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⚫ '''Christopher Michael Langan''' (born c.]) is a noted ] ] in the fields of mathematics, physics, cosmology and the cognitive sciences<ref> ISCID.</ref>. Various media sources report Langan as having an estimated ] of 195<ref>Fowler, D. (2000). BBC Outlook. London: British Broadcasting Company.</ref><ref>Sager, Mike. (November, 1999) '']''.</ref><ref>Brabham, Dennis. (August 21, 2001). . ''Newsday''.</ref><ref>Wigmore, Barry. (], ]). "Einstein's brain, King Kong's body". ''The Times''.</ref>. According to '']'', Langan scored "off the charts" when tested by Dr. Robert Novelly. Novelly, a board certified ], commented that Langan was "the highest individual that I have ever measured in 25 years" of testing<ref>McFadden, Cynthia. (], ]). . ''20/20''</ref>. Filmmaker ] directed an hour-long documentary on Langan titled "The Smartest Man in the World" <ref>Morris, Errol. (August 14, 2001). . ] </ref>.
⚫ '''Christopher Michael Langan''' (born c.]) is a noted ] ] and self-styled expert in the fields of mathematics, physics, cosmology and the cognitive sciences<ref> ISCID.</ref> and an ] advocate.<ref>"The CTMU has a meta-Darwinian message: the universe evolves by hological self-replication and self-selection. Furthermore, because the universe is natural, its self-selection amounts to a cosmic form of natural selection. But by the nature of this selection process, it also bears description as intelligent self-design (the universe is “intelligent” because this is precisely what it must be in order to solve the problem of self-selection, the master-problem in terms of which all lesser problems are necessarily formulated). This is unsurprising, for intelligence itself is a natural phenomenon that could never have emerged in humans and animals were it not already a latent property of the medium of emergence. An object does not displace its medium, but embodies it and thus serves as an expression of its underlying syntactic properties. What is far more surprising, and far more disappointing, is the ideological conflict to which this has led. It seems that one group likes the term “intelligent” but is indifferent or hostile to the term “natural”, while the other likes “natural” but abhors “intelligent”. In some strange way, the whole controversy seems to hinge on terminology." Christopher Michael Langan. MegaFoundation.org, 1998. pg. 50-51</ref> He has no or little formal education in these fields, and no diplomas or certificates, and his views on various topics are not widely accepted within the mainstream ].


With only a small amount of college, Langan has held a variety of labor-intensive jobs including construction worker, cowboy, firefighter, farmhand, and perhaps most famously, ]. Accordingly, he has sometimes been stereotyped as the sort of individual who combines an extremely high IQ with little or no official recognition in the academic "real world" of intellectual commerce <ref>O'Connell, J. (May, 2001) . ''Muscle & Fitness'' magazine.</ref>. Langan, who grew up in Montana, currently owns and operates a horse ranch in northern Missouri. Langan has written question and answer columns for '']''<ref>Langan, C M (2001), Chris Langan answers your questions. New York Newsday, September, 2001, Melville, NY</ref>, The ''Improper Hamptonian''<ref>Langan, C M (2000-2001). HiQ. Improper Hamptonian. Westhampton Beach, NY</ref>, and '']''<ref>O'Connell, J., Ed. (2004) . Mens Fitness. </ref>. He serves on the board of the , a nonprofit foundation for the ]. Langan is also a fellow of the ] (ISCID)<ref></ref>, a non-profit ] whose stated purpose is to investigate ] using information- and design-theoretic concepts. The organization promotes ], the controversial idea that there is scientific evidence for design in life.
⚫ Various media sources report Langan as having an estimated ] of 195.<ref>Fowler, D. (2000). BBC Outlook. London: British Broadcasting Company.</ref><ref>Sager, Mike. (November, 1999) '']''.</ref><ref>Brabham, Dennis. (August 21, 2001). . ''Newsday''.</ref><ref>Wigmore, Barry. (], ]). "Einstein's brain, King Kong's body". ''The Times''.</ref> According to '']'', Langan scored "off the charts" when tested by Dr. Robert Novelly. Novelly, a board certified ], commented that Langan was "the highest individual that I have ever measured in 25 years" of testing.<ref>McFadden, Cynthia. (], ]). . ''20/20''</ref>


⚫ In ] Langan was featured in '']'' magazine, where he discussed his "Cognitive-Theoretic Model of the Universe" (CTMU)<ref>Quain, John R. (], ]), . ''Popular Science''.</ref>, a metaphysical model of reality. Arguing that theories and inferences, including inductively-derived laws of nature, are bound together in a more general relationship between mind and reality, Langan explores the implications of this idea in various contexts including physics and cosmology, biological origins and evolution, psychology, ethics, and theology in a 56-page paper published by ISCID in 2002<ref>Langan, Christopher M. (2002). . ''Progress in Complexity, Information, and Design'' '''1.2-1.3'''</ref>. Later that year, Langan presented a lecture on the CTMU at ISCID's ''Research And Progress in Intelligent Design'' (RAPID) conference<ref name="rapid_schedule"></ref>. In 2004, Langan wrote an 8,000 word essay on causality titled <ref>Langan, Christopher M. (2004). . In '']'', Wm. Dembski, Ed., Intercollegiate Studies Institute.</ref>. It appeared as Chapter Thirteen in the book '']'', a collection of essays by philosophers and scientists, many of whom are intelligent design proponents. In this chapter, Langan discusses the strengths and weaknesses of both intelligent design and neo-Darwinism, and proposes a synthesis by means of the "meta-Darwinian" CTMU<ref>"The CTMU has a meta-Darwinian message: the universe evolves by hological self-replication and self-selection. Furthermore, because the universe is natural, its self-selection amounts to a cosmic form of natural selection. But by the nature of this selection process, it also bears description as intelligent self-design (the universe is “intelligent” because this is precisely what it must be in order to solve the problem of self-selection, the master-problem in terms of which all lesser problems are necessarily formulated). This is unsurprising, for intelligence itself is a natural phenomenon that could never have emerged in humans and animals were it not already a latent property of the medium of emergence. An object does not displace its medium, but embodies it and thus serves as an expression of its underlying syntactic properties. What is far more surprising, and far more disappointing, is the ideological conflict to which this has led. It seems that one group likes the term “intelligent” but is indifferent or hostile to the term “natural”, while the other likes “natural” but abhors “intelligent”. In some strange way, the whole controversy seems to hinge on terminology." Christopher Michael Langan. MegaFoundation.org, 1998. pg. 50-51</ref>.
With only a small amount of college, Langan has held a variety of labor-intensive jobs including construction worker, cowboy, firefighter, farmhand, and perhaps most famously, ]. Accordingly, he has sometimes been stereotyped as the sort of individual who combines an extremely high IQ with little or no official recognition in the academic "real world" of intellectual commerce <ref>Morris, Errol. (August 14, 2001). . ] </ref><ref>O'Connell, J. (May, 2001) . ''Muscle & Fitness'' magazine.</ref>. Langan, who grew up in Montana, currently owns and operates a horse ranch in northern Missouri. He also serves on the board of the , a nonprofit foundation for the ].

In ] Langan was featured in '']'' magazine, where he discussed his "Cognitive-Theoretic Model of the Universe" (CTMU)<ref>Quain, John R. (], ]). . ''Popular Science''.</ref>.

Langan is a fellow of the ] (ISCID), an intelligent design ].<ref></ref> In 2002 Langan presented a lecture on intelligent design at the ISCID's ''Research And Progress in Intelligent Design'' (RAPID) conference.<ref name="rapid_schedule"></ref> The ISCID's journal <cite>Progress in Complexity, Information, and Design</cite> published a paper in 2002 in which Langan explained his "Cognitive-Theoretic Model of the Universe" in detail.<ref>Langan, Christopher M. (2002). . ''Progress in Complexity, Information, and Design'' '''1.2-1.3'''</ref>. In 2004, Langan contributed a chapter to the book '']'', a collection of essays by fellow intelligent design proponets and ISCID fellows.<ref>Langan, Christopher M. (2004). . In '']'', Wm. Dembski, Ed., Intercollegiate Studies Institute.</ref>. In the chapter, Langan discusses the strengths and weaknesses of both intelligent design and the ] and proposes a synthesis by means of the CTMU.

Langan has written question and answer columns for '']''<ref>Langan, C M (2001), Chris Langan answers your questions. New York Newsday, September, 2001, Melville, NY</ref>, The ''Improper Hamptonian''<ref>Langan, C M (2000-2001). HiQ. Improper Hamptonian. Westhampton Beach, NY</ref>, and '']''<ref>O'Connell, J., Ed. (2004) . Mens Fitness. </ref>


==References== ==References==

Revision as of 18:16, 26 November 2006

Christopher Michael Langan (born c.1957) is a noted American autodidact in the fields of mathematics, physics, cosmology and the cognitive sciences. Various media sources report Langan as having an estimated IQ of 195. According to 20/20, Langan scored "off the charts" when tested by Dr. Robert Novelly. Novelly, a board certified neuropsychologist, commented that Langan was "the highest individual that I have ever measured in 25 years" of testing. Filmmaker Errol Morris directed an hour-long documentary on Langan titled "The Smartest Man in the World" .

With only a small amount of college, Langan has held a variety of labor-intensive jobs including construction worker, cowboy, firefighter, farmhand, and perhaps most famously, bar bouncer. Accordingly, he has sometimes been stereotyped as the sort of individual who combines an extremely high IQ with little or no official recognition in the academic "real world" of intellectual commerce . Langan, who grew up in Montana, currently owns and operates a horse ranch in northern Missouri. Langan has written question and answer columns for New York Newsday, The Improper Hamptonian, and Men's Fitness. He serves on the board of the Mega Foundation, a nonprofit foundation for the gifted. Langan is also a fellow of the International Society for Complexity, Information and Design (ISCID), a non-profit professional society whose stated purpose is to investigate complex systems using information- and design-theoretic concepts. The organization promotes intelligent design, the controversial idea that there is scientific evidence for design in life.

In 2001 Langan was featured in Popular Science magazine, where he discussed his "Cognitive-Theoretic Model of the Universe" (CTMU), a metaphysical model of reality. Arguing that theories and inferences, including inductively-derived laws of nature, are bound together in a more general relationship between mind and reality, Langan explores the implications of this idea in various contexts including physics and cosmology, biological origins and evolution, psychology, ethics, and theology in a 56-page paper published by ISCID in 2002. Later that year, Langan presented a lecture on the CTMU at ISCID's Research And Progress in Intelligent Design (RAPID) conference. In 2004, Langan wrote an 8,000 word essay on causality titled "Cheating the Millennium: The Mounting Explanatory Debts of Scientific Naturalism". It appeared as Chapter Thirteen in the book Uncommon Dissent: Intellectuals Who Find Darwinism Unconvincing, a collection of essays by philosophers and scientists, many of whom are intelligent design proponents. In this chapter, Langan discusses the strengths and weaknesses of both intelligent design and neo-Darwinism, and proposes a synthesis by means of the "meta-Darwinian" CTMU.

References

  1. Biography, Christopher Langan ISCID.
  2. Fowler, D. (2000). Interview with Mega Foundation BBC Outlook. London: British Broadcasting Company.
  3. Sager, Mike. (November, 1999) "The Smartest Man in America." Esquire.
  4. Brabham, Dennis. (August 21, 2001). "The Smart Guy". Newsday.
  5. Wigmore, Barry. (February 7, 2000). "Einstein's brain, King Kong's body". The Times.
  6. McFadden, Cynthia. (December 9, 1999). "The Smart Guy". 20/20
  7. Morris, Errol. (August 14, 2001). "The Smartest Man in the World". First Person
  8. O'Connell, J. (May, 2001) Mister Universe. Muscle & Fitness magazine.
  9. Langan, C M (2001), Chris Langan answers your questions. New York Newsday, September, 2001, Melville, NY
  10. Langan, C M (2000-2001). HiQ. Improper Hamptonian. Westhampton Beach, NY
  11. O'Connell, J., Ed. (2004) World of knowledge: we harness the expertise of the brawny, the brainy, and the bearded to solve your most pressing dilemmas. Mens Fitness.
  12. ISCID fellows
  13. Quain, John R. (October 14, 2001), "Wise Guy". Popular Science.
  14. Langan, Christopher M. (2002). The Cognitive-Theoretic Model of the Universe: A New Kind of Reality Theory. Progress in Complexity, Information, and Design 1.2-1.3
  15. RAPID conference schedule
  16. Langan, Christopher M. (2004). Cheating the Millennium: The Mounting Explanatory Debts of Scientific Naturalism. In Uncommon Dissent: Intellectuals Who Find Darwinism Unconvincing, Wm. Dembski, Ed., Intercollegiate Studies Institute.
  17. "The CTMU has a meta-Darwinian message: the universe evolves by hological self-replication and self-selection. Furthermore, because the universe is natural, its self-selection amounts to a cosmic form of natural selection. But by the nature of this selection process, it also bears description as intelligent self-design (the universe is “intelligent” because this is precisely what it must be in order to solve the problem of self-selection, the master-problem in terms of which all lesser problems are necessarily formulated). This is unsurprising, for intelligence itself is a natural phenomenon that could never have emerged in humans and animals were it not already a latent property of the medium of emergence. An object does not displace its medium, but embodies it and thus serves as an expression of its underlying syntactic properties. What is far more surprising, and far more disappointing, is the ideological conflict to which this has led. It seems that one group likes the term “intelligent” but is indifferent or hostile to the term “natural”, while the other likes “natural” but abhors “intelligent”. In some strange way, the whole controversy seems to hinge on terminology." Introduction to the CTMU Christopher Michael Langan. MegaFoundation.org, 1998. pg. 50-51

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