Cover Photo: Durva Mayee Durva says, “We've all heard poets and writers describing a moon –they liken a bright, full moon to the face of a loved one; present a thin crescent as a triumphant proof of darkness not being eternal; sulk when they realise that “chand mein bhi daag hai”; or, may be, lend a magical feel to it... So magical do they paint the moon that turns people into “lunatics” and gives werewolves their fearsomeness. And then there are those who take a peek at this magnificent, heavenly object through a banal pair of lenses and bam –the romance is busted. They kill the beauty of the art of moon-gazing, the dreaminess, the romantic notion and all the magic. This picture is dedicated to those dry, almost wickedly cynical guys who revel when they capture the contours of the craters (yeah, the same “daag” that disillusioned our poets); and crib when a full moon makes it impossible to observe another celestial object or, may be, spoils a meteor shower.” The dry details for the dry audience: Point-and-shoot camera : Cannon SX130 Manual Settings: Tv : 1/100 ( the moony-eyed can keep the shutter speed as slow as 1/5) Av: 5.6 ISO: 80 focal length: 60.0 mm
42: Life, The Universe, and Everything
In this Issue:
When I visit my native village in Palakkad, one of the things I love to do is to go to the terrace of my house, lie down on my back, stare into the clear, dark sky and let my mind's eye wander. There I am, trying to imagine what must lie beyond the realms of terrestrial banality. The stars that twinkle dimly, I know, are only ghosts of the real ones; ghosts that have set out, eons ago, on long cosmic journeys across space and time. Maybe the real sources have burnt out, exploded, consumed themselves or metamorphosed into something beyond my imagination. I try and wrap my head around the expanse of the universe; how it might have come about; what the nothingness must have been like before the first bit of something was formed.
Boring Stories …2 Isaac Asimov’s Three Laws …3 Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star …4 Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy …5 The Ephemeral …6 Towel Day: 25th May …6
I find that experience akin to standing on a ledge when your feet suddenly start getting these weird sensations that lie somewhere between extreme fear and rapturous thrill –this notwithstanding that I am firmly affixed to terra firma by my back. And then I wonder about that weak, magnificent force of gravity that is holding me on loyally to a piece rock madly hurtling through space.
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And then I remember Jostein Gaarder’s book, Maya, in which he says, “The applause for the Big Bang was heard only fifteen billion years later.” It took ‘man’ to arrive, evolve, think, reflect and finally appreciate the effort that had gone into achieving his own existence. And then I wonder whether all this –the big bang, the creation of the Universe, of Earth, of life itself –was only to lead up to this point where I lie back under a Palakkad night sky and appreciate it all. Was I the entire, ultimate purpose of everything? And for all my lofty, interstellar musings, my thoughts finally come to rest conscientiously upon my own self.
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.
David Foster Wallace’s ‘This is water’ speech has recently achieved wide popularity over the Internet. In that he says: we are at the absolute center of every experience that happens to us in our life. This often leads us to the self-delusion that we are at the center of ‘the’ universe rather than merely ‘our’ universe. But it is essential that we look past this misplaced belief by consciously learning to not just ‘shape how we think’ but also ‘choose what we think’.
Like it, love it or hate it? Tell us how to make the MInd magazine better. Write in to the editor at
And if ever we need to re-align our own perception of our position in the Universe, we only need to look to Calvin for his astute observation: “I am significant! …screamed the dust speck.”
Cover Design:
~N V Krishnamoorthy, Editor, MInd
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From around the world
her husband –not my grandfather, for he came later– moved to Oklahoma City, where he could hope his dreams of fortune would not be so subject to the vagaries of fortune.
Boring Stories When we were teenagers we were subjected to the most boring and long-winded recitations; we would roll our eyes at each other and sigh, not believing that we had to listen, again, to what it was like for my grandmother when she was our age.
For he was a dreamer, with big dreams – first, of a homestead that would bring him fortune as a wheat farmer; then, in the city, with various schemes that would bring him vast wealth. Instead of wealth, he had a wife who was just a child but who could sew dresses for ladies as fine as anything they could buy back East. She became the seamstress for those who had made their fortunes.
It couldn't possibly have any relevance to our lives and didn't hold any interest for us, but there we were, prisoners at the dinner table, and we had to listen again to what it was like for a sixteen-year-old bride on the prairie who had to keep house in a sod hut. She told us what it was like to have to feed her family on only black-eyed peas and sparse game because the first crop to go in after the sod was busted had to be a legume to fix nitrogen in the soil. (Hence, you must eat black-eyed peas on New Year's Day to ensure good crops in the future.) She described her struggles to keep herself, her clothes, and her kitchen clean in a house made of dirt when she had to haul water a half mile, and it was more sensible to hang the frying pan on the wash line and let the maddening and ubiquitous wind scour it than to waste water on it.
She worked out of her home and became as much a success as a woman could then, in the 1890s, with all of the rich ladies in town as her customers. He was known all over the city for his charm; everyone liked him and thought him a great guy. It was just too bad that he couldn't seem to find a way to support his wife and, by now, their three children. And, you know, sotto voce, he did drink too much. My grandmother, who was raised in Kentucky with all the baggage of the Southern belle –and with all the strength of the true Southern lady –kept her head up and her shoulder to the wheel, paid the rent, and kept up appearances. She didn't have any other choice. That is, until one day he simply pushed her too far and found the steel underneath the ladylike exterior.
She told of the Indians who would stop in and demand that she cook for them. Sometimes it took all the food she had in the house to feed them, but she was afraid, with her husband in the fields or in town, to refuse them anything. After all, she represented those who took their lands, killed the buffalo, and left them unable to feed themselves or their children. They left her without a word, never harming her, but always in fear.
He took her last $10 to town to buy groceries--when he didn't return in a reasonable amount of time, she knew he taken the money she had given him for food for the children and gone on a bender. That sweet Southern belle snapped. She knew just where to find him. She went to the Hotel Black –the nicest hotel in Oklahoma City, where members of the territorial legislature were ensconced. She found him with three members of the legislature finishing a steak dinner, which he had bought with her hardearned dollars. She proceeded to give those hailfellows-well-met a piece of her mind, telling them that they knew what kind of a man he was, that they knew they were eating food bought with her
After two years of isolation, plowing, (which is a tame word for breaking the virgin sod), building a shelter, performing incredible toil in the fields, hauling water, burning dried buffalo dung for fuel, starving, broiling in the sun, freezing in the winter, and living with the everpresent and infuriating wind, it did not rain, of course, when it had to and the wheat failed. With no other choice, my pregnant grandmother and
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From around the world (Contd…)
money, that her children would now go hungry because of them. Furthermore, she expected them to file a bill of divorce in the territorial legislature and to get it passed for her. They did – which is how my grandmother became the first woman to get a divorce in Oklahoma territory. This was a scandal and put her even further outside respectable society than her status as a working woman had done. Afterwards, she supported her children by herself, probably much better now that she didn't have to support her husband, too.
I am proud, now, that I was given her name. Wish I'd had a tape recorder then. ~Jane Thompson, (Originally printed in the North Texas Mensa publication, M-Aura, December 2000)
About: “From Around the World” brings you articles published in Mensan journals from around the world. If you come across an interesting article in an international Mensan publication that you’d like to see shared in MInd or if you’ve written an article for such a publication, let us know at
Later she married my grandfather, who was a widower with three children. So she had six children to care for then and finally bore my father. Still she had stories to tell of this time, of a tyrannical second husband who had a strange hatred of Catholicism; she was forced to practice her religion in secret and to baptize my father in the dead of night at a stranger's home. A husband who was so abused as a child that he was denied education and was illiterate, but so proud that no one but her was allowed to know, so she read him every word of the newspaper daily and every paper he needed to sign. A husband who periodically disappeared without warning, only to return months later, bearing diamonds as peace offerings. Meanwhile she raised seven children and kept the home fires burning, sewing to keep food on the table while he was gone. All of those children, both, her own and her stepchildren alike, adored her. She later bound her daughters-in-law and sons-in-law as closely to her as her children. She died at ninetythree. There were fifty grandchildren and greatgrandchildren at her funeral and a half-page obituary in the newspaper; she was one of the best-known ladies in the city.
editor.mensaindia@gmail.com
Isaac Asimov's Three Laws: 1. A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm. 2. A robot must obey the orders given to it by human beings, except where such orders would conflict with the First Law. 3. A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Laws. These Three Laws of Robotics were devised by the science fiction author Isaac Asimov. Asimov attributed the Three Laws to a conversation he has with Editor John W. Campbell. He later added a fourth, or zeroth, law:
Well, you can see how her stories just nearly bored us to tears; after all, how would these experiences have anything at all in common with what we might face in our lives? We would never make any of the mistakes she made or face any of the hardships she did or wind up alone supporting ourselves.
0. A robot may not harm humanity, or, by inaction, allow humanity to come to harm.
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AstroSIG
constellations; Aldeberan, a red giant star; M3, a globular cluster; and the most spectacular, M44 or the Beehive cluster! We saw Chinese lanterns from a local celebration. Some participants swore they even saw a meteor! We imagined the twinkling airplanes as messengers providing Blue Dart services between stars.
Twinkle, twinkle little star I was like Alice in Wonder-sky! Far-far away from the hustle-bustle of Mumbai is a small, quiet and serene place called Vangani. A Mensa Mumbai AstroSIG group left on the night of March 16, to keep its date with the cosmos, under a Vangani night-sky.
As we peered at the numerous constellations they began to assume the form of different creatures and abstract shapes. We weren’t sure whether this was the effect of being sleepdeprived or the clean, pure air starting to act as an intoxicant to our pollution-addicted lungs. Durva amazed us with her knowledge of the names (Hindi and English) and trivia related to the constellations. The exciting and educative event was rounded off with an enjoyable dinner. The AstroSIG meet was memorable and thought provoking.
Pollution was conspicuous by its absence – neither of air nor of noise or of light. As I looked up, it felt like I was dreaming (for one, that’s what I’d literally be doing at that hour). Picture this: Enjoying a cool breeze by the pool side; necks stretched backwards; gazing at the sky; fingers & torches pointing into that glittering black; and a powerful binocular (15x70, Celestron make) perched on a tripod along with an additional hand-held binocular. This was an eye-test that our dilated pupils welcomed!
In his documentary, Pale Blue Dot, Carl Sagan calls astronomy ‘a humbling and character-building experience’. As we peered into the cosmos I was reminded of my own insignificance in the grander scheme of the Universe: a fleeting human residing ‘on a mote of dust suspended in a sunbeam’. ~Deepti Agarwal & Ravi Shroff (Mumbai AstroSIG Coordinator)
For some, like me, it was the first time we were observing the sky like this. While I certainly saw a lot of celestial entities for the first time, the incredible part was that even our AstroSIG guru, Ravi, observed a new object! It all started with views of Jupiter and its moons. We then followed even more exciting views of: Mel 144 & M 41 (open clusters); Orion, Big Dipper and other
Has your local chapter had an interesting SIG outing? Send us a short write up and photos to go with it. We’ll publish it in MInd and share it with the rest of the community. Send in your submissions to editor.mensaindia@gmail.com
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Book review Personalities), so now you can have robots who can whine about job-satisfaction and life in general. The Ship hurtles through the hyperspace in dimensions unheard-of, making it altogether unnecessary to keep a track of speed of light, or time.
The Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy Author: Douglas Adams Ever wondered if the Brownian motion in a brewing cup of tea mimics the mechanism that Life uses to churn out insanely improbable events to throw at us? Well, such is the depth of ‘Deep Thought’ offered by H2G2. So sit down and order tea 42… err… I mean tea for two.
We land on Magrathea –a long lost planet known for manufacturing custom-made luxury planets for the galaxy’s uber-rich. And the adventure unfolds to reveal much deeper secrets about the Origin of Life, Creation of Earth, and the ultimately anticlimactic –Ultimate master of Man.
The plot goes like this: A miserable earthling, Arthur Dent is rescued by an alien hitchhiker, seconds before the destruction of planet Earth. (Oh no, the book does not allow you to sulk about the destruction caused by rogue (vogue?) aliens). They, that is, Dent and our friend, alien Ford, manage to hitch a ride aboard the ship of the destructors. Crazy as our alien friend is, he is also very resourceful. Among other things in his satchel, he has an electronic book, “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy” (impossible to publish in print for the sheer magnitude of information it contains), more popular than the dry Encyclopedia Galactica. But his resourcefulness is proven by the fact that he is carrying his towel – the singularly most important thing for a hitchhiker. Incidentally, he was stranded on this drab earth for fifteen long years while researching for the guide, and is now, out in the open universe.
A crazy laugh-riot that H2G2 is, it stands out in the Sci-fi racks. Where most other sci-fi’s talk about some highly improbable ideas and events, they implicitly hold science as “sacred”. H2G2 just winks at science and probably, badgers Probability in a manner, most probably, no man ever has. The heavy use of repetition, iteration, alliteration, and the amazingly amazing adjectives, to drive a point home make it such a fun novel to hang out with (even for geeks). So if you are bored with the routine, predictable and highly probable life, you can turn on the Infinite Improbability Drive by picking up a copy of H2G2, stir up your cup of tea, and remember… Don’t Panic.
So, our friends meet their friends, in an event just as infinitely improbable as monkeys with typewriters churning out copies of Hamlet. And the adventure begins on a stolen, brand-new spaceship with incredible equipments, an overfriendly computer and a paranoid android for company. Nothing to be startled about –you see, the Sirius Cybernetics Corporation makes machines fitted with GPP (Genuine Peoples
~Durva Mayee, Mumbai Mensa
Have you read an interesting book, seen an awesome movie or maybe even chanced upon a thought-provoking essay or article. If you would like to review it or share an opinion send us your submissions at editor.mensaindia@gmail.com
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Wordsmith
About:
The Ephemeral The wind that playfully tousled his hair just yesterday seemed to course by unmindfully. It wasn’t angry or reproaching –just indifferent. The grass seemed tired, listless. The end was approaching. The boughs hung low and weary. As if laden by heavy, unkept promises. Surely they were shamed by the betrayal. Quietly they drooped in guilt. The leaves fluttered resentfully. They knew wrong from right. And this was evidently wrong. That life was fleeting. The end was nigh.
“Wordsmith” is a column that invites poems, stories, essays and anything else that weaves with words, paints with prose or evokes vivid scenes, smells and sounds through artistic assembly of letters. If you would like to send in articles for “Wordsmith”, send in your mails to editor.mensaindia@gmail.com
The sun was burning one last farewell into the crimson heavens. Furiously it shone its waning light. The skies were calm and peaceful. Reflecting a solar rage, unperturbed. They had been around for eons. Inured to the vagaries of terrestrial ways and justice. And surely one tempestuous evening was not worth fretting over. They remained. The end was descending fast upon. He was young and had hardly seen life. He had only just started to soak in the joy of being alive when he was rudely informed that his time was up. That his freedom had escaped. A victim of his own frivolity, he was now a prisoner of his circumstances. The dark was drawing near.
Towel Day: May 25th Two weeks after his passing, Douglas Adams’ fans paid tribute to him by recognizing the day as Towel Day, after the immensely hilarious description of a towel in his hugely popular Hitchhiker… series.
The last, few, merry days of summers had belied the coming events. The false sense of permanence they lulled him into, now reeked of treachery. He cursed his own happy days. Vowed vengeance on the heavens and all its creations. The darkness was upon him now. He sighed. Bade goodbye to the wonderful but brief summer of joy, freedom and life. He swept one last look over what had been his undisputed dominion. The young night hid most of it in mischievous play. He turned homeward. Tomorrow was the first day of school.
~N V Krishnamoorthy, Mensa Mumbai
Google designed a doodle for its logo, commemorating Douglas Adams’ 61st birthday: http://www.google.com/doodles /douglas-adams-61st-birthday
The following pages are from the Mensa World Journal
Check out what’s being done this year for Towel Day, at: http://towelday.org/
(Formerly called the Mensa International Journal)
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men sa wor l d j o u rn al march, 2013 issue 003
from the chairman of Mensa International a truly global organisation... ...getting a picture of this worldwide group, of which YOU are a part
Do you want to know how global Mensa is? What is going on in other countries? What Mensa International is doing? What happens at a four-day International Board of Directors (IBD) meeting where people from 33 countries speaking 20 different languages come together to discuss Mensa business? There are two wonderful documents available. The Agenda and the Minutes of the IBD meeting are available on the website of Mensa International (www.mensa.org) in the members-only sections, under the MIL Governance tab. The Agenda of the IBD meeting and the Minutes of the meeting are a rich source of information and give an excellent picture of the global operations of Mensa. In the appendices of the IBD Agenda you find the country reports of all national Mensas, including main developments and progress per country, mensa world journal march 2013
their successes - for their members, for their volunteers and for public relations - and other information pertinent to each country. Also included in the appendices of the IBD agenda are the committee and appointee reports: - the report of each individual ExComm member and of ExComm as a committee; - the report of the Executive Director; - the report of the Honorary President; - the report of the Mensa Foundation (MERF); - the report of each individual IBD Committee, and, - the report of each individual Appointee. Included in the Minutes of the IBD meeting are: - a summary of all the fifteen presentations given at the IBD meeting; - a summary of the four brainstorming and discussion items; - the names of the people appointed to a committee and the appointees (three motions); - a summary of the debate that took
place for each motion (a consent agenda with fifteen motions and 25 other motions), and, - a few housekeeping topics such as members per country, IBD voting rights, etc. When you read these documents, you will have a good understanding of what is going in Global Mensa.
What will happen in 2013?
In 2013 we will experience a further increase of interaction between the individual members. There will be the 6th European Mensas Annual Gathering (EMAG) in Bratislava, Slovakia and the third Asian Mensas Annual Gathering (AMAG) in Singapore. This is in line with the globalization trend of Mensa. I labelled this once “the high-speed Mensas are coming!� For the generation that grew up with the internet and are 24/7 online, there will be permanent communication through the social media. One of the successes is the initiative to create the public website www.Animusm.com where a large number of Mensa-related
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men sa wor l d j o u rn al videos (including those originating from the LEAP program) are available. In the September issue of the IJ, Björn Liljeqvist explained why growth is important for a national Mensa. I do hope that we can continue the growth rate we’ve had during the last couple of years: in July 2012 we had over 117,000 members. We expect to reach the milestone of 120,000 members in July. A new all-time high!
Willem Bouwens, Chairman
Did you know...?? • You can follow Mensa International on Twitter : @MensaInternatl • The International Board of Directors (IBD) meets face to face once a year somewhere in the world. Mensa International’s Executive Committee (ExComm) meets ‘virtually’ every month. • You can tell if you are logged into the Mensa International member area at www.mensa.org when the banner changes from grey to blue.
MIL Positions/Committees Open for Appointment If you are interested in serving Mensa International in an appointed position, now is your opportunity to apply. These positions are open to all members worldwide. All are for terms of two years (unless otherwise stated), the term commencing after the IBD meeting in Canada in September 2013. The following International positions/committees are due to be appointed in 2013: - Constitutional Review Officer - Awards Committee member (the MIL chairman and past chairman are automatically included) - Licensing Advisory Committee – members and chair - ICT Task Force – members and chair Members currently serving in a position or committee due to expire in September are requested to reapply if they wish to continue to serve in that role. The application form is available on the Officers/Appointees page of the member-only section of the MIL website at https://www.mensa.org (you must be logged on). Job descriptions for each position are linked to each role/committee. Alternatively, you may obtain the application form and/or job descriptions from the Mensa International Office by emailing mensainternational@mensa.org or by post to the address given on page 08. Applications for the above posts, must be received by June 20, 2013 and must be sent to the International Office (mensainternational@mensa.org) and the Director of Administration (admin-mil@ mensa.org). Those who apply, whether appointed or not, will have their interest noted for future reference as there may be other ways in which they can help Mensa International. Sylvia Herbert Director of Administration mensa world journal march 2013
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men sa wor l d j o u rn al member snapshot...
Dr Robert Ling
Malaysian Mensan, Dr Robert Ling, has a love and passion for the arts, which he practises as a hobby alongside his full-time career as a General Practicioner of Medicine. Dr Ling has his own medical practice in Rasa, Salangor, which also accommodates his personal art gallery. Dr Ling enjoys spending time with his wife, Jeananne, and his pet dog, Astra. The start of my passion for the creative when I was a third year medical arts began when I was five or six years student. I was influenced by impresold and plasticine clay models were my sionistic paintings, and bought white everyday companions. I would build boards, painted them over with white whole forts manned by solpaint, then paintdiers and red Indians. There “I also firmly believe ed various colours was much delighted response on top of each that creativity that is other. The results from my teachers, who would keep my models at the back expressed and perfect- were surprisingly of the class and invite other ed will always super- good, and I still teachers and students to view sede intelligence.” have my paintings them. It filled me with quite dating from 1968. a lot of happiness to see that My writing my plasticine clay models were welland poems are inspired by Shakeliked. speare and Gerald Durrell, who wrote I taught my friends how to build My Family and Other Animals - my animals, and soldiers wearing hats with compulsory reading back in Form 5. horses. Outside school, I built models I believe that everyone should find such as David and Goliath, constantly the creativity within them, pursue winning the art contests that were held it and the response from others will by my church. I remember being asked inspire you to continue. I also firmly not to join anymore because I kept believe that creativity that is expressed winning! Instead I was invited to be and perfected will always supersede the judge. intelligence. For example Van Gogh, A love of music came after that. I should he be alive today, would posformed a band with my brother and sibly fail the Mensa test. However two other friends, and we sang Elvis his talent and creativity makes him a Presley and Everly Brothers and persuccess in his particular field. formed in school. (Reprinted in part from Triple-M, issue 6, Painting came only later in life, 2012,editor, Samantha Chow) mensa world journal march 2013
Exercise for the body works for the brain Taking up sport in middle age could boost your brain power, say researchers. A study of overweight men who exercised regularly for just a few months. found that as their waists shrank their mental agility grew. The men, who had an average age of 49, did two weekly sessions of high intensity interval training, in which short bursts of hard exercise were interspersed with rest. They also did other types of exercise including lifting weights, cycling on exercise bikes and circuit training. Four months on, the men performed better on mental tasks, including attention span, processing speed, short term memory, and flexibility of thought, the Canadian Cardiovascular Congress heard. Experts at the University of Montreal believe the men’s brains benefitted when the health of their arteries improved. “The participants’ cognitive functions had greatly improved thanks to the exercise,” Anil Bigam said. “You can give someone a cholesterol-lowering pill or blood sugar-lowering medicine, but they do not have effect on cognitive function. Exercise can do all that and more.” (Reprinted from Mensa Magazine, December 2012, editor Brian Page)
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men sa wor l d j o u rn al Schizophrenia and Bipolar Disorder - Pure Folly or Creative Genius Potential? “As with mental disorders, there is something mysterious and unexplainable about the (Hans Estroff Marano, 2007) creative process.” Throughout our daily lives, our consciousness is stimulated by a panoply of emotions, sounds, thoughts and sensations. Most of us can tune in or tune out at will to this cacophonous invasion of our tranquility, but there are others who cannot. The latter group of people must cope with this seemingly nonsensical and irrelevant information. And they have what is commonly referred to as low levels of latent inhibition (LI). Reduced latent inhibition is associated with creativity and, ironically, a disposition to psychosis, usually, schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. Hans Eysenck, Colin Martindale and other prominent psychologists and researchers have argued the case for low levels of latent inhibition in creative thought. Yet a person with schizophrenia who has low latent inhibition may also score low on measures of executive functioning and demonstrate disorganized thinking. It is possible that poor executive functioning limits actualized creative thought and achievement even if an individual does have potential for creativity. Schizophrenics may also have difficulty recognizing and controlling their emotions. Many of these emotions are intuitive in nature thus affording the person afflicted with schizophrenia a greater chance of making connections than someone not afflicted with the disease. Acute schizophrenic episodes may render those mensa world journal march 2013
intuitions useless, however, since they have overwhelmed the individual. But for healthy individuals (even those with schizophrenia) lower levels of LI may engender more faith in their intuition simply because their intuitions have been consistently correct. (Gut feelings validate and reinforce gut feelings). Low LI does not appear to be related to IQ, working memory or cognition (ratiocination). Low LI is closely linked to psychosis. But the factors that contribute to low LI might also make greatness in creativity possible for some. Psychologist Jordon Peterson believes that schizophrenic individuals suffer from an “overwhelming influx of experiential sensations” and do not have sufficient executive functioning to cope with the influx. A healthy individual, on the other hand, may be better equipped to filter and sequester the influx without becoming disorganized or overwhelmed. This concept, “sensory gating”, is historically influential in the literature on schizophrenia. This openness to intuition coupled with a certain degree of ability can result in high levels of creativity. Elevated levels of the chemical dopamine may predispose an individual with schizophrenia to find and explore more intellectual and creative potentials than a “normal” individual.
According to psychologist Scott Barry Kaufman, “[...] Nonetheless, an understanding of the biological basis of individual differences in different forms of implicit processing and their relationship to experience and intuition will surely increase our understanding of how certain individuals attain the highest levels of creative accomplishment. Perhaps such research will allow us to stop rehashing old ideas about potential links between madness and creativity and reconceptualize the thought processes that are prone to psychosis not as madness at all but as a potential for greatness.” There may be a connection between bipolar disorder and high IQ. Researchers at King’s College in London and the Karolinska Institute in Sweden conducted a study of all students who graduated from compulsory education (ages 15 and 16) between 1988 and 1997. The results of the study were cross-referenced with statistics from the Swedish hospital discharge register on diagnosis of bipolar disorder between ages 17 and 31. The overall results indicated that excellent school performance was linked to bipolar disorder and the graduates were almost four times more likely to develop bipolar disorder than the average person. (continued on p05)
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men sa wor l d j o u rn al John Forbes Nash Doctor James MacCabe said, “We found that achieving an “A” grade is associated with an increased risk of bipolar disorder, particularly in the humanities and literature and to a lesser degree in science subjects.” MacCabe believes that bipolar mania accounts for greater stamina and concentration, and links ideas in novel ways like strong emotions do. This is common in bipolar individuals. Doctor MacCabe added, “Although having an A grade increases your chance of bipolar disorder, we should remember that the majority of people with A grades enjoy good mental health.” MacCabe believes that it is plausible to assume that people having the ability to rapidly process information may share the same neurobiological characteristics as subjects who develop mania, a state characterized by high alertness and psychometric activity. However, previous IQ studies in relation to bipolar disorder have found no significant difference with regard to the general population. In fact, “cognitive impairment consistent with defects in IQ have been reported during acute episodes of mania and depression”, reports Doctor Katherine E. Burdick of the North Shore Long Island Jewish Health Care System New York. Other studies indicate a higher pre-morbid (“pre-illness”) IQ may protect an individual against psychosis while lower IQ individuals may succumb to the psychosis. Studies linking high test scores and bipolar disorder have been conducted, and Doctor Jan Tihonen of the University of Kuopo, Finland looked at several different aspects of intelligence among people who developed bipolar disorder. Also analyzed were the results of 195,019 apparently healthy males in mensa world journal march 2013
the Finnish Defense Forces. The results found that “high arithmetic reasoning” was associated with bipolar disorder - a 12-fold greater risk than the average! So just how does madness transform into genius? Easy! All it requires is dedication. Intuition, insight and endurance are also all important factors. Acknowledged creative geniuses have said that endurance must always follow intuition. Albert Einstein’s ideas about physics did not reach fruition overnight. Very high creativity requires a high level of “stick-to-it-iveness” or endurance. And inventor Thomas Alva Edison said, “Genius is one percent inspiration and 99 percent perspiration,” meaning more hard work is involved in the actualization of genius than inspired flashes of insight. And even during the process of generating ideas discipline is very important. Depression strikes the artist more often than it does the general population - up to 10 times more often! The lifestyles of poets, painters, sculptors and writers tend to be less organized and more spontaneous than the general population. The artistic or “Bohemian” thinking style is more likely to be selfreflective and introverted while also being socially extroverted. Artists, poets and novelists tend to ruminate and mull over their thoughts, pondering the negative and the positive aspects of life simultaneously. Activity in the brain decreases in the lower portion of the frontal lobe and increases in the upper frontal lobe. This manner and type of thinking commonly leads to creativity. For many artistic geniuses, the price of their lifestyles and their thinking is mental illness; and for some, mental illness is a dear price to pay. Scientific research has found that a
great number of highly intelligent and creative people are afflicted with schizophrenia or bipolar disorder. Creativity appears to be linked to mood disorders, and creativity is highest when the individual is coming out of a depression. That is when his or her creative energy level is at its optimum level. Thomas Alva Edison, Albert Einstein and Winston Churchill as well as Vincent Van Gogh and poets Sylvia Plath and Edgar Allan Poe may have suffered with bipolar disorder, and prodigies John Forbes Nash (pictured above) and Jack Kerouac are/were afflicted with schizophrenia. The list is long. Finally, research has shown that creative geniuses are not all “madmen” - but some are - and not all so-called madmen are creative geniuses - but some are. There is more than just romantic myth to the idea that “genius and insanityi) may actually go together.” But there is also may be a very prominent dividing line separating the two seemingly bipolar realities.
Thomas Hally tjh@thomas-hally.com 05
men sa wor l d j o u rn al Are siblings the determinant factor in the formation of our personalities? by Henrik Lundin The book, Understand your background - and become liberated by Martensen-Larsen & Sorrig (1989), is based on the study of more than fifteen thousand Danes and Swedes and their family ties. The book has many interesting and well-founded insights into understanding in which ways a child’s position in the family can affect his personality and attitudes as an adult. Swedish member, Henrik Lundin, outlines some of these. Almost all families, regardless of the number of children, can be described using groups of one, two or three children. As soon as there are four or more children, it is almost always the case of 2 + 2 pairs operating more independently, or 3 + 1. The determining factor here is the number of years between siblings. Of course the youngest brother in a family has in part been formed by his participation in a larger collection of siblings. However, the research presented by Martensen-Larsen and Sorrig shows that to a much larger degree than one would usually assume, a child born six years or more years after his or her siblings will be much more similar to an only child than to any other basic sibling formation. The Only Child Based on its parents admiration of its
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accomplishments, the only child will in general have a higher degree of selfesteem than other children. Having an audience for its every action becomes addictive and will, generally, yield a higher aspiration in adult life for positions where having an impact or exercising power is material. The only child has a strong drive and belief in its own abilities, and is in general, striving for a less strong tie to other people. At work, for instance, the only child will feel more at ease in selecting different roles in the work teams based on what the situation merits, i.e., may sometimes be dominant, and on other occasions be very lowkey. In addition, the only child will not seek prestige, and will be less likely to focus on material well-being. He or she will often start projects, but will not always be adamant about getting the credit for them. Two children When the age distance is more than 18 months, the most ideal combination is an older brother and a younger sister. As the older brother is undisputed in his leadership, in adult life he may become a leader without too much perseverance. The younger sister will develop a healthy sense for male companionship and will usually have a lot of male friends. She will have all the positive characteristics of an older sister, but without the pressure and duties that usually go with that role. In their relationships they will both be better off when striving for the same type of relationship role as with their sibling,
i.e. she selects an oldest brother with a younger sister; he selects a younger sister with an older brother. An older sister with a younger brother will get off to a good start and will develop a healthy relationship as the younger brother admires his older sister. In adult life the older sister may forever be signified by her lack of ability to see men as equals but rather objects of attention, consideration and in need of support. The young brother will usually grow sensitive and extroverted, using words rather than fists in fights. His sense of responsibility will be weak, being accustomed to his parents and older sister taking care of issues for him. In the case of his life partner, he will be better off with an older sister type, which will make him a fun companion but not compelled to assume his share of responsibilities in family life. Two sisters An older sister will form a very different personality from her younger sister. She will dominate, be protective, assume responsibility and be very accomplished. Her strong drive will continue into adulthood lending her to be more successful in her working life than her younger sister. Most men and women are somewhat intimidated by her expectancy on everyone to be top performers.
(continued on p07)
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men sa wor l d j o u rn al (continued from p06)
The younger sister on the other hand will be unconventional in her choice of career. She will be caught between submitting to and fighting against her sister, and she will usually struggle in her understanding of and relationships with men. Being married to an older sister personality is difficult as her man will always take second or third place (after her children). Her best partner is a younger brother with older sisters. The younger sister will be best off with a man who has younger siblings, preferably sisters. Two brothers The shorter the time-span between the births of two brothers, the more issues they will develop being constantly in competition with each other. Of all male personalities, this older brother is the most competitive, ambitious and materialistic of them all. In relationships the older brother may become shy since he hasn’t had sisters. His wife will usually be a trophy wife and he does not want criticism from her. He
will pressure his children a lot to be successful achievers, which tend to lead to severe conflicts with his oldest son as he is treated as a younger brother, when really he would like to be treated as a big brother. The younger brother on the other hand will be well-suited to adapt to adult life and will develop a higher degree of social skills than his older brother. As a father, the younger brother will be very much liked by his kids as he himself will be a grown-up child and like playing with them. He will be good at ensuring their independence. Relationships with women will prove difficult due to his inability to understand them as a consequence of the lack of a sister. This subject is of course controversial. None of us is a stereotype, and life is not deterministic. Yet I think there are several root causes to our profound basic personality traits to be found in our early childhood. Of course, we are formed by our parents too, and our playmates and class mates. But
smarter women...
For the first time in IQ-testing history, researchers have found that female scores have risen above those of males. Since IQ testing first began, women have always lagged behind men - in some studies by as much as 5%. While IQ generally has been rising for both men and women in recent years - the so-called ‘Flynn Effect’ - the gap between the sexes has also been narrowing in recent years. And now new testing shows women have moved ahead of the men. James Flynn, world-renowned authority on IQ testing and the man mensa world journal march 2013
who discovered the overall increase in IQ levels, is behind the latest claims. He states: “In the last 100 years, the IQ scores of both men and women have risen but women’s have risen faster. This is a consequence of modernity. The complexity of the modern world is making our brains adapt and raising our IQ.” And it could be that the demands of the modern world - and the need
were they not too formed from their childhoods? As always in life, I think it is a soothing thought to be able to understand the world around us a little better. Maybe that childhood friend we often fell out with even though we had so much fun wasn’t because he or she had an evil streak, but we were rather less likely to always be friends due to competition instilled in us based on our background. From the book there is an ideal family portrayed. This too is controversial, but in general, it seems best for all children if there are four siblings born 3-4 years apart in the order of girl, boy, girl, boy. And, there should be no divorce or loss of a parent or a single grandparent until all four have left home! All in general; all in theory!
Henrik Lundin Vice-president, Mensa Sweden viceordforande@mensa.se for more multi-tasking in particular - has been responsible for the women overtaking the men. Women’s lives, it is posited, have become more demanding as they multi-task between raising a family and following a career. Another possibility, according to Flynn’s research, is that women have a slightly higher potential intelligence and are only now realising it. The latest finding come after IQ examination (cont. on p08)
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men sa wor l d j o u rn al results were collected from countries in Western Europe and from the United States, Canada, New Zealand, Argentina and Estonia. These showed that in westernised countries, the gap between men and women had become minimal; in Australia, male and female IQs were found to be almost identical, and in New Zealand, Argentina and Estonia, women scored marginally more than men. “As the world gets more complex, and living in it demands more abstract thought, so people are adapting,” Flynn states, adding “I suspect that the same
trends are happening in Britain, too, although at the moment, the data is too sparse to be sure.” (Reprinted from Mensa Magazine, September 2012, Editor Brian Page.)
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