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'''Christopher Michael Langan''' (born March 25, 1952) is an American horse rancher. Langan's IQ was tested as part of an interview he conducted with ABC's ''[[20/20 (American TV program)|20/20]]'' in 1999, the [[Neuropsychology|neuropsychologist]] who conducted Langan's IQ test remarked that Langan had the highest IQ score he'd encountered in 25 years.<ref name=McFadden>{{cite news |title="The Smart Guy" |last1=McFadden |first1=Cynthia |date=1999-12-09 |url=http://www.abcnews.go.com/onair/2020/transcripts/2020_991209_iq_trans.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20000817050534/http://abcnews.go.com/onair/2020/transcripts/2020_991209_iq_trans.html |work=ABC News 20/20 |archive-date=2000-08-17 |access-date=2019-10-09}}</ref> Langan's IQ is estimated to be between 195 and 210.<ref name="Johnson">{{cite news |title=The 18 Smartest People In The World |work=Business Insider |author=Robert W. Johnson |url=https://www.businessinsider.com/the-smartest-people-in-the-world-2011-3 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180706201321/https://www.businessinsider.com/the-smartest-people-in-the-world-2011-3 |accessdate=2019-10-16 |archive-date=2011-04-08 |date=2011-04-08}}</ref> Langan has been described as "the smartest man in America" as well as "the smartest man in the world" by some journalists.<ref name="Sager"/><ref name="ABCNews"/><ref name="Fowler">{{cite web |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171009195108/http://www.megafoundation.org/Ubiquity/Fall00/BBC.html |title=BBC Radio Interview: "Outlook" -- January 2000}}</ref><ref name="Wigmore"/><ref name="OCONNELL">{{cite web |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090308130006/http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1608/is_8_20/ai_n6226304 |title=World of knowledge: we harness the expertise of the brawny, the brainy, and the bearded to solve your most pressing dilemmas
'''Christopher Michael Langan''' (born March 25, 1952) is an American horse rancher reported to have a very high [[Intelligence quotient|IQ]]. His IQ was tested as part of an interview he conducted with ABC's ''[[20/20 (American TV program)|20/20]]'' in 1999, the [[Neuropsychology|neuropsychologist]] who conducted Langan's IQ test remarked that Langan had the highest IQ score he'd encountered in 25 years.<ref name=McFadden>{{cite news |title="The Smart Guy" |last1=McFadden |first1=Cynthia |date=1999-12-09 |url=http://www.abcnews.go.com/onair/2020/transcripts/2020_991209_iq_trans.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20000817050534/http://abcnews.go.com/onair/2020/transcripts/2020_991209_iq_trans.html |work=ABC News 20/20 |archive-date=2000-08-17 |access-date=2019-10-09}}</ref> Langan's IQ is estimated to be between 195 and 210.<ref name="Johnson">{{cite news |title=The 18 Smartest People In The World |work=Business Insider |author=Robert W. Johnson |url=https://www.businessinsider.com/the-smartest-people-in-the-world-2011-3 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180706201321/https://www.businessinsider.com/the-smartest-people-in-the-world-2011-3 |accessdate=2019-10-16 |archive-date=2011-04-08 |date=2011-04-08}}</ref> Langan has been described as "the smartest man in America" as well as "the smartest man in the world" by some journalists.<ref name="Sager"/><ref name="ABCNews"/><ref name="Fowler">{{cite web |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171009195108/http://www.megafoundation.org/Ubiquity/Fall00/BBC.html |title=BBC Radio Interview: "Outlook" -- January 2000}}</ref><ref name="Wigmore"/><ref name="OCONNELL">{{cite web |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090308130006/http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1608/is_8_20/ai_n6226304 |title=World of knowledge: we harness the expertise of the brawny, the brainy, and the bearded to solve your most pressing dilemmas
}}</ref><ref name="Brabham">{{cite news |author=Dennis Brabham |url=https://www.newsday.com/lifestyle/the-smart-guy-with-an-iq-thats-off-the-charts-and-a-regular-guy-lifestyle-chris-langan-is-not-your-average-genius-sidebar-a-radical-view-of-the-universe-see-end-of-text-1.793814 |title=The Smart Guy |work=Newsday|accessdate=2019-10-09 |date=2001-08-20}}</ref><ref name="Quain">{{cite book|author=John R. Quain|journal=Popular Science|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VnsBuVJNwLQC&pg=PA64|date=November 2001|publisher=Bonnier Corporation|pages=64–67|issn=01617370 |title=Wise Guy}}</ref><ref name="MORRIS"/>
}}</ref><ref name="Brabham">{{cite news |author=Dennis Brabham |url=https://www.newsday.com/lifestyle/the-smart-guy-with-an-iq-thats-off-the-charts-and-a-regular-guy-lifestyle-chris-langan-is-not-your-average-genius-sidebar-a-radical-view-of-the-universe-see-end-of-text-1.793814 |title=The Smart Guy |work=Newsday|accessdate=2019-10-09 |date=2001-08-20}}</ref><ref name="Quain">{{cite book|author=John R. Quain|journal=Popular Science|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VnsBuVJNwLQC&pg=PA64|date=November 2001|publisher=Bonnier Corporation|pages=64–67|issn=01617370 |title=Wise Guy}}</ref><ref name="MORRIS"/>


Revision as of 14:10, 20 October 2019

For the actor and writer, see Chris Langham.
Christopher Langan
File:Christopher Michael Langan portrait.jpg
Born
Christopher Michael Langan

(1952-03-25) March 25, 1952 (age 72)
San Francisco, California, U.S.
NationalityAmerican
Alma materReed College, Montana State University
Occupation(s)bouncer, horse rancher
SpouseGina Lynne LoSasso

Christopher Michael Langan (born March 25, 1952) is an American horse rancher reported to have a very high IQ. His IQ was tested as part of an interview he conducted with ABC's 20/20 in 1999, the neuropsychologist who conducted Langan's IQ test remarked that Langan had the highest IQ score he'd encountered in 25 years.[1] Langan's IQ is estimated to be between 195 and 210.[2] Langan has been described as "the smartest man in America" as well as "the smartest man in the world" by some journalists.[3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10]

Langan has developed what he calls a "theory of the relationship between mind and reality" which he calls the "Cognitive-Theoretic Model of the Universe" (CTMU).[9][3][11]

Early life

Chris Langan (left) with a relative in the 1950s.

Christopher Michael Langan was born in 1952 in San Francisco, California but spent most of his childhood in Montana. His mother, Mary Langan-Hansen (née Chappelle, 1932 – 2014), was the daughter of a wealthy shipping executive but was cut off from her family. His biological father, Melvin Letman, died or disappeared before he was born. Owing to a combination of severed family ties and an absent father figure for her children, Mary was often pressured to adopt an economically itinerant lifestyle on behalf of her four children. This meant frequently living on violent Indian reservations in conditions of extreme poverty.[3][8][12]

During elementary school, Langan repeatedly skipped ahead and was tormented by his peers. Langan claims he was brutally beaten by his stepfather, Jack Langan, who denied this claim.[4][1] At the age of twelve years, Langan began weight training, and forcibly ended the abuse by throwing his stepfather out of the house when he was fourteen, and telling him never to return.[6]

Langan attended high school but claimed that he found himself spending his last years engaged mostly in independent study, due to the relative indifference of his teachers in accommodating his pleas concerning his increasing need and capacity to absorb more advanced material. While left to his own studies, he started teaching himself "advanced math, physics, philosophy, Latin, and Greek".[3] He has claimed that he earned a perfect score on the SAT (pre-1995 scale) despite taking a nap during the test.[4][1]

Langan attended Reed College and later on Montana State University, however, faced with severe financial and transportation problems, and believing that he could teach his professors more than they could teach him, he dropped out.[3]

Later life

Langan took a string of labor-intensive jobs for some time, and by his mid-40s had been a construction worker, cowboy, Forest Service Ranger, farmhand, and, for over twenty years, a bouncer on Long Island.[citation needed]

Langan was also approached and contracted by Disney Research[13] and he previously worked for Virtual Logistix, a technology company.[9] Langan said he developed a "double-life strategy": doing his job and exchanging pleasantries during the day, then coming home to develop his Cognitive-Theoretic Model of the Universe (CTMU).[3]

Intellectual pursuits

Langan in 2014

In 1999, Langan and others formed a non-profit corporation named the Mega Foundation to "create and implement programs that aid in the development of severely gifted individuals and their ideas" (the organization's designation for those with IQs of 164 or above).[9][4][1]

Langan told Muscle & Fitness magazine that "you cannot describe the universe completely with any accuracy unless you're willing to admit that it's both physical and mental in nature"[13] and that the CTMU "explains the connection between mind and reality, therefore the presence of cognition and universe in the same phrase".[14] He calls his proposal "a true 'Theory of Everything', a cross between John Archibald Wheeler's 'Participatory Universe' and Stephen Hawking's 'Imaginary Time' theory of cosmology."[3] In conjunction with his ideas, Langan has claimed: "You can prove the existence of God, the soul and an afterlife, using mathematics."[4][1]

When reviewing the Lagan's work on the CTMU, Ben Goertzel remarked the ideas were well worth reading but have gone unnoticed by academic critics.[15] One online critique from a mathematician attacks Langan's use of neologisms (or redefined terms) and obscure exposition.[16]

Chris Langan grooms a horse at his ranch in Missouri.

Asked about creationism, Langan has said:[14]

I believe in the theory of evolution, but I believe as well in the allegorical truth of creation theory. In other words, I believe that evolution, including the principle of natural selection, is one of the tools used by God to create mankind. Mankind is then a participant in the creation of the universe itself, so that we have a closed loop. I believe that there is a level on which science and religious metaphor are mutually compatible.

Personal life

In 2004, Langan moved with his wife Gina (née LoSasso), a clinical neuropsychologist, to northern Missouri, where he owns and operates a horse ranch and undertakes activities for his Foundation.[11]

Although he believes in God and the afterlife,[4] Langan does not belong to any religious denomination, explaining that he "can't afford to let [his] logical approach to theology be prejudiced by religious dogma".[14]

Appearances

  • In December 2012, Langan was a guest in the Coast to Coast AM radio show Mind & Reality/ Open Lines.[17]
  • Langan's personal history was included in the 2008 nonfiction book Outliers: The Story of Success by Malcolm Gladwell.[18]
  • Langan appeared on ABC News in 2000.[19][20]
  • Langan was featured in Errol Morris' First Person.[10]
  • On January 25, 2008, Langan was a contestant on NBC's 1 vs. 100, where he won $250,000.[21]
  • Langan appeared on BBC's Make Me Smart, with Michael Mosley in 2012.[22][23]
  • Sager, Mike (November 1999). "The Smartest Man in America". Esquire. Archived from the original on 2001-04-21.
  • O'Connell, Jeff, Ed. (2004). World of knowledge: we harness the expertise of the brawny, the brainy, and the bearded to solve your most pressing dilemmas. Men's Fitness.
  • Larsson, Mats (January 12, 2000) "Smartest i verden" Dagbladet (Norway)

References

  1. ^ a b c d e McFadden, Cynthia (1999-12-09). ""The Smart Guy"". ABC News 20/20. Archived from the original on 2000-08-17. Retrieved 2019-10-09.
  2. ^ Robert W. Johnson (2011-04-08). "The 18 Smartest People In The World". Business Insider. Archived from the original on 2011-04-08. Retrieved 2019-10-16. {{cite news}}: |archive-date= / |archive-url= timestamp mismatch; 2018-07-06 suggested (help)
  3. ^ a b c d e f g Sager, Mike (November 1999). "The Smartest Man in America". Esquire. Archived from the original on 2001-04-21.
  4. ^ a b c d e f "An Official Genius". ABC News. 1999-12-09. Archived from the original on 2000-08-17. Retrieved 2019-10-09.
  5. ^ "BBC Radio Interview: "Outlook" -- January 2000".
  6. ^ a b Wigmore, Barry (2000-02-07). "Einstein's brain, King Kong's body". The Times.
  7. ^ "World of knowledge: we harness the expertise of the brawny, the brainy, and the bearded to solve your most pressing dilemmas".
  8. ^ a b Dennis Brabham (2001-08-20). "The Smart Guy". Newsday. Retrieved 2019-10-09.
  9. ^ a b c d John R. Quain (November 2001). Wise Guy. Bonnier Corporation. pp. 64–67. ISSN 0161-7370. {{cite book}}: |journal= ignored (help)
  10. ^ a b Morris, Errol. (August 14, 2001). "The Smartest Man in the World". First Person.
  11. ^ a b Preston, Ray (November 15, 2006). "Meet the Smartest Man in America". Archived June 7, 2007, at the Wayback Machine
  12. ^ "Obituaries: Mary Chappelle Langan-Hansen". 2014-07-09.
  13. ^ a b O'Connell, Jeff (May 2001). "Mister Universe". Muscle & Fitness. Archived from the original on 2015-09-24. Retrieved 2019-10-09.
  14. ^ a b c "ABCNEWS.com Chat Transcript". ABC News. December 10, 1999. Archived from the original on 2000-08-16. Retrieved 2012-06-09.
  15. ^ Goertzel, Ben (2015-10-19). "Langan's "Cognitive-Theoretic Model of the Universe"". The Multiverse According to Ben. Archived from the original on 2016-02-14. Retrieved 2019-09-25. {{cite web}}: |archive-date= / |archive-url= timestamp mismatch; 2016-02-15 suggested (help)
  16. ^ "Another Crank comes to visit: The Cognitive Theoretic Model of the Universe".
  17. ^ Simone, Rob. (December 28, 2012). Mind & Reality/ Open Lines.
  18. ^ Malcolm Gladwell (18 November 2008). "Chapter 4: Trouble with Geniuses, Part 2". Outliers: The Story of Success. Little, Brown. ISBN 978-0-316-04034-1.
  19. ^ Smartest Man In America Lives In Missouri, KMBC-TV 2007.
  20. ^ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1cy9o0lSJpk [unreliable source?]
  21. ^ "Episode 204". 1 vs. 100. Season 2. Episode 4. January 25, 2008. NBC.
  22. ^ "BBC One - Make Me..., Make Me Smart". bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 2015-09-02.
  23. ^ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dPZe5HWlr8s [unreliable source?]

External links

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Christopher_Langan&oldid=922182573"