APR 2015
Cover Photo: Polar Bear in the Actic. ~ Priyanka and Ridham Gada
Contents
By
Page no.
About Contributors
2
Submissions: Send in your articles and contributions in plain text format and pictures in high resolution .jpg format to:
Polar Adventures – AV Presentation Event hosted by Mensa India Mumbai
Krishna N. Venkitaraman
3
Tech-Talk: Invisibility Cloaks
Shreya Gupta
6
Books: ‘Children Solve Problems’
Krishna Vora
9
Lensa De-Shuttered: Lensa Feb 2015
Shreya Gupta
10
Lensa: Northern Lights
Priyanka & Ridham
11
Disclaimer:
The Puzzle Page: Arrow Sudoku
Prasanna Sheshadri
12
Through A Human Eye: A Street Artist
Mihir Golwalkar
13
Investing: Incentives Caused Biases
Puneet Khurana
14
All contents in this magazine are opinions of the individual authors and contributors. Neither Mensa India, the society, its office bearers nor the editors are responsible for any content or views expresses.
From the Editor: This issue comes straight from the super-cool poles to help you beat the summer heat. Mensa India Mumbai hosted a talk and a presentation about the adventure trips to the Arctic and the Antartic that our Mensan friend Priyanka Gada and her husband Ridham undertook. It was for the first time that a Mensa event was thrown open to Non-Mensans as well. And its success has charged the Mumbai chapter into further action. This issue introduces two new columns. Lensa De-shuttered is about the thoughts that a previously published Lensa image evokes in the minds of the readers. Did any previous Lensa entry touch you enough to make you put your pen to paper? Do tell us … we are listening… Through A Human Eye talks about everyday experiences that we take for granted in a busy world. All it takes is a moment to stop and look at this world through a human eye to realise its underlying beauty. I’m sure there would be many more instances that the readers would like to share with us through a human eye. .Do let us know what you would like to read here. That is the best incentive that keeps us going at Mind. Remember – it is your magazine. ~Durva Mayee Editor, MInd
1 1
editor.mensaindia@gmail.com
Feedback: Like it, love it or hate it? Tell us how to make the MInd magazine better. Write in to the editor at editor.mensaindia@gmail.com
ABOUT CONTRIBUTORS:
Krishnamoorthy N V : Krishna is that kid from the Sachin Tendulkar-starring insurance ad, who cannot decide what he wants to be in life when he grows up, grown up. He has recently discovered a fascination for finance—specifically valuation. He likes football, books and anything to do with behavioural economics. If you’ve got an idea for 1 a Mensa Mumbai event, he’s the guy you should be shooting a mail to: krishna.nv85@gmail.com Shreya Gupta is a second year student pursuing B.Tech in Electronics and Communication Engineering from IGDTUW. Hailing from New Delhi, she enjoys music along with singing and dancing. A passion for learning about the new technological innovations and presenting her ideas to the world is what inspires her the most. The link to her blog is: http://developmentandopinions.blogspot.in/ Krishna Vora is a Psychologist and a Special Educator by profession. She spends all her free time exploring different genres of reading. Link to her blog: https://krishnasvora.wordpress.com/2015/02/03/the-imitation-game/ Priyanka Gada is a CA, partnering her husband, Ridham, in construction business. She has successfully been pulled into trekking and wild life – interests that are come naturally to the Gadas. Prasanna Seshadri is a Puzzler and Puzzle-Master at Grandmaster Puzzles; was the Indian Double Champion in 2013, having won both the Indian Sudoku and Indian Puzzle Championships. As a puzzlemaker, Prasanna has contributed puzzles to the World Puzzle Championship, the 24HPC, and several other national championships; Associated with Logic Masters India. Blog: https://prasannaseshadri.wordpress.com/ More of his puzzles can be found at: http://www.gmpuzzles.com Mihir Golwalkar is an IT guy who mostly lives behind a keyboard and pretends not to like it. He also considers himself an IT guy (since he has a non-existent social life), a writer (a very debatable title for him) a part time criminal mastermind (if asked this question, he would deny everything, on principle) and a wannabe camera-shy model. He likes to use sarcasm and dark humour to get a point across, but this usage is only because killing people is frowned upon. You can also follow him here: http://balletofwords.blogspot.in/ Puneet Khurana: Puneet Khurana is an equity investor who after his associations with various India focussed hedge funds is now involved in managing money for friends and family. He runs Stoic Advisors, a niche consulting firm involved in Financial and Behavioral strategy consulting. He is also an educator who teaches MBA and CFA students and occasionally gives guest lectures at various investing workshops and seminars. He blogs at www.pragmaticinvesting.wordpress.com
2
POL LAR ADV VENTUR RES: MEMO ORIES FROM M THE ARCT TIC AND ANTA ARTICA
“W
hy do you go h g away? S that you can come So back. So that you caan see the place you u came from m with new eyes and extra colorss. And the people theere see you differently, d too. Comiing back to where w you started is not n the samee as never leaving.” ~ (Terry Pratch chett, A Hat H Full of Sky) S
summ mer and ano other time in n winter) an nd the South h Pole, to bring b back a treasure tro ove of storiees to share with us.Affter introductions, Ridha am got pro oceedings underway u w with a photo o-tour of thee Arctic regio on. Weaving a tale from its origins; traversing th hrough the history h al arrangem ments; and right and geo-politica ugh taking the audiencce along on o his throu perso onal journey to the Arctic region, Ridham R led us u on expediition while seated s in thee aptly tempeered cool confines of an a air-conditioned hall. His picturess transported d the viewerrs into h Pole. the pristine white landscapes of the North orthern The time-lapse photograph of the No orealis was most Lightss or the Aurora Bo mesm merizingly bea autiful. The 6-second 6 sho ot took Ridha am & Priya anka close to t 35 minu utes to shoott and compose.
ance, Mensan n Priyanka Gada G and heer At first gla husband, Ridham, seem a norrmal Mumba ai heir demeano our to suggest couple witth little in th that they would conssider anythin ng other tha an r race that the city affo ords. But it is the sane rat only when n you noticee the identical ambigram ms on their wrists w that you y start to suspect therre might be more m than a streak of reb bellion behin nd those disarming smiless. as the first major even nt Polar Advventures wa organized under the leadership of the newlly elected Prresident, Dr. RachitaNarrsaria. It wa as also the first f time tha at Mensa Ind dia (Mumba ai) was open ning up an n event forr participants beyond friends and fa amilies o of Marketed over Faccebook an nd members.M Whatsapp p, the eveent received over 60 6 registration ns.So, on the 22nd of March, an a audience assembled a att the basemeent auditorium m of the nostalgic--school-mem mory-evocatin ng anetarium for this photo--documentarry Nehru Pla on the No orth and Sou uth Poles. The T show wa as put togeth her and preesented by our o explorers, Priyanka and a Ridham.. A couple un nited as mucch in marriagge as by a shared spirit of adventuree, they travelled to the North N Pole (tw wice—once in i
3
POLAR ADVENTURES: MEMORIES FROM THE ARCTIC AND ANTARTICA
Still enraptured by the images of skin-shedding snow foxes and ephemeral restaurants carved of ice the audience dispersed for nourishment (and some welcome respite from the excessively-cold air-conditioning).
The journey to the South Pole is the more difficult of the two, since there are limited access points from where cruises are launched to Antarctica; and the seas are a lot less forgiving than those around the north. In fact, the prime difference between the two regions is that the Arctic region is actually a body of water surrounded by land; while the Antarctic region is a piece of land surrounded by water. Even as she explained all this, Priyanka treated us to pictures that were evocative and breathtakingly alive.
The break saw some animated discussions amongst the crowd. When the event reconvened for the second half, the better half of the adventurous couple took over. Under the wings of the arctic tern, Priyanka took us to the other end of the world, which Kim Stanley Robinson thus described in his book, Antarctica:
“Below the 40th latitude there is no law; below the 50th no god; below the 60th no common sense and below the 70th no intelligence whatsoever.”
4
POL LAR ADV VENTUR RES: MEMO ORIES FROM M THE ARCT TIC AND ANTA ARTICA
Presid dent, Dr. R RachitaNarsa aria, thanked the speakkers and ga ave them a small tokken of appreeciation.
a interesting g story of ho ow Antarcticca There is an should havve been nam med Australia a! As early as a before 1 AD, A Aristotle declared d (an nd Ptolemy expanded) e th hat there mu ust be a placce near the South S Pole th hat bore the same relatio on as his placce (Europe) did d to the No orth Pole. Th his hypotheticcal piece off land was named Terrra Australis. So when British B Explo orer Matthew w p the name of Australia, his Flinders popularized rationale was w that theere was no probability of o any sign nificant lan ndmass furrther south h. Consequently, cheated d of its righ htful name, it ontend itselff with an id dentity as th he had to co antithesis of the Arctic region, thus coming to t n Antarcttica. bear the name
Riidham
Priyanka
Niirav
Rach hita
And after a freezzing, yet exxtremely enjo oyable trip to the two Poles, P the ga athering disp persed into a sweltering Mumbai M heatt. t all the orgganizers who made A bigg thank you to this event e possiblee: Led by Drr. RachitaNa arsaria, and ably supp ported by Krishna Vora, QadirVa arawala, NidhiiUpadyaya, Nirav Sangh havi and you urs truly. A special s mentiion for Priyanka Deostha ali (not to be confused wiith our traveller, Priyanka a Gada) who o caught an n early morn ning bus from m the birthpla ace of Mensa India, to ma ake Pune’s reepresentation n at the even nt.
w up her presenta ation with still Priyanka wrapped more visu ually stunning images off her journeyy. The audieence just couldn’t get enough of th he couple, and a the tra avelers dulyy obliged by b answeringg all questionss patiently an nd in detail.
~Kris ishna N Venkkitaraman
nt concluded d with our Mensa Indiia The even President, Nirav San nghavi, spea aking a few w words on Mensa India, Mensa In ndia (Pune)’s Tribal Meensa Nurturiing Program m and Menssa India (Deelhi)’s Dhruv v Program for f educatin ng underpriviileged childrren (in partnership witth IndiGo airrlines). Mumb bai India (Mu umbai) Menssa
5
TECH-TALK: INVISIBILITY CLOAKS
T
he normal notions of invisibility inspired by fiction so far include Magical objects in the form of • Rings • Cloaks • Amulets • Magical potions • Magical spells • Mythical creatures (making themselves invisible at will, like leprechauns and Chinese dragons)
the same path it was pursuing before it hit the cloak; otherwise it casts a shadow.) • It must produce no reflection. While naturally occurring materials are unable to do this, a new class of materials called METAMATERIALS is now making it possible. These materials are composed of metal and dielectric composite films, created using a nanotransfer printing method. The films are layered in such a way as to create a fishnet-like pattern, which in turn allows the control of visiblespectrum light.
But now there are actually devices, claiming to create invisibility fields around objects in real life. Real life invisibility cloaks don’t look like a Harry Potter style robe that completely erases visual presence in an environment, which is what usually comes to your mind when you hear the term. In more realistic movies, invisibility cloaks tend to bend light around an object, making it look as if it’s covered in liquid mirror. In real life, for instance, they often tend to be solid objects that simply play perspective or reflective tricks on the eye (which isn’t even close to what is shown in the movies)
Limitation: “It won’t work for every frequency.” Historic footprints:
* The "invisibility shield," created by David R. Smith of Duke University and colleagues, inevitably set the media buzzing with talk of H. G. Wells's invisible man and Star Trek's Romulans. Using rings of printed circuit boards, the researchers managed to divert microwaves around a kind of "hole in space"; even when a metal cylinder was placed at the center of the hole, the microwaves behaved as
though nothing were there.
Secret Ingredients? Not so secret…
The shield consists of concentric circles of fiberglass circuit boards, printed with C-shaped split rings. Microwaves of a particular frequency (limitation alert!!!) behave as if objects inside the cylinder aren’t there--but everything remains in plain view.
To become invisible, an object must do two things: • It has to be able to bend light around itself, so that it casts no shadow, (Meaning: you have to return the light to
6
TECH-TALK: INVISIBILITY CLOAKS — say, a few hertz in the microwave band — and, more importantly, actually make cloaked objects more visible to other frequencies. The UT Austin cloak would achieve this goal by being active and electrically powered.
* A researcher at the University of Texas at Austin has devised an invisibility cloak that could work over a broad range of frequencies, including visible light and microwaves. This is a significant upgrade from current invisibility cloaks that only cloak a very specific frequency
ROCHESTER CLOAK 1. Obtain two sets of two lenses with
* The Rochester Cloak is a surprisingly low-tech response to what is traditionally considered a high-tech problem: making objects invisible. It could make anything invisible, as long as the lenses can cover it. Theoretically, that means it's possible to make a military base "disappear" from the visible spectrum if you surround it with big enough lenses. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vtKBzwKf P8E
different focal lengths. The first set will have one focal length while the other set will have a different focal length. You will have four lenses in total. The lens provider will include the focal length information (sometimes denoted as FL) so you don't have to calculate it yourself.
2. Using an optics bench, select one lens with the first focal length and a second lens with the second focal length. Separate them by a distance that is the sum of their focal lengths.
Recipe 101: make it invisible!
3. For example,If your first lens has a focal length of 50 centimeters and your second lens has a focal length of 30 centimeters, then
You can make a small invisibility device (a Rochester cloak) at your home for a relatively affordable sum.
7
TECH-TALK: INVISIBILITY CLOAKS separate these centimeters.
lenses
by
50+30
Trucks knitted with cloaks so they can see right through their blind spots on the highway.
= 80
4. Now, do the same with your remaining two lenses.
Cloaking technology has more revolutionary applications than just turning a Klingon Bird of Prey invisible. ~Shreya Gupta
5. Lastly, you need to know how far apart to separate your two sets. This will take a little math, but here's an example using the same measurements in Step 3
Sources: 1.http://www.iop.org/news/13/mar/img_full_59 768.jpg 2.http://www.technologyreview.com/sites/defa ult/files/legacy/triosmith2.jpg 3.http://www.extremetech.com/wp‐ content/uploads/2013/11/new‐invisibility‐cloak‐ 640x353.jpg 4.http://www.syracuse.com/news/index.ssf/201 4/09/university_of_rochester_scientists_create_ cloaking_device_rivals_harry_potters_i.html 5http://www.rochester.edu/newscenter/watch‐ rochester‐cloak‐uses‐ordinary‐lenses‐to‐hide‐ objects‐across‐continuous‐range‐of‐angles‐ 70592/
D=[2*(30)*(50+30)]/(50-30) = 240 centimeters should be the distance between your two lenses with the focal length of 30centimeters. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vtKBzwKf P8E&list=PLQqibrU3vslrZOWBJ8uUvfnN1VE bIRSlq
Why does the world need to be invisible?
The practical applications of an invisibility cloak are exciting in their own right. Imagine nurses who can make their hands invisible so they don't obstruct a doctor's view during surgery.
8
BOOKS: ‘CHILDREN SOLVE PROBLEMS’ Book: Children Solve Problems Author: Edward De Bono
thing we could exercise control over. That would also mean grappling with our own feelings of worthlessness cause on some levels we have come to believe that our worth is tied to how much others depend on us. So, our first problem is that we do not teach kids to think.
M
ost of our education seems to lie on a faulty foundation that believes in imparting information. Unfortunately, we never ask children, what is it that they think, believe or wish to do. We have invented so many diagnostic tools to make our lives easier, that we forget that sometimes the best way to know-is to ask.
And then I manage to get my hands on his book ‘Children solve problems’ which dedicates roughly not more than 20 % to what he has to say about children. In fact, this whole book can be seen as a tribute to the way children think, an insight into how they process information, work on it and then respond to their environment. Never have I seen such a large number of pages filled by children’s work that help us understand them better. Even more amazing is how easily De Bono sees their work for the way they are. Before we begin to marvel at his take on their work, I would prefer updating you on the genius of the task he set for kids.
That however, is not the point of this discussion. Here I am more keen on talking about how awesome Edward De Bono is. And if I could, I would steal his brains. I was first introduced to his ideas through the book he wrote on 6 thinking hats. I regret not immediately pursuing every book written by this man. How we have a periodic table that organises all chemical elements based on their properties, we have De Bono who skilfully manages to organise and categorise every possible way we can think. When you read his book on ‘How to be more interesting’, apart from the guarantee that you will become interesting, you will also be introduced to a variety of thinking patterns- perspectives, elaboration, association, possibilities, speculation, provocation, parallel thinking etc.
Knowing that children may have a limited vocabulary, he allows them to express their ideas visually. Then again he chooses tasks which are appropriate for children, but when interpreted correctly have real life relevance. He first asked children how they would stop a cat and a dog from fighting. Sounds simple right? But when you look at the variety of solutions that children came up with, you realise that their thinking is on par with those of adults. Honestly, most adult wouldn’t be able to come up with such brilliant solutions. The variety of solutions included, keeping them separate, allowing free movement in a way that they are kept out of each other’s reach, smearing them with each other’s scents to trick them into liking each other, giving them enough work to keep them occupied so they don’t have to bother with each other etc.
It is not something we haven’t heard of, but he put it across in such a neat manner that even the dumbest person could read and comprehend it effortlessly. His ideas are so complex, but his exercises are so simple, it’s a shame that they aren’t already a part of our curriculum. Indeed we do not yet see the need to teach our children to think- which is why we have obesity, anorexia, materialistic aspirations among our children who do cannot differentiate the glamour of an advertisement from the quality of its product. I wonder if we refrain from teaching children how to think for themselves because that might mean one less
9
BOOKS: ‘CHILDREN SOLVE PROBLEMS’ children’s work you realise the world hasn’t gotten to them and hence such beauty and clarity in their thoughts.
It takes the intelligence and clarity of de Bono’s thought to see how these solutions can be applied politically. If one of us had looked at their drawings we would have shrugged it off simply as mindless scribbles of a child. But it takes de Bono to see how these strategies of selfinterest, third party concept, cultural assimilation, mutual aid; direct love concept can be just as easily applied politically. Haven’t we already heard of countries distracting us by poverty problems in a third world country while other life threatening issues are blatantly ignored?
I was always of the opinion, that whenever children create something, before we judge them on their aesthetics, we seek out the reason, the function and the thought process behind the product before discarding it as a useless outcome of mindless activity. But if you did this, you would realise none of the products they create are futile. Each is a significant extension of their learning, even if unimportant to us, they would be meaningful to the child in ways we cannot imagine. This book only strengthens my approach.
Then again there are other tasks set by him such as how to weigh an elephant, improving the human body, inventing a sleep machine, make a bicycle for the postman etc Each of these solutions show us the fluency with which children think, the keen attention they pay to details, how they manage to perceive problems we don’t know exist and how free-flowing their thoughts are. If you had posed the same problems to adults- their inhibitions, mental blocks, fear of judgement, societal stigma, practicality, all of this and a lot more would come together to curb their ideas. But when you go through tonnes of samples of
I conclude with two things I learn from these books I read. A - We need to teach them how to think. They might not need us post that, but they may have a lot more to contribute to the world and themselves if they became better thinkers. B- We ask them what they mean- their thoughts are far more transparent than ours!
~Krishna Vora
LENSA DE-SHUTTERED Graveyard at Goa (Lensa: Feb 2015)
humans don't learn to respect nature and environment and keep harming the earth at the current pace, we will soon be walking into our own graves. Nature will restore its balance, with or without humans. So, let's join hands to make this world a better place to live in and preserve this natural beauty, cherish it instead of destroying it.
People walking alongside the cross in this picture shows that men may come and men may go but nature has eternal beauty, beauty which goes on forever. The grass, the sun shining through those clouds, and the clouds forming various patterns, depict nature's beauty. The man walking towards the cross in the picture is symbolic of the fact that if we
~Shreya Gupta
10
LENSA Aurora Borealis (Northern Lights)
A Time-lapse shot of the northern lights by Priyanka and Ridham Gada.
11
THE PUZZLE PAGE: ARROW SUDOKU About Arrow Sudoku: There is a common misconception that a Sudoku requires mathematical calculations to be solved. Classic Sudokus which are the common ones require no mathematical calculations whatsoever, and are a pure logical exercise. That does not mean the vast varieties of Sudokus do not include a mathematical aspect. Arrow Sudoku is a common math variant of Sudoku which has appeared in many National and International Sudoku events. However, the mathematical aspect is minimal, restricted to simple addition techniques. It is not necessarily the math that is the satisfying part in itself but the combination of the math with the logical aspects. The Arrow Sudoku Puzzle: Place the digits 1 through 9 into the empty cells in the grid so that each digit appears exactly once in each of the rows, columns, and bold outlined 3X3 boxes.The sum of the digits along the path of each arrow must equal the digit in the circled cell. Digits can repeat within an arrow shape.
Tips: Some arrows (here, in particular, the big one) are pretty restrictive. With arrows, usually the min-max constraint is useful – if the minimum possible sum added up for the cells passed by an arrow and the maximum possible digit in the circle are equal then they are the only possible combinations. For big arrows it is easier to divide the boxes crossed in the questioning (what is the minimum possible sum for the arrow passing through 5 cells, where 2 cells are in one box and 3 cells are in another box, allowing for the fact that digits cannot repeat in a box?) Solved Example:
Theme: X marks the spot: The combination of arrows make a big X-sign in the grid.
12
THE PUZZLE PAGE: ARROW SUDOKU Note about Logical Pencil Puzzles in general: These are puzzles which have a step-by-step procedural and logical path. No guesswork is required, and there is no need to force a solution in the entire puzzle immediately. Each clue will come into perspective gradually, and using them a little at a time and spotting where the next step is, is part of the challenge and generally increases the feeling of satisfaction when they puzzle is solved. It is advisable to solve with a pencil and not a pen, so that erasing and backtracking is possible in case of an error.Also, these puzzles can generally have pleasant and artistic visual themes to them. They add a human touch making each puzzle unique in its value.
Solution to the March Puzzle of the Month: AKARI
Note:The solutions to the ‘Puzzle of the Month’ will be published in the next issue. For more puzzles and Sudokus like this and to know more about the Indian National Championships, you can visit the Indian website for all puzzle matters, Logic Masters India – logicmastersindia.com ~PrasannaSeshadri
THROUGH A HUMAN EYE A STREET ARTIST
This happened quite some time ago… at a time when Sachin was still playing cricket, not many people knew about Mr. Arvind Kejriwal; and when I still had some cash in my pocket. As I mentioned, I had cash in my pocket. I was planning on buying a pair of shoes. So I went around the familiar streets of Pune, flipping through the merchandise, when I came across a shoe-shiner. He did not seem to have any customers that morning, so he was scribbling away on a piece of paper. I mean, he was using two coloured
13
THROUGH A HUMAN EYE A STREET ARTIST pens – a red and a blue - to draw an abstract picture. So, I took a picture of him. ( If I hadn't then it would have been a huge loss to mankind… or at least to the ones who click random pictures of crows, sparrows, funny looking tiles, shapes made using multiple hands and feet, only to them on Facebook.) As I clicked the picture, I looked at his face, and noticed that his eyes were moist. Probably he realized that his art was getting noticed. It was being appreciated. It was being clicked by someone he did not know, without anyone asking him to do so. Being a bad photographer, I could not capture the tears in his eyes, but trust me, they were tears of joy. He was no Picasso, Monet, Van Gogh or Ravi Verma. But he sure felt like one. Because, as is the way of human nature, when a picture gets clicked, people around get curious and look at what is actually being clicked. In no time, there were around 15 people admiring the sketch. The expression of the new born artist was priceless.
He may still be there, with his red pen, blue pen and a piece of paper, scribbling away...
If anyone wishes to see this person, please visit J.M. road in Pune.
~Mihir Golwalkar
INVESTING: INCENTIVE CAUSED BIASES
Learning from Charlie Munger: “Incentive
There were lot of things which I could relate to and surprisingly, there were few things which helped me in my area of work, which has nothing to do with investing.
caused biases”:
I refer to one of my conversation with an HR veteran. For the sake of convenience, let’s call him CM (Curious Manager)… and me, by the virtue of being Punnet Khurana, I wouldn’t mind playing PK - the guide…
PK: Thanks CM. I am glad it helped you in some way. Though, it’s not surprising that it helps you in your profession. The beauty of learning from Charlie is that his teachings are based on multiple disciplines interacting with
CM: Hey, It was nice reading your post on availability bias in the previous issues
14
INVESTING: INCENTIVE CAUSED BIASES each other and are tenets for worldly wisdom which are applicable to any profession.
He emphasizes that incentives are superpower and there are numerous examples where its wise application yielded amazing results and its neglect caused great loss.
CM: Hmm, yes, I understand. So what is it that you are writing about now? Which psychological bias are you going to discuss?
CM: Hmm…I am not sure why he says it’s underestimated. So what are Munger’s guidelines about incentives and what bias is he talking about?
PK: Well, the next psychological tendency is the one considered most crucial by Munger. I am sure you have heard of it. It’s what economists refer to as ‘Incentives’.
PK: His general guideline here is that one should give enough thought to the power of incentives than look somewhere else. In his own words…
CM: Tell me about it! It’s very elementary and probably the most common psychological tendency. I deal with it almost on a daily basis. After all, as an HR manager, it forms a central theme to most of my policies directed towards employees. In fact, I have a poster on my desk which reminds me of what Steven Landsburg writes in his book, ‘The Armchair Economist’, as the summary of most of the economics
Never ever think about something else when you should be thinking about incentives. Perhaps the most important rule in management is: Get the incentives right. But more importantly, Munger is trying to put across another very important point – We are often aware that incentives matter and people can be incentivized to do required things. But the real power of incentives lies in its ability to manipulate the cognitive process at a subconscious level. In other words, an otherwise decent man can act immorally because he is driven by incentives at both conscious and subconscious levels. Once this immoral behaviour starts and it pays this man well, he gets further inclined to repeat this kind of behaviour. This modification of ‘voluntary behaviour’ was called Operant conditioning, term coined by B.F. Skinner.Combining this with other biases like ‘social proof’, he gets a way to rationalize this immoral behaviour. Robert Heinlein hits the nail on the head when he said:
“People respond to incentives. The rest is just commentary.” Anyways, I am not sure if there is much to be talked about incentives. In fact, I am curious and slightly surprised that Munger gives it so much importance. For a man of his intellect and vision, ‘incentives’ seems to be a rather elementary topic to discuss. What is that he talks about in his speech? PK: According to Munger (and I agree with him), the power of incentives is often underrecognized. This is what he says…
Well I think I’ve been in the top 5% of my age cohort all my life in understanding the power of incentives, and all my life I’ve underestimated it. And never a year passes but I get some surprise that pushes my limit a little farther.
“Man is not a rational animal, he is a rationalizing one.”
15
INVESTING: INCENTIVE CAUSED BIASES
more appropriate measure of managerial economic performance to be return on equity capital.
CM: That really makes sense. Reminds me of a friend of mine who is now into selling of mutual funds. He is a wonderful guy, but every now and then he tries to sell me something which is not exactly beneficial to me. Now I know, he doesn’t mean bad... He genuinely believes what he is selling is helpful to me. May be, he has rationalized it. So I understand that incentives are powerful and they can be used to create a desired behaviour. Can you give me some examples which can help me understand as to how to look at incentives and what can be done to design right incentives?
Now, coming to your previous question on how to create right incentives, let me give the answer in a slightly different way. One of my favourite books is called ‘Ten Commandments of Business Failure’ by Donald Keough (former Coca Cola president). As the title suggests, it discusses the way businesses fail rather than succeed. Taking cues from this, before we learn how to create the right incentives, let us first study a few wrong ones. After all, you learn more about success from studying losers and what not to do rather than studying winners and what to do.
PK: Sure, but before I go to that point I want to ask you this – What do you think is the key objective of a corporate entity? Is it to produce innovative products, increase sales, and employ a lot of people? What is the ultimate aim for the existence of such an entity?
So let’s first look at some of the incentive structures which are fundamentally flawed. Here let me take your inputs. Since it’s a crucial aspect of your job and you track the compensation methods in the industry, what kind of incentives for senior management you find prominent in various corporations?
CM: Let’s see. A corporate is established by the owners to earn profit. Mostly, to maximize these profits, the company does all the things you mentioned. They make an innovative product to get a first mover advantage and pricing power (at least till the point of no competition) so that they can make more profits. They expand into other territories and other product lines to expand profitability so that whatever money is being employed in the business is chasing the maximum return.
CM: Well, the most common way to incentivize the managers to perform so that stockholders also benefit is to link their bonuses to the profit of the company. Stock options are also extremely common. But in certain cases the bonuses can be linked to other key parameters of the business like Revenues, EPS growth, ROCE etc.
So I guess the objective is to produce maximum profit for every rupee invested by the owners of the business. Or in the financial parlance, you may call it ‘return on equity’
I think ESOPs and profit-linked incentives are better compared to the others. They help the managers to put themselves in the shoes of the stockholder and help to align the incentives in right direction.
PK: Bingo! You remember what Buffett wrote in his 1977 letter to shareholders and on numerous other occasions…
Except for special cases (for example, companies with unusual debt-equity ratios or those with important assets carried at unrealistic balance sheet values), we believe a
PK: Hmm…do they? measures you told me.
Let’s
evaluate
the
16
INVESTING: INCENTIVE CAUSED BIASES Incentives linked to size of revenues are obviously foolish. You can increase revenues by countless methods and never make money.
Warren Buffett discusses stock options in great detail in his 1985 letter to shareholders. In theory, stock options are great as they put managers and stockholder at the same level. But as Buffett explains very well, that is not the case. There are two aspects of stock options that make them an ineffective way to incentivize the management.
EPS or EPS growth related incentives don’t serve the purpose as EPS and its growth profile can vary according to the dividend policy. A very profitable company may have low EPS growth because of a relaxed dividend policy and vice versa and hence you incline the management interest towards retaining of capital even if they can’t deploy it profitably.
Firstly, it’s a capital cost. For a manager with a fixed price option, retained earnings are ‘free of cost’ capital. Secondly, there’s a downside risk. Managers don’t bear downside risks, whereas stockholders do. Hence it’s more like a free lottery ticket for managers. But surely, with some improvements, stock options can act as powerful incentives.
Incentives tied up to return on capital may lead you to reject the projects which are value creators even though the ROCE is less than the company’s current ROCE. Then come the more commonly used parameters. Let’s look at incentives linked to profits. Now remember that a company can increase its profits if the project earns more than the post tax cost of debt. But the project creates value for the owners only when it earns more than the total capital cost and not only cost of debt.
CM: Interesting, but is there a better way of doing this? So much research goes into studying and improving these systems in the biggest and prominent universities, there must be something better in place. How do Buffett or Munger take care of this?
[To be concluded in the next issue.]
Stock options in their most common form are also fundamentally flawed. Let’s refer to the master again.
~Puneet Khurana
Following pages are from the Mensa World Journal
17
mensa w o r l d j o u r nal april 2015 issue #026
Intrepid Mensans from the Philippines and Singapore climb Mt. Kinabalu, an over-13,000 foot mountain in northern Borneo (p6). photo: Jeff Sorreda.
Also inside... Trademark Law for Mensans p4
from the executive committee p3 forgotten something? close your eyes p2 the man who mistook David for Brad p7 good things come to those who wait? p9 international photocup DIM rules p10 when you lose weight, where does the fat go? p12
m ensa wor ld j our na l Forgotten something? Close Your Eyes In a new study, published recently in the journal Legal and Criminology Psychology, researchers from the University of Surrey have found further evidence to suggest that eyewitnesses to crimes remember more accurate details when they close their eyes. The team also discovered that building a rapport with witnesses also helped them to remember more. 178 participants took part across two studies. In the first experiment, participants watched a film depicting an electrician entering a property, carrying out jobs and stealing items. Each participant was then randomly assigned one of four conditions, either eyes closed or open, and having built up a rapport with the interviewer or not. They were then asked a series of questions about the film, such as ‘what was written on the front of the van?’ The team found that closing their eyes led participants to answer 23 per cent more of the questions correctly. Building rapport also increased the number of correct answers. However, closing their eyes was effective regardless of whether rapport had been built or not. The second experiment took the memory task one step further, by asking witnesses about things they had mensa world journal april 2015
heard, as well as things they had seen. This time, participants watched a clip from Crimewatch, showing a reconstruction of a burglary where an elderly man was attacked in his home. Results showed that closing their eyes helped participants recall both audio and visual details, both when they had built rapport and when they had not. Across both experiments, participants who did not build rapport said they felt less comfortable when they closed their eyes, compared to when they kept their eyes open. In contrast, participants who built rapport felt more comfortable when they closed their eyes. “It is clear from our research that closing the eyes and building rapport help with witness recall,” said lead author Dr Robert Nash from the University of Surrey. “Our results show that building rapport makes witnesses more at ease with closing their eyes. That in itself is vital if we are to encourage witnesses to use this helpful technique during interviews.”
from the editor, Of importance to every Mensan is our Name & Logo Protection Committee chair’s message about trademark law on p4, and for you, our Direct International members, the 2015 Photocup Rules are on p10. There’s no room for puzzles again this month (they’ll be back next issue I promise!), but there’s an interesting article on prosopagnosia (face blindness) from Hong Kong member Michael Lai on p7, and a little of ExComm member Dan Burg’s personal philosophy of Mensa on p3. Other articles include When you lose weight, where does the fat go? (p12) and Good things come to those who wait? (p9). I hope you enjoy these and find them interesting. Tom Elliott reviews Mensan-authored books on p11. Hope to see you in Berlin and/ or Novi Sad!
With warm regards, Kate mwjeditor@mensa.org
Log into the International website at
www.mensa.org for the calendar of national events
sciencedaily.com
02
m ensa wor ld j our na l from the Executive Committee... My Mensa Philosophy I’ve been a member of Mensa for a long time, more than thirty years now. I have experienced Mensa in many parts of the United States, and, through international meetings, in many countries around the world. My philosophy of Mensa has never changed through all of that; rather, I have become more convinced of its truth. Here it is. My philosophy of Mensa is simple: It is a gathering-place for intelligent people. Mensa is an amorphous body with no central goal around which everything is organized other than intelligence. This is a direct contrast to many membership organizations, which exist to, for example, help the needy or run chess tournaments or collect stamps. We have special interest groups that do each of these things, but Mensa’s whole is much more than the sum of its parts. Mensans talk about the weather and sports and the latest political scandal just as the rest of the population does, but with a difference: These people are intellectual peers. It has been said that “During any Mensa party a serious discussion is likely to break out, and during any serious Mensa discussion a party is likely to break out.” Mensans are quick, and lively, and conversations really move. Personally, I like the fact that I can make a pun mensa world journal april 2015
by Dan Burg
in a room full of Mensans and everyone “gets” it right away. We also have our more serious side, such as giving scholarships and trying to restock damaged libraries, but each activity is inevitably stamped by Mensa’s blend of wit and camaraderie. Whatever we do will be uniquely Mensan, and that makes all the difference. “Mensa” is the Latin word for “table.” That name for our organization implies a round table or council of equals. Everyone who qualifies for membership is welcome in Mensa, regardless of political philosophy. This is true of a capitalist, or a socialist, or a fascist, or someone who occupies any other point on the political/economic spectrum. Members are welcome regardless of race, religion, ethnicity, age, occupation, income, and anything else other than intelligence. Each of us has something to learn from other members. Even if I can’t convert you to my point of view on (fill in the blank), your doubts force me to examine my position and sharpen my arguments in their favor. Perhaps you will convince me, or together we will find a third way that is even stronger.
Repeat this formula with every topic in which you are interested, for at least one other Mensan must know about every topic, no matter how obscure or esoteric. This is the richness that Mensa has to offer. Mensa as a group holds no opinions, but its members have a full range of opinions on every subject of every shape and size. Were it otherwise, Mensa would be a dull group indeed; if all I wanted to do was look in a mirror, I would not need Mensa for that.
Dan Burg American Mensa Chairman chairman@us.mensa.org 03
m ensa wor ld j our na l Trademark Law for Mensans
by Mark Levy, Chair, Name & Logo Protection Committee
Mensa International Ltd. has very few assets. We have a small amount of money in the bank and a web site, but little else. In fact, we don’t even have an opinion. But we do have property – valuable intellectual property in the form of trademarks. We are the exclusive owner of the word “MENSA” and of the Mensa symbol, so no other party can lawfully use our trademarks without our permission or license.
treated as trademarks in courts of law. Trademark protection can also extend beyond words, symbols, and phrases to include other aspects of a product, such as its color, its fragrance, the sound it makes, or its packaging. The pink color of OwensCorning fiberglass insulation or the unique shape of a Coca-Cola bottle might serve as identifying features. Such features fall generally under the term “trade dress,” and may be protected if consumers associate that feature with a particular manufacturer rather than the product in general. Trademarks make it easier for consumers to identify the source of certain goods or services. Instead of reading the fine print on a package of sweetener, consumers can look for a particular word or identifying symbol, A trademark is a word, symbol, or such as a strawberry. By making phrase that identifies a particular goods easier to identify, trademarks manufacturer’s products or goods and distinguishes them from another also give manufacturers an incentive to invest in the quality of their goods. manufacturer’s goods. For example, the trademark “TRUVIA” along with Trademark law regulates the proper the image of a strawberry dipped in a use of trademarks. sweetener, identify natural sweeteners manufactured and sold by Cargill, Types of Marks Over the years, courts and trademark Inc. and distinguish them from sweeteners identified by other trade- offices have defined four types of trademarks based on the relationship marks like SPLENDA or SWEET ‘N LOW. When such marks are used between the mark and the underlying product or service: (1) arbitrary or to identify services, such as memfanciful, (2) suggestive, (3) descripbership in a high IQ society, rather than products, they are called service tive, and (4) generic. An arbitrary or fanciful mark is a marks, although they are generally mensa world journal april 2015
mark that bears no logical relationship to the underlying product. For example, the words “Exxon” and “Apple” bear no inherent relationship to their underlying products (respectively, gasoline or computers). Similarly, the Truvia mark bears no inherent relationship to sweeteners. Arbitrary or fanciful marks are inherently distinctive (i.e., capable of identifying an underlying product) and are given a high degree of protection. A suggestive mark is a mark that evokes or suggests a characteristic of the underlying good. For example, the word “Coppertone” is suggestive of sun-tan lotion, but does not specifically describe the underlying product. Some exercise of imagination is needed to associate the word with the underlying product. Suggestive marks are inherently distinctive and are also given a high degree of protection. A descriptive mark is a mark that directly describes, rather than suggests, a characteristic or quality of the underlying product. For example, “All Bran,” and “Vision Center” both describe some aspect of the underlying product or service (respectively, breakfast cereal and optical services). Descriptive marks are not inherently distinctive and are protected only if they have acquired secondary meaning. Finally, a generic mark is a mark
04
m ensa wor ld j our na l that describes the general category to which the underlying product belongs. For example, the term “Computer” is a generic term for computer equipment. Generic marks are entitled to no protection under trademark law. Sometimes, terms that are not originally generic can become generic over time, and thus become unprotected. Marks like cellophane, shredded wheat, and aspirin have become generic and are not protectable under the trademark law. Similarly, the term thermos has become a generic term and is no longer entitled to trademark protection. Although it once denoted a specific manufacturer, the term now stands for the general type of product. The companies that manufacture Xerox machines and Kleenex tissues and Frigidaire refrigerators are or were in danger of losing their trademark rights because their marks can become generic.
with intent not to resume its use. Trademark rights can also be lost through improper licensing or assignment. Where the use of a
“In Mensa, we are most concerned with our own national offices, chapters and members misusing our trademarks. It would be difficult or impossible to assert in court that another party is using a confusingly similar trademark to identify its goods or services if our own members are also misusing our marks. That is why the Name & Logo Protection Committee is so strict about the use of our marks.”
Trademark Rights Can be Lost The rights to a trademark can be lost through abandonment, improper licensing or assignment, or by becoming generic. A trademark is abandoned when its use is discontinued mensa world journal april 2015
longer serves its purpose of identifying the goods of a particular provider. As mentioned above, trademark rights can also be lost by becoming generic. Sometimes, trademarks that are originally distinctive can become generic over time, thereby losing its trademark protection. A word will be considered generic when, in the minds of a substantial majority of the public, the word denotes a broad genus or type of product and not a specific source or manufacturer. This is why we are required to vigorously protect our marks – in court, when necessary. If we don’t, the rights we have in the marks can be endangered.
Strength of the Mensa Marks In Mensa, we are most concerned with our own national offices, chapters and members misusing our trademarks. It would be difficult or impossible to assert in court that another party is using a confusingly similar trademark to identify its goods or services if our own members are also misusing our marks. That is why the Name & Logo Protection Committee is so strict about the use of our marks. We have drafted policies and standards for the appearance and use of our trademarks. You can find the trademark manual and download it trademark is licensed (for example, on the MIL web site, https://www. to a franchisee) without adequate quality control or supervision by the mensa.org/mil-governance-text. If you have any questions about the four trademark owner, that trademark will be canceled. Similarly, where the mark types or the use of our trademarks, or if you seek a decision about rights to a trademark are assigned proposed use, feel free to contact the to another party in gross, without the corresponding sale of any assets, Name & Logo Protection Committhe trademark will be canceled. The tee at the address below. rationale for these rules is that, under Mark Levy, Chair, these situations, the trademark no creativelevy@gmail.com
05
m ensa wor ld j our na l
International SIGs In 1992 a group of Filipino international members came together to form Mensa Philippines, the officially recognized Philippine chapter of Mensa International.
In October of that same year, Mensa Philippines launched its first major testing event, and membership has grown ever since. It wasn’t long after that when their vibrant SIG program came into being.
The most exciting SIG in Mensa Philippines, and one of the most exciting in the world, is SIG-A. The “A” is for “Adventure,” and they get a lot of it! In fact, as I write this, Mensa members from the Philippines and Singapore joined to climb Mt. Kinabalu, an over 13,000 foot mountain in Borneo. Ten Mensans took the challenge, and survived to enjoy lunch together afterward. Their last climb of 2014 was Mt. Gulugod-Baboy in Anilao, Batangas, in the rain. As if mountain-climbing weren’t enough, they are taking sailing lessons as a group.
Other SIGs include the DBM SIG (Drink & Be Merry Special Interest Group) where members and their friends meet every month and have an inuman session (traditionally, a celebration involving drinking and eating), usually at a Mensan’s place. Mensa Philippines also has an RPG SIG (Role-Playing Games), a SIG for people taking online courses at Stanford (their last class was Machine Learning), and a Creative Writing SIG, which participates in the NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) exercise each November. For more information about Mensa Philippines SIGs, contact sigs-ph@mensa.ph.
Barbara Kryvko International SIGs Coordinator sigs@mensa.org
Honorary President
The prestigious roles of Honorary President and Vice President of Mensa International are open for nomination every third year. The Honorary President has no official duties but is included in official lists of Mensa officers, and may participate in Board discussions both at the IBD meeting table and online if they so choose. Nominations can be made by the Chair of a national Mensa, by a national Mensa committee or by members. Please note that the IBD would only consider awarding these honours to those who have made a significant contribution to Mensa internationally over many years. Honorary Presidents may be reappointed. Nominations, which must be received by 1 September 2015, should include a supporting statement with a maximum of 300 words. Please note it is not usual to self-nominate for Honorary positions. Applications must be sent to the International Office (mensainternational@mensa.org) and to the International Chairman (chairman-mil@mensa.org). The term commences after the IBD meeting in Novi Sad, Serbia, in October 2015. There is a small discretionary budget for the Honorary President to assist with any travel costs. Elissa Rudolph, Chairman Mensa International mensa world journal april 2015
06
m ensa wor ld j our na l The man who mistook David for Brad by Michael Lai In the comic Naruto, there is a character who cannot remember other people’s faces, and he is usually made fun of because of this. It may well be that this idea stemmed from somebody whom the author had encountered. Indeed, there is a formal medical term for this disability in the real world – prosopagnosia. Prosopagnosia, or face blindness in laymen terms, is a condition where individuals have difficulty in identifying people’s faces. Of course, everybody has some problems with remembering faces at times, so the condition can be understood as performing below a certain threshold on a spectrum of varying degrees of facial recognition abilities. However, if you are prosopagnosiac you would easily have problems with following the dialogues of protagonists in a movie, and rely heavily on non-facial features such as hair style, physique and voice to distinguish between people. Once these features are concealed, you are lost in the woods. Moreover,
when we say identifying people’s faces, it literally means everybody, including your own families. In the most extreme cases, prosopagnosiacs cannot even identify themselves in the mirror. This is the case for famous neurologist Dr. Oliver Sacks who, ironically, wrote the neurology classic The Man who Mistook his Wife for a Hat which describes a dozen bizarre neurological disorders. Indeed, prosopagnosia has been known for more than 50 years in medical literature. However, it is only recently that it has been discovered that the condition can be congenital and surprisingly common; it is estimated that about 2% of the global population has varying degrees of prosopagnosia. Even our great actor Brad Pitt has admitted that he has this condition. If you are interested in testing yourself, go to http://www.faceblind.org/ facetests/index.php.
“...it is estimated that about 2% of the global population has varying degrees of prosopagnosia.”
mensa world journal april 2015
The reason I’m writing about this topic is because I strongly believe I
have mild prosopagnosia. While I can recognise my close friends and family members, most of the time when I run into someone on the street the other person calls out to me first, for I have no clue as to who he/she is. Once in a while I cannot recog nize the famous actors/actresses on TV or in movies. Last but not least, it has always baffled me how my friends can spot celebrities on the street, and to me, being a member of the paparazzi would seem less attainable than winning a Nobel Prize! Moreover, my mum is at least as faceblind as I am, so I suspect I inherited this trait from her. I believe the discovery of congenital prosopagnosia has important repercussions in many aspects. First of all, we can imagine some people continued om p08
07
m ensa wor ld j our na l might act shyly because of their faceblindness rather than their inherent personality. This is analogous to dyslexia, where people with a neurological difficulty in reading are mistaken for being lazy or stupid. So there is an obvious need for intervention from clinical and educational psychologists. Secondly, job recruitment and human resource sectors should really take this disability into account when assessing their candidates – hiring a faceblind person to be a security guard/policeman would be both a funny and serious problem. On the other hand, “superrecognisers” could be harnessed for public relations, journalism, security, intelligence etc. Needless to say, this would have a huge impact on legal issues, as it determines the credibility of eye witnesses given their facial recognition abilities. Lastly, and what I believe to be the most important reason for studying prosopagnosia, is that it may shed light on the evolutionary process of human beings. As it is estimated that about 2% of the population has the condition on average, it would be interesting to know how it varies in different demographics. In particular, I am curious to know if there would be a correlation between prosopagnosia and IQ. Therefore, I would like to appeal to my fellow Mensan psychologists/ neuroscientists that if you are interested on this topic, kindly contact me at the address below.
Michael Lai Mensa Hong Kong michael.lai@mensa.org.hk
mensa world journal april 2015
Probiotic could lead to remedy for diabetes Science may be one step closer to treating diabetes with a human probiotic pill, according to new Cornell University research. In the study, published Jan. 27 in the journal Diabetes, the researchers engineered a strain of lactobacillus, a human probiotic common in the gut, to secrete a Glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP-1). They then administered it orally to diabetic rats for 90 days and found the rats receiving the engineered probiotic had up to 30 percent lower high blood glucose, a hallmark of diabetes.
“The amount of time to reduce glucose levels following a meal is the same as in a normal rat, ... and it is matched to the amount of glucose in the blood,” just as it would be with a normal-functioning pancreas, March said. “It’s moving the center of glucose control from the pancreas to the upper intestine.”
“It’s moving the center of glucose control from the pancreas to the upper intestine.”
The study was a proof of principle, and future work will test higher doses to see if a complete treatment can be achieved, said John March, professor of biological and environmental engineering at Cornell University and the paper’s senior author. The researchers found that upper intestinal epithelial cells in diabetic rats were converted into cells that acted very much like pancreatic beta cells, which monitor blood glucose levels and secrete insulin as needed to balance glucose levels in healthy individuals.
Also, though it replaces the insulin capacity in diabetic rats, the researchers found no change in blood glucose levels when administered to healthy rats. “If the rat is managing its glucose, it doesn’t need more insulin,” March said. This technology was licensed by the BioPancreate, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Cortendo AB, a biopharmaceutical company incorporated in Sweden and based in Radnor, Penn., which is working to get the therapy into production for human use. Human patients would likely take a pill each morning to help control their diabetes, March said. http://www.eurekalert.org
08
m ensa wor ld j our na l Good things come to those who wait? Serotonin, we know, is a neurotransmitter responsible for mood balance, hence it being targeted in many antidepressant medications. But do serotonin levels have something to say about patience, too? A new study published in the journal Current Biology says yes. A team of scientists from the Champalimaud Centre for the Unknown (CCU) in Portugal conducted an animal study in which mice had to wait for a reward to arrive at random times. During some of the trials, scientists stimulated serotonin neurons using a technique called optogenetics, which is a relatively new method used to control the brain with light. And when applied to neurons, the light activated and released serotonin into the brain, CCU team member Madalena Fonseca said in a press release. After testing the different levels of activation on patience, the results showed the stronger activation, the longer mice were willing to wait
for their reward. To make sure this wasn’t a result of a separate serotonin function, scientists also tested to see if stimulating these neurons alone was a reward for mice. The results, however, showed the opposite. So scientists have found a causal link between activation and release of serotonin. This is on par with prior research published in Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience that used optogenetics to understand the release of dopamine, another neurotransmitter, and its effect on addictive behavior. Dopamine helps control the brain’s reward and pleasure centers, and when activated to mimic tonic dopamine increases - low, but long-lasting levels - researchers found these spikes have a significant effect on drinking. According to McGill University in Canada, both dopamine and sero-
tonin are the chief operators of the accumbens nucleus, the part of the brain that plays a central role in the reward circuit. Given all this research, optogenetics could possibly be used to better understand the involvement of neurotransmitters in depression and other diseases: addiction, Parkinson’s disease, and schizophrenia. For now, neuroscientists are happy they’re starting to understand the effects of neural activation and release on brain function. “Because antidepressants are thought to increase serotonin, people assume that more serotonin neuron firing would feel good. Our results show that the story is not so simple,” said Zachary Mainen, lead study author and director of the CCU neuroscience program. “That serotonin affects patience gives us an important clue that we hope will help us crack the serotonin mystery.” http://www.medicaldaily.com
online journals
Check out the mensa.org website to read and download the full, colour, 12-page version of the Mensa World Journal and many other national journals. You must be a member in good standing in your national Mensa. Register at www.mensa.org if you haven’t already done so.
Direct International Members contact mensainternational@mensa.org with any queries.
mensa world journal april 2015
09
m ensa wor ld j our na l
MENSA PHOTOGRAPHY COMPETITION Intercontinental Project Convergence “IPC” The Search for the International Mensa Photographer of the Year 2015
RULES OF THE COMPETITION FOR DIRECT INTERNATIONAL MEMBERS 1. This competition is organized by Mensa International as part of the International Project Convergence. 2. The theme for 2015 is: “Urgency” 3. There is no fee for entry into the Competition. The entrant must be a financial member in good standing of Mensa International, or of a national Mensa group that is not running a national competition, for the duration of the competition. Important: Members of national groups should ask their national office or board for details of their national competition. Only submit using these guidelines if your national group confirms they are NOT taking part in Project Convergence. 4. Photos should be in JPG format not exceeding 1 MB. Entries in the DIM category must be received by July 31, 2015. 5. Name, membership number and title of photograph should be included in the photo information/label or in the text of the email. 6. The photos should be in .jpg format and e-mailed to the following address: photocup2015@gmail.com . Please Note: Any entries sent to Mensa International by members of a national group that is running a national competition will be declared invalid and will not be passed to the national Mensa for inclusion in their competition. 7. Each entrant may submit up to three color images only. 8. All entries must be the sole work of the entrant. 9. Any promotion of pictures is not allowed. 10. The three best entries in the Direct International category (to include members of non-participating national groups) will be selected by a judging panel organized by Mensa International separately from the International judging panel. Entries will be judged on the effectiveness of how they convey the theme as well as composition, technical and other considerations. The decision of the Judging Panel is final. The closing date for the DIM category is July 31, 2015. 11. The three best entries in each national Mensa competition and in the DIM category will be included in the Mensa World Photo Cup competition run under the supervision of Mensa International. 12. The International winner (MIL Photographer of the Year) will be selected by a professional judging panel which will include the Mensa International Chairman ex-officio. 13. Winning photographs will become part of the ‘Mensa IPC Collection’ and will be exhibited at the Annual Gatherings and otherwise publicised, inside and outside Mensa. 14. Entrants will retain copyright of their photos but will grant Mensa non-exclusive rights for publication in Mensa journals, on Mensa websites, on Photo SIG posters, for display in exhibitions, or other appropriate places as part of the Mensa IPC Collection without any financial reward to the contestant. 15. Contestants agree that their name and country may be published nationally and internationally. 16. By submitting entries for the competition, the entrant accepts all the conditions listed above. Any general enquiries about the international competition should be directed to the Photo Convergence committee at photocup2015@gmail.com mensa world journal april 2015
10
m ensa wor ld j our na l books... A Wounded Angel: a collection of selected short stories and poems by Richard Craig Hurt (ECR Publishing). Personally I love short story collections – if I happen to not like one, I can quickly skip to the next. And this collection of 34 stories (3 to 5 pages each on average, but a few are longer) and 16 poems, accompanied by 28 photos, is sure to please any taste, with a wide range of themes and clever end-twists, and filled with history, emotion, imagination, fantasy, and realism. Examples include The Magnificent Golden Cameo Watch, Another Annabelle Lee, The Swan Lovers, Stephen Foster Missed
the Boat, and Circus Goddess. Operation Ivy Bells by Dr. Robert G. Williscroft (Starman Press). You like thrillers based on real-world events? You like authors who have personally experienced what they write about? This book gives you both! Dr. Williscroft is a retired submarine officer, deep-sea and saturation diver, scientist, businessman, and life-long
thomas elliott adventurer who has spent 22 months underwater, a year in the equatorial Pacific, three years in the Arctic, and a year at the South Pole, and it shows in his writing. The Cold War is in the balance and this tale of super-secret spying encompasses an off-the-books spy agency, a giant squid attack, and a death-cheating decompression escape – and that’s in just the first two chapters! THIS is the story of the heroic men who faced unimaginable dangers to tip the scales to win for our side. tme@verizon.net Books reviewed in this column are by Mensan authors
officer directory Chair: Ms Elissa Rudolph, 14210 Nesting Way Apt C, Delray Beach, Florida 33484 USA chairman-mil@mensa.org Director Admin: Ms Therese Moodie-Bloom, 17/23 Waiwera St, Lavender Bay 2060 Australia admin-mil@mensa.org Director Development: Mr Björn Liljeqvist, Knektvägen 1, 196 30 Kungsängen Sweden development-mil@mensa.org Treasurer: Mr Rudy Challupner treasurer-mil@mensa.org Dir. Smaller National Mensas:: Mr Lars Endre Kjølstad, Grønligata 20a, NO3188 Horten, Norway
dsnm-mil@mensa.org Hon. President: Dr Abbie Salny, 407 Breckenridge, Wayne NJ 07470 USA Tel: +1 973 305 0055 SIGHTCoordinator: Mr Pierpaolo Vittorio SIGHT@mensa.org Int. SIG Coordinator: Ms Barbara Kryvko sigs@mensa.org Ombudsman: Mr Martyn Davies ombudsman@mensa.org Executive Director: Mr Michael Feenan, Slate Barn, Church Lane, Caythorpe, Lincolnshire NG32 3EL, UK Tel/Fax+44(0)1400272 675 mensainternational@mensa.org
Editorial Staff Editor: Ms Kate Nacard, 407/23 Corunna Rd, Stanmore NSW 2048 Australia mwjeditor@mensa.org T: +61 2 9516 1024 Science: Mr John Blinke Johnb44221@cs.com Books: Position Vacant The Mensa World Journal (MWJ) is produced under the auspices of the Mensa International Board of Directors. Mandatory content as identified by the MWJ editor must be published in every national Mensa magazine. Publication of other content is recommended but optional. Opinions expressed in the MWJ are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of any other individual or any official Mensa body. Submission Guidelines: Language: English only. Text: MS Word (Windows), .rtf (Word/Mac), plain text, PageMaker (Windows), InDesign (Windows) Length: 500 word limit. Send by e-mail, fax, snail mail to the Editor. The Editor reserves the right to include or edit submissions for space and content considerations. All unoriginal submissions must be accompanied by written permission for publication from the original author.Permission is granted for MWJ articles to be reprinted in any Mensa publication provided that the author, MWJ and MWJ’s editor are acknowledged. Permission must be sought from the MWJ editor for reprinting of any part of the MWJ in non-Mensa publications. mensa world journal april 2015
11
m ensa wor ld j our na l When you lose weight, where does the fat go? Despite a worldwide obsession with diets and fitness regimes, many health professionals cannot correctly answer the question of where body fat goes when people lose weight, a UNSW Australia study shows.
tion of Mass. We suspect this misconception is caused by the energy in/ energy out mantra surrounding weight loss,” says Mr Meerman. Some respondents thought the metabolites of topic is being taught.” fat were excreted in faeces The authors met when Mr Meer- or converted to muscle. man interviewed Professor Brown in One of the most frequently asked The most common misconcepa story about the science of weight questions the authors have encountion among doctors, dieticians and personal trainers is that the missing loss for the Catalyst science program tered is whether simply breathing more can cause weight loss. The mass has been converted into energy on ABC TV in March this year. “Ruben’s novel approach to the answer is no. Breathing more than or heat. biochemistry of weight loss was to required by a person’s metabolic rate “There is surprising ignorance trace every atom in the fat being lost leads to hyperventilation, which can and confusion about the metabolic result in dizziness, palpitations and process of weight loss,” says Professor and, as far as I am aware, his results Andrew Brown, head of the UNSW are completely new to the field,” says loss of consciousness. Professor Brown. The second most frequently asked School of Biotechnology and Bio“He has also exposed a completely question is whether weight loss can molecular Sciences. unexpected black hole in the undercause global warming. “The correct answer is that most “This reveals troubling misconcepof the mass is breathed out as carbon standing of weight loss amongst the general public and health professiontions about global warming which dioxide. It goes into thin air,” says the is caused by unlocking the ancient study’s lead author, Ruben Meerman, als alike.” If you follow the atoms in 10 carbon atoms trapped underground a physicist and Australian TV science kilograms of fat as they are ‘lost’, in fossilised organisms. The carbon presenter. 8.4 of those kilograms are exhaled atoms human beings exhale are In their paper, published in the British Medical Journal last Decem- as carbon dioxide through the lungs. returning to the atmosphere after just a few months or years trapped in ber, the authors show that losing 10 The remaining 1.6 kilograms becomes water, which may be excreted food that was made by a plant,” says kilograms of fat requires 29 kiloin urine, faeces, sweat, breath, tears Mr Meerman, who also presents the grams of oxygen to be inhaled and science of climate change in high that this metabolic process produces and other bodily fluids, the authors report. schools around Australia. 28 kilograms of carbon dioxide and “None of this is obvious to people Mr Meerman and Professor 11 kilograms of water. because the carbon dioxide gas we Brown recommend that these basic “With a worldwide obesity crisis exhale is invisible,” says Mr Meerconcepts be included in secondary occurring, we should all know the man. More than 50 per cent of the school curricula and university bioanswer to the simple question of 150 doctors, dieticians and personal chemistry courses to correct widewhere the fat goes. The fact that trainers who were surveyed thought spread misconceptions about weight almost nobody could answer it took loss among lay people and health me by surprise, but it was only when the fat was converted to energy or heat. professionals. I showed Andrew my calculations “This violates the Law of ConsvaScience Daily that we both realised how poorly this
mensa world journal april 2015
12