Christopher Langan: Difference between revisions
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'''Christopher Michael Langan''' (born c.[[1957]]) is a noted [[United States|American]] [[Autodidacticism|autodidact]] and self-proclaimed expert in the fields of mathematics, physics, cosmology and the cognitive sciences<ref>[http://www.iscid.org/christopherlangan.php Biography, Christopher Langan] ISCID.</ref> and an [[intelligent design]] advocate. He has no or little formal education in these fields, and no diplomas or certificates, and his views on various topics are not widely accepted within the mainstream [[scientific community]]. |
'''Christopher Michael Langan''' (born c.[[1957]]) is a noted [[United States|American]] [[Autodidacticism|autodidact]] and self-proclaimed expert in the fields of mathematics, physics, cosmology and the cognitive sciences<ref>[http://www.iscid.org/christopherlangan.php Biography, Christopher Langan] ISCID.</ref> and an [[intelligent design]] advocate.<ref>"The CTMU has a meta-Darwinian message: the universe evolves by hological self-replication and self-selection. Furthermore, because the universe is natural, its self-selection amounts to a cosmic form of natural selection. But by the nature of this selection process, it also bears description as intelligent self-design (the universe is “intelligent” because this is precisely what it must be in order to solve the problem of self-selection, the master-problem in terms of which all lesser problems are necessarily formulated). This is unsurprising, for intelligence itself is a natural phenomenon that could never have emerged in humans and animals were it not already a latent property of the medium of emergence. An object does not displace its medium, but embodies it and thus serves as an expression of its underlying syntactic properties. What is far more surprising, and far more disappointing, is the ideological conflict to which this has led. It seems that one group likes the term “intelligent” but is indifferent or hostile to the term “natural”, while the other likes “natural” but abhors “intelligent”. In some strange way, the whole controversy seems to hinge on terminology." [http://megafoundation.org/CTMU/Articles/IntroCTMU.htm Introduction to the CTMU] Christopher Michael Langan. MegaFoundation.org, 1998. pg. 50-51</ref> He has no or little formal education in these fields, and no diplomas or certificates, and his views on various topics are not widely accepted within the mainstream [[scientific community]]. |
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Various media sources report Langan as having an estimated [[IQ]] of 195.<ref>Fowler, D. (2000). [http://www.megafoundation.org/Ubiquity/Fall00/BBC.html Interview with Mega Foundation] BBC Outlook. London: British Broadcasting Company.</ref><ref>Sager, Mike. (November, 1999) [http://www.megafoundation.org/CTMU/Press/Esquire1.jpg "The Smartest Man in America."] ''[[Esquire (magazine)|Esquire]]''.</ref><ref>Brabham, Dennis. (August 21, 2001). [http://www.megafoundation.org/CTMU/Press/TheSmartGuy.pdf "The Smart Guy"]. ''Newsday''.</ref><ref>Wigmore, Barry. ([[February 7]], [[2000]]). "Einstein's brain, King Kong's body". ''The Times''.</ref> According to ''[[20/20]]'', Langan scored "off the charts" when tested by Dr. Robert Novelly. Novelly, a board certified [[neuropsychologist]], commented that Langan was "the highest individual that I have ever measured in 25 years" of testing.<ref>McFadden, Cynthia. ([[December 9]], [[1999]]). [http://web.archive.org/web/20000818083819/http://www.abcnews.go.com/onair/2020/transcripts/2020_991209_iq_trans.html "The Smart Guy"]. ''20/20''</ref> |
Various media sources report Langan as having an estimated [[IQ]] of 195.<ref>Fowler, D. (2000). [http://www.megafoundation.org/Ubiquity/Fall00/BBC.html Interview with Mega Foundation] BBC Outlook. London: British Broadcasting Company.</ref><ref>Sager, Mike. (November, 1999) [http://www.megafoundation.org/CTMU/Press/Esquire1.jpg "The Smartest Man in America."] ''[[Esquire (magazine)|Esquire]]''.</ref><ref>Brabham, Dennis. (August 21, 2001). [http://www.megafoundation.org/CTMU/Press/TheSmartGuy.pdf "The Smart Guy"]. ''Newsday''.</ref><ref>Wigmore, Barry. ([[February 7]], [[2000]]). "Einstein's brain, King Kong's body". ''The Times''.</ref> According to ''[[20/20]]'', Langan scored "off the charts" when tested by Dr. Robert Novelly. Novelly, a board certified [[neuropsychologist]], commented that Langan was "the highest individual that I have ever measured in 25 years" of testing.<ref>McFadden, Cynthia. ([[December 9]], [[1999]]). [http://web.archive.org/web/20000818083819/http://www.abcnews.go.com/onair/2020/transcripts/2020_991209_iq_trans.html "The Smart Guy"]. ''20/20''</ref> |
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Revision as of 17:58, 25 November 2006
Christopher Michael Langan (born c.1957) is a noted American autodidact and self-proclaimed expert in the fields of mathematics, physics, cosmology and the cognitive sciences[1] and an intelligent design advocate.[2] He has no or little formal education in these fields, and no diplomas or certificates, and his views on various topics are not widely accepted within the mainstream scientific community.
Various media sources report Langan as having an estimated IQ of 195.[3][4][5][6] According to 20/20, Langan scored "off the charts" when tested by Dr. Robert Novelly. Novelly, a board certified neuropsychologist, commented that Langan was "the highest individual that I have ever measured in 25 years" of testing.[7]
With only a small amount of college, Langan has held a variety of labor-intensive jobs including construction worker, cowboy, firefighter, farmhand, and perhaps most famously, bar bouncer. Accordingly, he has sometimes been stereotyped as the sort of individual who combines an extremely high IQ with little or no official recognition in the academic "real world" of intellectual commerce [8][9]. Langan, who grew up in Montana, currently owns and operates a horse ranch in northern Missouri. Langan is a fellow of the International Society for Complexity, Information and Design (ISCID), a think tank founded by leaders of the intelligent design movement, that describes itself as a "cross-disciplinary professional society that investigates complex systems apart from external programmatic constraints like materialism, naturalism, or reductionism."[1]. He also serves on the board of the Mega Foundation, a nonprofit foundation for the gifted.
In 2001 Langan was featured in Popular Science magazine, where he discussed his "Cognitive-Theoretic Model of the Universe" (CTMU)[10]. In a 56-page paper published in 2002 by ISCID, Langan explained the CTMU in detail.[11]. Filmmaker Errol Morris directed an hour-long documentary on Langan titled "The Smartest Man in the World". Langan has written question and answer columns for New York Newsday[12], The Improper Hamptonian[13], and Men's Fitness[14] In 2004, Langan contributed a chapter to the book Uncommon Dissent: Intellectuals Who Find Darwinism Unconvincing, a collection of essays edited by by intelligent design proponent William Dembski[15]. In the chapter, Langan discusses the strengths and weaknesses of both intelligent design and neoDarwinism and proposes a synthesis by means of the CTMU.
References
- ^ Biography, Christopher Langan ISCID.
- ^ "The CTMU has a meta-Darwinian message: the universe evolves by hological self-replication and self-selection. Furthermore, because the universe is natural, its self-selection amounts to a cosmic form of natural selection. But by the nature of this selection process, it also bears description as intelligent self-design (the universe is “intelligent” because this is precisely what it must be in order to solve the problem of self-selection, the master-problem in terms of which all lesser problems are necessarily formulated). This is unsurprising, for intelligence itself is a natural phenomenon that could never have emerged in humans and animals were it not already a latent property of the medium of emergence. An object does not displace its medium, but embodies it and thus serves as an expression of its underlying syntactic properties. What is far more surprising, and far more disappointing, is the ideological conflict to which this has led. It seems that one group likes the term “intelligent” but is indifferent or hostile to the term “natural”, while the other likes “natural” but abhors “intelligent”. In some strange way, the whole controversy seems to hinge on terminology." Introduction to the CTMU Christopher Michael Langan. MegaFoundation.org, 1998. pg. 50-51
- ^ Fowler, D. (2000). Interview with Mega Foundation BBC Outlook. London: British Broadcasting Company.
- ^ Sager, Mike. (November, 1999) "The Smartest Man in America." Esquire.
- ^ Brabham, Dennis. (August 21, 2001). "The Smart Guy". Newsday.
- ^ Wigmore, Barry. (February 7, 2000). "Einstein's brain, King Kong's body". The Times.
- ^ McFadden, Cynthia. (December 9, 1999). "The Smart Guy". 20/20
- ^ Morris, Errol. (August 14, 2001). "The Smartest Man in the World". First Person
- ^ O'Connell, J. (May, 2001) Mister Universe. Muscle & Fitness magazine.
- ^ Quain, John R. (October 14, 2001). "Wise Guy". Popular Science.
- ^ Langan, Christopher M. (2002). The Cognitive-Theoretic Model of the Universe: A New Kind of Reality Theory. Progress in Complexity, Information, and Design 1.2-1.3
- ^ Langan, C M (2001), Chris Langan answers your questions. New York Newsday, September, 2001, Melville, NY
- ^ Langan, C M (2000-2001). HiQ. Improper Hamptonian. Westhampton Beach, NY
- ^ O'Connell, J., Ed. (2004) World of knowledge: we harness the expertise of the brawny, the brainy, and the bearded to solve your most pressing dilemmas. Mens Fitness.
- ^ Langan, Christopher M. (2004). Cheating the Millennium: The Mounting Explanatory Debts of Scientific Naturalism. In Uncommon Dissent: Intellectuals Who Find Darwinism Unconvincing, Wm. Dembski, Ed., Intercollegiate Studies Institute.
