In this Issue Solution To Previous Edition’s Crossword Thoughts To Ponder Tech Talk Events Updates From Tribal Mensa Pages From Mensa World Journal
From the Editor 03
Hello Mensans,
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You might have observed a notable change in the format and design of the first edition of 2020. Gaurav Sinha of Mensa Delhi has volunteered to assist in designing the template and layout of the magazine from this year. We hope you like the new layout.
On the cover: Painting of Italy village Lacoste entrance arch by Sheetal Harpale, Mensa Mumbai
In this edition, photography enthusiasts should watch out for the international Photocup contest for Mensa members. More details are on the last page of the magazine. Also, applications are invited for positions that are open in Mensa International. The last date for applying is June 20th. Details are in the Mensa World Journal section. SIGs, we’d like to hear more about your group activities and meetups. Special interest group owners can tell us about your group activities even if you didn’t yourself participate, or ask the members to send in details of what’s buzzing in their groups. It would be interesting to know which SIG is the most active! Send in your articles and contributions in plain text format and pictures in high resolution .jpg format to: editor.mensaindia@gmail.com Krishnan V. Iyer Chief Editor, Mind
Disclaimer: 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 expressed.
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MInd - The Mensa India Magazine, January-February 2020
Solution To Previous Issue’s Crossword
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MInd - The Mensa India Magazine, January-February 2020
Thoughts To Ponder The Algorithm of Life - You get what you focus on Twitter, Facebook, Google etc use an algorithm to track who likes to see what posts. When we click ‘Like’ on any post, it is noticed and the program sends similar posts to our timeline. Google uses it to send more ads for things that we show interest in.
Let’s consider the case of someone who constantly complains about one thing or the other. Gradually all who are sick of his complaining will shy away and he will be left with those whose mindsets are similar to his. This will further reinforce his belief that life is truly unfair. He can see this every day in himself and his belief is confirmed by all those around him.
We thus get to see more of what the algorithm decides to send to us based on our expressed preferences. Unlike magnets, One last example: A student is convinced that his teachers like attracts like in this case. are ‘against’ him. He ignores all those who say that this is not so. However, all those who think like Life, too, has a similar hidden him become his friends. He then moves algorithm. It takes into consideration around in an environment where his belief what we express more interest in. If in the teacher’s unfairness is strengthened we look more at positive things, it by those around him and his belief is sends more positive things our way. If ‘confirmed’. He does not realize that he we look more at negative things, life has attracted those like him to himself. By throws more negative things our way. shunning all those who could have upset If we approach life with smiles, we encounter more smiles. his belief, he has eliminated any chance of examining it or If our preferred expression is a scowl, we encounter more changing it. scowls. The other side of this is that cheerful people meet more good This experiential loop tends to further strengthen our belief. cheer in their lives. They also tend to bring positivity to situations which are not innately cheerful. Some people are obsessed with disease lurking everywhere. As evidence they cite their own sad record of health. Indeed, I know someone who got cancer. I never heard her say, “Woe they are prone to one disease after another, some real, others is me. Why did I get this disease? Or “Life is so unfair. I don’t imagined. For them, this is enough to harden their belief into drink or smoke or eat anything bad, why did I get cancer?” a conviction. They do not realise that their own focus on ill Instead she said “thank God, I have recovered. Life is good.” health is attracting ill health to them. Even the doctors were impressed by her positivity and said this undoubtedly helped her recovery. Her positive attitude This is akin to someone who exclusively clicks ‘like’ on posts has indeed made life good for her and for others around her by one political party on, say, twitter. As a result, the program and has helped reinforce her belief. eventually sends most of the posts from that one political party on his timeline. He is then convinced that most people This algorithm seldom fails. As on social media, in life we get on twitter belong to that party. He is blind to the fact that he what we focus on. It is up to us to take advantage of this by is the one who has caused this false belief by his own focus on ‘clicking’ on good people and things in our life and giving that party ensuring that he mostly gets posts from that party short shrift to people and things that darken our lives. and not from other parties. The same thing is seen in WhatsApp posts and forwards. We tend to receive more posts that strengthen our own belief and less of those that are against our mindset.
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Kishore Asthana President – Project Dhruv Fmr. President - Mensa India
MInd - The Mensa India Magazine, January-February 2020
Tech Talk The Life and Death of Buzzwords I was at the TEDxGateway event in Mumbai a while ago. From the wide range of topics covered, no less than 5 speakers mentioned the use of Artificial Intelligence for improving our lives. In my mind, the jury is still out on whether AI is really the game changer it is made out to be, or is it just another passing buzzword.
asked me how I think XML will impact the Technology industry. I bluffed through that one and managed to get promoted, but it proves the point that we tend to overestimate the importance of the latest technology doing the rounds. XML is a very fundamental building block of application development and continues to be used as an essential construct even now, but it never became the game changer it The root of my scepticism lies in the history of the Technology was touted to be. and Consulting industry. Technology pundits, Consultants and Salespeople give birth to new buzzwords every few years Buzzwords have a life (and death) of their own and to in an effort to sell the next big idea to CXOs who are keen to demonstrate this, I put together a graphic using data from impress their clients and shareholders. I should know, I was a Google Trends. It shows two buzzwords from early 2000s that consultant in the first half of my career. you will recognize only if you were in the tech industry at that time, and one that we heard a lot of in 2017 — Blockchain! Of course its not always such a bad thing. It generates a lot of economic activity — education, training, hiring, firing and let’s not even forget media and advertising. I cringe every time I see an article talking about how AI will revolutionize the fields of Education, HR and even writing articles. To illustrate my point, Robotic Process Automation (RPA) was the darling of consultants and CXOs in 2019. But the simple piece of software that emulates keyboard strokes and lets you automate repetitive tasks has been around since the birth of Windows. Similarly, Cloud computing is all the rage now, but weren’t we selling SaaS (Software As A Service) since the early 2000s? 2018 was the year of Big Data. From conferences to technology articles, everyone was talking about how to leverage Big Data to gain consumer insight. But to anyone who has been in the Tech industry for more than a decade, do you remember Data Warehousing, Data Mining and Business Intelligence? The tech industry is not alone to blame. Management consultants have a field day too with buzzwords. Business Process Re-engineering and Supply Chain Management have made many a partner in consulting companies. My concern is not with the creation or use of a new buzzword— its great insofar as it is used to encapsulate an idea into an easily digestible term, but with the packaging of the term as the next organization transformation initiative that will change things forever.
Coming back to where I started, is AI a buzzword or a game changer? For a while after it started making headlines, I didn’t fully understand what AI was. I knew that its roots lied in research that was done in 1970s and 80s and the term was interchangeably used with Neural Networks at that time. No amount of reading on AI helped because most articles in public media extolled the life changing benefits of AI without explaining what the technology was. I finally did an online course on Machine Learning by Andrew Ng, the co-founder of Google Brain, which got down to brass tacks and explained by writing actual code, that AI (or the non-glamorous term, Machine Learning, as some technologists prefer) is a whole lot of statistical modelling on a large collection of data sets to arrive at equations that can predict the next outcome when a new data set is fed to it.
Early on in my career, for my promotion interview, my CEO
So, is Artificial Intelligence just another buzzword for
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MInd - The Mensa India Magazine, January-February 2020 statistical tools that were already known to mathematicians? communications, only time will tell. Perhaps, a few years (if you want to read more on this, here’s an expert opinion down the line, I will return to this article and add Artificial https://towardsdatascience.com/no-machine-learning-is- Intelligence to the list of buzzwords that died. Or not. not-just-glorified-statistics-26d3952234e3) I have no doubt that we are currently seeing some amazing applications that wouldn’t have been possible without Machine Learning. Vikram Agarwal Whether it will be as revolutionary as the internet or mobile
Vikram Agarwal is the COO of a financial services company in Mumbai. He enjoys reading on matters related to History and Science. He has two daughters, one of whom has an interest in History and the other in Science!
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MInd - The Mensa India Magazine, January-February 2020
EVENTS January Meetup at Dice n Dine - Mensa Bengaluru
After a series of tests in Sep, Oct and Nov 2019, Mensa Bengaluru had quite a few new members to welcome. We had a large meet up at Dice n Dine with 21 people turning up. The day started with a personal finance session from Ms. Sakuntala Rao and then continued over lunch with some board games.
February Meetup at Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru IISc had its open day on Feb 29th where all departments throw open their gates to the public for a whole day of learning. Mensans at Bengaluru turned up to see the various attractions and discuss with inventors. One of our young members Ashwin Shridhar had a display where he showcased his low cost child incubator device. How learning has changed over the years!
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MInd - The Mensa India Magazine, January-February 2020
Tribal Mensa
TMNP 24 Tatva Project: “Let’s Make Dream A Reality” The main purpose of TMNP is to create grass-root based leaders in diverse disciplines. 24 gifted underprivileged girls from Mahila Ashram Junior college, Pune approached TMNP and discussed their life dreams. These girls were identified gifted in 8th std and completed 12 nurturing programs and giftedness assessments. These girls started coming to nurturing programs as volunteers and showed keen interest in future association with TMNP. After a couple of informal meetings, TMNP agreed to take up the new responsibility of these 24 girls. TMNP has created a new technique through which we are able to pen down life goals. On the basis of three interest areas, three prominent personality qualities, three dominate behavior, and three main gifted qualities, we help the girls to set up life goals. Then we help plan their requirements to reach the life goal. For the next two weeks, everyday evening from 5.30 to 7.30 pm TMNP members will sit with an individual gifted girl for this activity. TMNP will help them to bring resource people, finance, etc. required to achieve the set goal. These girls agreed to be with TMNP for the next 7 years and participate in all activities. TMNP will create an individual case project proposal and approach to mentors, resource person and apply for financial support. I think this is one of the successes of TMNP that the underprivileged gifted started dreaming higher, think diversely and do what is good for the community. This project will require many more mentors, resourceful people, and funds in the coming years. The project’s name is “Let’s Make Dream A Reality”
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MInd - The Mensa India Magazine, January-February 2020
Relationships and Emotions A theme given to the underprivileged Gifted girls at MKSSS Kanya Shala Satara for their overnight workshop on the 8th and 9th of February. With this theme, they were asked in what way the delicate mind and sensitive feelings of a gifted girl are seen. Their activities are worth a thousand words. Take a look!
Tribal Mensa Nurturing Program is an initiative working to identify and nurture gifted children among underprivileged populations in India. TMNP team believes that there is a strong need to recognize gifted youth, as their accomplishments, potential, capacity to lead, their concerns about the world and ability to think creatively are in fact national assets. Once identified through Mensa India IQ tests, these children are nurtured through a series of nonacademic workshops designed to ensure holistic learning and development of the child’s body, mind and brain. Team members make two trips a month to each school that we work with and conduct nurturing activities based on the ‘Pancha Kosha’ Model of Human Development which is derived from ancient Indian texts. Each student receives a “Nurturing Kit” which contains activity books and games that challenge the child’s intelligence. Individual counseling, assessments and teacher training programs are conducted to increase the effectiveness of the Gifted program. _______________________________________________________________________
CONTACT DETAILS Call +91-9822626835 | m.me/tribalmensa | tribalmensa@gmail.com | www.tribalmensa.org
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MInd - The Mensa India Magazine, January-February 2020
Pages From Mensa World Journal Join Our Volunteer Team! If you are interested in volunteering for Mensa International, now is your opportunity to apply! Take the chance to become a part of a great international team! The following international positions and committees are due to be appointed in 2020:
Officers & Coordinators
Committees
Editor Mensa World Journal International Communications Officer International Events Coordinator International Ombudsman** International SIGs Coordinator(s) International SIGHT Coordinator(s) International Supervisory Psychologist**
Gifted Youth Committee Governance Papers Advisory Committee International Volunteers Network committee*** Name, Logo, and Licensing Committee
What to do? Job descriptions for each role and the application form are available on www.mensa.org/news (you must be logged on to view the page). All terms are two years unless otherwise stated, with the term commencing after the IBD meeting in October 2020. Who can apply? These positions are open to all members worldwide. Members currently serving in a position or on a committee are requested to reapply if they wish to continue to serve in that role. Any questions? I will be happy to answer them! Isabella Holz Director of Administration admin-mil@mensa.org Whatsapp: +49 15159234734 Closing date for Applications: June 20, 2020 Skype: i.holz * Exceptions: ** 3 year term *** 1 year term
Reprinted from the Mensa World Journal, March, 2020, issue 086, Editor Kate Nacard
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MInd - The Mensa India Magazine, January-February 2020
EMAG 2020 Dear Mensa members worldwide, We would like to invite you to the European Mensa Annual Gathering in Brno, Czechia. It will take place on July 29th – Aug 2nd 2020. Enjoy a program full of interesting events, Czech hospitality, and old and new friends. There are six universities in the Brno area, along with many technology companies and research institutions. We also have coffee houses, museums, restaurants, historic and architectural sites, and great nature nearby. There is also a good connection to the airports in Brno, Vienna and Prague. We will organize trips to pick up attendees from these three airports and take them to the EMAG site in Brno. The EMAG program will consist of several program lines: excursions, local sightseeing, lectures, entertainment, and food. Excursions will include trips to factories, plants, and research institutes. Come see how electron microscopes are designed and made, dive into the field of nanotechnology or visit the Central European Institute of Technology (CEITEC) laboratories. We’ll also visit universities, local branches of Red Hat Linux and IBM, a nuclear power plant, breweries and much more. There are many interesting sights in and around Brno – most notably VillaTugendhat (a UNESCO site), Lednice–Valtice Cultural Landscape (a UNESCO site), and the Brno historical underground, which consists of caverns, labyrinths, and an ossuary. Brno has several castles, churches, museums, and a Motorcycle Grand Prix circuit. Located less than an hour outside of the city are the caves of Moravian Karst, Macocha Abyss, and many vineyards. As usual, there will be plenty of interesting lectures and workshops held by participants and invited professors. Two lecture program lines will be on Mensa-specific topics, and Gifted Children and Education topics. In addition to all these educational programming options, there will be also many Entertainment and Food events such as the Gala Dinner, dance courses, pub tour, coffee workshop, cipher game, wine cellar visits with tasting and many others. After the EMAG is over, you can join us on a one-week trip around Czechia visiting over 10 UNESCO sites. The main venue of the Brno EMAG will be the Hotel Continental. It is located near the city centre. We have negotiated lower rates for accommodation at the hotel. If you are interested, please book your room quickly using the EMAG registration system. There are also many hotels and hostels in the area with different price levels. For more details and to register, visit emag.mensa.cz. On behalf of orga-team Tomáš Blumenstein, PetrMazal, Jana Unruhová, Hana Kalusová, Natálie Kaňáková, Martin Sedláček
Reprinted from the Mensa World Journal, March, 2020, issue 086, Editor Kate Nacard
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MInd - The Mensa India Magazine, January-February 2020
Malaysian Mensa 1,000 Free Admission Tests Malaysian Mensa, in partnership with myStarjob.com of Malaysia, organized 1,000 free Mensa tests for visitors to the annual myStarjob.com Fair, 2019. Malaysian Mensa was among one of the approximately 50 organizations and companies who were participating in the exhibition. These included Standard Chartered bank, Keppel Offshore and Shell Malaysia. The event was largely attended by job-seekers, freelancers and college students seeking further opportunities. Many visitors were curious about the exhibition which Malaysian Mensa had set up. With four puzzle stations, it attracted a large sustained crowd throughout the day. The booth was also a great opportunity for visitors to further understand the goals and mission of Mensa. Volunteers relentlessly encouraged puzzle-solvers to sign up for the IQ test. Two Mensans were also speakers at the fair. They included Lum Ying Mei, principal of MWKA Technologies, and an award-winning wellness activist, Kevin Zahri. On-site, the volunteers worked round the clock. Despite lower foot traffic compared to previous years, volunteers went around the exhibition hall to call attraction to Malaysian Mensa’s booth. The application form was made easy to distribute via QR scanning and multiple devices at the booth as registration stations. During the tests, it was all as usual - sit down for the test, jot down all answers on a sheet of paper and a race to complete the questions. Many volunteers who had initially opted to volunteer for one day had said that they would like to volunteer again for the next day, because they had enjoyed being part of this event. During the event, I observed multiple volunteers who identified themselves as introverts willingly pushing their limits, conversing with strangers throughout the day. I, too, learnt to listen with an open mind while interacting with people from all walks of life. As a new Mensan, hearing some visitors’ skepticism towards IQ tests has piqued my interest to discover more of what I now represent. This event was my first-time meeting a majority of the volunteers, but within hours, it was as if I had known them for years. Friendship is a rare commodity in my life, and I can confidently claim that I have found a few valuable friendships that may last a lifetime. Chong Chui Yue Erika
Reprinted from the Mensa World Journal, March, 2020, issue 086, Editor Kate Nacard
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MInd - The Mensa India Magazine, January-February 2020
Mensa Czech Republic Logical Olympics The Logical Olympics final round for the twelfth time… and the record has been broken again! In 2019, 71,208 children from 3,249 schools in the Czech Republic registered in our Logical Olympics! As is the tradition, the final took place in the ballroom of Prague Castle; this year on November 25, 196 competitors took part in the final round. There were qualifying rounds and regional rounds before the big final. 2,143 young competitors passed to the regional semi-final round and then 65 of them from each category took part in the final round. As usual, there was a written test, a projected test on a screen and a set of modules that differs every year. This year the challenge was to connect fragments of a domino, to find the right angle of view of a 3D cube on 2D paper, to balance scales, and to test the memory in an easy picture test. As in the previous years, the event was moderated by the Vice-Chairman of Mensa Czech Republic, Tomáš Blumenstein, who presented the tasks to the competitors. Among the finalists we could see well-known faces of young people who had taken part almost every previous year. None of the winners was new to us. Jana Unruhová jana.unruhova@mensa.cz
Reprinted from the Mensa World Journal, March, 2020, issue 086, Editor Kate Nacard
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MInd - The Mensa India Magazine, January-February 2020
From the ExComm It Is All About Connections… The Executive Committee has been kept busy since the IBD meeting in Kuala Lumpur. When you read this we will have had two teleconferences and our in-person meeting in Frankfurt, Germany. Our focus has been mainly on streamlining processes and making both the IBD and the ExComm more efficient. We are happy to report Mensa India was recognized as a provisional national Mensa, and Mensa Peru was recognized as an emerging national Mensa. It is always exciting for us to see other national Mensas move forward and grow because it means more people are making connections through Mensa. People across the world crave connections of all varieties. Connections give us a sense of belonging so we don’t feel alone. They help us feel safe and secure knowing someone will always be there for support. Connections can also add to our feeling of self-worth. Being accepted by others reinforces that you are a good and worthy person. In my discussions with members from around the world, I’ve found this is what makes joining Mensa so appealing. Mensa provides a plethora of connections for our members, both online and in-person. This is why we get so excited about new members and new national Mensas. It adds to our availability of connections. In-person conversations are some of my favorite connections. And some of the best conversations I’ve had are with Mensans. Sitting face-to-face, we can talk with purpose or chat and laugh for hours. I will be forever grateful for those connections and for Mensa for bringing us together, and I am excited for others making those meaningful connections as well. LaRae Bakerink Chair, American Mensa
Reprinted from the Mensa World Journal, April, 2020, issue 087, Editor Kate Nacard
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MInd - The Mensa India Magazine, January-February 2020
The Role of the Ombudsman in National Mensas The Ombudsman is an examining body with respect to all other offices, and is also responsible for ensuring that National Mensa conducts its business in compliance with the Constitution of Mensa International, as well as the local Bylaws/Statutes. Many National Mensas have variations in the way that the role of Ombudsman is implemented. Martyn Davies, International Ombudsman, outlines the fundamental guidelines for us. There is considerable responsibility and authority vested in the Ombudsman. With such responsibility and authority must go a considerable degree of care. Any issue that has moved a member of a National Mensa to bring a formal complaint to the Ombudsman has probably already generated a certain amount of emotional heat on one or more sides. It is important that the Ombudsman is able to remain detached from this emotional heat and to deal only with the issues of the dispute. Generally speaking, the Ombudsman will seek to reconcile the parties. Whatever the rights or wrongs of the case, the parties will usually have to get along inside Mensa in the future. Mensa members are often quite emphatic in expressing their views, but the Ombudsman must withstand such passionate statements of point of view and work to get cases stated in as factual a manner as possible, complete with specific detail. When a dispute arises, any party to the dispute may seek guidance from the Ombudsman, but the Ombudsman will not undertake an investigation unless there is an official complaint, in writing, giving the particulars as specifically as possible. The Ombudsman may then choose the means of pursuing the investigation, including: a) Seeking written responses from those complained against; b) Utilising any expedient form of communication with the parties involved; c) Appointing a deputy in one or more locations to gather further information and/or conducting direct meetings with parties to the dispute, and, d) Seeking advice from the International or other National Ombudsmen. In conducting an investigation, the Ombudsman should generally seek to limit the discussion to the substance of the dispute or complaint but should accept all information and observations pertinent to the complaint. The Ombudsman should not allow the investigation to become an overly broad examination of the general conduct of one of the parties, and nor should the investigation be used to defame either party. If reconciliation is not possible, the Ombudsman may have to make a finding that will displease - or even adversely affect - one or more of the parties. In making such a finding, the Ombudsman should: a) Keep the finding relevant to the dispute or complaint; b) Be restrained rather than extravagant in expression; c) Avoid any personal commentary on the parties involved, and, d) Bear in mind that if the finding has to be read out in court it should bring credit and not discredit to Mensa The Ombudsman has the authority to specify publication of the findings in any particular case, but this is usually only done when decisions are of concern to the general membership. Publication is not usually appropriate in disputes between members or when a dispute between a member and an official Mensa entity affects only that member. Publication would be expected, for example, in a case concerning the validity of an election, misuse of an elected office, or denial of membership rights assured in bylaws or the Constitution. Publication should be specified to occur in the official journal of the Mensa entity affected by the decision, which could include the Mensa World Journal. It must be clear that the Ombudsman’s files are confidential. Any information gathered in an investigation is intended solely to assist the Ombudsman in resolving a dispute. Any public record should include only a statement of the substance of a dispute or complaint and the Ombudsman’s findings. The Ombudsman may also be provided with the role to safeguard the National Mensa in the event of a dispute within a Board or between Boards. The National Statutes/Bylaws may include that in the event of a non-functioning Board, or for a call for an EGM from the required percentage of the members, the Ombudsman is tasked with providing that EGM or for raising an election for a new Board to continue the operation of the National Mensa.
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MInd - The Mensa India Magazine, January-February 2020 These guidelines are extracted from an advisory document on the setting up and operation of the role of National Ombudsman. If anyone has any specific questions regarding the above, then please contact your National Ombudsman, or me at the address below. It is important to be aware that in the event of disputes within Mensa, all efforts to resolve the dispute must be effected within your National Mensa in the first instance, before seeking redress outside of Mensa. Martyn Davies Ombudsman, International Mensa ombudsman@mensa.org
Reprinted from the Mensa World Journal, April, 2020, issue 087, Editor Kate Nacard
Mensa International Photographer Of The Year The art of photography is an area where Mensans from over fifty countries with different languages, customs and traditions can converge with a single, visual language! Use your creativity, skills, and technical expertise to produce your entry in this year’s Photocup competition. The theme is Shyness. If your Mensa chapter is holding a national competition to select entries for the International phase, a set of the rules and closing dates will be available from your national office or board. Top three national entries are to be sent to mensaworldphotocup@gmail.com by August 20, 2020. Direct International Members and members from countries not holding national contests are eligible to enter the International competition by sending two entries only to photocup2020@gmail.com by July 31.
Reprinted from the Mensa World Journal, April, 2020, issue 087, Editor Kate Nacard
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MInd - The Mensa India Magazine, January-February 2020
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MInd - The Mensa India Magazine, January-February 2020
Mensa India HQ Jnana Prabodhini Institute of Psychology Jnana Prabodhini Bhavan, 510 Sadashiv Peth, Pune, Maharashtra 411030