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Christopher Michael Langan (born c. 1957) is an American autodidact who says that he taught himself mathematics, physics, cosmology and the cognitive sciences. Various media sources report Langan as having an estimated IQ of 195, which approximately correlates to the 99.9999998548th percentile. For example, 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. Langan appeared in filmmaker Errol Morris' The Smartest Man in the World episode of the television documentary series "First Person." Langan also appeared in one episode of Walker, Texas Ranger.

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. 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. In 2001 Langan was featured in Popular Science magazine, where he discussed a concept he developed and promotes which he calls the "Cognitive-Theoretic Model of the Universe" (CTMU).

Intelligent design

Langan and his wife Dr. Gina Langan (nee LoSasso) are fellows of the International Society for Complexity, Information and Design (ISCID), a professional society whose stated purpose is to investigate complex systems using information- and design-theoretic concepts. The ISCID promotes intelligent design, the controversial idea that there is scientific evidence for design in life. In 2002, Langan published in the society's online journal a 56-page paper, "The Cognitive-Theoretic Model of the Universe: A New Kind of Reality Theory". Later that year, Langan gave a twenty-minute talk with the same title at the ISCID's Research and Progress in Intelligent Design (RAPID) conference. In 2004, Langan contributed a chapter to the book Uncommon Dissent, a collection of essays edited by William Dembski whose authors include leading figures in the intelligent design movement.

The CTMU says that while reality's self-selection amounts to "a cosmic form of natural selection", it also bears description as "intelligent self-design", so that reality is its own "designer", evolving by purposeful self-selection and self-replication from a background of unbound potential. In Uncommon Dissent, Langan argues that neo-Darwinism and intelligent design theory, as theories of biological origins and evolution and therefore of biological causality, ultimately require a model of nature and causality accounting for the laws of nature and their role in natural processes. He contends that both neo-Darwinism and ID theory are currently deficient in this regard, and describes what he sees as a number of problems with the causality concept itself. As a solution to these problems and a model of nature and causality, he proposes the CTMU and its Self-Configuring Self-Processing Language (SCSPL). The CTMU, he says, synthesizes neo-Darwinism and ID theory, providing a reconciliatory framework in which teleology and evolution co-exist in a new approach to biological origins and evolution he calls "Teleologic Evolution".

Asked about creationism, Langan has said:

Regarding evolution and creationism, the linkage is simple: since Biblical accounts of the genesis of our world and species are true but metaphorical, our task is to correctly decipher the metaphor in light of scientific evidence also given to us by God. Hence, the CTMU.

I believe in the theory of evolution, but I believe as well in the allegorical truth of creation theory. In other words, I believe that evolution, including the principle of natural selection, is one of the tools used by God to create mankind. Mankind is then a participant in the creation of the universe itself, so that we have a closed loop. I believe that there is a level on which science and religious metaphor are mutually compatible.

Langan has said he does not belong to any religious denomination, explaining that he "can't afford to let logical approach to theology be prejudiced by religious dogma." He calls himself "a respecter of all faiths, among peoples everywhere."

The Mega Foundation

In 1999, the Langans, along with theoretical physicist Dr. Robert N. Seitz, formerly of NASA , created the Mega Foundation, a non-profit corporation established to "create and implement programs that aid in the development of severely gifted individuals and their ideas."

Mega Society lawsuit

In 2002 the owners of the Mega Society, a high IQ society, filed suit against Langan and his wife, Gina LoSasso, for unauthorized use of the society's trademarks and trade names. The Langans had been active members of the society but in October 1997 left the organization and formed their own competing organization declaring itself to be the official Mega Society. Later they defined their group as a faction of the Mega Society under the names Mega Society-East and Mega Society-East Coast Faction. They also named their group's journal Noesis-E (E standing for electronic version) to resemble Noesis, the journal of the original Mega Society then published only in hard copy. Langan and LoSasso defended their actions in the original Noesis. The owners of the Mega Society contended that the Langan's use of the name "Mega Society" for an organization with a journal, policies and purposes similar to that of their own constituted bad faith, and sought relief in the courts after negotiations with Langan proved fruitless.

The litigation brought against the Langans resulted in a California Superior Court issuing a ruling enjoining the Langans from any use of the Mega Society name and trademark. Also challenged was the Langans use of the domain names "megasociety.net" and "megasociety.com" which had been registered by Langan's wife in her name. A National Arbitration Forum ruling then forced the Langans to release those domains to the Mega Society. After the California Superior Court ruling and release of domain names to the Mega Society, the Langans retained the domains megafoundation.net and megafoundation.org and maintained ownership of another hi-IQ organization using the "Mega" moniker that they named the Mega Foundation along with its journal Noeon.

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. De La Jara, Rodrigo. "IQ Percentile and Rarity Chart". IQ Comparison Site.
7. According to 20/20
8. McFadden, Cynthia. (December 9, 1999). "The Smart Guy". 20/20
9. Morris, Errol. (August 14, 2001). "The Smartest Man in the World". First Person
10. Chris Langan] Internet Movie Database.
11. Langan, C M (2001), Chris Langan answers your questions. New York Newsday, September, 2001, Melville, NY
12. Langan, C M (2000-2001). HiQ. Improper Hamptonian. Westhampton Beach, NY
13. 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.
14. Quain, John R. (October 14, 2001). "Wise Guy". Popular Science.
15. ISCID fellows
16. 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.
17. RAPID conference schedule
18. Langan, Christopher M. (2004). "Cheating the Millennium: The Mounting Explanatory Debts of Scientific Naturalism". In Uncommon Dissent: Intellectuals Who Find Darwinism Unconvincing, edited by William Dembski. ISI Books.
19. Langan 2002, pp. 50, 37.
20. Langan 2004, p. 236.
21. Langan 2004, p. 246.
22. Langan 2004, pp. 243–258.
23. Langan 2004, pp. 259–262.
24. Langan 2004, pp. 261–262.
25. CTMU Q & A - More on God
26. ^ ABCNEWS.com Chat Transcript
27. ^ View Case Detail - MEGA SOCIETY vs LANGAN Superior Court of California, County of San Diego.
28. Reply to Gina LoSasso Kevin Langdon. Mega Society, July 15 2001.
29. Special Issue: Kevin Langdon Replies to Chris Langan and Gina LoSasso Kevin Langdon. Noesis, The Journal of the Mega Society, Number 153, July 2001.
30. "The Official Mega Society Home Page"
31. [http://megasociety.com/noesis/152/ Noesis. The Journal of the Mega Society, Number 152, July 2001.
32. ^ Decision The Mega Society v. Dr. Gina Lynne LoSasso d/b/a Mega Foundation. Claim Number: FA0312000215404. National Arbitration Forum, January 2004
33. ^ Judgment Superior Court for the State of California, County of San Diego, March 2003.

External links

• Langan's Mega Foundation Website
• Langan's Cognitive-Theoretic Model of the Universe Website
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• American people
• Intelligent design advocates
• ISCID fellows
• Living people
• Giftedness