Christopher Langan: Difference between revisions

Christopher Langan
Christopher Langan
	Langan in 2017
Born	March 25, 1952 (age 72); San Francisco, California, U.S.
Education	Reed College (dropped out); Montana State University–Bozeman (dropped out);
Occupation	Horse rancher
Known for	High IQ
Spouse	Gina Lynne LoSasso

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Christopher Michael Langan (born March 25, 1952) is an American horse rancher and former bar bouncer, known for scoring highly on an IQ test that gained him entry to a high IQ society, and for being formerly listed in the Guinness Book of Records high IQ section under the pseudonym of Eric Hart, alongside Marilyn vos Savant and Keith Raniere. The record was discontinued in 1990, as high IQs are considered too unreliable to document as world records. However, Langan then became a biographical subject in Malcolm Gladwell's book, Outliers: The Story of Success (2008), in which the journalist sought to understand why Langan's high IQ had not led to greater success in life. The book compared him with Robert Oppenheimer, and focused on their respective environments.

Langan has spent many years working on a hypothesis that reality is a self simulation. He calls the theory the Cognitive-Theoretic Model of the Universe (CTMU). The thesis is self published and Langan has no academic qualifications, having twice dropped out of college. He has been interviewed and has self published his views on various matters, including his belief in eugenics to prevent genetic degradation in a technological world, opposition to inter-racial relationships, the 9/11 Truther movement and other conspiracy theories that have gained him a following amongst the alt-right.

Biography

Langan was born in 1952 in San Francisco, California. His mother, Mary Langan-Hansen (née Chappelle, 1932–2014), was the daughter of a wealthy shipping executive but was cut off from her family. Langan's biological father left before he was born, and is said to have died in Mexico. Langan's mother married three more times, and had a son by each husband. Her second husband was murdered, and her third killed himself. Langan grew up with the fourth husband Jack Langan, who has been described as a "failed journalist" who used a bullwhip as a disciplinary measure and went on drinking sprees, disappearing from the house, locking the kitchen cabinets so the four boys could not get to the food in them. The family was very poor; Langan recalls that they all had only one set of clothes each. The family moved around, living for a while in a teepee on an Indian reservation, then later in Virginia City, Nevada. When the children were in grade school, the family moved to Bozeman, Montana, where Langan spent most of his childhood.^[1]^: 91–92

Langan attended high school, but spent his last years engaged mostly in independent study. He did so after his teachers denied his request for more challenging material. According to Langan, he began teaching himself "advanced math, physics, philosophy, Latin, and Greek".^[2] He earned a perfect score on the SAT despite taking a nap during the test.^[1]^: 70–73

Langan was offered two full scholarships, one to Reed College in Oregon and the other to the University of Chicago.^[1]^: 92 He chose the former, which he later called "a big mistake". He had a "real case of culture shock" in the unfamiliar urban setting. He explained that in his first semester he earned all As but that he lost his scholarship after his mother did not send in the necessary financial information.^[3] Langan withdrew before final exams in his second semester and received all Fs.

Langan returned to Bozeman and worked as a forest service firefighter for 18 months before enrolling at Montana State University–Bozeman.^[1]^: 93 Faced with financial and transportation problems, and believing that he could teach his professors more than they could teach him, he dropped out.^[2] He took a string of labor-intensive jobs for some time, and by his mid-40s had been a construction worker, cowboy, forest service ranger, farmhand, and, for over twenty years, a bouncer on Long Island.^[2] He also worked for the technology company Virtual Logistix.^[4]

In comparing the lack of academic and life success of Langan to the successes of Robert Oppenheimer, journalist Malcolm Gladwell, in his 2008 book Outliers, points to the background and social skills of the two men. Oppenheimer was raised in a wealthy cosmopolitan environment, and Gladwell argues that such an environment gave help along the way and allowed Oppenheimer to gain a social savvy that Langan lacked, and prevented him from progressing academically. He had had little or no guidance from his parents or his teachers, and never developed the social skills needed to cope with and overcome his challenges.^[1]^{: 108–115}

In 1999, Langan and others formed a non-profit corporation named the Mega Foundation for those with IQs of 164 or above.^[5]^[6]^[4] He went through litigation with the Mega Society over use of its name, Mega Society East, and his publication of a journal also called Noesis.^[7]^[8] He was required to cease use of the Mega Society East name but retained control of the Mega Foundation domain names.^[9] Under the auspices of the Mega Foundation, he sat on the Society of Fellows of the International Society for Complexity, Information, and Design (ISCID), an intelligent design advocacy organisation, until its dissolution.^[10]

In 2008, he appeared on the game show 1 vs. 100 and won $250,000.^[1] He used the proceeds to purchase a horse farm in Missouri, where he now lives with his wife Gina (née LoSasso), a clinical neuropsychologist.^[11]^{: 141, 147}

IQ testing

In 1986 Langan took an IQ test, the Mega Test, under the pseudonym of Eric Hart,^[12] his score admitting him to membership of the Hoeflin Research Group, later to become the Mega Society. He continued to use that pseudonym for some time in his membership of the Mega Society, and was listed in the Guinness Book of Records along with Marilyn vos Savant and Keith Raniere as one of just three people to have scored so highly on the test.^[13]^: 16 It later transpired that Langan, among others, had taken the Mega Test more than once by using a pseudonym. His first test score, under the name of Langan, was 42 out of 48 and his second attempt, as Hart, was 47.^[12] The Mega Test was designed only to be taken once.^[14]^[15] Membership of the Mega Society was meant to be for those with scores of 43 and upwards. A score of 42 on the Mega Test was originally designed to yield a predicted IQ value of 173-174, although data analysed from test takers led to a renorming of this and a 163-174 range^[15]^[12]. Further renorming work has suggested the range may be 159-169.^[16]

Mensa, the high IQ society, never accepted Mega Test scores for entry into the society.^[14] IQ testing at the tail of the normal distribution has been criticised as being dubious as there are insufficient normative cases upon which to base a statistically justified rank-ordering.^[17]^[18] The Mega Test, among other IQ tests, has been criticised for blurring specific domain knowledge with generalised intelligence, although "most psychologists can agree that they measure something valuable."^[19]

The Mega Test's attempt to measure high IQ at the tail of the normal distribution has been academically evaluated. Although it is an innovative attempt to create a test that would evaluate very high IQ, the nature of the test—self administered without time limit, which was chosen for pragmatic reasons—would not necessarily measure general intelligence, but could measure resourcefulness or some other factor. The frequent renorming of the test by its author was non standard but also innovative. Nevertheless it contained well known statistical flaws, such as sample self selection. The analysis could not therefore validate the conclusions. Attempts to eke out discrimination at the hundredth or thousandth percentile were clearly overwhelmed by the test's standard error, given that there were only 48 questions. The questions, too, were criticised for being structured with insufficient sensitivity to the detection of knowledge, because of the question format used. The test was thus described as not so much number crunching as "nothing short of number pulverisation".^[20]

In 1990 the Guinness book of records dropped the listing of highest IQ, deeming high IQ scores to be too unreliable to document.^[21]

Cognitive-Theoretic Model of the Universe

Langan has developed a hypothesis he terms the "Cognitive-Theoretic Model of the Universe" (CTMU)^[2]^[4]^[22] which he maintains "explains the connection between mind and reality, therefore the presence of cognition and universe in the same phrase".^[23] He self-published a book on this theory in 2002.^[24] He refers to this thesis as "a true 'theory of everything', a cross between John Archibald Wheeler's 'Participatory Universe' and Stephen Hawking's 'Imaginary Time' theory of cosmology,"^[2] additionally contending that with the CTMU he "can prove the existence of god, the soul and an afterlife, using mathematics."^[5]^[6]

Langan's thesis is a form of ontological idealism, and a particular form of idealism known as panpsychism. It is a synthesis of three ideas:

reality is made of information in the form of language: a syntactic grammar that exists in and of itself;
reality is transtemporal: things from one time can influence things in other times; and
reality, being a self simulation, contains a substrate of this information, a panconsciousness that emerges from within - that is, from the creator or simulator itself.^[25]^: 2

The concept of the universe as a self-simulation is not a new one. David Finkelstein introduced the modern formulation in The Space–Time Code (1969).^[25]^: 2^[26]

Personal views

Langan has spoken about his personal and political views in a series of interviews, and has published his views on various matters in the book FAQs About Reality (2021).^[27] Asked what he would do if he were in charge, Langan stated his first priority would be to set up an "anti-dysgenics" project, and would prevent people from "breeding as incontinently as they like."^[28]^: 18:45 He argues that this would be to practice "genetic hygiene to prevent genomic degradation and reverse evolution" owing to technological advances suspending the process of natural selection.^[27]^: §80

Langan's support of conspiracy theories, including the 9/11 Truther movement, as well as his opposition to interracial relationships, have contributed to his gaining a following among members of the alt-right and others on the far right.^[29]^[30] Langan has claimed that the George W. Bush administration staged the 9/11 attacks in order to distract the public from learning about the CTMU. Journalists have described some of Langan's Internet posts as containing "thinly veiled" antisemitism^[29] and making antisemitic "dog whistles".^[30]

In 2020, Langan endorsed Donald Trump for President of the United States.^[31]

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f Gladwell, Malcolm (2008). Outliers: The Story of Success. Little, Brown. ISBN 978-0-316-04034-1. Retrieved July 21, 2020.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e Sager, Mike (November 1, 1999). "The Smartest Man in America". Esquire. Archived from the original on February 25, 2020.
^ Livermore, Shawn (September 29, 2020). Average Joe: Be the Silicon Valley Tech Genius. John Wiley & Sons. ISBN 978-1-119-61887-4.
^ ^a ^b ^c Quain, John R. (November 2001). "Wise Guy". Popular Science. Bonnier Corporation: 64–67. ISSN 0161-7370.
^ ^a ^b McFadden, Cynthia (December 9, 1999). "The Smart Guy". 20/20. Archived from the original on August 17, 2000. Retrieved February 24, 2020.
^ ^a ^b "An Official Genius". 20/20. December 9, 1999. Archived from the original on August 17, 2000. Retrieved February 24, 2020.
^ Jacobsen, Scott Douglas (October 31, 2024). "Entemake Aman (阿曼) on American High-I.Q. Societies and Tests". The Good Men Project. Retrieved November 24, 2024.
^ Anderson, Leighton M.; Brady, David A. (March 25, 2003). "Mega Society Judgement" (PDF). Insight Publishing. Retrieved November 24, 2024.
^ Miranda, David P. (January 30, 2004). "ICANN National Arbitration Forum - Decision" (PDF). Insight Publishing. Retrieved November 24, 2024.
^ "ISCID - Fellows". May 10, 2013. Archived from the original on May 10, 2013. Retrieved November 25, 2024.
^ Feavel, Douglas (April 13, 2020). Uncommon Character: Stories of Ordinary Men and Women Who Have Done the Extraordinary. Aneko Press. ISBN 978-1-62245-688-8.
^ ^a ^b ^c Jacobsen, Scott Douglas (October 22, 2020). "Second Pass of the World Intelligence Network 3.13-4.8 Sigma Societies". News Intervention. Retrieved November 20, 2024.
^ McWhirter, Norris; McFarlan, Donald (1988). The Guinness book of records : 1989. Enfield, Middlesex : Guinness Pub. ISBN 978-0-85112-878-8. Retrieved November 18, 2024.
^ ^a ^b Morris, Scott (April 1985). "The One in a Million IQ Test". Omni Magazine. Retrieved November 18, 2024.
^ ^a ^b Miyaguchi, Darryl (November 1, 1997). "Mega Test Norms". miyaguchi.4sigma.org. Retrieved November 20, 2024. See note 5.
^ Jacobsen, Scott Douglas (January 3, 2021). "IQ Reportage in the Popular Media - Fads and Fun of a Dying Popularity". News Intervention. Retrieved November 20, 2024.
^ Perleth, Christoph; Schatz, Tanja; Mönks, Franz J. (2000). "Early Identification of High Ability". In Heller, Kurt A.; Mönks, Franz J.; Sternberg, Robert J.; et al. (eds.). International Handbook of Giftedness and Talent (2nd ed.). Amsterdam: Pergamon. p. 301. ISBN 978-0-08-043796-5. norm tables that provide you with such extreme values are constructed on the basis of random extrapolation and smoothing but not on the basis of empirical data of representative samples.
^ Urbina, Susana (2011). "Chapter 2: Tests of Intelligence". In Sternberg, Robert J.; Kaufman, Scott Barry (eds.). The Cambridge Handbook of Intelligence. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. pp. 20–38. ISBN 9780521739115. [Curve-fitting] is just one of the reasons to be suspicious of reported IQ scores much higher than 160
^ Aviv, Rachel (July 25, 2006). "The Intelligencer". The Village Voice. Retrieved November 18, 2024.
^ Carlson, Roger D. (1991). "The Mega Test". In Keyser, Daniel; Sweetland, Richard (eds.). Test Critiques. Vol. VIII. Kansas City (MO): Test Corporation of America. pp. 431–435. ISBN 0-89079-254-2. ISSN 1553-9121. Although the approach that Hoeflin takes is interesting, inventive, intellectually stimulating, and internally consistent, it violates many good psychometric principles by overinterpreting the weak data of a self-selected sample.
^ Saunders, Toby; Howard, Tilda (November 1, 2024). "This is the highest IQ recorded in the world in 2024". www.sciencefocus.com. Retrieved November 22, 2024.
^ Ray, Preston (November 15, 2006). "Meet the smartest man in America". KMOV. Archived from the original on June 7, 2007. Retrieved February 24, 2020.
^ Langan, Chris (December 10, 1999). "Off The Charts" (Interview). Interviewed by Aaron Henry. Archived from the original on August 16, 2000.
^ Langan, Christopher Michael (June 1, 2002). The Cognitive-Theoretic Model of the Universe: A New Kind of Reality Theory. Mega Foundation Press. ISBN 978-0-9719162-2-7.
^ ^a ^b Irwin, Klee; Amaral, Marcelo; Chester, David (February 21, 2020). "The Self-Simulation Hypothesis Interpretation of Quantum Mechanics". Entropy. 22 (2): 247. doi:10.3390/e22020247. PMC 7516678. PMID 33286021.
^ Finkelstein, David (August 25, 1969). "Space-Time Code". Physical Review. 184 (5): 1261–1271. doi:10.1103/PhysRev.184.1261.
^ ^a ^b Langan, Christopher Michael (January 31, 2021). FAQs About Reality: Chris Langan's Social Media Posts, Book 1: Quora. Mega Foundation Press.
^ Langan, Christopher (July 24, 2020). "First Person" (Interview). Interviewed by Errol Morris. Retrieved November 23, 2024.
^ ^a ^b Ward, Justin (March 18, 2019). "More Smarter". The Baffler. Retrieved June 7, 2020.
^ ^a ^b Feldman, Ari (March 20, 2019). "The Man With The World's Highest IQ, Christopher Langan, Is Gaining A Following On The Far Right". The Forward. Archived from the original on February 15, 2020. Retrieved February 24, 2020.
^ Logos Sogol (July 13, 2020). Christopher Langan on Donald Trump. Retrieved October 20, 2024 – via YouTube.

Primary Sources

Hart, Eric (April 1986). "Autobiographical Sketch" (PDF). Titania, the Journal of the Titan Society (2): 3.
Langan, Christopher Michael (June 1, 2002). The Cognitive-Theoretic Model of the Universe: A New Kind of Reality Theory. Mega Foundation Press. ISBN 978-0-9719162-2-7.
Langan, Christopher (July 24, 2020). "First Person" (Interview). Interviewed by Errol Morris. Retrieved November 23, 2024.
Langdon, Kevin (March 2002). "Reply to Glen Wooton". Noesis (156). Retrieved November 18, 2024.

External links

[Outliers-1] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f Gladwell, Malcolm (2008). Outliers: The Story of Success. Little, Brown. ISBN 978-0-316-04034-1. Retrieved July 21, 2020.

[Sager-2] Sager, Mike (November 1, 1999). "The Smartest Man in America". Esquire. Archived from the original on February 25, 2020.

[3] Livermore, Shawn (September 29, 2020). Average Joe: Be the Silicon Valley Tech Genius. John Wiley & Sons. ISBN 978-1-119-61887-4.

[Quain-4] Quain, John R. (November 2001). "Wise Guy". Popular Science. Bonnier Corporation: 64–67. ISSN 0161-7370.

[McFadden-5] McFadden, Cynthia (December 9, 1999). "The Smart Guy". 20/20. Archived from the original on August 17, 2000. Retrieved February 24, 2020.

[ABCNews-6] "An Official Genius". 20/20. December 9, 1999. Archived from the original on August 17, 2000. Retrieved February 24, 2020.

[7] Jacobsen, Scott Douglas (October 31, 2024). "Entemake Aman (阿曼) on American High-I.Q. Societies and Tests". The Good Men Project. Retrieved November 24, 2024.

[8] Anderson, Leighton M.; Brady, David A. (March 25, 2003). "Mega Society Judgement" (PDF). Insight Publishing. Retrieved November 24, 2024.

[9] Miranda, David P. (January 30, 2004). "ICANN National Arbitration Forum - Decision" (PDF). Insight Publishing. Retrieved November 24, 2024.

[10] "ISCID - Fellows". May 10, 2013. Archived from the original on May 10, 2013. Retrieved November 25, 2024.

[Feavel2020-11] Feavel, Douglas (April 13, 2020). Uncommon Character: Stories of Ordinary Men and Women Who Have Done the Extraordinary. Aneko Press. ISBN 978-1-62245-688-8.

[Jackson2020-12] Jacobsen, Scott Douglas (October 22, 2020). "Second Pass of the World Intelligence Network 3.13-4.8 Sigma Societies". News Intervention. Retrieved November 20, 2024.

[McWhirter1988-13] McWhirter, Norris; McFarlan, Donald (1988). The Guinness book of records : 1989. Enfield, Middlesex : Guinness Pub. ISBN 978-0-85112-878-8. Retrieved November 18, 2024.

[Morris1985-14] Morris, Scott (April 1985). "The One in a Million IQ Test". Omni Magazine. Retrieved November 18, 2024.

[Miyaguchi1997-15] Miyaguchi, Darryl (November 1, 1997). "Mega Test Norms". miyaguchi.4sigma.org. Retrieved November 20, 2024. See note 5.

[Jackson2021-16] Jacobsen, Scott Douglas (January 3, 2021). "IQ Reportage in the Popular Media - Fads and Fun of a Dying Popularity". News Intervention. Retrieved November 20, 2024.

[Perleth_Schatz_Mönks_page_301-17] Perleth, Christoph; Schatz, Tanja; Mönks, Franz J. (2000). "Early Identification of High Ability". In Heller, Kurt A.; Mönks, Franz J.; Sternberg, Robert J.; et al. (eds.). International Handbook of Giftedness and Talent (2nd ed.). Amsterdam: Pergamon. p. 301. ISBN 978-0-08-043796-5. norm tables that provide you with such extreme values are constructed on the basis of random extrapolation and smoothing but not on the basis of empirical data of representative samples.

[18] Urbina, Susana (2011). "Chapter 2: Tests of Intelligence". In Sternberg, Robert J.; Kaufman, Scott Barry (eds.). The Cambridge Handbook of Intelligence. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. pp. 20–38. ISBN 9780521739115. [Curve-fitting] is just one of the reasons to be suspicious of reported IQ scores much higher than 160

[Aviv2006-19] Aviv, Rachel (July 25, 2006). "The Intelligencer". The Village Voice. Retrieved November 18, 2024.

[TestCritiques-20] Carlson, Roger D. (1991). "The Mega Test". In Keyser, Daniel; Sweetland, Richard (eds.). Test Critiques. Vol. VIII. Kansas City (MO): Test Corporation of America. pp. 431–435. ISBN 0-89079-254-2. ISSN 1553-9121. Although the approach that Hoeflin takes is interesting, inventive, intellectually stimulating, and internally consistent, it violates many good psychometric principles by overinterpreting the weak data of a self-selected sample.

[21] Saunders, Toby; Howard, Tilda (November 1, 2024). "This is the highest IQ recorded in the world in 2024". www.sciencefocus.com. Retrieved November 22, 2024.

[:2-22] Ray, Preston (November 15, 2006). "Meet the smartest man in America". KMOV. Archived from the original on June 7, 2007. Retrieved February 24, 2020.

[Henry1999-23] Langan, Chris (December 10, 1999). "Off The Charts" (Interview). Interviewed by Aaron Henry. Archived from the original on August 16, 2000.

[24] Langan, Christopher Michael (June 1, 2002). The Cognitive-Theoretic Model of the Universe: A New Kind of Reality Theory. Mega Foundation Press. ISBN 978-0-9719162-2-7.

[Irwin2020-25] Irwin, Klee; Amaral, Marcelo; Chester, David (February 21, 2020). "The Self-Simulation Hypothesis Interpretation of Quantum Mechanics". Entropy. 22 (2): 247. doi:10.3390/e22020247. PMC 7516678. PMID 33286021.

[26] Finkelstein, David (August 25, 1969). "Space-Time Code". Physical Review. 184 (5): 1261–1271. doi:10.1103/PhysRev.184.1261.

[Langan2021-27] Langan, Christopher Michael (January 31, 2021). FAQs About Reality: Chris Langan's Social Media Posts, Book 1: Quora. Mega Foundation Press.

[Langan2020-28] Langan, Christopher (July 24, 2020). "First Person" (Interview). Interviewed by Errol Morris. Retrieved November 23, 2024.

[baffler-29] Ward, Justin (March 18, 2019). "More Smarter". The Baffler. Retrieved June 7, 2020.

[:0-30] Feldman, Ari (March 20, 2019). "The Man With The World's Highest IQ, Christopher Langan, Is Gaining A Following On The Far Right". The Forward. Archived from the original on February 15, 2020. Retrieved February 24, 2020.

[31] Logos Sogol (July 13, 2020). Christopher Langan on Donald Trump. Retrieved October 20, 2024 – via YouTube.

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-'''Christopher Michael Langan''' (born March 25, 1952) is an American [[Ranch#Ranch occupations|horse rancher]] and former bar bouncer, known for scoring highly on an IQ test that gained him entry to a high IQ society, and for being formerly listed in the Guinness Book of Records high IQ section under the pseudonym of '''Eric Hart''', alongside [[Marilyn vos Savant]]. The record was discontinued in 1990, as high IQs are considered too unreliable to document as world records. However, Langan then became a biographical subject in Malcolm Gladwell's book, ''Outliers: The Story of Success'' (2008), in which the journalist sought to understand why Langan's high IQ had not led to greater success in life. The book compared him with [[Robert Oppenheimer]], and focussed on their respective environments.
+'''Christopher Michael Langan''' (born March 25, 1952) is an American [[Ranch#Ranch occupations|horse rancher]] and former bar bouncer, known for scoring highly on an [[Intelligence quotient|IQ test]] that gained him entry to a high IQ society, and for being formerly listed in the Guinness Book of Records high IQ section under the pseudonym of '''Eric Hart''', alongside [[Marilyn vos Savant]] and [[Keith Raniere]]. The record was discontinued in 1990, as high IQs are considered too unreliable to document as world records. However, Langan then became a biographical subject in Malcolm Gladwell's book, ''Outliers: The Story of Success'' (2008), in which the journalist sought to understand why Langan's high IQ had not led to greater success in life. The book compared him with [[Robert Oppenheimer]], and focused on their respective environments.
-Langan has spent many years working on a hypothesis that reality is a self simulation. He calls the theory the Cognitive-Theoretic Model of the Universe (CTMU). The thesis is self published and Langan has no academic qualifications, having twice dropped out of college. He has been interviewed and self published his views on various matters, including his belief in eugenics to prevent genetic degradation in a technological world, opposition to inter-racial relationships, the [[9/11 Truth movement|9/11 Truther movement]] and other conspiracy theories that have gained him a following amongst the [[alt-right]].
+Langan has spent many years working on a hypothesis that reality is a self simulation. He calls the theory the Cognitive-Theoretic Model of the Universe (CTMU). The thesis is self published and Langan has no academic qualifications, having twice dropped out of college. He has been interviewed and has self published his views on various matters, including his belief in eugenics to prevent genetic degradation in a technological world, opposition to inter-racial relationships, the [[9/11 Truth movement|9/11 Truther movement]] and other conspiracy theories that have gained him a following amongst the [[alt-right]].
 ==Biography==
 Langan was born in 1952 in [[San Francisco]], [[California]]. His mother, Mary Langan-Hansen (''[[née]]'' Chappelle, 1932–2014), was the daughter of a wealthy shipping executive but was cut off from her family.  Langan's biological father left before he was born, and is said to have died in Mexico. Langan's mother married three more times, and had a son by each husband.  Her second husband was murdered, and her third killed himself. Langan grew up with the fourth husband Jack Langan, who has been described as a "failed journalist" who used a bullwhip as a disciplinary measure and went on drinking sprees, disappearing from the house, locking the kitchen cabinets so the four boys could not get to the food in them. The family was very poor; Langan recalls that they all had only one set of clothes each.  The family moved around, living for a while in a teepee on an Indian reservation, then later in [[Virginia City, Nevada]]. When the children were in grade school, the family moved to [[Bozeman, Montana]], where Langan spent most of his childhood.<ref name="Outliers">{{cite book |last1=Gladwell |first1=Malcolm |author-link1=Malcolm Gladwell |title=Outliers: The Story of Success |date=2008 |publisher=Little, Brown |isbn=978-0-316-04034-1 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qQc7AQAAQBAJ&q=langan |access-date=21 July 2020 |language=en}}</ref>{{rp|91–92}}
-Langan attended high school, but spent his last years engaged mostly in independent study. He did so after his teachers denied his request for more challenging material. According to Langan, he began  [[Autodidacticism|teaching himself]] "advanced math, physics, philosophy, Latin, and Greek".<ref name="Sager">{{cite web|url=https://classic.esquire.com/article/1999/11/1/the-smartest-man-in-america|title=The Smartest Man in America|last=Sager|first=Mike|date=November 1, 1999|work=[[Esquire (magazine)|Esquire]]|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200225011458/https://classic.esquire.com/article/1999/11/1/the-smartest-man-in-america|archive-date=February 25, 2020}}</ref> He earned a perfect score on the [[SAT]] (pre-1995 scale) despite taking a nap during the test.<ref name="Outliers" />{{rp|70–73}}
+Langan attended high school, but spent his last years engaged mostly in independent study. He did so after his teachers denied his request for more challenging material. According to Langan, he began  [[Autodidacticism|teaching himself]] "advanced math, physics, philosophy, Latin, and Greek".<ref name="Sager">{{cite web|url=https://classic.esquire.com/article/1999/11/1/the-smartest-man-in-america|title=The Smartest Man in America|last=Sager|first=Mike|date=November 1, 1999|work=[[Esquire (magazine)|Esquire]]|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200225011458/https://classic.esquire.com/article/1999/11/1/the-smartest-man-in-america|archive-date=February 25, 2020}}</ref> He earned a perfect score on the [[SAT]] despite taking a nap during the test.<ref name="Outliers" />{{rp|70–73}}
-Langan was offered two full scholarships, one to [[Reed College]] in Oregon and the other to the [[University of Chicago]]. He chose the former, which he later called "a big mistake". He had a "real case of culture shock" in the unfamiliar urban setting. He explains that he lost his scholarship after his mother did not send in the necessary financial information. Langan returned to Bozeman and worked as a [[United States Forest Service#Fighting fires|forest service]] [[firefighter]] for 18 months before enrolling at [[Montana State University–Bozeman]].<ref name="Outliers" />{{rp|93}} Faced with financial and transportation problems, and believing that he could teach his professors more than they could teach him, he [[Dropping out|dropped out]].<ref name=Sager/> He took a string of labor-intensive jobs for some time, and by his mid-40s had been a [[construction worker]], [[cowboy]], [[United States Forest Service|forest service ranger]], farmhand, and, for over twenty years, a [[bouncer (doorman)|bouncer]] on [[Long Island]].<ref name="Sager" /> He also worked for the [[technology company]] Virtual Logistix.<ref name="Quain">{{cite journal|author=Quain|first=John R.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VnsBuVJNwLQC&pg=PA64|title=Wise Guy|date=November 2001|journal=[[Popular Science]]|publisher=Bonnier Corporation|pages=64–67|issn=0161-7370}}</ref>
+Langan was offered two full scholarships, one to [[Reed College]] in Oregon and the other to the [[University of Chicago]].<ref name="Outliers" />{{rp|92}} He chose the former, which he later called "a big mistake". He had a "real case of culture shock" in the unfamiliar urban setting. He explained that in his first semester he earned all As but that he lost his scholarship after his mother did not send in the necessary financial information.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Livermore |first=Shawn |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Average_Joe/DIT4DwAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1 |title=Average Joe: Be the Silicon Valley Tech Genius |date=2020-09-29 |publisher=John Wiley & Sons |isbn=978-1-119-61887-4 |language=en}}</ref> Langan withdrew before final exams in his second semester and received all Fs.
+Langan returned to Bozeman and worked as a [[United States Forest Service#Fighting fires|forest service]] [[firefighter]] for 18 months before enrolling at [[Montana State University–Bozeman]].<ref name="Outliers" />{{rp|93}} Faced with financial and transportation problems, and believing that he could teach his professors more than they could teach him, he [[Dropping out|dropped out]].<ref name="Sager" /> He took a string of labor-intensive jobs for some time, and by his mid-40s had been a [[construction worker]], [[cowboy]], [[United States Forest Service|forest service ranger]], farmhand, and, for over twenty years, a [[bouncer (doorman)|bouncer]] on [[Long Island]].<ref name="Sager" /> He also worked for the [[technology company]] Virtual Logistix.<ref name="Quain">{{cite journal|author=Quain|first=John R.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VnsBuVJNwLQC&pg=PA64|title=Wise Guy|date=November 2001|journal=[[Popular Science]]|publisher=Bonnier Corporation|pages=64–67|issn=0161-7370}}</ref>
 In comparing the lack of academic and life success of Langan to the successes of [[Robert Oppenheimer]], journalist [[Malcolm Gladwell]], in his 2008 book ''[[Outliers (book)|Outliers]]'', points to the background and social skills of the two men. Oppenheimer was raised in a wealthy cosmopolitan environment, and Gladwell argues that such an environment gave help along the way and allowed Oppenheimer to gain a social savvy that Langan lacked, and prevented him from progressing academically. He had had little or no guidance from his parents or his teachers, and never developed the social skills needed to cope with and overcome his challenges.{{R|Outliers|pp=108-115}}
-In 1999, Langan and others formed a non-profit corporation named the Mega Foundation for those with IQs of 164 or above.<ref name="McFadden" /><ref name="ABCNews">{{cite news|date=December 9, 1999|title=An Official Genius|work=[[20/20 (American TV program)|20/20]]|url=https://abcnews.go.com/onair/2020/2020_991209_IQ_feature.html|url-status=dead|access-date=February 24, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20000817050529/https://abcnews.go.com/onair/2020/2020_991209_IQ_feature.html|archive-date=August 17, 2000}}</ref><ref name="Quain" /> He went through litigation with the Mega Society over use of its name, Mega Society East, and his publication of a journal also called Noesis.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Jacobsen |first1=Scott Douglas |title=Entemake Aman (阿曼) on American High-I.Q. Societies and Tests |url=https://goodmenproject.com/featured-content/entemake-aman-american-societies-tests-sjbn/ |access-date=24 November 2024 |work=The Good Men Project |date=31 October 2024}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Anderson |first1=Leighton M. |last2=Brady |first2=David A. |title=Mega Society Judgement |url=https://in-sightpublishing.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/mega-society-judgment-march-2003.pdf |date=25 March 2003 |publisher=Insight Publishing |access-date=24 November 2024}}</ref> He was required to cease use of the Mega Society East name but retained control of the Mega Foundation domain names.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Miranda |first1=David P. |title=ICANN National Arbitration Forum - Decision |url=https://in-sightpublishing.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/the-mega-society-v-mega-society-aka-webmaster-mega-web-complex-aka-mega-founda.pdf |publisher=Insight Publishing |date=30 January 2004|access-date=24 November 2024}}</ref> Under the auspices of the Mega Foundation, he sat on the Society of Fellows of the [[International Society for Complexity, Information, and Design]] (ISCID), an intelligence design advocacy organisation, until its dissolution.<ref>{{Cite web|title=ISCID - Fellows |url=http://www.iscid.org/fellows.php |date=10 May 2013 |access-date=25 November 2024 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130510051326/http://www.iscid.org/fellows.php |archive-date=May 10, 2013 }}</ref>
+In 1999, Langan and others formed a non-profit corporation named the Mega Foundation for those with IQs of 164 or above.<ref name="McFadden" /><ref name="ABCNews">{{cite news|date=December 9, 1999|title=An Official Genius|work=[[20/20 (American TV program)|20/20]]|url=https://abcnews.go.com/onair/2020/2020_991209_IQ_feature.html|url-status=dead|access-date=February 24, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20000817050529/https://abcnews.go.com/onair/2020/2020_991209_IQ_feature.html|archive-date=August 17, 2000}}</ref><ref name="Quain" /> He went through litigation with the [[Ronald_K._Hoeflin#Societies_Founded_by_Ronald_Hoeflin|Mega Society]] over use of its name, Mega Society East, and his publication of a journal also called Noesis.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Jacobsen |first1=Scott Douglas |title=Entemake Aman (阿曼) on American High-I.Q. Societies and Tests |url=https://goodmenproject.com/featured-content/entemake-aman-american-societies-tests-sjbn/ |access-date=24 November 2024 |work=The Good Men Project |date=31 October 2024}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Anderson |first1=Leighton M. |last2=Brady |first2=David A. |title=Mega Society Judgement |url=https://in-sightpublishing.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/mega-society-judgment-march-2003.pdf |date=25 March 2003 |publisher=Insight Publishing |access-date=24 November 2024}}</ref> He was required to cease use of the Mega Society East name but retained control of the Mega Foundation domain names.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Miranda |first1=David P. |title=ICANN National Arbitration Forum - Decision |url=https://in-sightpublishing.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/the-mega-society-v-mega-society-aka-webmaster-mega-web-complex-aka-mega-founda.pdf |publisher=Insight Publishing |date=30 January 2004|access-date=24 November 2024}}</ref> Under the auspices of the Mega Foundation, he sat on the Society of Fellows of the [[International Society for Complexity, Information, and Design]] (ISCID), an [[intelligent design]] advocacy organisation, until its dissolution.<ref>{{Cite web|title=ISCID - Fellows |url=http://www.iscid.org/fellows.php |date=10 May 2013 |access-date=25 November 2024 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130510051326/http://www.iscid.org/fellows.php |archive-date=May 10, 2013 }}</ref>
 In 2008, he appeared on the game show ''[[1 vs. 100 (American game show)|1 vs. 100]]'' and won $250,000.<ref name="Outliers" /> He used the proceeds to purchase a horse farm in [[Missouri]], where he now lives with his wife [[Gina Lynne LoSasso|Gina]] ({{née|LoSasso}}), a [[clinical neuropsychologist]].{{R|Feavel2020|pp=141,147}}
@@ Line 41: / Line 43: @@
 ==IQ testing==
+In 1986 Langan took an IQ test, the Mega Test, under the pseudonym of Eric Hart,{{R|Jackson2020}} his score admitting him to membership of the Hoeflin Research Group, later to become the Mega Society. He continued to use that pseudonym for some time in his membership of the Mega Society, and was listed in the Guinness Book of Records along with Marilyn vos Savant and Keith Raniere as one of just three people to have scored so highly on the test.{{R|McWhirter1988|p=16}} It later transpired that Langan, among others, had taken the Mega Test more than once by using a pseudonym. His first test score, under the name of Langan, was 42 out of 48 and his second attempt, as Hart, was 47.{{R|Jackson2020}} The Mega Test was designed only to be taken once.{{R|Morris1985}}<ref name="Miyaguchi1997">{{cite web |last1=Miyaguchi |first1=Darryl |title=Mega Test Norms |url=http://miyaguchi.4sigma.org/hoeflin/meganorm.html |website=miyaguchi.4sigma.org |access-date=20 November 2024|date=1 November 1997}} See note 5.</ref> Membership of the Mega Society was meant to be for those with scores of 43 and upwards. A score of 42 on the Mega Test was originally designed to yield a predicted IQ value of 173-174, although data analysed from test takers led to a renorming of this and a 163-174 range{{R|Miyaguchi1997}}{{R|Jackson2020}}. Further renorming work has suggested the range may be 159-169.{{R|Jackson2021}}
-<!-- earlier testing may need to go here but no sources currently found-->
-In 1986 Langan took an IQ test, the Mega Test, under the pseudonym of Eric Hart,{{R|Jackson2020}} his score admitting him to membership of the exclusive Hoeflin Research Group, later to become the [[Mega Society]]. He continued to use that pseudonym for some time in his membership of the Mega Society, and was listed in the Guinness Book of Records as one of just three people to have scored so highly on the test.{{R|McWhirter1988|p=16}} It later transpired that Langan, among others, had taken the Mega Test more than once by using a pseudonym. His first test score, under the name of Langan, was 42 out of 48 and his second attempt, as Hart, was 47.{{R|Jackson2020}} The Mega Test was designed only to be taken once.{{R|Morris1985}}<ref name="Miyaguchi1997">{{cite web |last1=Miyaguchi |first1=Darryl |title=Mega Test Norms |url=http://miyaguchi.4sigma.org/hoeflin/meganorm.html |website=miyaguchi.4sigma.org |access-date=20 November 2024|date=1 November 1997}} See note 5.</ref> Membership of the Mega Society was meant to be for those with scores of 43 and upwards. A score of 42 on the Mega Test was originally designed to yield a predicted IQ value of 173-174, although data analysed from test takers led to a renorming of this and a 163-174 range{{R|Miyaguchi1997}}{{R|Jackson2020}}. Further renorming work has suggested the range may be 159-169.{{R|Jackson2021}}
-[[Mensa International|Mensa]], the high IQ society, never accepted Mega Test scores for entry into the society.{{R|Morris1985}} IQ testing at the tail of the normal distribution has been criticised as being dubious as there are insufficient normative cases upon which to base a statistically justified rank-ordering.<ref name="Perleth Schatz Mönks page 301">{{cite book |last1=Perleth |first1=Christoph |last2=Schatz |first2=Tanja |last3=Mönks |first3=Franz J. |title=International Handbook of Giftedness and Talent |editor1-last=Heller |editor1-first=Kurt A. |editor2-last=Mönks |editor2-first=Franz J. |editor3-last=Sternberg |editor3-first=Robert J. |display-editors = 3 |editor4-last=Subotnik |editor4-first=Rena F. |editor3-link=Robert Sternberg |edition=2nd |year=2000 |publisher=Pergamon |location=Amsterdam |isbn=978-0-08-043796-5 |page=301 |chapter=Early Identification of High Ability |quote=norm tables that provide you with such extreme values are constructed on the basis of random extrapolation and smoothing but not on the basis of empirical data of representative samples.}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Urbina |first=Susana |title=The Cambridge Handbook of Intelligence |editor1-last=Sternberg |editor1-first=Robert J. |editor1-link=Robert Sternberg |editor2-last=Kaufman |editor2-first=Scott Barry |year=2011 |chapter=Chapter 2: Tests of Intelligence |pages=20–38 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |location=Cambridge |isbn=9780521739115 |quote=[Curve-fitting] is just one of the reasons to be suspicious of reported IQ scores much higher than 160 }}</ref> Very high or very low IQ scores are less reliable than IQ scores nearer to the population median.<ref>{{Cite book |title=Identification: The Theory and Practice of Identifying Students for Gifted and Talented Education Services |last1=Lohman |first1=David F. |last2=Foley Nicpon |first2=Megan |editor-last=Hunsaker |editor-first=Scott |chapter=Chapter 12: Ability Testing & Talent Identification |pages=287–386 |chapter-url=https://faculty.education.uiowa.edu/docs/default-source/dlohman/ability-testing-and-talent-identification.pdf?sfvrsn=0 |year=2012 |publisher=Prufrock |location=Waco (TX) |isbn=978-1-931280-17-4 |quote=The concerns associated with SEMs [standard errors of measurement] are actually substantially worse for scores at the extremes of the distribution, especially when scores approach the maximum possible on a test ... when students answer most of the items correctly. In these cases, errors of measurement for scale scores will increase substantially at the extremes of the distribution. Commonly the SEM is from two to four times larger for very high scores than for scores near the mean (Lord, 1980).}}</ref> The Mega Test, among other IQ tests, has been criticised for blurring specific domain knowledge with generalised intelligence, although "most psychologists can agree that they measure something valuable."{{R|Aviv2006}}
+[[Mensa International|Mensa]], the high IQ society, never accepted Mega Test scores for entry into the society.{{R|Morris1985}} IQ testing at the tail of the normal distribution has been criticised as being dubious as there are insufficient normative cases upon which to base a statistically justified rank-ordering.<ref name="Perleth Schatz Mönks page 301">{{cite book |last1=Perleth |first1=Christoph |last2=Schatz |first2=Tanja |last3=Mönks |first3=Franz J. |title=International Handbook of Giftedness and Talent |editor1-last=Heller |editor1-first=Kurt A. |editor2-last=Mönks |editor2-first=Franz J. |editor3-last=Sternberg |editor3-first=Robert J. |display-editors = 3 |editor4-last=Subotnik |editor4-first=Rena F. |editor3-link=Robert Sternberg |edition=2nd |year=2000 |publisher=Pergamon |location=Amsterdam |isbn=978-0-08-043796-5 |page=301 |chapter=Early Identification of High Ability |quote=norm tables that provide you with such extreme values are constructed on the basis of random extrapolation and smoothing but not on the basis of empirical data of representative samples.}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Urbina |first=Susana |title=The Cambridge Handbook of Intelligence |editor1-last=Sternberg |editor1-first=Robert J. |editor1-link=Robert Sternberg |editor2-last=Kaufman |editor2-first=Scott Barry |year=2011 |chapter=Chapter 2: Tests of Intelligence |pages=20–38 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |location=Cambridge |isbn=9780521739115 |quote=[Curve-fitting] is just one of the reasons to be suspicious of reported IQ scores much higher than 160 }}</ref> The Mega Test, among other IQ tests, has been criticised for blurring specific domain knowledge with generalised intelligence, although "most psychologists can agree that they measure something valuable."{{R|Aviv2006}}
 The Mega Test's attempt to measure high IQ at the tail of the normal distribution has been academically evaluated. Although it is an innovative attempt to create a test that would evaluate very high IQ, the nature of the test—self administered without time limit, which was chosen for pragmatic reasons—would not necessarily measure general intelligence, but could measure resourcefulness or some other factor. The frequent renorming of the test by its author was non standard but also innovative. Nevertheless it contained well known statistical flaws, such as sample self selection. The analysis could not therefore validate the conclusions. Attempts to eke out discrimination at the hundredth or thousandth percentile were clearly overwhelmed by the test's standard error, given that there were only 48 questions. The questions, too, were criticised for being structured with insufficient sensitivity to the detection of knowledge, because of the question format used. The test was thus described as not so much number crunching as "nothing short of number pulverisation".<ref name="TestCritiques">{{Cite book|last=Carlson|first=Roger D.|title=Test Critiques|publisher=Test Corporation of America|year=1991|isbn=0-89079-254-2|editor1-last=Keyser|editor1-first=Daniel|volume=VIII|location=Kansas City (MO)|pages=431&ndash;435|chapter=The Mega Test|issn=1553-9121|quote=Although the approach that Hoeflin takes is interesting, inventive, intellectually stimulating, and internally consistent, it violates many good psychometric principles by overinterpreting the weak data of a self-selected sample.|editor2-last=Sweetland|editor2-first=Richard}}</ref>
@@ Line 53: / Line 54: @@
 ==Cognitive-Theoretic Model of the Universe<!--'Cognitive-theoretic model of the universe', 'Cognitive-Theoretic Model of the Universe' and 'CTMU' redirect here-->==
-Langan has developed a hypothesis he terms the "'''Cognitive-Theoretic Model of the Universe'''<!--boldface per WP:R#PLA-->" ('''CTMU'''<!--boldface per WP:R#PLA-->)<ref name="Sager" /><ref name="Quain" /><ref name=":2">{{Cite news|last=Ray|first=Preston|url=http://www.kmov.com/topstories/stories/kmov_localnews_061115_genius.3f6953ad.html|title=Meet the smartest man in America|date=November 15, 2006|work=[[KMOV]]|access-date=February 24, 2020|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070607171146/http://www.kmov.com/topstories/stories/kmov_localnews_061115_genius.3f6953ad.html|archive-date=June 7, 2007}}</ref> which he maintains "explains the connection between [[mind]] and [[reality]], therefore the presence of cognition and universe in the same phrase".<ref name="Henry1999">{{Cite interview|last=Langan|first=Chris|interviewer=Aaron Henry|title=Off The Charts|url=http://www.abcnews.go.com/onair/2020/2020_991210_iq_chat.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20000816004851/http://www.abcnews.go.com/onair/2020/2020_991210_iq_chat.html|archive-date=August 16, 2000|date=December 10, 1999}}</ref> He refers to this thesis as "a true '[[theory of everything (philosophy)|theory of everything]]', a cross between [[John Archibald Wheeler]]'s '[[Anthropic principle|Participatory Universe]]' and [[Stephen Hawking]]'s '[[Imaginary time|Imaginary Time]]' theory of cosmology,"<ref name="Sager" /> additionally contending that with the CTMU he "can prove the existence of [[god]], the [[soul]] and an [[afterlife]], using [[mathematics]]."<ref name="McFadden" /><ref name="ABCNews" />
+Langan has developed a hypothesis he terms the "'''Cognitive-Theoretic Model of the Universe'''<!--boldface per WP:R#PLA-->" ('''CTMU''')<ref name="Sager" /><ref name="Quain" /><ref name=":2">{{Cite news|last=Ray|first=Preston|url=http://www.kmov.com/topstories/stories/kmov_localnews_061115_genius.3f6953ad.html|title=Meet the smartest man in America|date=November 15, 2006|work=[[KMOV]]|access-date=February 24, 2020|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070607171146/http://www.kmov.com/topstories/stories/kmov_localnews_061115_genius.3f6953ad.html|archive-date=June 7, 2007}}</ref> which he maintains "explains the connection between [[mind]] and [[reality]], therefore the presence of cognition and universe in the same phrase".<ref name="Henry1999">{{Cite interview|last=Langan|first=Chris|interviewer=Aaron Henry|title=Off The Charts|url=http://www.abcnews.go.com/onair/2020/2020_991210_iq_chat.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20000816004851/http://www.abcnews.go.com/onair/2020/2020_991210_iq_chat.html|archive-date=August 16, 2000|date=December 10, 1999}}</ref> He self-published a book on this theory in 2002.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Langan |first1=Christopher Michael |url=https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/The_Cognitive_Theoretic_Model_of_the_Uni/WM35DwAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=0971916225&printsec=frontcover |title=The Cognitive-Theoretic Model of the Universe: A New Kind of Reality Theory |date=1 June 2002 |publisher=Mega Foundation Press |isbn=978-0-9719162-2-7 |language=en}}</ref> He refers to this thesis as "a true '[[theory of everything (philosophy)|theory of everything]]', a cross between [[John Archibald Wheeler]]'s '[[Anthropic principle|Participatory Universe]]' and [[Stephen Hawking]]'s '[[Imaginary time|Imaginary Time]]' theory of cosmology,"<ref name="Sager" /> additionally contending that with the CTMU he "can prove the existence of [[god]], the [[soul]] and an [[afterlife]], using [[mathematics]]."<ref name="McFadden" /><ref name="ABCNews" />
 Langan's thesis is a form of ontological [[idealism]], and a particular form of idealism known as [[panpsychism]]. It is a synthesis of three ideas:
@@ Line 60: / Line 61: @@
 # reality, being a self simulation, contains a substrate of this information, a panconsciousness that emerges from within - that is, from the creator or simulator itself.{{R|Irwin2020|p=2}}
-The concept of the universe as self-simulation is not a new one. [[David Finkelstein]] introduced the modern formulation in ''The Space–Time Code'' (1969).{{R|Irwin2020|p=2}}<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Finkelstein |first1=David |title=Space-Time Code |journal=Physical Review |date=25 August 1969 |volume=184 |issue=5 |pages=1261–1271 |doi=10.1103/PhysRev.184.1261}}</ref> Langan does not have any academic credentials and has self published his works.<ref>{{Cite web |date=26 June 2024 |title=The smartest man in the world: This is how Christopher Langan lives, who is the most intelligent person on the planet |url=https://telegrafi.com/en/njeriu-zgjuar-ne-bote-keshtu-jeton-christopher-langan-cili-eshte-personi-inteligjent-ne-planet/ |access-date=2024-11-16 |website=Telegrafi |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Langan |first1=Christopher Michael |title=The Cognitive-Theoretic Model of the Universe: A New Kind of Reality Theory |date=1 June 2002 |publisher=Mega Foundation Press |isbn=978-0-9719162-2-7 |url=https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/The_Cognitive_Theoretic_Model_of_the_Uni/WM35DwAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=0971916225&printsec=frontcover |language=en}}</ref>
+The concept of the universe as a self-simulation is not a new one. [[David Finkelstein]] introduced the modern formulation in ''The Space–Time Code'' (1969).{{R|Irwin2020|p=2}}<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Finkelstein |first1=David |title=Space-Time Code |journal=Physical Review |date=25 August 1969 |volume=184 |issue=5 |pages=1261–1271 |doi=10.1103/PhysRev.184.1261}}</ref>
 ==Personal views==
@@ Line 81: / Line 82: @@
 <ref name="Jackson2021">{{cite news |last1=Jacobsen |first1=Scott Douglas |title=IQ Reportage in the Popular Media - Fads and Fun of a Dying Popularity |url=https://www.newsintervention.com/iq-reportage/ |access-date=20 November 2024 |work=News Intervention |date=3 January 2021}}</ref>
 <ref name="Morris1985">{{cite news |last1=Morris |first1=Scott |title=The One in a Million IQ Test |url=https://www.williamflew.com/omni79d.html |access-date=18 November 2024 |work=Omni Magazine |date=April 1985 |language=en}}</ref>
+}}{{refbegin}}
-}}
+*<!-- Not about Langan but about Hoflein's mega society. Langan's involvement with that society being the principal source of claims to very high IQ -->
+*<!-- Critique of the Mega Test "Although the approach that Hoeflin takes is interesting, inventive, intellectually stimulating, and internally consistent, it violates many good psychometric principles by overinterpreting the weak data of a self-selected sample." -->
-==Bibliography==
+*<!-- Christian publisher. Biographical information applied uncritically and unverified. Contains errors.  -->
-{{refbegin}}
+*<!-- reliable source that provides background from his early life that apepars to be based on his own accounts and that of his family. Account of his winning 250,000 in a game show. Unrelated account of a different high IQ child. Some suggestion that the 195 IQ may have been measured in childhood but no detail, sourcing or verification. Personal history needs caution as that was not independent nor verified. Multiple sources quote this source. -->
-*{{cite news |last1=Aviv |first1=Rachel |title=The Intelligencer |url=https://www.villagevoice.com/the-intelligencer/ |access-date=18 November 2024 |work=The Village Voice |date=25 July 2006}}<!-- Not about Langan but about Hoflein's mega society. Langan's involvement with that society being the principal source of claims to very high IQ -->
-*{{Cite book|last=Carlson|first=Roger D.|title=Test Critiques|publisher=Test Corporation of America|year=1991|isbn=0-89079-254-2|editor1-last=Keyser|editor1-first=Daniel|volume=VIII|location=Kansas City (MO)|pages=431&ndash;435|chapter=The Mega Test|issn=1553-9121|editor2-last=Sweetland|editor2-first=Richard}}<!-- Critique of the Mega Test "Although the approach that Hoeflin takes is interesting, inventive, intellectually stimulating, and internally consistent, it violates many good psychometric principles by overinterpreting the weak data of a self-selected sample." -->
-*{{cite book |last1=Feavel |first1=Douglas |title=Uncommon Character: Stories of Ordinary Men and Women Who Have Done the Extraordinary |date=13 April 2020 |publisher=Aneko Press |isbn=978-1-62245-688-8 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cQjcDwAAQBAJ&dq=%22Christopher+Langan%22+-wikipedia&pg=PA141 }}<!-- Christian publisher. Biographical information applied uncritically and unverified. Contains errors.  -->
-*{{cite book |last1=Gladwell |first1=Malcolm |title=Outliers: The Story of Success |date=18 November 2008 |publisher=Little, Brown |isbn=978-0-316-04034-1 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qQc7AQAAQBAJ |language=en}}<!-- reliable source that provides background from his early life that apepars to be based on his own accounts and that of his family. Account of his winning 250,000 in a game show. Unrelated account of a different high IQ child. Some suggestion that the 195 IQ may have been measured in childhood but no detail, sourcing or verification. Personal history needs caution as that was not independent nor verified. Multiple sources quote this source. -->
 <!--I-->
-*{{cite journal |last1=Irwin |first1=Klee |last2=Amaral |first2=Marcelo |last3=Chester |first3=David |title=The Self-Simulation Hypothesis Interpretation of Quantum Mechanics |journal=Entropy |date=21 February 2020 |volume=22 |issue=2 |pages=247 |doi=10.3390/e22020247|doi-access=free |pmid=33286021 |pmc=7516678 }}<!--Article with 43 citations published in MDPI Entropy special edition. That is an open access journal, but publishes articles by respected authors. The source briefly discusses Lanagan's work as it relates to their own self simulation hypothesis. That provides a suitable and neutral academic summary from which we can describe CMTU -->
+*<!--Article with 43 citations published in MDPI Entropy special edition. That is an open access journal, but publishes articles by respected authors. The source briefly discusses Lanagan's work as it relates to their own self simulation hypothesis. That provides a suitable and neutral academic summary from which we can describe CMTU -->
 <!--J-->
+*
-*{{cite news |last1=Jacobsen |first1=Scott Douglas |title=Second Pass of the World Intelligence Network 3.13-4.8 Sigma Societies |url=https://www.newsintervention.com/second-pass-of-the-world-intelligence-network-3-13-4-8-sigma-societies/ |access-date=20 November 2024 |work=News Intervention |date=22 October 2020}}
+*
-*{{cite news |last1=Jacobsen |first1=Scott Douglas |title=IQ Reportage in the Popular Media - Fads and Fun of a Dying Popularity |url=https://www.newsintervention.com/iq-reportage/ |access-date=20 November 2024 |work=News Intervention |date=3 January 2021}}
 <!--L-->
-*{{cite book |last1=Livermore |first1=Shawn |title=Average Joe: Be the Silicon Valley Tech Genius |date=29 September 2020 |publisher=John Wiley & Sons |isbn=978-1-119-61887-4 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DIT4DwAAQBAJ&dq=%22Christopher+Langan%22+-wikipedia&pg=PA38 |language=en}}<!-- Reliable source looking at the nature of Genius. Discusses Langan on page 38. Sceptical look. "His story has a weird smell to it". References 30 individuals with very high IQs based on the scoring used for vos Savant.  -->
+*<!-- Reliable source looking at the nature of Genius. Discusses Langan on page 38. Sceptical look. "His story has a weird smell to it". References 30 individuals with very high IQs based on the scoring used for vos Savant.  -->
-*{{cite book |last1=McWhirter |first1=Norris |last2=McFarlan |first2=Donald |title=The Guinness book of records : 1989 |date=1988 |publisher=Enfield, Middlesex : Guinness Pub. |isbn=978-0-85112-878-8 |url=https://archive.org/details/guinnessbookofre00dona/page/16/mode/2up?q=Hart |access-date=18 November 2024}}<!-- Old version of Guiniess book of records, that listed vos Savant as the highest scoring on the mega test (45) and suggesting Hart (Langan) and one other had scored over 45 (but not necessarily on first attempt). -->
+*<!-- Old version of Guiniess book of records, that listed vos Savant as the highest scoring on the mega test (45) and suggesting Hart (Langan) and one other had scored over 45 (but not necessarily on first attempt). -->
 ==Primary Sources==
 *{{cite journal |last1=Hart |first1=Eric |title=Autobiographical Sketch |journal=Titania, the Journal of the Titan Society |date=April 1986 |issue=2 |page=3 |url=https://megasociety.org/noesis/pre_noesis/02_titania.pdf}}<!-- Langan took the Mega Society test under the pseudonym Eric Hart. Unverified sources suggest he scored 42 on his first attempt, retook it and scored 47 out of 48. It is unclear how this was used to compute his IQ, nor why it is computed higher than others who scored the same. This sketch appears to have been provided on election to the society. -->
 *{{cite book |last1=Langan |first1=Christopher Michael |title=The Cognitive-Theoretic Model of the Universe: A New Kind of Reality Theory |date=1 June 2002 |publisher=Mega Foundation Press |isbn=978-0-9719162-2-7 |language=en}}<!-- Mega Foundation Press is his own self publishing imprint -->
-*{{cite interview  |interviewer=Errol Morris|last1=Langan |first1=Christopher |title=First Person |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6WKsr4b_7NY |access-date=23 November 2024 |date=24 July 2020}}<!-- First Person interview -->
+*{{cite interview |interviewer=Errol Morris |last1=Langan |first1=Christopher |title=First Person |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6WKsr4b_7NY |access-date=23 November 2024 |date=24 July 2020}}<!-- First Person interview -->
+*<!-- Primary source material for Langan's views -->
-*{{cite book |last1=Langan |first1=Christopher Michael |title=FAQs About Reality: Chris Langan's Social Media Posts, Book 1: Quora |date=31 January 2021 |publisher=Mega Foundation Press |url=https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/FAQs_About_Reality_Chris_Langan_s_Social/8mdCEAAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=christopher+langan&pg=PA79&printsec=frontcover |language=en}}<!-- Primary source material for Langan's views -->
 *{{cite journal |last1=Langdon |first1=Kevin |title=Reply to Glen Wooton |journal=Noesis |date=March 2002 |issue=156 |url=https://www.megasociety.net/noesis/156/kl_to_gw |access-date=18 November 2024}}<!-- Speaks to a high score on a test other than the mega test -->
-*{{cite web |last1=Miyaguchi |first1=Darryl |title=Mega Test Norms |url=http://miyaguchi.4sigma.org/hoeflin/meganorm.html |website=miyaguchi.4sigma.org |date=1 November 1997|access-date=18 November 2024}}<!-- see footnote 5. "As of the date of this norming, Ron still believed that "Eric Hart's" score of 47 was a result of a first attempt at the Mega. Marilyn vos Savant's first-attempt score is shown as the sole 46 (DTM)." - confirming that Langan's first attempt at tthe test was lower (42 according to another self published source). The Mega Test instuctions state it may only be taken once. -->
+*<!-- see footnote 5. "As of the date of this norming, Ron still believed that "Eric Hart's" score of 47 was a result of a first attempt at the Mega. Marilyn vos Savant's first-attempt score is shown as the sole 46 (DTM)." - confirming that Langan's first attempt at tthe test was lower (42 according to another self published source). The Mega Test instuctions state it may only be taken once. -->
+*{{refend}}
-*{{cite news |last1=Morris |first1=Scott |title=The One in a Million IQ Test |url=https://www.williamflew.com/omni79d.html |access-date=18 November 2024 |work=Omni Magazine |date=April 1985 |language=en}}<!-- The megatest -->
-{{refend}}
 ==External links==
@@ Line 113: / Line 110: @@
 {{Authority control}}
+{{High IQ|state=collapsed}}
 {{DEFAULTSORT:Langan, Christoper Michael}}

v t e High IQ
Topics	Intelligence quotient Levels of measurement: Ordinal scale IQ classification Intellectual giftedness Human intelligence Standardized testing
High IQ societies	Mensa International (top 2%) Intertel (top 1%) Triple Nine Society (top 0.1%)
Testing	Stanford–Binet Intelligence Scales Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children Raven's Progressive Matrices Cattell Culture Fair III
Figures in high IQ research	Lewis Terman Leta Stetter Hollingworth Camilla Benbow and David Lubinski
Longitudinal studies	Terman Study of the Gifted Study of Mathematically Precocious Youth Study of Exceptional Talent
Related	Densa