 active societies. Many of those are defunct or paralyzed or low activity, even though active. If you look at the Wikipedia entry to high-IQ societies, only 5 come out. In order or rarities, they go from Mensa International to Intertel to Triple Nine Society to Prometheus Society to Mega Society. So, what societies seem a safe first bet for individuals who want to take some tests, score well, and want to try to make their way in this niche community of the high-IQ?

Watters: I don’t think there are any appropriate for first-timers because they are so judgmental and not welcoming. It is a turn-off in terms of joining them. At least, I am not aware of any appropriate for first-time takers.

22. Jacobsen: What about more intermediate takers?

Watters: Jason Betts with the World Genius Directory. It is the most welcoming one that I have seen. That one was appropriate for myself and, I imagine, a lot of other people. I am not personally familiar with a lot of other societies that would want to join. Other than the Prometheus Society and Triple Nine. None of the tests that I have taken are accepted by them. So, there’s nothing I can do.

Jacobsen: I have heard good things from the Triple Nine Society.

Watters: Aside from the fact, they don’t accept tests that I’ve taken.

24. Jacobsen: [Laughing] Also, a person who tends to be considered the historical genius accepted by people who I’ve interviewed and a name that has come up the most has been Leonardo da Vinci. There are some common threads in terms of opinions and attitudinal stances about these things. Why are more men part of these communities than women?

Watters: I think men are more interested in proving themselves and being recognized by other men in particular as being high achieving. I don’t think women have as much of a strong drive in that area.

25. Jacobsen: How do you think the pressures socially on women to conform in different ways, behave in different ways, which influences how they think in different ways in contrast to the pressures on men in addition to some of the innate biological differences, manifest in the real world to you?

Watters: I think there is a class of women as smart as men with gifts and then they’re not encouraged to manifest them in any fashion. So, I think there is an equal distribution of IQ among men and women. There is not a statistically significant different correlation between men IQ and women IQ. I think women IQ is a factor of social conformity. There is not a lack of the need to prove themselves. I think it is innately more likely that men will be in these societies and not as common for women to join.

Jacobsen: Bad segue time!

Watters: [Laughing].

26. Jacobsen: [Laughing] What is religion to you?

Watters: Religion is meaningless to me. I have no organized religion. I am non-practicing at the moment.

27. Jacobsen: What is science to you?

Watters: It is everything.

Jacobsen: How so?

Watters: I am consumed with a desire for scientific truth. I want to know the answers. That’s why sciendce is inherently better for me than religion.

28. Jacobsen: What do you make of philosophy?

Watters: I think philosophy is important in some respects. I think it is less meaningful than science because it doesn’t provide answers. It is debating the questions and what they mean.

29. Jacobsen: What do you make of ethics?

Watters: I think it differs based on people and what they believe is appropriate behaviour or not. I think the law in particular is a better measure than ethics because ethics are variable.

30. Jacobsen: If you take the societies that are extant, and if you take out the commonalities, or take out the things that are not common to get the commonalities, what do you think are some universalistic ethics or morals coming from the law?

Watters: I think it is what advances your own interest while not disadvantaging anyone else, which is what the law is. Things that we don’t think are reasonable risks. We have laws against. Things that we think are reasonable risks. We have rewards for and incentives for. I think it is the Golden Rule and self-interest. I think the self-interested Golden Rule is the most optimal.

31. Jacobsen: What economic system makes the most sense to you?

Watters: I think capitalism with a safety net.

32. Jacobsen: What political philosophy makes the most sense to you?

Watters: Centrism.

33. Jacobsen: What social philosophy makes the most sense to you?

Watters: Liberal societies where people can do whatever they want as long as they are not infringing on other people’s rights.

34. Jacobsen: What do you make of leaders like Xi Jinping, Vladimir Putin, Donald Trump, and others similar to his cohort of – what has been termed – strongman leadership?

Watters: I am totally against strong man leadership. I think people like Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin have personality disorders and should not be in the positions that they’re in.

35. Jacobsen: What do you make of certain authoritarian or autocratic societies and the ways in which they are using technology to suppress their populations? Do you think in the long term the populations will win out over this or that this is simply a losing game for the population?

Watters: I think in China the Communist Party is extremely powerful and the technology is behind them; it’s hopeless for them. So, my hope is that the more Westernized societies where there is more individual freedom will come out on top in terms of the political ideology that is best rewarded moving forward.

36. Jacobsen: Do you agree with the Steven Pinkerite, and some others like the late Hans Rosling, view of things in general for the last few centuries have been getting better while having a buttress against the view when it’s not entirely pollyannaish? It is taking trendlines of improved level of wellbeing, more democracies, status of human rights, etc., for human beings in human societies.

Watters: I think across any dimension or measure, life is getting better overall. The issue is the negativity is greater overall with the internet, social media, etc., where anyone can access anyone else at any time. There is a false notion of things getting worse when they are getting better overall.

37. Jacobsen: How is the Trump Administration in general and President Trump in particular managing or handling the coronavirus pandemic?

Watters: Badly, I think there could be a lot more that could be done. They could listen to the scientists and the CDC and implementing recommendations rather than looking at what people want or don’t want.

38. Jacobsen: What do you consider the threat of Christian nationalism or Dominionism in the United States now?

Watters: I would say this is a 5 or a 6 on the threat level.

39. Jacobsen: What would you consider higher within the nation?

Watters: Political polarization, I put that as a 9.

40. Jacobsen: What would be a 10?

Watters: Armed revolution.

41. Jacobsen: [Laughing] What do you think would be some of the unrest over the longstanding ethnic tensions in the United States? What do you make of some of the reconciliatory efforts being made now?

Watters: I think the politicians in Washington have a distorted view of society and are putting forth measures that are popular and not necessarily right. This one issue where I lean towards the Trump Administration on, which is an exception. Violent protests are inexcusable and be met with restrictive force rather than kowtowing to the wishes of the mob. On the other hand, I think the legislation of the Democrats, where they’re trying to redress some of the grievances expressed in legitimate.

I think the Constitution is right in this case, where people can peaceful protest for redress of greivances. When they become violent, that’s when the law intervenes.

42. Jacobsen: Looking externally to Western Europe, what do you make of the 2020s in the future with the further unrest there as well?

Watters: Nationalism to the European Union, it is a challenge into the 2020s. They’re fragmented because there is no sense of unity, shared culture, or identity, other than being European. Being European is not in itself an identity, because they all these different countries with the different cultural groups, I think the European Union does not have as strong of a future as the United States for example.

43. Jacobsen: What do you think is the trajectory for the United States into the 2020s now?

Watters: I think large population growth – 400 million or so people in 20 years. I think there could an improvement in terms of the national unity in the U.S. when faced with a Russia or a China that is authoritarian and unstable.

44. Jacobsen: What do you think about some of the attitudes of allies of the United States at this time? Do you think if there was a much, much stronger national threat to the United States internationally that they would have a sufficient number of allies who would make national sacrifices in terms of resources and resolve for the United States in such a crisis?

Watters: I see that happening. So, I would agree with that.

45. Jacobsen: The importance of intelligence has declined over time in the United States in some ways. In that, a lot of parents used to be looking out for their kid being a genius. It was the culture of looking for excellence in that manner. What do you make of the some of the trajectory of some of the last few decades in terms of the emphasis on standardized testing, a decline in it, as well as a lessened in importance or emphasis culturally on the notion of genius in the United States?

Watters: I think a couple of factors there. It is the struggle between nation-states for parity. So, you have America and Russia, for example, with a near parity of military ability on both sides. It is not because we have lagged. It is just because the Russians have gotten better over the last 20 years. In terms of intelligence, I don’t think it is an issue of people getting dumber. I think it is an issue of people gaming a higher level of intelligence and becoming smarter.

So, there’s less specialness for the geniuses who are out there because the regular people are getting better.

46. Jacobsen: Do you think human forms of information processing and feeling, and even behaviour and moving, can be artificially reconstructed in another construct, in a non-carbon-based construct?

Watters: Yes, I think artificial intelligence will happen. For example, I think the transformers, artificially intelligence robots, will happen in the next couple decades in my opinion.

47. Jacobsen: What do you think will be the impact on human societies and the image of the human being?

Watters: I think society will be completely re-organized in some fashion. There is not a bright future ahead for biological life once the artificial intelligence is available.

48. Jacobsen: Do you welcome it or not?

Watters: I welcome a transhuman option, so those who are biologically based now, i.e., everyone, will have the option to transition to some form of future life, whether Neuralink or some augmentation. I think it will happen sometime within my lifetime.

49. Jacobsen: Any recommended books, authors, or speakers?

Watters: There’s a book called Novoscene by James Lovelock. He says the biological life and artificial intelligences will have a shared interest in the biosphere. So, it will be an alliance between AI and humans. I haven’t read it. It looks interesting. I can’t wait to check it out. James Lovelock is a great thinker. Stephen Wolfram is a great mathematician. Robin Hanson is a great columnist. These are all thinkers who I have interacted with or read, and enjoy their views.

50. Jacobsen: What explanations of the world do you consider completely out of the question given the advancement and the onslaught of science at this time?

Watters: I’d say the place for organized religion is over. It is no longer going to be important in society. People will turn to science and answers with certainty into the future.

51. Jacobsen: Let’s take a step back to the emphasis on natural philosophical worldview, it is a scientific frame of mind looking at operational, functional truths about the world. There are people still running around going on debates, writing books, making a good living making traditional arguments for either a religious god or some kind of non-anthropomorphic amorphous god. Some of the arguments coming forward. The idea of a personal religious experience being proof or evidence of a creator or some kind of personal god. What would you consider a reasonable response to those kinds of arguments?

Watters: That is totally false and a subjective experience depending entirely on a person’s reaction in their min to something that they believe that they experience. Those are not true and never happen. That’s my view.

52. Jacobsen: What do you think of arguments for morality only possible through a god and then you have a transcendent object? Any good can only come through this transcendent object. Therefore, any good for people can come from some personally moral object.

Watters: I disagree with the view that there is a perfect object out there giving us these laws like the law giver or whatever. When you look down to it, any law or morality is inherently based on the Golden Rule and the inherent benefit to each party in the transaction. So, anything can be reduced to this level. I don’t think there is any room in science or in the future for a god endowing people with inalienable rights or anything else.

53. Jacobsen: Any thoughts on the Cosmological Argument or the more popular Kalam Cosmological Argument? There was a start. Therefore, there must be a starter.

Watters: I, definitely, support the idea of there being a divine being. But I think it is an impersonal being. I think it is more likely that the universe is created through random processes and scientific reasoning has the answers and not a personal god.

54. Jacobsen: Any thoughts on the Ontological Argument? This one has to do with the fact that you can conceive of a perfect being is one step. Then you have the idea that the premise or trait, attribute, of existence is something that would make a being more perfect. Therefore, if a perfect being can exist in your mind, then it’s only natural to assume that a perfect being must exist in reality because that would then, therefore, make it both a conceivable and then an actual object. Something like that.

Watters: I totally understand that. Here’s my thought on it. I can conceive of a perfect mountain or apple in my mind. They are not existing. They do not exist in the real world. By the same logic, the same thing with the perfect god in my mind does not exist in the real world. It exists in a Platonic realm, which is unreal. Nothing unreal exists.

55. Jacobsen: Going back to some of the historical questions, who outside of Leonardo da Vinci truly impresses you or who has impressed people who you respect with regards to their writing, mathematical ability, or philosophizing?

Watters: Michelangelo is a classic one. Albert Einstein, Pliny the Elder, the historical figures who are great, Nikola Tesla. They are the ones who impress me.

56. Jacobsen: Any who impress you today?

Watters Elon Musk is one. In terms of scientists, John Carmack, he’s not a scientists, but he’s programmer. But still, he is a super impressive person and really brilliant. I would qualify him as a scientist because any other society or age; he would have been a scientist rather than a computer programmer. Those are a few off the top of my head.

57. Jacobsen: Any ongoing projects now?

Watters: I have a computer project ongoing, which is a delivery platform for professional service firms and a project management tool. I am doing web application for that, which has been going very well. I am also chief legal officer at a telecom company. It is going very well. I have multiple side projects in the creative arts.

58. Jacobsen: Now, do you think the high-IQ societies are self-annihilating based on the graveyard of them?

Watters: It would be great to have someone come and take ownership of the ones who have potential and say, “Hey, you have heard from us in a while. This is the such-and-such society.”

59. Jacobsen: For those who do have a lot of gifts, but they aren’t interested in societies built around cognitive ability, they’re interested in societies. How should they channel those interests to limit the search range?

Watters: Facebook groups are good mass market solutions. I would suggest a newsletter or some self-identifying group which has a newsletter to engage people who have abilities to get them to participate. Because the days of LinkedIn being useful for professional networking or something like this are over. It is going to take someone who wants to be involved to be interested in this and then to join.

60. Jacobsen: Thank you for the opportunity and your time, Andrew.

Appendix I: Footnotes

[1] Member, World Genius Directory.

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

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2023-03-20

An Interview with Tor Arne Jørgensen on Societies and Global Trends (Part Four)

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

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

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2020/08/01

Abstract

Tor Arne Jørgensen is a member of 50+ high IQ societies, including World Genius Directory, NOUS High IQ Society, 6N High IQ Society just to name a few. He has several IQ scores above 160+ sd15 among high range tests like Gift/Gene Verbal, Gift/Gene Numerical of Iakovos Koukas and Lexiq of Soulios. His further interests are related to intelligence, creativity, education developing regarding gifted students, and his love for history in general, mainly around the time period of the 19th century to the 20th century. Tor Arne works as a teacher at high school level with subjects as; History, Religion, and Social Studies. He discusses: societies in micro as global trends impinge on them; WWII; reportages; the dynamic internal national changes made as nations grappled with WWII; the larger players; the smaller players; national ideologies; Russia sacrificed the most lives; the Russians view the Germans and the Americans; the big national driver bringing the small states into the larger war efforts; and larger facets and movements within the societies.

Keywords: national driver, societies, Tor Arne Jørgensen, WWII.

An Interview with Tor Arne Jørgensen on Societies and Global Trends (Part Four)[1]^,[2]*

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

1. Scott Douglas Jacobsen: For this fourth session, I want to focus on societies in micro as global trends impinge on them. When we look at catastrophically bad international affairs situations, we come to a large context in which the individuals who have been devastated, displaced, or killed through no fault of their own, simply as a matter of international discourse and political and military action playing out over time. With some of the historical principles governing the world order in mind, these ‘govern’ or guide international affairs. When we look at the national contexts, of even small states, what are some of the impacts on them?

Tor Arne Jørgensen: International implications led by devaluing imperialism rooted within the imperative spectrum. How then can this be regarded as anything less than a regulator narrative notion to speculate piety within the political sphere? Furthermore, the schizophrenic belligerence fueled by the principle of national discontent, regarding the regular implications of the natural world order. Disillusioning the imperialist view of one’s uniform behaviour as an alternate resolution within global governance, or the lack thereof, to be stated as a historical fact.

2. Jacobsen: Let’s take WWII, what were some of the national journalistic reportages like, as the world was destroying itself?

Jørgensen: The national journalistic reportages during WWII were mainly twofold, where the first order of business was aimed towards strengthening proactive national movement and increasing morale within the general population; secondly, it was aimed to create a feeling of confusion and despair within the hostile enemy states.

3. Jacobsen: How were these reportages biased?

Jørgensen: Through the means of misinformation and misleading journalism reasoned to strengthen government control over one’s citizens, and at the same time deter foreign hostile states.

4. Jacobsen: What have been some of the dynamic internal national changes made as nations grappled with WWII?

Jørgensen: During the war effort of WWII the Home Front became a very big ally, where the general public was set to help the combatant forces in any way they could by their direct involvement in the war efforts. The motto of the nations was at that time «all hands on deck», this in order to better prepare the various states for the coming events. The government involvement was directed towards; rationing, home defence, and more… Everyone was in some way helping out in any way they could, in order to defend his or her constitutional right from being overtaken and suppressed by any foreign power during WWII.

5. Jacobsen: For the larger players, how were they attempting to quell dissent within their respective borders?

Jørgensen: I feel I must narrow the field of application within the question, which refers to the origin of the basic proposal, thus addressing the two-faced inclination facilitated by the socialistic proclamation during the transaction phase of the Soviet regime during WWII.

A Soviet pictorial construct based on their self-perceived characteristics, thus understood as failed self-insight of one’s own iconic personification. Stalin and his paranoia caused the death of so many of his comrades in arms. Fluctuating consciousness by a notoriously unstable «commander-in-chief» whose state of mind is crucial to the incoming individuals of the state of war. The layout is meaningful in that this produces the origin’s predicative internal control.

6. Jacobsen: For the smaller players, how did they attempt to adapt to the pressures and chaos ensuing from the fights between the bigger players?

Jørgensen: By the opt of neutrality, as the pressure of the larger states hereby mainly the German/Soviet approach of a hostile takeover in order to increased land area based on the feudalist power principle. Small states’ policy to avoid the larger states conflicts during this time, were explicitly stated by the self-determined neutrality provisions where they were strategically important by either geographical or political elements, were by that fact recognized as secondary and not of absolute importance by any large hostile state by reference to previous scale conflicts.

7. Jacobsen: How did national ideologies differ in the context of the larger Allies vs. Axis commitment differences?

Jørgensen: To remark, the two main differences as to capitalistic empowerment through the means of active imperialism, versus the extremist utopian notion of a new world order governed by fascist supremacy. I would also like to address, the ignominious collapse of the nationalist view on the possibility of absolute world domination by both accounts. Further the act of regionalism as a stabilizing counter vector of interrelationship as regarded by grasping the concept of multilateralism in the order of globality through consciousness towards a moral compass directed focused on internationalism.

8. Jacobsen: Russia sacrificed the most lives in the midst of the war. How was this the case?

Jørgensen: Stalin «the man of steel» a saviour in his own eyes, what a joke, this dictatorial murderer, no better than his arch-enemy the crazed Hitler, permeated paranoia above everything and everyone. The turning point of WWII, where Stalin is more than willing at that time to sacrifice his Red Army to defend the city that bears his name, Stalingrad; the city selected by Hitler for just this reason as to destroy the man of steel and to rip apart the very foundation of the communist ideology. Stalin was more than happy to defend his country at all costs regarding the life of his own people, just as Hitler did. We will all die before they take us down. Millions of lives are lost, but as the story goes; yes, the war is in the defence of Stalingrad and turned the war effort in the favour of the allies.

9. Jacobsen: How did the Russians view the Germans and the Americans? Why did they commit so many lives?

Jørgensen: The relationship between Russia/Soviet Union and Germany has through history been betrayed as a turbulent one, or as a better term «friend or foe», but after the fraudulent betrayal of Germany/Soviet-pact and the German invasion of Soviet regarding Operation «Barbarossa» in the summer months of 1941, the scene was set for Stalin to destroy Hitler’s Germany by any means possible. The former German-Soviet non-aggression-pact made two years before in 1939, was now a thing of the past.

Ideology: As for both countries (USA, Germany), and the fear of the «Red Scare» regards to the communistic movement, Stalin was hell-bent on communist world domination. This was a direct threat against American capitalism, and the notion of national socialism by Germany.

Why did they commit so many lives? I will here address the invasion of Russia during WWII.

Stalin was caught off guard by Hitler’s invading forces, and now his beloved country was being threatened by his former ally, the number of German soldiers that took part in the German invasion of Soviets numbered more then 3 million strong. Stalin scrambled every able body to defend «his» country. Stalin’s Red Army marched against enemy lines. Stalin’s tactics were to overwhelm the German forces by sheer numbers.

If Stalin had not been so adamant in his overspend on military personnel, he would have been invaded all the way by German forces. We have to remember that the German forces were equipped with state-of-the-art- weapons at that time, and Stalin forces was using obsolete weapons technology. Also, the definite mistake Hitler was doing was the same mistake that Napoleon did some hundred years before, by not respecting the subarctic Soviet climate, also overstretching his supply lines and now having to defend himself (Hitler) on two fronts. The war fought between Germany and the Soviet was named the «Great Patriotic War» it lasted 1,418 days, and cost the lives of around 27 million Russians.

10. Jacobsen: What was the big national driver bringing the small states into the larger war efforts?

Jørgensen: Access to territories due to the establishment of air bases, army depots, also the element of close strategic positioning to launch an attack upon a foreign enemy power.

11. Jacobsen: How were larger facets and movements within the societies destroyed as a result of the war efforts? How were other movements, e.g., rights for women, etc., advanced as a result of the war efforts?

Jørgensen: As a start, the changes in the aftermath of war on this scale, will often unleash or in many cases accelerate numerous forces of change, thus within industry or society alike.

When a large scale impact, one either weakens or strengthens that nation’s governance. Internal reforms may spur into social change and political reform. In short, one forces through a political revolution within the otherwise traditional democracy.

The paradigmatic shift regarding the structural environment within the various political movements is taking place. Capitalist upheavals of gigantic proportions, as the world licks their territorial and economic wounds. We see the start of a new charter, based on some of the principles of the previous failed League of Nation, by the new uninspiring UN human rights as the predominant global security guarantor by and for all small and large nations alike.

During WWII, the men were sent off to war and somebody needed to make sure that the war machine was going strong, by that I will bring-forth the Rosie the Riveter movement. The importance of Rosie the Riveter movement can not be understated and is viewed as the main turning point for the national female workforce movement, that paved the path forward for an all globalized effect, where the status as a home wife was to be in the transaction from WWII and forward. The labour-leading rights and income for a woman were by that in the starting point of global standardization.

Appendix I: Footnotes

[1] Member, ISI-Society; Member, Mensa; Grand Member, Grand IQ Society; Distinguished Member, THIS.

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

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2023-03-20

An Interview with Giuseppe Corrente on Cybersecurity and Values (Part Seven)

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

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

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2020/08/01

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: cybersecurity; cybersecurity now; the Fourth Industrial Revolution; an unstable context of continual technological revolutions grounded in the advancements of science; this current wave of science and technology; Humanism; traditional religions; ethics and philosophy; and values.

Keywords: cybersecurity, Darwin, Giuseppe Corrente, Humanism, values.

An Interview with Giuseppe Corrente on Cybersecurity and Values (Part Seven)[1]^,[2]*

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

1. Scott Douglas Jacobsen: We live in an era of immense amounts of information and a proliferation of different means by which individual citizens can acquire some semblance of privacy because of the individual want or need for a sense of self with oneself and not a sense of self consistently and always integrated with the extended self of community and society. Individuated consciousness is important and seems like the main drive behind the development of applications and technologies devoted to individual privacy. Cybersecurity is the current wave or reflection of this personal need as human beings. What is cybersecurity?

Giuseppe Corrente: I think we have to think to cybersecurity as the transposition in cyberworld of the security and privacy in physical world. It can be thought as a need not only of individual, but also of companies and nations. Furthermore a cyber-attack can have obviously heavy consequences in the physical world, also in terms of human lifes.

2. Jacobsen: Why is cybersecurity important now?

Corrente: Now our lives are wholly embedded in the information and communication technology, and so it is also for economic production cycles, financial flows, spatial and military affairs. Each thing, from strictly personal to worldwide domain, can be potentially the target of a cyber-attack. It is also of main importance for governments and politics to find the correct balance between individual privacy and rights and social security, this is a very difficult question and can determine the difference between the democracy and the tyranny.

3. Jacobsen: With the Fourth Industrial Revolution, we continue to see human stupidity ramped to a new level of incoherence and human genius brought to new levels of elegance, beauty, and functionality. What is it?

Corrente: The eternal fight between the Good and the Evil in one of its aspects. When I study a technology my aim is to understand it and to become an expert of it. This is a prerequisite to use it for the Good, other than for the personal profit, obviously.

4. Jacobsen: How is this simply another wave in the continual onslaught against human attempts at stability in an unstable context of continual technological revolutions grounded in the advancements of science?

Corrente: The technology is a consequence and an application of the Science. It is also a mean. It has to be used for the Good. And above all with competence. Human errors have caused the main technological disasters.

5. Jacobsen: Science is one human activity. Technology, thus, is one application of the human activity to fulfill human needs, wants, and whims to one degree or another. Technology and its functionality continue to show human beings as a good enough evolved organism with all sorts of flaws, failings, and foibles, not as some divine plan or construction but, rather, as an obvious case of a work-in-progress based on the pressures of nature. What in this current wave of science and technology seems to best reflect this now?

Corrente: Theory of evolution by Darwin.

6. Jacobsen: Humanism came with the collapse of many supernaturalistic claims about the nature of the world and the theologies and philosophies of the world have been playing catch-up with science in a number of ways. However, when we come to the modern world, human beings, full stop, have been having difficulty keeping apace with the information revolutions before us. In a manner of speaking, if we apply the Positive Disintegration theoretical framework for understanding higher-order coherence of cognitive architecture – that which yield more functional and appropriate comprehension of an organism context and relation to an environment and other organisms – in a more general fashion, then the current modes of operation will lead to continual, and increasing, calamities of the internal mindscapes of human beings. We will feel a collapse, a falling away, a breaking apart, for the development of more coherent and universalistic senses of self to move beyond some of the siloed futuristic ideations of some strands or streams of the humanist ethic and life stance so characteristic of the world today. I observe some of this in the universalistic sense of compassion emergent, a tad, a bit, a whiff, in the coronavirus responses of peoples all over the world, which remains a refresh gust of cosmopolitanism against the ethnic nationalism characteristic of several countries now. What else can help move to the world more towards the cosmopolitan Humanism rather than the parochial and provincial (statist) Humanism?

Corrente: Using the Smart Working tools for meetings among distant people ad organizing periodically these meeting also between group distant also in life philosophy, interest and ideology. Communicating.

7. Jacobsen: Following from the previous question, are traditional religions up to the task now?

Corrente: A traditional religion can represent an absolute value for an its credent, or can represent one of many possible values or points of view for an extraneous, the very important thing is to not tolerate the integralism and the intolerance.

8. Jacobsen: Following from two questions ago and echoing the immediate past question, what ethics and philosophy can fulfill this task of creating a more just, equitable, and enlightened world?

Corrente: A mix of disciplines, scientific values, religious traditions and the willing to study and to communicate each other in the sign of tolerance, knowledge, curiosity and above all respect.

9. Jacobsen: Any technology infusion changes human beings and, thus, alters human nature. It is not a question of yes or no, but a matter of degree. Thus, any proclamations of a human future or a techno-future/robo-future are either ignorant or not paying attention. The proposed Singularity is not a – ahem – singular event, but, rather, an event on a roll and part of a wider – dare I say – spiritual advancement of humanity a la Chardin while without the supernatural, metamaterial, extranatural non-sense (as in that which can’t be tested or sensed) and vague speculative theological musings tied to them. We’re talking about a comprehensive mastery in general principles of the natural world leading to technical mastery to be reflected in the technology for us, followed by a transformation – all as a ball on a roll gathering momentum – in the definition of human nature towards that which incorporates technology. However, I would consider technology in a much larger sense in which technology becomes that which nature does with evolution via natural selection (and other selection mechanisms) to bring about human beings and the technology constructed by human beings becoming a more conscious design and selection process, while still amounting to technology. Our split between natural and synthetic seems – well – artificial on this level to me. If we take a larger definition of “technology” and a cosmopolitan sense of Humanism, and reconfigure notions of a future for humans and human values, and a future for technology and artificial intelligence values, what makes this Industry 4.0, cybersecurity, Humanism, and so on, simply a matter of reframing perspective and adapting oneself and one’s values in a positive manner to the inevitable changes incoming and, in turn, to change the future to the values incorporating of that which we deem positive, humanistic, now?

Corrente: We can adapt ourselves, or evolve, together with science and technology. Remaining ourselves with our values. But in some questions this is not the point. In few years this is possible, but in few decades we could redefine the human being concept itself, and when this will be necessary, I hope that this will be done by the intellectual and moral leadership of humanity and not directed by political and economic or financial interests.

Appendix I: Footnotes

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

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

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2023-03-20

An Interview with Chef Craig Shelton on Background and Aeon Hospitality (Part One)

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

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

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2020/08/01

Abstract

Chef Craig Shelton has over 40 years of experience in science-based cooking and teaching in the hospitality business. He trained in eight of the world’s greatest restaurants, including “El Bulli”, “Jamin”; “Ma Maison”, “L’Auberge de l’Ill”, “Le Pré Catelan”, “Bouley”, “Le Bernardin”, and “La Côte Basque. Chef Shelton has earned countless awards as Chef-Owner of his own restaurants including a James Beard Best Chef medal, NY Times 4-Stars ratings on four separate occasions, a 5-Star Forbes rating, the Relais & Châteaux Grand Chef title; and Number One Top Restaurant in America in 2004 from GQ. Mr. Shelton is also an instructor at Princeton University in the Princeton Environmental Institute, where he teaches a freshman seminar on the interrelationships between public policy, agriculture, diet-related disease and anthropogenic climate change. Mr. Shelton began his expertise in this area while an undergraduate of Yale where he earned his degree in Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry. He is a co-founder of the think tank, Princeton Center for Food Studies, the founder of King’s Row Coffee, and a co-founder of Aeon Holistic Agriculture, Inc. He is recognized as a consummate business consultant with specialization in macro finance. He is known for his ability to generate excitement in his cooks and instill in them the drive toward excellence by connecting all aspects of gastronomy to the larger intellectual landscape – chemistry, ecology, literature, art and human physiology. His great passions are reading and ocean sailing. His full C.V. can be seen here. More about Aeon Hospitality, Mountainville Manor, Aeon Holistic Agriculture, Kings Row Coffee, and Princeton Studies Food (in the hyperlinks provided). He discusses: some family background; adolescence and young adulthood; undergraduate work; a blue-collar community; an earlier interest in the food industry and hospitality; expertise required to found companies, businesses, oriented around hospitality and food; and Aeon Hospitality.

Keywords: Aeon Holistic Agriculture, Aeon Hospitality, chef, Craig Shelton, hospitality, Kings Row Coffee, Princeton Studies Food.

An Interview with Chef Craig Shelton on Background and Aeon Hospitality (Part One)[1]^,[2]*

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

1. Scott Douglas Jacobsen: In regards to some family background, what were some relevant parts of it – geography, culture, language? What were some pivotal moments of early life, which you’ve taken full steam ahead now?

Craig Shelton: I grew up in a little seacoast town in New Hampshire called Rye Beach. I grew up in Europe because my mother is French. We did do a lot of time in France, in particular. We lived in a remote area, where there’s quite a distance to the next kid of my age. So, I had a lot of time on my hands–almost boredom. I had to make use of this myself. One seminal moment was when one of my aunts, my father’s sister, decide to study with the Dalai Lama in Nepal. She gave her complete set of Harvard classics to me. She sensed that I could use something like that. I proceeded to read the entire series. For the next 3/4 years, I must have been 12, so, maybe, by the age of 16, which was an unusual thing for a kid to do. A little funny story was when I was transferred from junior high school to high school in Portsmouth (New Hampshire) High School, public school. They did the usual sort of standardized testing. Something must have gone terribly wrong. I was told to go to this particular English class. They were teaching children how to spell 3-letter words like “cat” and “dog.” Now, I was a very reticent child, very obedient. So, I sat there a puzzled but trusting authority. I do not say anything for the first few days. After a point, it seemed obvious to me that something was not right. I go to the teacher and ask if he is sure3 that I belong in his class. We get to talking. I am talking to him about Schopenhauer, Kant, Wittgenstein…

Jacobsen: …[Laughing]…

Shelton: …Aristotle… [Laughing]. He’s like, “Holy shit. Something must have gone wrong with the system because you scored ‘off the charts’, so we thought you were illiterate.” That was a funny moment. They put me in a different place after that, which was a little better suited. But I thought it was funny.

2. Jacobsen: What about adolescence and young adulthood?

Shelton: I felt somewhat different than most of the people around me, pretty much all of the people. I felt it was very necessary to hide my intellect because you would trigger resentment if you excelled intellectually. You know what I am trying to say.

Jacobsen: Yes.

Shelton: You try to develop and imitate the mannerisms, the interests. You pretty much keep the true inner life to yourself. But it is helpful in that regard because there wasn’t a gifted program, so you needed to fit in. I stabbed in the dark trying to find a haphazard way, to self-educate where the school curriculum didn’t offer what I needed. I was really without guidance in the whole thing. My mother, to her credit, put herself through college and became a professor at a young age at the University of New Hampshire in Literature. That really, really helped me a lot to get exposure to an academic community and have access to a university library.

3. Jacobsen: What about yourself? What did pursue in undergraduate work in early adulthood?

Shelton: No, I wasn’t sure of the options available to a child in university. It was a normal working-class type neighbourhood for the most part with a little bit of middle class, an occasional doctor or something. So, I was not really exposed to the academic way of life. You might give a little hint from someone like a friend of the family who is a doctor, who might encourage a little. It is still more of a working and career type of pursuit, e.g., a trade or a profession like law–but not pure academics. That just wasn’t part of the community culture at that time.

4. Jacobsen: The idea of living in a blue-collar community. You are somewhat aware of academics. However, it is not part of the culture for the encouragement of it. In that context, you can get an education, but have a goal of getting a job sort of education. It is not the pursuit of knowledge for knowledge’s sake.

Shelton: Yes, you did not dream of something academic as a future. For a lot of us in that community, it seemed aspirational to just to go to college, like, “Wow! You’re going to college.” It was a big deal. If you said that you wanted to go to one of the Ivies, it is not even something that was ever disclosed. So, the idea of postgraduate education rarely entered any of our minds. We had the concept of a doctor and a lawyer. Graduate school seemed like something for the very well off. I hope I’m not distorting my memory of it. There were, maybe, 5% or 10% in the school who were serious students. The teachers, they were a great lot. They were nice people. They were earnest. But what was very clear, there wasn’t a track for gifted people. We just blended in with everybody else.

5. Jacobsen: Did you have an earlier interest in the food industry and hospitality?

Shelton: Yes, so early, I was, basically, born into it. My grandparents from France, my mother’s parents, opened a restaurant during the occupation, the German occupation; he was a leader of the resistance. He died before I was born. I grew up in the summers and vacations spent in France breathing in the whole restaurant culture. We would have relatives and outings, aunts and cousins, who are deep into gastronomy, deep into wine collecting. In fact, one of my uncles was the owner of a famous cognac firm, called Hardy. But it was just our family life. When my grandmother was done cooking, we would sit around the big table of the kitchen and laugh a lot and tell stories. I had a lot of great memories. My mother had a lot of traumatic memories from the restaurant life, on the hard life of her mother. She cautioned me against it. Nonetheless, when I told her I wanted to be a professional chef, she totally supported the switch—as did my father.

6. Jacobsen: How did you begin to develop the expertise required to found companies, businesses, oriented around hospitality and food?

Shelton: One of the things that I like to point out about a restaurant is that although it is about the craft—and the people who love the craft: the waitstaff, the cooks, the chefs, it is a collection of craftsmen in their best iterations. But, by the same token, it is a real business. It has all the same functional needs of any other business structure. It needs a Finance division. It should have composed of different subdivisions: 1) Accounting, 2) MIS (management information systems), and 3) Administrative and Compliance. It also needs a Marketing division, with its three subdivisions: 1) Research and Advertising, 2) Customer Service (which measures subjective data), and 3) Sales. The third Division is Operations and its three subdivisions are: 1a) FOH (Front of House), 2) BOH (Back of House), and 3) Property Management. Each of those subdivisions requires years and years of independent, unique formation, academic, professional. All of this is largely ignored in the hospitality profession. I got my training in the craft in traditional ways. I decided to study from a good number of the world’s greatest chefs. I studied 7 or 8 restaurants including the #1 in the world at the time, which was “Jamin” with Joël Robuchon in Paris. Le Pré Catalan in Paris, Pastry form LeNôtre, Les Trois Marches in Versailles, l’Auberge de l’Ill in Alsace and others. I went to America and trained up through the standard formation from the lowest rank at Ma Maison (LA), Le Chantilly (NYC), to Sous Chef at La Côte Basque (NYC), and Le Bernardin (NYC), finally to the chef to cuisine at Bouley (NYC) the number one restaurant in America and transform it into that for four years and a half years.

Also, I have also been a very light sleeper for most of my adult life. No more than a few hours, it gives time to read approximately one book every two days. I began this self-education in the world business and the world of marketing. I went through hundreds of books towards that MBA type of education. Books on finance, economics, business theory, leadership, marketing, guerilla-marketing, service, on wine, on dietary science, plus a ton of cookbooks. After that, I opened my own restaurant in a rural area of New Jersey. It was a very special type of business problem because, in America, fine dining is predicated on the ability of city restaurants to do multiple seatings. You have to think about the fixed costs and the variable costs. The labour and the overhead are fixed, whether 1 seating, 4 seatings, or 5 seatings per night. When you can allocate the fixed expense across multiple seatings, it allows you to reduce the price. So, it is counter-intuitive. In reality, a Manhattan restaurant can charge exactly one half of what a rural restaurant would have to charge to stay afloat because the rural restaurant only gets a single seating. Of course, rural restaurants find other ways to stay alive. They compromise quality and compromise labour in addition to a bunch of other tricks. But it is never an apples-to-apples fix. Something gets lost in the translation. I wasn’t willing to have the compromise of quality. It was a necessity to stay alive and learn about all of these things in order to find out where there might be some areas of opportunity.

That is, where the fundamental first principles of thinking in the industry might be false and, therefore, might allow me to have a competitive edge, for example, my professional formation and apprenticeships had every chef in the Western world had been taught that, “We sear a piece of meat to lock in the juices.” But I remember from molecular biophysics and biochemistry training at Yale. That didn’t make any sense at all. It leads me to discover that the protein cookery theory was a remnant of the turn of the century in the 1890s from Escoffier attempting to use the science of his day articulated by Justus von Liebig. Unfortunately, most of Liebig’s ideas at the molecular level turned out to be false. But because the industry had not shed these false first assumptions in protein cooking theory, everyone was using excessive labour that was inefficient while turning out the substandard product: loss of moisture, loss of tenderness, and loss of yield.

I believe that I was one of the first chefs in America to apply both the art form and science at a deep level. For me, it was the economics of staying alive. It was easier to train cooks to become competent using a scientific matrix. We were not using the recondite vocabulary of advanced biology, chemistry, and physics. I was using “scientific metaphors.” I was using the language and metaphors that they could follow. I would talk about protein like a “string of pearls”. Each one of those pearls is an amino acid (in a protein) or a sugar molecule (in a starch). What happens with heat, or enzymatic action is that the long string of pearls gets broken down into its constituent building blocks. This unlocks “hidden flavour”. I found that by teaching with that basic scientific matrix, we could get people to a high level of competence as line cooks in a year; whereas, in a traditional way, it could take 5 years to attain that level of competence.

7. Jacobsen: When you’re looking at Aeon Hospitality, what is the integrative vision there? It is a multilayered project, of which you’re the CEO. How are you using the “scientific matrix” to bring a biophysical approach – in a manner of speaking – to cooking and hospitality? Which will be more efficient in the end, though, it is based on economic survival, need.

Shelton: One of the things that snapped all of this together to understand me even better. It was when Iain McGilchrist published The Master and His Emissary. It covered the lateralization of the human brain. The idea that we have two different types of simultaneous cognitions or awarenesses, perceptions. It uses the metaphor of the bird on the branch and the earthworm could be his lunch. This is the problem. How do they eat without being eaten by something else? So, the brain, even down the most primitive species, developed this parallel set of brains. One with the ability of laser focus, logic if you will – deductive reasoning, even if pre-conscious. The other has this ambient, omniscient type of awareness, which doesn’t require codification. We have this problem. For logic to happen, we must perform reification. We must use simplifications to perform the slope calculation to dive down and get the earthworm. In order for non-complicated math for everyday living, we have to perform reification or have to treat beings as if they are objects, as first-order assumptions; we have to treat systems as if they are objects.

Then we can do our maths. In the short run for things like a bird swooping down and catching an earthworm, it is perfectly valid and reasonable. The problem, once we build the false first assumptions on those, then the more rigorously, deeply, and at length that we cogitate, the more embedded the false assumptions become and the farther from the truth that we veer. McGilchrist has validated our approach. I can summarize, “We shouldn’t be shocked when we discover extraordinary errors in our institutional thinking, in the thinking systems of the institutions. We should expect this as a regular occurrence. It must happen.” So, that marinates the whole approach. Almost everybody thinks the easiest way to have a highly successful business, a highly successful restaurant or hotel, banqueting facility, in a sphere is to add something of a genius or remarkable and new. But in my opinion, that’s the hardest way to improve a business and risky. It is so much easier to just stop doing so many stupid little things.

Appendix I: Footnotes

[1] Founder, Aeon Hospitality.

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

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2023-03-20

Ask Two Geniuses: Conversation with Christian Sorensen and Justin Duplantis on High-IQ Children, Being Parents, High-IQ Societies, General Intelligence Testing, and Community (Part One)

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

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

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2020/07/22

Abstract

Rick Rosner and I conduct a conversational series entitled Ask A Genius on a variety of subjects through In-Sight Publishing on the personal and professional website for Rick. This series with Christian and Justin builds on this idea. Justin Duplantis is going for his doctorate in gifted education. Christian Sorensen is an expert in philosophy. 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. This amounts to a joint interview or conversation with Christian Sorensen, Justin Duplantis, and myself.

Keywords: children, Christian Sorensen, high-IQ, IQ, Justin Duplantis, parenting.

Ask Two Geniuses: Conversation with Christian Sorensen and Justin Duplantis on High-IQ Children, Being Parents, High-IQ Societies, General Intelligence Testing, and Community (Part One)[1]^,[2]*

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

1. Scott Douglas Jacobsen: Justin, we’ve been doing a series about yourself, as a member of a solid high-IQ society with highly stringent, mainstream standards with a reasonably high cut-off to be a serious contender in bringing in people with a qualitative difference in thought rather than simply more clear and reasoned thought alone at 1-sigma or 2-sigma above the norm. Christian, we’ve been covering everything under the sun and, in fact, probably breaking some new ground in discussions on the wide range of topics if I may be permitted to say so. The goal in this educational series is to cover high-IQ societies in their communal standing and then the aspects of high-IQ children. Let’s start on a personal note, you’re both parents. How have you dealt with the parenting parts of life for yourselves insofar as you’ve experienced them?

Christian Sorensen: Being self-conscious at all times, so as not to repeat the mistakes that my parents made with me, although paradoxically they did not do so with my siblings. There is a phrase, that my mother had said to me in my young adulthood, remembering my childhood, and that puzzles me, because I couldn’t figure out that this may have happened to her. When I was child, she often felt fear, due to my excessive intelligence, and regarding to which she also perceived herself paralyzed as mother, since actually did not knew how to respond or treat me. Carried out to a more generalized plan, I consciously have tried, that this feeling would never invade my parental function. I thought that was the first step from which I had to start as father, even though I was aware that no one is born knowing how a good father should be. Therefore, I was always guided by my intuition, common sense, and following the conviction, that I was doing what seemed to me the most correct and beneficial for my daughters, in the sense of trying to make them happy. I believe, that at all times, I applied a sort of double formula, that was to give them all the affection I could, and to try to think and feel at the same time, as a father and as if I were a mother or as if I had to put myself in her place.

Justin Duplantis: I grew up unaware of my own giftedness. I was not tested in my youth and only following undergraduate school was I tested and subsequently discovered I was nearly 6 sigma from the norm. Upon attending the 2018 international gathering of the Triple Nine Society, I spoke with an individual that was involved in gifted youth. She was adamant that my boys were gifted, although she had never met them. I had my, then two and three year old, boys tested. They were both deemed gifted and joined Mensa. I want to provide them the opportunity to engage with their peers, as I was unable to experience that growing up. Additionally, they are thirsty for knowledge, so my wife and I try to quench that thirst daily.

2. Jacobsen: Given the established high heritability of general intelligence (as it is an established psychological construct), and as you both measured highly on tests of general intelligence, the obvious implication comes in the form of children more probable to inherit giftedness from you. Of course, we have a regression to the mean effects on both sides of the Gaussian normal distribution or bell curve. Without going into the psychometry of IQ and giftedness, what are some thoughts and feelings around parenting, and acknowledging the higher likelihood of gifted children of a gifted parent in the union?

Sorensen: This is something that has never been a topic for me, since I have the idea, although it should be empirically verified, that the intelligence comes from the mother, or that it is inherited almost completely from her. In fact at least concerning my case, this hypothesis was fulfilled, since the mother (my ex-wife) of my daughters, unlike my current wife who has an IQ above 130, has a normal-average intelligence, and I guess that for this reason my daughters aren’t gifted.

Duplantis: As referenced previously, this information was presented to myself and shared by a gifted youth expert in 2018. The unknown factor for myself is how the distribution is changed when only one parent is highly gifted. My wife and I are far from peers, in that respect. Although she has never been officially tested, she would probably fall in the average range. Genetics are much more complicated than checking a box if both parents check the same one. I feel strongly that parents know their children, regardless of intelligence level. If the parent feels as though their child is exceptional, they should follow through with that instinct and have them tested. With that said, IQ is not normalized until the child is 7-11 years of age, so if tested prior, the results should be taken with a grain of salt. Additionally, many youth examinations do not accurately measure IQ past a certain sigma, but it will at least give you a rough idea where they stand. My boys, for instance, were three sigma above the norm, when tested at two and three years of age. If it seems purposeful, I will have them tested again after they turn 12.

3. Jacobsen: Did you notice gifted children (your own) require more differentiated and more intense forms of caretaking, or not? In that, the gifted children have been developing more on their own and, therefore, do not require as much concern, care, or general oversight. I am asking more from personal parental experience.

Sorensen: I think that gifted children, need more care and much more personalized attention than other children, since in my opinion these in a certain way, have transversal difficulties with their stability and emotional development, and therefore in some manner it could be said, that they have a disability in this sphere. For this reason, what they first need, is a lot of affection and understanding from their parents, in order that their empathy, leads to feel them close enough. In consequence can be stated, that emotional unconditionality, is one of the main issues, that revolves around concerns of gifted children lives. As a result of the latest, in my opinion, is necessary to keep in mind that happiness, depends on emotional stability, and that the aforementioned is linked to paternal unconditionality, which in turn is the essential basic confidence floor for everything else.

Duplantis: This, I believe, is more child dependent. Although gifted children all share this one characteristic and certainly share certain attributes, they are also individuals that require different needs. For instance, although both of my boys are highly gifted, they are delayed in speech and have required therapy. Delay in certain areas does not necessarily correlate with intelligence, and vice versa. Just because a child learns to speak or walk at an early age does not necessarily mean that child is highly gifted. As for the special challenges that my wife and I face due to our boys being gifted, there are a couple that we express to a nanny, prior to hiring. Our boys want to learn and are incredibly inquisitive. They want to know the proper name for a primate and not be told “it’s a monkey”. They have also, unfortunately, mastered manipulation and sarcasm at a very young age. This can be challenging, as it can be undetectable to the layman. Once one learns to read through the cute to see the underlying deception, they are easier to interact with and bond.

4. Jacobsen: On the level of general discussion and knowledge in the high-IQ community, how is giftedness in children viewed on the level of specialized needs or not?

Sorensen: I think that once the emotional base is stably achieved, two other needs must be constantly met regarding knowledge, and precocity. The former refers to the fact, that their eagerness to inquire and to know, must be answered through quality contents, that should be timely accessible according to their demands. While the second, it’s related to the issue that these children, must be allowed to move freely, and to advance in relation to their own needs, towards what they feel and desire, and not in function to their chronological ages.

Duplantis: It depends upon where you reside. Although not highly advertised, Louisiana is the only state in the nation that categorizes giftedness as a special need. If a child is determined to be gifted they are required to be provided special resources by someone that is licensed in gifted education. If there is nobody that fits that criteria at their school, they are sent somewhere for that specific enrichment. My hopes is to eventually become a lobbyist and have a similar policy in place nationally.

5. Jacobsen: Do you think young boys and girls should enroll in Mensa International, the Triple Nine Society, etc., in order to find some like-gifted community?

Sorensen: Why not.

Duplantis: Although both of my boys qualify to be in TNS, it is an adult only social club. To my knowledge, Mensa is the only high IQ organization that actually have a youth division. As stated previously, both of my boys are members. As for do I think gifted youth should enroll? It depends. I had them admitted in hopes that they would have an opportunity to meet their peers. The area in which someone resides makes a difference. There were no other members, their age, while we lived in the New Orleans area, but after relocation to Dallas, there are over a dozen. I also found it a nice gesture to have them admitted and when they get older they do not have to worry about going through that process. They are already members. Whether they choose to continue to be so, will be their decision.

6. Jacobsen: Are the high-IQ societies more intended for the adult population or not?

Sorensen: Not necessarily, since these societies should be open to all, without exclusions of any kind.

Duplantis: Mensa is certainly for both, but as previously stated, the vast majority of high IQ societies are adult only.

7. Jacobsen: How have the communities of the high-IQ evolved over time for you?

Sorensen: From best to worst.

Duplantis: I have only been in the high IQ society world for a few years, so I am unable to speak to this.

Mensa is certainly for both, but as previously stated, the vast majority of high IQ societies are adult only.

8. Jacobsen: More precisely, what high-IQ societies have you joined – full listing, please? Why those?

Sorensen: In some of these Societies I am honorary member.

Isis, Profundus, Magnus, Icon, Elite, Callidus, Thinkiq, Egregius, Sidis, Myriad, Synaptic, Misty Pavillion, Space Time, Supernonova, Grand IQ, Ultima, League of Perfect Scores, Top IQ Scores, World Genius, Atlantiq, Romanian, Gentle, Brain, Spiqr, Hriq, Triple Nine, Dark Pavillion, Secret Society, Hidden Position, American, Canadian, Torr, Leviathan, Odysseus4Gifted, Hall of Sophia, League of Geniuses, Speculation, Core, Star, Indian, Capababilis and Psychic of Intuitives.

Besides Triple Nine and WGD, many of them have invited me for becoming member. Apart from the two formers, I guess that I enrolled in them, perhaps because I have an unfulfilled unconscious desire, for doing a patchwork collection, with the nice designs of their certificates, or with the fashionable labels, that they hold in their names.

Duplantis: Oh goodness. I went on a mad tear at first. I am a member of:

Triple Nine Society

Mensa

Elite High IQ Society

Profundus High IQ Society

I am also a former member of ISPE. I am certain that I am forgetting some, but that is what I can think of, at the moment. At first I joined because, why not. I now am only involved in TNS and Mensa because they are more of social clubs. They provide the greatest opportunity to meet and interact with other members. That is what I seek. I jokingly refer to TNS as my support group.

9. Jacobsen: Why should societies simply use mainstream tests with the highest sigma reach as the most reliable metrics to measure general intelligence rather than alternative intelligence tests?

Sorensen: Because these are the tests applied by professionals, and are the only ones scientifically endorsed. Therefore, they are universally recognized, and their results are indisputable, although they may have a certain limitation to discriminate excessively high scores, in case that these exceed the ceiling of their scales. Nevertheless the aforementioned can be remedied, and in consequence equally reliable results are possible to be achieved, through extrapolations by applying correct mathematical formulas.

Duplantis: Just with youth testing, not all tests are able to get a clear view of the precise place on the curve in which someone falls. Seeing as how my interest primarily falls in the category of socialization, I would much prefer to be a member of an organization that has members that are closest to my sigma. This will allow for greater relatability. Mensa is a mixed bag of 2+ sigma, but is weighted heavily in the 2 range. Although I enjoy the youth division, I find myself leaning more towards TNS for my personal connections and interactions.

10. Jacobsen: Do you think the profit motive is an issue with the dozens and dozens of paralyzed, defunct, and active while limited to online, high-IQ societies?

Sorensen: I think it could become an issue.

Duplantis: I am not sure I would necessarily call it an issue. I am aware it is ever present, as I am a member of some of those superficial organizations. Everyone takes their own path and discovers, at some time, which are useful and which are not.

11. Jacobsen: What do you make of some societies simply built around a singular personality, idea, motive, etc., rather than something built more for the public and the community of people at these rarer cognitive levels?

Sorensen: Because I think it represents the stubborn self-centeredness, of some of those who are behind these societies, since they are unable to look at anything other than their belly button, and in consequence they lose sight, of the meaning and purpose, for which these societies should be built.

Duplantis: Variety is important. Although we are a smaller group (the high IQ community) there is room for sects within that have similar characteristics. The example that comes to mind is the Genius Poet Society. I am not a member, as you have to not only have a high IQ, but also be a published poet, which I am not. I am a hockey player and I relate it to different leagues. Although we all play the game, we are separated into skill level. There are some teams that are even further separated into only veterans or a specific nationality (Korean).

Appendix I: Footnotes

[1] Justin Duplantis is a Member of the Triple Nine Society and the former Editor of its journal entitled Vidya.

Christian Sorensen is a Philosopher that comes from Belgium. What identifies him the most and above all is simplicity, for everything is better with “vanilla flavour.” Perhaps, for this reason, his intellectual passion is criticism and irony, in the sense of trying to reveal what “hides behind the mask,” and give birth to the true. For him, ignorance and knowledge never “cross paths.” What he likes the most in his leisure time, is to go for a walk with his wife.

[2] Individual Publication Date: July 22, 2020: http://www.in-sightjournal.com/sorensen-duplantis-one; Full Issue Publication Date: September 1, 2020: https://in-sightjournal.com/insight-issues/.

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2023-03-20

An Interview with Anthony Sepulveda on Academic Institutions, Khan Academy, and Profound Gifts (Part Four)

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

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

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2020/07/22

Abstract

Anthony Sepulveda scored 174 (S.D.15) on Cosmic and is a member of the World Genius Directory. He discusses: academic institutions; the academy; the standardization process; ends or colleagues who have had horror stories in relations with the university system; the tenure track system; the academy shifting; the Khan Academy; strengths and weaknesses of the Khan Academy; Khan Academy; the badge ideas; other systems of education; focus on mastery rather than completion for moving onto the next subject matter; Academia; the profoundly gifted seem so out of place and out of sync with much of society; and the profound gifts.

Keywords: Academia, Anthony Sepulveda, high-IQ, Khan Academy, tenure track.

An Interview with Anthony Sepulveda on Academic Institutions, Khan Academy, and Profound Gifts (Part Four)[1]^,[2]*

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

1. Scott Douglas Jacobsen: When we think of the academic institutions, a whole range of ideas come up. We’ve touched somewhat on this subject matter. I see them as manifesting a variety of positive and negative characteristics. They provide a formalization process for most of the population to certify various levels of acquisition of knowledge. Is this a positive or negative for you?

Anthony Sepulveda (Brown): Overall, it’s positive. Education is a wonderful thing that everyone should pursue as much as they want.

2. Jacobsen: On the other hand, they can provide a rigidity to the search for further knowledge desired by most in the academy. In that, certain paths can get entrenched, which can slow intellectual advancement of the academy. Is this a positive or a negative for you?

Sepulveda (Brown): That is a relatively negative feature. When your goal is to iron out all the wrinkles and create a smooth increase in personal growth, you need to appreciate the impact your actions will inevitably have on the lives of others.

3. Jacobsen: Do you see the standardization process at the cost of radical transformation a worthwhile trade-off in the university system?

Sepulveda (Brown): That would depend on the nature of the radical transformations. Do you have any examples?

4. Jacobsen: Do you have any friends or colleagues who have had horror stories in relations with the university system?

Sepulveda (Brown): Of course, I know several people in college right now who’ve been kind enough to confirm my beliefs before I submit them to you. (Special thanks to Tango and Jess)

5. Jacobsen: What do you think of the tenure track system?

Sepulveda (Brown): I’m not familiar with the exact policies behind it. All I know is that it makes it significantly harder to fire ineffectual teachers. This seems like an unnecessary policy if the goal is to educate rather than to have a career in education.

6. Jacobsen: How is the culture of the academy shifting, in your opinion, e.g., socially, politically, and economically?

Sepulveda (Brown): It seems obvious that education isn’t as valuable as it used to be (both on the micro and macro levels). It seems probable to me that in will be avoided unless it’s necessary or otherwise appealing by most the general population in the future. But I can’t be certain of what will happen to it.

7. Jacobsen: How many points have you earned on the Khan Academy system?

Sepulveda (Brown): Not many, to be honest. I first became aware of it when I was very poor and couldn’t afford regular internet access. I’d have to go to the library to use their resources for an hour and didn’t get very far. Instead, I borrowed and acquired books to pursue my interests at my leisure. I should probably get back into it if I want my opinion on the subject to be valid.

8. Jacobsen: What are some of the strengths and weaknesses of the Khan Academy?

Sepulveda (Brown): The platforms greatest strengths are the freedom to pursue any subject of interest in your own time. It’s biggest weakness is the lack of personalized assistance (tutoring)

9. Jacobsen: What are some of the areas of maintaining the excellence in particular subjects and styles of education for Khan Academy, e.g., Salman was always strong in mathematics and, thus, the mathematics training system is excellent in tests and in videos?

Sepulveda (Brown): That’s true. Math and Science are easily the strongest branches they offer. This is likely due to customer demand, since the average student will have to go through these subjects for most of their academic lives whether they want to or not. Even Arts majors have math requirements.

And there are several other sources one could use to educate themselves in other subjects – Duolingo (Language), Code Academy (Computer Science) and even Youtube can round out just about anyone’s educational needs at your speed.

10. Jacobsen: What do you think of the badge ideas, as if this is Halo or Call of Duty? It seems like a good Jane McGonigal attempt to gamify mathematics and education, which may, in fact, work and draw in more young people, especially young boys who have been struggling with education starting in kindergarten running all the way through graduate school.

Sepulveda (Brown): It’s an interesting idea. But I feel like it’d be a more effective motivator in extracurricular subjects that wouldn’t normally have any appeal. Like when you’re going for the Platinum on a Playstation game, but still have a handful of challenges to achieve that you never would’ve attempted if they weren’t necessary to achieve your goal.

11. Jacobsen: How could other systems of education incorporate the Khan Academy system?

Sepulveda (Brown): I’m not sure. There would have to be several significant changes to allow students the time they need to truly understand their subjects of study. The first idea that comes to mind would be to replace the traditional classroom setup with one where the students are given study material (books, videos, practice tests, etc.) to work on in their own time, schedule tutors to check their progress and assist where needed as needed and then test their knowledge in person once they’ve reached the point where they’re comfortable with the subject. This would completely alleviate the stress that comes with trying to accomplish course work by a specific date and stop all the ineffective teachers from wasting everyone’s time and money. I’ll have to work on this problem some more, this could lead to some very interesting places.

12. Jacobsen: What do you think of its focus on mastery rather than completion for moving onto the next subject matter, so as to prevent a Swiss cheese situation moving forward for the educational path and knowledge frameworks of the young? Everyone needs to review material outside individuals with eidetic memories, who are so extraordinarily rare to make non-review not practical for most people.

Sepulveda (Brown): It’s a great requirement. In more traditional settings, you’re often under a time constraint that forces you to rely heavily on short-term memory without fully understanding a subject.

Studies have shown that in as little as three days after completing a class, the average student completely forgets over 90% of what they studied. So restricting progression until one has achieved mastery would be very effective for the long-term success of those using their program.

13. Jacobsen: What do you hope happens to Academia?

Sepulveda (Brown): I hope that people will stop running it like a business and take the time to use their talents to benefit everyone receptive to them.

14. Jacobsen: How come the profoundly gifted seem so out of place and out of sync with much of society?

Sepulveda (Brown): I can’t speak for others. But during my development there were a few factors that contributed to my isolation – I was very tall for my age which (coupled with my social ineptitude) made me seem intimidating to my peers (recently confirmed by a former classmate) and I’ve always been very vocal towards my professional superiors whenever something doesn’t make sense or seems unfair or invalid. Authority doesn’t mean anything to me unless it’s founded on a logical process that I agree with enough to respect. Any extra demands placed upon me only results in frustration and resentment.

It seems probable that this will be the case for most others as well.

15. Jacobsen: Even with the profound gifts, is this more an argument for the making of adaptation to social circumstances rather than rejecting and becoming lifelong bitter with them? It can happen and can make for unpleasant individual and interpersonal circumstances for individuals.

Sepulveda (Brown): I agree, it takes a lot of patience and openness between everyone involved to get through such problems.

Appendix I: Footnotes

[1] Member, World Genius Directory.

[2] Individual Publication Date: July 22, 2020: http://www.in-sightjournal.com/sepulveda-four; Full Issue Publication Date: September 1, 2020: https://in-sightjournal.com/insight-issues/.

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2023-03-20

An Interview with Tim Roberts on Critical Thinking, Scientific Skepticism, and Education (Part Five)

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

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

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2020/07/22

Abstract

Tim Roberts is the Founder/Administrator of Unsolved Problems. He self-describes in “A Brief and Almost True Biography” as follows: I was definitely born lower-middle class. Britain was (and probably still is) so stratified that one’s status could be easily classified. You were only working class if you lived in Scotland or Wales, or in the north of England, or had a really physical job like dustbin-man. You were only middle class if you lived in the south, had a decent-sized house, probably with a mortgage, and at work you had to use your brain, at least a little. My mother was at the upper end of lower-middle class, my father at the lower. After suffering through the first twenty years of my life because of various deleterious genetically-acquired traits, which resulted in my being very small and very sickly, and a regular visitor to hospitals, I became almost normal in my 20s, and found work in the computer industry. I was never very good, but demand in those days was so high for anyone who knew what a computer was that I turned freelance, specializing in large IBM mainframe operating systems, and could often choose from a range of job opportunities. As far away as possible sounded good, so I went to Australia, where I met my wife, and have lived all the latter half of my life. Being inherently lazy, I discovered academia, and spent 30 years as a lecturer, at three different universities. Whether I actually managed to teach anyone anything is a matter of some debate. The maxim “publish or perish” ruled, so I spent an inordinate amount of time writing crap papers on online education, which required almost no effort. My thoughts, however, were always centred on such pretentious topics as quantum theory and consciousness and the nature of reality. These remain my over-riding interest today, some five years after retirement. I have a reliance on steroids and Shiraz, and possess an IQ the size of a small planet, because I am quite good at solving puzzles of no importance, but I have no useful real-world skills whatsoever. I used to know a few things, but I have forgotten most of them.” He discusses: skepticism, critical thinking, science, crackpots, scientific skepticism, magical thinking, education; science; what makes a crank a crank, a crackpot a crackpot, woo woo, a confidence man a confidence man, and a charlatan a charlatan; scientific skepticism; magical thinking; education; and the main forms of woo.

Keywords: critical thinking, scientific skepticism, scientific thinking, Tim Roberts.

An Interview with Tim Roberts on Critical Thinking, Scientific Skepticism, and Education: Founder/Administrator, Unsolved Problems (Part Five)[1]^,[2]*

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

1. Scott Douglas Jacobsen: For this next series of questions, I want to talk about skepticism, critical thinking, science, crackpots, scientific skepticism, magical thinking, education, and so on. A wide array of stuff building on some of the prior terse statements. To set us up, here’s a series of softball questions, what is critical thinking?

Tim Roberts: Critical thinking is the set of skills required to distinguish truth from bunkum, and to make wise choices. It is one of the two vital areas currently missing from the primary school curriculum in many western countries (the other is what it means to live in a civilized society).

The first part of critical thinking is thinking logically.

Suppose we know that George is a crow, and that all crows are black. What can we deduce? What if only some crows are black, what can we deduce then? What if George is not a crow, what can we deduce?

Suppose we don’t know whether or not all crows are black. How would we go about finding out?

Suppose someone told us that all dogs were black, or all koalas were black, or all camels were black. How would be go about discovering the truth or falsity of these claims?

How should we go about finding out if the world is round, or flat? All of these are things that can and should be taught to children aged 8 or 9.

Perhaps a year later, when children have acquired a good proficiency in English, around the ages of 9 or 10, they can learn about the meaning of words such as ”rationality”, and “science”, and “evidence”, and “proof”. And also, “causation”, and “correlation”, and the differences between the two.

And later, at the ages of 10 or 11, they can begin to learn about how people and agencies can distort facts, and how to spot when they are doing so. And how to distinguish established facts from mere opinions. And how to view advertisements of various kinds, whether on billboards, or in print media, or online, or on TV. And how to judge the claims made in such advertising.

All of this is easy stuff. That it is not taught as a recognized part of the curriculum in primary schools is an indictment on education systems, for such skills are way, way more important than learning how to multiply two decimal numbers together, or the date when Columbus discovered America, or what the capital of Norway is, or .… well, almost anything, really.

So the second part of critical thinking is applying it so as to maximize advantages over disadvantages, or profits over losses, or return over investment. We all make thousands of decisions each day, from when to get out of bed, to what clothes to wear, to when and where to do the shopping, etc.

Our choices in turn depend on multiple factors, such as habit, and social norms, and peer pressure. The application of critical thinking helps to determine our actions while taking into account all of the factors in play.

It is important to note, however, that critical thinking will not necessarily alter our actions. Some examples may help to illustrate this point.

Several religions dictate strict rules as to clothing, and eating habits, etc. Even those who turn away from their religion find it extremely difficult to break these rules.

But it applies to many other environments too. Take the well-known maxim which many were brought up with, that is, to eat everything on your plate. By adult-hood many people are so conditioned that this they find it a very hard habit to break.

Or the three-second rule – drop some foodstuff on the floor, and it is fine if picked up quickly. No. Once it hits the floor, it is immediately exposed to bacteria. But still, most people abide by this completely nonsensical rule, while at the same time acknowledging that it is indeed completely nonsensical.

2. Jacobsen: What is science?

Roberts: Science is not about test tubes, or Petri dishes, or Bunsen burners, or lab coats.

The word “science” comes from the Latin “scire”, meaning “to know”. That is, science is how we can know facts about the world.

We can know things by pure logic. Upon defining the integers, we can deduce with certainty that 2 times 3 is 6, and that 37 is a prime number.

Pure logic does not help us with the facts about the physical world around us, unfortunately. It does not explain Pluto, or giraffes, or income tax, or morality. Science tells us that we need to observe the real world. We then form hypotheses, or models, about why things are as they are, and how things work. These models are all valueless unless they can be proved or disproved by experiment.

Suppose we hypothesize based on some sightings that all giraffes have long necks. This can be disproved by finding one or more giraffes without long necks. As we observe more and more giraffes, we can gain more confidence in our hypothesis. We can never prove it, however, for tomorrow we may find a giraffe with a short neck.

So predictions play a really important role in science. They must be such that the more outrageous the prediction, the greater needs to be the evidence supporting it.

3. Jacobsen: What makes a crank a crank, a crackpot a crackpot, woo woo, a confidence man a confidence man, and a charlatan a charlatan?

Roberts: There are many advantages to living in a liberal democracy. Unfortunately, there are also some disadvantages, one of which is the encouragement of deception. Not just amongst some individuals, but also organizations, and indeed sometimes whole professions.

With regard to individuals, many could be named.

One of the most prominent and successful was Uri Geller, who was not alone in being a poor magician who became famous and rich by claiming to have supernatural powers.

There are others, more innocent, like the cousins Elsie Wright and Frances Griffiths, who provided photos of fairies living in their back garden.

I have chosen these two for illustration, amongst multiple possible examples, because they both illustrate another point, that otherwise intelligent and learned individuals do not necessarily possess the skill of critical thinking.

Uri Geller’s supposed supernatural abilities were believed and promoted for several years by several renowned scientists.

The photographs of fairies were believed and promoted by no less a figure than Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, best known for being the creator of Sherlock Holmes, perhaps the fictional figure who most personifies logical thinking in the whole history of literature.

Organizations would include many who seek exposure which would otherwise not occur. For example, many who purport beliefs in various conspiracy theories; or those who purport a

belief in a flat earth; or anti-vaxxers; or those who propagate that the Covid-19 virus is spread by the 5G network.

Amongst professions may be quoted not only the clichéd example of used car salesmen, but also politicians, and marketing executives, and even those in the legal profession. For example, defence lawyers who know that their clients are guilty, but yet whose oaths of office demand that they attempt to deceive juries.

There are also many cranks and crackpots, of course, who are distinguished from deliberate deceivers in that they deceive themselves as well. In this class I would include all of those who believe in astrology, and all those who believe in extra-sensory perception, and all those who believe in the literal (as opposed to metaphorical) reality of religious texts.

In a way, cranks and crackpots pose a greater threat than charlatans, since the latter recognize the truth; whereas the former will defend their beliefs to the ultimate extent.

Hence the vital need for members of society to have critical thinking skills, so that they can distinguish between truth and deception. It is extremely unfortunate that a significant percentage of the population of all countries lack these basic skills, to such an extent that western democracies may not survive, at least in their present forms, since democracies depend for their survival upon the ability of individuals to distinguish truth from falsehoods.

4. Jacobsen: Why is scientific skepticism always important?

Roberts: Because this is a basic tenet of critical thinking. There is an old expression that one should always have an open mind, but not so open that one’s brains fall out.

Science has been extremely successful, but all theories should remain open to doubt. The more established the theory, the greater the evidence needed to overturn it. This is absolutely vital. To take the various components of extra sensory perception, such as psychokinesis and telepathy, these would be in violation of several laws of physics, so the evidence for any existence of these phenomena would need to be very strong. Currently not only is there no strong evidence, but in fact there is no credible scientific evidence whatsoever, to support the existence of these phenomena.

5. Jacobsen: What differentiates magical thinking from scientific thinking?

Roberts: I honestly have no idea what magical thinking means, unless it means non-rational thinking. If it is this, it should be completely disregarded, of course.

I have always been amused that those claiming to be in touch with the spirit world get messages from the dead such that they can apparently communicate that their name begins with “J”, for example. Goodness. Why can’t the dead person say something like “My name is Jane Alice Witherspoon, and I died in 2012, and I’d like to speak to my son Frank, please?”. No. Apparently they can only communicate the letter “J”, for some reason…

Or those who claim to predict the future, but never choose the right lottery numbers, because their motives are too pure.

6. Jacobsen: Why is education part of the solution and part of the problem?

Roberts: I don’t accept that a proper education is part of the problem, except by omission from the core curriculum. Education should never be about telling a particular version of the truth. Rather, it should be about teaching people how to think for themselves, and provide them with the ability to support or reject the beliefs that are instilled in them by virtue of being members of particular groups.

7. Jacobsen: In your country, what are the main forms of woo?

Roberts: The same as in any other western country, I think. Belief in the tooth fairy, and Father Christmas, and ghosts, and various nonsenses such as those peddled by believers in things which are obviously false.

8. Jacobsen: In your country, who are the main forces for skeptical, rational, scientific thinking – a form of public activism in the form of scientific education?

Roberts: I think these are mainly led by individuals from various countries around the world, such as the late Martin Gardner, and James Randi, and Penn and Teller, and Richard Dawkins, and Daniel Dennett, and thankfully, hundreds of thousands of others whose names are far less well-known.

Appendix I: Footnotes

[1] Founder/Administrator, Unsolved Problems.

[2] Individual Publication Date: July 22, 2020: http://www.in-sightjournal.com/roberts-five; Full Issue Publication Date: September 1, 2020: https://in-sightjournal.com/insight-issues/.

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2023-03-20

An Interview with Charles Peden on Background, the Societies, Genius, and Gifts (Part One)

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

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

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2020/07/22

Abstract

Charles Peden is a Member of the Glia Society He discusses: growing up; an extended self; the family background; experience with peers and schoolmates; the purpose of intelligence tests; high intelligence discovered; geniuses; the greatest geniuses in history; a genius from a profoundly intelligent person; some work experiences and educational certifications; the more important aspects of the idea of the gifted and geniuses; some social and political views; the God concept; science; the tests taken and scores earned; the range of the scores; scores earned on alternative intelligence tests; and ethical philosophy.

Keywords: Charles Peden, experiences, genius, Glia Society, high-IQ, Paul Cooijmans.

An Interview with Charles Peden on Background, the Societies, Genius, and Gifts (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?

Charles Peden: The most memorable anecdote for me was about the town my grandmother was born and raised in called Omemee, North Dakota. That town no longer exists.

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

Peden: I think the idea of losing one’s entire home town sticks with me because nostalgia plays such a big role in my life. My grandmother is now gone and with her was a legacy of an entire town and a different period of time. So I do feel a sense of identity that stretches back into the fog of the past and I carry forth a family legacy that stretches into the fog of the future.

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

Peden: I was born in the geographical center of North America: Rugby, North Dakota. I grew up in a family that speaks contemporary English (as opposed to the proto-English which is still spoken in the United Kingdom). My mother’s family is Christian and of various European descendancy. I was raised very religious and Catholic, but alone became atheist at 18. I then thought it was obvious that religion was mythological, but was surprised to discover how frighteningly adamant people were about believing in it. I still find that a bit puzzling.

My biological father was of Swedish descent and he grew up speaking Swedish and English. I knew virtually nothing about him until I first met him when I was 26. He is also an atheist. He played no role in my upbringing. If I understand correctly, Sweden seems to be the most atheistic country in the world. This alludes to the possibility of religiosity (or something about it) being inherited.

I apologize in advance if my comments lead to war with the speakers of proto-English. I would hate to discover that people fought and died in order to insist on an unnecessary ‘u’ in the word ‘colour’.

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

Peden: In kindergarten, I would occasionally be beaten up by my neighbourhood friends after school. Going home from school was scary. They weren’t trying to kill me, but at the time it made no sense. I dealt with it by becoming a sort of class clown. This worked until 7th grade when some girls would pick on me and make fun of me. I didn’t understand why they were doing that. So my experience with school was bad. I dropped out at 16, gave it another attempt, then dropped out for the second and last time in the 11th grade.

As a side note–My high school experience is in stark contrast to Rick Rosner’s.

I had two predominant friends in my school years. Both were musicians and played guitar. I am not a musician.

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

Peden: Intelligence tests are our crude way of measuring differences in intelligence. I think of them as evolutionarily similar to the level of campfires on the way to developing laser beams. They are important because of the significant potential of intelligence.

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

Peden: I’ve always felt above average, but not significantly so. There were two kids about my age on the street that I grew up on who went on to become engineers. They seemed smarter than me (and likely are). There was a kid who lived across the street from me who grew up to become a nuclear physicist. Another kid whose family was friends with my family that grew up and became a brain surgeon. But high intelligence wasn’t discovered until taking high-range I.Q. tests from Paul Cooijmans.

Peden: I think the problem is with society’s expectations of the intelligent. We expect highly intelligent people to be like Isaac Newton. When it is discovered that highly intelligent people do something like collect streetcar transfer tickets, there is a certain amount of resentment. It’s like seeing someone squander millions of dollars which they inherited.

It’s difficult to understand that abilities of intelligence come packaged within a visceral matrix which might be quite different from our own. So things which are satisfying and rewarding to those with higher intelligence may seem significantly unfamiliar to the experiences of others. In other words, intelligent people can seem alien.

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

Peden: From my easiest accessible memory, some of the greatest geniuses in history would include Archimedes, Leonardo da Vinci, Isaac Newton, Nikola Tesla, Albert Einstein, and Alan Turing. Those are people I consider archetypical geniuses. There are many more, of course.

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

Peden: To me, a genius is someone whose high intelligence is leveraged by their high industriousness. A profoundly intelligent person is not necessarily a genius without a high level of industriousness. However, a profoundly intelligent person may have the potential to become a genius in sufficiently motivational circumstances.

Although I have achieved a high enough score to qualify for the Glia Society, I do not have a high level of industriousness and don’t consider myself a genius.

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

Peden: I once estimated that I have had over 100 jobs. I’ve lost count since then as that was many jobs ago. I’ve done mostly blue collar, sales, and entry-level work. I once also owned a pet shampoo manufacturing business with my ex-wife.

Although I dropped out of high school, I did go on to get my G.E.D. I also discovered that I loved college, until I went to nursing school. I’ve dropped out of nursing school twice. Nursing is not really a science nor an art. The medical field in general synthesizes science, techniques, and ineffable experience to ply its trade. I found nursing school to be a bit of a paradigm shock similar to what I experienced when going from algebra to calculus.

Peden: I had a very distorted expectation of intelligence. I thought intelligent people easily did the most intelligent things for a living. It turns out that intelligent people have to deal with visceral motivations just like everyone else. The truth is that even intelligent people can still fail at things and success takes longer than you expect even when you take into account Hofstadter’s Law.

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

Peden: Here are some fun ones:

I think corporations should be slaves to humans, not its masters. Why hold that view? Because corporations came into existence within the successful product of a human ethical framework. The motivation of corporations is simply profits and that is monstrously insufficient guidance for the future of intelligent beings. That’s like putting the animals in charge of the zookeepers.

Additionally, I think that if women do not have a right to have an abortion, then they must be considered maternal slaves in servitude of the fetus. If they DO have the right to an abortion, then women have autonomous accountability and cannot seek compensation for something of which they alone are ultimately responsible.

Of course, society’s solution is to be inconsistent in a way as is convenient for women and which reduces women’s accountability. I disagree with the current state of women’s rights and I would prefer consistency, be it maternal slavery (with rights of compensation) or autonomous accountability (with no rights of compensation).

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

Peden: I think religiosity seems to be mostly genetic. I no more understand why I am an atheist than I understand why I am a heterosexual.

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

Peden: Science is too vast, convoluted, and polluted for any single human to understand. I am forced to largely rely on the credibility of others as are we all.

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

Peden: I don’t have the exact information available, but my highest score was on Paul Cooijmans’s Cartoons Of Shock. I think my lowest score was on Paul Cooijmans’s A Paranoiac’s Torture (estimated scores and standard deviations provided in the next question). My memory is not that great. I do remember that I found the COLT – Two-barrelled version and The Alchemist Test to be my favourites although they were neither my highest nor lowest scores.

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.

Peden: For Paul Cooijmans’s tests I have scored a range from about 127 to a high of 151 with a standard deviation of 15. For tests from other sources, I have scored around the 130s and 140s.

I realize there is a sort of cluster pattern which can be derived from test scores, but I don’t think that is the best way of viewing I.Q. test results.

Imagine someone is an enemy. It’s not their ‘typical’ sticks and stones that one should be most concerned about. It’s their nuclear capability that should be of primary interest.

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

Peden: I think the Christian Golden Rule of “treat others as you wish to be treated” is the most sensible. This seems to me to be like Kant’s categorical imperative, but much easier to remember.

Appendix I: Footnotes

[1] Member, Glia Society.

[2] Individual Publication Date: July 22, 2020: http://www.in-sightjournal.com/peden-one; Full Issue Publication Date: September 1, 2020: https://in-sightjournal.com/insight-issues/.

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2023-03-20

An Interview with Arturo Escorza Pedraza on Community, Discipline, High-IQ, and Societies (Part Two)

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

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

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2020/07/22

Abstract

Arturo Escorza Pedraza scored 154 (S.D.15) on WIT and is a member of the World Genius Directory. He is an MSPE member of the International Society for Philosophical Enquiry. He discusses: community; high-IQ societies; the International Society for Philosophical Inquiry; Mensa International; the World Genius Directory; Paul Cooijmans; Dr. Evangelos Katsioulis; how the gifted can find community; the strengths of the high-IQ communities; the positives and the negatives of a high-IQ society; IQ score; the purposes of high-IQ societies in the early 21st century; ignorance and herd mentality; alternative intelligence tests; alternative intelligence tests that seem the most rigorous at the highest ranges – 4 to 6 sigma; independent test makers; Paul Cooijmans’s tests and Jason Betts’s tests; ways in which the gifted and talented can socialize and find others with similar gifts and interests other than high-IQ societies; good signs of an extraordinarily intelligent mind; how are the gifted and talented treated in Mexican and American societies; the ‘fittest’; North America; Canada; nations’ foundational crimes; left-right battle in the States; things missing in some of the high-IQ societies; how to fill the gaps of what is missing; higher intelligence; deity; some of the most talented people; Cooijmans and Katsioulis; Pletcher, Close, and Hanon; a) humility and b) building character & discipline; non-tangible skills; a positive correlation, not a causation-relationship, between higher intelligence and atheism & liberalism.

Keywords: Arturo Escorza Pedraza, community, discipline, high-IQ, societies.

An Interview with Arturo Escorza Pedraza on Community, Discipline, High-IQ, and Societies (Part Two)[1]^,[2]*

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

1. Scott Douglas Jacobsen: Let’s talk about community. What defines a community?

Arturo Escorza Pedraza: It’s defined by belonging to the same social group, with the same interests or the same problems.

2. Jacobsen: What high-IQ societies seem the most reliable to you?

Pedraza: International Society for Philosophical Inquiry, Mensa, the societies of the World Intelligence Network (WIN) of Dr. Evangelos Katsioulis, especially those that accept people in a higher percentile, World Genius Directory, and the societies of Paul Cooijmans seem to me most reliable.

3. Jacobsen: What stands out about the International Society for Philosophical Inquiry?

Pedraza: It’s the 99.9% oldest society in the world, founded in 1974 and the third-highest IQ, after Mensa and Intertel, and my personal favorite, the one I recommend the most among which I’m a member because it has many aspects that make it different from others.

It offers the opportunity to advance and to become officers and serve in executive or leadership positions where they can benefit ISPE while enriching our own experiences.

There are 8 ranks in ISPE: The first is the one that is acquired when admitted to society, there are 6 more that are accessible through the system of incentives and rewards, which promotes participation in the society, as well as personal achievements, which are also taken into account to advance in rank.

The last rank is designated by ISPE based on someone’s personal achievements and the contributions to ISPE and is voted among all those with the right to vote. This is a democratic society in which we also vote in internal elections.

Also, It promotes the health and longevity of its members.

Another of the most notable aspects of society is the Telicom magazine for members, in which any member can send material to publish, and a professional team of editing and proofreading will make it a reality.

I myself have had the opportunity to publish on several occasions some of my fiction stories, and 3D art that I create (in fact it gave me the opportunity to design the cover of the April-June 2020 volume). If you publish in Telicom, you can have a courtesy printed copy sent to your house, the quality is great and it’s my favorite magazine.

The society has a Ning group as well as a Facebook one for members. I’ve never had to read ad hominem attacks, the participants are highly civilized people from many different corners of the world and from religious and political beliefs.

4. Jacobsen: What stands out about Mensa International?

Pedraza: It is the oldest high IQ society in the world and although its cut-off is lower than that of ISPE, it is the most famous, because some of the most brilliant minds of the 20th century were counted among its members, such as Isaac Asimov, and Buckminster Fuller.

5. Jacobsen: What stands out about the World Genius Directory?

Pedraza: Dr. Jason Betts tries to keep WGD free of cheaters, scrupulously verifying the identity of those who want to belong to the directory, and he’s actively participating.

Another thing I like is the Genius of the Year award: Everyone in the directory can vote for anyone whose achievements and efforts promoting global genius deserve to be the winner. The winner is sent the trophy by mail to their country. Every year there are three awards: Genius of the Year America, Asia, and Europe.

It’s the most important yearly award given among high IQ societies, and that other societies have emulated. Many winners have attracted the spotlight and the attention of international media and that has been a turning point in their lives.

6. Jacobsen: What stands out about the societies of Paul Cooijmans, e.g., the Giga Society, the Glia Society, etc.?

Pedraza: Mr. Paul Cooijmans is a legend among IQ societies. His IQ tests are also legendary, creative, difficult. The quality of his norms is that of a very high standard.

7. Jacobsen: What stands out about the societies of Dr. Evangelos Katsioulis, etc.?

Pedraza: Among the people that I admire the most is Dr. Katsioulis. Such a brilliant mind, of a polymath, that it only happens once in many generations. A magnificent mind that honors his ancestors, the Greek philosophers.

Dr. Katsioulis has made access to IQ societies accessible to many people around the world through online tests, with standards from renowned authors, as well as the well-known standardized test scores.

8. Jacobsen: How can the gifted find community in high-IQ societies?

Pedraza: People who “populate” high-intellect societies are omnigenous, of all types, and with very varied tastes. Science, art, history, religion, hobbies. Many of these societies have specific interest groups.

9. Jacobsen: Do you think this speaks to one of the strengths high-IQ communities in their variety? So, there’s something for many different types of people.

Pedraza: Yes and no, because variety can exist without anything relevant in itself. But at the level of these societies that variety is of another level. I have always liked the phrase: “If you are the smartest in the room, then you are in the wrong room.”

10. Jacobsen: What are the positives and the negatives of a high-IQ society?

Pedraza: There are always two types of people, both in high-intellect societies and elsewhere: humble, kind, respectful people, from whom much can be learned, and presumptuous, narcissistic, aggressive people, from whom one can also learn a lot, but in a different way. In my case, I hate confrontations and bullies.

The positive thing for me is that it has helped my self-esteem, by finding people similar to me, with the same values, respectful of the others’ ideas, who don’t seek to be right by force of screaming ad hominem attacks.

I have managed to express my ideas and publish part of what I write.

The negative, which of course does not overshadow all the positive, has been seeing how many people believe that their arguments are valid only based on the IQ score they have.

11. Jacobsen: Why do they resort to shouting down by the boom box of their IQ score?

Pedraza: A high IQ is not a guarantee of logical thinking. There are many people who make extensive use of logical fallacies to argue.

12. Jacobsen: What seem like the purposes of high-IQ societies in the early 21st century?

Pedraza: This era in which we live, where all the knowledge of humanity is available to anyone with an internet connection, even in the palm of their hand, seems to me more obscurantist than the Middle Ages themselves.

People no longer believe in the truth but on the basis of who says it, regardless of whether their arguments are valid or not, in the same way as one who doesn’t question a holy book as a dogma of faith.

The inquisition still exists, except that before there were some monks in a dark monastery judging you and now there are millions of people who will make your life impossible if your opinion is different from theirs.

In a large number of Western countries, anti-intellectualism is at its peak, and the dumbing down of societies is advancing by leaps and bounds, the belief in pseudo-sciences, in conspiracy theories (and, for example, the reaction of many people around the world before the COVID is a good example).

Ignorance is not harmless, it’s expensive and dangerous. In my country, medical workers, have been lynched and ambulances and hospitals have been destroyed because someone reads on Facebook that the health system was the one infecting people with COVID to steal the synovial fluid from their knees to sell it.

It’s there that high IQ societies should be useful as leaders of opinion, to help stop that process towards obscurantism.

We should be able to inspire others, to think, to create, to doubt every piece of information that falls into our hands, not to think without acting, and fight for freedom of expression.

I dream of the day when countries are governed by philosophers, by people with values and many neurons.

Although, of course, many great intellects in societies prefer mind games and tests only.

13. Jacobsen: Canadian writer Margaret Atwood said, “Stupidity is the same as evil if you judge by the results.” Does this encapsulate much of the current context and the aforementioned sentiment?

Pedraza: So it seems to me. I fear ignorance and herd mentality more than many other things.

14. Jacobsen: What seem like decent alternative intelligence tests for individuals to take now?

Pedraza: I really like the tests by Paul Cooijmans, Jason Betts, and Ronald K. Hoeflin (although all the answers have been disclosed online from the latter’s tests, so that would be the only problem).

15. Jacobsen: Any particular alternative intelligence tests that seem the most rigorous at the highest ranges – 4 to 6 sigma?

Pedraza: Ronald Hoeflin’s Mega, and Titan tests, Paul Cooijman’s Isis, and Nemesis tests. Jason Betts’ Asterix, Mathema, and Zen tests.

16. Jacobsen: What independent test makers seem more serious than others?

Pedraza: Paul Cooijmans, and Jason Betts, for me. I am not saying that there are not others just as serious and scrupulous, it’s just that I have not tried tests of all the creators.

17. Jacobsen: What stand out about Paul Cooijmans’s tests? What stand out about Jason Betts’s tests?

Pedraza: I like them because they are not your typical Sunday newspaper test. They put your crystallized intelligence to work.

18. Jacobsen: Are there other ways in which the gifted and talented can socialize and find others with similar gifts and interests other than high-IQ societies?

Pedraza: For people with good social skills, there is, of course, the street, and their workplace. At many times in my life I have met people who are fantastically smart, but have never taken an IQ test, and don’t even know they exist, but, as I like to say: There are two things that you can’t hide: Cough (especially in this COVID-era), and intelligence.

19. Jacobsen: That’s funny. What are some good signs of an extraordinarily intelligent mind in an ordinary context? They’re brilliant and – literally – only somewhat realize it., because no outside or external source, legitimate referent, validated the hunch.

Pedraza: I can recognize special people when listening to them speak, based on their way of expressing themselves, their tastes, the subjects they master, the way they make things easier for others that would be difficult or impossible.

20. Jacobsen: Now, to Mexico and America, as you have noted some differences, and with a thoughtful admixture of opinions grounded in some historical references, how are the gifted and talented treated in Mexican and American societies?

Pedraza: I have never had the pleasure of living in the United States, but the impression it makes from afar is that intelligence continues to be appreciated in the United States and there are many opportunities for highly intelligent people there. The United States has known how to attract talent from anywhere in the world and that is what keeps it as a world power.

In my country, the situation is sad, because there is a tremendous brain drain. At this time, only criminals and politicians have guaranteed a decent standard of living.

A smart person needs to emigrate so that his talent is valued. There are many cases of underrated Mexican talents in Mexico – opera singers, scientists, inventors, for example – who had to leave behind everything they had to start from scratch. Other countries that welcomed them now benefit from their talent, while Mexico insists on living under the law of the fittest and saying that nothing wrong happens.

21. Jacobsen: By “fittest,” do you mean the ‘fittest,’ i.e., the aforementioned “criminals and politicians”?

Pedraza: It’s correct. The most aggressive or the most corrupt. In Mexico there are two phrases that speak a lot about the country and that are repeated to the point of exhaustion by all kinds of people: “He who doesn’t scam doesn’t progress”, “life is worth nothing”. And that’s how in the last year and a half we’ve had 54 000 killed people because of the violence, not only because of drug trafficking but also because of next door criminals everywhere, plus more than 40 000 people died because of COVID.

22. Jacobsen: Following from the previous question, how might North America become a renewed and better attractant for a) the world’s talent and b) the world’s intellectual industriousness? No doubt, a declining stature and with many flaws, though, many noble aims, causes, and values inhered in the countries.

Pedraza: North America is a continent blessed with everything: Resources, thousands of miles of coastline to trade with the whole world, and above all, it seems to me that there are opportunities for everyone.

The United States and Canada have economic and social stability, based on the rule of law and will continue to attract magnificent talents to their lands (I’d love to live in Canada!), of that I am sure. A phenomenon like that of Elon Musk revolutionizing astronautics and automobiles would be impossible to see in my country or in most countries.

23. Jacobsen: You’re welcome any time. Canada is capacious. Anyone stand out from Canadian high technology or industry?

Pedraza: Thank you! I’m more an artist than anything else.

24. Jacobsen: Do you think nations’ foundational crimes should be answered (for)? If so, how? If not, why not?

Pedraza: As I love to study history, I know that the past cannot be judged on the basis of current morality, which is precisely an evolution that took millennia.

What does seem unacceptable to me is wanting to live the present based on the morality of past centuries.

Yes, they must be answered for. But not symbolically, but in the most practical way possible, avoiding the same mistakes and abuses and creating the conditions to avoid their recurrence.

For example: in Mexico, there was an abuse of ethnic minorities, genocide, centuries ago. The way to respond for this would be to improve the current living conditions of these minorities, instead of building monuments to the deceased indigenous people and asking for forgiveness from those monuments while depriving any living descendants of any human rights.

The same would apply to other countries. It’s useless to change the words, to ban flags, to knock down monuments, without changing the way of thinking of past centuries.

25. Jacobsen: Any thoughts on this (as relevant to the last question’s comments) left-right battle in the States?

Pedraza: History has shown us that unity is strength. The United States is a great country, which should not be divided by ideologies that harm either side. Ideologies that focus on symbols, rather than people. I am a supporter of the just mean.

26. Jacobsen: What do you think is missing in some of the high-IQ societies?

Pedraza: More practical application in the real world.

27. Jacobsen: Any idea as to how this can be done?

Pedraza: The problems that plague the world should be more important than IQ test problems.

Something that would help a lot to make the subject more visible to the world, would be to come out of the dark. Many exceptionally gifted people are afraid to show themselves to the world; many of them could inspire other people to exploit their own talents for their own benefit and that of others.

I like to talk about the parable of the chickens and the eagle.

For some reason, an eagle was born in a chicken yard, and its life was to cluck with them and eat the corn they were given, enduring the daily pecks for being different, until one day it saw another eagle flying, and then understood that it was different and that it could fly high away from that chicken yard.

The example inspires much more than anything else.

28. Jacobsen: Why does higher intelligence tend to correlate positively with liberal leanings and atheism in some preliminary studies in psychology?

Pedraza: A reasonable man (or woman) loves freedom and hates tyranny, and he does not need or want someone to dictate everything in his life.

As the political spectrum approaches extremes, freedoms are reduced, in pursuit of ideologies and symbols, it’s no longer about people.

Likewise, most institutionalized religions prohibit, stigmatize, regulate people’s lives, decide who can enter a temple and who cannot, who deserves heaven and who does not, to whom you can give your heart and to whom you shouldn’t, who is an equal and who does not even deserve to be spoken to, analogously to what a tyrant would command.

Religions sell a hypothetical Creator of the Universe with the same whims and vices as human beings: love, jealousy, anger, revenge.

The last thing that humanity needs are division, confrontation, superstitions, imaginary friends, beliefs without evidence.

Coincidentally, it’s my perception that in the societies of which I am a member I have noticed a large number of people more liberal than on the other side of the political spectrum, although I have also noticed a large number of believers, not only in established and traditional religions but that many of these people perceive a personal deity outside of those religions, based on their own experience.

29. Jacobsen: How do they conceive of this deity?

Pedraza: To some, the path of science does not seem to contradict the existence of a God, but rather brings them closer to that God; for others, he is a God who does not demand sacrifices, nor is he spiteful, but has created everything for the joy and happiness of his highest creations, humans; it does not correspond to the cultural characteristics of any existing god.

30. Jacobsen: Who are some of the most talented people know to you? Why them?

Pedraza: I am fascinated and grateful to be able to draw on the experiences of Mark Siegmund, Anja Jaenicke, Arthur Pletcher, Edward R. Close because, in addition to being exceptionally intelligent and talented people, they have a very big heart. A person who deserves a very special mention is Dr. Angelica Ines Partida Hanon, Mexican, she had to emigrate to Spain where she is a successful scientist with a Ph.D. in Biochemistry, Molecular Biology, and Biomedicine. I consider that she is one of the biggest losses for Mexico ever.

Other people I would like to have contact with are Paul Cooijmans and Dr. Evangelos Katsioulis.

31. Jacobsen: Why Cooijmans and Katsioulis? May I be connected to Pletcher, Close, and Hanon through you, please?

Pedraza: Mr. Cooijmans is a genius and eccentric, he’s also a musician like me, and his music awakens in me other sensations that the music that I usually listen to does not achieve. Dr. Katsioulis is an oncologist, psychiatrist, psychologist, neurologist, nephrologist, philosopher, mathematician, screenplay writer, physicist. The man is out of this world!

I have contact with Mr. Pletcher, and Dr. Edward R. Close (recipient of “The Whiting Memorial Award 2016” together with Dr. Vernon Neppe, by the International Society for Philosophical Inquiry.).

Unfortunately, I have not had contact with Dr. Partida Hanon for many years, but I know her website: dnangelica.com.

32. Jacobsen: To the young, what are some important pieces of advice about a) humility and b) building character & discipline?

Pedraza: On humility, it would be worth looking at the 1990 picture “a Pale Blue Dot” or some graph showing the planetary and stellar scale.

We are nothing, we have no more value than what we give ourselves, nothing intrinsic. We are dust, not stardust, just common dust, nothing more.

Also, there is always someone smarter, or richer, or more attractive, or nicer or more talented.

It makes life a lot easier knowing that material things are to make life more enjoyable and not to live suffering for not having them.

On character and discipline: There are many things that hinder the passage through this life; by tempering character and disciplining yourself there is more opportunity to overcome these difficulties, because, as I said before, I resist the idea that this life has to be of penance, of working for someone else or of suffering dreaming of a reward in another hypothetical life.

33. Jacobsen: What are non-tangible skills needing building more among the gifted and talented young than others because of the ease of some facets of life for them?

Pedraza: Many people in the high-intellect community suffer from impostor syndrome and its various manifestations.

I believed for many years that if something was difficult for me, then I was a fool and it was better to give up. Over the years, I learned to stop hearing external voices, making me doubt myself. I believed for many years that the things I obtained were by some chance of fate because I wasn’t that good as to have obtained them by myself.

I also learned that no matter how smart you are, if you don’t spend time training your talents, you will be like a Bugatti Veyron, but without gas and locked in a garage.

34. Jacobsen: Other than a positive correlation, not a causation-relationship, between higher intelligence and atheism & liberalism. What other personality traits, beliefs, even prejudices or lack thereof, seem to correlate positively (or negatively, or not at all) with high general intelligence?

Pedraza: I have noticed that there is a correlation between IQ and the number of diverse talents that a person has. The most modest intellects are usually monothematic or specialists in a single subject. The most exceptional intellects are usually polymaths. I know several people, members of the societies to which I belong, who have talents at different ends: Painters who publish scientific papers, musicians who play Marin Marais, Vivaldi, Metallica, but also teach physics at a University. Einstein himself played the violin and Leonardo da Vinci invented a musical instrument called the “viola organista”.

I also see in many of the higher intellects the capacity for self-learning, and unfortunately, as a feature of many of them, the impostor syndrome.

Appendix I: Footnotes

[1] Member, World Genius Directory.

[2] Individual Publication Date: July 22, 2020: http://www.in-sightjournal.com/pedraza-two; Full Issue Publication Date: September 1, 2020: https://in-sightjournal.com/insight-issues/.

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2023-03-20

An Interview with Rebekah Woods on Leaving The Message of William Marrion Branham

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

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

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2020/07/22

Abstract

Rebekah Woods is a Canadian writer, settled on the coast with her spouse and beautiful toddler who fills the hours with challenges unequaled by the healing his life brings. Originally from Ontario, her father moved his family near a large Message Believer’s church when she was ten months old. Her siblings include five brothers and one sister. The struggle to sort memories on paper began in early 2012, but addiction held her back. Clean living away from illicit drugs started November 16, 2016, and continues this present day. She completed a memoir in February 2020. Now her goals are to publish her work, uplift others, publicly speak and build the role of Human Rights Activist. Woods is spiritual/agnostic. You can follow her blog www.rebekahcwoods.ca. She discusses: the earliest years; the transition to adolescence; striking or pivotal moments; the theological points of The Message translated into family life for children, from the point of view of a girl; a girl becomes a young adult; the transition into young adulthood; abuse; excuses for abuse; and recommended resources on The Message.

Keywords: cult, Rebekah Woods, religion, The Message, William Marrion Branham.

An Interview with Rebekah Woods on Leaving The Message of William Marrion Branham[1]^,[2]*

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

1. Scott Douglas Jacobsen: For this particular interview, I want to focus on the story, the narrative, of difficulty, critical thought, struggle, and eventual triumph for a new life, by you. How were the earliest years, single digits, for you?

Rebekah Woods: My earliest memories revolved around The Voice of God on a tape recorder. Still, there was a time when freedom came early and excessive. Between 3 and 5, I roamed city neighbourhoods alone; streets lurking with shady characters where the shop windows displayed print-outs of missing children. Then at 7 years old, something happened. We moved to a Horse Farm I called The Middle of Nowhere. I’d soon learn it was the only safe place.

2. Jacobsen: How did the transition to adolescence happen within The Message?

Woods: It was the beginning of the end. Our father told both my sister and I that we were both ugly, and I suppose the odd glances at Sears catalogues showed me that models who were beautiful wore make-up. Every girl wants to pretty, and I think this is a normal thought process. Part of me figured if I was pretty, then someone would love me. But it was my downfall. I was ugly one minute and Jezebel, Dog Meat, the next. I couldn’t have love, and I couldn’t win. Dad said he told us those things so we wouldn’t put on airs. It’s not likely that was going to happen. We were lonely and poor.

3. Jacobsen: Any particularly striking or pivotal moments coming to mind about the times of rapid physical and mental maturation during puberty?

Woods: Yes, I realized I liked boys, and dreamt about falling in love. The Middle of Nowhere didn’t have any noteworthy boys, besides my abusive brothers. Some noticed me in a fitted dress. It sprung such an unfettered emotion when my whole life I blended into the sea of clones. One of my first rebellious acts was to tear off my skirt while swimming because I hated it so much.

4. Jacobsen: How are some of the theological points of The Message translated into family life for children, from the point of view of a girl?

Woods: As I mentioned, swimming was compromise in a long, heavy skirt. Girls struggled in sports activities, unlike the trousered boys. You were self-conscious about showing your shoulders, or the skin below your collar bone, or flashing your knees. Clothes shopping was near impossible. I needed my father to look me over and approve, and often he never did. On one occasion, my father was lucky enough to receive benefits from his warehouse job and I exited the dentist’s office, happy as could be. I showed him the cheap, ruby red ring the receptionist had given me. He lunged for it, threw it in the garbage can and lectured me on the drive home. The same happened with Christmas presents; my mother cut up with scissors the My Little Pony’s relatives sent in the mail. Everything was a demon. Mom drowned my demon-possessed cat in the creek once.

5. Jacobsen: As a girl becomes a young adult, what happens to her? What are some of the coerced, even enforced, expectations upon her?

Woods: Yes. She must marry, with her father’s approval. Her father’s leadership remains until she marries and her husband takes that role. Any beauty routine or wardrobe option may be subject to scrutiny and if she continues, preachers will point fingers and yell.

6. Jacobsen: How did you make the transition into young adulthood?

Woods: Poorly, awkwardly, recklessly. I was a sitting duck for anyone who wished to take advantage of a clueless 18-year-old.

7. Jacobsen: With abuse, what were the forms endured by you? How did you recover? Was there community support for you?

Woods: I suffered physical, emotional, and sexual. I’ve never fully recovered psychologically. Flashbacks and nightmares have lasted til this present day. But I am grateful for my supportive spouse, my gorgeous son, and my therapist. Without them, I would have successfully committed suicide or overdosed. I’m in a better place now. My home life is secure. I’m loved.

8. Jacobsen: What were excuses for abuse against other women in the church?

Woods: If the Voice of God (on the tape) uttered violent threats that aroused doubt, he was suddenly just a man, a human, capable of mistakes. Or, that certain somebody didn’t mean to sound or act so harsh. Spiritual maturity happens at a different pace for everyone. Maybe they aren’t far enough along in their walk with the Lord. They must seek repentance but it’s not our place to judge. The pastor himself wouldn’t agree with that. Those were common dialogues amongst church members. The pastor himself never spoke on abuse towards women and as many on the inside know, serious issues are hushed.

9. Jacobsen: Any recommended resources on The Message from individuals who have left or have done the research from independent sources?

Woods: They are more than welcome to email me rebekahcwoods@gmail.com. I can only recommend Canadian resources: Battered Women’s, Victim Services, etc, as I don’t have personal experience with women’s services worldwide. There is the Casting Pearls Project and The Bitter Belly for emotional support. But my wish for the future is to create many avenues for these women in their time of need. I’m on that path right now.

10. Jacobsen: Thank you for the opportunity and your time, Rebekah.

Woods: Thank you, Scott.

Appendix I: Footnotes

[1] Former Member, “The Message” of William Marrion Branham.

[2] Individual Publication Date: July 22, 2020: http://www.in-sightjournal.com/woods; Full Issue Publication Date: September 1, 2020: https://in-sightjournal.com/insight-issues/.

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2023-03-20

Ask Two Geniuses: Conversation with Christian Sorensen and Erik Haereid on Paradox, Thinking About the World, Substantive Reality Statements, and Other Options (Part Two)

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

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

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2020/07/15

Abstract

Keywords: Christian Sorensen, Erik Haereid, language, paradox, philosophy, reality.

Ask Two Geniuses: Conversation with Christian Sorensen and Erik Haereid on Paradox, Thinking About the World, Substantive Reality Statements, and Other Options (Part Two)[1]^,[2]*

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

Scott Douglas Jacobsen: Okay, so, we’ve covered some of the more foundational concepts for philosophy setting forth some of the foundations for the ideas in a lot of other fields of interest and research, etc. I want to focus more on paradox here. Are there others forms of -dox given a different prefix than para- providing a novel or, at least intriguing notion of the logically surface inexplicable or apparently nonsensical while containing some deeper truth about the nature of reality? Christian, you focused on “deep meaning and the effect it causes are logical”; Erik, you honed in on the ‘perceptually unexplained…logical self-contradiction’ that invites further critical examination. Also on this idea of paradox, is this a unified sense of inviting further critical examination to come to the deeper logical consistency and meaning?

Christian Sorensen: On purpose of the idea of paradox, I think that within syllogistically thinking, although it is possible to make a distinction between logical validity and truth, an imprecision regarding the latter, appears evidently when it’s understood as an indicator of internal consistency, within propositional reasoning. In turn, if the truth is associated to the consistence of its meaning, then I will conclude that what occurs, is what I am going to denominate as a linguistic break. Meaning in relation to reasoning, in my opinion, necessarily refers to the language and to its structure, and therefore, to an intrinsic and invariable fact, which I will name as the barrier of meaning, since internally splits the symbolic character of language, by not allowing the existence of any communication within the symbol as such, nor between the symbols among them, when they make up a linguistic chain. Consequently along the reasoning process, if it is not possible strictly speaking, to find out any sort of unity of meaning, which necessarily leads to a degree of inconsistency, then it would not be plausible to relate logic with truth, in no sense and regardless of the matter of the judgment.

Erik Haereid: Orthodox, maybe, in the sense that one is a true believer (It’s not novel, though). Paradoxes are true beyond its rational discrepancy. It’s based on intuition, feelings, multiple meanings, semantics. One could maybe say that an orthodox is sure about what he or she believes in, although the belief is irrational; not yet proven rationally. God may exist, but the only way to know is through irrational channels, like emotional divine experiences. So, rationally we don’t know. Maybe God exists. Irrationally many knows that God exists. You could replace “God” by any unproved phenomena.

To your other question: This must be linked to our continuous search for truth, i.e. the search for a logical reality. This is our mind map. We project sensory experiences and categorize it based on different patterns and our reason, and all this reveals itself as what we know as “thoughts”. But the mind is only a projection; our map of reality. Our goal is to improve this map, as in an eternal and continuous process. This process will never end as a mind map, and this is my assumption, because it will never be able to contain the power of definition; what started it all. Since the mind map is rational per se, it will not be able to imagine an irrational beginning (for example, that we do not grasp black holes in the Universe; it literally becomes a mental black hole). And since the beginning is necessarily irrational (my assumption), we will never be able to understand everything in the sense that we can imagine it. A possible and logical explanation for an imaginary end is thus that our (common, collective) consciousness culminates towards zero as we approach a rational explanation of everything; to understand everything is the same as to understand nothing. Sense is thus only a journey, a tool, as part of a wider and different sense; beyond. The more we understand the less we need to be conscious, since consciousness is an aid to understand and not a goal in itself (my premise). What is then the point with human rationality? We don’t know. It’s inside the black hole; the well of irrationality including unrevealed rationality. Evolving is a drive, and paradoxes are among the motivating phenomena.

In this sense, we cannot understand everything until we understand nothing. And this is in itself a paradox.

In this light, we can regard paradoxes as small hints about our common final outcome, and thus about what we are able to understand and not; a kind of “god’s” hints. And perhaps this is the answer, and so that the exploration of paradoxes must be about the boundary cases between the rational and the irrational, on the boundary between before and just after the beginning, and before and just after the end. We will never be able to understand paradoxes as anything else than just this, and thus they create a profound respect, not for what we do not know, but for what we can never know.

Jacobsen: On the possible and the impossible, in a binary or Aristotelian system of thinking, the idea of that which can exist and that which cannot exist become the only two states, while in more pluralistic logics the gradations of existence mean degrees of certainty in terms of existence with existence and non-existence or the possible and the impossible as degrees of the possible and degrees of the impossible or an interpretive sense, i.e., the possible or the impossible in particular contexts or interpretations of the status of the possible and impossible. What form of thinking – binary or multinary – seems to best reflect the nature of the real world?

Sorensen: I think that the thought that best reflects the nature of the real world, is dialectic, since in my opinion, duality and contraposition are its best represented properties. In this way, binary as counterpart, in terms of being or not being, and of possibility or impossibility, doesn’t captures the fact which regards to the becoming of the real. In other words, that the latest is not completely encrypted, neither in one or the other, but rather in the coexistence of both. Therefore when a certain thing is being, there is something in it, that at the same time is ceasing to be, to the extent that if the former is occurring, due to a condition of possibility, then the latest, will occur graces to a contrary condition, who will prevent its being, by withdrawing part of it.

Haereid: It’s quite obvious that the multinary form of thinking reflects the real world best. But I would say both. Every possible way of establishing rationality in mind is proper. We calculate degrees of certainty all the time, all life, intuitively. Developing these procedures into conscious rational methods, e.g. math, statistics, is a part of being aware of these our internal traits, and enhance them. To calculate possibilities for events and entities are one way of getting closer to a rational experienced truth, like in weather forecast. The mind map is getting better. But this does not exclude the 1/0’s; possible or not. In my view, defining something as impossible is focusing on what we see as possible. We are not able to implement everything at the same time.

Jacobsen: Following from the aforementioned question, would this make existence and non-existence, the potential and the actual, determinate or more indeterminate in terms of statements one can make about them? In that, the world would be statistical, rather than not, in terms of the substantive statements one can make about reality.

Sorensen: Since from my point of view, reality would be intrinsically contradictory and conflicted… The aforementioned could lead to an ultimate consequence, which implies that reality in some way and degree is respectively ungraspable and unreal. Therefore it’s presumable that the real as such, it’s going to be probabilistic but not statistical, since there will always be a part, respecting to its existence, of which in either sense, nothing could be pronounced at all.

Haereid: Reality is what we experience it as; sense, perceive, feel, think. Thoughts are maps, and in a deductive and inductive approach to understand the world rationally, it reduces the gap between thoughts (approximations of reality) and reality using rational tools (like statistics). But this mental creation could be, and probably are, only a small bit of reality. Experiencing something that fits our thought map is not the same as revealing reality as it is. Making qualified assumptions, based on statistics or some other tools, is part of our inborn mental capacity. The world we reveal in the sense of being conscious, is statistical. The world we don’t know yet, or never will get to know, is not statistical. If we think something could happen, calculate a probability between 0 and 1 to measure degrees of possible occurrences, its still just a thought; a map over reality. It could lead us to bits of reality, but not define it. To reveal the deterministic bits of reality, the rational part of it, does not prove that some parts of reality is not irrational or indeterministic. It’s like science and falsification; you can prove rationality or rational truth forever without knowing if there is one black swan among all the white ones. It’s like being imprisoned in a house without windows and never see anything else than what’s inside that house. We are all rational beings, and we live in that house. We assume that there is a world outside, but no one can tell if its rational or irrational, if its deterministic or not.

Jacobsen: Does 1 plus 1 always equal 2? If so, why? If not, why not?

Sorensen: No, since sometimes 1 plus 1 equals 1, if it’s known how to count to 3.

Haereid: I stick with the arithmetic one. 1+1=2 given a set of rules and axioms; annihilation, symmetry and the Peano axiom. It means that you can show it mathematically using some basic principles. For instance, 1 is 0 and one unit, defined “one” or “1”. The next unit is 1 and another unit, and that we define as “2” or “two”. And so on. Through some obvious rules about how numbers behave in an addition (annihilation and symmetry), we gain 1+1=2.

Jacobsen: Any other options than determinism and indeterminism?

Sorensen: Yes, pseudo-indeterminism.

Haereid: What does it mean that everything is predetermined? That someone / something has decided that (my assumption). The formulas must have a beginning. And for them to have a beginning, they must be created by a power of definition. The defining power is necessarily irrational; outside the explicable and predictable. If this can be explained, then it will always have an inexplicable start, no matter where we start the process of understanding it all.

If we claim that “there is no start”, no creator of it all, then this is irrational, and thus beyond our comprehension. For us to be able to understand it all, there must be a start or something beyond (my assumption). But for it to be a start, it must be a start that we cannot fathom. Every comprehensible beginning is always a continuation of something we do not understand.

This explanatory model necessarily consists of both an indeterministic start and a wholly or partly deterministic continuation. All the things we then do not understand can be possible to understand, i.e. deterministic but not yet understood by us, or they can be impossible to understand, i.e. a component of the irrational and indeterministic beginning.

Reality in this mindset becomes a mixture of deterministic and indeterministic as long as we cannot understand it rationally. It is one thing to claim that God exists, quite another to say that you believe in God. The first is wrong because we do not know, the second is right because you know.

Appendix I: Footnotes

[1] Christian Sorensen is a Philosopher that comes from Belgium. What identifies him the most and above all is simplicity, for everything is better with “vanilla flavour.” Perhaps, for this reason, his intellectual passion is criticism and irony, in the sense of trying to reveal what “hides behind the mask,” and give birth to the true. For him, ignorance and knowledge never “cross paths.” What he likes the most in his leisure time, is to go for a walk with his wife.

Erik Haereid has been a member of Mensa since 2013, and is among the top scorers on several of the most credible IQ-tests in the unstandardized HRT-environment. He is listed in the World Genius Directory. He is also a member of several other high IQ Societies.

Erik, born in 1963, grew up in Oslo, Norway, in a middle class home at Grefsen nearby the forest, and started early running and cross country skiing. After finishing schools he studied mathematics, statistics and actuarial science at the University of Oslo. One of his first glimpses of math-skills appeared after he got a perfect score as the only student on a five hour math exam in high school.

He did his military duty in His Majesty The King’s Guard (Drilltroppen)).

Impatient as he is, he couldn’t sit still and only studying, so among many things he worked as a freelance journalist in a small news agency. In that period, he did some environmental volunteerism with Norges Naturvernforbund (Norwegian Society for the Conservation of Nature), where he was an activist, freelance journalist and arranged ‘Sykkeldagen i Oslo’ twice (1989 and 1990) as well as environmental issues lectures. He also wrote some crime short stories in A-Magasinet (Aftenposten (one of the main newspapers in Norway), the same paper where he earned his runner up (second place) in a nationwide writing contest in 1985. He also wrote several articles in different newspapers, magazines and so on in the 1980s and early 1990s.

He earned an M.Sc. degree in Statistics and Actuarial Sciences in 1991, and worked as an actuary novice/actuary from 1987 to 1995 in several Norwegian Insurance companies. He was the Academic Director (1998-2000) of insurance at the BI Norwegian Business School (1998-2000), Manager (1997-1998) of business insurance, life insurance, and pensions and formerly Actuary (1996-1997) at Nordea in Oslo Area, Norway, a self-employed Actuary Consultant (1996-1997), an Insurance Broker (1995-1996) at Assurance Centeret, Actuary (1991-1995) at Alfa Livsforsikring, novice Actuary (1987-1990) at UNI Forsikring.

In 1989 he worked in a project in Dallas with a Texas computer company for a month incorporating a Norwegian pension product into a data system. Erik is specialized in life insurance and pensions, both private and business insurances. From 1991 to 1995 he was a main part of developing new life insurance saving products adapted to bank business (Sparebanken NOR), and he developed the mathematics behind the premiums and premium reserves.

He has industry experience in accounting, insurance, and insurance as a broker. He writes in his IQ-blog the online newspaper Nettavisen. He has personal interests among other things in history, philosophy and social psychology.

In 1995, he moved to Aalborg in Denmark because of a Danish girl he met. He worked as an insurance broker for one year, and took advantage of this experience later when he developed his own consultant company.

After this, he became the Manager of business insurance in the insurance company Norske Liv. At that time he had developed and nurtured his idea of establishing an actuarial consulting company, and he did this after some years on a full-time basis with his actuarial colleague. In the beginning, the company was small. He had to gain money, and worked for almost two years as an Academic Director of insurance at the BI Norwegian Business School.

Then the consultant company started to grow, and he quitted BI and used his full time in NIA (Nordic Insurance Administration). This was in 1998/99, and he has been there since.

Erik’s book from 2011, Benektelse og Verdighet, contains some thoughts about our superficial, often discriminating societies, where the virtue seems to be egocentrism without thoughts about the whole. Empathy is lacking, and existential division into “us” and “them” is a mental challenge with major consequences. One of the obstacles is when people with power – mind, scientific, money, political, popularity – defend this kind of mind as “necessary” and “survival of the fittest” without understanding that such thoughts make the democracies much more volatile and threatened. When people do not understand the genesis of extreme violence like school killings, suicide or sociopathy, asking “how can this happen?” repeatedly, one can wonder how smart man really is. The responsibility is not limited to let’s say the parents. The responsibility is everyone’s. The day we can survive, mentally, being honest about our lives and existence, we will take huge leaps into the future of mankind.

[2] Individual Publication Date: July 15, 2020: http://www.in-sightjournal.com/haereid-sorensen-two; Full Issue Publication Date: September 1, 2020: https://in-sightjournal.com/insight-issues/.

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2023-03-20

An Interview with Byunghyun Ban (반병현) on Background, and Intelligence Testing & High-IQ Societies

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

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

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2020/07/15

Abstract

Byunghyun Ban (반병현) is a 27-year-old South Korean with a Master’s Degree in Bio and Brain Engineering and works as the CTO & CBO of Imagination Garden Inc. with certifications as a Psychological Counselor (first-class) andTrauma Counselor (first-class). He is a member of League of Perfect Scorers (silver), ISI Society, Intertel, and the Glia Society. He can be founded on https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Byunghyun_Ban. His publications in Korean are “코딩하는 공익”, 세창출판사 (2020), “공학자의 지혜묵상”, BOOKK(2020), “실전 민사소송법”, BOOKK(2020), and “법대로 합시다”, 지식과감성(2016). He discusses: background; high-IQ community; socializing; inelligence tests and societies; and hope for the high-IQ communities.

Keywords: Byunghyun Ban, high-IQ, intelligence testing, IQ, South Korea.

An Interview with Byunghyun Ban (반병현) on Background, and Intelligence Testing & High-IQ Societies[1]^,[2]*

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

1. Scott Douglas Jacobsen: What is the personal and educational story as a gifted person and actualizing some of the talents?

ByungHyun Jeremy Ban: Thanks for giving me a chance to recall my old memories. When I was very young, I already know that I could learn anything quite easier than others.

Korean education system is a competition among all high school students around the nation. My percentile score was around 99.97% so I finally realized my intelligence level at my age 15, quite objectively. I tried my best to develop my ability. I read a lot of books to acquire other people’s experiences and their lessons.

At 17, I entered Gyeongsangbuk-do Science Gifted Education Center with highest score, to learn university-level science education. Those experiences widened my sights. I skipped the last grade curriculum of highschool to enter KAIST, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology. I got both bachelor’s and master’s degree at KAIST.

I had a lot of experiences related to my talents. Well, I want to summarize my stories in one sentence.

“Absorb as many lessons as possible. Always keep your mind developing.”

2. Jacobsen: How did you become involved in the high-IQ community, whether tests or social associations with other bright people?

Ban: I just sent a copy of my IQ Test Certificate with payment via Paypal. That’s all I needed to be a member of high-IQ community.

3. Jacobsen: What do you consider some of the positives and negatives of becoming a part of the high-IQ communities and finding like-gifted people?

Ban: It has one positive thing. High-IQ communities provide certificates of membership, which looks very cool. I could not find any other positive things. Some societies are just puzzle clubs. If someone is looking for a real network of gifted people, I recommend entering Mensa or Intertel. They holds offline conferences and publishes journals.

4. Jacobsen: What intelligence tests and societies, mainstream and alternative, seem the most reliable to you?

Ban: Actually, I trust Korean SAT (College Scholastic Ability Test) and its mock exam. Their scores are highly standardized among 600,000 candidates. Also I trust WAIS and WISC most. I don’t trust any other IQ tests.

Also I think some High-IQ societies which require statistically meaningless scores are not reliable.

5. Jacobsen: What do you hope the high-IQ communities accomplish as they move into the future?

Ban: I hope High-IQ communities provide some intellectual contributions to the world. For example, I hope the societies to publish an open-access scientific journal which is indexed as SCIE or SCOPUS, and discount the publication fee for community members. This is the most simple way to collect geniuses and contribute intellectual works. PeerJ Group has a similar model. They request the membership fee to the authors. Once become a member of PeerJ group, it’s free to publish additional works without publication fee.

Jacobsen: Thank you for the opportunity and your time, ByungHyun.

Ban: Thanks you too. It was quite interesting.

Appendix I: Footnotes

[1] Member, Intertel; Member, Glia Society; Member, ISI- Society; Member, League of Perfect Scorers (Silver).

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

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2023-03-20

An Interview with Arturo Escorza Pedraza on Background, America, Mexico, and Intelligence (Part One)

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

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

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2020/07/08

Abstract

Arturo Escorza Pedraza scored 154 (S.D.15) on WIT and is a member of the World Genius Directory. He is an MSPE member of the International Society for Philosophical Enquiry. He discusses: the nature of the relationship between the historical ownership of land of Mexicans and outright annexation by Americans for the formation of modern America, the peoples’ (Native American, Mexican, etc.) descendants of the land stolen and the mostly European Christian individuals who annexed the land, and the modern incarnation of American leadership in the Trump Administration; an extended self or a sense of the family legacy; heart for this homeland; the family background; the memories of domestic violence; an absent father; the experience with peers and schoolmates as a child and an adolescent; seeing things differently; ethnic slurs; the purpose of intelligence tests; a healthy perspective; high intelligence discovered; the geniuses of the past have either been mocked, vilified, and condemned if not killed, or praised, flattered, platformed, and revered; the greatest geniuses in history; a genius from a profoundly intelligent person; societies treated women polymaths and women geniuses; some work experiences and educational certifications; hobbies; more important aspects of the idea of the gifted and geniuses; the tropes and stereotypes in American film about individuals with Mexican heritage; the core identity of Mexican culture; the gender role of men in Mexico; the gender role of women in Mexico; some social and political views; some of the sociopolitical discourse out of this singular dimensionality of thought; widely considered bright social and political commentators who are simply poseurs, even idiots, regardless of certifications and pedigree of qualifications; thoughts on the God concept or gods idea; atheists portrayed and treated in societies, e.g., Mexico or America; science; me of the tests taken and scores earned (with standard deviations); the range of the scores; and ethical philosophy.

Keywords: America, Arturo Escorza Pedraza, background, intelligence, Mexico.

An Interview with Arturo Escorza Pedraza on Background, America, Mexico, and Intelligence (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?

Arturo Escorza Pedraza: There are a couple of them: The first is that I owe my name to a boy who died hit by a car at age 12: my mother’s brother. She decided to pay tribute to him, a gifted boy with a talent for drawing, and who at an early age helped his father organize newspaper shipments throughout Mexico.

The second and perhaps more important was the notion that Spanish blood ran through our veins, from my mother’s side, anecdotally and without any document confirming it. I grew up longing for that distant and vilified homeland by most Mexicans. That forbidden love cost me many blows, insults, and ostracization throughout my life. Later, I dedicated many years of my life to my family tree and confirmed those anecdotes from both my mother’s and father’s sides.

2. Jacobsen: What is the nature of the relationship between the historical ownership of land of Mexicans and outright annexation by Americans for the formation of modern America, the peoples’ (Native American, Mexican, etc.) descendants of the land stolen and the mostly European Christian individuals who annexed the land, and the modern incarnation of American leadership in the Trump Administration? How are these tensions playing out in real time?

Escorza: To speak of the history of Mexico is to speak of a succession of misfortune after misfortune, sometimes by external causes but most of it by internal causes. Mexico has blamed Spain and the United States for its underdevelopment for almost two centuries, especially now with the populist who serves as the president of Mexico, without accepting any historical responsibilities.

European colonization and its consequences were different in each region, depending on the Imperial power that sponsored it.

The black legend against Spanish colonization is repeated to the point of satiety from elementary education in Mexico, but what is certain is that, as early as the year 1500, Queen Isabella the Catholic prohibited enslaving indigenous people and orders to give them back the land they before owned and if their work is to be used, they should be paid a fair wage; in 1503 she ordered mixed marriages to be encouraged “which are legitimate and recommended because the Indians are free vassals of the Spanish Crown”. In 1512, Ferdinand II the Laws of Burgos, in which it was reiterated that the natives were free and legitimate owners of houses and estates, and their rights and obligations were detailed as subjects of the Crown.

For three centuries, Spain built cities, the first colleges, and universities in the New World for indigenous people, hospitals, and convents.

All these laws, debates, rights and considerations before nations considered uncivilized, were a very unique case for the 16th century, obviously, not something that other powers, such as England, France or Belgium, would emulate.

The United States learned the British Empire’s way and after its independence, continued to conquer and subdue other nations.

The Mexican-American War confronted the powerful American army against the weak and poorly armed Mexican irregular army, (based on the practice of the levy).

During the Mexican-American War, the Mexican Liberal Party advocated in Congress to continue the war until the invader was expelled, however, their true plans were for the United States to annex the whole territory, as the only effective way to convert to Mexico in a developed country.

On January 29, 1848, four months after the Mexican defeat, the Mexican Liberal Party, ruling at the time, offered a banquet to the Commanding General of the occupation forces, Winfield Scott and his staff, in a former Augustinian convent on the outskirts of Mexico City, in the national park “Desierto de los Leones”.

Among the many toasts that took place, Francisco Suarez Iriarte, president of the Municipal Assembly, toasted the triumph of American arms, and Minister Miguel Lerdo de Tejada asked for the entire annexation of the country and for English to become the official language.

This was not in the plans of the United States. A part of the American politicians was inclined by the total annexation of Mexico, but another part, among which was the 7th vice-president of the United States, John Caldwell Calhoun, the idea was terrible: “The great misfortunes of Spanish America are to be traced to the fatal error of placing these colored races on an equality with the white race…”

In the end, it was decided only to annex the northern part of the country, with very little population density.

Nicholas Trist, the American diplomat, sent by the United States to sign the Guadalupe Hidalgo Treaty that stripped Mexico of more than half of its territory, later commented in a letter “My feeling of shame as an American was far stronger than the Mexicans’ could be.” Regarding the treaty.

In that treaty it was specified that the Mexican inhabitants of the annexed areas could obtain American nationality, however, between 1929 and 1936, between 400 thousand and 2 million Mexican-Americans descendants of those Mexicans “crossed by the border”, born in the United States were “voluntarily repatriated” to Mexico, amid racist feelings and the notion that they had something to do with the Great Depression of 1929 and the same old song “they take our jobs”.

The United States has made tremendous advances in civil rights in recent decades, not without opposition from the more conservative sectors, and it would be foolish to deny the improvement in relations between different ethnic groups, and the opportunities associated, despite many retrograde minds anchored in the 19th century.

I agree with many of President Trump’s policies, with others, don’t.

It doesn’t matter how the United States acquired the territories that belonged to Mexico in the 19th century, now we are in the 21st century and countries need borders. Also, if those territories were part of Mexico until today, they would surely be sterile deserts ruled by narco mafias and corruption, just like the rest of the country, so it’s not worth crying for what was lost without turning to see what is being lost now.

Mexico has to stop putting its economic hopes in the money that migrants send, both legal and illegal, and to fix its institutions and laws taking full responsibility.

While it’s true that the good and cheap labor of Mexican migrants is important for the type of capitalist economy that the United States has, there is no country that can accept an unlimited number of migrants, and not because they “take the jobs of Americans” (If there were no American employers offering low-paying jobs to illegal migrants, I assure you, there would be no illegal migrants.)

However, I think that addressing the issue could be more practical and simple, without the hasty generalization fallacy suggesting that all those born in a given country are criminals, and without inciting racism against people whose virtues or vices are not codified in their skin color.

I also agree that all people should comply with the laws, regardless of their skin color, and I also believe that the American laws are impartial and that with each new case the jurisprudence is updated.

But unlike Mr. Trump, I am more of practical thinking than a symbolist.

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

Escorza: They have. I always considered myself a citizen of an ethereal homeland that no longer exists, but only in my mind and heart. A homeland that I try to revive through the intangible musical notes of its centuries-old cathedrals. Absolutely not compatible with modern mariachi bands or music of praise to drug traffickers.

4. Jacobsen: What is in your heart for this homeland?

Escorza: It is my personal and romantic representation of the perfect nation, forged on the basis of all virtues and without flaws. It’s a utopian homeland that never existed in any present or past place, although it has many features of the Mexican viceregal past it’s basically almost the opposite of what modern Mexico represents. That’s why I say that it only exists in my mind and in my heart.

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

Escorza: My parents were born in Mexico City, and I have two siblings, I was the youngest of them, (13 years younger than my brother and 11 younger than my sister).

A dysfunctional family, where domestic violence and fear were the daily bread.

My father was the founder and CEO of a medium-sized pipes, valves, and fittings firm. He was a gifted man, with an eidetic memory that could remember all the streets, names, and details of each place he visited only once. He only finished High-School, but he offered consultation to engineers on the design of facilities.

My father’s alcoholism, my brother’s envy towards me, shaped much of what I am (and also what I’m not) in this life.

My father was a fervent enemy of religion, but in the last years of his life, it was just the opposite: He went to religious services every Sunday and sang praise and prayers at the top of his lungs.

My mother has been the only support, the only protection, and understanding that I have always had in my life. A religious-but-not-fanatic woman who believed that an atheistic son would condemn her to hell but who is now a critic of the religious institution thanks to me.

6. Jacobsen: Do the memories of domestic violence still impact you?

Escorza: That’s right, in fact, it is one of the reasons why I migrated from my country to Russia. Although it is true that physical violence was only against my mother on behalf of my father, psychological violence was against everyone, and when my father died, my brother was the continuator of that psychological violence, against my mother and me especially.

I have many painful memories of my worst enemy, my brother, but among all the pain, I practice what I call the “reverse revenge”. If people were bad with me, I have to be twice as good with them and I must not repeat the hate pattern with the people around me.

And if I can’t be good to my brother, because I haven’t healed yet, at least I’m far from him.

7. Jacobsen: How does an absent father in the sense of “no one’s home” with an alcoholic father impact a son? How does the other side of the coin – the alcoholic self of the father – impact you?

Escorza: In fact, in the first years of my life, my father was absent. He had another family to which he dedicated all his time and money. For us, all the bad things. When he came home, my whole being trembled with fear, and I didn’t know what to speak or what to answer. All I wanted was him to leave as soon as possible.

Over the years, he changed a little and became more accessible, and he came to profess great respect and love for me, which I also reciprocated, and I know I was his favorite son because I never reproached him for anything or I never dared to judge him.

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

Escorza: I was always very bullied, beaten, for being different, for my strange way of seeing life, and even for my complexion.

I even suffered harassment and even insults from teachers during elementary and junior high school.

In childhood and adolescence, I liked the company of people much older than me.

I even asked my mother to be homeschooled, and years later in High School, I asked her to be allowed to study at distance, so I could get my certificate based on exams and studying on my own, but since all this came out of the standards imposed by my father, I had to continue to endure harassment and the slow pace of teachers and classmates.

9. Jacobsen: How did they ‘harass and beat’ you for seeing things differently?

Escorza: I loved studying, I loved learning new things, I hated wasting my time (to this day) without doing something useful or without learning something new. An anecdote comes to mind that is an example of the kind of things I was bullied for:

I was 9 years old when I began fourth grade. My new teacher was a lovely old lady whom all the children loved. She was some months away from her retirement and her “lessons” were nothing more than anecdotes about her life, how she loved her grandsons, about the soap operas she watched and how she was skilled knitting with crochet.

I felt disappointed, I felt that I wasting my time and not learning anything. All my classmates were happy, not needing books or exams.

Many times I had the audacity to face her and ask her: “Mrs. Theresa, when are we going to have real lessons? and the sweet old lady would change her lovely face and turn the crowd against me: “These are precious lessons too, but Arturo thinks they’re not, so let’s please him: everyone, take a blank sheet, we’re having a surprise exam.”

You can imagine the face of my schoolmates and how scared I was because I knew what would happen to me after school. Yes, that day my schoolmates beat me again, and the next day, when the teacher appeared with the results of our surprise test and everyone failed except me, they beat me even harder.

10. Jacobsen: Were there ethnic slurs hurled based on the skin color? How alive are these issues to this day?

Escorza: They but in the opposite way.

My family tree let me know that my father and mother’s family were wealthy Spanish landowners and landlords and slave owners during the 16th and 18th centuries. They were not noble but followed the royal tradition of marrying between members of related families to preserve wealth within the family. Several centuries of identical surnames changing places and generations.

This minority ethnic group is called historically in Mexico “Criollo” (creole), and my family descends from them. In my whole school, I was the only “creole”, among mestizo children.

They made fun of my skin, my wavy and somewhat blond hair, my broad forehead (they thought it was baldness), but everything worsened when as part of a school project, we had to represent the conquest of the Aztec Empire. One of my favorite books, which I read with no little effort, but had a glossary of disused words from the 16th century, was Bernal Díaz del Castillo’s “True History of the Conquest of New Spain”, which we had at home. I used to read enraptured the adventures of Hernán Cortés and other conquerors.

So, the day came to give roles and since my grades were the highest in the class, they gave me the role of “the high priest”, but I wanted to be Hernán Cortés because he was my hero.

And the teachers listed for me the reasons why I shouldn’t choose Cortés: “He was evil!” “He was a genocide!” “It’s a greater honor to play the high priest” … no argument made me change my mind.

I was born for that role! My maternal family was descended from one of the conquerors who arrived with Cortés! don Diego de Pedraza, although at that time neither I nor my family knew it.

Nothing mattered, they decided that I would be the Aztec high priest and that was the end of our conversation.

My classmates heard the whole discussion and until the end of my time in elementary school, they called me: “gachupin” (despective slur against the Spanish), “malinche” (one of the worst insults against anyone in Mexico, semantically meaning: “traitor”. It’s the name of a very talented woman given to Hernán Cortés who served as a translator as she spoke Maya, Nahuatl, and quickly learned Spanish, but the Mexicans equate her with Judas’ betrayal) and many more names, for defending Hernán Cortés and my Iberian heritage.

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

Escorza: They are one more attempt to translate into numbers what makes us human and differentiates us from other human beings on this earth.

12. Jacobsen: Does this make them interesting while not everything as a healthy perspective?

Escorza: I recognize the importance of tests and their correlation with people’s abilities, but I also know of many people who base their happiness or sadness on the scores they obtain on such tests.

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

Escorza: When I was 9 months old, I already had a respectable repertoire of single words for any kid of my age, and around that time my mother watched “The Exorcist”, so her reaction when I began to speak my first words was to cross herself and to pray some prayer. She thought that it was the devil’s work! “no child speaks at such an early age”.

When I was three, I learned to read by myself, and one year later I began attending kindergarten. We had at home a new encyclopedia – comics style – about the adventures of a scientist called Professor Hubertus and his shape-shifting android Proteus. At the end of each volume, there were definitions of every single scientific term. That was the first time I had contact with physics, strong AI, rockets, and computers.

At the age of 5, something that would change my life forever happened.

One day to my kindergarten came a small group of people that I never saw before, with puzzles and began asking questions, and playing games. I don’t remember a lot, but what I do remember is that several days later the principal of the kindergarten called my mother. I wanted to talk to my parents next week. My father failed to attend, as he was very distant at that time, having time only for his mistress and her sons.

It was early in the morning when my mother entered the principal’s office, someone was waiting for her. She was welcomed by the principal and a man who introduced himself as a psychologist sent by the Secretariat of Public Education. “During the last days, we have conducted a series of tests with children to determine their level of intelligence (…) Congratulations Ma’am, your son is exceptionally gifted, it’s the highest IQ ever found in this kindergarten”. “He’s a very special child, please love him, understand him, and protect him. He will need to be enrolled in a school for gifted children. We’re giving you a closed envelope with all this information so you can find the best school for him, and, for the kid’s sake, don’t let him know that he is gifted, it would be prejudicial for him. “

Finally, in adolescence, my mother told me about this matter.

14. 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.

Escorza: Most people fear the unknown, and despise the different. Most people defend the most deeply rooted traditions, passed down from father to son, even the most illogical, and irrational, and consider anyone who proposes a new way of doing things as an aggressor, a heretic, an anti-patriot that has to be destroyed. Intelligence is a powerful weapon against the status quo and injustice.

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

Escorza: Since I was 8 years old, I started reading the volumes of the encyclopedia “Colossi of History”

I remember reading in ecstasy about the life of Leonardo da Vinci, his many talents, so much that, like any child says “I want to be a fireman”, “I want to be an astronaut”, I repeated, “I want to be like Leonardo da Vinci” and that has been one of the purposes of my life and of my studies, to this day.

Albert Einstein changed the way we understand the Universe, so, to me, he’s one of the greatest too, Nikola Tesla is also one of my favorites, and another one, from my country, is the nun Juana Ines de la Cruz from the 17th century: polymath, poet, dramatist, philosopher, composer, mathematician, owner of the largest library in the New Spain, the first feminist who suffered threats of the Holy Inquisition for her intelligence and work, which finally made her give away her library and her musical instruments and die of a typhus epidemic at age 46, nursing her sisters, the nuns of the Convent of St Jerome in Mexico City.

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

Escorza: Both would be similar to two race cars, however, one of them running on the roads and the other inside a garage.

A genius is one whose mind and ideas allow him to address problems in an alternative way, out of the box, and those ideas create changes.

17. Jacobsen: How have societies treated women polymaths and women geniuses? One obvious case is Hypatia.

Escorza: In most times, in the countries of Judeo-Christian tradition with a religious majority, they have been censored and relegated to the background.

The independent woman is insulted and vilified, the intelligent woman is feared. The gift of superior intelligence in a woman is not seen as something divine, but as influenced by the devil.

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

Escorza: I am a person who suffers from several phobias, the most important: agoraphobia and telephone phobia, which are a perfect ingredient to ruin anyone’s career and that’s why I have been working on my own for years.

I studied at the National Conservatory of Music in Mexico, and 3 years ago I also studied at the National School of Anthropology and History of Mexico.

At 19 I became the youngest tenor of the Choir of the Symphonic Orchestra of the State of Mexico, and at 22, the youngest tenor and Petty Officer in the Choir of the Navy of Mexico, after more than 300 tenors who auditioned in 5 years.

19. Jacobsen: What are your hobbies?

Escorza: Listen to baroque music, especially French and Italian. I like to create 3D illustrations and learn languages. Although it is true that now I consider myself less active and bitter, in 2009 I learned Romanian in 2 months on my own and this helped me to communicate without problems during my visit to Romania and now, I’m learning modern Hebrew.

20. 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?

Escorza: Something that strikes me most is that in my native country (Mexico), the idea is only seen as a subject of American films and not as a reality of the country, only a very short time ago. That same representation in the movies is what shapes people’s expectations of gifted and great people: strange people, sometimes unbearable, who know everything without even studying it, without knowing that behind each great idea there are thousands of hours of dedication, tears of blood, bullying. Some cultures will call them gifts from God, others, monstrosities against the goodness of God.

21. Jacobsen: What are the tropes and stereotypes in American film about individuals with Mexican heritage?

Escorza: Always the same: mindless, noisy people, without the capacity for deep feelings but lovers of partying and illegality. A caste born for manual labor, gardening, working the fields, servants, housekeepers. And even worse, are always represented as a monolithic ethnic group without differences. On my visits to other countries, when people know where I come from, they think that “You don’t look Mexican” is a compliment. Rather I don’t look like the stereotype they have in their minds.

22. Jacobsen: What is the core identity of Mexican culture?

Escorza: Victimism, a fake alternative national history, and the celebration of the notion of “we almost made it”.

Mexican official history celebrates losses and losers, names cities and states after them, and removes the names of great people from history books.

23. Jacobsen: What is the gender role of men in Mexico?

Escorza: Mexican culture is based on male chauvinism (what we call in Spanish “machismo”). The man has to be tough, womanizer, aggressive, anything short of that makes you an effeminate, a capital sin for Mexican machos.

Something similar to Dmitry Belyayev’s domesticated foxes experiment occurs with the Mexican male population, but in the opposite direction: each generation is more aggressive than the previous one.

24. Jacobsen: What is the gender role of women in Mexico?

Escorza: To submit to the will their fathers, brothers, boyfriends, or husbands. To be a good wife, to bear the husband, no matter how bad or unfaithful he is, that “he’s finally a man they are like that” and to stay at home.

Something terrible happens, in the face of the alarming numbers of women murdered every year, each case that makes it to the news unleashes comments by both men and women alike accusing the woman of her own death: “well deserved”, “she asked for it”, “If she had been in her house and not in the club, she would not have been murdered”

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

Escorza: I note with dismay that most people around the world is divided into the old “left” and “right”. I am not married to any ideologies and I consider them very harmful and belonging to other outdated times in human history.

I am also against the meddling of religion in state affairs, they should be well away from each other.

I am against the caste division of people, I find the color classification of people and systematic discrimination due to religions or sexual preferences unbearable.

I am against dictatorships and autocratic regimes with eternal leaders or leaders dividing the people into “good” and “bad”, “ours” and “not ours”, “with us” and “against us”.

The basis of everything should be: Everyone should be happy, feel protected, useful, with the same opportunities, within the law. Do not live in poverty or persecution.

26. Jacobsen: What can get some of the sociopolitical discourse out of this singular dimensionality of thought?

Escorza: The logical analysis of the premises. Be critical of all information, not believe in anything, or anyone unconditionally.

27. Jacobsen: Who are widely considered bright social and political commentators who are simply poseurs, even idiots, regardless of certifications and pedigree of qualifications?

Escorza: I am somewhat disconnected from that topic. For own mental health. The number of logical fallacies used by each commentator, each candidate, each politician in different countries, makes me feel that we now live in the world described by George Orwell in “Nineteen Eighty-Four”. Truth, history, common sense no longer have a meaning, but only what the party decides to give it.

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

Escorza: In ancient times, the shaman was the healer, the one who had contact with spirits from other dimensions, the one who offered the first explanation of the phenomena of nature.

Religion was institutionalized and was the first that, based on its moral conception, dictated laws of coexistence, food consumption, cleanliness.

Today, many religions serve their own monetary interests, and large numbers of parishioners zealously pursue rituals, but not the main teachings. For many people, it is essential to light a candle on certain days, say the same prayer 100 times or whip their backs in a procession, instead of the really important thing, which in most religions is the same: “Love your neighbor as you you love yourself”.

I am more inspired by someone who feeds the poor and showers the dirty, than someone who candles the churches or knows by heart all the verses of any given holy book.

On the other hand, as an atheist, since I was 11 years old, I consider that religion has a very important role to play in the modern world. While the reasonable man conducts himself on the basis of morality, empathy and goodness, a large number of people who believe in gods, try to behave morally and empathic, only because of the fear they have of a deity or the desire to be rewarded by it, so, without that fear, it seems to me that the world would be an even more dangerous and difficult place to live in.

The concept of God is the simplest wildcard response of many people to absolutely everything we do not know, and this eliminates the need to look further, so it seems obsolete to me.

For me, I would turn all the beautiful religious buildings into philosophical and scientific temples, to eradicate all kinds of superstitions from people’s minds, to teach them to think for themselves, logically, and I’d also use them as a beautiful setting for musical concerts.

29. Jacobsen: Typically, how are atheists portrayed and treated in societies, e.g., Mexico or America?

Escorza: As misfits. How can one not believe in God? “if it were not for him we would not exist.”

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

Escorza: Science is the best tool we have to try to reach the truth. It has taken us out of caves, has made us build cities, navigate the seas, has lengthened our life expectancy and has opened a hole in Plato’s cave, to see beyond. I have great respect for science, and I marvel at every little or great new discovery.

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

Escorza: The one they did to me at 5 years old, although I don’t know the score.

During the treatment of a terrible depression that almost cost me my life, a psychiatrist gave me the WAIS test, 13 years ago, when I was 25 years old. My result was 160 sd-15.

32. 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.

Escorza: In alternative tests without time limits, from different test creators on the internet, I have obtained scores close to that of 13 years ago and others in the range of 150-154 and in some cases, up to 124. In many cases it depends on I am not a native speaker of English and that some nuances of the language are unknown to me.

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

Escorza: As an atheist that I am, and without having concrete evidence of a life after this, I consider death the end of everything, which is why it’s not worth living life in hardship, in penance, in suffering, waiting for the reward of an eternal life of happiness and absence of pain and suffering. So, a mixture of hedonism and the Golden Mean would be my ethical philosophy.

Appendix I: Footnotes

[1] Member, World Genius Directory.

[2] Individual Publication Date: July 8, 2020: http://www.in-sightjournal.com/pedraza-one; Full Issue Publication Date: September 1, 2020: https://in-sightjournal.com/insight-issues/.

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2023-03-20

An Interview with Christian Sorensen on Forms of Logic and the Gods (Part Eight)

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

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

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2020/07/08

Abstract

Keywords: Christian Sorensen, gods, logics, metaphysics, philosophy.

An Interview with Christian Sorensen on Forms of Logic and the Gods (Part Eight)[1]^,[2]*

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

1. Scott Douglas Jacobsen: What is real?

Christian Sorenson: Everything “that is being,” that is to say, everything “that has existence.”

2. Jacobsen: What is unreal?

Sorensen: Everything that “has no” possibility “to become,” or that does “not yet exist.”

3. Jacobsen: What is a proof?

Sorensen: It is the “obligation” that a certain “thing,” has to provide “sufficient justification,” with respect to “itself.”

4. Jacobsen: What is an evidence?

Sorensen: It is the “content” of a “knowledge,” of which it is possible to affirm with “certainty” of its “validity,” since it is “indisputably” manifested, and therefore does not admit “further discussion.”

5. Jacobsen: Why the distinguishing between moral, natural, and metaphysical philosophy?

Sorensen: Because they are “degrees” of increasing “levels and dimensions,” within the philosophy, in this way the “moral” refers to the “assessment” of behaviors anthropologically speaking, which is a part of “nature,” and “metaphysics” in turn, is a “remaining distinction,” and therefore refers to everything that’s “extra-natural.”

6. Jacobsen: If we have an ideal reality, and if we derive from the ideal reality as some delimit, we have individual purposes if we self-actualize to some degree. Real and non-survival-based purposes intelligible and important to the individual. We can reverse the logic of this: From the individual derived from the ideal reality who has an individual purpose as a reflection of this more absolute reality, the reflection, the reflected individual as such, should imply the idea of agency or purpose reflected, in part as it is partial in the individual reflection, in the ideal reality. Does this ideal reality have a purpose? If so, how? If not, why not? What is the trajectory or directionality of the purpose of the ideal reality’s reflections, where the ideal reality exists a-temporally and, thus, has a purpose insofar as it would have a crystallized, dare I say eternal and unchanging, purpose?

Sorensen: There is “no continuity” between “ideal reality” and “individual reality,” since they are realities that belong to two completely “different dimensions,” and therefore it is “not possible” to refer to them, in a “comparative” and “analogical” manner, nor even in a “participatory” way. “Purpose” is the “outcome” of an “intellectual operation” that “is a reflection,” and which in turn is “a property” of temporal, material, and individual reality. The “ideal reality,” does not have “this property,” as well as it “does not have any other,” since all the properties, operations and possible results derived from it, are circumscribed in the “dimension of having,” which it is in itself “an imperfection,” and because “this reality” is supposedly “perfect,” then strictly speaking “it does have nothing.” Furthermore, “reflection” and therefore the “purpose” derived from it, “are secondarily” an imperfection in an “intellectual” sense, due to the fact that they are what I will name as “of procedural” nature, for supposing a “process of thought” or “reasoning.” In consequence, regarding the “ideal reality,” it can be affirmed that it is what I will denominate as “pure intelligence,” which ultimately means that it is “not actualisable,” since the “movement” is not present within it.

7. Jacobsen: Why is the universe intelligible?

Sorensen: Because “intelligence” is “universal.”

8. Jacobsen: Is the intelligibility of the universe an argument for or against a god?

Sorensen: Sometimes I feel that “god is absurd,” so in that sense it would not be an argument in favor of a god.

9. Jacobsen: Why was Socrates considered the wisest man?

Sorensen: Since “Socrates” accomplished to “distinguish” and “separate” the “knowledge” from “truth,” in the sense of attributing “a content” to the first, and placing the second as “an ideal” of the being, at the same time that was able “to relativize” the concept of “certainty.”

10. Jacobsen: Why are many great thinkers convicted, persecuted, or killed?

Sorensen: Because the “great thinkers,” when denouncing the “error disguised as truth,” are seen “as sub-versives” since they “sub-vert” the order in the states of things, because “a change” is demanded regarding it, and this causes that “control mechanisms” lose their effectiveness, and therefore the “growth of autonomy” as an outcome, is seen as something “chaotic and bad.”

11. Jacobsen: Why was Giordano Bruno killed?

Sorensen: “Giordano Bruno,” was accused of “heresy,” by the “Catholic Inquisition,” and sentenced to death. He proposed a “cosmological theory,” which sustains that “the universe,” would be made up of an “infinite number of worlds,” and “theologically” proposed a particular form of “pantheism.”

12. Jacobsen: Why did the Golden Age of Islam with the Caliphate decline and fall?

Sorensen: The “Golden Age” of Islam or “Islamic Rebirth,” declined after the “Mongolian invasion” devastated the “Arab world” to such an extent, that “Arab science” could never regain its “former splendor.”

13. Jacobsen: Why did Constantine co-opt Christian for imperial and oppressor-dominator purposes?

Sorensen: Constantine used them to “gain political support,” especially in the “eastern territories,” where he aspired to become emperor of the east and also because he desired to reunify the empire.

14. Jacobsen: How has Christ’s message been diluted over time, even by the most gentle and well-meaning of ordinary, hardworking, and decent people?

Sorensen: The original message “of Christ,” was “revolutionary and idealistic,” because it was addressed to “the poor,” and since it aimed “to correct” the defects of the “Jewish religion,” especially in the sense of making it more “inclusive or universal,” and “libertarian.” However, over time, it has been “bad used” as an “exchange currency,” that is at the service of the “political and economic” powers, “to exploit” the poorest and the spiritually underprivileged.

15. Jacobsen: What is a human being?

Sorensen: It is a “rational substance” in a “material body.”

16. Jacobsen: How does this definition differ from the transcendental image of various religious figures?

Sorensen: In the sense that it “has not” been “created” by anyone, and “even less” has some kind of “divine breath.”

17. Jacobsen: How has the scientific method evolved over time and come out of the philosophical traditions as an extant branch of philosophy? That is, Newton, Witten, and Einstein all did/do a form of philosophy.

Sorensen: Rather I believe, that the “scientific method,” is a “branch of another trunk,” therefore I do not think that it has evolved from philosophy. The fact that there is an “historical contingency” between the appearance of the particular sciences, their method and philosophy, “does not” necessarily implies, that there is a “gnoseological” unity and evolution between them. Similarly, the “kind of philosophy” that these scientists and others have attempted to do, “is quite poor” with respect to their “epistemological foundations.”

18. Jacobsen: When should individuals be skeptical of the claims in philosophy now? Things simply untenable within the philosophical canon – once respectful, now scorned.

Sorensen: The fact of sustaining, that what “philosophy” previously said about “science,” was “respected” before, but “no longer,” and to maintain that what it can now says, is “unacceptable,” implies a “significant problem,” since this shows a “mental confusion,” because “two things” are taken as if they were “identical,” when actually they “are different,” and also exhibits “a pre-judice” due to “doctoral ignorance” or in same cases because of “resounding ignorance.” Therefore, it must be noticed, that “empirical” or “particular science” is completely different from “philosophical science” regarding its nature, method, and results. On the other hand, there is an “epistemological” area, that since it is common to both types “of sciences,” consequently allows “philosophy,” to pronounce on current “science.” Nevertheless, the same can not be said, in relation to the “methodological or empirical” assessment of scientific knowledge, since if in this area “philosophy” were to pronounce in some sense, it would be regardless of any context, something “unacceptable.”

19. Jacobsen: What defines Indian philosophy?

Sorensen: Known also as “darsan philosophy,” represents “an integration” of “philosophical traditions” and “religious doctrines,” typical of that region which includes concepts such as dharma, karma and samsara.

20. Jacobsen: What defines East Asian philosophy?

Sorensen: It is a “philosophy,” that starts from a “religious assumption,” which considers that all “natural phenomena” are a response to the “sins committed” by the “human being.” It “integrates three orientations”: that of Lao Tse, Confucius and Buddhism, which respectively emphasize virtue and harmony with the universe, the relationships between human beings, and self-knowledge regarding one’s own and internal god.

21. Jacobsen: What defines Indigenous American philosophy? Bill Sidis focused a lot on the Native Americans. In fact, he had some important insights and ideas developed from them.

Sorensen: It is a “philosophy,” that “symbolically” represents “reality,” through all its “expressions,” its “wisdom” and the way it “interacts” with nature. Within it, there are “two principles,” that interact with each other: that of “reciprocity,” and that of “know to be.” The first, refers to the “fact of giving,” as a form of respect, and in the same magnitude, as “mother earth” gives them, while the second, is related to the fact of “not feeling nature has owners,” and to learn to live as “being part of nature,” therefore the latter is what allows in practice, to carry out the first one of them.

22. Jacobsen: What defines Middle Eastern philosophy?

Sorensen: In my opinion, what defines it, is the “secret path” of “Kabbalah” knowledge.

23. Jacobsen: What defines Western philosophy?

Sorensen: What defines it, is the “love of wisdom,” through the “path of reason,” using as a means the “capacity for amazement,” and by pursuing the “useless” as an end.

24. Jacobsen: What defines African philosophy?

Sorensen: It is an “ethno-philosophy,” that is represented by “critical thoughts” about the “reality experiences,” which various African peoples have developed, as a “specific cultural” expression, and that presumably as such, cannot be “applicable and accessible,” to all the peoples and cultures of the world.

25. Jacobsen: How do men’s history of philosophical ideas differ from women’s history of philosophical ideas?

Sorensen: As 1 and 0 respectively.

26. Jacobsen: What is classical logic?

Sorensen: It is also known as “standard logic,” and it can be said of it, that is a “formal system,” that respects “the principles” of non-contradiction, excluded third party, explosion and monotonicity of the implication.

27. Jacobsen: What is syllogistic logic?

Sorensen: It is a form of “inductive and deductive” reasoning,” consisting of “two propositions” as premises, and a “conclusion,” being the latter a necessarily deductive inference from the other two.

28. Jacobsen: What is modal logic?

Sorensen: It is a “formal system,” that tries to capture the “deductive behavior” of a group of “modal operators,” which in turn are “expressions” that qualify the truth of the judgments.

29. Jacobsen: What is predicate logic?

Sorensen: It is a “formal system,” designed to analyze “inference” in first-order languages, that in turn are “formal languages,” and which have a superior “expressive power,” than that of propositional logic.

30. Jacobsen: What is propositional logic?

Sorensen: Also known as “zero order logic,” is a “formal system,” represented by “simple elements” denominated “propositions,” and by “logical constants” named “logical connectives,” that allow to “represent operations” regarding the formers, and to perform “inferences,” in order to determine their semantic truth or falsity.

31. Jacobsen: What is dialectic? Would this differ much from a trialectic, or a quadralectic?

Sorensen: I would define it as a type of logic, that “opposes two contradictory” terms, in order to extract a “synthesis” of both, that later becomes a “first term,” in response to which an other opposite term emerges again, and so on. I think that regarding a “trialectic or quadralectic,” it differs “profoundly,” since although these last do not exist, if I could imagine them, they would be similar to entering into another “logical dimension,” where necessarily and because of “their constellations,” it should be necessary “to abolish” all the existing “logical principles,” and propose other alternatives, which at least until now, has not been achieved by nobody.

32. Jacobsen: What is formal reasoning? What is informal reasoning?

Sorensen: “Formal reasoning,” is one that seeks to “solve problems,” and “draw conclusions,” by establishing the “necessary logical and causal” connections between the facts. “Informal reasoning,” differs from the previous, since tries “to overcome” the limitations of it, when pretending to take into account linguistic, contextual, pragmatic and epistemic factors, in order to arrive to inference argumentations” or to “decision-makings.”

33. Jacobsen: What is mathematical logic?

Sorensen: It consists of a “formal and symbolic” study of logic, and of “its application,” regarding some areas of mathematics and science.

34. Jacobsen: How do these differ from philosophical logic and computational logic?

Sorensen: “Philosophical logic” differs from these, because it is capable “of developing” extensions and alternatives, to traditional logic, as is the case that regards “non-classical” logic. In the case of “computational logic,” it is actually the same “mathematical logic” applied in the context of computational science.

35. Jacobsen: Is there such a thing as a non-computational logic?

Sorensen: I think it is possible, but out of the context of a “binary logic.”

36. Jacobsen: What are non-classical logics?

Sorensen: It is an “alternative logic” and a “formal system,” that aims to “differ significantly” from classical logic, by introducing extensions, deviations and variations of the last.

37. Jacobsen: If we take some of these ideas, people behind them, schools of thoughts, and the various derivations therefrom, then we come to some interesting tentative conclusions within the empirical evidence from the cognitive neurosciences and from individual experience of the various schools of logic practiced by their respective logicians. We can see the general architecture, operations, and outputs of the human brain in the human organism. We know individual logicians can conduct all these forms of logic in terms of the formal and informal operations. If we see this structure, and if we see these individuals performing all different manner of operations, then we can see the generalized functionality of the human mind in spite of caloric, computational, speed, memory, and comprehensive factorial limitations. The question: Why is the human mind so general, so profound, while so flawed and so obviously crummy?

Sorensen: Because this, is what ultimately allows “diversity,” and the implementation of “a comparative” criterion within it, which in turn enables the “structural and structuring” mobility “of mind,” regarding a “material” sense, and in relation to its “cognitive processes.”

38. Jacobsen: What is abductive/retroductive logic?

Sorensen: It is a form of “reasoning,” that from “the description” of a fact or a phenomenon, tries to arrive to an “hypothesis,” which pretends to explain “its reasons,” by means of “the premises” obtained.

39. Jacobsen: What is a metaphorical inference? What is a literal inference?

Sorensen: Respectively, is “to deduce” a concept or reality, “different” from the original concept or reality, but maintaining a “relationship or similarity” with it. Is “to deduce” a concept or reality, with “identical” signification or meaning, regarding “the original” concept and reality.

40. Jacobsen: What makes the mind material and non-material in some sense?

Sorensen: The fact of being “human beings.”

41. Jacobsen: What makes the profoundly intelligent more likely to incorporate an intuitive grasp of more of these logics in simultaneity than the others?

Sorensen: Due to the fact that “their brains,” compared to the rest, “neuro-anatomically,” exhibit a much broader and more complex “synaptic arborization.”

42. Jacobsen: How does a logic tolerate inconsistency and apparent impossibility?

Sorensen: In my opinion, by “tolerating ambiguity,” and “refraining” from passing “judgments,” until the inconsistency and apparent impossibility “are dissipated.”

43. Jacobsen: What is fundamentally impossible?

Sorensen: To “resurrect” or “revive.”

44. Jacobsen: What is fundamentally possible?

Sorensen: Everything that is “metaphysically” admissible.

45. Jacobsen: What are the limits on the possible?

Sorensen: Those who are imposed by “existence.”

46. Jacobsen: Is love logical?

Sorensen: Yes, as long as “the couple” has “artificial intelligence.”

47. Jacobsen: Speaking of the real and unreal, proofs and evidences, etc., William Paley wrote the 1802 book arguing for a god of Christianity as one evidenced by the natural world for ‘proof’ of a designing intelligence, a watchmaker, of the world. The book was entitled Natural Theology or Evidences of the Existence and Attributes of the Deity. “Evidences” and “Attributes” of a “Deity,” his god likely intervened in the world, so Theity would have been better. Anyhow! He looked at the evidence of observation of the natural world without much in the manner of formal experimentation and then reasoned from human design of objects to divine design of living things. Then this was a way to look at attributes of the “Deity.” In modern North American culture, there is a common notion, “God is Love,” or, “Love is God.” It’s an inane colloquialism without much content other than an American hípster talking about feeling “good vibes.” “God is love” is “good vibes” without the illicit substances involved in the sub-culture. Popular debaters with relevant qualifications in philosophy and theology, e.g., William Lane Craig, lay out a consistent and steady stream of variations on five themes of arguments for God: the cosmological argument, the kalam cosmological argument, the moral argument, the teleological argument, and the ontological argument. These either assume certain traits of the Christian God and then move to provide reasons for asserted characteristics of the god, argue for an impersonal god and then to a personal god for the reasonable faith of the Christian in the Christian God, or simply rely on personal thinking or personal experience (religious experience, e.g., “Witness of the Holy Spirit in my life”) to be sufficient, to the Craigs of the popular and public intellectual world, proof or evidence of God or enough to close the gap to make a “Reasonable Faith.” Personally, none of these seem, at root, particularly powerful or compelling arguments – though, maybe, intriguing and provocative proposals – in getting to the philosophical bedrock of the situation. There was a recent cultural counter response, too, as seen in largely 18-35-year-old White men, European heritage men, or Caucasian men. Much of this “New Atheism” arose in the midst of the last 15 years or so, as a branch of atheism, or a flavour of atheism, with Militant Atheism and Firebrand Atheism as its two heads, where Professor Daniel Dennett, Dr. Sam Harris, Dr. Richard Dawkins, and the late Christopher Hitchens were the main figureheads with others including David Silverman, Ayaan Hirsi Ali, the late Professor Victor J. Stenger, Jerry Coyne, and P.Z. Myers. Most freethought community members do not identify with Firebrand Atheism, Militant Atheism, or New Atheism to be clear. It rose in the 2000s and fell in the 2010s with an assumption of many religious people as idiots; all the while, many highly intelligent religious believers exist and work, debate, and research in the world if they bothered to look and engage more seriously, substantively, and directly, with them or, at least, with their work. However, I do not see much in the way of first principles thinking about a god, whether possible or plausible. Let’s explore some of this a bit, to take a Devil’s ‘advocate’ view – so to oppositionally speak, the possible gods and the plausible gods on offer in the world of hypothesis. To get these out of the way, and sorry if there is some indirect overlap with prior interviews here, what gods are not possible, are impossible, as a natural result of scientific developments or as a product of a priori considerations?

Sorensen: If anyone were “to wonder” what is “the most” perfect, infinite, eternal and self-subsisting idea that “could be imagined,” it would be difficult “to answer,” something other than the “idea of god.” In this sense, it could at least be affirmed that “the greatest idea imaginable” by anyone, is the one “of god,” and therefore in turn, it may be determined that “god exists,” at least as “an idea within anyone’s mind.” Something very different, would be beyond “an emotional need,” to supposed that god’s ontological existence is “rationally demonstrable.” Following this reasoning, it may be said, that until now, “all the arguments” regarding this purpose, from the most logically and simple, till the more sophisticated metaphysically and scientifically speaking ones, have been “an absolute failure,” since in their whole, “are attached” to “an argumentative fallacy denominator,” due to the fact of being “invariable tautological explanations,” where “what is explained,” is identical to “what is trying to be explained.” So far, this “type of knowledge,” would “not be accessible,” if it were not only by “way of faith,” and for this reason, would necessarily exist “a dichotomy,” that forces regardless of whether it’s considered a “valid path or not,” in assuming it as an “irrational option” or as a “supra-rational” alternative, which is not more than “a neologism,” since in strict order, the latter “lacks absolutely of any significance.” From my point of view, I think that god’s ontological existence, is “a legitimate problem,” because the “admissibility” of “a response” would be possible, as long as the concept of “mathematical infinity,” is developed and is complemented with that of “metaphysical time and present.”

48. Jacobsen: What would you consider some basic categories of the possible when thinking of a god?

Sorensen: Those of “infinity” and “eternity.”

49. Jacobsen: The plausible sits atop the possible apart, on the other side of the partition of the, implausible, once the impossible is dealt with there. We will be dealing only with the implausible here only insofar as this is implied via the plausibility of a god. What would be some of the metrics of plausibility of a god?

Sorensen: In my opinion, the only “plausibility metric” of god is that of “causality,” which “in itself” seems to me, to be “poor and weak,” as a metric “of anything,” while I believe that “any other metric” on the plausibility of god, would “also be so.” In this sense, I think that the “only criterion” to examine “god’s plausibility,” should be that “of negation,” through what god “does not has” and “does not is.”

50. Jacobsen: What differentiates the qualities of the categories of the possible and the plausible here in regards to the considerations of the gods?

Sorensen: If “any quality” in order “to exist,” necessarily must do it “while being in something,” since “by itself” it wouldn’t be possible, and at the same time I affirm of god, a “category” which is that of “negation,” because its “having is nothing,” then it could be assumed regarding “their differentiations,” that “no-quality” may be as such and under no possible aspect “participable.”

51. Jacobsen: Following from the previous question, what inter-relates the categories?

Sorensen: “Ontologically” speaking, there would “be nothing” that “inter-relates” these categories, since they are not “distinguishable” nor “delimitable” Nevertheless, from “a logical” perspective, the “self-subsistence” as a “background” could be able to do so, at the same time that through a sort “of game,” in which they are simultaneously “shown and hidden,” allows them to “stand out” as “figures,” as they get lost within the “self-subsistence.

52. Jacobsen: If we stretch the possibilities of the categories of the possible gods, to make this more conceptually colorful, what would be some examples of the various categories stretched to their utmost limit with some representative gods?

Sorensen: Besides “infinity and eternity,” and no longer “as qualities,” but as “self-subsisting” properties in themselves, I consider they would be the categories of goodness, justice, parenthood, substance and reason.

53. Jacobsen: If we delimit the possible gods to the most plausible gods on offer in the religions of the world, what ones seem the most plausible?

Sorensen: Adonai.

54. Jacobsen: If we delimit the possible gods to the most plausible gods as proposed in various forms by the thousand or so greatest minds in the history of humanity, what ones seem the most plausible proposed by these scientists, philosophers, painters, composers, and the like? Of course, there will be some overlap between the set of religious gods and the religious historical geniuses’ gods. The third set would be simply an individuated historical genius’s god.

Sorensen: If I could “integrate,” all the forms of god, proposed outside of religion in a single sentence, I would define it as a “universal intellectual substance.”

55. Jacobsen: To you, if a god exists, let’s take top five gods, what ones seem the most plausible to you?

Sorensen: As a “universal reason,” as “Sefirots” and the tree of life, a “watch-maker” god, a “totemic” figure, and the “demiurge.”

Appendix I: Footnotes

[1] Independent Philosopher.

[2] Individual Publication Date: July 8, 2020: http://www.in-sightjournal.com/sorensen-eight; Full Issue Publication Date: September 1, 2020: https://in-sightjournal.com/insight-issues/.

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2023-03-20

An Interview with Anthony Sepulveda on Bucket List and Culture (Part Three)

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

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

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2020/07/08

Abstract

Anthony Sepulveda scored 174 (S.D.15) on Cosmic and is a member of the World Genius Directory. He discusses: important problems; ethics and morality based on the position of the determinism of human nature; international human rights and humanitarian law, and God’s law; morality; a cyst; the bucket list; items for the bucket list; form of reincarnation; the inevitable drift or direction of human evolution; environmental long-term stability; redistribution of resources and international responsibility, or not; an alien species; a culture of care; religion; week 10; the Northern Lights; ‘Tango’; 1984-ish attempts to rewrite history on the part of religious extremists with a conservative orientation and extremist social activists with a liberal perspective; and some signs of some cultures decaying in rejection of historical monuments of the senses called art.

Keywords: Anthony Sepulveda, bucket list, culture, philosophy.

An Interview with Anthony Sepulveda on Bucket List and Culture (Part Three)[1]^,[2]*

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

1. Scott Douglas Jacobsen: What do you consider some of the more important problems to solve now?

Anthony Sepulveda (Brown): The biggest issues that need attention right now are political with a focus on long-term social and environmental stability. It terrifies me to know that we’re closer to interplanetary travel than world peace, insofar as we’ll be more akin to a virus spreading than curious explorers. So we need to ensure our home is stable, safe and sound before moving onward.

2. Jacobsen: Some will claim a determinist view of human nature leaves the question of freedom of the will a concluded issue and then this becomes connected to morality or ethics. Any thoughts on ethics and morality based on the position of the determinism of human nature?

Sepulveda (Brown): This is a very interesting problem. Generally, an objective answer to an important problem would result in it’s immediate implication. However, given the standard view of a hard determinist and my current views on the afterlife, it would conclude that it doesn’t matter what we do and that our experiences have no effects after death. This would result in a ‘might makes right’, ‘survival of the fittest’ environment that I’m not entirely sure doesn’t already exist (if in a relatively unusual form).

3. Jacobsen: What do you think of the comparison between international human rights and humanitarian law, on the one hand, and God’s law, e.g., Moses and the Ten Commandments, on the other?

Sepulveda (Brown): Any ethical problem can be solved using the same logic John Nash applied to economics – Do what’s best for you and everyone else. Many problems arise when our egos overshadow our empathy for others. And accepting our status as relative equals (especially with future generations) would go a long way to resolve most issues.

Without definitive proof that a specific religion reflects the truth of God’s will, all laws should be founded on objective reason and experience.

4. Jacobsen: Is morality invented, discovered, or innate and then constructed/formalized?

Sepulveda (Brown): It’s an interesting question… I believe that the solutions to ethical problems are relative to their environment. So, while there is a Commandment that orders not to kill, I would obey it on the grounds that performing such acts is not necessary for the ongoing prosperity of myself and those I respect. But in a different situation – if I were homeless and cold and another vagrant were to attempt to steal what little comforts I had, I imagine that their continued existence wouldn’t matter much to me. It seems probable to me that most of morality is relative to the events surrounding it.

5. Jacobsen: What was the sense of relief in finding out only a cyst was present?

Sepulveda (Brown): Indescribable. I was on cloud nine for weeks. Absolutely nothing could get under my skin and I was obnoxiously happy.

6. Jacobsen: So, what is on the bucket list?

Sepulveda (Brown): 1. See the Northern Lights 2. Do everything in my power to ensure the ongoing happiness of Tango and the few family members I’m close to. The rest of life is a blank canvas that I have free reign with as long as I avoid actions that I’ll actually regret.

7. Jacobsen: Why choose those items for the bucket list?

Sepulveda (Brown): The patterns of nature have always fascinated me and the only one I haven’t seen for myself yet is the Northern Lights. The other is pretty self explanatory – I love them most dearly and want nothing but the best for them.

8. Jacobsen: What form of reincarnation makes sense to you?

Sepulveda (Brown): There are a few different ideas of how reincarnation occurs, but there’s no real way to determine which one is the most accurate. Still, I lean towards it because no other part of nature is permanent. Everything is in a constant state of flux. So why would the soul be any different?

9. Jacobsen: What seems like the inevitable drift or direction of human evolution?

Sepulveda (Brown): I’m not sure. The world is so interconnected and events arise to be forgotten so quickly nowadays that it seems impossible to accurately predict. But if determinism is accurate, then the idea of fate is valid and we’ll all reach an inevitable conclusion no matter what I do.

10. Jacobsen: What parts of environmental long-term stability?

Sepulveda (Brown): All of them. We need to learn from our mistakes and alter our methodologies if we want to maintain the overall stability of the global ecosystem. We need to fund and encourage companies like Mycoworks that have dedicated themselves to the development of safe materials that could easily replace leather, plastic and even some building materials. Even that simple change would go a long way towards securing our future because, let’s face facts, humans are wasteful and will continue to be so in the future. So we need to get ahead of that problem and design our luxury products with the mindset that they will likely be cast aside as soon as they’re unwanted. Plastic is still found in the digestive tract of many, many animals (primarily aquatic and avian because they don’t taste food as we do). And this poisons the entire food chain of many environments.

We also need to prepare for the inevitable end of resources like crude oil, which, during the time of this interview, is believed to be depleted completely within my lifetime.

11. Jacobsen: What needs to happen in regards to redistribution resources and international responsibility, or not?

Sepulveda (Brown): I wish I knew. Answering that question would require a level of expertise I haven’t reached in several subjects and I’m not the type to try to turn hollow words into a facsimile of something that sounds good.

12. Jacobsen: If we meet an alien species, how will Mecca travellers or the Vatican react, likely?

Sepulveda (Brown): Likely, there would be a state of denial that would last for a period relative to each individual’s level of fanaticism and access to information on current events while others attempt to incorporate the news into their existing belief system.

13. Jacobsen: How can we inculcate a culture of care for better empathy amongst more people in society?

Sepulveda (Brown): Firstly, we need to talk to each other more often. And not just the people we like and agree with, but as many people as we can. We need to challenge and humble ourselves and realize that no ones all that different from anyone else. All too often, people will completely write off other contrasting views and either ignore them completely or insulting them into nonexistence. Both are unhealthy responses and need to be rectified for everyone’s benefit.

14. Jacobsen: Religion tends to be based on revelation, theology (ad-hoc rationalization and textual analysis), and personal experience, and authority. What could make religions more rational if they aren’t going anywhere based on some evolved bug in the wetware of human beings?

Sepulveda (Brown): Many of the revelations referred to by religious people or texts have to be taken on faith, trusting the words of others without any real evidence or reason. This level of naive silliness should be avoided, in my opinion. Instead, we should focus on the details we can all see and appreciate and compare them with the overwhelming ignorance we all have of the nature of reality.

15. Jacobsen: What happened on week 10?

Sepulveda (Brown): My eyes regained focus, metaphorically speaking. And the pleasant visions I’d been fantasizing of pursuing with my potentially more distant future were obstructed by an ugly present that refused to be ignored.

16. Jacobsen: Why the Northern Lights?

Sepulveda (Brown): The Southern Lights are farther away.

17. Jacobsen: Do you mean that you dance Tango?

Sepulveda (Brown): No, Tango is the nickname I gave my best friend when we were working together. And to answer your next question – no, at the time of this interview we have never danced together. Though I look forward to the day I have the opportunity.

18. Jacobsen: What do you make of 1984-ish attempts to rewrite history on the part of religious extremists with a conservative orientation and extremist social activists with a liberal perspective with one declaring God as the author of the greatest [fill-in-the-blank nation] and the other declaring the pervasive phobia of all forms making the leastest [fill-in-the-blank country]?

Sepulveda (Brown): Any such attempt is an act of unbridled immaturity. We need to accept every situation as it is, not as how we want it to be.

19. Jacobsen: What are some signs of some cultures decaying in rejection of historical monuments of the senses called art?

Sepulveda (Brown): What many call ‘culture’ is simply a shared belief and, often, aesthetic. Individual pieces of art hold little value to the whole, but the common features they share form the foundation for cultural identity. Now that we’ve reached a point of global connectivity, the exotic edges of our global experiences are being worn down and it seems that we’re all beginning to stagnate. And given the incredible frequency with which virtual experiences occur, even the most breathtaking works of art have lost their memorability.

I used to perform volunteer services for an art gallery featuring a man named Bill Walcott who can take oils and, with a level of patience I will never have, with the skill and technique of a true artisan, slowly coat the surface of a canvas with the perfect application of paint to make it indistinguishable from a photograph. And yet, no one cares. Such things have become commonplace to the point that they hold no value for the average person. I cannot tell you how many times I’ve seen people walk by his works without even the slightest pause or consideration. Which is a genuine tragedy in my eyes. A link to his work is provided below. But before you or anyone reading checks it out, please take the time to reflect on the value of art, how important it is to you and how important it should be. It’ll only take a moment and I promise you won’t regret it. https://www.collectivevisions.com/bill-walcott

Appendix I: Footnotes

[1] Member, World Genius Directory.

[2] Individual Publication Date: July 8, 2020: http://www.in-sightjournal.com/sepulveda-three; Full Issue Publication Date: September 1, 2020: https://in-sightjournal.com/insight-issues/.

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2023-03-20

Ask Two Geniuses: Conversation with Christian Sorensen and Rick Rosner on Physics and Metaphysics

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

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

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2020/07/08

Abstract

Rick Rosner and I conduct a conversational series entitled Ask A Genius on a variety of subjects through In-Sight Publishing on the personal and professional website for Rick. According to some semi-reputable sources gathered in a listing here, Rick G. Rosner may have among America’s, North America’s, and the world’s highest measured IQs at or above 190 (S.D. 15)/196 (S.D. 16) based on several high range test performances created by Christopher Harding, Jason Betts, Paul Cooijmans, and Ronald Hoeflin. He earned 12 years of college credit in less than a year and graduated with the equivalent of 8 majors. Christian Sorensen earned a score at 185+, i.e., at least 186, on the WAIS. He is an expert in philosophy. Both scores on a standard deviation of 15. A sigma of 6.00+ (or ~6.13 or 6.20) for Rick – a general intelligence rarity of 1 in 1,009,976,678+ (with some at rarities of 1 in 2,314,980,850 or 1 in 3,527,693,270) – and a sigma of ~5.67+ for Christian – a general intelligence rarity of more than 1 in 136,975,305, at least 1 in 202,496,482. Neither splitting hairs nor a competition here; we agreed to a discussion, hopefully, for the edification of the audience here. 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. This amounts to a joint interview or conversation with Christian Sorensen, Rick Rosner, and myself.

Keywords: Christian Sorensen, metaphysics, Rick Rosner, physics.

Ask Two Geniuses: Conversation with Christian Sorensen and Rick Rosner on Physics and Metaphysics[1]^,[2]*

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

Scott Douglas Jacobsen: Why should we bring together physics and metaphysics?

Rick Rosner: First, we should define metaphysics. It has been a while. I think it’s the discipline of coming up with the reasons behind stuff in a less empirical way than physics. Metaphysics tries to get closer to the principles of existence and then tries to answer questions like, “Why is the universe here? Why are we here?” It gets into the questions of purpose. It is the philosophical stuff, which occupies the terrible outskirts of the city that physics occupies. Is that it?

Jacobsen: I guess so. I see physics as more spikey than gooey.

Rosner: Yes, everything in physics in physics can be characterized by equations. As we have talked about before, metaphysics and physics split hundreds of years ago with all the wild speculation that went into both. Same with alchemy. It was very tied into philosophical ideas of how the world and principles, animistic principles and principles of good & evil, expressed themselves via potions and formulas. In the 1500s, 1600s, people start doing really solid science. That takes off when you find out the actual physical and chemical principles behind everything. The wild philosophical speculations didn’t return good value in the ways solid science did. You can’t build a steam engine out of philosophical speculation. But then, what we’ve talked about, our idea is that you can’t do effective metaphysics when you don’t have a decent idea of the overall structure of the world. Only in the last 100 years have we gotten anything like that. Now, I think it is reasonable to think that given some of the physical, theoretical structures in place. You can start to hang metaphysics on stuff.

For instance, Information Theory, I think, first got its name in 1948 in a paper by Claude Shannon. Now, we know quite a bit about information, and how information exists in the world. To define information here, information is, basically, the actualizing of alternatives in a system. That is, if a system has a number of possible states, then the states that are actually chosen from the range of alternatives; those choices of states are the information in the system. In that, information is about the most stripped-down thing that you can have there. Quantum mechanics expresses how systems work when there is incomplete information. We’ve done a lot of jibber-jabbering about the universe being made of information, and why it would be in terms of the principles of existence, which involve having temporal duration. For something to exist, it has to exist for a non-zero amount of time. Things that exist have to exist with negating contradictions pushed off to the side. Negating uncertainty pushed off to the side. When you start talking like this, you’re bringing metaphysics into it. You’re trying to make metaphysical principles, the principles of existence, e.g., the principle of non-contradiction.

The principle that everything that is not prohibited from existing belongs to the set of things that can and do exist somewhere. All this stuff has a stink of metaphysics about it. At the same time, it has the possibility of being turned into legitimate physics. Because again, quantum mechanics is the physics of non-contradiction. Things that exist solidly in the world, exist so solidly because a bunch of particles have conspired for a sufficiently long history to reinforce each others’ existences by exchanging information to the point where the fuzziness and indeterminacy have been squeezed down to very small scales. So, when you have an apple or a baseball, they definitely exist; they don’t wink in and out of existence in the manner of a virtual particle(s) in the sea of particles that can wink in and out of existence because it(they) are so small. That’s all metaphysics impinging on physics.

Christian Sorensen: I find it an interesting question, however is like trying to combine caviar with blackberries to make a sweet cake believing that it’s plausible and tasty because both are alike. Indeed I consider that from an etymological and logical point of view, that approach in the sense of trying to bring them together, is incorrect since except for the fact of being paronyms with phonetical and orthographical similarities, and that implicitly knowledge evolution but also thinking involution sights could have been lost, they ultimately have between each other, nothing to do because meanings are completely different. When speaking of both, it is not enough to make a double distinction, due to the reason that actually two types of physics are involved, and therefore it is necessary to make a triple separation, which will be deductible in turn after a couple of following questions are answered regarding to the problems of what and how, and one with respect to the issue of object.

Following a logically inverse path, that means to begin from the consequence instead of its prepositions, it is possible to affirm that the first of them is philosophical physics, meanwhile the other is properly speaking physics, as scientific discipline or particular science. The former has an object of study, that is identifiable as such, with any entity in itself present in nature, while those related to classical, and modern or quantum physics, are going to be respectively linked with the properties of matter and energy, and the characteristics, behaviors and interactions of particles at atomic and subatomic levels. From my point of view, and regardless of whether it is according to classical or quantum physics, or if what is intended to be studied is tangible or not, the object fulfills a merely instrumental function, and cannot be identified with the being, as occurs with the first of them, since it’s partial, to the extent that it only refers to some aspects of the thing as such, and on the other hand it is relative since is constantly in a changing process and then never catches the truth. This last means that their objects, would be theoretical constructs, and therefore are definable through noetic consensus, where it would be the praxis who determines their signification, and in consequence with a dynamically evolutionary connotation, that in strictly sense enables them for not having any sort of correspondence towards anything existing in reality. The two of them would also respond in different directions and degrees of depth, while the scientists ones would do so regarding problems of how’s nature within reality, that is to say to behalf of reality behavior, the philosophical would do it in relation to the issue of what’s essence, in other words to the ontological nature of entities.

From my perspective, they could be classified as phenomenal physics, and as noumenic physics respectively, and in that way it would be possible to sustain that with phenomena approximations, reality is placed between parentheses, as if they were bracketed images that built a movie, and subsequently a systematization is done by means of their own method, that searches, by pursuing utilitarian ends, the establishment of necessary interdependence relations between variables, at the time that noumenic psysics, through intuitive intellectual exercise, continues seeking ideal utopias, as some kind of ever lasting end. In order to understand what I argued at the beginning, it must be visualized that the table needs a third leg, because if not and only has two, it will finally fall.

In this sense metaphysics, to the aforementioned will add a second twist of delimitations and distinctions, and in that manner the existing disjunction with physics, is going to be even worst in what has to do with the supposed possibility of bringing them together. In fact, in addition to focusing on entity as such, addresses to all those beings that exist outside the physis or physics plane of nature. Then certainly in relation to ones which are of an intangible character, focuses its attention as occurs with quantum, but simultaneously and differentially does so according to a completely different order or dimension with other beings, due to the fact that the first would center its attention unlike the second, on extra-natural entities, which besides and broadly said are going to cover what I will denominate as theophysicists beings. Likewise, not only does not intends to respond to the state of natural things, nor to their nature, as can arrives with noumenic physics, but also aims to reach first or ultimate principles in relation to everything, beyond which nothing would exist, since otherwise the principle of non-contradiction should have to be left aside, and the latest until now has not been possible to achieve. By placing physics as currently is known, and metaphysics in parallel, I personally believe, that thought step by step as time goes by, has been involving or suffering from evolutionary regression, and therefore although apparently it goes unnoticed, continues jivarising and brutalizing itself, even though knowledge and technological achievements since the seventeenth century are indisputables. Effectively since more or less that time, physics and other basic sciences, became independent from philosophy or philosophical physics, and from my gaze it is evident how physics has become increasingly more banal and repetitive, especially in its unsuccessful attempts to give epistemological responses, such as Albert Einstein has done and Stephen Hawking lastly did with its boring and useless explanations that did arrive nowhere. Consequently the lack of interest in deepening fundamental topics regarding issues and conflicts that existentially torture human being currently, it’s another riddle which produces a strong headache, since also apparently it has been forgotten that in the history of humanity, is not physics that ultimately mobilizes the world, and determines the destiny that should be followed, but on the contrary are ideas or ideals in their state of purity and simplicity, that predetermine such a thing.

Jacobsen: What are some areas for confusion in trying to bring these together?

Sorensen: In my opinion, before examining these areas, it would be necessary to do so with what for me is similar to a point of fission regarding the possibility to bring these together, since I estimate that if the basic problem could be synthesized in one sentence, then it should be said that despite the fact that physics was born from philosophy, this last doesn’t means necessarily that there is any possible continuity between them, and therefore what could actually exists in relation to each other is an essential mis-match.

The emergence of physics is not accidental or whimsical, on the contrary it obeys to a precise reason, that is to say is directly related to the appearance of the Cartesian method, and then it could be sustain that its birth, it’s due to a methodological determinism, and in turn that it was remarked by a sort of point, that not only delimits something that’s before and after in its history, but that also seals the beginning of a path without return, since the reasoning is more o less the following: if for physics there is no valid knowledge, but only the empirical one, and there is no physics but only the one linked to scientific method, then the knowledge of philosophical physics, that I denominate as noumenic physics would not be valid in this context, and consequently, is should be the last one who transforms its postulates into empirically and pragmatically validated theoretical assumptions, in order to achieve the status of the former. Nevertheless, although physics implicitly claims a status of superiority, it loses sight regarding the fact that is the method who determines its science, and therefore it could be affirmed that for physics the methods is ultimately everything. At the same it can be said, that if there’s an almost impassable border regarding to philosophical or noumenic physics, then with even more reason, this gap is going to be absolutely insurmountable with respect to metaphysics, since their associated entities, in addition to being intangibles, are besides extra-natural and could eventually reach to be supernatural or theophysicists.

Checking the historical and epistemological antecedents of physics as science, it is possible to demonstrate that besides not having any correspondence with general philosophy, nor with philosophical or noumenic physics, as a corp of knowledge, because encompasses natural sciences in their origins, that is to say apart from physics also biology, and chemistry, that also incurs in consequence once more in other imprecision, and conceptual error when maintains that its origins comes directly from ancient physics.

Interpreting the meaning of this question and the previous one, it gives the impression that at a certain level what is intended, is to upgrade and empower metaphysics so that by following the good example of her metaphorical daughter who is no longer unruly, because has shown that has done better in life, must soak its beards, and realize that it’s better business to achieve legitimization as a science, therefore if metaphysics does successfully so, then they could both live a happy shared time henceforth.

However, if I deepen even more my interpretation, and also I try to read between lines, what may follows here is somehow a reductionism in such a way, that metaphysics should leaves its old rags for renewing itself, and in that way adapt to physics, due to the fact, that abra kadabra, it is believed that both are situated in a continuum of evolutionary linearity, which although it exists from the historical point of view, nevertheless does not exists, gnoseologically and epistemologically speaking. Since the differences between them in terms of their objects of study, methodologies, empirical foundations or not of their theoretical conceptualizations and even purposes, are subject to a particular meaning, that is above all the aforementioned structure which intends to mediates the cognitive relationship between subject and object. The latest therefore determines the former, as it does with the existing differences between physics and metaphysics, in order to turn these into radical and irreducible questions. In synthesis I guess that actually for understanding what are the areas for confusion in trying to bring these together, first of all it would be necessary to search for the latent meaning behind the practice of physics and metaphysics, and that obviously goes beyond anything that can frame the relationship between cognizant subject and cognosed object.

Jacobsen: What are the ways in which woo, supernatural, paranormal, and spooky explanations are simply out of order here if a merger is to make sense?

Sorensen: In my opinion from a rationalist point of view, these type of statements should not be based on any a-prioristic approach, in order to determine if they are or not out of place in this context. I straightly consider that way of doing things, as something absolutist, which for me is even less logical and far-fetched.

The fact that they could eventually resist any kind of logical analysis, of which at least I don’t have any certainty yet, only would means that these probably are valid, but not necessarily true, and therefore the reasoning outcome, does not ensure that they actually exist if an ontological perspective is followed. In other words, if it is not possible to demonstrate their existence, from any rational point of view, then it would only rest the chance to show them, which lastly for both physics and metaphysics. would also be impossible to do.

Now if I flashback once more the rationalist plane, I would be born to respond that with an asymmetric way, because I cannot visualize how physics could pronounce itself regarding these entities unless it rejects them as real from the root, or develops a supernatural instrument to measure these or to verify their existence and behavior.

At the same time I will continue responding by following the above, and therefore by replicating that so is analogous to how theoretical conceptualizations, regarding natural entities can be left aside, as a formal logical reasoning process outcome, or epistemologically speaking, when the empirical conceptualizations proposed by physics as science, are evaluated on their validity. In this manner, in relation to gnoseology and especially to epistemology, it must not be forgotten that the theoretical conceptualizations, and also the empirical or experimental ones proposed by physics, are entities that from an ontological sight, actually are ideal, and in consequence if they are so, they necessarily should be extra naturals. Then why not, maybe the supernaturals…

Jacobsen: Instead of an emphasis on the possible and impossible, what about the plausible and the implausible?

Sorensen: For understanding the plausible and implausible, I feel it can be useful to think about the image of a fish regarding the water, since when the fish is inside of it, is optimal, while when is outside is the worst. With physics and metaphysics, from my point of view something similar occurs, due to the fact that both are optimal, nevertheless not in an absolute sense, but rather according or depending to what… The above means in part, that the two of them lack something, because in a certain way they have lost it, and therefore they may fail. Physics at the time that it separated from philosophy, lost its ability to wonder about the ultimate essence, and in relation to nature of material and immaterial reality, while metaphysics lack’s of something or has an original fault, by being essentially useless, and being hermetically fixed, regarding its rigid purpose of searching final responses about everything existing. I think that each one is fundamentally necessary, but not necessarily enough by itself. In that sense the first contributes through its solid pragmatic and evolutive knowledge, meanwhile the second does so with its deep and invariable knowledge. In other words and following the reasoning of the aforementioned, it should not be pretended, in relation to each one, to reach any achievement of what I will denominate as neither inverse nor integral function, since these implausibly would neutralize both, and ultimately would distort the meaning and outcomes of them. In this manner if I could express mathematically and simply, why simultaneously plausibility and implausibility will affect physics and metaphysics, I would say that 1 + 1 does not equal 2, but that rather 1 + 1 equals 1.

Jacobsen: In that, the supernatural, extramaterial, and so on, exist as an opposing ledger in some sense to the natural, the material, etc., however, they provide some semblance of a consideration rather than verification. With this sense of verificative and falsifiability simplification of the matter, do these former categories seem implausible in one sense?

Sorensen: In fact if these are no-falsifiable, it is because they are not empirically verifiable, nevertheless this does not necessarily mean that they are implausible, since the plausibility and implausibility are a consequence of falsification, and if there is no possibility to carry out any empirical contrast, then only I can affirm that I can’t pronounce myself on its falsity, and therefore I can say with certainty, that they are potentially or possibly plausible.

Jacobsen: Do they seem unverified in another sense?

Sorensen: On the one hand, the fact that they have not been verified, does not necessarily imply that they are not verifiable. On the other side, in my opinion the extra-material entities, are theoretically not uniform, since in a strict metaphysical sense, they should be only circumscribed, to the immaterial, in relation, to what is immaterial within the material. Therefore in one way or another, they have a ground wire with what is naturally real, and I think then, that from a formal logical point of view, they can probably be verifiable. The problem occurs when metaphysics from a Thomistic-scholastic perspective, tries to expand towards extra-material entities with a supernatural nature or connotation, and besides pretends to metaphysically validate them through a natural theology. Within the order or dimension of the latest, what happens is that these philosophical premises, until now have not been verified in no sense, and I personally doubt that they could be validated sometime, by following a formal logical reasoning, which would imply, that if they are logically unacceptable, then with greater reason, they wouldn’t be plausibles or existences ontologically real.

Jacobsen: Do they seem unfalsifiable in a further sense?

Sorensen: Yes, unless that in the future they could be phenomenally observable, measurable and experienceable, at least indirectly through some model.

Jacobsen: If these three criteria seem like the case, perhaps, we should far more emphasize the plausible, the verifiable, and the falsifiable, while utilizing the possible and implausible as points of reflection as in an intellectual exercise without taking them too seriously because of the more substantive and serious nature of the latter aforementioned categories?

Sorensen: It seems to me, that this is an intellectually obtuse deduction. I think that the three criteria indicated, are intellectually serious in an empirical context, therefore, outside of there they would no longer be, which in fact does not mean neither that they are the only ones in that context. On the other hand, I do not see why these could be more serious and substantive, than an intellectual exercise, where I suppose that what is meant by the latter, is a syllogistic verification, where if the former refers to plausibility, the latter does something analogous when they refer to validity. In consequence neither by one nor the other, not even through falsification, are capable of pronouncing about the veracity of something. I also believe that by reducing everything that could potentially exist, to the positum, is almost the same, as to imagine that the problem of infidelity that a man lives with his wife, is going to be solved, when he sells the couch where he surprised her with its lover. In this way, these criteria, used as a syrup that cures all ills, more than serious and substantive, they seem to me to be deniers of any evidence. In addition, apparently it’s forgotten, that their applicability is with respect to knowledge, and in particular to that which is scientific. Consequently, if it is intended to take them to an ontological plane, so that they can pronounce themselves regarding the possibility of being of something, that’s equivalent to demanding them, something for which they do not have the capacity to respond, and besides theoretically speaking it shows a confusional psychic state.

Appendix I: Footnotes

[1] Christian is a Philosopher that comes from Belgium. What identifies him the most and above all is simplicity, for everything is better with “vanilla ice cream.” Perhaps, for this reason, his intellectual passion is criticism and irony, in the sense of trying to reveal what “hides behind the mask,” and give birth to the true. For him, ignorance and knowledge never “cross paths.” What he likes the most in his leisure time, is to go for a walk with his wife.

Rick G. Rosner, according to some semi-reputable sources gathered in a listing here, may have among America’s, North America’s, and the world’s highest measured IQs at or above 190 (S.D. 15)/196 (S.D. 16) based on several high range test performances created by Christopher Harding, Jason Betts, Paul Cooijmans, and Ronald Hoeflin. He earned 12 years of college credit in less than a year and graduated with the equivalent of 8 majors. He has received 8 Writers Guild Awards and Emmy nominations, and was titled 2013 North American Genius of the Year by The World Genius Directory with the main “Genius” listing here.

He has written for Remote Control, Crank Yankers, The Man Show, The Emmys, The Grammys, and Jimmy Kimmel Live!. He worked as a bouncer, a nude art model, a roller-skating waiter, and a stripper. In a television commercial, Domino’s Pizza named him the “World’s Smartest Man.” The commercial was taken off the air after Subway sandwiches issued a cease-and-desist. He was named “Best Bouncer” in the Denver Area, Colorado, by Westwood Magazine.

Rosner spent much of the late Disco Era as an undercover high school student. In addition, he spent 25 years as a bar bouncer and American fake ID-catcher, and 25+ years as a stripper, and nearly 30 years as a writer for more than 2,500 hours of network television. Errol Morris featured Rosner in the interview series entitled First Person, where some of this history was covered by Morris. He came in second, or lost, on Jeopardy!, sued Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? over a flawed question and lost the lawsuit. He won one game and lost one game on Are You Smarter Than a Drunk Person? (He was drunk). Finally, he spent 37+ years working on a time-invariant variation of the Big Bang Theory.

Currently, Rosner sits tweeting in a bathrobe (winter) or a towel (summer). He lives in Los Angeles, California with his wife, dog, and goldfish. He and his wife have a daughter. You can send him money or questions at LanceVersusRick@Gmail.Com, or a direct message via Twitter, or find him on LinkedIn, or see him on YouTube.”

[2] Individual Publication Date: July 8, 2020: http://www.in-sightjournal.com/sorensen-rosner; Full Issue Publication Date: September 1, 2020: https://in-sightjournal.com/insight-issues/.

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2023-03-20

An Interview with Heinrich Siemens on Background and Scores (Part One)

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

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

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2020/07/01

Abstract

Keywords: Heinrich Siemens, Jonathan Wai, Luther Bible, Paul Cooijmans, Plautdietsch, Ronald K. Hoeflin, Theodosis Prousalis, Tweeback Verlag.

An Interview with Heinrich Siemens on Background and Scores (Part One)[1]^,[2]*

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

1. Scott Douglas Jacobsen: In Latvia, what is the cultural and socioeconomic meaning of the “Low German community”?

Heinrich Siemens: In the second half of the 18th century, when the German-born Catherine II. was Tsarina, many people from (High and Low) German-speaking countries (Germany did not yet exist) emigrated to the Russian Empire. My parents grew up in Siberia, but in the 1960s when the opportunity arose, they moved to Latvia, now part of the EU, but then part of the Soviet Union.

In our community we spoke Plautdietsch, the variety of Low German that was common in the former Soviet Union. But the Luther Bible was read in High German, the school was in Latvian and the lingua franca of the Soviet Union was Russian. I grew up with these languages. When I was 11, we emigrated to Germany.

2. Jacobsen: Why did you emigrate to Germany?

Siemens: As a German minority and as part of a religious community, we suffered great restrictions in the Soviet Union. I could not have become an academic, for example, and there was even the danger of being locked up in prison.

In the 1970s the cold war thawed a little and the possibility of emigration arose in the context of the Helsinki Accords. Many families could be reunited who had been separated for decades by the iron curtain.

3. Jacobsen: Are you trilingual now with Plautdietsch, German, and Russian?

Siemens: Yes, I feel most comfortable in these languages. There are a few more languages (including English) in which I read books or have simple conversations, but when it comes to in-depth conversations I quickly reach my limits.

4. Jacobsen: What is the origin of Plautdietsch?

Siemens: In contrast to High German, Low German has preserved the old consonants /p, t, k/ and the old monophthongs /i:, u:/, so it has not gone through the High German consonant shift and diphthongization (Pepa, Tiet, Wota, koake, Hus vs. Pfeffer, Zeit, Wasser, kochen, Haus). Consonantism is thus similar in Low German, Dutch, and English, while the long vowels /i:, u:/ are preserved only in Low German, while English, High German, and Dutch have diphthongs.

Plautdietsch is the Low German variety that was spoken between the Vistula and Nogat rivers in Poland. At that time, the Baltic Prussians (now extinct), the Slavic Kashubs and German settlers lived in this area, they all formed a Sprachbund and thus Plautdietsch was also influenced by Baltic and Slavic.

Now there are only a few Plautdietsch speakers left in Siberia, most of them have emigrated to Germany (about 200,000). There have been overseas emigrations since the 19th century, so that now there are about 100,000 speakers in North America and about 250,000 speakers in Latin America. In Europe the number of speakers is decreasing, in Latin America it is growing thanks to large families.

For about 100 years there has been a Plautdietsch literature, there are grammars and dictionaries, so that today it is a fully developed written language.

5. Jacobsen: Does the Mennonite religion still influence you? If not, why not? If so, how?

Siemens: Because my name is Heinrich, I naturally expected this Gretchenfrage 😉 (cf. Faust I by Goethe).

Mennonites differ from the other Christian religions in that they only baptize adults. I consider this principle to be very important, because everyone should decide for himself whether he wants to belong and to which religion he wants to belong. Theologically, pacifism is crucial for Mennonites, and this was also the reason for the many migrations of Mennonites: Whenever the young men were to become soldiers, the Mennonites emigrated to another country where they didn’t have to do army service.

I still share these religious principles, but I personally decided against being baptized. I belong to the cultural community of Mennonites, but not to a congregation. After careful consideration I have come to the conclusion that I want to live my life without God, maybe because of Ockham’s razor. When I see what the Bible (or other holy scriptures) and faith are misused for, I don’t want to be a part of it.

6. Jacobsen: How was family life for you? Was this reflective of many families of the time in Latvia?

Siemens: A childhood in the late 1960s and 1970s was very different from now. We played outside a lot, had no electronic gadgets yet, we lived in a three-generation household. My parents worked, we children were with the grandmother. The other families lived similarly, not only in our Low German community, but also the Latvians in our small town.

7. Jacobsen: Was giftedness noticed early for you?

Siemens: Giftedness was never an issue. Although I have always found cognitive challenges easier than many of my fellow human beings, I did not take my first test until I was 45. Today I know the international high range IQ community, but I didn’t know about it before.

8. Jacobsen: What were some of the tests by Ronald K. Hoeflin, Paul Cooijmans, Jonathan Wai, Theodosis Prousalis, and some others taken by you? What has been the full range of scores on S.D. 15? What test was the highest score for you?

Siemens: My most successful test results include the Titan test by Ronald K. Hoeflin (raw score 45/48), the Test of the Beheaded Man (33/40), the Marathon Test (108/111), both by Paul Cooijmans, many different tests and some won contests by Theodosis Prousalis, SLSE 48 (30/48) by Jonathan Wai, etc. Usually the results were beyond 5 standard deviations. The highest score was the verbal section of the Marathon Test with IQ 180 S.D. 15.

In this context, let me draw your attention to the only test I have designed: Three Sonnets (tweeback.com/hriq/Three-Sonnets.pdf). It takes some time to get into it, but if you consider that the test was published on Towel day, you have a clue. I am waiting for your submission. Have fun and dopamine release.

9. Jacobsen: Why found the publishing house Tweeback Verlag?

Siemens: The Tweeback Verlag has literature on and about Plautdietsch as its main focus. I founded it because there was no publisher in this niche yet and there were some books that needed to be published.

Appendix I: Footnotes

[1] 45/48 on the Titan Test by Dr. Ronald K. Hoeflin.

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

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2023-03-20

An Interview with Claus Volko on Symbiont Conversion Theory and More (Part Four)

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

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

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2020/07/01

Abstract

Claus Volko is an Austrian computer and medical scientist who has conducted research on the treatment of cancer and severe mental disorders by conversion of stress hormones into immunity hormones. This research gave birth to a new scientific paradigm which he called “symbiont conversion theory”: methods to convert cells exhibiting parasitic behaviour to cells that act as symbionts. In 2013 Volko, obtained an IQ score of 172 on the Equally Normed Numerical Derivation Test. He is also the founder and president of Prudentia High IQ Society, a society for people with an IQ of 140 or higher, preferably academics. He discusses: Symbiont Conversion Theory; the importance of independent theorizing; what can go wrong without critical scrutiny and peers connected to excessive defensiveness in critical scrutiny of a theory; the “destroy and kill” paradigm; inflammation seen with the Symbiont Conversion Theory; cancer and the “conversion” of systemically negative masses of cancer cells; a practical manifestation; an entirely new scientific paradigm or an adapted and transitional new scientific paradigm; the term symbionts over some other term, even a neologism; the upper limit possibilities in medical applications; inflammation; healthy ways to improve the immune system; Symbiont Conversion Theory; misinterpreted; tumour cells; the general success rate of the current chemotherapy and radiotherapy paradigm of medicine; some other relevant terminology for the re-education of the cells; and some similar ideas in other fields.

Keywords: Claus Volko, destroy and kill, independent theorizing, Symbiont Conversion Theory, tumour cells.

An Interview with Claus Volko on Symbiont Conversion Theory and More (Part Four)[1]^,[2]*

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

1. Scott Douglas Jacobsen: Now, last time we talked, with Rick Rosner, you had a theory: Symbiont Conversion Theory. What is Symbiont Conversion Theory?

Dr. Claus Volko: Symbiont Conversion Theory is a new scientific paradigm. The basic hypothesis is that you do not have to kill cells that display parasitic behaviour but that you can re-educate, or re-program, them to become symbionts. This applies both to cancer and infectious diseases. There have already been publications showing that such a re-programming of bacteria, for example, is possible. I wrote a review article of these publications and proposed the term Symbiont Conversion Theory.

2. Jacobsen: What is the importance of independent theorizing?

Volko: A hypothesis can be called a theory as soon as evidence showing that it is true has been provided. Scientists should come up with many hypotheses, it is the basis of their work.

3. Jacobsen: What can go wrong without critical scrutiny and peers connected to excessive defensiveness in critical scrutiny of a theory?

Volko: As said, a hypothesis is a theory as soon as evidence has been provided. It is possible to falsify a hypothesis by providing counter-examples. That can also be done as soon as the hypothesis has become a theory. In case of Symbiont Conversion Theory, however, this theory is based on an existential statement: It is possible to re-educate parasitic cells. As I told you when we discussed Popper, existential statements cannot be disproven.

4. Jacobsen: Why is the “destroy and kill” paradigm regarding cancer insufficient at the present moment?

Volko: Because of the side-effects chemotherapy and radiotherapy have. They also kill healthy tissue and because they are based on mechanisms that initiate mutations, they can cause cancer themselves.

5. Jacobsen: How is inflammation seen with the Symbiont Conversion Theory?

Volko: Inflammation is a reaction of the immune system that has advantages and disadvantages for the patient. In general, we would like to strengthen the immune system but not by means of inflammation, as it damages tissue.

6. Jacobsen: How would this theory apply to cancer and the “conversion” of systemically negative masses of cancer cells into systemically positive masses of cancer?

Volko: The idea is to reprogram tumour cells so that they do not consume more than other cells and work as functional tissue.

7. Jacobsen: What would be a practical manifestation of this?

Volko: Re-educating parasitic cells instead of killing them would be a revolutionary thing to do. With cancer, it would possibly lead to a cure more often than traditional chemotherapy and radiotherapy.

8. Jacobsen: More precisely, is it an entirely new scientific paradigm or an adapted and transitional new scientific paradigm?

Volko: It is an entirely new scientific paradigm. There has been no paradigm stating that parasites could be educated.

9. Jacobsen: Why use the term symbionts over some other term, even a neologism?

Volko: I use the term symbionts because this is exactly what it is all about: converting parasites into symbionts. While parasites make use of the host organism and have a detrimental effect on it, symbionts live in the state of symbiosis with the host organism so that both sides profit from this symbiosis.

10. Jacobsen: What would be the upper limit possibilities in medical applications for this particular form of treatment involving Symbiont Conversion Theory?

Volko: Probably parasitic and bacterial infections as well as cancer could be treated.

11. Jacobsen: How does inflammation damage tissue?

Volko: At medical school we learn that the stages of inflammation are “rubor, calor, dolor, functio laesa” (these are Latin words). The last term, “functio laesa”, means that the functionality of the tissue gets lost.

12. Jacobsen: What, typically, are normal, healthy ways to improve the immune system?

Volko: Commonly it is recommended to do sports to boost the immune system, and to eat vitamins.

13. Jacobsen: How could Symbiont Conversion Theory be misinterpreted?

Volko: Tumour cells form because of spontaneous mutations. The immune system usually detects these mutations and removes the spurious cells. If the immune system does not succeed in doing so, cancer may arise.

14. Jacobsen: Why do tumour cells form?

15. Jacobsen: What is the general success rate of the current chemotherapy and radiotherapy paradigm of medicine? Has this been improving or stagnating in its success rate?

Volko: Read about this in medical textbooks. In general, the success rate has been slightly improving because of new treatments, but it is far from being optimal.

16. Jacobsen: What would be some other relevant terminology for the re-education of the cells?

Volko: Some speak of reprogramming.

17. Jacobsen: What are some similar ideas in other fields?

Volko: Harvard Medical School coined the term “Modify and Repair” for the treatment of cancer by converting tumour cells to functional tissue.

Appendix I: Footnotes

[1] Member, World Genius Directory.

[2] Individual Publication Date: July 1, 2020: http://www.in-sightjournal.com/volko-four; Full Issue Publication Date: September 1, 2020: https://in-sightjournal.com/insight-issues/.

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2023-03-20

An Interview with Anthony Sepulveda on Life and Death (Part Two)

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

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

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2020/07/01

Abstract

Anthony Sepulveda scored 174 (S.D.15) on Cosmic and is a member of the World Genius Directory. He discusses: life; death; the meaning of life; boundary for the meaning of life; spiritual or natural entities; realization of the finitude of life; the idea of a soul; high intelligence; in the context of the contemplation of death; a cancer test; the priorities in life; a cancer diagnosis; feeling about it; the purpose of life; hopes moving forward; the type of cancer; a bucket list; legacy; the knowledge day-to-day; the baseline things that matter now; and religious beliefs and adherence to certainty in an afterlife.

Keywords: Anthony Sepulveda, cancer, death, life.

An Interview with Anthony Sepulveda on Life and Death (Part Two)[1]^,[2]*

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

1. Scott Douglas Jacobsen: Hey Anthony! Let’s talk about life and death. First, some rapid-fire questions followed by some longer questions, we can then move into personal questions. What is life to you?

Anthony Sepulveda (Brown): Life is a pretty vague term. Ideally, it would be defined by its correlation with consciousness. But we can’t really be certain.

2. Jacobsen: What is death to you?

Sepulveda (Brown): Death occurs when the physiological processes of an organism fail and revert to purely physical ones.

3. Jacobsen: What is the meaning of life to you?

Sepulveda (Brown): It’s such a bizarre question. Meaning implies intent beyond simple existence and likely cannot be conclusively clarified beyond a subject’s nature. For example, if philosophers were to examine a carburetor with the intent of divining the meaning of its existence, two groups would likely form – one with the intent of determining its purpose by relating its design to known scientific facts, while the other squabbled over how it exists at all. It’s my belief that the purpose (not the meaning) of life in any form is to survive, procreate, explore, have fun and be happy, in that order. But those of the latter group would be unsatisfied with that answer because they never accept simple answers. In truth, what they really want is to fully understand the epistemic nature of God and the Grand Design. And it’s probably never occurred to them that our limited powers of cognition may be completely inept in the face of such a problem.

4. Jacobsen: Does the fact of, at least, physical death provide a context for finality of the body, at a minimum, and, therefore, a boundary for meaning of life to take place?

Sepulveda (Brown): No, meaning is assigned to whole groups more accurately than individuals

5. Jacobsen: Are human beings fundamentally spiritual or natural entities?

Sepulveda (Brown): All processes are natural.

6. Jacobsen: What do you think science and philosophy clearly show about human nature? Or, what is human nature?

Sepulveda (Brown): Deterministic.

7. Jacobsen: When it comes to one’s realization of the finitude of life for others and oneself, what does this do to the sense of one’s total amount of time in life?

Sepulveda (Brown): It accentuates the line between life and death and, in my case, at least, exaggerates one’s priorities.

8. Jacobsen: Does the idea of a soul make any sense to you?

Sepulveda (Brown): Not in the traditional sense that it is connected to yet, somehow, separate from our physical self.

9. Jacobsen: A good mind, a rational one, can help with the establishment of a longer, healthier life on average, but cannot stave of physical death. It’s a fact of life. Death is coming our way. What does high intelligence mean in the context of the contemplation of death?

Sepulveda (Brown): I’m not sure that intelligence has much impact on one’s perspective when it comes to mortality. I’ve met many people across a wide spectrum of intellectual and creative ability and haven’t yet found a correlation between individual ability and personal opinion. Some are religious, some aren’t. Many are certain of their opinions, others, including myself, admit to their ignorance on the subject. I believe the that any difference of opinion is due to the relatively unique combination of experiences we’ve cultivated throughout our lives and that, since death is the ultimate unknown factor, we can never truly be certain of any processes that occur to any non-physical part of ourselves after death.

10. Jacobsen: Now, if we move into more personal materials, your friend had a cancer test. What is the story leading up to it?

Sepulveda (Brown): Actually, it was me that underwent a cancer screening. (Pretext for those reading – In part one, I was asked about important life experiences. I neglected to mention my cancer testing because telling the story in it’s entirety could have potentially had a negative effect on someone I care about greatly, She and I discussed this after the publication of my first interview and she assured me that she would not be effected by it’s release). As for the story itself, I found a lump in a place that should never ever have one late one night (around 10 PM). After the initial shock, I didn’t know what to do. The only action I felt certain of was to contact my best friend, Tango. Not to tell her of my unfortunate discovery (I kept it to myself until after I’d received the negative test results), but simply to tell her how much she meant to me.

11. Jacobsen: How does this test change the priorities in life?

Sepulveda (Brown): Profoundly. Prior to it, I, likely, would have focused on the long term effects of my actions. Now, I’m much more concerned with my overall satisfaction before death.

12. Jacobsen: How does a cancer diagnosis reorient the timeline of a life?

Sepulveda (Brown): It exaggerates your priorities exponentially.

13. Jacobsen: How are you feeling about it?

Sepulveda (Brown): Now, I’m grateful for it. It forced me to face my own mortality and determine what is truly important. Ultimately, I believe that life overall will move inexorably towards it’s eventual conclusion. So it doesn’t matter what I do or accomplish. So I may as well focus on whatever goal I want, no matter the consequences.

14. Jacobsen: What is the purpose of a life in the context of a shortened life, knowing about it, and seeing that one’s life will be cut far more short than others?

Sepulveda (Brown): As I said, facing that distinction exaggerates your opinions. Whatever the test results, I was determined to live my fullest life.

15. Jacobsen: What are your hopes moving forward in the context of the earlier, potentially, loss of a loved, and cared for, one?

Sepulveda (Brown): Hope is a bad word for me and I try my best not to rely upon it. But my ultimate goal is to understand my position in the game of life and attain as much personal satisfaction as I can with what options are open to me.

16. Jacobsen: What is the type of cancer?

Sepulveda (Brown): Nonexistent. The tests confirmed that it was a cyst, thankfully.

17. Jacobsen: Do you have a bucket list?

Sepulveda (Brown): I do. Would you like to know what’s on it?

18. Jacobsen: Have you thought much more about legacy? If so, what kinds or levels of it?

Sepulveda (Brown): Not really. I’m over 30 years old and single at the time of this interview, so having kids of my own is becoming an increasingly unappealing option. Luckily, I’m quite content with my status as an uncle to an amazing little girl I love dearly and spend as much time as I can with.

19. Jacobsen: How do you cope with the knowledge day-to-day?

Sepulveda (Brown): By trying my damnedest to live without regret. After securing my priorities, I explore every avenue that interests me without stressing on long term effects.

20. Jacobsen: What are the baseline things that matter now – with the additional clarity?

Sepulveda (Brown): Family, friends and fun. Many members of the High IQ Community believe that our inherent abilities predispose us the responsibility to use it to benefit society. I disagree because I believe that human evolution will inevitably head towards the same destination no matter what I do. Someone will come up with the next big idea, others will support it and it’s effects will spread as far as they can. The data for said idea is simply waiting to be gathered in the interim. It’s just a matter of time before someone finds it.

21. Jacobsen: Do you think many religious beliefs and adherence to certainty in an afterlife is to assuage and comfort a fear of an apparent finality of physical death?

Sepulveda (Brown): Yes. I believe that people find comfort in the idea that the essence of who they are is a unique, singular thing (soul, consciousness, life force, etc.) that will exist in some stable state forever. But the idea of an afterlife (especially an infinite one) doesn’t make sense when you think about it logically. No matter the size of a site (physical or metaphysical), it will have a finite boundary. This implies that Heaven, Hell or any other post-death place of existence either cannot hold the potentially endless number of souls sent there unless there is a place for them to go once that boundary is reached. With this in mind, the only option that makes sense to me is reincarnation. Beyond that, however, I’m not sure that anything can be determined without some very unusual and, undoubtedly, unethical scientific experiments.

Appendix I: Footnotes

[1] Member, World Genius Directory.

[2] Individual Publication Date: July 1, 2020: http://www.in-sightjournal.com/sepulveda-two; Full Issue Publication Date: September 1, 2020: https://in-sightjournal.com/insight-issues/.

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2023-03-20

Ask Two Geniuses: Conversation with Christian Sorensen and Erik Haereid on Foundations of Philosophical Concepts (Part One)

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

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

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2020/07/01

Abstract

Keywords: Christian Sorensen, Erik Haereid, philosophy.

Ask Two Geniuses: Conversation with Christian Sorensen and Erik Haereid on Foundations of Philosophical Concepts (Part One)[1]^,[2]*

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

Scott Douglas Jacobsen: I want to set a groundwork on paradoxes, the impossible, the possible, the actual and the potential, the contradictory and the non-contradictory, mysteries versus problems, the paraconsistent versus the consistent versus the inconsistent, the complete versus the incomplete, the reductionistic versus the emergentistic, the deterministic versus the indeterministic, the statistical versus the non-probabilistic, ideal versus image, so on. Maybe, we can proceed in this ordering. Unless, either has a preference in a direction based on the suggestions here. Some more straightforward questions here: What defines a paradox?

Christian Sorensen: It could be said, that a paradox is equivalent to saying, that it is to enter with the one that is of them, for going out with the one that is of us. It is an expression that strictly speaking, is contrary to logic, but nevertheless its deep meaning and the effect it causes are logical.

Erik Haereid: It’s a part of our perception that cannot be explained. It’s a logically self-contradiction. It hides information we need to understand. It’s a mental spark; an invitation to critical thinking and mental evolvement.

Jacobsen: What defines the impossible?

Sorensen: The possibility that what could make a certain thingbe what it would be, actually is something that doesn’t exists.

Haereid: The impossible is what is absolutely impossible. It’s the ultimate impossibility, beyond paradoxes, difficulties, what we don’t understand and beyond any obstacle that seems impossible to overcome; it’s not what we think and feel is impossible, but what really is impossible. Practically, the impossible, for humans, is where we think it is so; when we can’t see any way out or solution to it. When we give up.

It’s a theoretical quantity; we don’t know if anything is impossible. You can say that it’s impossible that I am in both Canada and Norway at the same moment, just now, physically. But we don’t know that for sure. We feel sure, we experience it as certain, but that’s perceptions and how we see things.

Jacobsen: What defines the possible?

Sorensen: The presence of both necessary and sufficient reasons, and the presence of sufficient reason alone.

Haereid: We can’t know if not everything is possible. Everything could theoretically be possible. We are sure that not everything is possible, but that’s not a proof.

It’s pragmatic claiming something to be impossible and possible. Then the impossible is defined as what we think and experience as impossible, and the possible what we experience as possible. Possibility has therefore to do with what we can experience, imagine and predict at a given moment. I think the Sumerians six thousand years ago thought it was impossible that human could travel into Space, to other celestial bodies. But we are sure about that they couldn’t travel into Space at that time. Strictly that is also a perception, our human experience. So, defining the possible and impossible practically, we have to limit it to what we humans experience and percept.

Jacobsen: What defines the actual and the potential?

Sorensen: The presence or not of existence.

Haereid: The actual is what we percept as real, our experiences, either via our senses as sensed or thoughts as thought. Reality is perceived phenomena. A thought about a house and garden is real as a subjective thought, an image. If you see a house and a garden, you percept it as an experience; sense perceptions are real for you. If you hallucinate, you don’t know until another person put you into doubt by telling you that your view or perception is wrong; there are no house nor garden there in front of you. If many people agree disagreeing in your perception, then you agree that you hallucinate. But no one can say if you or the others are hallucinating. It’s impossible to tell. Therefore, objectivity is an agreement, compromises, manipulation, brainwashing, a unifying of several subjective experiences of actuality. You can’t even say that we can trust that our logical system is right or represents the truth, reality. We rely on that, but we have to doubt what we trust in; not to confuse us but to develop towards what is an increasing and better truth, as on a Hegelian dialectic path.

The potential is what can happen, more or less probable and possible. Every event in the Universe has been a potential, a former state in an ongoing development. Everything that humans think can happen, is a potential.

Jacobsen: What defines the contradictory and the non-contradictory?

Sorensen: The copulative and disjunctive union between being and not being.

Haereid: The contradictory is everything else from whatever; opposites. If X, then “Everything else than X” is the contradictory. The thesis’ antithesis. A conflict. Friction. Change. Development. Evolution. As long as there are contradictions, there are something perceivable. When there are no more contradictions, we have reached the end of everything.

One could say that black is the contradiction to white, but also that red, blue, yellow etc. is contradictions to white, because all those colors are in the contradiction set “not-white”.

In logic: If the proposition “The Earth is flat” is false, then the proposition is a contradiction. The knowledge that the Earth is spherical, is based on that contradiction; conflict, evolution, development, change.

Jacobsen: What defines mysteries versus problems?

Sorensen: The fact that problems, certainly admit the possibility of an answer, while mysteries do not.

Haereid: Mysteries make us curious, while problems make us anxious. Mysteries are unknown situations not necessary to solve. Problems are serious, crucial; necessary to solve to fulfill our needs.

Problems are unwanted or at least problematic, mysteries are welcome. We create mysteries as exercise for solving problems.

Jacobsen: What defines the paraconsistent versus the consistent versus the inconsistent?

Sorensen: Respectively the tolerance to inconsistency, the property through which it is not possible to deduce a contradiction, and the fallacy by means of which an argument seems valid when it is not.

Haereid: Exoteric spoken: The consistent can exist as true at the same time and place. It’s different entities X and Y that both are true; not contradictory. In harmony. Logical. The inconsistent lack consistency; it’s either contradictory or it’s some irrational or wrong issues in it. The paraconsistent has to do with tolerance and acceptance for inconsistency.

Jacobsen: What defines the complete versus the incomplete?

Sorensen: The one and the absence or presence of the lack.

Haereid: The complete is the theoretical end, perfection, absolute knowledge, where all questions are answered and every little hidden unrevealed truth is revealed; when it’s nothing left to answer. The End. It’s the end of every task. It’s also finishing a work, a meal, or any other closure.

The incomplete is where we always have been and always will be; in the realm of wondering, frustration, curiosity, estimations…it’s the daily stress. It’s as mental as completeness. It’s a feeling, an experience of never doing enough, never entering the finish line. It’s being at work, planning, running, living without resting.

Jacobsen: What defines the reductionistic versus the emergentistic?

Sorensen: Metaphor and synergy.

Haereid: By the reductionistic we mean that every entity can be explained by its components. Even though water is something else than hydrogen and oxygen, it can be explained by those two components. A reductionistic question is if thoughts could be explained by physical components in the brain.

By the emergentistic we mean that even though the entity is composed by something, it transforms into something else than the sum of its components. It evolves beyond the product or sum of each part it consists of.

Jacobsen: What defines the deterministic versus the indeterministic?

Sorensen: Destiny and chance.

Haereid: Does the Universe evolve after some stringent rule, or by chance? We talk about deterministic if we don’t have any power to influence ourselves or the environment; we don’t have a free will, no responsibility; whatever we do or happens around us is predetermined, following some rules. Everything has a cause.

Something is indeterministic if it’s unpredictable; we can change the environment, our actions have meanings and we are responsible. If our actions don’t have a cause, we are both free and responsible. If everything has a cause, we are confined in a life where freedom is an illusion; even though we feel that what we do are results from a free will, it’s not.

Jacobsen: What defines the statistical versus the non-probabilistic?

Sorensen: The fact whether the difference is due to chance or not.

Haereid: It’s about degrees of probability for events to happen. If something is unlikely or mathematical impossible to happen, the probability is zero and we have a non-probabilistic situation. If there is some probability for anything to occur, we can measure it mathematically in one way or the other. Then we could call it statistical. I guess this is it.

Jacobsen: What defines ideal versus image?

Sorensen: Immateriality through timelessness, and materiality by means of temporality.

Haereid: Image is a representation of something, an attempt to copy or describe something else, that is not present. A picture. A projection. What is present could be sense perceptions; sensations. An image could also be a projection, e.g. a text or a painting, of e.g. a mental image.

Ideal is a perfect goal. Something we aim for. A benchmark. It differs from image in that it’s not real in any way, just a plan or a wish, while image is real in the sense of a representation, a mask or picture or text or painting.

Appendix I: Footnotes

[1] Christian is a Philosopher that comes from Belgium. What identifies him the most and above all is simplicity, for everything is better with “vanilla flavour.” Perhaps, for this reason, his intellectual passion is criticism and irony, in the sense of trying to reveal what “hides behind the mask,” and give birth to the true. For him, ignorance and knowledge never “cross paths.” What he likes the most in his leisure time, is to go for a walk with his wife.

He did his military duty in His Majesty The King’s Guard (Drilltroppen)).

Impatient as he is, he couldn’t sit still and only studying, so among many things he worked as a freelance journalist in a small news agency. In that period, he did some environmental volunteerism with Norges Naturvernforbund (Norwegian Society for the Conservation of Nature), where he was an activist, freelance journalist and arranged ‘Sykkeldagen i Oslo’ twice (1989 and 1990) as well as environmental issues lectures. He also wrote some crime short stories in A-Magasinet (Aftenposten (one of the main newspapers in Norway), the same paper where he earned his runner up (second place) in a nationwide writing contest in 1985. He also wrote several articles in different newspapers, magazines and so on in the 1980s and early 1990s.

He earned an M.Sc. degree in Statistics and Actuarial Sciences in 1991, and worked as an actuary novice/actuary from 1987 to 1995 in several Norwegian Insurance companies. He was the Academic Director (1998-2000) of insurance at the BI Norwegian Business School (1998-2000), Manager (1997-1998) of business insurance, life insurance, and pensions and formerly Actuary (1996-1997) at Nordea in Oslo Area, Norway, a self-employed Actuary Consultant (1996-1997), an Insurance Broker (1995-1996) at Assurance Centeret, Actuary (1991-1995) at Alfa Livsforsikring, novice Actuary (1987-1990) at UNI Forsikring.

In 1989 he worked in a project in Dallas with a Texas computer company for a month incorporating a Norwegian pension product into a data system. Erik is specialized in life insurance and pensions, both private and business insurances. From 1991 to 1995 he was a main part of developing new life insurance saving products adapted to bank business (Sparebanken NOR), and he developed the mathematics behind the premiums and premium reserves.

Then the consultant company started to grow, and he quitted BI and used his full time in NIA (Nordic Insurance Administration). This was in 1998/99, and he has been there since.

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

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2023-03-20

An Interview with Giuseppe Corrente on Sentimentalism, Mobbing, and Endurance (Part Six)

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

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

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2020/07/01

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: sentimentalism; becoming a more complete and integrated individual; mobbing; most sentimental things; Positive Disintegration Theory; how the mobbing took place; the most painful experience a human being can encounter; the psychology behind mob violence; and the main lesson in the importance of endurance in the Positive Disintegration theory of giftedness

Keywords: endurance, gifted, Giuseppe Corrente, Italy, H.L. Mencken, mobbing, Positive Disintegration Theory, sentimentalism.

An Interview with Giuseppe Corrente on Sentimentalism, Mobbing, and Endurance (Part Six)[1]^,[2]*

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

1. Scott Douglas Jacobsen: Sentimentalism, to take a cue from the great American satirist and journalist, and skeptic, H.L. Mencken, is the main fault of main alongside vanity as these become the central bane of women externally while distinct realism – as the supreme realists of the race – become the self-limits or faults of women internally. You noted a personal sentimental life to me. This seems quintessentially manly and common to most or all men, as vanity is common to all men. A congenital hangover of the assumed power and prestige in societies. Why self-describe as sentimental as a starter?

Giuseppe Corrente: I am not known to be sentimental for most parts of my life, when the rationalism was predominant in me. But during the decades these two parts of me equilibrated themselves, and now I am more conscious of my emotions than before.

2. Jacobsen: How has the sentimentalism been an important part of becoming a more complete and integrated individual throughout personal evolution in life for you?

Corrente: My tormented youthfulness was negative for some aspects, but also a good thing for knowledge of the true values. And when I knew better myself, I was surprised to be sentimental other than a rationalist. Surely an important impact in my life was the women, was there that sentimentalism in me had a strong impulse and I saw the world with different eyes. And this surprised me, as a mysterious other me that I discovered for the first time.

3. Jacobsen: You were mobbed. How were these difficulties important in the development of a firmer sense of self?

Corrente: Which does not kill you, enforces you. It is a common opinion. With time, patience and willingness, it becomes also true.

4. Jacobsen: What makes you most sentimental?

Corrente: Animals and wildlife. I think that who doesn’t respect animals and nature cannot be a good man. I am a member and a fan of Greenpeace. This type of sentimentalism has been with me since birth. As already said, the other great passion for me, since my twenties, has been the women. There was almost three periods of my life that they dominated fully my thoughts, during my twenties, middle thirties and forty years old.

5. Jacobsen: How does the aforementioned Positive Disintegration theory present an insight into personal evolution through more deep visions of self and the world with mobbing, etc.?

Corrente: Second, the Positive Disintegration theory, the conflicts and the feeling of the injustices of the common world can stimulate more deep visions of ourselves and of the world. To be attacked can transform one’s motivations based only or mainly on biological needs to some based on self-determined values essentially chosen by ourselves for the common good rather than an egoistic point of view.

6. Jacobsen: How were you mobbed?

Corrente: When I was a child my father knew that I was not really his natural son. He, from an external point of view, was exigent but correct, instead, my life was frequently hit by his psychic violence; we were obliged to obey him in all our choices, otherwise, he placed me in very intricate and offensive misunderstandings, often only to punish me. When other people saw that they thought he was in reason, or because he presented the things in a different way or simply because in the mindset of time if a father punishes a child there is ever a valid reason. His real motivation was that I was not his son and that he didn’t accept my intelligence and also my mother’s secret past. This was the beginning of a lot of misunderstanding and I was mobbed in a different and stronger way also in some job places, using the familiar conflict as a starting point, but after being attacked for questions very different from the basic facts. BACK TO FACTS: these are the words that I would like to have declared. And effectively I did, but uselessly. The mobbing is a plague that grows with layers, calumny is its strongest arm, and it can be crushing in a man’s life.

7. Jacobsen: What do you consider the most painful experience a human being can encounter?

Corrente: To not be recognized as a human being. Slaves feel this. All conditions that carry you near to be totally without a real freedom are devastating. Racism is so. Homophobia is so. Bullying is so. Mobbing is so. Mafia and camorra power are so for their victims. All these forms of violence can potentially kill yourself and all that is gown around you. They can transform in a second your life, all your life, not only you, in zero.

8. Jacobsen: How does this most painful experience for a human being compare to the experience of mobbing to you? What is the psychology behind mob violence against an individual? What is the internal, individual psychology of individuals who have gone through the mobbing by others within a community?

Corrente: When the mobbing reaches its peak, the personal feeling is not limited, you have the feeling to be a slave, that your life is in other’s hands, so in that moment, in those instants, your story and the most painful are in your mind the same thing. Between me and Jesus in that moment there is no distance, I am sacrificed with no justice: each time a single man is mobbed, for a second, God is dead in his own mind. He thinks that God is dead for all humanity. Everyone is his enemy, he is without defensive arms. Above all if he has no fault, it is the standard case in the mobbing, if he cannot in successive weeks and months contrast that situation, in himself by abstract and against his enemy with letters and advocates, and with doctors for his health, that experience will become a way towards a violent reaction, against himself or the others, a way towards the death. So I think: when there is a mobbing MUST be a reaction and better a reaction with advocates and doctors than by other means. Instead from the mobber’s point of view more the victim is clever and strong in his own results, more he has the right, in his distorted opinion, to do violence against the victim, psychologically and physically. So the paradox of mobbing is that it hits very often gifted and talented people.

9. Jacobsen: What is the main lesson in the importance of endurance in the Positive Disintegration theory of giftedness?

Corrente: In the Positive Disintegration theory of giftedness there are various levels that one has to overcome and each level has its barriers. So endurance is of fundamental importance. To clarify here I prefer to cite Edison: “Genius is 1% inspiration, 99% perspiration”. So endurance is the ingredient that permits you to earn something on all steps done along your own path.

Appendix I: Footnotes

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

[2] Individual Publication Date: July 1, 2020: http://www.in-sightjournal.com/corrente-six; Full Issue Publication Date: September 1, 2020: https://in-sightjournal.com/insight-issues/.

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2023-03-20

An Interview with Marios Sophia Prodromou on Names, Metaphor, Cyprus, Greek Heritage, Genius, Religion, Mysticism, and More (Part One)

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

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

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2020/07/01

Abstract

Marios Sophia Prodromou is a member of the World Genius Directory. He discusses: the “Rat King”; other names; Caelestis; Spade; Draco; preferred name; meanings; the meaning of “Rat” and “King” in “Rat King”; feel hated by “most people”; other animal examples than a rat; the queens; a queen; the best minds; one name; degree and manner of different; the more explicit reference to lightness and darkness; the meaning of light; the origin and meaning of the name Marios Sophia Prodromou; John the Baptist; the Virgin Mary; the forms of parenting; family history and development as a Cypriot; the values of Scottish society; the values of Cypriot society; modern Scottish and Cypriot society; being a Cypriot; Turkey; Turkish mistakes; innocents; Erdogan’s attempt at recreation or reconsolidation of the (Neo-)Ottoman Empire through a Turkish expansionism; Greece; Greek mistakes; the Greeks obsessed with money; My Big Fat Greek Wedding; 6-sigma, or even 5-sigma, people within the high-IQ community; being introverted; no desire to interact with other high-range people, “really”; the discovery of giftedness; some other tests; the societal view of giftedness in Cyprus; other media opportunities; programs on television; “Prince Show”; the purpose; “With Love Christina”; nervous in both appearances; desire or want to be a somebody rather than a “nobody”; knowledge and Sophia; Greeks with an obsession on money; Sophia and knowledge; a real genius; a faux genius; more real geniuses or faux geniuses; people who fake striving to be a nobody while being a somebody as their main goal; some work pursuits; mental coaching; pressure for pupils; how much faster for most of the pupils; some of the basic strategies; some of the intermediate strategies; common, uncommon, and rare personality styles of the children; intellectual issues; public and private intellectuals; some educational attainments; social philosophy; political philosophy; economic philosophy; favourite philosopher; religious/non-religious philosophy; being balanced; kind of God; the argument for this God; the evidence for this God; most people’s hearts; fairness; justice; a single term, even a neologism, covering the idea of fairness and justice in unison; a supernatural order, a natural order, or both; definition of paranormal, supernatural, metaphysical, and natural, material, and physical in this context; the precise meaning of the idea of a paranormal “experience”; a paranormal experience; ethical philosophy; worldview; the British background influence the personal perception of the Cypriot society; inspiring kids; “tough”; alone; a member of “World Genius Directory, Prometheus, Mensa International, Epimetheus, GENIUS Umbrella Organization, sPIqr, Vertex, Grand IQ Society, Tetra, GOTHIQ, LEVIATHAN 160, Triple Nine Society, HELLIQ, The Glia Society, UBERIQ, TENIQ and many others”; societies; most reliable in providing a social and intellectual space over a long period of time for members; one spent the most time interacting with if at all; becoming a person of a value versus becoming a person of success; value less fungible than money in some fundamental sense; Madonna right, after all, but for everyone rather than just “girls”; success; value; common notions of success amongst the Greeks other than making lots and lots of money; kind of values must one have to make the “value” of “making an impact on your community”; esotericism and symbology; the Dudeist philosophy; Dudeism; open-minded; to be “everywhere”; the public alternative religious and philosophical groups; some characteristics of the secret groups without precise details of them; work or worked as a postal officer; working on some intellectual problem; the parts that are non-secretive and esoteric; kind of self-improvement; a small capacity of the brain; more men in the high-IQ societies than the women; the smartest person in history; Tesla; some of the smartest people alive now; Musk; Gates; Trump; religion and theology; faith; “ancient and secret esoteric knowledge”; kinds of symbols; the main symbols; the truth; thoughts on atheism; thoughts on theism; thoughts on agnosticism; mainly learned from purported secret esoteric knowledge; some hints or indications as to the purpose of life; changes in life; why pursue this course in life; how we know it’s ancient knowledge; those who simply cannot ‘take your word for it’; the unseen and rather a hallucination; unsatisfying and akin to a non-answer; Greek Orthodox Church; more wrong or more rights as a theology; forced and inertia-based belief in Greek Orthodox Christianity; their image of the nature of world, human beings, and the relations of human beings to one another and the world; creativity; intelligence; intuition; intuition truly a form of intelligence or more a subjectively formalized, experientially developed sensibility about life and its meanderings; genius; purpose of having ancient esoteric secret knowledge in the first place; idea as to authorship of the inscription; Mount Athos; “ancient knowledge”; the freemasons; the organization make most of them pawns; The Church of Satan, First Satanic Church, The Satanic Temple, Luciferianism, Order of Nine Angles, or the Temple of Set; The Church of Satan; First Satanic Church; The Satanic Temple; Luciferianism; Order of Nine Angles; the Temple of Set; literal or metaphorical (or both) angels and demons; Anton LaVey; his work been modified for better or for worse; Aleister Crowley or his self-claimed follower Timothy Leary; Anton LaVey; the nature of good and evil; thoughts on those who claim this is moral relativism; science and philosophy; ‘fact’; “idea”; poor decisions; differentiate intuition from other internal ‘talks’; the Gospel of John alongside of the Synoptic Gospels; a holy text; a particular religious text coming from the ancient world; Margaret Atwood; intuition; coming to terms with the world; words of advice or guidance to younger members of the profoundly gifted cohort who could use some guidance; For those parents with a profoundly gifted child; difficulties for some members of the profoundly gifted community; 1-sigma intelligence on the right-side of the bell curve differ from 2-sigma intelligence; -sigma intelligence on the right-side of the bell curve differ from 3-sigma intelligence; 3-sigma intelligence on the right-side of the bell curve differ from 4-sigma intelligence; -sigma intelligence on the right-side of the bell curve differ from 5-sigma intelligence; 5-sigma intelligence on the right-side of the bell curve differ from 6-sigma intelligence; societies emphasizing excellence more than equity; some of the oldest secret societies; the secret societies and the alternative theistic groups like the freemasons; things of annoyance; more at ease, at peace, with the world; ever plan to move away from Greece-Cyprus-Turkey area back to the United Kingdom or some other place; lifework; the general life trajectory; to end up; metaphysics; metaphysics from Dudeism; the most creative person in history; the best writer in history; the typical societal expectations of Greek heritage women; the typical societal expectations of Greek heritage men; and some cultural nuances largely known only to the Greeks about the ways in which men and women, old and young, blue-collar and white-collar, and so on, exist in Greek society, in Cypriot society, and in the diaspora with Greek heritage.

Keywords: Caelestis, Cyprus, dark, Draco, genius, Greek, heritage, light, Marios Sophia Prodromou, names, religion, Spade.

An Interview with Marios Sophia Prodromou on Names, Metaphor, Cyprus, Greek Heritage, Genius, Religion, Mysticism, and More (Part One)[1]^,[2]*

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

1. Scott Douglas Jacobsen: You’re amongst the highest range high-scorers in the niche community of alternative intelligence test takers. First things first, why the “Rat King”?

Marios Sophia Prodromou: I go by many names. There can’t be light without darkness.

2. Jacobsen: What other names?

Prodromou: Caelestis, Spade and Draco to name a few.

3. Jacobsen: What does Caelestis mean in this context? Why select it, or have it endowed to you?

Prodromou: I like to think of myself as celestial or out of this world.

4. Jacobsen: What does Spade mean in this context? Why select it, or have it endowed to you?

Prodromou: I like to dig for knowledge. The Ace of Spades by Motorhead is also one of my favourite songs.

5. Jacobsen: What does Draco mean in this context? Why select it, or have it endowed to you?

Prodromou: Dragon.

6. Jacobsen: Any preferred name out of the many?

Prodromou: Draco Caelestis or celestrial dragon.

7. Jacobsen: What interrelates these meanings (other than the obvious idea of the person, you)?

Prodromou: My knowledge of reality.

8. Jacobsen: What is the meaning of “Rat” and “King” in “Rat King”?

Prodromou: Most people hate rats but they have their purpose. It is better to be a king among rats rather than a peasant among men.

9. Jacobsen: Do you feel hated by “most people”? If so, why? If not, why not?

Prodromou: I do. There is a lot of jealousy in the world and I’m not your ordinary social butterfly.

10. Jacobsen: Any other animal examples than a rat – perhaps more palatable to the imagination?

Prodromou: Dragon, lion and Eagle.

11. Jacobsen: What about the queens?

Prodromou: A queen is just as important as a king.

12. Jacobsen: Do you have a queen?

Prodromou: Sophia.

13. Jacobsen: Do you consider the best minds among the rats/people the “most hated,” and for good reason? Is this a variation on better to reign in hell than serve in heaven?

Prodromou: My birthday this year coincided with the beginning of the year of the rat. Great year it’s been so far. I can’t get Horned rats out of my mind.

14. Jacobsen: Why not simply go by one name?

Prodromou: I strive to be different.

15. Jacobsen: How much, and in what way? Why that degree and manner of different?

Prodromou: If you are one of the many you will always be average. As different ad it gets.

16. Jacobsen: What is the more explicit reference to lightness and darkness? Usually, this comes with some philosophical or theological position on life. Is this the intended meaning?

Prodromou: Lux in tenebris. A more detailed version is found in the Gospel of John. The light shines in the darkness and the darkness cannot comprehend it. I like to be significant but also go about unnoticed.

17. Jacobsen: What about tenebris in lux? What is the meaning of light here rather than a reference? Is this in reference to the light of God and the darkness of the prime fallen angel, prime evil?

Prodromou: Evil depends on intention. A knife can cut your food or can kill somebody. Again I believe in dualism and that evil and good are just different poles of the same coin

18. Jacobsen: What is the origin and meaning of the name Marios Sophia Prodromou?

Prodromou: My grandmother was called Maria and I was also named in honor of the Virgin Mary. My mother had trouble giving birth and prayed to the Virgin Mary to help her conceive. Prodromou is the family name and means forerunner after John the Baptist or Prodromos in Greek.

19. Jacobsen: In this context, what does John the Baptist mean to you, personally?

Prodromou: I like his way of life. Being a loner. He had a bigger role than what he is credited. Just ask the Knights Templars.

20. Jacobsen: Also, what does the Virgin Mary mean to you, personally?

Prodromou: The divine feminine.

21. Jacobsen: What were the forms of parenting towards you, in the context of being rather special child in rarity, in cognition and in odds of conception for your mother?

Prodromou: I was given my space and a lot of love.

23. Jacobsen: What is family history and development as a Cypriot?

Prodromou: Both parents are Cypriots although I was born in Scotland.

24. Jacobsen: What are the values of Scottish society?

Prodromou: Respect for their history. They know where they came from.

25. Jacobsen: How do these mix with the values of Cypriot society if at all?

Prodromou: Cypriots care more about the present than the past.

26. Jacobsen: Are modern Scottish and Cypriot society more at odds or at parallels?

Prodromou: They are very different.

27. Jacobsen: What does being a Cypriot do for personal social and political views regarding Greece, Cyprus, and Turkey?

Prodromou: Both Turkey and Greece have made mistakes. I am a Greek Cypriot but am always open-minded when it comes to politics.

28. Jacobsen: What mistakes has Turkey made?

Prodromou: They are obsessed with world dominance. Killed many innocent people in their endeavors.

29. Jacobsen: How will Turkish mistakes come to haunt them?

Prodromou: Karma is a bitch not just for Turkey but for everybody.

30. Jacobsen: How many innocents are estimated?

Prodromou: I’d rather not put a number to it.

31. Jacobsen: Is this Erdogan’s attempt at recreation or reconsolidation of the (Neo-)Ottoman Empire through a Turkish expansionism?

Prodromou: Not only Eedogan’s but those that went before him and those that will come after him.

32. Jacobsen: What mistakes has Greece made?

Prodromou: Greeks are obsessed with money. The result is selling out their country. The ministry of defence sold a submarine owned by his military.

33. Jacobsen: How will the Greek mistakes come back to bite them in the behind more?

Prodromou: Already the economy is a mess.

34. Jacobsen: Have the Greeks always been obsessed with money?

Prodromou: Not always. But when they were given a little sugar they developed a sweet tooth.

35. Jacobsen: How accurate is My Big Fat Greek Wedding, the movie, to Greek culture, especially in times of courting and marriage and potential in-law interactions?

Prodromou: It is quite accurate. Parents can become obsessed with their kids. In Scotland they leave the nest at 18 in Greece ans Cyprus they can stay forever. Well at least till marriage.

36. Jacobsen: Have you ever met or interacted with many other 6-sigma, or even 5-sigma, people within the high-IQ community? If so, what was the experience? If not, other than statistical rarity, why not?

Prodromou: I can’t say that I have. They are hard to find and I am highly introverted.

37. Jacobsen: Why so introverted?

Prodromou: I was an only child. I learnt to be my best friend.

38. Jacobsen: Would you like to interact with them?

Prodromou: Not really. I’m a loner.

39. Jacobsen: How was the discovery of giftedness? What is important to bear in mind about alternative intelligence tests? What alternative intelligence tests/non-mainstream tests seem reliable and valid to you?

Prodromou: I scored 98/100 on the old Millers Analogy Test that I used to matriculate into the College of New Jersey Master of Education program

40. Jacobsen: What have been some other tests? What are the implied scores and standard deviations of said scores? What have been the range of the scores from the lowest to the highest?

Prodromou: My highest was 190+ on MACH. I have scored around 170 on tests by Iacovos Koukas. It all depends on how much effort I put into the test. I did my 170 in 2 hours where I took 6 months to answer the MACH.

41. Jacobsen: What is the societal view of giftedness in Cyprus?

Prodromou: I’ve been twice on national TV but I remain an unknown nobody.

42. Jacobsen: Have there been other media opportunities, which you’ve turned down?

Prodromou: Many. I don’t go there for the fame.

43. Jacobsen: What programs on television? Why agree to appear on those programs?

Prodromou: It helps me gain the trust of the community and be able to help their kids as a mental coach. I went to two well known programs on Cypriot TV. The clips are on my YouTube channel.

44. Jacobsen: On the “Prince Show,” is kissing a common Greek greeting between people – on either or both cheeks? In North America, this would be seen as odd between men. What was the reason for the invitation to the show? What was the main discussion topic? What were some responses to the show? Did you like the appearance?

Prodromou: I won the WGD Genius of the Year for Europe in 2017. The WGD made a press release and I got invited.

45. Jacobsen: Was part of the purpose to garner the trust of the public?

Prodromou: I don’t like to advertise myself and the public believes anything the media tells them and the public adores celebrities so it was a win-win situation for me.

46. Jacobsen: On the “With Love Christina,” what was the reason for the invitation to the show? What was the main discussion topic? What were some responses to the show? Did you like the appearance?

Prodromou: Again winning the WGD Award.

47. Jacobsen: You seemed nervous in both appearances. Is this an accurate observation? If so, why? If not, why not?

Prodromou: I don’t socialize much. I was out of my water.

48. Jacobsen: Do you desire or want to be a somebody rather than a “nobody”?

Prodromou: I’d rather be a nobody. In this earth to be a somebody you need to be a celebrity or have lots of money. I’d rather pass. Knowledge and Sophia for me is more important than money.

49. Jacobsen: Why are knowledge and Sophia sufficient for you?

Prodromou: That is why we are here. To learn and improve.

50. Jacobsen: Why would most Greeks with an obsession on money choose money rather than their own notions of “knowledge and Sophia”?

Prodromou: They have not studied the occult like me. When you look into the abyss you find that it stares right back at you.

51. Jacobsen: What or who is Sophia (other than a middle name)?

Prodromou: The Goddess of wisdom. The most important figure for Gnostic Christians.

52. Jacobsen: What kind of knowledge most appeals to personal sensibilities?

Prodromou: As long as it resonates with my intuition. I find it appealing.

53. Jacobsen: What makes a real genius?

Prodromou: Finding the unknown.

54. Jacobsen: What makes a faux genius?

Prodromou: A good actor like Trump.

55. Jacobsen: Are there more real geniuses or faux geniuses?

Prodromou: Faux Geniuses for sure.

56. Jacobsen: What do you make of people who fake striving to be a nobody while being a somebody as their main goal to promote themselves or some idea rather than simply being a nobody, liking it, and preferring being a nobody?

Prodromou: We are all actors and the world is our stage. We have our plays and exits.

57. Jacobsen: What have been some work pursuits for you?

Prodromou: My passion is helping kids excel in sports through mental coaching.

58. Jacobsen: What is “mental coaching”? What have been the specialities in the forms of mental coaching for you? How do you go about imparting these mental skills to mentees?

Prodromou: Helping the child make faster and better decisions under pressure. I have come up with several strategies depending on the learning style and personality of the child. One size does not fit all.

59. Jacobsen: What kind of pressure?

Prodromou: Playing in a competitive environment in front of people. Even the desire of pleasing our parents or coaches results in pressure.

60. Jacobsen: Fast is time-dependent, therefore relative. How much faster for most of the pupils?

Prodromou: One second too early and you are offside. One second too late and you missed your chance. Just as fast as is needed to made a difference.

61. Jacobsen: What are some of the basic strategies?

Prodromou: Improving focus and concentration. Teaching the kids how to pick up information and how to analyze it to make better decisions.

62. Jacobsen: What are some of the intermediate strategies?

Prodromou: Nothing is set in stone. What works for John doesn’t work for Charlie.

63. Jacobsen: What are the common, uncommon, and rare personality styles of the children?

Prodromou: Every kid is different. That is the beauty of this world.

64. Jacobsen: What intellectual issues impress you?

Prodromou: I am not easily impressed as only a small capacity of one’s brain is used. I believe that there is more to the world than meets the eye. We only see a tiny fraction of the spectrum after all.

65. Jacobsen: Which public and private intellectuals impress you?

Prodromou: I’m not easily impressed.

66. Jacobsen: What have been some educational attainments for you?

Prodromou: I graduated summa cum laude from the University of Indianapolis and finished the Master in Education program of the College of New Jersey with a perfect 4.00 GPA.

67. Jacobsen: What social philosophy makes the most sense to you?

Prodromou: “The alienation of man thus appeared as the fundamental evil of capitalist society.” – Karl Marx

68. Jacobsen: What political philosophy makes the most sense to you?

Prodromou: Equal rights and opportunities for all men and women.

69. Jacobsen: What economic philosophy makes the most sense to you?

Prodromou: “Accumulation of wealth at one pole is at the same time accumulation of misery, agony of toil, slavery, ignorance, brutality, mental degradation at the opposite pole.” -Karl Marx

70. Jacobsen: Who is a favourite philosopher for you? I am sensing Marx or potentially Marx for some reason.

Prodromou: You are correct.

71. Jacobsen: What religious/non-religious philosophy makes the most sense to you?

Prodromou: I believe in God but I also believe that there can be no light without darkness. It is not about choosing sides. It is about finding balance.

72. Jacobsen: What is being balanced here? What delineates the light from the dark in personalities and life stances? For what it’s worth, I am reminded of the Grey Jedi.

Prodromou: You won’t see a bear turn the other cheek of her cubs are in danger.

73. Jacobsen: What kind of God makes the most sense to you?

Prodromou: A God that is fair and just. That judges a person’s heart and his intentions rather than his accomplishments.

74.Jacobsen: What is the argument for this God?

Prodromou: Synchronicity.

75. Jacobsen: What is the evidence for this God?

Prodromou: I find that I will always get to where I need to be through a random sequence of events in my life.

76. Jacobsen: What is in most people’s hearts?

Prodromou: Blood.

77. Jacobsen: What is fairness?

Prodromou: Having the same opportunities as everybody else.

78. Jacobsen: What is justice?

Prodromou: If you do somebody wrong that you also will be wronged.

79. Jacobsen: Is there a single term, even a neologism, covering the idea of fairness and justice in unison?

Prodromou: I’m not keen on unions.

80. Jacobsen: Do you believe in a supernatural order, a natural order, or both? Why?

Prodromou: I have had paranormal experiences but let’s leave it at that.

81. Jacobsen: As a detective, one must detect, investigate, and/or inquire – have to ask. What is the definition of paranormal, supernatural, metaphysical, and natural, material, and physical in this context?

Prodromou: Some things need to be seen. They cannot be described. For those that know no explanation is necessary. For those that don’t no explanation is possible.

82. Jacobsen: What is the precise meaning of the idea of a paranormal “experience” within the above-mentioned definition?

Prodromou: I refer you to the above.

83. Jacobsen: Why does this experience within giving the precise experience, in fact, match the above-mentioned definitions and contextualizations of a paranormal experience rather than simply a natural and normal experience, or event?

Prodromou: I am still experiencing the effects up to this day.

84. Jacobsen: What ethical philosophy makes the most sense to you?

Prodromou: What is chaos for the fly is dinner time for the spider.

85. Jacobsen: What worldview brings these together into a neat little package for you?

Prodromou: Thinking outside the box. Nothing is set in stone.

86. Jacobsen: How does the British background influence the personal perception of the Cypriot society?

Prodromou: Small is not always better.

87. Jacobsen: Why is inspiring kids important for you?

Prodromou: I had a tough childhood and know what it feels like to be alone in the world.

88. Jacobsen: How was it “tough”?

Prodromou: Parents were away most of the time and we had little money. I was also bullied in school.

89. Jacobsen: How did you feel alone? How did your mother cope knowing her rare child was alone and living a tough life?

Prodromou: She did the best that she could. I wouldn’t change her for any other mother.

90. Jacobsen: You are a member of “World Genius Directory, Prometheus, Mensa International, Epimetheus, GENIUS Umbrella Organization, sPIqr, Vertex, Grand IQ Society, Tetra, GOTHIQ, LEVIATHAN 160, Triple Nine Society, HELLIQ, The Glia Society, UBERIQ, TENIQ and many others.”

Prodromou: IQ is just a number but it looks good on my resume. It helps me as a mental coach as the parents are more willing to recruit me in order to help their kids.

91. Jacobsen: What societies seem the most reliable in providing a social and intellectual space over a long period of time for members?

Prodromou: Difficult to answer. I mostly join for the card and not the interaction.

92. Jacobsen: What one have you spent the most time interacting with if at all? Why that one?

Prodromou: WGD. I won the award and was their ambassador for a whole year.

93. Jacobsen: What is meant by becoming a person of a value versus becoming a person of success?

Prodromou: Success for many is having lots of money or social status. A person of value however is important to his community for his knowledge and not for his money.

94. Jacobsen: Does this make value less fungible than money in some fundamental sense?

Prodromou: Only because most people are obsessed with money and not the pursuit of knowledge. In their defence it is a material world after all isn’t it?

95. Jacobsen: Was Madonna right, after all, but for everyone rather than just “girls”?

Prodromou: No money no honey.

96. Jacobsen: Following from the previous question, what defines success? What defines value?

Prodromou: Success is different for many people. Value however is making an impact on your community.

97. Jacobsen: What are common notions of success amongst the Greeks other than making lots and lots of money?

Prodromou: Having a good job. Social status.

98. Jacobsen: What kind of values must one have to make the “value” of “making an impact on your community”? How have you strived to be valuable to community in this manner? Is the sense of “community” local or global here, or simply a

Prodromou: Doing the best for the person that you are dealing with and not for you.

99. Jacobsen: An inference rather than a confirmation. You seem to like esotericism and symbology, including highly symmetrical and complex creations. If so, why? If not, why the complicated symbol systems on social media for you?

Prodromou: A lot of ancient and secret esoteric knowledge has been preserved in symbols. Language has changed and is different for everybody but symbols remain the same.

100. Jacobsen: Why take part in the Dudeist philosophy, as I am, full disclosure, a member too?

Prodromou: I like to be everywhere and am open-minded.

101. Jacobsen: For those who do not know, what is Dudeism?

Prodromou: The Tao.

102. Jacobsen: How open-minded?

Prodromou: As much as it takes for my brain to fall out of my head.

103. Jacobsen: What other groups have you joined to be “everywhere”?

Prodromou: I can’t mention them as they are secret.

104. Jacobsen: Any of those who aren’t secret, like the public alternative religious and philosophical groups, e.g., Dudeism?

Prodromou: I’m an Associate member of the American Psychological Association.

105. Jacobsen: What are some characteristics of the secret groups without precise details of them – other than being “secret”?

Prodromou: They find you. You don’t find them.

106. Jacobsen: You work or worked as a postal officer. Why?

Prodromou: The best and most stable job in Cyprus is as a civil servant. It also gives you lots of free hours in the afternoons to pursue other goals and interests.

107. Jacobsen: I am reminded of old Bill Sidis working at ‘menial’ jobs while writing works on the history of the Americas, etc. Are you writing anything or working on some intellectual problem at this time?

Prodromou: I’m working on self improvement and my esoteric world through the application of hidden knowledge. You can add “mystery man” to the titles that I go under.

108. Jacobsen: Of the parts that are non-secretive and esoteric, what is the esoteric part? Is that Austin “Danger” Powers, man of mystery?

Prodromou: It is the part that “changes” you the most.

109. Jacobsen: What kind of self-improvement?

Prodromou: Receiving an upgrade. Making a better version of you.

110. Jacobsen: What do you mean only a small capacity of the brain is used? Isn’t this an old and outmoded, i.e., non-empirical, stance akin to the 10% myth?

Prodromou: Only for those that have a large ego. It makes them feel better and that they are intelligent. Most of our thoughts are not even our own.

111. Jacobsen: Why are more men in the high-IQ societies than the women?

Prodromou: I have the same question. Probably women have other interests as I don’t think it is about intelligence.

112. Jacobsen: Who do you consider the smartest person in history?

Prodromou: Tesla.

113. Jacobsen: Why?

Prodromou: He was a loner just like me. A pig of his work is not even known to the general population.

114. Jacobsen: Who do you consider some of the smartest people alive now?

Prodromou: Musk and Gates and even Trump.

115. Jacobsen: Why Musk?

Prodromou: He has a nice girlfriend.

116. Jacobsen: Why Gates?

Prodromou: He started off with nothing and made billions through his knowledge.

117. Jacobsen: Why “even Trump”?

Prodromou: He is a good actor.

118. Jacobsen: What defines religion and theology?

Prodromou: A strong belief in something and faith in the unknown.

119. Jacobsen: What differentiates the former, a “strong belief,” from a conviction? Is faith a good or a bad thing if the thing is unknown or assumed as such? Many things have been believed on faith without evidence and caused a great many tragedies, and the ones/events/happenings/outcomes in which faith lead to good things; better and more evidenced reasons exist and highly probably existed.

Prodromou: I should have been dead in two car crashes that I have had. Faith is knowing that I’m still here for a reason. I guess it all depends on the person and his experiences.

120. Jacobsen: What is “ancient and secret esoteric knowledge”?

Prodromou: It wouldn’t be a secret if I told you now would it?

121. Jacobsen: What kinds of symbols preserve them?

Prodromou: Many symbols in the occult mainly. Especially those created by John Dee and Aleister Crowley.

122. Jacobsen: What are the main symbols? What are the main interpretations of them?

Prodromou: Again what I know cannot be discussed in public. It is up to every individual to seek the truth if he desires.

123. Jacobsen: Is the truth atheism or theism, or some other category?

Prodromou: The truth is still the truth even if nobody believes it. A lie is still a lie even if everybody believes it.

124. Jacobsen: Any thoughts on atheism?

Prodromou: Everybody has free will to believe or not. I respect their free will not to believe just as long as they respect my right to believe.

125. Jacobsen: Any thoughts on theism?

Prodromou: Same as above.

126. Jacobsen: Any thoughts on agnosticism?

Prodromou: Same as above.

127. Jacobsen: What have you mainly learned from purported secret esoteric knowledge?

Prodromou: That there is a purpose to life and not what everybody thinks it is. I have learnt why we are here.

128. Jacobsen: What are some hints or indications as to the purpose of life?

Prodromou: Improving your inner world and DNA.

129. Jacobsen: What changes in life have come from this for you?

Prodromou: I have a whole new heart.

130. Jacobsen: Why did you pursue this course in life rather than others?

Prodromou: I believe everything else is a distraction.

131. Jacobsen: How do we know it’s ancient knowledge?

Prodromou: I have applied it and have seen the unseen. But you have to take my word for it as hard as that seems.

132. Jacobsen: Does this not seem like a skirting, or circumnavigating the issue entirely, similar to the promise of unlikely rewards of 72 virgins after death for martyrs in some interpretations of Islamic scriptures – ‘just believe me as you’ll get it after you die, take my word for it’? This sort of argument from authority. What of those who simply cannot ‘take your word for it’ – no matter how hard it may seem – and require more robust responses, e.g., like detectives?

Prodromou: Even if I told you fee would believe. And even those that do believe won’t know how or what to do.

133. Jacobsen: What if what you saw was not the unseen and rather a hallucination or a mere chance coincidence rather than a real experience in true transaction with the external world – between the self and the natural world?

Prodromou: Again, I’m still experiencing the effects of my experience to this day.

134. Jacobsen: How do we know it’s esoteric and secret rather than simply esoteric knowledge?

Prodromou: What I have seen I doubt many people have seen.

135. Jacobsen: Does this seem unsatisfying and akin to a non-answer, almost a faux mysticism so as to skirt real explanation through properly verifiable and more reliable means than fallible human experience?

Prodromou: Some things are better left unsaid.

136. Jacobsen: Most Greeks are formal religious, as in Greek Orthodox Church. Why?

Prodromou: That is what they are brought up to believe.

137. Jacobsen: Is it correct or incorrect as a system of thought, or more wrong or more rights as a theology?

Prodromou: Who am I to judge?

138. Jacobsen: How could this enforced and inertia-based belief in Greek Orthodox Christianity change in the future to a different faith or no faith at all?

Prodromou: I doubt it will change. Religion is strong in Greece and Cyprus and the church has a big role in Society and lots of money and property. The Head of the church can even influence the Government.

139. Jacobsen: Following from the previous question, how does this color their image of the nature of world, human beings, and the relations of human beings to one another and the world?

Prodromou: Cultural bias is created that doesn’t allow much room to the individual to explore other ideas and values.

140. Jacobsen: What is creativity?

Prodromou: Tapping into your own intuition to come up with something original.

141. Jacobsen: What is intelligence?

Prodromou: Intuition for me is the highest intelligence.

142. Jacobsen: Why intuition?

Prodromou: That is where the magic happens.

143. Jacobsen: Is intuition truly a form of intelligence or more a subjectively formalized, experientially developed sensibility about life and its meanderings?

Prodromou: It is the highest intelligence.

144. Jacobsen: What is genius?

Prodromou: Finding X.

145. Jacobsen: What is purpose of having ancient esoteric secret knowledge in the first place?

Prodromou: “If you die before you die you won’t die when you die.” An ancient inscription written at Mount Athos.

146. Jacobsen: Any idea as to authorship of the inscription?

Prodromou: No idea.

147. Jacobsen: Why is Mount Athos significant to the Greeks and to Eastern Orthodox monasticism?

Prodromou: It is their holy place. Everybody that is Greek has gone their or will eventually go there at least once in their life time.

148. Jacobsen: Is “ancient knowledge” good or bad? With current advancements, it sounds like “Ancient Grains” or some such thing.

Prodromou: That is the plan. To keep you away from the old. Who says new is better?

149. Jacobsen: Any thoughts on the freemasons in that regard – the society with secrets rather than a secret society?

Prodromou: I respect them although most are pawns and only a handful of those at the highest degrees reach the truth.

150. Jacobsen: Why does the organization make most of them pawns?

Prodromou: To do their dirty work.

151. Jacobsen: Any thoughts on different Satanist or associated groups including The Church of Satan, First Satanic Church, The Satanic Temple, Luciferianism, Order of Nine Angles, or the Temple of Set?

Prodromou: I respect them as well; although, it is not good to be so fanatic. It does not leave room to explore other paths. Satan was once an angel after all.

152. Jacobsen: Any specific reflections on The Church of Satan?

Prodromou: It is what it is.

153. Jacobsen: Any specific reflections on First Satanic Church?

Prodromou: It is what it is.

154. Jacobsen: Any specific reflections on The Satanic Temple?

Prodromou: It is what it is.

155. Jacobsen: Any specific reflections on Luciferianism?

Prodromou: It is what it is.

156. Jacobsen: Any specific reflections on Order of Nine Angles?

Prodromou: It is what it is.

157. Jacobsen: Any specific reflections on the Temple of Set?

Prodromou: It is what it is.

158. Jacobsen: Do you believe in literal or metaphorical (or both) angels and demons? If so, how so? If not, why not?

Prodromou: Maybe they work together and are two parts of the same team.

159. Jacobsen: Any thoughts on Anton LaVey?

Prodromou: A genius but his work has been modified.

160. Jacobsen: Has his work been modified for better or for worse?

Prodromou: For the worse.

161. Jacobsen: Any thoughts on Aleister Crowley or his self-claimed follower Timothy Leary?

Prodromou: Both geniuses although again they have been made out to be the worst possible people to keep society from exploring their work.

162. Jacobsen: Any thoughts on Anton LaVey?

Prodromou: I would have loved to have met him.

163. Jacobsen: Any thoughts on the nature of good and evil? Does this relate to the aforementioned light and dark before, lightness and darkness before?

Prodromou: Good and evil change and are dependant on your circumstances and are in the eyes of the beholder. A cake is good comfort food unless you have diabetes. Bring those brownies next time you visit. It all depends upon where you are standing.

164. Jacobsen: Any thoughts on those who claim this is moral relativism (usually stated in a derogatory tone)? Where do you stand now, grey one?

Prodromou: I respect their right to believe what they like about the subject and hopefully they will respect mine.

165. Jacobsen: What is science? What is philosophy?

Prodromou: Science is when we prove something to be correct through “facts”. Philosophy on the other hand is your “idea” about something. My philosophy is that facts are important but intuition is more important. But you need to be sure it is your intuition talking before acting upon an impulse.

166. Jacobsen: What is a ‘fact’?

Prodromou: 1+1=2.

167. Jacobsen: What is an “idea”?

Prodromou: Something that hasn’t been proven yet to be a fact.

168. Jacobsen: Why does impulse lead to poor decisions?

Prodromou: Not always the case.

169. Jacobsen: What else could be “talking”? What means by which to differentiate intuition from other internal ‘talks’?

Prodromou: Our spirit guide.

170. Jacobsen: What if the Gospel of John alongside of the Synoptic Gospels, indeed the entirety of the Bible – Old Testament and New Testament, amount to fabricated documents or not entirely factual (as a hypothetical)? Now, most historians, secular and religious, agree Jesus Christ existed; however, all of the miracles, violations of the natural laws known today, and the fallibility of the human mind in terms of eyewitness testimony seem important to take into consideration, especially as all of the texts purport eyewitness testimony. Yet, Professor Elizabeth Loftus’s work is clear of the poor data-taking devices of human beings. In that, even if the Christian Scriptures are taken as holy, as inspired, and eyewitness testimonies, they’re still mediated by human sense perception and cogitation leading to the inevitable now-empirical conclusion of highly unreliable sources in eyewitness testimony within the field of cognitive psychology in regards to eyewitness testimony.

Prodromou: They are fabricated documents that have gone through many edits. Doesn’t mean there isn’t any truth to them. You just need to filter out the lies.

171. Jacobsen: Following from the previous question, even if we take the explicit reference to the lightness and the darkness in Christian holy texts in a base textual analysis, or even in a detailed Logos oriented interpretation of the Gospel of John starting with John 1:1 to John 1:2 with “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God,” it’s not taken as literal, but as metaphorical. Why need the text to know this? Why have a holy text at all? Why not another fallible, questionable text without the sacred, inspired assertions behind it?

Prodromou: The bible is a story about two tribes.

172. Jacobsen: Following from the previous question, what is gained by reference to a particular religious text coming from the ancient world in which philosophy was developed, but science, human rights, and so on, were not? Isn’t this simply outmoded and not needed anymore?

Prodromou: The bible tells us what has come before and what will come in the future. This year alone has been quite biblical for example.

173. Jacobsen: Following from the previous question, how would one go unnoticed while leaving a significant trace in the context of a base textual analysis and in the detailed Gospel of John analysis? I am reminded of a Margaret Atwood quote, “I would like to be the air that inhabits you for a moment only. I would like to be that unnoticed and that necessary.”

Prodromou: Just by doing one’s job. The air doesn’t ask why it is there or asks for money to be there. It is invisible but without it humanity would not exist.

174. Jacobsen: What if intuition is simply a poor reasoning apparatus output of the human organism?

Prodromou: Again it depends on your ability to reason. What if our thoughts are nor our own?

175. Jacobsen: When we take some of the more important aspects of individual identity for some members of the profoundly gifted category or the profoundly high IQs, there seems a sense of the alone-ness, in which the individual gifted person’s temperaments and gifts leaves them in a straightjacket in some manner. On the one hand, they know more than most, max out standardized tests of valid types, and can process more quickly, more in-depth, and with greater relatedness in concepts. On the other hand, this sets them apart from ordinary society in a number of regards, which can make them out of sync emotionally and socially with peers due to lack of experience either due to innate factors or more time spent in independent study, or little overlap in ways of thinking for them. It is a sort of unresolvable pickle in the ways in which the species evolved. So, in some ways, tough, get used to it, while, on the other hand, how do these individuals find a place in society for some level of optimal fit for them? How have you dealt with this coming to terms with the world?

Prodromou: We are not pieces In a jigsaw puzzle. Some of us don’t need to fit in.

176. Jacobsen: Following from the previous question, some will take a certain attitude of outright antagonism to the idea of coming to terms with the world exhibiting itself in opposition to standard sources of authority and structure and organization within the society, including established religions, governmental structures, and elders and experts within the society. This can take forms of delusions of grandeur, opposition defiance disorder, and simply taking the path of molasses all through life, which, naturally, comes with lifelong consequences for them. Any words of advice or guidance to younger members of the profoundly gifted cohort who could use some guidance in this regard?

Prodromou: Be your own person.

177. Jacobsen: For those parents with a profoundly gifted child, who can be ten years old while functioning at the intellectual capacity of a an average eighteen year old or more, what is some advice for them in terms of nutrition, fitness, and intellectual challenge?

Prodromou: Listen to the child and what he or she wants.

178. Jacobsen: When it comes to girl-girl time, boy-boy time, boy-girl time, what are some difficulties for some members of the profoundly gifted community who happen to exist in milieu of same-age peers and no peers intellectually, in a time of first finding lust and love while not having the requisite emotional maturity – even feeling intensely while lacking experience to buffer the intensity to socially and interpersonally appropriate levels?

Prodromou: This world is not ideal for everybody. It is a rich man’s world but I’d also say the better one looks the easier it is to fit in.

179. Jacobsen: How does 1-sigma intelligence on the right-side of the bell curve differ from 2-sigma intelligence in terms of behavioural and verbal proxies?

Prodromou: Not very much.

180. Jacobsen: How does 2-sigma intelligence on the right-side of the bell curve differ from 3-sigma intelligence in terms of behavioural and verbal proxies?

Prodromou: Again not very much.

181. Jacobsen: How does 3-sigma intelligence on the right-side of the bell curve differ from 4-sigma intelligence in terms of behavioural and verbal proxies?

Prodromou: Not very much.

182. Jacobsen: How does 4-sigma intelligence on the right-side of the bell curve differ from 5-sigma intelligence in terms of behavioural and verbal proxies?

Prodromou: Not very much.

183. Jacobsen: How does 5-sigma intelligence on the right-side of the bell curve differ from 6-sigma intelligence in terms of behavioural and verbal proxies?

Prodromou: Not very much. One sigma differences are insignificant. I doubt anybody can tell the difference between a 5 and 6 sigma dude just by chatting to them.

184. Jacobsen: How can societies emphasizing excellence more than equity cheer on and support the profoundly gifted and talented members of its communities?

Prodromou: Intelligence will always be repressed. Governments don’t like intelligent people that can think for themselves.

185. Jacobsen: What do you consider some of the oldest secret societies?

Prodromou: The Knights Templars.

186. Jacobsen: What seems like the general idea, while not stating the content, of many of the secret societies and the alternative theistic groups like the freemasons?

Prodromou: Self improvement and the quest for the holy grail.

187. Jacobsen: What annoys you?

Prodromou: People who think that they are always right and not open to new ideas.

188. Jacobsen: What makes you feel more at ease, at peace, with the world?

Prodromou: Not thinking about the world and not reading the media or watching TV.

189. Jacobsen: Would you ever plan to move away from Greece-Cyprus-Turkey area back to the United Kingdom or some other place? If so, why? If not, why not?

Prodromou: I don’t plan my life. I am spontaneous and may take off one day.

190. Jacobsen: Most of the more intelligent people in history known have some – what I call – lifework. Some pursuit covering a large part of their lives, in spite of the chaos, nonsense, and personality quirks that may be part and parcel of the personality behind the lifework. Do you have a lifework? If so, what? If not, why not?

Prodromou: My pursuit was my inner world. Making a better version of me. No time for anything else.

191. Jacobsen: How would you characterize the general life trajectory for you?

Prodromou: It’s hard to define.

191. Jacobsen: Where would you like your life to end up?

Prodromou: In the unknown garden of Nemo.

192. Jacobsen: What is metaphysics?

Prodromou: Why we are here.

193. Jacobsen: Why choose metaphysics from Dudeism?

Prodromou: Why we are here is a question that I have been trying to answer since I were a kid.

194. Jacobsen: Who do you consider the most creative person in history?

Prodromou: DA VINCI.

195. Jacobsen: Who do you consider the best writer in history?

Prodromou: Shakespeare.

196. Jacobsen: What are the typical societal expectations of Greek heritage women? What are the typical societal expectations of Greek heritage men?

Prodromou: Getting married and finding a nice spouse.

197. Jacobsen: What are some cultural nuances largely known only to the Greeks about the ways in which men and women, old and young, blue-collar and white-collar, and so on, exist in Greek society, in Cypriot society, and in the diaspora with Greek heritage in terms of a sense of extended identity in the Greek people?

Prodromou: I’m not the best one to answer this question. I don’t socialize enough to know.

Appendix I: Footnotes

[1] 190+ S.D. 15 on the MACH, Member, World Genius Directory.

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

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2023-03-20

Pith 301: A woman isn’t a womb

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Personal)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2023/03/20

A woman isn’t a womb: Notions evolve, and the notions of women’s innate inferiority and social, and legal, inequality have always been moot in fact, and not in practice, hence pride of their counters and the common, seemingly incurable, prejudice; however, the stigma against artifice, that is artificial womb technologies, as in the growth of human beings and future variants thereof, in practice extends this prejudice against women in the domain of Futurism or Futurology, and, when decoupled from such limitations, then women shall attain rightful place as equals more fully, while our senses of selves will be irrevocably altered in like manner, as we become demystified from one another, and in intersubjectively ‘objective’ disciplines of study as another form of technology constructed by Universe.

See “What is a ‘woman’, anyway, or a ‘man’ for that matter?”.

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2023-03-20

Pith 300: The abused are more likely to abuse and to be abused in the future

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Personal)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2023/03/20

The abused are more likely to abuse and to be abused in the future: Psychological science says so; common sense says so, too.

See “Facts are facts”.

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2023-03-20

Pith 299: “‘Sticks’, yeah, stall fronts are a little more important”

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Personal)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2023/03/20

“‘Sticks’, yeah, stall fronts are a little more important”: Wife denigrating husband when one second away; a good point and bad form.

See “Babysitting”.

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2023-03-20

Pith 298: “I don’t want to bring race too much into this, but you are the hardest working white person I have ever seen”

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Personal)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2023/03/20

“I don’t want to bring race too much into this, but you are the hardest working white person I have ever seen”: I know; thing is, I’m not allowed to say.

See “White man can, occasionally, jump”.

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2023-03-20

Pith 297: “Oh my God, shut up!”

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

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Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2023/03/20

“Oh my God, shut up!”: Horses can be super annoying; even to a horse girl.

See “1.5 seconds of walk-by humour”.

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2023-03-20

Pith 296: A Forever Fork

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Personal)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2023/03/20

A Forever Fork: A good hard metal shaft; just what a man is lookin’ for.

See “Barn humour”.

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2023-03-20

Pith 295: Nothing comes from Something

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

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Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2023/03/20

Nothing comes from Something: Why wouldn’t there be something?

See “We’ve had it backwards the whole time”.

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2023-03-20

Pith 294: I took a Narcissism scale once

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

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Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2023/03/20

I took a Narcissism scale once: I scored 1 out of 100; ergo, I am operationally unfit for the contemporary age.

See “The last of the radical puritans”.

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2023-03-20

Pith 293: Silence

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

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Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2023/03/20

Silence: Sound and silence give each other definition, as in defined on each other, as in codetermined signifiers; silence has as many meanings and tones and timbres as sound, in the inverse, plus one: Silence — thus, silence is more powerful than sound.

See “I couldn’t hear you”.

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2023-03-20

Pith 292: The contradictory feminist strand

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

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Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2023/03/20

The contradictory feminist strand: Single and sexless, so empowered; single and hypersexual, so empowered.

See “Can’t lose, either way, is that a legitimating stance?”.

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2023-03-20

Pith 291: “Oh, hi, Scott”

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

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Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2023/03/20

“Oh, hi, Scott”: My final words to grandma Jacobsen were a greeting; the best “bye” is a “hi”.

See “I miss you”.

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2023-03-20

Pith 290: “Oh my fucking God, this hurts so goddamned much. I want it to stop. I’m so fucking angry.”

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Personal)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2023/03/20

“Oh my fucking God, this hurts so goddamned much. I want it to stop. I’m so fucking angry.”: Taking a woman to the side in distress at the pub, don’t tell, ask and listen, console; a woman cheated on and emotionally decimated.

See “We’ve all been there and needed someone, when the time comes be that someone”.

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2023-03-20

Pith 289: “God, you’re obsessed”

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

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Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2023/03/20

“God, you’re obsessed”: I don’t know; why did I have to clean and weed it just right?

See “Stop”.

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2023-03-19

Pith 288: Of course, I’ll let you down

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

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Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2023/03/19

Of course, I’ll let you down: As we all do to one another; my promise is to keep working at it.

See “Isn’t that the key?”.

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2023-03-19

Pith 287: I’m not here to hurt or threaten you

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

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Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2023/03/19

I’m not here to hurt or threaten you: I’m here to guide and caress; a tender wordsmith to clean your glasses.

See “Feel me, then know me”.

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2023-03-19

Pith 286: Free Agents

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

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Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2023/03/19

Free Agents: We are free agents; so free as to neglect the future-born, so doom future humanity’s prospects.

See “Our individual self-interest requires enlightening”.

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2023-03-19

Pith 285: My words aren’t words

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

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Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2023/03/19

My words aren’t words: They’re my instrument to convey feeling to you; a tool with a purpose.

See “A Telos vector”.

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2023-03-19

Pith 284: “They’ll become smarter than us, then we’ll learn from them”

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

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Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2023/03/19

“They’ll become smarter than us, then we’ll learn from them”: Digital intelligences will be teachers, serfs, guides, and leaders; as we are, their greatest benefit is a sharpening of particular faculties.

See “Wilson, R.A.”.

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2023-03-19

Pith 283: Tell me your name, night sky

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

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Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2023/03/19

Tell me your name, night sky: If only to hear the beauty of your words, your air; a Light of lanterns.

See “Daytime thoughts”.

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2023-03-19

Pith 282: An old woman’s pain…

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Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2023/03/19

An old woman’s pain…: …can be acute, as they can have no one with more years; and societal disappearance is real for many of them.

See “Fading lights”.

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2023-03-19

Pith 281: Dear Gifted and Talented

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

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Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2023/03/19

Dear Gifted and Talented: Some of the stupid envy you, want to bring you down to their mentation; don’t let them, but don’t be arrogant in the process.

See “Sincerely, The Stray Canadian”.

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2023-03-19

Pith 280: “He’s a great guy!”

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Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2023/03/19

“He’s a great guy!”: I know; then why were you a piece of complete and utter shit for 12 months on the job to me?

See “Contradiction in the signalling, maybe the alcohol”.

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2023-03-19

Pith 279: The Suicidalist’s Dilemma

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

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Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2023/03/19

The Suicidalist’s Dilemma: The ‘dilemma’ of death is not a dilemma with death; nor with life entirely; it’s a dilemma with a dilemma, a dilemma with life’s meaning or signification because of the dilemma of death brought by life itself.

See “What is the center between the antipodes of life and death?”.

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2023-03-19

Pith 278: A mother is not necessarily a woman

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A mother is not necessarily a woman: It is a role; therefore, women as mothers are fungible with men who act as such, in such a manner or role.

See “Separate genitalia from work after gestation and birth”.

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2023-03-19

Pith 277: Don’t work for alcoholics or heavy drinkers

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

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Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2023/03/19

Don’t work for alcoholics or heavy drinkers: You’ll regret it; their record is an inability to manage themselves.

See “What will be this record projected forward into managing you?”

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2023-03-19

Pith 276: “You learn about life and death”

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

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Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2023/03/19

“You learn about life and death”: A boss hog with some commentary on growing up on a farm; a life giving distinct categories, which has its value.

See “Racialist ex-farmers have wisdom”.

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2023-03-19

Pith 275: Control switch

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

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Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2023/03/19

Control switch: Artificial womb technology may be the chosen solution by some countries for pressures of population decline; artificial intelligences and robots may become the genetic engineers of sub-populations of humanity.

See “Our trace remains. But when is our trace a mere chard?”.

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2023-03-19

Pith 274: “You and me, we’re done!”

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

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Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2023/03/19

“You and me, we’re done!”: And then we weren’t; the mentally ill are struck and triggered by the mentally healthy.

See “An unfortunate circumstance, but a happy one to leave”.

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2023-03-19

Pith 273: Jonesin’ for Norah

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

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Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2023/03/19

Jonesin’ for Norah: A boyish fan girl and girlish fanboy; waiting for sunshine.

See “I don’t know why either”.

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2023-03-19

Pith 272: “I hope that satisfies your ego!”

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Personal)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2023/03/19

“I hope that satisfies your ego!”: It was a joke, you dolt; but okay, fine, and yes, I can, sometimes, be vain and arrogant.

See “You’re coming back”.

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2023-03-19

Pith 271: 47–52

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

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Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2023/03/19

47–52: When men should, in fact, get married; why don’t they?

See “It’s social science”.

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2023-03-19

Pith 270: “Fucking Banana”

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

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Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2023/03/19

“Fucking Banana”: Okay, okay, I couldn’t weed whack; I’m sorry.

See “Young, dumb, and another new kid on the construction crew block”.

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2023-03-19

Pith 269: Tundranner

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Personal)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2023/03/19

Tundranner: A cold snap Billy goat riding waves of incline and stone; taking a noose to its top, for a final heroines moan.

See “Black cold humour”.

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2023-03-19

Pith 268: I am because you are

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Personal)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2023/03/19

I am because you are: African humanists understand this the most; they gather the resources to fight for the tomorrow for all, as bringing each up brings oneself up too.

See “You are the sum of your relations: No others, no self”.

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2023-03-19

Pith 267: Alcoholism

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Personal)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2023/03/19

Alcoholism: When I see you drink, I’m not baffled; I’m simply sorry to see little bits of you disappear as you lose us.

See “Evanescence”.

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2023-03-19

Pith 266: “Don’t envy the rich”

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Personal)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2023/03/19

“Don’t envy the rich”: Fostering a view of the rich by the rich to the talented young rider; is this the game, merely a warning, or both?

See “Not all wisdom is stringless”.

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2023-03-18

Pith 265: The question of the Equine Hour

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Personal)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2023/03/17

The question of the Equine Hour: Is it declining nationally because of financial barriers, because it’s an anachronism for the 21st century, or both?

See “Horse lover’s internal quarrel”.

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2023-03-18

Pith 264: For most of the population

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Personal)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2023/03/17

For most of the population: Age doesn’t bring wisdom; it brings different constraints and freedoms.

See “Myths of development”.

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2023-03-18

Pith 263: Singular Fluidity

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Personal)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2023/03/18

Singular Fluidity: The end of the era of men and women; multimodal sexes and unigender selves.

See “Vakninian”.

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2023-03-18

Pith 262: To understand a culture

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Personal)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2023/03/17

To understand a culture: You must live and work among them; you must absorb their metanarrative, then leave to collate.

See “Mental Imbibement”.

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2023-03-18

Pith 261: Transience

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Personal)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2023/03/17

Transience: A tunnel only lasts so long, runs its course; driving solo, only passersby pass by, and by, and bye.

See “New vision”.

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2023-03-18

Pith 260: Lecter is right

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Personal)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2023/03/17

Lecter is right: Eat the rude; kill the obtuse.

See “Clear the air”.

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2023-03-18

Pith 259: Oh, you’re coarse

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Personal)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2023/03/17

Oh, you’re coarse: Thank you for reminding me of the smell of a rotting corpse; isn’t the point of civilization to be civilized?

See “Society and Civics”.

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2023-03-18

Pith 258: “I wanted to marry you!”

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Personal)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2023/03/17

“I wanted to marry you!”: I didn’t know; we never even discussed it, could we have?

See “Every eye has blind spots”.

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2023-03-18

Pith 257: “He’s a good kid.”

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Personal)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2023/03/17

“He’s a good kid.”: Old woman, you didn’t know I heard you; but, you made my life.

See “I can’t ever be thankful enough”.

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2023-03-18

Pith 256: “If I died, he’d be gone”

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Personal)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2023/03/17

“If I died, he’d be gone”: I have had no consistent parental figure; I became my own parent far too early.

See “Pain speaks more than one language”.

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2023-03-18

Pith 255: “I only took this job because I don’t have to clean stalls”

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Personal)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2023/03/17

“I only took this job because I don’t have to clean stalls”: what makes you so great; so as to speak in such terms.

See “Entitled middle-aged white woman”.

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2023-03-18

Pith 254: “Because you’re a woman”

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Personal)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2023/03/17

“Because you’re a woman”: Excuse me, you pig; aren’t you married?

See “It never stops”.

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2023-03-18

Pith 253: “I want a real man.”

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Personal)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2023/03/17

“I want a real man.”: Definitely not that; but I can vacuum, cook, can do laundry, and can clean.

See “Stereotyping”.

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2023-03-18

Pith 252: “If I mean enough to you”

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Personal)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2023/03/17

“If I mean enough to you”: you do; but, do you to you to not have to ask those questions?

See “Insecure in her self and feelings”.

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2023-03-18

Pith 251: “To be someone you deserve to marry”

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Personal)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2023/03/17

“To be someone you deserve to marry”: It’s been two weeks, my love; I don’t know if that’s a little quick, ya think?

See “I know what you want, and see you want me to want it at the same pace as you”.

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2023-03-18

Pith 250: “I’ll keep kicking ass for you.”

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Personal)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2023/03/17

“I’ll keep kicking ass for you.”: is this a ‘you had me at hello’ moment; I only want to love you, for you.

See “Ideals blind you to what’s before you”.

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2023-03-18

Pith 249: “I can’t do this”

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Personal)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2023/03/17

“I can’t do this”: Neither could I; it doesn’t mean I didn’t want to try.

See “Lost in Ohio”.

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2023-03-18

Pith 248: A Titan stands on mooncrush cotton

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Personal)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2023/03/17

A Titan stands on mooncrush cotton: She flexes fury, fi fo fum, handles an axe base, bi bo bum, and scythes yonder yappers, yi yo yum; tall she shall stand to even sit tall, and the waning cotton waxes from moonshimmer to sunshine.

See “Spin me a yarn”.

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2023-03-18

Pith 247: “And whoever makes himself high will be made low, and whoever makes himself low will be made high.”

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Personal)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2023/03/17

“And whoever makes himself high will be made low, and whoever makes himself low will be made high.”:

When high brought low, they can become high, eventually, and vice versa; a tacit argument for a cyclical, oscillatory theory of human anthropology, history.

See “Sideways meaning”.

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2023-03-18

Pith 246: “Obviously, I had the wrong idea.”

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Personal)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2023/03/17

“Obviously, I had the wrong idea”: I knew you before you had world fame, dear heart, had your heart; and, no one knows, except you.

See “An shot to the heart, missed”.

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2023-03-17

Pith 245: Manifold

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Personal)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2023/03/16

Manifold: Pluripotentiality, metaphysical architectural force on physical dynamics; a seduction from outer to inner manifestations, an entanglement absolute.

See “Armature”.

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2023-03-16

Pith 244: I am Water

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Personal)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2023/03/16

I am Water: Refuge for the laden, of formless lines; it reduces all, thus showing the superiority of softness in everything.

See “Virtue”.

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2023-03-16

Pith 243: If I knew you

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Personal)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2023/03/16

If I knew you: If you showed me your full spectrum, would you still be a colour in my life; no, but I’d be your light.

See “Recollections”.

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2023-03-16

Pith 242: When you drink

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Personal)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2023/03/16

When you drink: When I see you drink that much, I’m not baffled by your behaviour; I’m sorry to see little bits of you disappear as we all pull away.

See “If I could have said”.

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2023-03-16

Pith 241: “He did a complete 360. He’s totally different.”

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Personal)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2023/03/16

“He did a complete 360. He’s totally different.”: I don’t think that means what you think; and think you wouldn’t want the meaning.

See “Hear the guttural”.

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2023-03-16

Pith 240: Wile Away Hogwash

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Personal)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2023/03/16

Wile Away Hogwash: A play for the ages, the first of the sages; a stain for the eons, the thirst of the stages.

See “My first play”.

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2023-03-16

Pith 239: Swirl

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Personal)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2023/03/16

Swirl: Asunder tundra, plop and drip, swirly twirls; vortex temples, leaving no mark, no trace.

See “Nature has pattern”.

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2023-03-16

Pith 238: Fire from Ice

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Personal)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2023/03/16

Fire from Ice: Hone the ice into a magnifying glass; or, transmogrify the negative, neutralize internally, make positive, be on your way.

See “Be the Light”.

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2023-03-16

Pith 237: Tactintact

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Personal)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2023/03/16

Tactintact: You move in indirect circumlocutory whispers, with benign casuistry for effect; leaders, ghosts.

See “I see ruse, sense wile”.

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2023-03-16

Pith 236: “She scares me”

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Personal)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2023/03/16

“She scares me”: Fear in an equal woman, to woman; terror in a crooked smile and telling a tale of grace.

See “You’re not alone”.

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2023-03-16

Pith 235: I was kicked out of the house at 14

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Personal)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2023/03/16

I was kicked out of the house at 14: Too young to know any better; too young to hold my own.

See “Military cot bed, jogs, and begrudging, boring school”.

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2023-03-16

Pith 234: An empress with a thousand faces

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Personal)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2023/03/16

An empress with a thousand faces: You can say your name a thousand ways in night; none shall be the beauty of your form.

See “The empress has no clothes. Good.”

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2023-03-16

Pith 233: “It’s a job, hun, not who you are”

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Personal)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2023/03/16

“It’s a job, hun, not who you are”: Old woman, your words have no fat; they’re perfect.

See “Balanced breakfast”.

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2023-03-16

Pith 232: “Where’s a shit bucket?”

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Personal)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2023/03/16

“Where’s a shit bucket?”: You mean a muck skip; “Nah, like that” [points to wheelbarrow].

See “What the fuck just happened at night check?”.

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2023-03-16

Pith 231: No-Thing

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Personal)

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2023/03/16

No-Thing: The emptiness of the bowl, the dynamics around organismal selection, not the wheel and not the spikes; the important part is the Unseen Hand that is no hand.

See “Left out is right in, in importance”.

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2023-03-15

The Illusion of Inequalities

Publisher: In-Sight Publishing

Publisher Founding: March 1, 2014

Web Domain: http://www.in-sightpublishing.com

Location: Fort Langley, Township of Langley, British Columbia, Canada

Journal: In-Sight: Independent Interview-Based Journal

Journal Founding: August 2, 2012

Frequency: Three (3) Times Per Year

Review Status: Non-Peer-Reviewed

Access: Electronic/Digital & Open Access

Fees: None (Free)

Volume Numbering: 11

Issue Numbering: 2

Section: B

Theme Type: Idea

Theme Premise: “Outliers and Outsiders”

Theme Part: 27

Formal Sub-Theme: None.

Individual Publication Date: March 15, 2023

Issue Publication Date: May 1, 2023

Author(s): Richard May/May-Tzu

Author(s) Bio: Richard May (“May-Tzu”/“MayTzu”/“Mayzi”) is a Member of the Mega Society based on a qualifying score on the Mega Test (before 1995) prior to the compromise of the Mega Test and Co-Editor of Noesis: The Journal of the Mega Society. In self-description, May states: “Not even forgotten in the cosmic microwave background (CMB), I’m an Amish yuppie, born near the rarified regions of Laputa, then and often, above suburban Boston. I’ve done occasional consulting and frequent Sisyphean shlepping. Kafka and Munch have been my therapists and allies. Occasionally I’ve strived to descend from the mists to attain the mythic orientation known as having one’s feet upon the Earth. An ailurophile and a cerebrotonic ectomorph, I write for beings which do not, and never will, exist — writings for no one. I’ve been awarded an M.A. degree, mirabile dictu, in the humanities/philosophy, and U.S. patent for a board game of possible interest to extraterrestrials. I’m a member of the Mega Society, the Omega Society and formerly of Mensa. I’m the founder of the Exa Society, the transfinite Aleph-3 Society and of the renowned Laputans Manqué. I’m a biographee in Who’s Who in the Brane World. My interests include the realization of the idea of humans as incomplete beings with the capacity to complete their own evolution by effecting a change in their being and consciousness. In a moment of presence to myself in inner silence, when I see Richard May’s non-being, ‘I’ am. You can meet me if you go to an empty room.” Some other resources include Stains Upon the Silence: something for no one, McGinnis Genealogy of Crown Point, New York: Hiram Porter McGinnis, Swines List, Solipsist Soliloquies, Board Game, Lulu blog, Memoir of a Non-Irish Non-Jew, and May-Tzu’s posterous.

Word Count: 60

Image Credit: Richard May

International Standard Serial Number (ISSN): 2369-6885

*Please see the footnotes, bibliography, and citations, after the publication.*

Keywords: arithmetic, cardinal numbers, devils, equity, justice, measurement, numbers.

The Illusion of Inequalities

Numbers and arithmetic are the invention of devils.

The supposed inequality of numbers leads to arithmetic and measurement, both pseudosciences.

When all numbers are recognized as fully equal to each other, everyone and every thing will be equal in all respects.

We demand equity for all the cardinal numbers now.

Only then will ontological and genetic justice follow.

May-Tzu

Bibliography

None

Footnotes

None

Citations

American Medical Association (AMA 11^th Edition): May R. The Illusion of Inequalities. March 2023; 11(2). http://www.in-sightpublishing.com/illusion-inequalities

American Psychological Association (APA 7^th Edition): May, R. (2023, March 15). The Illusion of Inequalities. In-Sight Publishing. 11(2). http://www.in-sightpublishing.com/illusion-inequalities.

Brazilian National Standards (ABNT): MAY, R. The Illusion of Inequalities. In-Sight: Independent Interview-Based Journal, Fort Langley, v. 11, n. 2, 2023.

Chicago/Turabian, Author-Date (17^th Edition): May, Richard. 2023. “The Illusion of Inequalities.” In-Sight: Independent Interview-Based Journal 11, no. 2 (Spring). http://www.in-sightpublishing.com/illusion-inequalities.

Chicago/Turabian, Notes & Bibliography (17^th Edition): May, R “The Illusion of Inequalities.” In-Sight: Independent Interview-Based Journal 11, no. 2 (March 2023). http://www.in-sightpublishing.com/illusion-inequalities.

Harvard: May, R. (2023) ‘The Illusion of Inequalities’, In-Sight: Independent Interview-Based Journal, 11(1). <http://www.in-sightpublishing.com/illusion-inequalities>.

Harvard (Australian): May, R 2023, ‘The Illusion of Inequalities’, In-Sight: Independent Interview-Based Journal, vol. 11, no. 2, <http://www.in-sightpublishing.com/illusion-inequalities>.

Modern Language Association (MLA, 9^thEdition): May, Richard. “The Illusion of Inequalities.” In-Sight: Independent Interview-Based Journal, vo.11, no. 2, 2023, http://www.in-sightpublishing.com/illusion-inequalities.

Vancouver/ICMJE: Richard M. The Illusion of Inequalities [Internet]. 2023 Mar; 11(2). Available from: http://www.in-sightpublishing.com/illusion-inequalities

License

In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Based on work at www.in-sightpublishing.com.

Copyright

© Scott Douglas Jacobsen and In-Sight Publishing 2012-Present. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this site’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Scott Douglas Jacobsen, or the author(s), and In-Sight Publishing with appropriate and specific direction to the original content. All interviewees and authors copyright their material, as well, and may disseminate for their independent purposes.

2023-03-15

Conversation with Luca Fiorani on Everything Under God’s Sun: Member, Ultima IQ Society (3)

Publisher: In-Sight Publishing

Publisher Founding: January 1, 2014

Web Domain: http://www.in-sightpublishing.com

Location: Fort Langley, Township of Langley, British Columbia, Canada

Journal: In-Sight: Independent Interview-Based Journal

Journal Founding: August 2, 2012

Frequency: Three (3) Times Per Year

Review Status: Non-Peer-Reviewed

Access: Electronic/Digital & Open Access

Fees: None (Free)

Volume Numbering: 11

Issue Numbering: 2

Section: A

Theme Type: Idea

Theme Premise: “Outliers and Outsiders”

Theme Part: 27

Formal Sub-Theme: None

Individual Publication Date: March 15, 2023

Issue Publication Date: May 1, 2023

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Interviewer(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Interviewee(s): Luca Fiorani

Word Count: 8,169

Image Credits: Luca Fiorani

International Standard Serial Number (ISSN): 2369-6885

*Please see the footnotes, bibliography, and citations, after the interview.*

*Previous parts (1) and (2).*

Abstract

Luca Fiorani is a member of Ultima IQ society (cut-off: 170 σ15; founder: Ivan Ivec). Academically, he has a philosophical background. At the same time he sees himself as an independent autodidact. His main interests are: literature, arts, tennis and communication. Fiorani discusses: the Ultima Society; rethinking membership; membership or entrance; requirements in high-I.Q. societies; strict and legitimate entrance requirements; P. Cooijmans’ societies; newer thoughts on high-range testing; reconsideration of high-range testing; a member; tests of Paul’s; T. Prousalis’ tests and X. Jouve’s tests; astronomical I.Q. scores; HRTs; the 2% estimate a qualitative estimate; participation in Sidis Society; CatholIQ; common threads in personality or tests between Dorsey, Cooijmans, Prousalis, Jouve, and Kutle; the qualifying test and score for the Mega Society; a relatively non-arbitrary ceiling of 180 S.D. 15 ; wisdom; measuring the general factor or a generalized factor of intelligence with mainstream intelligence tests and HRTs; the different things measured; one’s intelligence; the single hardest test ever; a high level of problem-solving ability; Megalomania; the hardest things to realize about the high-I.Q. communities; positive developments; leaving Real IQ society; SLSE-II; IVIQ 16 Test; HRT test-makers; flourishing in a comprehensive way; intellectual and creative output of individuals in the high-I.Q. communities; type of test; a generalized intelligence up to and including I.Q. 180 S.D. 15; highly intelligent people waste their talents; the newer generation and the older generation of high-I.Q.; speed of thought; wash out the “basely egocentric behaviors”; the essential stats; the sociocultural and philosophical front; studies; the romantic life; newest intellectual project; protection of others; “The communities”; a reasonable skepticism; good uses of diverse problem solving abilities; diversity, equity, and inclusion; the generic positives and negatives; interest in media and the entertainment industry; the content of the production on Wittgenstein; a sign of a healthy culture; controversial and often polarized discussion; newer media; increasing assholery; should people put on the breaks on their mouths; silence as an indication of restraint; diversity; equity; inclusion; a minority group; the Flynn Effect; vastly positive reception from the high-I.Q. communities; a space for clarity of mind; find the time to get their outlet, their space, their place of calm; the reversal of the Flynn Effect; “Tätigkeit“ and “Therapie”; a long-term romance; the problem-solving abilities for renewable technologies; the compliments; what he say to himself 6 years ago; describing this past person; the world simply doesn’t always come in neat packages; a form of therapy; official comeback; Keith Raniere; eudaimonia; hypersensitivity; the flaws; Jouve; the self-discoveries over the last several years to bring about self-therapy; the Wittgenstein paper; this “valuable opportunity”; the idea behind True IQ; the methodology of Ivec; other people in the high-I.Q. communities; increase the number of test-takers to make the sample sizes larger for more valid tests; “The Real g Test”; the best article on high-I.Q. psychology ever written; Wittgenstein; magnum opus; the components of wisdom; more variance between males and females; a centralized platform for test-creators; good standards; a philosophical stance; paideia; a great level of expertise; the criminals and cults; Kevin Langdon; Master Chef Craig Shelton; people interested in joining high-I.Q. communities; and goals now.

Keywords: Catholiq, Chris Langan, D. Kutle, Dawid Skrzos, Deus Vult, Erik Hæreid, Gianluigi Lombardi, Heidegger, Heinrich Siemens, high IQ community, high-I.Q. societies, Ivan Ivec, James Dorsey, JCCES, Jean-Mathieu Calut, Joe Feagin, Jonathan Wai, Joseph Dinouart, Keith Raniere, Kirk Kirkpatrick, Kirk Raymond Butt, Ludwig Wittgenstein, Mega Society, megalomania, Paul Cooijmans, Plato, Ronald Hoeflin, Rick Rosner, Robert Lato, Santanu Sengupta, Sidis Society, T. Prousalis, Ultima IQ society, Wu Meiheng, X. Jouve, YoungHoon Kim.

Conversation with Luca Fiorani on Everything Under God’s Sun: Member, Ultima IQ Society (3)

Scott Douglas Jacobsen: Lots of new stuff has happened. You have left one high-I.Q. society. You are a member of the Ultima Society. As well, you have some new thoughts on high-range testing. Let’s start from the top, naturally, what else has been new in life for you, since the last interview?

Luca Fiorani: First of all, I’d like to thank you, Scott, for the valuable opportunity.
My life is better than before. It wasn’t bad the last time we talked but now I feel that I’m finally flourishing – in a comprehensive way. [Ed. You’re welcome, and congratulations on flourishing.]

Jacobsen: What prompted rethinking membership in the high-I.Q. society?

Fiorani: I’ve left Real IQ society (founder: I. Ivec) because my global score, my estimated True IQ, was not realistic, not even remotely. I’ve realized that the adjectives ‘real’ and ‘true’ were misused. They didn’t fit. Generally speaking, I’m now against too inflated and too lavish IQ scores. The method approved by Ivec is simply too generous and also not all my scores came from credible and reliable high range IQ tests.

Instead, I’m still a member of Ultima IQ society – cut-off 170 σ15 – because I had entered when the requirements were robust and because “170” is not utterly craziness.

Jacobsen: What happens when membership or entrance requirements in high-I.Q. societies become too lax, even too strict?

Fiorani: When the criteria become too lax, the scores are less serious, less rigorous and people are more inclined to several delusions – unfortunately, megalomania included. They cajole themselves that the resulting scores are legit, trustworthy, stable but very rarely that is actually the case.
Currently, within the high IQ community, it does not happen that the criteria are too strict. At least as far as I know.

Jacobsen: What high-I.Q. societies seem to have strict and legitimate entrance requirements at the moment? I do not mean necessarily higher I.Q.s, simply the boundaries are set reasonably tight, and the testing is more valid than not.

Fiorani: Probably this happens with P. Cooijmans’ societies. (Note: I don’t know the high IQ community in its entirety, there could be other well-founded examples.)

Jacobsen: Why those high-I.Q. societies in particular?

Fiorani: Because all in all the test-author mentioned above has remained true to his principles, even when rigid. His work is consistent and self-cohesive.

Prousalis’ tests and X. Jouve’s tests are arguably better, superior, and when I say so I’m expressly referring to the methodology and the stats; they always give relevance to standardized tests: but right now societies based mainly or exclusively on scores earned on these tests – I mean, the ones designed by Prousalis and Jouve – do not exist.

Jacobsen: Your newer thoughts on high-range testing. What are those? Or, more properly, to begin on this line of reasoning, what are the factors behind the newer thoughts?

Fiorani: High range testing is often stimulating and challenging and sometimes has its validity, coherence, plausibility.

HRTs can be decent and even good psychometric instruments. In most cases, though, the tests aren’t adequately accurate, the subsequent scores should be taken very cautiously, without giving them too much value or importance.

My newer thoughts are born when I’ve become aware of the fact that too many people believe that their huge, astronomical, Brobdingnagian scores are their actual IQs: they are not, in reality. No actual IQ above 180 σ15 exists so when I see this plethora of IQ scores above 190 σ15, I start to think. Many, many, many, many, many – you got the idea?… – scores are not serious, they don’t come from enough reputable tests: as simple as that.

Usually when I take a look at a random listing, ⅚ of the scores are comical.

Jacobsen: How did those factors come into more full reconsideration of high-range testing at the moment?

Fiorani: I just look at HRTs in a more relaxed way and I feel compassion for those people who really believe that their IQs are above 180, above 185, above 190, above 195, above 200, just because a bunch of weak, iffy, wobbly instruments say so.

Less than 2% of HRTs are fully functioning and authoritative.

Jacobsen: Outside of Ultima IQ society, are you a member of any others? If so, why those? If not, why not?

Fiorani: Yes, I am. I’m still a member of Sidis Society (founder: J. Dorsey) and also a few more, e.g. Catholiq (founder. D. Kutle).

I appreciate that Dorsey is dedicated and I admire Kutle as a person and I also like the journal Deus Vult.

I indeed have a qualifying score for Mega Society (founder: R. Hoeflin) but I’ve heard that the members can be too harsh sometimes, so I’m not interested in joining.

Jacobsen: What tests of Paul’s stand out? Why those?

Fiorani: For his tests, I can tell you that I read thoroughly the statistical reports and I take into account the opinion of a dozen of versatile test-takers. His best test is probably Cooijmans Intelligence Test – Form 3E. I don’t have a direct knowledge, though.

Jacobsen: For T. Prousalis’ tests and X. Jouve’s tests, could those tests still be used? People seemed to like the JCCES of Jouve. I know Santanu Sengupta [Ed. 174 S.D. 15] from India claims a high score on it.

Fiorani: I think that Prousalis’ website isn’t defunct; Jouve is back with revised forms of his old tests and other precious stuff.

I think that JCCES gives realistic results and I consider it a nice psychometric product.

Jacobsen: What tends to happen when individuals believe astronomical I.Q. scores claimed based on some of the tests?

Fiorani: They lose objectivity and sensibleness. Their self-awareness is inferior. And a bit of wisdom is required for high intelligence, in my humble opinion…

Jacobsen: What would make scores coming from HRTs, in terms of test items in an overall schema and sample size, above 180 σ15 believable to you?

Fiorani: Without talking gibberish, 180 sd15 should be the ceiling of ceilings, in an ideal, optimal, utopian high range IQ test. A test that gives you your exact IQ and the game is over. This, too, is implausible, since you always need a collection of heterogeneous tests. A perfect, unique, adamantine IQ test that tells your ultimate IQ is not within this plane of existence. Hypothetically – and merely so –, the ceiling of this imaginary test should be 180 sd15. That’s my (narrow) perspective.

Jacobsen: Is the 2% estimate a qualitative estimate, or an actual count and review of some tests and then an estimate?

Fiorani: It’s more a qualitative estimate than a quantitative precise estimate. It’s not an absurd statement, nevertheless. But let me be clear: I don’t want to be aggressive towards test-authors and test-takers who genuinely care about HRTs and find them beautiful/wonderful, for instance. I’m saying that it’s rare that these products have golden quality under psychometrics’ point of view. Regardless, one could find them astonishing for the inherent difficulty of the items, the multiple logical layers and so on. In most cases you have the dimension of cognitive entertainment and leisure-time activity: and that’s not a bad thing, not at all. Issues come when you convince yourself that all the HRTs you take pertain to (a fully valid) cognitive assessment.

Jacobsen: What is your level of participation in Sidis Society? What do you get out of it?

Fiorani: My level of participation is the following: my name is listed at the corresponding webpage.

I get some sort of prestige, in a way. That I’ve achieved a non-negligible level of cognitive performance. And I support Dorsey’s drive. Plus, I like the name, “Sidis”. That’s all, I guess.

Jacobsen: For CatholIQ, what have been the benefits so far?

Fiorani: For CatholIQ, or Catholiq – apparently both spellings are correct –, the benefits come from some articles of their journal, Deus Vult. You’re informed when it comes out and you can also submit an essay of yours, or a poem, etc. That’s nice and the ambience overall is healthy.

Jacobsen: Any common threads in personality or tests between Dorsey, Cooijmans, Prousalis, Jouve, and Kutle?

Fiorani: I think that Dorsey and Cooijmans are both devoted to HRTs, they deeply care about them. That’s what I perceive and infer.

Prousalis and Jouve have designed tests perfectly comparable to professional tests. The stats of their tests are sometimes impressive.

Kutle is a clever man and a noble person. The items of his tests are very nice and sometimes elegant. I recommend Arcanum and Road to Damascus, both designed by him. They require time and diligence and a high level of crystallized intelligence. They represent a fascinating and pleasant intellectual experience.

Jacobsen: What test was the qualifying test and score for the Mega Society?

Fiorani: Ron Hoeflin knows.

Jacobsen: The norms and scores on Paul’s site list a 76 out of 78 on the Cooijmans Intelligence Test – Form 3E as the highest score it. I recall a listing of the three top scores on tests by Paul, out of all tests, in an interview with Paul by me. There was a tie for the top score on all of the tests, at the time, with one of the scores on Cooijmans Intelligence Test – Form 3E. The question, by me, followed by the response, from him:

Jacobsen: What have been the 3 highest legitimate scores on a Cooijmans test by testees to date while using the most up-to-date norms on tests? If I may ask, who were these individuals?

Cooijmans: First, I want to say that this is not an easy question. There are many thousands of scores in the database, and they are raw scores. To compare them, they have to be converted to protonorms. This would not be doable by hand in any reasonable amount of time and effort. To our good fortune, over the course of two decades I have painstakingly written programming code and created a protonorm database so as to dynamically link the raw scores to their current norms, and, for instance, put out a list of scores that exceed a certain level, with the name of the test and candidate if desired. This is the largest and most complex informatics project I have undertaken, and I think it is also the most difficult thing I have ever done, intellectually.

Of course, any good programmer should be able to do this. Still, I must say I never see test statistics by others that even remotely have the quality of my reports, so it seems that not many combine their programming skill with statistics. I set the controls such that only the top three scores remained, and they are 76 raw on the Cooijmans Intelligence Test – Form 3E, and 27 and 28 raw on the Cooijmans Intelligence Test 5. The I.Q.’s are 190, 186, and 190, respectively. I can not give the names as that would violate the privacy of the candidates.

Of course, the norms in that range are still uncertain, and there may be a number of scores right under these that, after renorming, turn out to be equal to or higher than these. (Jacobsen, 2022a)

My inference: The highest scorer on the Cooijmans Intelligence Test – Form 3E is personal friend and writing colleague, Rick Rosner, who is a comedy writer. This matches, not the scores but, the achievements on other well-regarded tests, e.g., Mega Test (44/48 first attempt and 47/48 second attempt) and Titan Test (48/48). This would track with the test selection by you. Rick is of the same opinion as you, about Paul’s tests[1]. How can setting a relatively non-arbitrary ceiling of 180 S.D. 15 help with lots of test constructors without the massive comparative resources of mainstream academia? It has an aesthetic appeal of a clearcut boundary.

Fiorani: Rick Rosner, yes. I know him too. I think he is one of the smartest persons I’ve known within the high IQ community. Not only for his monumental scores on highly reputable tests but also for other commendable and remarkable traits. He’s a great guy, very smart, very witty. As a test-taker, he’s certainly better than me. I tend to believe that his mind is the mind of a genius. Rick is uncommon, unconventional, multifaceted.

The ceiling of 180 sd15 has its beauty and its rationality, yes. The WAIS-IV stops at 160 (theoretical rarity: 1/31,560). HRTs could have a boundary, at 180 (theoretical rarity: 1/20,696,863). We know that the theoretical rarity isn’t exactly and strictly the actual rarity – the actual rarity being inferior. But there’s no need to go much higher. To examine at or above 190 σ15, 195 or 200, for instance. I don’t see the underlying logic nor I find the basis, the grounds. Twenty points above the ceiling of the WAIS-IV are enough, especially because twenty points for the upper, upper end have a bigger weight.

If a test is normed well, scores above 166-170 are already exceptional. Of course, scoring 160+, or 170+, or even 180+ on a very imperfect test becomes easier. That’s why a single peak performance of 180+, σ15, does not impress me. Also, peak performances at 190+ are not as rare as the score per se suggests. You always need to understand the construct validity vel similia. You always have to relativize… Otherwise you might start to believe that the rarity of your intellect is really one in a billion: can we all agree that this sounds bizarre, extravagant, exaggerated, laughable, immensely pretentious?

Jacobsen: Can wisdom be measured in any standardized manner? Or is this more something qualitative or experienced in interaction with someone?

Fiorani: Luckily and rightfully, the second thing you’ve said.

Jacobsen: The idea is measuring the general factor or a generalized factor of intelligence with mainstream intelligence tests and HRTs. This leads to the question. With further reflection for you, how much do HRTs and mainstream tests measure the same things?

Fiorani: Very nice question. The connection between the two approaches is not weak, there is in fact a strong correlation. The more traditional way (standardized tests, timed, supervised conditions) and the alternative-inventive way (untimed conditions, items way more difficult/elaborate, etc.). Mainstream tests and HRTs don’t measure the exact same thing. In my opinion, the main difference is given by the fact that reducing the impact of the sheer speed of thinking, you can go deeper and you can reach higher levels of reasoning and complexity. A deep thinker reaches his/her full potential with HRTs, usually. Someone who scores high or very high on WAIS-IV can do pretty well on HRTs, if he/she is enough motivated. It is not said that he/she will score higher than a topscorer of tough and well-constructed HRTs.

Jacobsen: If there are different things measured to acquire scores, what are the different things measured? I do not mean the obvious in different test items and a schema for the test items to fit. I mean the human qualities or mental traits measured in acquisition of a high score.

Fiorani: In untimed conditions, patience, stamina, perseverance are rewarded qualities. Important mental traits rewarded are: the abstraction, the conceptualization and, in a way, the cogitation. In timed conditions a more basic pattern recognition is rewarded and, always, a fast thinking – and related aspects.

Jacobsen: What are other qualities, other than I.Q. and wisdom, going into one’s intelligence?

Fiorani: Creativity (or profound divergent thinking), comprehension of contexts of different nature, knowledge (or culture), artistry (or mastery of talent). All these facets of intelligence are interconnected and they intersect. The more they are intertwined, the better – id est, you are more intelligent.

Jacobsen: Of those avid test-takers known to you, and for yourself, what do they consider the single hardest test ever taken by them, or seen by them? Why?

Fiorani: Taken thirty years ago, without WWW, the Titan Test was hard. I think that Rick Rosner would agree.

People who take Cooijmans’ tests say that some of them are very hard – Heinrich Siemens and also my friend Erik Hæreid would agree, all things considered.
The two spatial tests by (pseudonym) Robert Lato are very hard.

LDA-SWaN by my compatriot Gianluigi Lombardi is surely hard.

The single hardest test seen by me is IVIQ 16 Test (test-author: Dawid Skrzos). The single hardest test taken by me is SLSE-II (test-author: Jonathan Wai).

Jacobsen: How has knowledge of a high level of problem-solving ability helped your personal and professional pursuits?

Fiorani: Life itself consists of problems and solutions, new problems and new solutions, and so on. This is evidently an answer and I’m smiling right now.

Jacobsen: Megalomania has been noted by others and you. Something not the norm in the communities, but just enough to be annoyance. How should people deal with it?

Fiorani: To avoid irritation and also troubles, some obnoxious individuals should be avoided. It’s sad but sometimes things just work like this.

Jacobsen: What have been the hardest things to realize about the high-I.Q. communities?

Fiorani: For sure the high IQ community has good and praiseworthy qualities but too often it’s a venue for basely egocentric behaviors.

Jacobsen: What seem like positive developments?

Fiorani: Reduce the excessive variety of tests’ norms and make them more uniform. The listings, the rankings, etc., could become realistic.

Jacobsen: How did Ivan react, if at all, to leaving Real IQ society?

Fiorani: He accepted my decision.

Jacobsen: What made SLSE-II by Jonathan Wai so hard? Is it still valid, or is it compromised?

Fiorani: Some of the items require extreme attention to details and some others are slightly and acutely obscure. There’s a certain ambiguity rate.

It’s still graded by Wai, I believe.

The items were discussed and some IQ groups declared the test invalid for admission.

Jacobsen: What makes IVIQ 16 Test look so difficult?

Fiorani: Every item is like a labyrinthine encryption. The author, Dawid S., was incredibly good with numerical sequences and I think he solved all the items of the Numerus series by Ivec. Perhaps he naively thought that a common test-taker had his outstanding skills for numbers and pattern recognition, hahaha!

Jacobsen: What have HRT test-makers simply not figured out? What are some directions to solve these issues?

Fiorani: I would give too vague answers, I don’t know. As a maxim: less generous norms and more detailed stats.

Jacobsen: How is your life flourishing in a comprehensive way?

Fiorani: My studies ended, my romantic relationship continues happily, my professional life has started, I cultivate my interests, I’m less anxious, I’m less bored.

Jacobsen: What about intellectual and creative output of individuals in the high-I.Q. communities? Are there any people who stand out as truly matching their claimed or measured intelligence with their productions and/or productivity?

Fiorani: Yes, there are.

Jacobsen: What type of test would measure, in a single test item schema or a single question type, or might tap most into a generalized intelligence up to and including I.Q. 180 S.D. 15?

Fiorani: A long test with various items – verbal analogies, verbal associations, numerical sequences, figure matrix reasoning questions, mixed in mixed problems – might work.

Jacobsen: Side question, how do highly intelligent people waste their talents?

Fiorani: When they are emotionally unstable – and there are a myriad of possible factors causing this… But what happens next is just a consequence.

Jacobsen: What differentiates the newer generation and the older generation of high-I.Q. types?

Fiorani: The newer generation is less prudent.

Jacobsen: When does speed of thought become less of a differentiating factor for seeing differences between a smart person and a smarter person? What seems like the I.Q. threshold?

Fiorani: The IQ threshold, assuming a rather even cognitive profile, is (approximately) 145 sd15.

Jacobsen: Is there a way to wash out the “basely egocentric behaviors” in the community?

Fiorani: Nope, there isn’t. Sorry for the frankness and the jaundice.

Jacobsen: What are the essential stats to start including in some of the tests moving into the future to make the tests analysis of scores more in-depth?

Fiorani: The following essential stats should be non-hidden:

A histogram that shows how the scores on a test are distributed.
A table regarding the items’ difficulty and robustness.
Cronbach’s α presented & Spearman-Brown prediction formula presented.
Correlation with standard supervised psychometric batteries.
Correlation with other significant HRTs.
Presentation of theoretical IQ per raw score points.

The last one is the most obvious but sometimes being didactic is not a sin.

Jacobsen: What’s new in the sociocultural and philosophical front for you?

Fiorani: The topic of diversity, equity and inclusion – in the media and entertainment industry.

Jacobsen: For your studies, what was the final result?

Fiorani: «Eccellenza».

Jacobsen: How is the romantic life now?

Fiorani: Fulfilling.

Jacobsen: What is your newest intellectual project?

Fiorani: An essay on Ludwig Wittgenstein that might see the light in August.

Jacobsen: On the individuals who claim inflated scores, there is also the factor that they don’t want to believe it themselves as much as they want the public to believe it to keep a modicum of cachet. There is the solution of leaving them alone. So, less about compassion for them and more about protection of others. In other words, what about others who may be less experienced, potentially more intelligent but naïve, on some of these aspects of the communities?

Fiorani: Nice question, again. If a neophyte looks at the scoreboards and the listings, he/she should probably reflect as follows: this is a collection of peak cognitive performances on disparate HRTs, not every score is that phantasmagorical; and the accuracy of the scores is more important than the scores themselves. In other words, which of the displayed scores are obtained on accurate psychometric products? A 160 σ15 can be (literally) more significant – or: with meaning – than a >185 σ15, it depends on the test(s).

I’d say to the neophyte: within the community, search for quality and accuracy, ignore the stratospherical, esospherical, sidereal scores, especially if the solidity of the test(s) is unknown, unclear or low.

Jacobsen: “The communities”, as I type it, I am making an assumption. I had some correspondence with someone about this, in the high-I.Q. communities, recently. The idea is the community as a homogenous, and humongous, blob or a subcultural bloc. To me, “the community “seems more like communities and variegated rather than singular, but modest in size somewhere in the middle 1000s in membership, excluding Mensa International. Does this match experience for you? What else can be subtracted, added to a proper perception of the idea of high-I.Q. communities to describe them?

Fiorani: Well, yes, I agree, this matches my experience. I use the singular – a subcultural bloc – for simplicity but I become simplistic, it’s true. A proper perception of the various souls and cores of the community isn’t easily obtainable.

Reading your interviews is helpful. Here and there, you can see different characters and sense different mental settings. There are diverse kinds of “members”.

Jacobsen: Most members of the high-I.Q. communities seem to have a reasonable skepticism, while some cases simply do not, about claimed scores or achievements on some of these harder HRTs. A more substantiated norm was published by Redvaldsen entitled “Do the Mega and Titan Tests Yield Accurate Results? An Investigation into Two Experimental Intelligence Tests”. The scores can be reduced to the aforementioned range, by you, on the Titan Test and Mega Test to 166-170 for the highest scorers on the tests by Hoeflin, e.g., Cole, Langan, May, Raniere, Rosner, Savant, Sununu, etc. This brings things down to Earth and says something legitimating about the constructs of the HRT communities when the effort is significant enough. What are the lessons from the Mega Test and the Titan Test, and the Hoeflin ensemble of societies?

Fiorani: Reasonable skepticism is healthy and I knew this paper. I think that Hoeflin has counter-replied but I don’t want to wander from my own answer. The point is that these experimental intelligence tests aren’t bad. Perhaps they’re just too ambitious, sometimes. I believe that a possible lesson learnt from the Hoeflinian galaxy is the following: the ceiling of a prestigious untimed IQ test isn’t necessarily above 180 σ16, or 176 σ15.

Jacobsen: Another side note, my other inference: The other highest scorer on Paul’s tests, who tied with Rick, Heinrich Siemens. Anyway, I have experimented with making use of both the intelligence and the expertise of the high-I.Q. communities. One of which is a series of educational interview sets on the relevant expertise of people. One example is the aforementioned Erik Haereid. He’s so well-versed in statistics and actuarial sciences as an actuary. It is in-depth. Certainly, not everyone’s cup of tea, but, also, not something everyone thinks about much, especially how much it pervades their lives. What might be some other good uses of diverse problem solving abilities? There are lots of highly involved people, who, likely, have great ideas to create things helpful to others. [Ed. If others have expertise, let’s tap it, call me!]

Fiorani: Rosner, Siemens, Hæreid: these guys are very, very clever.

Other good uses of diverse problem solving abilities? Projects related to renewable technology.

Jacobsen: Diversity, equity, and inclusion, these have been highly contentious hallmarks coming from academe. What are the first thoughts on the chosen concepts to you?

Fiorani: First thoughts are about the fact that these concepts cause disagreement, they’re divisive. A philosophical question might sound like this: why is controversial and often polarized discussion so trendy and so paradigmatic nowadays? Do the newer media interfere?

Jacobsen: What are the generic positives and negatives for you?

Fiorani: The generic positive is that people talk; the generic negative is that people talk too much.

Jacobsen: How is this of interest in media and the entertainment industry to you?

Fiorani: I try to use philosophical lenses to interpret the phenomena that permeate my life as individual of a highly complex society. Media and entertainment industry are crucial for understanding our current sociocultural macro-context and also its micro-variations.

Jacobsen: What is the content of the production on Wittgenstein?

Fiorani: It’s about the notion of philosophy as „Tätigkeit“ and „Therapie“.

Jacobsen: Disagreement can be a sign of a healthy culture. A culture of higher feedback mechanisms within individuals and between people. It can be toxic too. What are the forms of this disagreement and divisiveness?

Fiorani: Yes, disagreement can be a sign of intellectual vitality, it’s true. Though we need to understand if the disagreement facilitates a proper dialogic instance or not. In multiple cases, you see a non-dialogic approach.

Divisiveness concerns the representation of the (so called) minority groups. Joe Feagin, a well-known sociologist, has described the fundamental characteristics of a minority group.

The topic is too ample, I don’t want to be or seem trivial.

Jacobsen: “Very nice question”, “Why is controversial and often polarized discussion so trendy and so paradigmatic nowadays?

Fiorani: Hahahah, these questions require a dissertation – and I’m not joking. I must limit myself for a criterion of practicality and convenience. Polarized reflections require less effort, you spend less time and less mental energy. We go too fast, we don’t valorize profoundness. Instagram reels or TikTok shorts, etc. etc., represent the immediacy and impulsiveness of consuming, the commodification and barbarization of thoughts, of concepts, of the concept. We don’t reflect enough, we don’t take our time – literally. Choosing a side, and doing so intensely, vibrantly, rapidly, is a shortcut. We like shortcuts.

Jacobsen: “Do the newer media interfere?”

Fiorani: Without a doubt. There no longer is a life completely outside them.

Consider my previous answer, too.

Jacobsen: Kirk Kirkpatrick calls a phenomenon the “American Disease” and Rosner calls it “Superempowered” (Jacobsen, 2018; Jacobsen & Rosner, 2017). Is the degree of divisiveness a reflection of increasing assholery?

Fiorani: You are right, yes.

Jacobsen: When should people put on the breaks on their mouths? What’s the speed limit here?

Fiorani: Let me quote the French preacher Joseph Dinouart and his L’art de se taire (1771), first part, first chapter:

«1. On ne doit cesser de se taire, que quand on a quelque chose à dire qui vaut mieux que le silence.

[…]

1. Jamais l’homme ne se possède plus que dans le silence: hors de là, il semble se répanfre, pour ainsi dire, hors de lui-même, et se dissiper par le discours, de sarte qu’il est moins à soi, qu’aux autres.
2. Quand on a une chose importante à dire, on doit y faire una attention particulière: il faut se la dire à soi-même, et après cette précaution, se la redire […].

[…]

1. Le silence tient quequefois lieu de sagesse à un home borne, et de capacité à un ignorant.
2. On est naturellement porté à croire qu’un homme qui parle très peu, n’est pas un grand génie, et qu’un autre qui parle très peu, n’est pas un grand génie, et qu’un autre qui parle trop, est un homme étourdi, ou un fou. Il vaut miex passer puor ne point être un génie du premier ordre, en demeurant souvent dans le silence, que pour un fou, en s’abandonnant à la démangeaison de trop parler. […]».

[Ed. pp. 5-8.]

Didn’t you believe that a polemist born 307 years ago would have answered to your question, did you?

(Of course, if necessary, I might translate, but I don’t know an official English edition of the text.)

Jacobsen: With silence as an indication of restraint, not necessarily genius, and loquaciousness potentially as an indicator of a madman, silence becomes a better heuristic than not. Why do diversity, equity, and inclusion, lean one into talking too much rather than too little now?

Fiorani: Certain themes are important in principle and as a matter of fact. But they are too repeated and, then, oversimplified. As users of social networks and spectators of TV shows, we see how incessant ideology can be – and also counter-ideology can be insistent. The fact is that a topic like this is no longer perceived as a niche interest, we often feel the desire (or compulsion?) to express our opinions, again and again and again. Aware or not, we are already in a circulus vitiosus. We are overstimulated and we feed the exact inner workings of the structure.

A possible solution would be creating safe places and safe moments for ourselves, to safeguard the lucidity of our mind, loosening the chains we’ve contributed to construct.

Jacobsen: What does diversity represent in its practical effects in implementation in media and the entertainment industry?

Fiorani: For example, casting actors of different ethnic groups for playing certain roles/characters – possibly avoiding stereotypes and clichés –, is a practical way to represent sociocultural diversity. This implementation helps or could help more people to feel identified, to feel represented, to feel not invisiblized, to feel not marginalized, via common narrative and psychological devices (empathy, projection, etc.).

This is a deliberately succinct answer, given summarily.

Jacobsen: How is equity implemented in the media and entertainment industry?

Fiorani: Also in this case, in representation and communication, you will need to avoid pseudo-archetypes and bromides. Then it’s up to the public ponder over the outcome.

Jacobsen: What is an outcome of inclusion as a value acted out with diversity and equity?

Fiorani: It depends. (Cf. the two previous answers.)

Jacobsen: How does Feagin define a minority group? In Canada, for instance, Christianity is undergoing a rapid diminishment. It will, probably, be less than half of the population by self-claimed identification by some time in 2024. Is it merely numbers? If so, then Christians will be a big minority as less than half in Canada. They’d already be a minority in the United Kingdom. However, it must be more nuanced in Feagin’s view. How so, if so?

Fiorani: Even if it is not polished, I will quote Wikipedia English (page: Minority group): “Joe Feagin, states that a minority group has five characteristics: (1) suffering discrimination and subordination, (2) physical and/or cultural traits that set them apart, and which are disapproved by the dominant group, (3) a shared sense of collective identity and common burdens, (4) socially shared rules about who belongs and who does not determine minority status, and (5) tendency to marry within the group”.

Jacobsen: Do you think the stagnation or reversal of the Flynn Effect is correlated with the massive introduction of these new media?

Fiorani: Reversal more than stagnation, AFAIK. Yes, I think that it is indeed correlated. This could be seen as a bias of mine but we’ll see what time – and studies and researches – will tell us.

Jacobsen: I’ve received vastly positive reception from the high-I.Q. communities. Rick Rosner called me more rational than him. Chris Langan called me a stupid little idiot. YoungHoon Kim called me a very balanced intelligence and wiser than him. I appreciate all of the compliments. They speak well of one another in general too. There are some shocking things some say about one another. They tattle, so whatever, but to me, hilariously. Less so now. Anyway, and to the point, my other sense of the communities is regular interpersonal stuff seen in any sub-culture and set of communities. People living their lives and competing mentally in their off time. That’s healthy. When it becomes someone’s identity or life, that raises eyebrows to me. That’s, probably, a normal reaction. How about you?

Fiorani: The expression used by C. Langan is a compliment? I doubt so, hahah… I agree with Rick and also with Mister Kim about your balanced intelligence.

Yes, it’s not healthy at all when it becomes someone’s identity. I’ve seen lots of cases, nevertheless. And, again, I agree: the fact staggers me. Luckily, I’m much wiser now than I was six years ago. There are shadows in my career as a test-taker but approximately an eon has passed. Life goes on and improves.

Jacobsen: What might be a good means by which to create such a space for clarity of mind?

Fiorani: Just take our time, in different situations. Consider one of the Ten Commandments: Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. There’s no irony nor humor, we can glean a lot more than the literal meaning and we can also omit for a second the religious interpretation(s). Can we deduce the importance of rest, the importance of break, in our (now frenetic and hyper-demanding) lives? We can – that’s my modest view.

Jacobsen: If they’re like me, they could be working 7 days a week at an elite equestrian facility sunrise to sunset, or some other job requiring it. Down time is hard to find nowadays, for some. Even a regular 5 days and 9 to 5, they might go partying or drinking, or pursuing social activities, which might not necessarily be conducive to the creation of a safe space for thought. What about those people? How can they find the time to get their outlet, their space, their place of calm?

Fiorani: Those people still can find ways. For example, you can deem an interview with a pseudo-intellectual Italian dude as refreshing.

Jacobsen: What other factors seem to be behind the reversal of the Flynn Effect?

Fiorani: One should read papers on the matter. As a perception of mine, I see a depletion of people’s vocabulary and scarce comprehension of text. The verbal tasks (subtests) are the most g-loaded in the WAIS-IV.

Jacobsen: What are “Tätigkeit“ and “Therapie”?

Fiorani: The first term means “activity, occupation” and the essential idea is that philosophy, for Wittgenstein, is more an attitude than a doctrine or a theory. The second term means “therapy”, and the idea behind is that philosophy can take care of the chronic disease that the language itself represents.

Not everything can be summarized in a cool way.

Jacobsen: Are you married, common-law, a long-term romance, or a newer partnership?

Fiorani: A long-term romance.

Jacobsen: What are some directions for the uses of the problem-solving abilities for renewable technologies?

Fiorani: In application terms? I say to myself: let’s try not to stray beyond our scope. So, I don’t know, sorry for disillusioning.

Jacobsen: I “appreciate all of the compliments”. If it wasn’t a compliment, then I don’t appreciate it. However, in some sense, it can be considered a compliment. I’ll take it! Thank you, Mr. Christopher Michael Langan. Don’t spell his name wrong, though, I’m told it “can be interpreted as a passive-aggressive form of sacrilege”, by him. Anywho, one of my favourite stories from observing Jouve. I like how a legitimate experimental psychologist, Dr. Xavier Jouve (a.k.a., an almost literal Professor X. of the I.Q. communities), who developed some awesome tests, then transitioned abruptly into photography. That’s truly wonderful. I love that kind of stuff. Does anyone know the reason? If anyone knows, I’d love to know it.

Fiorani: No idea. His comeback is official, though. Cf. the following link: http://www.cogn-iq.org/index.htm

Jacobsen: I’m really happy for you, and the transition self-identified by you. What would you say to yourself 6 years ago?

Fiorani: About HRTs and IQ scores? Take them less seriously. About some pernicious individuals of the community? Give them little importance.

When this interview will come out, I better prepare myself to face a couple of haters and trolls, their possible lasting hatred, entirely motiveless and – in the present – unwarranted. I’m being brave against some stubborn fanatics. They give abnormal importance to small past events related to high range IQ tests. They can become suffocating…

But it doesn’t matter, I’m accepting this interview and I’m happy.

Jacobsen: What words describe this person to you?

Fiorani: The 2017 version of myself? I was emotionally immature and, sometimes, (emotionally) unstable.

My mistakes were not even close to gravity. They have been flaws, surely preventable, but just minor flaws – if I reconsider them with the cognizance of an adult person not disassociated from reality.

Jacobsen: Maybe, if not everything can be given in a cool way, the world simply doesn’t always come in neat packages?

Fiorani: Agreed.

Jacobsen: Could your own philosophical pursuits be considered a form of therapy for yourself?

Fiorani: You are insightful, I confirm. You’re right.

Jacobsen: His official comeback will raise the bar for everyone. What has been the discussion within community about this?

Fiorani: Within the community, I don’t know. Personally, I’m happy. He is ne plus ultra: professional high range testing.

Jacobsen: What are your thoughts on his coming back?

Fiorani: It’s great!!

Jacobsen: Brave the storm! You get used to them. Perspective: They are 2% or less of the population of the super smart. Criminal Keith Raniere is exceedingly rare. He swindled the Bronfman’s out of $150,000,000 (USD). Sara and Clare were in the equestrian world and were known to some of my bosses quite well. He was in the Mega Society alongside Marilyn, Rick, Chris, other Chris, Kevin, Richard, Ken, and the myriad of others. He is one out of a much larger number of super smart people. You’ll do fine. What would you see as the main points of maturation for you?

Fiorani: I didn’t know the names you mentioned. And I was feeling better without knowing, hahaha! I think it gives an idea about real criminals and real crimes compared to trifles and minutiae.

The main point of my maturation: understanding better each context and having a more pragmatic mindset, at times.

Jacobsen: Your “comprehensive way” of flourishing. Would you consider this eudaimonia on a personal level?

Fiorani: Yes.

About the topic, more broadly, cf.:

Julia Annas, The Morality of Happiness (1995)
Christoph Horn, Antike Lebenskunst. Glück und Moral von Sokrates bis zu den Neuplatonikern(1998)
Alexander Nehamas,The Art of Living: Socratic Reflections from Plato to Foucault(1998)
Edith Hall, Aristotle’s Way: How Ancient Wisdom Can Change Your Life (2019)

Jacobsen: What were the moments of emotional instability? Hypersensitivity, emotionally speaking, is common among the highly intelligent. It doesn’t seem like a mark of shame or guilt to me, more a signal of a longer maturation process due to the emotions catching up with the mentation.

Fiorani: It’s true.

Jacobsen: What were the flaws, minor as such?

Fiorani: Related to HRTs? Well, it has happened that I’ve discussed some items of a couple of active high range IQ tests – which is not allowed and unfair.

I was severe towards myself after that. Later I have discovered that my behavior was less worse than other behaviors of other test-takers. I have downsized the thing a lot when I’ve seen what other testees – pretty commonly – do.

In those occasions, regardless, I made a mistake. Funny (?) thing is that none of the episodes of soft cheating on HRTs entailed a successful outcome, in terms of IQ score. Because: or I didn’t submit my answers at all (so, no IQ score); or my submission has been graded but wasn’t spectacular (so, below my average). Even in the second case, and anyways, I haven’t used the earned IQ score for admission purposes in some high IQ groups. This soft cheating hasn’t brought me anywhere in multiple senses, then.

Now remembering my mistakes is helpful.

Jacobsen: Do you think Jouve would be open to an interview? He wasn’t years ago, for benign professional reasons.

Fiorani: I think he is a reserved guy but you might try.

Jacobsen: What would you consider the self-discoveries over the last several years to bring about self-therapy?

Fiorani: Knowing inner emotions more lucidly. Work in progress, though.

Jacobsen: Where might people be able to find the Wittgenstein paper, eventually?

Fiorani: Still to be decided.

Jacobsen: What is the most valuable part of this “valuable opportunity”?

Fiorani: Sharing ideas and also having a conversation about them. It’s always nice and it is also a underrated experience.

Jacobsen: What was the idea behind True IQ?

Fiorani: Having a good and articulate confirmation of your broad cognitive abilities.

Jacobsen: What is the methodology of Ivec to make overly generous scores?

Fiorani: He uses an extension of Ferguson formula. But the scores are initially hyper-inflated. So, to me, it doesn’t work.

Jacobsen: What other people in the high-I.Q. communities deserve admiration for efforts, character, scores, tests, or healthy community building? The fact of its finiteness makes it capable of cataloguing.

Fiorani: Excluding the already mentioned ones, Kirk Raymond Butt deserves admiration. In his case, you have a combination of multiple traits. Wu Meiheng, too. For scores and character, a French guy named Jean-Mathieu Calut – the best test-taker I’ve ever met.

Several guys have huge scores, though. And several persons deserve admiration, without a doubt.

This list is obviously incomplete, hastily made.

Jacobsen: Maybe, the biggest long-term barrier isn’t necessarily the test items to HRTs becoming more robust. It’s test-takers and test-taker variety. What might increase the number of test-takers to make the sample sizes larger for more valid tests?

Fiorani: Good question but I haven’t found an answer yet, I don’t know how more people might find HRTs appealing. In fact, larger sample sizes would be a blessing.

Jacobsen: Have there been any tests based solely on the most g-loaded items possible? So, both the most g-loaded test/sub-test type and the most g-loaded items from those tests or test items or test types comparable in g-loading. That plus an online testing platform with a smart and narrow A.I. screening processing of the test items as the test evolves uniquely each time – random but not random – on an encrypted platform might give something like a secure place to get lots of people. Let’s call it “The Real g Test”, for real OGs, holla back!

Fiorani: They tried something (most g-loaded items possible) but I don’t know if it’s just chimeric…

Jacobsen: What is the best article on high-I.Q. psychology ever written or known to you?

Fiorani: Lohman, David F.; Foley Nicpon, Megan (2012). “Chapter 12: Ability Testing & Talent Identification”: this one is nice.

But there are plenty of good articles.

Jacobsen: By the way, why did you focus on Wittgenstein, as your necro-therapist?

Fiorani: Plato has spoken about μελέτη θανάτου (meletê thanatou) or “care of death” and Heidegger has spoken about Sein-zum-Tode or “being-towards-death”. I don’t need Wittgenstein if we talk about death.

Or you mean that Wittgstein is a cadaver, νεκρός (necros)? Why him as a therapist, then? My greatest masters have died long before I was even born.

Jacobsen: “Ron Hoeflin knows”, oh, the secrets he holds. Have you see some of his magnum opus?

Fiorani: A bit, here and there.

Jacobsen: What are the components of wisdom? How is wisdom practiced and lived, and witnessed, universally in individuals in all cultures? In other words, what are its manifestations, ingredients, and enjoyable outgrowths to see in others?

Fiorani: Good judgment and moderation.

Jacobsen: I have been interviewing women in the high-I.Q. communities. Yet, the ratio is so skewed. There is the fact of more variance between males and females. Yet, I don’t think the skew of the degree of variance tracks the degree of variance of membership in the communities. Why? I know Rick admits to joining Mensa to get a girlfriend. He even asked Marilyn vos Savant out while trying to join the Mega Society. She’s been super nice to me: She published one or two pieces of mine in her column for me.

Fiorani: Actually I’ve never understood why women don’t join high IQ societies as much as men. Let me know if you figure it out, hahaha!

Jacobsen: Is there a centralized platform for test-creators to have their work listed and linked? If not, I can, probably, make one in an article to advertise them if this helps everyone.

Fiorani: I don’t think that a centralized platform for test-authors exist.

Do as you wish but I don’t think that the creation of such platform would actually help.

Jacobsen: What would be the good standards by which to “make them more uniform” regarding test norms?

Fiorani: We’ve already talked about the detailed stats and Prousalis and Jouve. You already have an acceptable answer. (smiling)

Jacobsen: I’ve been highly involved in a number of philosophical movements – secular and religious, slightly transitioning as I see in practice or witness flaws in either philosophical foundations or sociopolitical structural outcroppings from those foundations, e.g., claiming a democratic movement and then booting properly elected executives, or claiming respect for freedom of expression and then coercing removal of articles from publications… I’m much, much less sure at the current moment. What is a philosophical stance for you, now, either in metaphysics or pragmatic living (or both)?

Fiorani: Anekāntavāda.

Jacobsen: How can the newer generation become more prudent?

Fiorani: Re-understanding the value of paideia.

Jacobsen: Who else in the communities have a great level of expertise in something niche or interesting? I’d like to email them and get another series going with them.

Fiorani: Perhaps you’ve already interviewed the most interesting ones but let’s be clear: „Was wir wissen ist ein Tropfen, was wir nicht wissen ein Ozean“. (smiling)

Jacobsen: I should write another comprehensive article on the criminals and cults coming out Mensa to the most obscure high-I.Q. societies and communities. It’s shocking. I have all the data points. It’s simply putting it together. Before knowing about Raniere, what were the worst cases known to you?

Fiorani: Silentium est aurum.

Jacobsen: Kevin Langdon in a funny recorded talk to the Triple Nine Society made a great point about the idea of screening for high intelligence for a society or a community of people, and then telling them what to do… that seems counterproductive and doomed to fail. The Mega Society and Mega Foundation split was one such case of individuality of several people exploding. It’s public and on the record. What procedures, policies, processes, ethics, norms, should be instantiated in a high-I.Q. group to minimize the increasing individuality of higher-I.Q. people, increase group participation and cooperation and mutual respect, and provide a process for booting assholes, e.g., something more than a simple “No Assholes Policy”?

Fiorani: A procedure like this is antithetical to the quiddity of such groups.

Jacobsen: Mentoring younger people when I have the opportunity is the most meaningful thing to me. One young man, who wanted to be a chef, when I was working in the restaurant industry was a bright light. After leaving to work with and around horses, he said, “Thank you for everything.” It was so moving. I wanted to cry. And I am a little bit thinking of it now. I managed to get Master Chef Craig Shelton, who is a member of the high-I.Q. communities to get me book recommendations for him (he would known better than me). I ordered the books and gave them to the young man. Have you ever mentored younger people?

Fiorani: Happy for you, it must be a gratifying feeling. (smiling)

Nope, I’ve never mentored younger people.

Jacobsen: What are other resources for people interested in joining high-I.Q. communities or learning about giftedness in general?

Fiorani: For people interested in joining high IQ societies: https://highiqtests.com/join

For people interested in learning about giftedness: Sternberg, Robert J.; Davidson, Janet E., eds. (2005). Conceptions of Giftedness.

Jacobsen: What are your goals now?

Fiorani: Keep working on my Self, writing my own story.

Bibliography

Dinouart, L’Art de se taire, principalement en matière de religion, Paris, G. Desprez, 1771.

Jacobsen, S.D. & Rosner, R.G. (2017, April 6). Superempowered: How We Turned Into A Nation (And A Planet) Of Assholes. Retrieved from https://in-sightpublishing.com/2022/02/19/superempowered-how-we-turned-into-a-nation-and-a-planet-of-assholes/.

Jacobsen, S.D. (2018, February 8). Ask A Genius (or Two): Conversation with Kirk Kirkpatrick and Rick Rosner on the “American Disease” and “Super Empowerment”. Retrieved from www.in-sightjournal.com/american-disease-super-empowerment.

Jacobsen, S.D. (2022a, March 8). Conversation with Paul Cooijmans on the Tenth Anniversary of the Glia Society: Administrator, Glia Society (8). Retrieved from http://www.in-sightpublishing.com/cooijmans-8.

Jacobsen, S.D. (2022b, April 1). Debunking I.Q. Claims Discussion with Chris Cole, Richard May, and Rick Rosner: Member, Mega Society; Co-Editor, “Noesis: The Journal of the Mega Society”; Member, Mega Society (2). Retrieved from http://www.in-sightpublishing.com/debunking-2.

Footnotes

[1] “Debunking I.Q. Claims Discussion with Chris Cole, Richard May, and Rick Rosner: Member, Mega Society; Co-Editor, “Noesis: The Journal of the Mega Society”; Member, Mega Society (2)” states:

Jacobsen: Some, in fact more than a few, claim extrapolations well beyond the norms of the mainstream tests, e.g., the WAIS and the SB, which cap out at or around 4-sigma. Assuming legitimacy of the claims, then, the individuals would be highly intelligent, but the claims can range between a little over 4-sigma to 6-sigma. How is this extrapolation generally seen within the high-I.Q. communities at the higher ranges?

May: I don’t know how other others generally perceive unsound or bogus extrapolations of IQ scores.

Rosner: I think the skepticism of super-high scores is generally more for specific claims than for the entire idea of being able to have an IQ that high. I think most people in the high-IQ community believe it is possible to have an IQ close to 200. But I think most people also have a reasonable idea of the rarity of scores like that. Adult IQs, the deviation scores, are based on a bell curve, where between 0 and 1 standard deviation, you have 34% of the population in a bell-shaped distribution for something like height. Between 1 and 2 SDs, you’ve got 14% of the population. Between 2 and 3, you’ve got about 1.5% of the population. Between 3 and 4, you’ve got roughly one-half percent of the population.

Let’s see, about 4 SDs, that’s only one person in 30,000 should score above 4 SDs. One person in 3,000,000 above 5 SDs. What is it? 1 person in 750,000,000 above 6 SD or so; somewhere, I’ve fucked it up, according to the standard bell curve. People also like to say that at the very far ends; there are more outliers than on the normal bell curve. That there are more high-IQs than would be given if it were a perfectly bell-shaped distribution.

But even so, you shouldn’t see more than a half-dozen or ten or twelve or whatever, people, with scores above 6 SDs. So, Paul Cooijmans has the Giga Society, which has 7 or 8 members. It is for people with IQs that are supposed to be one in a billion. So, there are 8 billion people on Earth, 8 members of the Giga Society, so that makes a certain sense, but not really. That’s as if everybody who could score at that level has taken one of his tests. That’s just obviously not true. So, way too many people scoring at the one in a billion level. It’s not like the Giga Society has 300 members.

Cooijmans is pretty rigorous in his norming and testing. So, if you have taken a Cooijmans test and scored at or close to the Giga Society, legitimately, Cooijmans has written in the past about people’s attempts to cheat on his tests, but I don’t think there has been a successful attempt in decades. So, people are pretty accepting that if you get a Giga level score on his tests; that you’re legitimately pretty smart. The claims of super high-IQs, there are legit claims based on performing well on ultra-high IQ tests or kicking ass as a kid on a test like the Stanford-Binet or the Wechsler. Someone can say, “As a kid, I scored a 200,” or something.

That’s another thing I won’t go into. People who claim high-IQ scores and are lying are generally not sophisticatedly lying. They’re saying something that cannot hold up at all. I don’t know if there are many or any sophisticated lies about having a super-high-IQ. So, then there are people outside the high-IQ community who are skeptical about the whole thing, but no one is really worried a lot about it, because: who gives a shit?

Also, if you want to say something, or know something that I’m not aware of, that contradicts what I’m saying, go ahead.

See Jacobsen (2022b).

Citations

American Medical Association (AMA 11^th Edition): Jacobsen S. Conversation with Luca Fiorani on Everything Under God’s Sun: Member, Ultima IQ Society (3). January 2023; 11(2). http://www.in-sightpublishing.com/fiorani

American Psychological Association (APA 7^th Edition): Jacobsen, S. (2023, January 15). Conversation with Luca Fiorani on Everything Under God’s Sun: Member, Ultima IQ Society (3). In-Sight Publishing. 11(2). http://www.in-sightpublishing.com/fiorani.

Brazilian National Standards (ABNT): JACOBSEN, S. D. Conversation with Luca Fiorani on Everything Under God’s Sun: Member, Ultima IQ Society (3). In-Sight: Independent Interview-Based Journal, Fort Langley, v. 11, n. 2, 2023.

Chicago/Turabian, Author-Date (17^th Edition): Jacobsen, Scott. 2023. “Conversation with Luca Fiorani on Everything Under God’s Sun: Member, Ultima IQ Society (3).” In-Sight: Independent Interview-Based Journal 11, no. 2 (Spring). http://www.in-sightpublishing.com/fiorani.

Chicago/Turabian, Notes & Bibliography (17^th Edition): Jacobsen, Scott “Conversation with Luca Fiorani on Everything Under God’s Sun: Member, Ultima IQ Society (3).” In-Sight: Independent Interview-Based Journal 11, no. 2 (January 2023). http://www.in-sightpublishing.com/fiorani.

Harvard: Jacobsen, S. (2023) ‘Conversation with Luca Fiorani on Everything Under God’s Sun: Member, Ultima IQ Society (3)’, In-Sight: Independent Interview-Based Journal, 11(2). <http://www.in-sightpublishing.com/fiorani>.

Harvard (Australian): Jacobsen, S 2023, ‘Conversation with Luca Fiorani on Everything Under God’s Sun: Member, Ultima IQ Society (3)’, In-Sight: Independent Interview-Based Journal, vol. 11, no. 2, <http://www.in-sightpublishing.com/fiorani>.

Modern Language Association (MLA, 9^thEdition): Jacobsen, Scott. “Conversation with Luca Fiorani on Everything Under God’s Sun: Member, Ultima IQ Society (3).” In-Sight: Independent Interview-Based Journal, vo.11, no. 2, 2023, http://www.in-sightpublishing.com/fiorani.

Vancouver/ICMJE: Jacobsen S. Conversation with Luca Fiorani on Everything Under God’s Sun: Member, Ultima IQ Society (3) [Internet]. 2023 Jan; 11(2). Available from: http://www.in-sightpublishing.com/fiorani

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2023-03-14

Pith 230: I stand with…

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

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I stand with…: why not sit; it’s easier on the joints.

See “Duh”.

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Pith 229: “Okay, what am I supposed to say?”

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“Okay, what am I supposed to say?”: “Chloe is the best. She’s absolutely amazing.”

See “14-years-old and full of life”.

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Pith 228: Symmetrical Anti-Symmetry

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Symmetrical Anti-Symmetry: What is love: a mere self-mirrored and reflective set of complementary self-states.

See “Explosive energy”.

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Pith 227: “You silly goose”

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“You silly goose”: I sacrificed three years of volunteer service for you; rights work: flight reschedulings, PowerPoints, speeches, correspondence, editing, and more.

See “You tossed me over straight lies”.

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Pith 226: Sincerity

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Sincerity: Unimpeded generativity; our rock hurled from Hell, cooled and compressed in Heaven.

See “Low abrasion”.

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Pith 225: “Someone like you would come and eventually take it all over”

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“Someone like you would come and eventually take it all over”: Are you my intimate partner or my business partner; whose team are you on?

See “Majestic mystery in plain sight”.

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Pith 224: “They’ll remain uneducated and poor”

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“They’ll remain uneducated and poor”: Dear Great Britain; is that humanist?

See “What is Humanism, anyway?”.

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Pith 223: Is that it?

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Is that it?: You destroyed a handful of non-essential contacts; my influence is partial and plural, therefore complete.

See “You’re too late”.

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Pith 222: Human beings are artificially intelligent

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Human beings are artificially intelligent: The dichotomy is the mirror is the inherency; human intelligence is artificial intelligence, is artificially human, so humanly artificial.

See “We make what we are”.

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Pith 221: Old women taught me nearly everything

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Old women taught me nearly everything: and they didn’t teach technical skills in the main; taught without teaching.

See “Masters of the Real Universe”.

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Pith 220: Satanism

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Satanism: Satanists are the real Liberationist Theologians; the Devil as an emancipatory figure who doesn’t kill or commit genocide.

See “The good guy”.

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Pith 219: Pierce

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Pierce: The sunrise pierces, and so, in so doing gifts the truth of Truth as truths; all Light comes manifold disguised as one.

See “See me to you to eye in eye”.

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Pith 218: Aninanimate

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Aninanimate: If life is death’s inverse, if animate is inanimate’s reverse, if motion is static’s opposite, if life is an animated motion, if death is the inanimate or static, if the uni-verse moves as one rhyme, then life is the default; if death moves, what’s life, or if life moves, what’s death, or if all is change, what’s the distinction?

See “Life is death is death is life”.

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