Noesis

The Journal of the Mega Society

Issue #206, September 2020

Noesis #206, September 2020

 About the Mega Society

The Mega Society was founded by Dr. Ronald K. Hoeflin in 1982. The 606 Society (6 in 10⁶),
founded by Christopher Harding, was incorporated into the new society and those with IQ
scores on the Langdon Adult Intelligence Test (LAIT) of 173 or more were also invited to join.
(The LAIT qualifying score was subsequently raised to 175; official scoring of the LAIT
terminated at the end of 1993, after the test was compromised). A number of different tests
were accepted by 606 and during the first few years of the Mega Society’s existence. Later, the
LAIT and Dr. Hoeflin’s Mega Test became the sole official entrance tests, by majority vote of the
membership. Then, Dr. Hoeflin’s Titan Test was added. (The Mega Test and Titan Test were
also compromised, so Mega Test scores after 1994 and Titan Test scores after August 31st,
2020 are currently not accepted; the Mega and Titan cutoff is 43 - but either the LAIT cutoff or
the cutoff on Dr. Hoeflin’s tests will need to be changed, as they are not equivalent.) The Mega
Society now accepts qualifying scores on The Hoeflin Power Test and on The Ultra Test. Both
tests are still being scored. The Mega Society publishes this irregularly-timed journal. The
society also has a (low-traffic) members-only email list. Mega members, please contact one of
the Mega Society officers to be added to the list.

For more background on Mega, please refer to Darryl Miyaguchi’s “A Short (and Bloody) History
of the High-IQ Societies” —

http://miyaguchi.4sigma.org/BloodyHistory/history.html

—and the official Mega Society page,

http://www.megasociety.org/

Noesis​ is the journal of the Mega Society, an organization whose members are selected by
means of high-range intelligence tests.

Brian Wiksell (P.O. Box 366, Solana Beach, CA 92075) is the Administrator of the Mega
Society. Inquiries regarding membership should be directed to him at the aforementioned P.O.
box or the following email address: ​[email protected]

Opinions expressed in these pages are those of individuals, not of ​Noesis​ or the Mega Society.

© 2020 by the Mega Society. Copyright for each individual contribution is retained by the author
unless otherwise indicated.

Noesis #206, September 2020

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 Editorial
Richard May, Ken Shea

Much has happened in the Mega Society since the publication of ​Noesis​ #205 in August of last
year. After holding three separate elections for Administrator, Internet Officer, and Editor, there
are new Mega Society officers in all three positions: Administrator, Internet Officer, and Editor.

You may remember that former Editor Kevin Langdon announced a call for volunteers for the
role of Administrator in Noesis #205. That call was answered by new Administrator Brian
Wiksell. Thank you, Brian. Jeff Ward (Administrator from 1982-2019) was forced to resign for
medical reasons last year. Let’s hope that Jeff is doing well and give him our thanks for
untiringly serving as Administrator since the Mega Society’s founding by Ron Hoeflin in 1982.

Former Internet Officer Chris Cole (Internet Officer from 2005-2019) decided to step down as
Internet Officer late last year. As many Mega members have rightly acknowledged, Chris Cole
allowed the Mega Society to run online smoothly for many years and created a genuinely
welcoming atmosphere. Thank you, Chris. Shortly after Chris’s decision to step down as Internet
Officer, Dan Shea volunteered and was elected Internet Officer. Upon getting elected, Internet
Officer Dan Shea stepped up in a big way by doing the following: migrating the Yahoo! Groups
messages, which stretch back two decades, to a new platform; creating a “responsive” new
website layout (​https://megasociety.org/​); and, embarking on a journal restoration effort. Journal
issues from The Titan Society (​Insight​, ​Titanic​ and ​Titania​) and The 606 Society (​Circle​) along
with previous issues of ​Noesis​ ​may be found here: ​https://megasociety.org/#noesis​. Thank you
for all of your hard work, Dan, and to all that helped!

Kevin Langdon (Editor from 2005-2020) officially began serving as Editor with ​Noesis #​ 176,
published in February of 2005. After many months of unsuccessful attempts to elicit any
response from Kevin by phone or email earlier this year, an election for Editor was announced
by Administrator Brian Wiksell. Two candidates received a majority of votes for Editor - Richard
May and Ken Shea. Therefore - pursuant to Article IV, Section 12 of the Mega Society
Constitution - both Richard May and Ken Shea will now serve as Editor. The current Editors
would like to thank Kevin Langdon for serving as Editor of ​Noesis​ for more than a decade! Kevin
Langdon edited and directly contributed to some of the most interesting discussions in ​Noesis​.

Kevin Langdon announced a Letters to the Editor column in Noesis #205 (“something that I
intend to continue, with the help of Noesis readers” -Kevin Langdon). Both Editor Richard May
and Editor Ken Shea would like to keep this Letters to the Editor column going as well. It is our
feeling that a Letters to the Editor column will foster a more dynamic and interesting ​Noesis​.
Accordingly, readers may send their letters to the following email addresses -
[email protected]​ or ​[email protected]​.

A majority of Mega Society members have voted to retire The Titan Test and accept qualifying
scores on The Hoeflin Power Test and on The Ultra Test. The Hoeflin Power Test and The Ultra
Test are still being scored and will now be used as admissions tests for the Mega Society.

Noesis #206, September 2020

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With society business out of the way, let’s explore the current issue of ​Noesis​. The first
contribution is Chris Cole’s “How to Prevent Pandemics,” which helps locate strategies to deal
with the current pandemic (i.e., COVID-19) and better handle future pandemics by creating a
biology platform analogous to ​Mathematica​.

Next, Bob Williams kicks off a sequence of three ​Noesis​ submissions on ​g​ and intelligence. Bob
Williams’s “The Tools of Intelligence” explores whether mental chronometry and brain imaging
can gauge intelligence as well or better than IQ tests. Could these novel approaches eventually
displace or supplement IQ tests? Might that day be soon?

After that, researcher David Redvaldsen subjects Ron Hoeflin’s Mega Test and Titan Test to a
psychometric analysis in “Do the Mega and Titan Test Yield Accurate Results? An Investigation
Into Two Experimental Intelligence Tests.” David Redvaldsen provides his own norms for these
high-range tests and assesses whether each test truly taps the one-in-a-million level.

Then, Mega Society founder and test creator Ron Hoeflin responds to David Redvaldsen’s
investigation and explains how he approached norming the Mega Test and Titan Test back in
the ​Omni​ magazine days. Ron includes an update on his Encyclopedia of Categories.

If the previous three contributions could be said to concern ​g​ and intelligence, then the next four
contributions might be said to wrestle with different aspects of philosophy.

Ken Shea’s paper “On the Potential Epistemic Invalidy of Phenomenological Accounts”
examines issues swirling around consciousness research, particularly the neural correlates of
consciousness, and whether consciousness can be explained within a physicalist framework.

Adam Kisby, a member of the Omega Society, then makes the case for scrutinizing the concept
of testability in a philosophy of science piece titled “Testing Testability,” which examines the
Principle of Testability through its manifold expressions via verifiability and falsifiability.

(Readers intrigued by Adam’s ideas may relish “Doubting Doubt,” a similarly thought-provoking
piece published in ​Noesis​ #197.)

Next, Rick Rosner provides answers to Scott Douglas Jacobsen’s intelligent, wide-ranging
questions in the final part of an interview series. Interview themes include: Rick’s take on deep
time, cosmology, ethics, consciousness, and artificial intelligence throughout the 21st century.

Werner Couwenbergh, then, contributes a rigorous paper on intuitionism (“The Intuitionist

Continuum”), an idea in the philosophy of mathematics that treats mathematics as the
consequence of constructive mental activity, as opposed to mathematical realism, which says
that mathematical objects exist independently of mental activity.

If a few brain-teasers sound good at this point, then the reader may cheer to learn that Ron
Yannone shares his long-time delight in “Litton Industries’ Problematical Recreations” in addition
to an eclectic array of problematical recreations to try one’s hand at.

Noesis #206, September 2020

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After that, Ken Shea has an essay on political legitimacy (“Political Legitimacy Through the
Ages”), a concept in political philosophy. Trends in political philosophy are traced from Greek
philosophers Plato and Aristotle to present-day happenings.

Noesis​ Editor Richard May, also, has released a new book, ​Stains Upon the Silence: Something
for No One!​ Readers are treated to two forewords, a preface by author Richard May, a.k.a.,
May-Tzu to ​Noesis​ readers, and an afterword by Adam Kisby.

At this point, Adam Kisby curates his Exceptionally Intelligent Individuals’ Extraordinary Ideas
Index (EIIEII). Step right up and determine whether you have any extraordinary ideas!

Ken Shea, then, compares the metaphysics and ethics of Arthur Schopenhauer to the work of
moral philosopher David Benatar in an essay titled “Arthur Schopenhauer’s and David Benatar’s
Contributions to Philosophy.”

Finally, Richard May, a.k.a., May-Tzu, rounds out Noesis #206 by serving up three piquant
dishes: “Transontological,” “Physics as Erotica,” and, “The Immortality of Zeno of Elea.”

Readers are invited to click on the title of a particular contribution on the following two pages
(i.e., pages six and seven) to skip ahead to the selected ​Noesis​ contribution.

Please submit material for the next issue of ​Noesis,​ tentatively planned for February 2021.

Noesis #206, September 2020

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 Contents

About the Mega Society 2

Editorial Richard May, Ken Shea 3

How to Prevent Pandemics Chris Cole 8

The Tools of Intelligence Research Bob Williams 10

Do the Mega and Titan Tests Yield

Accurate Results? An Investigation Into
Two Experimental Intelligence Tests David Redvaldsen 25

Response to David Redvaldsen’s 2019

Investigation of Mega Test and Titan Test Ron Hoeflin 40

The Potential Epistemic Invalidity

of Phenomenological Accounts Ken Shea 42

Testing Testability Adam Kisby 53

Interview with Rick Rosner (Part 11) Rick Rosner &

Scott Douglas Jacobsen 58

The Intuitionist Continuum Werner Couwenbergh 85

Litton Industries’ Problematical Recreations Ron Yannone 114

Some of My Favorite Problems From

Litton’s Problematical Recreations Series Ron Yannone 117

Political Legitimacy Through the Ages Ken Shea 137

Noesis #206, September 2020

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Foreword to ​Stains Upon the Silence:
Something for No One Kadam Isbe, Ph.D. 145

Foreword to ​Stains Upon the Silence:

Something for No One Anonymous 146

Preface to ​Stains Upon the Silence: Richard May,

Something for No One a.k.a., May-Tzu 147

A Stain Upon the Fermi Silence:

Forethought and Afterword to ​Stains
Upon the Silence: Something for No One Adam Kisby 149

Exceptionally Intelligent Individuals’

Extraordinary Ideas Index (EIIEII) Adam Kisby 150

Arthur Schopenhauer’s and David

Benatar’s Contributions to Philosophy Ken Shea 157

Transontological May-Tzu 160

Physics as Erotica May-Tzu 161

The Immortality of Zeno of Elea May-Tzu 162

Noesis #206, September 2020

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 How To Prevent Pandemics

Chris Cole

Mathematics : ​Mathematica​ :: Biology : ?

As recently as the 1980s, physicists routinely referred to printed journals and textbooks to find
the solutions for various mathematical problems. Frequently this was a tedious process - but
that was the way physicists had always worked. What physics needed was a platform that
contained all this mathematics in a consistent language and notation. Hence a platform was
born for solving mathematical expressions: ​Mathematica, ​which became the ubiquitous and
indispensable software tool used by scientists worldwide. Notably, ​Mathematica f​ orever
changed the way physics is taught to university students in their graduate studies.

Much of the necessary mathematics for scientists previously had been collected, often
painstakingly, into books, such as ​Handbook of Mathematical Functions​ (Abramowitz and
Stegun) and ​Table of Integrals, Series, and Products​ (Gradshteyn, Ryzhik, et al.). ​Mathematica
incorporated the insights of generations of mathematicians to make computation broadly
accessible. This revolution in scientific computation occurred just as the Internet similarly
changed the world of science and commerce. Now the production of publication-ready text
using mathematical notation and graphics is quite standard. The remarkable combination of
Mathematica a ​ nd the Internet did not merely improve efficiency of scientists; rather it aided
science in gaining profound insights into the physical world.

Today, research in physics is routinely performed using symbolic mathematics, particularly with
visualization via computer graphics. To paraphrase Isaac Newton, in his famous observation
about himself, ​if we see farther it is because we stand on the shoulders of giants.​

Currently the world is suffering from an historic pandemic with an uncertain outcome. A global
effort is underway to find treatments for COVID-19, including tests, therapies and vaccines. At
best, there will be a year or so of suffering before the pandemic is brought under control. At
worst, the virus may be with humanity for decades.

Human biology consists of about a hundred thousand proteins that interact with each other in
various ways. These proteins are encoded in three billion base pairs of DNA that are shared by
all people. The transcription and expression of these genes via RNA is understood. The gene
regulatory networks that control this expression can be “nested” so that the overall biology of the
human being is akin to a computer operating system. It operates on several scales at once.

Many of the details of human biology and the novel coronavirus are quite poorly understood.
Hence science has to start from scratch to understand this pandemic - and probably the next
one.

Noesis #206, September 2020

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This is akin to the physicist searching for the right treatise or textbook on the mathematics
needed to solve a research problem. Just as ​Mathematica ​helped to solve certain problems, a
biology platform which contains the details of human biology would help to prevent pandemics.
Once a particular pathogen emerges from the ecosystem, its methods of operation would be
analyzed and ways to prevent its spread could be synthesized.

We are vulnerable because we have not organized the basic biological knowledge of how the
human being works. Science needs a platform that encodes this knowledge of human biology in
a self-consistent and computable way. There presently is no one way to do this, just as there
was in physics before ​Mathematica.​ The issue isn’t that a biology platform needs to be the best
possible one; the issue is that some platform needs to exist now.

[Editor’s Note: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention say there are four main
subgroups of coronaviruses (alpha, beta, gamma, delta) and three other kinds of coronaviruses:
MERS-CoV, SARS-CoV, and SARS-CoV-2.

https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/types.html

SARS-CoV-2 is the novel coronavirus that causes the disease COVID-19. The novel
coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 got its name on February 11th, 2020 because of genetic similarities to
SARS-CoV, which caused the SARS outbreak in 2003. SARS stands for severe acute
respiratory syndrome.

COVID-19 symptoms like fever, cough, and shortness of breath are common. Symptoms may
take 2-14 days to appear after exposure (the incubation period), with five days being the
average time to show symptoms after exposure to the virus.

https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/symptoms-testing/symptoms.html

The World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a pandemic on March 11th, and two days
later a national emergency was declared in the United States. There have been tens of millions
of confirmed cases worldwide and millions of confirmed cases in the United States.

As an approved vaccine has not been widely adopted yet and COVID-19 is spread
person-to-person, precautions should be taken to avoid respiratory droplets from those infected.

COVID-19 has now achieved community spread, which means many are impacted in an area,
potentially without being aware of infection. Before (and after) a vaccine is developed,
precautions should be taken.]

Noesis #206, September 2020

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 The Tools of Intelligence Research

Bob Williams

The following is a tour through the various methods that have been devised and used to
uncover the bits and pieces of insight that make up the present-day scientific understanding of
human cognition and its differences among people. The point of this exercise is to identify tools
and relationships that are not as well known as the ubiquitous IQ test.

Attempts to understand intelligence go back at least to Sir Francis Galton [1822-1911], who
noted the heritability of intelligence, its difference between various populations, and its relation
to physically measurable tasks. Following Galton, Charles Spearman contributed new statistical
methods, insightful test designs, models of intelligence, and, most importantly, his 1904
discovery of ​g ​(also referred to as Spearman's ​g​, psychometric ​g​, the general factor, and ​g​).
Over the course of the next few decades, ​g​ languished, while IQ tests were developed, studied,
and refined to a point of high reliability and low bias. Numerous well​-known researchers
contributed models, tests, and understanding that were mostly based on the correlations
between test scores and external factors (behavior, physiology, and life outcomes). It was not
until Arthur Jensen began to explain the central nature of ​g​ that intelligence research shifted
from earlier models to converge on g theory. Today, it is difficult to find a research paper that is
not about, or constructed from, ​g​ theory.

Above: Hypothetical example of hierarchical factor analysis

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The investigation of intelligence can be sorted into four categories: conventional tests, external
measurements with instrumentation, brain imaging, and genetics.

Conventional Tests

Although we are all familiar with some forms of IQ tests, they vary greatly and are designed for a
variety of applications. Testing can be done over an age range from toddler to very old. At the
young end of this range is the test methodology developed by J. Fagan based on selective
attention to novelty (the time toddlers spent looking at new versus familiar faces). His method
was predictive of adult IQ (r = 0.59) and adult educational attainment (r = 0.53). The
Woodcock-Johnson is one of the broad ability tests that measures a specific number of abilities
so that the traditional second-order factors [so-called “group” factors -Ed. Note] of the
Cattell-Horn​ Carroll model will emerge; it claims to measure from age 2 to over 90. The
Wechsler, various forms, is also a broad-based test, based on the CHC model, and is
considered to be the gold standard (95 percent reliability) by many researchers.

A number of special-purpose IQ-test types have been developed. Some can be given orally to
individuals who cannot write (as in an accident victim). Some are designed for speed of
administration, taking only a few minutes. These latter group of IQ tests sacrifice range and
accuracy for speed and are well suited when a coarse sorting is desired. The Wechsler
Abbreviated Scale of lntelligence (WASI) is a well-known example of a test that has been
shortened from its full form to achieve this objective. [The WASI is composed of two very highly
g​-loaded subtests (viz., vocabulary and matrix reasoning) as well as the similarities and block
design subtests, rendering administration much speedier. A simple vocabulary test may be one
of the most effective de facto IQ tests one could give in around ten minutes. Remember that
cultural bias is an empirical question, and cultural bias is orthogonal to cultural load. Cf. ​Bias in
Mental Testing ​-Ed. Note]

As most people have discovered, they are likely to score differently on different tests.This is
largely due to uniqueness variance. IQ tests give reasonably close agreement of the latent
factor ​g​ (when it can be computed), but the tests differ in content designed to produce broad
ability factors and items that are either specific to the test, or due to random error. Specificity
can result from content that is known to the testee (learned material) or is otherwise unique to
the test. When a person is trained to take a category of test (teaching to the test), the specificity
variance increases, thereby causing the ​g​ loading of the test to be somewhat lower.

The thing that ties IQ and other ability tests together is known as the positive manifold, which is
the strong tendency of a person to score at a similar level on tests of largely unrelated abilities,
such as vocabulary and block design. Spearman observed this and created the principle known
as the indifference of the indicator, which was intended to point to the universal nature of ​g​ as a
general ability that appears in all cognitive abilities. Ergo, any test of cognitive ability is
predictive of ​g​, and all such tests are predictive of the same ​g​ (meaning that there are not

Noesis #206, September 2020

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multiple ​g​ factors). Cognitive ability testing is not limited to IQ tests. There are many tests
designed to measure narrow abilities, without an attempt to link the scores to IQ.

Various tests of working memory capacity require the testee to retain representations, while
performing tasks that make demands on working memory. He may be given a list of words or
letters to remember, separated by a simple task, such as 3 + 5 = 7 (choose yes or no). Then he
is asked to recall the list from memory. People are typically able to retain only a small number of
representations (4 to 9) in working memory. The simple intermediate math operation effectively
flushed out some of the working memory that was used to store the list of memory items. While
this category of test is used as a subtest in some IQ tests [Editor’s Note: e.g, Working Memory
Index on WAIS.], it is also used as a stand​-alone tool when working memory is being studied.
There are numerous other similar tools that are used for similar purposes.

One of the most interesting special-category tests is the Stroop Color-Word Test. While the test
has three parts, it is the third one that demonstrates the Stroop effect. The testee is shown a list
of typed color names, but each is printed in a different color ink than the name of the word,
(RED is printed with blue ink, etc.). The testee is asked to name, as quickly as possible, only the
color of the ink in which each word is printed, while ignoring the name indicated by the printed
word.

Above: Stroop Color-Word Test

Here is what happens (from Jensen, 2006, ​Clocking the Mind: Mental Chronometry and
Individual Differences)​ : "Some individuals are so frustrated by the task requirement that they

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break down momentarily, while others stammer, stutter, gesticulate, clench their fists, or stamp
their feet during this part of the test. Obviously, literate persons are unable to ignore the printed
words even when they try their best to do so. Having to suppress their implicit response to the
printed word makes it surprisingly difficult to utter the intentional response, viz., the actual color
of the print."

The purpose of the test is to measure the executive function or attention (ability to avoid
distraction from a task). Research along these lines has linked the executive function, attention,
working memory, and ​g.​ The details of their interdependence are not fully resolved, but they
clearly share cognitive resources.

Measurement of Physical Parameters

The conventional tests, touched on above, are done with paper and pencil, a computer screen
(acting as paper and pencil), or orally. These tests have been used for a majority of the studies
of human cognitive abilities. They work and they can be altered to suit the specific mental
process that is being studied. Most of them share one significant disadvantage: the tests cannot
be scored on a true ratio scale (as is done with most physical measurements, such as force,
voltage, mass, etc.). Instead, they have to be scored relative to a selected group of people.

In IQ tests, this is the norming group, and the test is scored by determining the z-score relative
to the norming group distribution (IQ = [15 X z​ score] + 100). The resulting scores are a
reasonable approximation of an equal interval scale (as used in the Fahrenheit and Celsius
scales).

When physical measurements are used in intelligence research, the results are given on a true
ratio scale, such as time, distance, volume, etc. It turns out that a great many of the things that
can be measured by instrumentation (including clocks) are linked to IQ test scores and ​g​.

Reaction Time (RT)

This measurement is usually done with a Jensen Box and consists of a home button (at the
bottom center in the diagram), that the testee holds down, and various target buttons. When the
testee sees the stimulus, such as one of the buttons being illuminated, he releases the home
button and presses the target button.

Above: Jensen Box

Reaction time (RT) is measured from the onset of the stimulus to the release of the home
button; the time from the release of the home button to the pressing of the target button is the

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movement time, but is of little value in studying intelligence. Both the RT and the standard
deviation of RT are negatively correlated with intelligence, with the latter being somewhat more
strongly correlated. RT measurements can be done in connection with a wide range of
elementary cognitive tests (ECTs) and can be combined when a battery of these simple tests
are given (each requiring less than a second to complete) to produce a measurement of ​g​ that
is approximately equal to the ​g​ measurement from an IQ test. Each ECT has only a small ​g
loading, averaging r = -0.35, but the variances are distinct enough to be added.

Galton performed RT measurements from 1884 to 1893, using a pendulum for the time
measurement. His data has been compared to more recent RT studies; it shows that RTs have
increased, suggesting a dysgenic effect (explored in detail by M. Woodley).

Inspection Time (IT)

Another widely used chronometric measurement is based on the shortest time that a person can
recognize a change in the shape of a projected image. The standard image is somewhat like the
letter pi (two vertical lines connected at the top). A cue is given to signal that the test is starting,
then the test image is displayed, with one of the vertical lines shortened, then masked. The
testee is asked which vertical line of the test image was longer. As the display time is reduced, a
point is reached where the testee cannot reliably determine which line was longer. The testee's
inspection time is the point where he can achieve an accuracy of 97.5 percent. Again, there is a
negative correlation (r = -0.54) between the speed of perceptual discrimination and IQ.

One of the important contributions made by IT was a study by T. Nettelbeck et al. that related to
the Flynn Effect. He performed IT measurements for school children from the same school,
using the same equipment.

The two sets of data were separated by 20 years. He also administered the same IQ test for the
two groups. The expected IQ gain (Flynn Effect) was seen for the test scores, but the IT
measurements were essentially identical, thus strongly suggesting that the test score gains
were hollow with respect to ​g​. I had the opportunity to ask him if there had been any changes in
apparent SES, nutrition, or other discernible factors. He said that there was none, and the
children were from the same community, school, etc. [Editor’s Note: This finding is fascinating

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and suggests the Flynn Effect could be largely chalked up to practice effects of some kind.
Researchers have now found a reversing of the Flynn effect over the last thirty years in various
countries, including Sweden, France, and Britain.]

IT tests have traditionally been performed by means of a tachistoscope. It has a shutter and can
project an image for a precise duration. When computer monitors were first tried for this task,
the results were not reliable because of screen characteristics that allowed some people to read
screen artifacts. With modern, very fast computer screens this problem has been solved.

Electroencephalography (EEG)

EEG has been widely used for medical diagnostics for head injuries, tumors, infections, and
other disorders that relate to the nervous system. The measurements detect electrical activity in
the brain by means of electrodes placed on the scalp; these are typically amplified and recorded
on moving paper (creating traces). [Editor’s Note: Both EEG and MEG signals are possible
because of the electromagnetic laws described by Maxwell’s equations, e.g., electrical currents
produce an orthogonal magnetic field.] At one time, a good bit of intelligence research was
carried out using EEG, but the number of papers reporting it has declined as newer
measurement options have appeared.

Depicted above: Ionic current flowing in dendrites, producing an orthogonal magnetic field

The magnetic field thus produced is reflected in EEG and MEG readings

A primary focus of interest in EEG has been in the traces made following a specific stimulus.
Since the traces contain large amounts of noise, they are repeated many times and averaged to

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produce the average evoked potential (AEP). The P300 latency, sometimes identified as P3, is
one indication of intelligence. It correlates at about r = -0.36 with ​g.​ Another indication of
intelligence is the complexity of the waveform. This is sometimes called string length since it can
be measured by laying a piece of string over the wave tracing then measuring its length. Higher
IQ is usually indicated by greater string length, but the strongest indication (per T. Bates, et al.)
may be the difference in string length between high- and low-attention conditions, which is an
indication of neural efficiency.

E. W. P. Schafer reported index methods that are based on the amplitudes of the AEP when
the stimulus is related to neural adaptability and habituation (see: ​The g Factor​ for details of the
procedures). These methods resulted in correlations as high as r = +0.82 with IQ tests.
Although this methodology did not develop a following by other researchers, it demonstrates
that ​g​ is closely related to the electrophysiological activity in the brain.

Other Biological Measures

Intelligence (​g)​ is correlated with numerous other biological parameters that can be measured.
(Cerebral glucose metabolism is one such measure and will be discussed later.) Nerve
conduction velocity (NCV) is inherently related to the speed and efficiency of cognitive activity.
NCV has been measured directly in the brain and in peripheral parts of the body. Peripheral
measurements (for example, finger to wrist, and wrist to elbow) of NCV correlate with ​g​ in the
range r = +0.41 to +0.46. Although most of these peripheral studies have produced the
expected result, some have not, and at least one showed opposite results in men (r +0.63) and
women (r = -0.55).

One of the most well-known of these physical measures is brain volume, which correlates
positively with intelligence. Before brain imaging technology appeared, brain volume had to be
measured by weighing a cadaver brain, or by estimating its volume from the skull volume (taken
as the volume of lead shot or mustard seed that it will hold). Another indirect method of
measurement is to take the head circumference or multiple measures of length and width to
estimate the volume. While head measurements correlate at only r = +0.20 with ​g,​ the
correlation is robust and has been repeated many times with large studies. One of the
unexpectedly interesting papers that I have heard presented was Ian Deary's calculation of the

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IQ of King Robert Bruce (paper presented in Amsterdam in 2007). I think Deary went through
the somewhat-complex exercise to teach his students how to deal with data and errors. When it
became possible to measure brain volume in a living person, via structural MRI, the correlation
coefficient (volume of ​g)​ of r =+0.40 emerged. This number was later challenged and argued to
be lower, but the challenge was subsequently refuted. The best estimate remains close to the
initial finding. Brain volume remains an important intelligence parameter, as it relates to
intelligence differences between species, between breeding groups (races), and between
sexes.

Brain Imaging

Brain imaging technology is to the study of intelligence as the Hubble telescope has been to
cosmology. Imaging has appeared in several stages, and each has opened new paths of study
and huge gains in the understanding of intelligence.

Positron Emission Tomography (PET)

PET can be used to create images of the brain and various other organs. The thing that is seen
as an image is the accumulation of a radioactive tracer (oxygen-15, fluorine- 18, carbon-11, or
nitrogen-13) as the tracer is concentrated by the action of the organ being studied. As the tracer
decays, it emits a positron, which collides with a nearby electron and causes the emission of
two photons. The photons are detected externally.

Above: Positron Emission Tomography with presumed brain states

In the case of brain imaging, the image is effectively an integral of glucose uptake rate. The
tracer used is fluorodeoxyglucose, which gives a time resolution of about 32 minutes. Thus, the
image produced when a person is asked to perform a cognitive task is an integral over a time
span of 32 minutes. The first use of PET to study intelligence was done by Richard Haier
(presently editor of the journal ​Intelligence​) in 1987. At that time, the cost of a single scan was
$2,500. Haier financed the initial work by agreeing to do medical scans in trade for some
research scans. His first subjects were given the RAPM (Raven's Advanced Progressive
Matrices) during the exam. Raw test scores ranged from 11 to 33 (out of a possible 36).

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The PET scans revealed the opposite of the expected result. The brighter subjects showed less
brain activity (lower glucose uptake rates) than did the duller subjects. This was the first
indication that one difference between brains of different intelligence levels was efficiency. The
smarter brains solved the problems more efficiently. Decades later, we have numerous other
imaging studies, using other technologies that have made similar findings and have added more
detail to the initial study. One somewhat-easy-to-find refinement was that all brains show
increased activity (effort) as problem difficulty increases, but less-intelligent brains reach a
saturation point beyond which they cannot apply additional effort.

Haier also looked at the effect of learning, using the game Tetris. [Editor’s Note: Mega Society
qualifier and mathematician Solomon W. Golomb’s game of pentomino directly inspired Tetris.]
Several subjects were given practice sessions with the game (new at that time). They had not
seen the game before and were restricted to uniform practice sessions. They improved their
play score by a factor of 7. PET scans before and after the learning sessions showed significant
reductions in brain activity in some parts of the brain. Haier wrote: "We concluded that with
practice and improved performance, subjects learn what areas of the brain not to use, and this
results in GMR (glucose metabolic rate) decreases."

PET studies showed the value of being able to measure actual brain activity while subjects were
performing mental tasks. The technology was expensive and had the slow 32-minute temporal
resolution, so it was displaced when faster, MRI-based machines arrived.

Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI)

The first MRI was performed on a human in 1977. The machines are based on the use of a very
strong magnetic field (5,000 to 20,000 gauss; the earth's magnetic field measures 0.5 gauss)
that is achieved by means of a superconducting magnet. A few years ago, R. Haier told me that
there was an MRI machine that used a magnetic field that was significantly higher (ten times, as
I recall) than other machines. He said some people complained of headaches and that the brain
was warmed - probably causing the headaches. (A recent literature search shows that possibly
even more powerful, new MRI scanners have been built. The reason for increasing the
magnetic field strength is that it enables the voxel size to be reduced from 1 mm to 0.1 mm.)

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MRI works by imposing an intense magnetic field around the area to be imaged using
superconducting magnets. Hydrogen nuclei (protons) spin and have a natural magnetic polarity.
When on, the magnetic field causes hydrogen nuclei to snap into axial alignment with the field.

A radio frequency wave is added and is pulsed on and off, causing the nuclei to snap out of
alignment and then back in. This shifting of nuclei alignment causes a weak energy release
(also a radio frequency wave), which can be detected by the MRI machine (via receiver coils
that act as aerials) and used to create an MR image.

Structural MRI (sMRI)

This basic technology (the same as many have experienced in a medical setting) can be varied
to allow various specialized forms of imaging. The most basic application for intelligence
research is structural MRI, or sMRI. This is essentially a snapshot of the brain, but the image is
3D. It can be rotated and viewed from any angle and can produce a "slice" image of the brain at
any depth. Since the image is in 3D, the points are also 3D, unlike the 2D pixels of a digital
photograph. The 3D representations are known as voxels.

One of the problems encountered in understanding a brain image is that brains are not identical
in size and shape. Yes, they are all generally the same in appearance, just as our faces are
similar yet different enough that we can recognize them. A researcher must be able to compare
brains, despite their differences. This can be accomplished by a computer using a process
known as voxel​-based morphometry. The process morphs the MRI data to fit a standard form
and smooths the results so that they can be analyzed. For example, an area of great interest is
cortical thickness. In order to study it and to compare different brains, the cortex representation
has to be smoothed so that the folds are removed and the resulting artificial image retains the
dimensions that are of interest, while losing the irregularities that would otherwise make it
unmanageable.

Above: Left image (axial view) and right image (sagittal view) of structural MRI

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The cortex contains cortical columns that are vertical structures of variable length and
composition. The number of these columns is related to cortical surface area, while their length
is a function of cortical thickness. Their relation to intelligence is known primarily by the
correlations found in average and local measurements of cortical thickness and in cortical
surface area. A good bit of study of cortical thickness (CT) has been related to the NIH (National
Institute of Health), e.g., the ​Study of Normal Brain Development.

One finding is that cortical thickness increases in early childhood, then begins a slow decrease
around ages 7 to 10 years. When plotted against time, the trajectories of bright children (from
longitudinal NIH data) show greater thickness at every age than for less bright children. During
the first phase, thickness increases more rapidly in bright children, but exhibits a similar rate of
thinning following the peak. This has obviously important significance in the verification of the
high heritability of intelligence; the trajectories are set from early childhood. The strongest
correlations between CT and IQ are found in the age range of 8 to 12 years.

The figure (below) of CT for different intelligence groups shows that there are differences and
that they vary as a function of age. The illustrations of CT as a function of intelligence at the
bottom of the figure also show how a brain appears after computer smoothing.

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Above: Intellectual domain effects on cortical thickness changes as a function of IQ level. A, Cortical thickness
differences between adjoining levels of IQ as affected by intelligence criteria and brain lobes. The superior, high, and
average IQ groups were evenly divided according to four intelligence criteria, FSIQ, VIQ, PIQ, and RPM scores. The
cortical thickness of each lobe is represented by the averaged value of all ROIs within the lobe. Sup., Superior; Avg.,
average. *p < 0.05; **p < 0.01; ***p < 0.001, two-tailed t test. B, C, Cortical thickness deviations from the thickness of
the average IQ group used as zero reference. VIQ groups are better described by a linear or quadratic function,
whereas PIQ groups are better described by a logarithmic one. The brain maps show absolute thickness changes at
each cortical point, based on VIQ and PIQ levels.

When the thicknesses of specific locations are correlated against IQ, the results are different for
men and women (a surprise to Haier and his team). The highest correlations (gray matter
regions) in men were found in posterior regions, especially those related to visual-spatial
processing. In women, the IQ-to-thickness correlation was almost entirely limited to the frontal
lobes, especially in the language area (Broca's Area). Findings that show sex differences have
been frequent, and each strongly suggests the need to keep male and female data separate.
Haier made this point to the International Society for Intelligence Research (ISIR) conference in
2006.

Functional MRI (fMRI)

MRI can be used to create images based on molecules containing iron, which is highly sensitive
to the intense magnetic fields of MRI machines. Hemoglobin in red blood cells contains iron and
iron molecules, thus connecting the fMRI images to blood flow in the brain. When a brain region
is cognitively active, it will have greater blood flow, and this will be seen by the fMRI scan. The
fMRI process is fast, with thousands of images per second and a net resolution that is a span of
about 1 second.

One of the applications for fMRI is the study of functional connectivity. When static
measurements are made, the information conveyed relates to the function of a given brain
region (functional segregation). But as imaging research progressed, brain regions were found
to work together, such that a single region is necessarily involved in multiple functions. With
fMRI, it is possible to see the connected activities of brain regions.

Using fMRI, it is possible to observe the brain performing a task over a period of time. Various
regions show activity (increased blood flow) sequentially, as the brain deals with the task. In a
conversation with R. Haier, he mentioned to me that fMRI data were proving to be difficult to use
because of the large differences seen between individuals. This is not a problem with static
imaging techniques, such as fMRI and diffusion tensor imaging.

Diffusion Tensor Imaging (DTI)

DTI is a different form of structural MRI. It is optimized to image the water content of white
matter. The first study did not happen until 2005. Prior to then, white matter was relatively
difficult to study. It was possible to measure white matter volumes and to do correlations with
that and intelligence (revealing a large sex difference), but the details of how white matter tracts
were organized were hidden. DTI has opened a new field of research-brain connectivity (wiring).
Among the things that have been found are that the tracts form bands (in some places) that are

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composed of large numbers of parallel tracts; that each person has tract patterns that are as
unique as fingerprints; that the primary cognitive centers are connected by massive highways of
tracts, running from the frontal lobes to the parietal lobes; that connectivity is an indicator of IQ.

Above: Diffusion Tensor Imaging

When water movement is detected by the MRI process, it can be quantified as to the degree to
which the molecules move in the same direction. This parameter is known as fractional
anisotropy (FA) and is higher when the movement vectors are directionally similar. If FA is low, it
indicates that the water movement is more diffuse, and this is taken to be an indication of low
tissue integrity. Higher FA is a positive correlate of intelligence for both white and gray matter.

Magnetoencephalography (MEG)

Breakthroughs in instrumentation have continued to appear, offering new capabilities.

Magnetoencephalography (MEG) is in some regards similar to EEG, in that sensors are placed
on or very near the scalp. These highly sensitive superconducting sensors detect magnetic
fields associated with neuron activity. The instruments are functional, in the sense of fMRI, but
faster; they have a temporal resolution in the millisecond range. The precision of spatial location
is excellent - sources can be localized with millimeter precision.

Unlike other methods of brain imaging, MEG is completely passive and is a direct observation of
the brain, while other techniques are measuring secondary phenomena (isotope decay, water
movement, etc.). MEG is thus totally safe and noninvasive.

When compiled into a movie, brain activity can be seen as a function of time. This was
demonstrated (by Thoma) at the 2005 ISIR conference, showing the brain reacting to a simple

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optical stimulus. The activation areas appeared to bounce and flow from the extremes of the
brain, in much the same way as water waves bounce and reflect when they are confined. When
I saw this, there was an immediate revelation as to why something as simple as a light turning
on would stimulate activity throughout the brain; this simple event, when measured by RT is
significantly correlated with​ g​. The video showed that the mental activity was complex and
involved most of the brain volume.

MEG remains as a new tool with a limited history for intelligence researchers. It has great
promise and is being evaluated by researchers. An example of an MEG movie, made while the
subject is solving a test item from the paper-folding task, can be found here:
www.cambridge.org/us/academic/ subjects/psychology/cognition/ neuroscience​ intelligence
(select: student resources, then animations, then animation_4.3.mp4).

Genetics

Although Galton observed that intelligence was a family trait, the role of genetics in determining
intelligence was not understood for many decades. In the 1960s, even scientists believed that
intelligence was largely a product of the environment (books in the home, encouragement to
excel in academics, etc.). When Arthur Jensen entered the field, that is exactly what he
expected to find, but when he looked at real data, he saw a different story. The result was his
80-page landmark paper: "How Much Can We Boost IQ and Scholastic Achievement?" by
Arthur R. Jensen, University of California, Berkeley, Harvard Educational Review, Vol. 39, No. 1,
Winter 1969, pages 1-123.

From that point on, Jensen published a huge number of papers and books that addressed the
issues related to demonstrating that intelligence is primarily the product of genes, with little
environmental variance. Of the environmental variance that is found, it can be divided into the
shared and the nonshared environmental factors. The former is that part of the environment that
makes us more similar (family), and the latter is that part that makes us more different. There is
a shared environmental variance in early childhood, but it vanishes by about age 12, leaving
only the experiences people have as individuals (the following factors lower intelligence), such
as: injury, disease, exposure to toxins, etc. From early childhood on, the heritability of
intelligence increases (the Wilson Effect) into adulthood. By adulthood, the heritability of IQ is
85% and the heritability of ​g ​is 91%.

Although repeated studies have shown this high heritability of intelligence, attempts to find a
single intelligence gene (or a few genes) have failed, despite methodologies that would have
found it without doubt. This research has been led by Robert Plomin, who has authored
numerous papers on the topic of the genetics of intelligence.

What is going on? The simple answer is that intelligence genes have been found, and each has
accounted for only a percent or less of the total variance. As has been the case for other traits,
intelligence is the product of hundreds or thousands of variants. For example, height has been
shown to be determined by more than 900 variants. The two concepts that relate to this are
pleiotropy (one gene affecting multiple traits) and polygenicity (many genes affecting one trait).

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Genetic research will hopefully tell an increasingly complete story of which genes are involved,
and how. To date, there is an impressive research category known as genome-wide association
studies (GWAS). These studies include some with N of much more than 100,000 and at least
one that is approximately 1,000,000. The GWAS studies have included genetic clusters that
relate to intelligence, educational attainment, and behaviors throughout life. Because of the
large N's, the findings are robust, but they show small effect sizes.

A 2017 preprint (​http://www.biorxiv.org/ content/early/2017/07/07/160291​) showed 107

independent loci associated with intelligence, implicating 233 genes, using both SNP-based and
gene-based GWAS. Further studies will surely appear, and the findings will presumably, if
slowly, paint a picture of how intelligence is determined at the molecular level.

Further Reading

For those who are interested in reading original intelligence research papers, there is only one
print journal dedicated to this subject: ​Intelligence.​ It is the official journal of ISIR and is the
source of some of the best research papers. Another source that frequently contains top-quality
work is ​Personality and Individual Differences​. In the area of brain imaging, there are worthwhile
papers in ​Neuroimage​, ​Neuroscience,​ and ​Cortex.​

The best book and DVD material that is relatively recent:

Haier, Richard J., (2017), ​The Neuroscience of Intelligence​, New York: Cambridge University
Press. This book is recent and was skillfully written to be easily readable, yet complete with
respect to present-day understandings.

Haier, R.J., (2013), ​The Intelligent Brain​, The Great Courses, Chantilly, Virginia (3 DVDs).

The first DVD is a review of non-imaging research. It then gets into the very interesting work that
Haier and his colleagues have done.

Jensen, A. R., (1998), ​The g Factor: The Science of Mental Ability,​ Westport, CT: Praeger.

Written by the most outstanding intelligence researcher of the second half of the 20th century,
this book was, and presumably still is, the all-time most cited book in this field.

For those who want excellent and accurate information that is written for public consumption
(some exceptions), I strongly recommend the articles and papers by Linda Gottfredson. She has
generously made virtually everything she has written available on her web page:
http://www1.udel.edu/ educ/gottfredson/reprints​.

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 Do the Mega and Titan Tests Yield Accurate Results? An Investigation Into Two Experimental
Intelligence Tests

David Redvaldsen

[The full open-source article, including all tables, references and appendices, is available
through this link:​ ​https://www.mdpi.com/2624-8611/2/2/10/htm​]

Abstract​: The Mega and Titan Tests were designed by Ronald K. Hoeflin to make fine
distinctions in the intellectual stratosphere. The Mega Test purported to measure
above-average adult IQ up to and including scores with a rarity of one-in-a-million of the general
population. The Titan Test was billed as being even more difficult than the Mega Test. In this
article, these claims are subjected to scrutiny. Both tests are renormed using the normal curve
of distribution. It is found that the Mega Test has a higher ceiling and a lower floor than the Titan
Test [Editor’s Note: Grady Towers found the same: “The Titan has much less floor than the
Mega Test, but almost as much top.” -Grady Towers]. While the Mega Test may thus seem
preferable as a psychometric instrument, it is somewhat marred by a number of easy items in its
verbal section. Although official scores reported to test-takers are too high, it is likely that the
Mega Test does stretch to the one-in-a-million level. The Titan Test does not. Testees who had
previously taken standard intelligence tests achieved average scores of 135–145 IQ on those.
Since the mean of all scores on the Mega and Titan Tests was found to be IQ 137 and IQ 138,
respectively, testees had considerable scope to find their true level without ceiling effects. Both
are unusual and non-standard tests which require a great deal of effort to complete.
Nevertheless, they deserve consideration as they represent an inventive experimental method
of measuring the very highest levels of human intelligence and have been taken by enough
subjects to allow norming.

[Editor’s Note: Grady Towers’s “Some Observations on the Titan Intelligence Test,” including ​g
loadings, can be found here: ​http://miyaguchi.4sigma.org/hoeflin/titan/gradynorm.html

Key Takeaways: “​The general factor accounts for slightly more than 76 percent of the total test
variance. Loadings on​ g​ rarely exceed 0.8 on even the best tests, so these numbers are
unusually good.”

“The test as a whole was found to have a Kuder-Richardson formula twenty reliability of 0.952,
which is excellent and compares favorably with the very best mental ability tests in existence.
The odd-even split-half reliability of 0.965 was also found.” -Grady Towers]

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 1. Introduction

Intelligence tests were invented by Alfred Binet and his student Théodore Simon in 1905 with
the purpose of identifying pupils in need of remedial help in French public education. Within a
few years, they had been translated into English and were to reach their apogee in the United
States where Lewis M. Terman, a young professor of education at Stanford University, made his
reputation as the foremost authority on all matters connected with intelligence. Terman’s first
book on the topic, ​The Measurement of Intelligence,​ featured examples of individuals within the
various classifications. By the time his ​The Intelligence of School Children​ was published three
years later, it was clear that Terman’s primary interest was in subjects scoring at the highest
levels. He had already begun a study of exceptional children, which became the basis for
longitudinal research into the lives and careers of the gifted.

This study, published in five volumes as Genetic Studies of Genius between 1926 and 1959,
required the construction of a special instrument to accommodate Terman’s subjects as adults,
called the Concept Mastery Test. This marked the beginning of experimental research on adults
in the intellectual stratosphere using psychological techniques. Due to the rarity of the
individuals concerned, it was fraught with practical difficulties. One possible method was to give
adolescents achievement tests designed for adults. That was the approach chosen by the Study
of Mathematically Precocious Youth, which began in 1971 at Johns Hopkins University and
which, despite its name, also considered verbal ability. Students who scored at the highest
levels on college admission tests at the age of 13 must, logically, be even brighter than the most
able ordinary freshmen.

In contrast to this well-funded academic project, extending the scale of intelligence to the
highest conceivable levels was an endeavor solely taken up by amateurs. Their method was to
publish self-authored tests and to form societies for those who received the highest scores on
them. In this way, more could be learned about intellects of the very highest order. ​Omni
magazine, devoted to popular science and science fiction, published three such tests between
1979 and 1990. Because of ​Omni​ ‘s large readership, enough responses were received to allow
official scoring of these tests with at least a semblance of being exact. The procedure of the
designers was to compare the number of correct answers yielded by participants and their
self-reported previous performance on standard educational or intellectual scales. The data
were submitted by mail. It was, of course, an experimental method, because there could be no
supervision of test-takers or control of whether the reported scores on the standard tests were
accurate.

These three tests were the Langdon Adult Intelligence Test, the Mega Test and the Titan Test.
They are the only credible tools for the measurement of intelligence at levels above the ceilings
of the traditional instruments - the Stanford–Binet, first developed by Terman, and the Wechsler
Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS). The Concept Mastery Test is purely verbal or educational,
which means it cannot capture numerical or logical thinking, seen as essential components of

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intelligence in all modern studies. [Editor’s Note: potential non sequitur since “purely verbal”
tests can be highly ​g​ loaded and gauge logical thinking.]

2. Object

In this paper, we will investigate the Mega and Titan Tests, designed by Ronald K. Hoeflin and
published in ​Omni​ magazine in April 1985 and April 1990, respectively. We wish to discover
whether their author’s claims for them are well-founded. The Mega Test was billed as
discriminating up to the one-in-a-million level of the general population as for intelligence, while
the Titan Test was designed to be even more difficult. If this is verified, they could potentially
help to identify the most gifted adults imaginable. This is a topic of some interest as the study of
genius is one of the oldest concerns within psychology. As the Mega and Titan Tests are
relatively unknown tools serving a niche market, we additionally wish to consider whether they
are suitable for wider use by psychologists. The Langdon Adult Intelligence Test would also
have been considered if its norming data had been made public. It is believed to have been
taken by more than 20,000 individuals and was normed on the basis of recognized intelligence
tests.

3. Method

The designer’s method is the experimental measurement of the very highest levels of human
intelligence. It is experimental in the sense of being based on unrecognized techniques which
are put forward for consideration. It is also experimental in retaining some features of previous
practice, while changing others in pursuit of a particular outcome. Dr. Hoeflin saw intelligence as
a composite of verbal, numerical and spatial skills. Standard item formats such as analogies,
number series, logical progression and mental manipulation of three-dimensional objects were
included. However, he dispensed with a time limit and permitted the use of reference materials
and, in one case, pocket calculators. These novelties may be justified by seeking to privilege
intellectual power over speed and the correct application of knowledge rather than merely
possessing it. Our method, on the other hand, goes back to first principles in simply mapping
the raw scores obtained on the tests onto the normal curve of distribution. An assumption
behind the norming of tests of mental ability is that intelligence is a variable characteristic which
is distributed normally [Editor’s Note: Via a bell, or Gaussian, curve]. This also matches the
empirical realities, according to a meta-study of ten mostly well-known surveys of intellect. We
are not primarily interested in the predictive validity of the tests since they are designed for
adults, but whether they can be used to identify the presence of intellectual power beyond what
the standard tests allow. If they do, the entire range of human intellect would be available for
study according to a common criterion (psychologically tested intelligence). A critique of the
Mega Test already exists which focused on the violation of psychological practices inherent in
accepting testing without supervision and norming from self-reported data. The reviewer felt that
its accuracy would be increased if the test were taken under controlled conditions. As it stands,
the library resources available to test-takers are a factor in the score generated. Even so, Dr.
Carlson recognized that the author made such a choice for practical reasons. Hoeflin did not
have access to a large pool of individuals who could take the test under controlled conditions for

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norming purposes. It might be added here that allowing reference materials closed off a
potential avenue to cheating and that efficiency in using dictionaries, thesauri and
encyclopedias in any case probably correlate to intelligence. Therefore, instead of pursuing the
available resources angle further, we will examine, using the available data, whether Hoeflin’s
tests truly identify giftedness beyond what the recognized tests do. If they do not, the rationale
behind them disappears however the resources issue is settled.

4. Limitations

As we are probing an experimental attempt to extend the range of the scale of intelligence, we
are aware that our research has several limitations. Chief among them is the problem of validity
intrinsic to the Mega and Titan Tests. No data have been published which shows Titan Test
correlations with other intelligence tests, while the Mega Test correlates only 0.374 with the
Stanford–Binet and a mere 0.137 with the WAIS. It is true that it correlates more highly with
some other intelligence tests (0.565 with the Army General Classification Test and 0.562 with
Cattell), but can we be sure that these tests measure what they purport to do? The lack of a
time limit has the effect of rewarding persistence and intense interest in the subject matter over
actual capacity in a real-world setting. In removing speed as a factor, the Mega and Titan Tests
also define intelligence differently to the established understanding manifest in virtually all other
tests, while simultaneously giving rise to scores on what is presented as the same scale. Most
of the questions on these tests are very difficult and risk conflating puzzle-solving skills with
general ability [Editor’s Note: The kiss of death? What is a challenging question on a traditional
IQ test’s matrix reasoning section if not "puzzle-solving skills"?]. Especially the Titan Test
contains too many spatial items to be representative of ​g​, the general factor underlying thinking.
Neither it nor the Mega Test can be used on the general population, and consequently the
lowest raw scores are uncertain. The tests are, however, reliable, as they would be scored
identically by any marker since there is a single correct answer to each question. A present
limitation for us is that we are relying on a non-standard source (a web page) for scores on the
Titan Test, as​ Omni ​magazine did not continue coverage of the topic after 1990. We have no
direct method of norming the Mega Test other than by the self-reported previous test scores of
Omni ​participants (also from the web page) and the Titan Test, in turn, is normed from
self-reported scores on the Mega Test. Although the tests are examined here in case they are,
or may be adapted to be, useful to psychologists and researchers, there is no guarantee that
the highest scorers on them are representative of the statistical group to which they belong.
They are a self-selected sample, possibly with excess time on their hands.

5. The Mega Test

The Mega Test consists of 48 items, of which 24 are verbal analogies, 12 spatial problems, 6
number series and 6 other numerical problems. Two of the questions are multiple choice, but
there is no penalty for wrong answers on these or other questions. There is no time limit, though
it is suggested the subject spend no more than one month. Reference materials and pocket
calculators are permitted. Given that thesauri can be used, a number of questions in the verbal
section become relatively easy. The January 1986 issue of ​Omni ​carried a score report for the

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magazine’s readership who had taken the Mega Test as printed in the April 1985 issue. It was
stated that about 3,200 readers had submitted answers to Dr Hoeflin, and that the median score
was 15. An accompanying graph allowed information to be read off about the frequency of each
raw score. Because this was given in tens, it required some concentration on our part to arrive
at an exact number of readers who had achieved a particular raw score. We are convinced that
our reading is accurate, which was confirmed by our grand total of 3,258 testees.

The mean was thus 48,899/3,258 = 15.

The variance can accordingly be calculated as 221,306/3,258 = 67.93. The standard deviation is
therefore √ 67.93 or 8.24.

As established, we have a mean of 15 and a standard deviation of 8.24. It was also reported in
the January 1986 issue of ​Omni​ that the mean IQ for its readers on the Mega Test had been
141 (on the scale used by the Stanford–Binet, which traditionally had a standard deviation of
16). Dr. Hoeflin arrived at this value by collating previous scores on intelligence and
achievement tests reported by participants. We have chosen to calculate the mean IQ on the
basis of four intelligence tests alone: the Cattell, the California Test of Mental Maturity (CTMM),
the WAIS and the Stanford–Binet. Scores were reported on other tests too, but since the
standard deviations for those are not as clear as for our chosen instruments, they were not
taken into consideration by us. This is particularly true for the Army General Classification Test.

Converting to the Stanford–Binet equivalent scale used by Hoeflin, we arrive at a mean of IQ

135.12 for those who had previously taken the Cattell, IQ 139.26 for previous CTMM-takers, IQ
140.40 for those who reported scores on the WAIS and IQ 144.61 for former Stanford–Binet
testees. The mean for each group on the Mega Test was higher than for the ​Omni​ respondents
in general. The previous scores on the Stanford–Binet were particularly high, with many above
the available ceiling for adults. This leads us to believe that a significant proportion of these
were yielded in childhood. Since such scores are not applicable to the norming of an adult
intelligence test, we decided to discard the Stanford–Binet data. Using the results from the other
tests, we calculated an average of 137.8 IQ at a raw score of 17.13. If a raw score of 17 thus
represents an IQ of 138 in round numbers, the mean of 15 on the Mega Test likely represents
an IQ of 137, given the rate of growth on this part of the scale (this will be confirmed below). We
therefore base our norming on the mean of 15 being equivalent to an IQ of 137.

The major advantage in introducing the deviation IQ [as opposed to ratio IQ calculated via
mental age/chronological age multiplied by 100 -Ed. Note] was that it should conform to the
normal curve of distribution. The number of scores above the mean do show a generally
declining tendency. We therefore decided to map raw scores above the mean onto the normal
curve. The shape of the normal curve means that scores taper off sharply above 140 IQ. Any
score above the mean or below the mean are less common occurrences, but on this test, raw
scores below the mean increase in frequency. Therefore, a different method will be used to
calculate raw scores below the mean. We divided scores at and above the 137 IQ-level into
intervals of 3 IQ points. To substantiate just how rare the very highest scores are supposed to

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29
be, we include a column showing the distribution of scores at or above 137 IQ (​see ​Table 4
below​). Statistical tables in books seldom give percentiles for scores more than 3 standard
deviations above the mean. Since the previous scores of Mega Test participants were taken
from Darryl Miyaguchi’s website “Uncommonly Difficult IQ Tests” we additionally decided to use
the percentiles calculated by him.

Table 4.​ Relative frequency of particular IQ levels according to the normal curve of distribution

IQ Interval Percentile Interval Percentile Increment Percentage of Total Scores ≥ IQ 137

137–139 99.0–99.3 0.3 40.98

140–142 99.4–99.57 0.17 23.22

143–145 99.64–99.75 0.11 15.02

146–148 99.8–99.87 0.07 9.56

149–151 99.89–99.93 0.04 5.46

152–154 99.94–99.96 0.02 2.73

155–157 99.97–99.982 0.012 1.64

158–160 99.986–99.991 0.005 0.68

161–163 99.993–99.996 0.003 0.41

164–166 99.997–99.9981 0.0011 0.15

167–169 99.9986–99.9992 0.0006 0.082

170–172 99.9994–99.99966 0.00026 0.036

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 173–175 99.99975–99.99986 0.00011 0.015

176–178 99.9999–99.99995 0.00005 0.007

179–181 99.99996–99.99998 0.00002 0.0027

182–184 99.999985–99.999992 0.000007 0.0016

TOTALS 0.732147 99.9943

There were 1,566 testees who scored 15 or higher on the Mega Test among the ​Omni
readership. We place these scores into the various intervals of the grid constructed from the
normal curve of distribution.

The highest scorer on the Mega Test among the ​Omni r​ eadership solved 45 correctly. This
represents an IQ of 170 or slightly above. There were three subjects who solved 44 correctly
and their associated IQs would be 165–170. We decided to assign them to the 167–169
category, as this allows good approximations of 43 and 42 as raw scores in the 164–166 and
161–163 categories, respectively. No reader scored above 45 and we simply do not have the
data to tell us what IQ levels these raw scores represent. Because we originally believed the
Titan Test to be harder for all raw scores, our aim was to extrapolate from that test to Mega raw
scores above 45. It will be shown below, however, that the Mega Test is more difficult near the
ceiling.

On the basis of the present norming, we believe that the Mega Test is indeed able to yield IQs
at the one-in-a-million level, a threshold which is attained at a raw score of either 46, 47 or 48.
[Editor’s Note: Interestingly, Kevin Langdon reckoned that the one-per-million level should be
pegged at 47/48 correct on the Mega Test - Kevin generously allowed one point for “ceiling
bumping,” rendering the proposed Mega cutoff score 46/48 - and said 43/48 on the Mega Test
corresponded to an IQ of 172, sigma = 16. ​https://megasociety.org/noesis/140/admstds1.html​]
As for the scores below the mean, we calculate them from one standard deviation equaling 16
IQ points. In this way, each question solved correctly up to the mean adds 16/8.24 or 1.94 IQ
points to one’s score (​ see ​Table 6​). T
​ his gives us:

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 Table 6.​ New norming of the Mega Test 2019

Table 6.​ New norming of the Mega Test 2019

Raw Score IQ Raw Score IQ Raw Score IQ

1 110 17 138 33 151

2 112 18 139 34 152

3 114 19 139 35 153

4 116 20 140 36 154

5 118 21 140 37 155

6 120 22 141 38 156

7 121 23 142 39 157

8 123 24 143 40 158

9 125 25 143 41 160

10 127 26 144 42 163

11 129 27 145 43 165

12 131 28 146 44 167

13 133 29 146 45 170

14 135 30 147 46 170+

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 15 137 31 148 47 170+

16 138 32 149 48 170+

6. The Titan Test

The Titan Test consists of 48 items, of which 24 are verbal analogies, 6 are number series, 17
are spatial problems and 1 is a complicated calculation. It was designed to be more difficult than
the Mega Test. Hardly any questions are intuitive and almost all require a substantial amount of
effort. There is no multiple choice nor penalty for incorrect answers. Test-taking time is unlimited
and could require more than a month, reference materials are allowed but not calculators or
computers.

The Titan Test was attempted by 391 ​Omni​ readers. This was only a fraction of the number of
responses received for the Mega Test, but is nevertheless high for a test of this nature. The
scores of the ​Omni​ participants were reported to Mr. Miyaguchi and appear on his website.

We begin by calculating the mean, which is 4,556/391 = 11.65. Once we also have the standard
deviation for the test, we are in a position to begin norming it.

The variance is therefore 42,455/391 = 108.58. So the standard deviation is √ 108.58 = 10.42.
What IQ level does the mean of 11.65 represent? Unlike for the Mega Test, previous test scores
of ​Omni​ participants are not available. The only usable data we have for norming is a table of
paired scores for testees who attempted both the Mega and the Titan Tests from early 1999,
several years after the latter was published in ​Omni.​

This indicates that the mean score on the Titan Test was lower than on the Mega Test for
participants who took both. Of the 83 participants [who took both tests -Ed. Note], 52 achieved a
lower raw score on the Titan Test than on the Mega Test. Their mean score was 22.5 on the
Titan Test versus 24.6 on the Mega Test. This is considerably higher than the mean of 11.65 on
the Titan Test for all ​Omni​ participants and not particularly helpful for determining the IQ at the
mean. We decided to find the Mega Test scores of Titan Test-takers who were close to the
mean of 11.65 by considering scores at 10 to 13 on the latter. ​Their Mega Test scores were 18,
25, 23, 19, 15, 14, 11 and 15 compared to their Titan Test scores of 13, 12, 12, 12, 11, 11, 11
and 10, respectively. ​Their mean Mega Test score was therefore 17.5 and their mean on the
Titan Test was 11.5. Now 17.5 on the Mega Test is equivalent to an IQ of 138.5, so if we
estimate a raw score of 11 on the Titan Test as being equivalent to an IQ of 138, we have a
base for our norming. It is also the same value as Hoeflin calculated in the official norming and
he had access to the test-takers’ previous IQ scores.

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As before, we create a grid taking account of the normal curve of distribution’s shape for scores
of 11 or above. ​This is reproduced as ​Table 10​.

Table 10.​ Relative frequency of particular IQ levels according to the normal curve of distribution

IQ Interval Percentile Interval Percentile Increment Percentage of Total Scores ≥ 138 IQ

138–140 99.1–99.4 0.3 44.98

141–143 99.5–99.64 0.14 20.99

144–146 99.7–99.8 0.1 14.99

147–149 99.83–99.89 0.06 9.0

150–152 99.91–99.94 0.03 4.5

153–155 99.95–99.97 0.02 3.0

156–158 99.977–99.986 0.009 1.35

159–161 99.989–99.993 0.004 0.6

162–164 99.995–99.997 0.002 0.3

165–167 99.9976–99.9986 0.001 0.15

168–170 99.9989–99.9994 0.0005 0.075

171–173 99.9995–99.99975 0.00025 0.037

174–176 99.99981–99.9999 0.00009 0.013

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 177–179 99.99993–99–99996 0.00003 0.0045

180–182 99.99997–99.999985 0.000015 0.0022

183–185 99.999989–99.999995 0.000006 0.0009

TOTALS 0.666891 99.9926

There were 167 test-takers who scored 11 or above and thus qualified to be inserted into our
grid. We sort the test-takers into categories on the basis of their raw scores, ​as can be seen in
Table 11​.

Table 11.​ Distribution of testees in the intervals and associated scores on the Titan Test

Table 11.​ Distribution of testees in the intervals and associated scores on the Titan Test

IQ Interval Theoretical Frequency Associated Scores

138–140 75.12 11–18

141–143 35.06 19–23

144–146 25.04 24–28

147–149 15.02 29–33

150–152 7.5 34–38

153–155 5 39

156–158 2.25 40

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 159–161 1 41–43

162–164 0.5 44

165–167 0.25 45–47

168–170 0.125 48

171–173 0.063

174–176 0.023

177–179 0.0075

180–182 0.0038

183–185 0.0015

TOTAL 166.9638

The clustering at the bottom is probably a result of there not being enough test-takers to get
more precise results. Getting seven more questions right should raise IQ by much more than
two points. It is a problem that we have fewer than 400 test-takers, as the mean IQ is based on
the Mega Test to which there were more than 3,200 responses. The Titan Test appears to be
able to discriminate up to the one-in-a-hundred-thousand level, but more extravagant claims do
not seem well-founded. As for the scores which were below the mean, we use the mean and the
standard deviation to estimate them, in preference to the normal curve to which this array of
scores does not conform. As before, we assign 16 IQ points to one standard deviation of 10.42,
counting from IQ 138, which we placed at raw score 11. Each question answered correctly up to
the mean therefore yields 16/10.42 IQ points, or an increment of 1.54 IQ. ​Hence, we obtain the
following norming for the test:

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 Table 12.​ New norming of the Titan Test 2019

Table 12.​ New norming of the Titan Test 2019

Raw Score IQ Raw Score IQ Raw Score IQ

1 123 17 140 33 149

2 124 18 140 34 150

3 126 19 141 35 150

4 127 20 141 36 151

5 129 21 142 37 151

6 130 22 142 38 152

7 132 23 143 39 154

8 133 24 144 40 157

9 135 25 144 41 159

10 136 26 145 42 160

11 138 27 145 43 161

12 138 28 146 44 163

13 138 29 147 45 165

14 139 30 147 46 166

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 15 139 31 148 47 167

16 139 32 148 48 168+

This norming is surprisingly low in context, as virtually all the questions on the Titan Test are
difficult, unlike the Mega Test which also includes relatively easy items. The mean of the Mega
Test is 15 and the standard deviation is 8.24. For the Titan Test, we found a mean of 11.65 and
a standard deviation of 10.42. Each test has 48 items of equal weighting. Let us ascertain
theoretically which test is the more difficult at the highest raw score possible.

The z-score for the Mega Test would be 48−15/8.24 = 4.004

The z-score for the Titan Test would be 48−11.65/10.42 = 3.4884

Empirical evidence also lends credence to the result that the Mega Test is harder at the highest
levels. Out of the 3,258 test-takers, there were 21 who scored 40 or higher on the Mega Test,
which equals a proportion of 0.64%. For the 391 Titan Test subjects, there were 5 who scored
40 or higher, a proportion of 1.28%. For the paired scores, we notice that the highest scorers on
the Titan Test normally achieved a lower raw score on the Mega Test. A perfect score of 48 on
the Titan Test, achieved by one subject, equals about 44 on the Mega Test. The second highest
score on the Titan Test, when considering only​ Omni ​participants, was 44, which equals about
42 on the Mega Test.

7. Conclusions

The renorming of these tests has indicated that the official scores reported to participants are
too generous in almost all instances. According to our results, the designer’s most recent
norming of the Mega Test [Editor’s Note: Sixth Norming of Mega Test:
http://miyaguchi.4sigma.org/hoeflin/meganorm.html​] is too high by six IQ points at a raw score of
10, five IQ points at a raw score of 20, ten IQ points at a raw score of 30 and eleven IQ points at
a raw score of 40. The Titan Test has only been normed once. That norming, we believe, is too
high by three IQ points at a raw score of 15, by five IQ points at a raw score of 20, ten IQ points
at a raw score of 30 and thirteen IQ points at a raw score of 40 [Editor’s Note: Titan Test norms:
http://miyaguchi.4sigma.org/hoeflin/titan/titanorm.html​]. Scores on the Mega Test are boosted
because its verbal section contains a number of items which can be solved without much effort.
The verbal section of the Titan Test is more abstruse, requiring greater knowledge, more
elaborate fact-finding and more thought as to what is being asked for. Therefore, our norming is
almost identical to Dr Hoeflin’s up to a raw score of 11.

It is a surprise that the ceiling of the Mega Test seems to be higher than that of the Titan Test.
Even a cursory glance at the two tests gives the impression that the Titan Test is harder, and it

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38
was designed to be so. There are two possible explanations. The first is that it attracted a more
select group of testees. Only 391 Omni readers took the Titan Test, as opposed to more than
3,200 for the Mega Test. It is possible that with a larger pool of subjects, the mean would have
dropped significantly, which would have pushed the highest scores up. IQs yielded on both the
tests relate greatly to the scores of other participants. The second explanation would be that
taking the Titan Test involves answering questions which are rather similar. For instance, there
are five variations on a single theme in the “probabilities” section. Solving one of these problems
correctly might have made it significantly easier to solve others in the same section. The
combination of generally difficult questions with clustering occurring inside sections, may then
have led to greater dispersal. The concomitant higher standard deviation would, in that case,
have pushed the ceiling down. Mega Test questions tend to be more unlike one another. If we
discount the defect associated with its verbal section, we believe it does measure mental ability
up to the one-in-a-million mark. (Even if the mean on the test represents an IQ of 131, six points
lower than assumed, a raw score of 45 would generate an IQ of at least 167. A raw score of 48,
not yet achieved by a test taker, would then probably still hit the one-in-a-million level, which is
an IQ of 176.) The Titan Test measures up to the one-in-a-hundred-thousand mark and, as
discussed above, has no defect in its verbal section.

The decisive issue is whether these tests can be useful to psychologists. Our norming does
indicate that the tests go above the ceilings of established tests [The WAIS-III, e.g., has a
ceiling of IQ 155, sigma 15, and WAIS-IV has a ceiling of IQ 160, sigma 15. -Ed. Note]. Subjects
who achieve a raw score above 40 are of such exceptional ability that standard tests are unable
to measure them adequately. Scores above 5 or so on the Titan Test and scores above 11 or so
on the Mega Test also betoken giftedness in the subject. For detecting this, the experimental
tests are alternatives to the many accepted tests which operate with a ceiling of only 2 to 2.5
standard deviations above the mean. If the experimental tests were to be adopted by a
researcher with the resources necessary to combine them in such a way that the easy verbal
and any other faulty items were eliminated, they might serve as a useful complement to other
high-range instruments such as the Concept Mastery Test or the Miller Analogies Test. This is
especially true because the experimental tests offer many non-verbal questions. New norms
would of course have to be established for the improved test or tests. Short forms of the tests
could also be created which select the best items. [The Prometheus Society, a high-IQ society
catering to those scoring at least four sigma above the mean, currently accepts a scaled score
of 500 on the Miller Analogies Test and once accepted a raw score of 21/27 on the Mega27, a
shortened version of the Mega Test. -Ed. Note] Item Response Theory would be useful here.
The object would be to choose the items which act as the greatest indicators for the levels of
ability which surpass the norms on the standard tests available. The Mega and Titan Tests,
however, cannot be used on their own and in their current form by psychologists, owing to the
lack of supervision associated with them and the extremely lengthy test procedure.

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 Response to David Redvaldsen's 2019 Investigation of Mega Test and Titan Test

Ron Hoeflin

I did not read the entire report by David Redvaldsen but I did read his norms for Table 12 as
well as his entire "Conclusion." I am not a statistician, so I would recommend someone like Fred
Britton, who took many courses in statistics at the University of Illinois (Urbana-Champaign) at
the graduate level [Fred Britton was taught by Raymond Cattell, one-third of the namesake of
Cattell-Horn-Carrell (CHC) theory in psychometrics -Ed. Note] to examine the statistical claims
of this report. It does puzzle me, however, that eliminating the easier problems would increase
the ceiling of the test. That seems counterintuitive. Maybe the author is assuming a normal
curve, which is known not to apply with much success to high-ceiling tests. I think that including
easier problems is essential in order to entice a wider audience to try such tests. My Titan Test
started with perhaps unduly difficult verbal problems that would not entice many people to try
the test, e.g., the problem "Strip : Mobius :: Bottle : ?" As of now only one person, after 30
years, has attained a perfect score on the Titan Test, and only a handful have attained a score
of 43 right out of 48, which is used as the cut-off for the Mega Society. The Mega Test was
similar until there was a spate of very high scores, which may have been due to leakage of
answers on the Internet. But Redvaldsen's results presumably are unaffected by this spate of
very high scores because they occurred long after the initial batch of 3,200 ​Omni​ readers had
tried the test. It was about 20 years before anyone achieved a perfect score on the Mega Test
(not counting two pre-​Omni p ​ erfect scores, which were partially due to cheating by at least one
of the two, and these two early perfect scores would presumably not have been included in
Redvaldsen's study). Tests like the SAT and GRE are administered to such a large audience
that new problems can be tried experimentally with hundreds of thousands, perhaps millions of
people, before they are counted in scoring these tests. Unfortunately, the high-IQ societies do
not have such a large group of guinea pigs. I did use volunteers from the Triple Nine Society, for
which I was serving as editor, and I chose problems that about half of them missed, so that a
score of 24 out of 48 seemed about right for the 99.9 percentile. It was interesting to me that the
percentage of people who could solve the three-interpenetrating-cubes problem in the Mega
Test rose dramatically with higher overall scores, even though 50% of the test was verbal and
12.5% involved number sequences, so that the ability to solve such a difficult spatial problem
should not have correlated very well with the rest of the test unless the overall test was actually
doing a pretty good job in measuring general intelligence. For the first 3,200 people who tried
the Mega Test, 13 scored 43 to 48 right, of whom 7 people (53.8 percent) solved the cubes
problem correctly. Of the 304 who scored 37 to 42 right, 31.2 percent solved the cubes problem.
Of those who scored 31 to 36 right, 10.5 percent solved the cubes problem. Of those who
scored 25 to 30 right, 4.9 percent solved the cubes problem. Of those who scored 19 to 24 right,
0.7 percent solved the cubes problem. Of those who scored 13 to 18, 0.6 percent solved the
cubes problem. Of those scoring 7 to 12 right, 0 percent solved the cubes problem. And of these
who scored 0 to 6 right, 0 percent solved the cube problem. I don't see how fussing around with
the low end of the scale can shed much light on where the one-in-a-million level should occur.
We do know that several people who got PhDs from places like Caltech and M.I.T. managed to

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40
score 43 or 44 right on the Mega Test. One of our members who studied high-energy physics at
Caltech for 4 years and was the last of the 15 grad students at Caltech in that specialized
program who dropped out, none of the 15 getting a PhD, scored 43 right. John Sununu, who
earned a PhD in mechanical engineering at M.I.T., scored 44 right out of 48. Maybe 43 right is
"only" at the 99.999 percentile rather than 99.9999 percentile. I have a chart showing the scores
of about 5 million people who took the SAT over a 5-year period. Of those 5 million, just 35
reached perfect scores of 1600 on the SAT. If we assume that their scores were distributed
between 1595 and 1605, then half of them, roughly 17.5, should be rated at the Mega level over
a 5-year period, or about 3.5 people per year. This seems consistent with the birth of about 4
million people per year in the United States, of whom about 4 should be rated at one-in-a-million
in intelligence if all of them had tried the SAT. But, of course, not every Mega-level person
would have tried the SAT in any given year, but perhaps 3.5 of them would have, on average. If
we try to equate the distribution of scores on the Mega Test with scores on the SAT, as a
percentile vis-à-vis the general population, as I did in one of my final normings, I could then put
the 99.9 percentile at the mid-point for Triple Nine volunteers, and the 99.9999 percentile at the
same rarity of people who got perfect scores on the SAT. The GRE perhaps would have been a
better platform for such comparisons, since it had a ceiling of 1800 rather than 1600. But I think
GRE scores were generally about 50 points higher than SAT scores by the same person, so
one would have to use 1650 on the GRE to be equivalent to 1600 on the SAT. I recall having
seen scores as high at 1640 on the verbal plus quantitative parts of the GRE (there was a
quantitative score as high as 880 on the GRE by a person who tried one of my tests, but that
person's verbal score was not similarly high). When Kevin Langdon showed me a list of 600
people who had tried his LAIT which had appeared in ​Omni m ​ agazine in 1979, all of whom in
his opinion had attained the one-in-30,000 cut-off for his Four Sigma Society, I suggested at that
time (1980 or 1981) that he could admit the top 20 or so of the 600 to form a one-in-a-million
society, but he rejected the idea, which is why I decided to form a one-in-a-million society on my
own, which occurred in 1982. My Mega Test did not appear in ​Omni​ until 1985, so in the first 3
years I accepted very high scorers on the LAIT as well as people who had several very high
scores on several tests, that theoretically could be statistically combined [presumably with the
Ferguson formula -Ed. Note] to equate with one-in-a-million in rarity, as if all the tests formed a
single very long and very difficult test. At any rate, all my energies of late have been focused on
my theory of categories, so I must leave to others further dithering about an appropriate way to
acquire genuinely qualified members for the Mega Society. My 13-volume "Encyclopedia of
Categories" should be finished in November and I will then send it as email attachments to all
members of the Mega and Prometheus societies, as well as to people listed in the "Directory of
American Philosophers." If I pursue the project further in my final years, I could theoretically
attain a 50-volume version in about 15 years (when I am 91 years of age, if I last that long) and
a 100-volume version in about 25 years (when I am 101 years of age, if I last that long), my
current age being 76.

Ron Hoeflin

Noesis #206, September 2020

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 The Potential Epistemic Invalidity of Phenomenological Accounts

Ken Shea

"How does the water of the brain turn into the wine of consciousness?" -David Chalmers

""I'm writing a book on magic," I explain, and I'm asked, "real magic?" By real magic people mean miracles,
thaumaturgical acts, and supernatural powers. "No," I answer: "Conjuring tricks, not real magic."

Real magic, in other words, refers to magic that is not real, while the magic that is real, that can actually be done, is
not real magic." -Lee Siegel (conjurer and author of ​Net of Magic: Wonders and Deceptions in India​)

“Eliminative materialism is the thesis that our commonsense conception of psychological phenomena constitutes a
radically false theory, a theory so fundamentally defective that both the principles and the ontology of that theory will
eventually be displaced, rather than smoothly reduced, by completed neuroscience.” -Paul Churchland

Consciousness is the presentation of a world. Where a world is not phenomenologically

presented to an organism, as in a coma, the organism is said to be unconscious. More shallow
forms of dreaming qualify as conscious states because an inner simulation is unfolding and
presenting a world, albeit a world with a more tenuous hold on the outer environment than the
world presented during waking hours. Human waking consciousness itself is a simulation, a kind
of dream, a representational model or virtual reality as opposed to unfiltered reality. Already,
one can understand why consciousness would be an irresistible philosophical field of inquiry.
Consciousness is seemingly ​foundational​ and ​unique​ and ​generative​ in that the manifold
phenomena of consciousness appear to create a world and, simultaneously, inhere within the
world. How can this possibly be?

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Is the world severed at the skin boundary of the self? Is there one ontological realm for minds
and another for matter (i.e., mental-physical Cartesian dualism)? Is there a homunculus
watching a thrilling movie in the Cartesian theater of your head right now? If so, does this
homunculus enjoy his or her own realm of existence, too, or would the homunculus realm be
coextensive with everything else? ​Can there be more than one homunculus assigned to each
person? Is this a necessity or does it invite an infinite regress? ​Do abstract objects exist
independently of the human mind à la Platonic realism (cf. problem of universals)? Were the
substantial vitalists right all along in saying that one was hopelessly adrift without invoking an
élan vital or entelechy? As philosophers of mind are obsessed with color qualia, occasionally to
the detriment of more holistic concerns, let’s assess human sight phenomenologically before
expanding the depth of field to help answer these questions.

Resolving the Paradox of Isomorphism as Category Error

One could argue the color ​blue​ on a phenomenological level doesn't truly exist externally.
Indeed, phenomenology doesn't exist externally unless one takes an expansive view of the
mind-body problem, as some phenomenal externalists and revivalist panpsychists have done.
Presupposing ​blue​ doesn’t phenomenologically inhere to the real world, then what exists
externally? The electromagnetic radiation is real and external, but the transducted internal
perception of the particular wavelength frequencies corresponding to supposed color qualia
vis-à-vis the electromagnetic radiation (the average human eye can see wavelength frequencies
from approximately 380 nanometers to 740 nanometers) is arguably illusory insofar as the
internal perception might well be mistaken or subjective. In any event, there’s transduction.

Contending otherwise risks falling prey to naïve realism or Antti Revonsuo’s “paradox of
isomorphism.” Antti Revonsuo has this to say: “The problem of isomorphism is that if
consciousness literally resides in the brain, then there must be something in the brain that
literally resembles or is similar to consciousness - that is to say, consciousness itself”
(“Prospects for a Scientific Research Program on Consciousness,” ​Neural Correlates of
Consciousness​, page 67). Classically resolving the paradox of isomorphism means finding an
organizational structure in the brain that resembles the contents of phenomenal consciousness.
This may be more of a category error than paradox for reasons that will become obvious, e.g.,
the vehicle and content in a representational context can be distinct, though Antti Revonsuo
seems hostile to this aspect of teleofunctionalism. Researchers Gerald Edelman and Giulio
Tononi have proposed bringing the entire idea of qualia up to date by saying, “Qualia can be
considered scientifically as forms of multidimensional discrimination carried out by a complex
brain.” The vehicle for the content of color, the folk-psychology notion of color qualia, entails
visual cortex area 4 (i.e., V4), particularly the lateral occipitotemporal gyrus (i.e., fusiform gyrus)
and the medial occipitotemporal gyrus (i.e., lingual gyrus), once creatures with trichromatic
vision (the three types of retinal cone photoreceptor cells are known as S, M, and L cones for
short, medium, and long cones, respectively) process color information axonally through the
optic nerve and lateral geniculate nucleus.

The transformation of these sensory activation vectors, temporally and through an extremely
complex matrix via massively parallel processing, facilitates a representational,
neurocomputational model of mentation. Sensory patterns “get transformed mainly by the vast
filter of synaptic connections they have to traverse in order to stimulate the cortical population.
The result is typically a ​new​ pattern across the cortical canvas, a principled ​transformation​ of the

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original sensory pattern.” This process confounds the theory of naïve realism and complicates a
straightforward isomorphism since a ​new​ pattern and principled ​transformation​ have been
transmuted from the original activation vectors, i.e., the “computation over these vast vectorial
representations consists in their principled transformation by the vast matrix of tiny synaptic
connections that intervene between any two neuronal populations.” Such massively parallel
processing explains why animals with less neural architecture and raw computational power can
respond so quickly and nimbly to environmental changes (“Evaluating Our Self-Conception,” ​On
the Contrary: Critical Essays, 1987-1997​, pg. 37).

Phenomenal Self-models and The Five Aggregates: Impermanence Curiously Incarnate

One could go further than updating the idea of qualia and posit that the self is an illusion, as the
German neurophenomenologist Thomas Metzinger has done in ​Being No One: The Self-model
Theory of Subjectivity​ as well as​ The Ego Tunnel: The Science of the Mind and the Myth of the
Self.​ The folk-psychology notion of self is simply a phenomenal self-model per Metzinger. At
root, the phenomenal self-model theory of subjectivity is a representationalist model that seeks
to explain how the brain interprets and interacts with mental constructs phenomenologically
represented as epistemically veridical aspects of frequently reciprocal inner and outer worlds (cf.
Immanuel Kant’s inner and outer sense). These conclusions about the so-called self and
epistemic fallibility qua phenomenology may be difficult for most people to concede, disquieting
to ponder and perhaps slippery to conceptually grasp given widespread phenomenal
transparency, but there is mounting empirical support for such a position.

Phenomenology and epistemology need not align perfectly. [1] In fact, Buddhists have long
contended that the self is an illusion; the Buddhist concept of anatta, one of the supposed three
marks of existence, means “non-self” or “substanceless”; Buddhists maintain that the notion of a
self or transcendental soul is falsidical. The idea in Buddhism is that an individual is potentially
the moment-to-moment amalgamation of five aggregates (a.k.a., skandhas): form (rupa),
sensations (vedana), perceptions (samjna), mental activity (samskara), and awareness
(vijnana). Suffering or unsatisfactoriness (dukkha), Siddhartha Gautama believed, manifests as
people cling to one or more of the aggregates. Ontologically, because all of the five aggregates
(or factors) are constantly changing and empty (i.e., sunyata), the so-called self (or product of
these factors) cannot have permanence or ontological substance - remember, anatta means
substanceless. Buddhist teaching and Thomas Metzinger’s phenomenal self-model theory of
subjectivity are in harmony insofar as each views the self as a dynamic process rather than an
independent, permanent, transtemporal ontological object, let alone such an ontological object
necessitating a private ontological realm à la Cartesian dualism.

Phenomenal Consciousness: Transparency, Perspectivalness, and Presence

Phenomenal consciousness forms the foundation of the body-based, temporally dynamic

process constituting the phenomenal self-model of subjectivity. The framework of phenomenal
consciousness (i.e., the ​modus operandi​ for non-pathological, human waking consciousness) is
dynamically founded on three fundamental pillars: transparency, or the immediate "givenness"
and global nature of phenomenal consciousness; perspectivalness, or the egoic "mineness" of
phenomenal consciousness; and, presence, or the temporal "nowness" of phenomenal
consciousness (see: Thomas Metzinger's "The Problem of Consciousness”). The most critical of
these three pillars of phenomenal consciousness for understanding the phenomenal self-model

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44
is transparency, according to Thomas Metzinger, because: A) transparency, on one level, forms
the base upon which both perspectivalness and presence qua phenomenal consciousness are
built B) if the instrument of self-representation were itself globally available (i.e., opaque) then
the inherent naïve realism of the phenomenal self-model would be obviated C) internal sources
of information from which the phenomenal self-model is generated (e.g., vestibular, visual, and
proprioceptive data) must be globally ​represented​ and mostly remain inaccessible to subjective
experience [2] (cf. global workspace models) and D) select parts of the phenomenal
self-representation (e.g., certain body representations) should ideally appear static for
transparency to obtain in the midst of changing internal and external perceptions [3] (cf. David
Rosenthal’s transitive consciousness; Gerald Edelman’s primary consciousness; Philip
Johnson-Laird’s bare awareness; Antonio Damasio’s Protoself). Antonio Damasio has defined
the Protoself as “​a coherent collection of neural patterns, which map moment-by-moment the state
of the physical structure of the organism.” [4]

Teleofunctionalism, World Zero Hypothesis, and Autoepistemic Closure

Transparency, denotationally, means that something is easy to see through. As applied to

phenomenal consciousness, transparency connotes the deceptive sense, epistemically, of the
self-model seeing through the model without realizing the model as such. One simply views
oneself, the world, and oneself in it. What could be more natural? As it happens, phenomenal
consciousness evolved over millions of years of evolution to deliver a resource-efficient,
streamlined, yet subjective view of reality. Quick definitions: Teleofunctionalism (teleo- meaning
end, goal, or purpose) in terms of philosophy of mind says that a given mental state is
predicated on the function it serves psychobiologically for the subject; the world zero hypothesis
[5] is the idea that phenomenally transparent representations aided teleofunctionally in that a
single given reality was treated as central (i.e., world zero) for purposes of, for instance,
psychomotor action rehearsal; and, autoepistemic closure refers to the fact that a
comprehensive representation of reality is underway and that the “representation cannot be
represented as a representation by the system itself” (​Being No One: The Self-model Theory of
Subjectivity,​ pg. 131), or Plato’s allegory of the cave incarnate sans the possibility of escape.

Evolution has rendered humans epistemic naïve realists by default because having one
streamlined, globally represented view of reality has advantages in terms of the assignment of
resources (e.g., glucose), psychomotor planning [6], and remaining largely in the dark about the
building blocks that contribute to subsequently represented global phenomenal state space.
Bluntly, computational load is reduced. Getting lost in the labyrinthine preliminary stages of
phenomenal consciousness would have been dangerously impractical, and had a higher
metabolic cost, for progenitors of the human species; as well as other animals. What's important
to remember is that phenomenal transparency is inversely related to the degree of attentional
availability with respect to these preliminary stages of phenomenal consciousness. Such a
definition implies that phenomenal transparency is on a continuum with phenomenal opacity and
that a significantly undiluted version of the latter has major evolutionary hurdles to overcome,
but phenomenal opacity is definitely possible (e.g., lucid dreams) in principle. In such aberrant
cases, one intimately understands that reality is simulation. As a rule, every representation is a
simulation but not every simulation is a representation. On a prosaic level, logico-semantic
reasoning tends to be less transparent, less streamlined, because it is a more recently acquired
mental ability; fewer evolutionary refinements have rendered logico-semantic reasoning more
phenomenally opaque (n.b., the high metabolic cost of rigorous step-by-step thinking), and the

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45
gradient of refinement can be represented spatio-temporally within a teleofunctional framework.
Presupposing some degree of causal relation between the psychobiology of the brain, refined
by evolution and represented by teleofunctionalism, and phenomenology, the connections
between deep-rooted parts of the brain and phenomenal transparency manifest themselves in
virtual real-time via globally represented phenomenal state space.

The Binding Problem, Innumerable Easy Problems, and the Hard Problem

​ eural correlates of consciousness in terms of transparency

Elucidating the ​minimally sufficient n
might, accordingly, unravel the most profound mysteries entangled around and within
consciousness in the decades ahead (cf. ​Neural Correlates of Consciousness,​ Thomas
Metzinger et al., 2000). In turn, philosophers and scientists explicating the neural correlates of
consciousness should illuminate the combination problem vis-à-vis the binding problem in
philosophy of mind and help answer, or somehow transcend, the so-called hard problem of
consciousness (i.e., the explanatory gap). David Chalmers, an analytic philosopher of mind,
maintains that the hard problem of consciousness - viz., why do sentient creatures have
subjective experiences? - will persist after scientific and teleofunctional explanations are,
presumably one day, fully accepted as explanans for the explananda of innumerable easy
problems, like visual discrimination and the neural substrates for short-term memory. An easy
problem is claimed to be “easy” because there is, at least theoretically, a determinable neural
mechanism carrying out the particular function under investigation. It may turn out, alternatively,
that the easy problems will simply be solved first and reveal neural substrates underlying an
ever-broadening array of facets of consciousness, which will afford neuroscientists the empirical
tools to modulate consciousness as such through tinkering the neural substrates implicated in
both the easy problems and hard problem; thus overcoming the explanatory gap. Put another
way, a detailed representational, teleofunctional, neurocomputational model serving to explain
consciousness may be parsimonious and sufficient. What's more, such an outcome doesn't
really seem unreasonable given some kind of monist, especially physicalist, answer to the
supposed mind-body problem. Obviously, the “mind” and body aren’t separate at all.

Lack of Identity Criterion Ultimately Requires Elimination

There’s a staggeringly real possibility that both qualia and phenomenology are fictions in this
model. Philosopher Diana Raffman has claimed that people are better able to discriminate
perceptual values than identify perceptual values. Earlier you learned that the visible spectrum
encompassed wavelength frequencies from 380 nanometers to 740 nanometers on the
overarching electromagnetic spectrum. Research shows that between 430 and 650
nanometers, or almost two-thirds of the visible spectrum, a human being can discriminate about
150 different wavelength color frequencies by comparing these wavelength color frequencies to
one another; however, the number drops from 150 different wavelength color frequencies to 15
different wavelength color frequencies when forced to singly identify particular colors
attentionally or semantically. The technical term for this is a lack of “introspective identity
criterion.” Invariably, the ineffable 135 colors (150 - 15 = 135) qua perceptual values have a
neural correlate of consciousness, i.e., the empirical state of the brain is different in each of
these 135 cases even though the perceptual values cannot be identified with introspective
attention or articulated. Daniel Dennett and Paul Churchland have both suggested that qualia as
such, i.e., as classically defined by Clarence Irving Lewis, do not exist and consciousness may
be a kind of higher-order illusion; philosopher Paul Churchland counsels essentially supplanting

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46
phenomenology with a new neural kinematics and neural dynamics. [7] This could be the right
approach because it would reflect the fact that the average human brain can register, but not
identify with introspective attention or articulate, those extra 135 perceptual values vis-à-vis
wavelength color frequencies. Qualia in particular and phenomenology in general may be too
crude to describe what is actually happening in the brain, which might in this case ultimately be
revealed or scientifically redefined as 135 (or 150) distinct neural correlates of consciousness
via high-resolution scans of the brain. Consciousness, refined and redefined, might well be
collapsible into information processing or neural kinematics-dynamics. As Daniel Dennett
himself once said, “any theory that makes progress is bound to be initially counterintuitive.”

Generally, conceptual-empirical progress can be made by mapping one theory onto another. In
a certain sense, indeed, this is a form of reduction, but reduction itself is a relationship between
theories rather than phenomena (cf. Johannes Kepler’s three laws of planetary motion getting
encompassed by Isaac Newton’s more broadly explanatory three laws of motion in classical
mechanics). The problem arises when one theory promotes concepts (e.g., qualia) which resist
mapping onto another theory (e.g., neuroscience). Consider that qualia are said to have the
following properties: ineffability, intrinsicality, privateness, and immediate apprehensiveness.
This creates a serious problem for mapping one theory onto another theory because of the
incoherency or ineffability of a pivotal constituent concept of one theory. Because an identity
criterion does not seem possible, in principle, for qualia (“ineffability”), the only way forward is
elimination: A lack of identity criterion for qualia and perhaps consciousness, or the inability to
treat these concepts as veritable theoretical entities, may require elimination. Consciousness
researchers Paul Churchland and Frank Jackson have something interesting to say here.

Paul Churchland is a proponent of eliminative materialism, which posits that folk-psychology

concepts, such as qualia, and incoherency of certain propositional attitudes necessitate the
elimination of select classes of mental states from consideration. (Reductive materialism, by
contrast, insists that mental states as currently apprehended have an ontological assignment,
need not necessarily be eliminated, and hence may be studied as currently apprehended.
Select concepts being studied in philosophy of mind would be radically overdetermined for Paul
Churchland et al.) In the essay “Evaluating Our Self-Conception,” Paul Churchland subscribes
to the following checklist to determine a theory’s robustness:

● Chronic poor performance in a proprietary domain (cf. Ptolemaic astronomy)

● Incompatibility with closely neighboring theories that are performing extremely well (cf.
vitalism vis-à-vis metabolic and molecular biology)

● Poor extension to domains continuous with but outside the domain of initial performance
(cf. Netonian mechanics in strong gravitational fields or high relative velocities)

● Occasional empirical result carefully contrived to discriminate in some important way

between competing theories (cf. Eddington’s eclipse expedition)

Frank Jackson, within “Finding the Mind in the Natural World,” equates science with “serious
metaphysics” and says that, “Serious metaphysics is simultaneously discriminatory and
putatively complete, and the combination of these two factors means that there is bound to be a
whole range of putative features of our world up for either elimination or location.” Because of a

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47
potential lack of identity criterion with consciousness and purportedly related concepts (e.g.,
qualia), or the obvious scientific inability to locate an apparently incoherent or ineffable concept,
the only available course could be elimination. Frank Jackson, overall, does a masterful job of
harmonizing contingency and physicalism thus: “A complete story of everything contingent,
including everything psychological, about our world can in principle be told in terms of these
physical particulars, properties, and the relations alone. Only then is materialism interestingly
different from dual attribute theories of mind” (“Finding the Mind in the Natural World,” ​The
Nature of Consciousness: Philosophical Debates​ , page 484). The psychological could ultimately
be parsimoniously enfolded within the physical to reveal a comprehensive monist explanation of
consciousness. All phenomena may supervene on the physical in the manner of ontological
monism, the big dance, yet philosophy will be called upon to contextualize, reify, hypothesize,
and enrich mathematical descriptions of state vectors (e.g., brain scans) in the years ahead.

Psychopathology, Lucid Dreams, Mysticism, and Anesthesiology

Intriguing, though potentially methodologically and ethically challenging, ways of further

resolving the so-called hard problem of consciousness, and essentially transcending the
explanatory gap through pinpointing the ​minimally sufficient ​ neural correlates of consciousness
using fine-grained tools, may involve the interdisciplinary study of the following: case studies of
mental pathology (e.g., apperceptive agnosia and associative agnosia), lucid dreams, mystical
experiences, psychedelic-psychotic episodes (e.g., derealization), sensory deprivation, deep
sleep, and anesthesiology. Did you know that there are unfortunate patients with Cotard’s
syndrome who delusionally presume themselves to be dead or missing miscellaneous body
parts? Why is that? Do the rubber-hand illusion and phantom limb syndrome have implications
for body ownership in particular and the phenomenal self-model in general? The rubber hand
illusion appears to be fooling the phenomenal self-model - keen on constellating and interpreting
visual, proprioceptive, vestibular, and tactile data - into incorporating an extra arm, which
happens to be artificial. What implications does this have for the flexibility of the underlying
mental program continually circumscribing body ownership? One thing can be said with some
degree of certainty: Consciousness seems to abhor glaring holes on the way to establishing
coherence and indivisibility. As an example, patients with Anton-Babinksi syndrome, a visual
anosognosia (“lack of insight”), will stubbornly maintain that they have not lost their vision, really
believing it, and attempt to confabulate the problem away. Crucially, there’s an inbuilt fault
tolerance with massively parallel processing since the potential 10^15 connections in the brain
(10^11 neurons X average 10^4 connections each) are working dynamically within the same
matrix to produce the representational picture of the organism interacting with the world.

Stepping back, there is a very logically compelling idea in philosophy of mind that suggests
taking a measurement of the brain’s state in deep sleep (presumed to be the baseline or strictly
necessary physiological condition for consciousness to arise upon waking) and subtracting that
state from the brain’s measured state in non-pathological, human waking consciousness will
thereby subtract the necessary conditions from the necessary ​and​ sufficient conditions, isolating
the sufficient conditions for consciousness to arise. The same kind of procedure could be
performed to compare non-pathological with pathological cases in looking for the neural
correlates of consciousness. What exactly distinguishes Cotard’s syndrome or “walking corpse
syndrome” from associated conditions, such as schizophrenia and psychotic breaks? How do
these differences relate to potential fractures in the phenomenal self-model?

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 Functional Clusters, Reentrant Interactions, and The Dynamic Core Hypothesis

This kind of logic almost seemed like a background assumption for the following: Nobel
Prize-winning biologist Gerald Edelman and neuroscientist Giulio Tononi teamed up to exposit
the empirically testable dynamic core hypothesis. Their preferred modes of empirical exploration
for confirming the dynamic core hypothesis were functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI),
topographic electroencephalogram (EEG), and magnetoencephalography (MEG) because these
offered the wide spatial coverage and high temporal resolution to reveal virtually real-time [8]
changes in conscious and subconscious processing vis-à-vis functional clusters and reentry.

Functional clusters are defined as, “A subset of elements within a system will constitute an
integrated process if, on a given time scale, these elements interact much more strongly among
themselves than with the rest of the system. Such a subset of strongly interacting elements that
is functionally demarcated from the rest of the system can be called a functional cluster.” Gerald
Edelman and Giulio Tononi found that, in general, weak, degraded, or ephemeral stimuli had a
lower probability of facilitating quick, strong, and distributed neural interactions, a kind of ​sine
qua non​ for conscious perception, Edelman and Tononi reckoned. The two core tenets of the
dynamic core hypothesis are thus - “A group of neurons can contribute directly to conscious
experience only if it is part of a distributed functional cluster that, through reentrant interactions
in the thalamocortical system, achieves high integration in hundreds of milliseconds” and,
second, “To sustain conscious experience, it is essential that this functional cluster be highly
differentiated, as indicated by high values of complexity.” The process of reentry is defined as,
“the ongoing, recursive, highly parallel signaling within and among brain areas” (“Reentry and
the Dynamic Core,” ​Neural Correlates of Consciousness​, page 142). The dynamic core
hypothesis ostensibly makes serious headway with the binding problem (cf. Antonio Damasio’s
“Time-locked Multiregional Reactivation: A Systems-level Proposal for the Neural Substrates of
Recall and Recognition”), partly because it balances integration and differentiation, a
combination of regularity and randomness, conducive to producing an emergent phenomenon.

Let’s further unpack time and complexity for a moment because these are extremely important
to the dynamic core hypothesis. Cognitive scientist Benjamin Libet showed that high-frequency
somatosensory stimuli sent to the thalamus required 500 milliseconds (i.e., half a second) to
produce a conscious experience for the subject whereas less than 150 milliseconds can
produce (subconscious) sensory detection of an environmental change without full (conscious)
awareness (cf. Antonio Damasio’s Protoself and Core Consciousness). Multiple researchers
have demonstrated that sustaining these evoked potentials required the excitation of pyramidal
neurons in the somatosensory cortex via reentrant interactions with higher cortical areas (e.g.,
Cauller, 1995). Reentrant interactions among distributed functional clusters are necessary but
insufficient to produce conscious experience. Consider that the brain during a seizure is
hyperactive, but EEG demonstrates that a large number of brain regions are active in on-off
synchronicity with each other (i.e., non-dynamic, non-complex though diffuse brain activity),
momentarily precluding consciousness. The on-off pattern is echoed in deep sleep, which
typically produces less vivid dreams than REM sleep; notably, cerebral blood flow is globally
reduced in slow-wave sleep. Quick, dynamic, and complex brain activity with plenty of reentry
(as opposed to slower, more predictably distributed, and ​globally ​synchronous brain activity)
seems to produce more conscious waking and, indeed, dreaming (viz., REM, or rapid-eye
movement, phase) phenomenological states.

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 NMDA Receptor Agonists and Thalamocortical Network

One of the more pronounced, clinically controllable, and clean examples of losing phenomenal
consciousness would appear to be general anesthesia (cf. Hans Flohr’s “NMDA
Receptor-mediated Computational Processes and Phenomenal Consciousness”). Consider that
the lights of consciousness (e.g., NMDA receptor agonists and the thalamocortical network) dim
then gradually brighten for the patient undergoing general anesthesia. Phenomenal
transparency and phenomenal presence seem to precede phenomenal perspectivalness in
returning online following the administration of general anesthesia, which could imply an
evolutionary order and the degree of deep-rooted strength with the neural correlates underlying
each respective feature of phenomenal consciousness. [9] In short, whatever dims then
gradually brightens in the brain to restore consciousness in the patient invariably underlies the
sufficient neural correlates of consciousness and should provide the, perhaps counterintuitive,
solution to the hard problem of consciousness by bridging the explanatory gap.

Eventually, empirical tools offering high temporal resolution and sufficiently wide spatial
resolution, such as magnetoencephalography, could highlight a dynamic core governing
conscious experience by showing quick, dynamic, and complex interactions among distributed
functional clusters freely exhibiting reentrant interactions in the thalamocortical system. Rather
than the global ​minimally sufficient​ neural correlates of consciousness being an independent,
permanent, transtemporal ontological object (cf. Ship of Theseus) or being privileged with a
private ontological realm, a shifting dynamic core could underlie phenomenal consciousness.
Age-old mystical teachings about the substanceless nature of self already seem to be
coalescing with modern neuroscience, which reveals the self as an emergent, highly dynamic
phenomenon of biology qua teleofunctionalism. Certain brain areas talking more feverishly
amongst themselves or brain areas always, sometimes, or never included - and, implicitly,
excluded - from this ongoing conversation would have implications for the​ ​global neural
correlates of consciousness and help empirically resolve perennial philosophical quandaries.
These might be early days for consciousness research, which remains in the pre-paradigmatic
phase. Neurophilosopher Thomas Metzinger, nonetheless, thinks the​ global​ neural correlates of
consciousness will be pinpointed by the year 2050. If this pulse-quickening prediction comes to
pass, discovering the global neural correlates of consciousness will greatly illuminate the past
utility and future possibilities of subjective awareness and enrich what it means to conceive of
oneself as a conscious being in the ever-vanishing present moment, a conjured picture of the
present rooted in the immediate past that enables humans to dream about future worlds.

“If the doors of perception were cleansed, everything would appear to man as it is, infinite.” -William Blake

“The objective measurement of temperature considerably preceded the development of an adequate theory of
temperature and heat, and necessarily so, as the science of thermodynamics could not possibly have developed
without first having been able to quantify or measure the temperatures of liquids, gasses, and other substances
independently of their other properties. Measurement and theory develop hand in hand; it is a continuing process of
improvements in the one making possible advances in the other.” -Arthur Jensen

“All things fall short of absolute certainty: life itself might be a dream and logic a delusion.” -Thomas Sowell

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[1] cf. Bertrand Russell’s five-minute hypothesis; Rene Descartes’s evil demon; holographic universe
theory in physics; the brain in a vat scenario, Donald Davidson’s Swampman, Boltzmann brain

[2] “In order to explain the phenomenal unity of consciousness as a representational phenomenon, we
have to look for the point of ​maximal invariance of content​ in the conscious model of reality. What is the
representational content that displays the highest degree of invariance across the flow of conscious
experience? The current theory says that it is to be found in certain aspects of bodily self-awareness and
the conscious experience of agency. There will not only be a changing gradient of invariance within the
phenomenal model of reality (in terms of more or less stable elements of experiential content) but also a
gradient of ​coherence​ (in terms of different degrees of internal integratedness between such elements).”
(​Being No One: The Self-model Theory of Subjectivity,​ page 134)

[3] “As recent research in bistable phenomena (e.g., see Leopold and Logothetis 1999) has vividly
demonstrated, if two incompatible interpretations of a situation are given through the sensory modules,
then only one at a time can be consciously experienced. The generation of a single and coherent
world-model, therefore, is a strategy to achieve a ​reduction in ambiguity​. At the same time, this leads to a
reduction of ​data:​ the amount of information directly available to the system, for example, for selection of
motor processes or deliberate guiding of attention, is being minimized and thereby, for all mechanisms
operating on the phenomenal world-model, the computational load is reduced.” (​Being No One: The
Self-model Theory of Subjectivity,​ page 136)

[4] “In particular, if it is true that, as I have claimed, the human self-model is always functionally anchored
in a more or less invariant source of internally generated input, then there should be a nucleus of
invariance in a certain part of the ​unconscious​ self-model, for instance, provided by abstract
computational features of the spatial model of the body or, as Damasio has hypothesized, in those
brainstem structures continually regulating the homeodynamic stability of fundamental aspects of the
internal chemical milieu.” (​Being No One: The Self-model Theory of Subjectivity​, page 528)

[5] “The phenomenal world0 as a fixed reference basis for all possible simulations has to be, in principle,
inviolable. This is why the phenomenal world and the phenomenal self not only appear as numerically
identical to us but as indivisible as well - a feature of our phenomenal architecture - which Descartes, in
section 36 of his ​Sixth Meditation​, used to construct a dubious argument for the separateness of mind and
body.” I would claim that there is a higher-order phenomenal property corresponding to this classical
concept of “indivisibility.” It is the phenomenal property of global coherence, and it is this property which
really underlies most classical philosophical notions concerning the “unity of consciousness.”” (​Being No
One: Self-model Theory of Subjectivity,​ page 132)

[6] Psychomotor planning, recurrent loops in neural networks, working memory, and the
phenomenological sense of “nowness” per Metzinger may all be explained - indeed, necessitated - by
global-workspace theories (e.g., Bernard Baars’s ​A Cognitive Theory of Consciousness​). Perhaps an
artificial Now is needed to form a baseline or phenomenal world0 for planning “future” action.

[7] Qualia might someday be likened to yesteryear’s luminiferous aether, phlogiston, and élan vital.

[8] The representational model of the phenomenal world can, strictly speaking, never be truly real-time
because the processing that gives rise to the representational phenomenal world image takes time to
produce. The interpreting phenomenal self-model is remarkably efficient thanks to massively parallel
processing, but the compiled sense data also has a lag. In a neurocomputational sense, the present is, at
best, a picture of the past. In pathological cases, a reliable picture of the past is not guaranteed.

[9] “It is typical for NMDA antagonists like ketamine and phencyclidine to cause bizarre ego disorders.
Patients report what has been called ego dissolution, a loosening of the ego boundaries that may end up
in a feeling of merging with the cosmos, and an ego disintegration, i.e., a loss of control over thought
processes.” (“NMDA Receptor-mediated Computational Processes,” ​Neural Correlates of Consciousness​,
page 253)

Noesis #206, September 2020

51
 Works Consulted

Block, Ned, Owen Flanagan, and Guven Guzeldere. ​The Nature of Consciousness: Philosophical Debates​.
Cambridge, Massachusetts. The MIT Press. 1997.

Cauller, L. “Layer 1 of Primary Sensory Neocortex: Where Top-down Converges Upon Bottom-up.” ​Behavioural Brain
Research​, 71: 163-180.

Chalmers, David. “What is a Neural Correlate of Consciousness?” ​Neural Correlates of Consciousness​, 17-40.

Churchland, Paul. ​The Engine of Reason, the Seat of the Soul: A Philosophical Journey Into the Brain.​ Cambridge,
Massachusetts. The MIT Press. 1995.

Churchland, Paul, Churchland, Patricia. ​On the Contrary: Critical Essays, 1987-1997.​ Cambridge, Massachusetts.
The MIT Press. 1998.

Churchland, Paul. ​Scientific Realism and the Plasticity of the Mind.​ Cambridge, England. Cambridge University
Press. 1979.

Damasio, Antonio. “Time-locked Multiregional Reactivation: A Systems-level Proposal for the Neural Substrates of
Recall and Recognition.” ​Cognition,​ 33​:​ 22-62.

Edelman, Gerald, Giolio Tononi. “Reentry and the Dynamic Core: Neural Correlates of Conscious Experience.”
Neural Correlates of Consciousness,​ 139-152.

Flohr, Hans. “NMDA Receptor-mediated Computational Processes and Phenomenal Consciousness.” ​Neural
Correlates of Consciousness,​ 245-258.

Libet, Benjamin. “The Neural Time Factor in Conscious and Unconscious Events.” ​CIBA Foundation Symposium​,
174: 123-137.

Metzinger, Thomas. ​Being No One: The Self-model Theory of Subjectivity.​ Cambridge, Massachusetts. The MIT
Press. 2004.

Metzinger, Thomas. ​Conscious Experience.​ Lawrence, Kansas. Allen Press. 1995.

Metzinger, Thomas. ​The Ego Tunnel: The Science of the Mind and the Myth of the Self.​ New York, New York. Basic
Books. 2009.

Metzinger, Thomas. ​Neural Correlates of Consciousness.​ Cambridge, Massachusetts. The MIT Press. 2000.

Penrose, Roger. ​Shadows of the Mind: A Search for the Missing Science of Consciousness​. Oxford University Press.
New York, New York. 1994.

Revonsuo, Antti. “Prospects for a Scientific Research Program on Consciousness.” ​Neural Correlates of
Consciousness​, 57-76.

http://www.scholarpedia.org/article/Complexity

http://www.scholarpedia.org/article/Hard_problem_of_consciousness

http://www.scholarpedia.org/articles/Models_of_Consciousness

http://www.scholarpedia.org/article/Neural_correlates_of_consciousness

http://www.scholarpedia.org/article/Self_models

http://www.scholarpedia.org/article/Teleofunctionalism

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mind–body_problem

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 Testing Testability

Adam Kisby

[email protected]

There is a sense in which the Principle of Testability is the ​sine qua non​ of science. Insofar as
science is a process whereby the map of theory is brought into conformity with the territory of
data, testability would seem to be a necessary component of the scientific method. Of course,
testability sometimes entails comparing areas of the map to other areas of the map or bits of the
territory to other bits of the territory, but testability in the present context refers to comparing
areas of the map to bits of the territory for the purpose of modifying theory when it does not
match its corresponding data (cf. Popper, pg. 9). Sociologist of science Marcello Truzzi’s idea of
testability refers to ​empirical​ testing, checking ideas against experience. This idea of testability
goes back at least to Aristotle, who asserts that “experience is what a normal observer […]
perceives under normal circumstances” (Feyerabend, pg. 109). For Truzzi, the Principle of
Testability requires that claims be both verifiable (in the sense of Francis Bacon) and falsifiable
(in the sense of Karl Popper). This commonly accepted version of the principle is examined
here.

Although Aristotle includes a formalization of empiricism in the ​Organon,​ much of science by the
time of Francis Bacon had lapsed into unalloyed rationalism, such that Bacon is prompted to
say that the inductive method, which he understands to be the defining characteristic of
empiricism, “has not been tried.” At that time, scientific reasoning was almost exclusively
deductive rather than inductive, and Bacon objects that any conclusions reached by deductive
reasoning could be no more certain than the axioms from which they were derived. [Ed. note: ​A
priori​ propositions are made independent of experience whereas ​a posteriori​ propositions are
made in relation to experience; thereby the latter are more probabilistic, like inductive
reasoning.] To remedy this situation, Bacon insists in the ​Novum Organum​ that all axioms must
be elicited “from sense and particulars, rising in a gradual and unbroken ascent.” He describes
this method as the “true way” (McGrew, pg. 191). British philosopher John Stuart Mill greatly
develops the inductive method, noting that “all discovery of truths not self-evident, consists of
inductions, and the interpretation of inductions: that all our knowledge, not intuitive, comes to us
exclusively from that source” (Mill, pg. 207). Possibly the strongest argument in favor of the
inductive method is that even the rules of deductive reasoning appear to have been formulated
by inductive means. Despite the apparent certainty that verifiability in the form of the inductive
method confers on scientific knowledge, there are objections to its inclusion in the scientific
method.

The first objection to verifiability is that there is no unambiguous historical justification for its use.
Thomas Kuhn states, “We often hear that [scientific discoveries] are found by examining
measurements undertaken for their own sake and without theoretical commitment. But history
offers no support for so excessively Baconian a method” (Kuhn, pg. 28). Kuhn’s objection, then,
is that Bacon’s way ​still​ has not been tried, so there is no way of knowing if its inclusion in the
scientific method is warranted.

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The second objection to verifiability is that the adoption of the Principle of Counterinduction,
which “advises us to introduce and elaborate hypotheses which are inconsistent with
well-established theories and/or well-established facts,” which is logically inconsistent with the
Principle of Testability (viz., “can be supported by argument”) and leads to important scientific
discoveries (Feyerabend, pgs., 20, 23). Paul Feyerabend devotes two chapters of ​Against
Method​ to demonstrating the scientific legitimacy of counterinduction. In chapter seven,
Feyerabend argues that Galileo reasoned counterinductively when he rejected Ptolemy’s Tower
Argument. Ptolemy reasoned that if the Earth were moving, then an object dropped from a
tower would be displaced by some distance from the base of the tower. By contrast, Galileo
posited a moving Earth against overwhelming data showing that no such displacement occurs
(Feyerabend, pgs. 65-76). Moreover, in chapter eight, Feyerabend explains that it would have
been reasonable for Galileo to have accepted Ptolemy’s Tower Argument and to have rejected
his own telescopic observations, because telescopic observations were considered to be
unreliable in Galileo’s time. Early telescopes were low-quality instruments subject to a variety of
optical illusions. Indeed, many of Galileo’s contemporaries rejected his telescopic observations,
because they were unable to see what he reported seeing, even when they peered through
Galileo’s own telescopes with his direct guidance (Feyerabend, pgs. 77-85).

The third objection to verifiability is that the problem of induction has not been solved. Where
inductive reasoning is defined as passing “from singular statements (sometimes also called
‘particular’ statements), such as accounts of the results of observations or experiments, to
universal statements, such as hypotheses or theories,” no number of ‘particular’ statements,
however large, can ever logically justify the acceptance of any universal statement (Popper,
pgs. 3-4). For example, “no matter how many instances of white swans we may have observed,
this does not justify the conclusion that all swans are white,” because a single observation of a
black swan would disprove that conclusion. Karl Popper rejects attempts by David Hume and
Immanuel Kant to justify inductive reasoning. Hume’s attempt consists of an inductive argument,
so “we should have to assume an inductive principle of a higher order; and so on. Thus the
attempt to base the principle of induction on experience breaks down, since it must lead to an
infinite regress” (Popper, pg. 5). And because Kant’s attempt consists of positing the Principle of
Induction as an axiom rather than providing a logical argument, Popper has only to point out
that there is no compelling reason for positing such an axiom in the first place (Popper, pgs.
5-6).

Popper proposes falsifiability as an alternative to verifiability, because he seeks to move the

basis of science from inductive reasoning to deductive reasoning. Ironically, his motivation for
proposing falsifiability is precisely the same as Bacon’s motivation for proposing verifiability,
namely the desire to increase the certainty of scientific knowledge. Popper notes that while no
number of ‘particular’ statements, however large, can ever logically justify the acceptance of any
universal statement, “it is possible by means of purely deductive inferences […] to argue from
the truth of singular statements to the falsity of universal statements” (Popper, pgs. 3-4, 19).
Thus, Popper’s “proposal is based upon an asymmetry between verifiability and falsifiability”
(Popper, pg. 19). This asymmetry is also noticed by anomalist Charles Fort, who writes, “That,
inductively, anything of an ultimate nature could be found out, is no delusion of mine: I think not
of a widening of truth, but of a lessening of error” and “I am naïve enough in my own ways, but I
have not the youthful hopes of John Stuart Mill and Francis Bacon” (Fort, pgs. 700-701). Albert
Einstein, too, endorses Popperian falsifiability, assuming that this quotation is not misattributed:
“No amount of experimentation can ever prove me right; a single experiment can prove me
wrong” (Calaprice, pg. 291). Even though falsifiability promises greater certainty than
verifiability, it “was actually pushed for a brief time only, […] decades ago, and it has few if any

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remaining supporters among philosophers” (Bauer, ​Pseudoscience,​ pg. 71). Some skeptics still
believe that falsifiability is the best litmus test by which to determine whether theories are
scientific versus pseudoscientific, but there are reasons to question its inclusion in the scientific
method.

The first reason for questioning falsifiability is that any given theory is inconsistent with some
datum. Kuhn puts it this way: “If any and every failure to fit were ground[s] for theory rejection,
all theories ought to be rejected at all times” (Kuhn, pg. 146). Feyerabend objects to the
inclusion of falsifiability in any scientific method on this very basis: “The demand to admit only
those theories which are consistent with the available and accepted facts […] leaves us without
any theory […] The right method must not contain any rules that make us choose between
theories ​on the basis of falsification​” (Feyerabend, pg. 50-1).

The second reason for questioning falsifiability is that there may be disagreement among
scientists over some datum that is alleged to falsify a given theory. If some number of data were
required to falsify the theory, then there would remain the problem of disagreement among
scientists over what that number should be. A scientist may make the argument that the
observation of a few black swans in Australia “may itself be trivial and the remainder much more
important,” for “it is still the case that, so far as we know, all swans except the black ones in
Australia are white” (Stevenson, pg. 258). In such cases, it might be more reasonable to modify
a theory than to reject it entirely. Popper concedes that he would allow for this sort of
modification, but only if the resulting theory were more falsifiable than the original theory
(Popper, pg. 20).

The third reason for questioning falsifiability is that the “belief that only falsifiable ideas are
scientific may snuff out innovative ideas before they have had a chance to survive testing”
(Stevenson, pg. 258). Popper’s main reason for rejecting verifiability and proposing falsifiability
is that “[verifiability] does not provide a suitable ‘criterion of demarcation’ [between science and
pseudoscience]” (Popper, pg. 11). Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution by natural selection was
rejected by Popper as unscientific, but it has proved to be an enormously fruitful, albeit
incomplete, theory. Fort’s opinion of Darwin’s notion of survival of the fittest is similar: “There is
no way of determining fitness except in that a thing does survive. ‘Fitness,’ then, is only another
name for ‘survival.’ Darwinism: That survivors survive” (Fort, pg. 24). More recently, Popper
admits that his rejection of evolutionary theory “was perhaps going too far” (Horgan, pg. 38).
Fort also acknowledges that “[Darwinism’s] attempted coherence approximate[s] more highly to
Organization and Consistency than did the inchoate speculations that preceded it” (Fort, pg.
24). Ultimately, Popper explains that his criterion of demarcation “separates two kinds of
perfectly meaningful statements: the falsifiable and the non-falsifiable” (Popper, pg. 18). As
such, falsifiability is a metaphysical principle that is not subject to falsification, so the objection
that falsifiability does not “satisfy its own criteria” is, to quote Popper, “one of the most idiotic
criticisms one can imagine!” (Horgan, pg. 38) In practice, though, labeling a theory as
pseudoscientific results in its automatic rejection by large sectors of the scientific community.

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There are other general criticisms of the Principle of Testability that do not pertain to either
verifiability or falsifiability ​per se​. These criticisms apply more directly to the meaning of theory,
the meaning of data, and the meaning of testability itself.

The first general criticism of the Principle of Testability is that testability is often naïvely assumed
to be equivalent to predictability, and that the role of predictability in science subsequently
becomes overemphasized. At its extreme, this overemphasis becomes a belief that predictability
is “essential to the process of empirical testing of hypotheses, the most distinctive feature of the
scientific enterprise” (Stevenson, pg. 260). Ian Stevenson quotes renowned philosopher of
science Rudolf Carnap as saying, “The supreme value of a new theory is its power to predict
new empirical laws” (Carnap, pg. 260). Fort reads “over and over that prediction is the test of
science” but concludes that the ability of a theory to predict a phenomenon does not mean that
that theory has ​explained​ the phenomenon: “Take for a base that the earth moves around the
sun, or take that the sun moves around the earth: upon either base the astronomers can predict
an eclipse” (Fort, pg. 713). John Stuart Mill, who supports verifiability, states that “predictions
and their fulfillment are, indeed, well calculated to strike the ignorant vulgar” (Stevenson, pg.
260). Thoughtful consideration of the problem leads to the conclusion that the ability of a theory
to predict a phenomenon is not especially meaningful.

The second general criticism of the Principle of Testability is that testability requires
unambiguous data, but that data are never unambiguous. Philosophers of science speak of
theories as being “underdetermined” by data, or they say that data are “theory-laden” (e.g.
Shermer 46). This aspect of the theory-data relationship is most clearly expressed by Kuhn:
“Philosophers of science have repeatedly demonstrated that more than one theoretical
construction can always be placed upon a given collection of data” (Kuhn, pg. 76). Popper, who
might have argued that falsifiability also requires unambiguous data, acknowledges that
“nothing is easier than to construct any number of theoretical systems which are compatible with
any given system of accepted basic statements” (Popper, pgs. 264-265). Fort observes that
“only logicians think that anything has any exclusive meaning” and posits that “everything that
ever has meant anything has just as truly meant something else” (Fort, pg. 867). Fort provides
an entertaining illustration when he challenges the commonly accepted notion that “the round
shadow of this earth upon the moon proves that this earth is round” by pointing out that “if this
earth were a cube, its straight sides would cast a rounded shadow upon the convex moon”
(Fort, pg. 346). Truzzi disapproves of those who “argue, like Lombroso when he defended the
mediumship of Palladino, that the presence of wigs does not deny the existence of real hair”
(“Pseudo-Skepticism,” pg. 4). Nevertheless, it remains a perfectly valid form of argument.

[Ludwig Wittgenstein: “Why do people say that it was natural to think that the sun went round
the Earth rather than the Earth turned on its axis?”

Elizabeth Anscombe: “I suppose, because it looked as if the sun went round the Earth.”

Ludwig Wittgenstein: “Well, what would it have looked like if it had​ l​ ooked as if the Earth turned
on its axis?” -Ed. Note]

The third general criticism of the Principle of Testability is that testability requires a criterion of
inclusion and exclusion, but that all such criteria are necessarily arbitrary. Fort says that “no
basis for classification, or inclusion and exclusion, more reasonable than that of redness and
yellowness has ever been conceived of” (Fort, pg. 5). Fort goes on to say that all criteria are
continuous in the same way that redness and yellowness are continuous in orangeness, i.e.,

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there will always be borderline cases, the presence of which argues for the inclusion of
arbitrarily excluded data. Many scientists seem to prefer a world without orangeness, but it is a
much less colorful world than the world in which we find ourselves.

These objections to verifiability, reasons for questioning falsifiability, and general criticisms of
testability suffice to establish that the commonly accepted version of the Principle of Testability
is inconsistent with reason and frustrates scientific progress. Consequently, the Principle of
Testability, in its present form, is not essential to the process of scientific discovery and should
not be considered a necessary component of the scientific method. In the sense that testability,
broadly construed, is the ​sine qua non​ of science, it must be modified to accord with reason.

Sources:

Bauer, Henry. ​Science or Pseudoscience: Magnetic Healing, Psychic Phenomena, and Other
Heterodoxies​. Chicago, Illinois: University of Illinois Press, 2001.

Calaprice, Alice. ​The New Quotable Einstein​. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2005.

Feyerabend, Paul. ​Against Method.​ New York, New York: Verso, 1997.

Fort, Charles. ​The Complete Works of Charles Fort​. New York, New York: Global
Communications, 2009.

Horgan, John. ​The End of Science.​ Reading, Massachusetts: Helix Books/Addison-Wesley

Publishing Co., Inc., 1996.

Kuhn, Thomas. ​The Structure of Scientific Revolutions.​ Chicago, Illinois: University of Chicago
Press, 1996.

McGrew, Timothy, Marc Alspector-Kelly, and Fritz Allhoff, Eds.. ​Philosophy of Science: An
HistoricalAnthology.​ Oxford, UK: Wiley-Blackwell, 2009.

Mill, John Stuart. ​A System of Logic.​ ​Project Gutenberg​. 11 February 2011

<​http://www.gutenberg.org/files/27942/27942-h/27942-h.html#toc43​>

Popper, Karl. The ​Logic of Scientific Discovery​. New York, New York: Routledge, 2002.

Shermer, Michael. ​Why People Believe Weird Things: Pseudoscience, Superstitions, and Other
Confusions of Our Time.​ New York, New York: Holt Paperbacks, 2002.

Stevenson, Ian. “What are the Irreducible Components of the Scientific Enterprise?” ​Journal of
Scientific Exploration​ 13.2 (1999): 257-70.

Truzzi, Marcello. “Editorial: On Pseudo-Skepticism.” ​Zetetic Scholar​ 12/13 (1987): 3-4.

“The Perspective of Anomalistics.” ​Encyclopedia of Pseudoscience.​ New York, New York: Facts
on File, Inc., 2000.

Noesis #206, September 2020

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 Interview with Rick Rosner by Scott Douglas Jacobsen (Part Eleven)

ABSTRACT

Part eleven of eleven of the comprehensive interview with Rick G. Rosner: Giga Society
member, ex-editor for Mega Society (1991-97), and writer. He discusses the following
subject-matter: Genius of the Year Award – North America in 2013 from PSIQ and clarification
of statements; definition of the term “gods” in operational terms from the award statement;
discussion on our future rather than gods; thoughts on aesthetics within an informational
cosmology lens; some brief discussion on informational eschatology; human history’s numerous
examples of individuals and schools of thought aimed at absolute definitions of consciousness,
universe, and their mutual union; thoughts on Big Bang Cosmology and the possibility of its
replacement; three greatest mathematicians/physicists/cosmologists; three greatest
mathematics/physics/cosmology concepts; The Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle and
Wave-Particle Duality; Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen​ (​ EPR) Nonlocality; possibility of universe
operating in something more essential than information; everything in essence equate to a
Turing Machine in informational cosmology; operation of different time depending on
armature/universe in reference; mysteries; ex nihilo cosmogony; theology becoming
informational cosmology and vice versa; informational ethics in relation to numerous ethics; The
Problem of Evil; souls; Fr. Teilhard de Chardin, ​The Phenomenon of Man​ (1955), Omega Point,
and ​The Future of Man (​ 1964); work needing doing for Informational Cosmology; reflection on
theorizing and outlier background; common sense and intelligence; regrets; ethics of forming,
joining, and sustaining elite groups based on high and ultra-high IQs; harsh internet crowd,
frequent comments, and responses; principles of existence as the language of existence with
explicit listing of some of them; and thoughts on prevention of intellectual theft.

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Keywords: aesthetics, armature, armature/universe, Big Bang Cosmology, common sense,
consciousness, Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen (EPR) Nonlocality, ex nihilo cosmogony, Fr. Teilhard
de Chardin, Giga Society, gods, history, informational cosmogony, informational cosmology,
informational eschatology, IQ, isomorphism, Mega Society, Omega Point, principles of
existence, Rick G. Rosner, The Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle, The Problem of Evil, theology,
Turing Machine, universe, Wave-Particle Duality, writer.

99. You earned the Genius of the Year Award – North America​ ​in 2013 from PSIQ. In your
one-page statement on winning the award, you say, “My one wish is that trying to extend human
understanding is doing God’s work.” In some sense, there seems no higher calling than
something akin to an internal – to the cosmos – teleological duty to assist the self-actualization
of the universe as sub-systems, various individual POVs, within the universe in service of God.
Does this fairly characterize the statement? If not, what did you attempt to address with such a
statement?

I was addressing a strain of religiosity which is hostile to science (or which misrepresents
science to advance an agenda). I would like fewer people to be anti-science and would like
people to be less subject to anti-scientific manipulation on religious grounds.

Isaac Newton thought that by making mathematical and scientific discoveries, he was doing
God’s work. I like the idea that figuring out how the world works and how to make it better is
helping God, not defying God.

Humans are part of a world we can choose to believe was created by God. Doing science isn’t
alien to the world or opposed to God.

[Editor’s Note: “I maintain that the cosmic religious feeling is the strongest and noblest motive
for scientific research.” -Albert Einstein]

Teleology isn’t a word that I embrace, because it can be used to sneak creationism into
evolution. Evolution, of course, isn’t a purposeful progression towards complexity. Rather, it’s
the proliferation of varied organisms via the occupation of exploitable niches, some of which are
occupied by organisms having complex abilities. (But simple organisms continue to occupy their
niches. And new, simple organisms continue to arise.)

The universe is a very complicated entity, and as such, demonstrates that highly complex
entities are permitted by the principles of existence (whatever those turn out to be). Can we help
our species, our planet, or even the universe itself self-actualize, and if so, is this some kind of
built-in bias towards complexity? Maybe, but I don’t see it as the hand of the Creator nudging us
towards glory. Rather, I see it as the possibility of mathematical teleology, with complex entities
perhaps statistically tending to have histories of increasing complexity. There is room for God or
gods in this, but gods who are subject to the same principles of existence that we are. Which
isn’t the worst thing – we are all striving, humans and gods alike.

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100. You stated “gods.” How do you operationally define the attributes, in concrete terms, of
these proposed gods? Moreover, how might we rank these civilizations in terms of
advancement on some relative scale of civilization development?

Start with the Arthur C. Clarke quote that’s now so overused it’s a cliché – “Any sufficiently
advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.” There are around a quarter or a third of a
trillion stars in the galaxy. A bunch of them have planets – there are tens of billions of planets in
the Milky Way – maybe 100 billion, maybe 200 billion or more. Even if only one in 10,000
contains life, that’s still 10 million planets with life. (And there are a hundred billion galaxies in
the universe.) Some must have intelligent life, and on some of these planets, tech-wielding life
most likely has a huge head start on us (because the odds of us being the first to tech in the
galaxy are one in however many tech civilizations there will eventually be). Even if it’s only a
thousand-year head start, that’s huge with regard to tech. And it’s possible that tech-wielding life
on some planets might have a billion-year head start. So it’s reasonable to assume that there
are some civilizations which are so advanced, their powers are almost magical in comparison to
ours. But to call them gods is something of a cheat – super-advanced civilizations that have
arisen in the past 14 billion years might best be called godlike.

Super-advanced civilizations would be able to do awesome stuff – for instance, possibly defy
time to some extent by simulating a plethora of possible futures (on a rolling basis) and
choosing the best future from among them. At the very least, advanced civilizations will have
vast computational capacities. And the business of the universe is computation.

Next step in the hierarchy of godlike beings – let’s say I’m correct that the universe is vastly
older than 14 billion years. It’s not unreasonable to think that some civilizations have learned
how to survive galactic cycles, perhaps by hiding out in the enormous black hole-like objects at
the centers of galaxies or by hopping from exhausted galaxies to newer galaxies (if it’s even
possible to travel fast enough to escape a collapsing, exhausted region of the universe – hey,
maybe they could beam themselves via neutrinos). Civilizations (or entities) which can survive
for many multiples of 14 billion years would have fantastic capabilities – they might actively
participate in the running of the universe – beaming neutrinos at the burned-out galaxies they
want to reactivate, for example. Is it so unreasonable to think that something as large and old
and intricate as the universe might have intelligent entities helping to manage it? Such entities
might almost deserve the title of gods.

And the next step in the hierarchy – what if the universe itself is an entity, with perceptions,
thoughts, and objectives, playing out across octillions or decillions of years? That is –

What if a sufficiently complicated self-contained and self-consistent system of information such

as the universe itself can’t not be conscious?

That entity deserves to be called a god, but a god that did not make us, that may not know we
exist, and that doesn’t intercede in our affairs. [Similar to deism. -Ed. Note] We are made of its

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information – its thought-stuff – but it didn’t intentionally create us. Its information space
provides the arena in which we came into existence through natural processes.

And beyond the universe we live in is the universe in which the entity whose information space
we live in itself lives. Maybe it’s not turtles all the way down; maybe it is information spaces all
the way up.

These different levels of goddish beings share with us the basic constraints of existence.
They’ve almost certainly developed work-arounds for many of these limitations, but they share
the same general characteristics, even if such characteristics have been obscured and
weirdified by their godlike mastery of physical processes. It’s kind of nice that in wrestling with
existence, we and these gods are all in it together.

The various gods certainly have consciousnesses which are more powerful, more detailed, and
encompassing more senses and types of analysis than ours. But who knows if the differences in
consciousness are more than differences in magnitude, perceiving space and time in ways that
are fundamentally different?

101. What about our future rather than these “gods”?

People aren’t freaked out enough about the future. Have I already said that? Humanity will be
forced to change – to embrace new, weird forms of thought. Here’s why – advanced artificial
intelligence is coming. It will be hard and perhaps impossible to design AI so that it doesn’t want
stuff for itself. It won’t just be our faithful servant. So we’re gonna have to keep up with it – we’ll
need to be joined to AI, so that we remain, for as long as possible, among the smartest beings
on the planet. When occupying niches, species tend not to limit themselves. External factors
limit how far species expand. Similarly, if it’s us versus AI in a struggle to occupy the same
niches, the smarter entities will overpower the weaker ones. We can’t program AI to limit itself –
it’s too likely that any barriers will spring leaks.

We’ll need to develop and evolve a worldwide (and eventually a solar system-wide) ecosystem
which incorporates AI. That is, we’ll need to develop durable forms of advanced intelligence
which don’t just ravage all available matter for computing purposes. It doesn’t seem
unreasonable that AI and humans-plus-AI will eventually find niches that don’t threaten the
existence of all other life on earth. But that probably won’t happen unless we keep up with AI by
augmenting ourselves with it.

The world will be flooded with AI cops – software, hardware, etc. that will spy on everything to
make sure that hyper-destructive AI and nanotech don’t get loose and destroy everything. There
will have to be cyber cops on top of cyber cops – like an immune system – trying to keep
outbreaks of bad AI local. Privacy will be left in tatters. (This could be an unrealistic science
fiction TV show set 20 years in the future. A squad of sexy cops fight bad AI and nanotech.
Perhaps make it a comedy, so the glaring errors can be seen as funny instead of stupid.)

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AI will get smarter and smarter, faster and faster. Won’t it smart itself right out of the universe
and into some other plane of existence? Nah. I think it runs into some hard limits – the speed of
light, the computational limits of matter, the decreasing marginal utility of additional knowledge.
There might be work-arounds for some hard limits – cramming enough matter into a small
enough space should create more space, for instance – but such limits should put a damper on
the double-exponential growth predicted by some Singularitarians.

We’ve been talking about ethics. Throughout history, humanity has had generally agreed-upon
ethics for the protection of life and property and sometimes freedom, based on what humans
want – comfort and safety. Such protections don’t extend far beyond humans, and we’ve found
little evidence of the world itself having any ethical expectations. Our ethical framework is about
to be completely revamped. Consciousness will be quantified. Consciousness will be created in
non-living beings. Unaugmented human intelligence will no longer dominate the planet. Ethical
arguments will have to be more powerful, to persuade our far brighter descendants.

Ethical protections have extended from the self-appointed most special beings on Earth,
humans, to, often grudgingly, other humans and sometimes to animals, the environment, and
objects of historic value. Within 40 years and probably much sooner than that, unaugmented
humans won’t be the smartest, most talented known beings. Unaugmented consciousness will
be shown to be unimpressive in many ways. Winds of change will buffet the ethical umbrella,
and we don’t know who or what will be under it in 2060.

Narrative is important. We like stories. And stories are an essential part of the structure of
history. Just about every development in evolution and history involves someone or something
embracing change – often being the first to make a change. We offer people, animals, and
things ethical protection when we recognize and understand their stories. We have to sell the
future on the importance of unaugmented humans’ stories, even when the augmented are in
charge.

102. What would a timeline of the future look like?

There are already some good timelines of the future. Ray Kurzweil’s timelines might be the most
well-known. He’s been making them since 1990, so you can judge how he’s done in his first 25
years of predicting. And this is a through, non-lunatic timeline –

http://www.futuretimeline.net/index.htm​. (You have to watch out for timelines with crazy

agendas.)

Let me try to do one –

2070: World’s annual birthrate drops under 1%.

Don’t know if I can do this. What I know is a bunch of stuff is gonna get weird and perhaps go
away. Pro and Olympic sports will get weird in the next century as human bodies become

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increasingly augmented. There might be augmented and unaugmented leagues. Current pro
sports may come to seem too arbitrary or antiquated for popular attention.

2080: People commonly have relationships with artificial people, who by the early 22​nd​ century,
have acquired limited rights.

Money is gonna get weird. Some human necessities will continue to get cheaper. Employment
will decrease. The life cycle of commercial enterprises will accelerate, making investment weird.

By the mid-22​nd​ century, everything associated with human life as we’ve known it for thousands
of years gets weird as we have increasing choice of what should contain our minds and of the
form of consciousness itself. You could call the 2100s the Century of Choice. Dibs on that.

It’s also the century of fragmentation, as new choices of how to live lead to different societies
and sects and enclaves. After this, it’s hard to say what happens, because you can’t predict
what the prevalent forms of consciousness will be.

The mental isolation that humans have always felt – that we are separate, autonomous
individuals – will be eroded. We already have close working relationships with our devices, and
we’ll increasingly be nodes in a network of streaming information as everything in our world gets
packed with computing (and eventually thinking) circuitry.

Just remembered – made this list in 2013 as part of a pitch to Grantland – it’s everything I
thought would be going away.

Children (Currently, about 85% of humans have children. By 2090, less than 30% of humans
will have reproduced traditionally by the age of 60.)

Risk and wrecks (People who might live for many centuries won’t tolerate current levels of risk.)

Meat from animals with brains

Humans’ exalted view of ourselves (We’re gonna learn exactly how we work, and we’ll find it not
so awesome.)

The soul (We’ll have a mathematical model of how we feel that we have feelings. This will be a
good thing, but it won’t feel so good. Understanding consciousness could add an underlying
sadness to the world until people get used to it.)

Basic human concerns and drives (We’re gonna be able to rejigger the agenda that evolution
has wired into our heads.)

TV and movie storylines as we know them (All our entertainment is built around basic human
drives. Once we start messing with these drives, we have to mess with our stories. Romance,
action, comedy, drama, etc. all get reworked.)

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Natural-born bodies

Sex as the greatest thing

Not knowing how our brains work

Not knowing why the universe is

Thinking we know what’s going on a moment-to-moment basis (Our awareness is really patchy
and cobbled together, but evolution doesn’t give a crap. Evolution wants us to have enough
awareness to survive and reproduce. Anything beyond that is a bonus.)

Thinking our brains are perfect and fantastic

Privacy

Marriage ’til death do us part

Disease

Island consciousness (that is, not being able to link your brain to someone else’s)

Abject poverty and ignorance (except among angry, fucked-up, repressed populations)

Unhealthy food (Food that tastes great won’t actually be bad for you.)

And a few things that won’t happen:

No time travel, except through simulation (which will grow more and more powerful, but still
won’t let you change the past).

Probably no warp drive.

Probably no war between galactic empires. Empires don’t get you much – there’s no rare stuff
that can only be had on a certain planet. I guess civilizations might fight for control of large
bodies such as a neutron star that has neutrino jets or a black hole at a galactic center (which
might be good for vast amounts of computing). They won’t be fighting over worm poop that
helps you steer spaceships. According to many futurists, advanced civilizations just want to stay
home and compute – kinda like us with our smartphones.

We’ll eventually encounter other civilizations. I’m guessing finding alien life will be like dating
and marriage – initial excitement followed by vaguely interested familiarity.

And finally, a rule of thumb. In the 21​st​ century, the percent weirdness of daily life roughly equals
the last two digits of the year. The year 2015 is 15% weird. (We spend all day staring at
screens. We have access to all information, and we constantly share information via social

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media. We can watch anything we want at any time. We’re in a constant state of war against
nebulous enemies. Cameras and surveillance are everywhere. All this adds up to at least 15%
weirdness.) The year 2030 will be roughly 30% weird. 2050, 50% weird. (The rule, following a
straight line instead of an exponential curve, probably underestimates weirdness for the last part
of the century.) Dibs on the rule – call it the Rosner Rule.

103. Any thoughts on aesthetics within your framework for understanding the world?

Conscious beings are driven by pleasure (and pain). Pleasure is associated with things that are
important to survival and reproduction. Perhaps more than any other species, humans get
pleasure from learning, because our niche is discovering exploitable regularities in the world.
We get aesthetic pleasure from representations of things associated with pleasure, especially
when those representations offer a satisfying hint of discovery or problem-solving.

Kitsch and porn pander to pure pleasure without the learning, while art offers at least the
suggestion of learning how to decode the world. At its best, the beautiful also offers insight.

Endorphins shape learning. Jokes are funny because they simulate an abridged learning
process. We enjoy music because it sets up expectations of patterns and then fulfills those
patterns. (And the rhythm sets up a framework that can keep us in the moment.) Familiarity in
our surroundings and predictability in our sensory input helps structure our awareness – we’re
all a little like the guy in Memento.

104. Any comments on informational eschatology?

The universe will likely largely stay the way it is for trillions upon quadrillions upon quintillions of
years. However, our galaxy will burn out and fall away from the active center after, I dunno,
another ten billion years or so. (Astronomers say the Milky Way and the Andromeda galaxy will
collide and merge in another five or so billion years, but that’s not the issue. It’s when the
merged galaxy’s stars burn out that it falls out of the active center.) Perhaps advanced
civilizations have ways of surviving the burning-out of a galaxy to persist for more than just tens
of billions of years. For us, with our puny conception of things, tens or hundreds of billions of
years might as well be forever. When and if the universe does end, probably does so through
heat. Heat is noise and loss of information. The temperature of the cosmic background radiation
increases and sizzles everything away. The currently active center runs out of juice and falls
back into the hot background like Schwarzenegger being lowered into the molten steel in
Terminator 2​.

Of course, for us, the idea of a civilization or entity lasting for billions of years is inconceivable.
How could an entity develop and accumulate knowledge for the equivalent of a million lifespans
of our current civilization? Well, maybe it doesn’t. Maybe it hits a ceiling of knowledge. Maybe
it’s like a security cam setup that keeps only a rolling record of the past 24 hours. At this point,
with knowledge of only one civilization that’s only 10,000 years old, we have no way of knowing.

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105. Deep and shallow recorded human history present numerous examples of prior attempts at
absolute definitions of consciousness, universe, and their mutual union. Of course, dust needed
brushing along with spooling of the cobwebs, and at least one coat of varnish, of ideas,
evidence, and argument to a sufficient level for clarity on these issues.

Rather than pontificate on broad historical patterns, for brief and mundane historical examples,
earliest known individuals with works focused on the gods such as Hesiod with ​Theogony,​
which went through the traditional Greek mythological timeline including the triumphs of Cronos
over Ouranos and Zeus over Cronos.

Other sets of individuals comprising schools focused on the schools of philosophy with less
focus on gods and more focus on forces of nature. The Milesians took different fundamental
compositions of the world while removing the place of the gods with Thales (Water),
Anaximander (Apeiron or the indefinite, infinite, unlimited), and Anaximenes (Mist, air, or
vapour). Each with views different from before, but monistic (non-plural) and material as
opposed to plurality of gods and their caprices. In particular, the worldview of Thales because
of the transition between the world of the mythological, allegorical, and metaphorical of Hesiod
into the world of reason.

Some of these cosmological speculative philosophies gave rise to political and moral
philosophy. These speculations continued to lack comprehensive integration, even with the
question-based philosophies of Socrates and the Sophists. Plato and Aristotle provided the
most thorough accounts of a comprehensive philosophy covering numerous subjects over
many, many writings. This continued onward to the present day with individuals attempting
unification such as David Deutsch, David Chalmers, Edward Witten, Stephen Hawking, and so
on. Many bright lights in history. How do you assess or grade the attempts at absolute
definitions of phenomena such as consciousness?

For most of human history, people made all sorts of wrong guesses about the nature of
consciousness. It feels so ineffable and deeply, transcendently real – it has to be a bridge to
some kind of ethereal beyondness, right? After millennia of this, consciousness has a bad
reputation for being associated with la-de-dah mysticism. Mention consciousness, and people
get nervous that you’re gonna argue that rocks and trees and entire planetary surfaces are
conscious. [e.g., David Chalmers’s panpsychism -Ed. Note]

But, as I’ve said, consciousness is a technical, not a mystical phenomenon. Human

consciousness is all jazzed up – made super-exciting to keep us interested in ourselves – but at
base, it’s about shared information forming a mind – a mental arena – because we have a better
chance of accurately modeling reality when all our specialized subsystems have a global
understanding. [There was a joke making the rounds years ago that studying one neuron is
neuroscience but studying two neurons is psychology. -Ken

“If someone studies one cerebral cortex, that’s cosmology.” - May-Tzu

-Ed. Note]

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Today, people have a better intuitive understanding of consciousness than ever before. We’re
used to working with our devices, which are near-extensions of consciousness – feeding us
information at our bidding. We’re fluid in juggling apps – right now, I have 25 windows open on
my computer – and can see not a stream of consciousness, but pop-up consciousness –
information and specialist systems popping into awareness as needed. We can see that our
devices, while not conscious, could become more integrated into our consciousness – heads-up
displays as in ​Terminator​ or fighter jets, for instance – and that smart devices will become
increasingly emulative of our thinking. Regardless of whether our devices will eventually
become conscious in the manner of hundreds of mostly bad science fiction movies, we see that
our devices are capable of complex information processing, which takes away some of the
exaltedness of the information processing going on in our heads.

106. What makes the Big Bang so convincing? Is it at risk of being replaced?

The Big Bang is convincing for lots of reasons. It’s by far the most widely accepted theory of
cosmogony among scientists. However, it’s only held this position for the past 50 years. Before
the discovery of the Cosmic Microwave Background radiation in 1964-65, it was neck-and-neck
between Big Bang and Steady State Theory, which postulated that matter popped into existence
in empty space. And before Big Bang and Steady State Theory originated as a consequence of
general relativity and Hubble’s Law in the 1920s, we didn’t know enough about the large-scale
dynamics of the universe for any effective theorizing that I’m aware of.

The discovery of Cosmic Microwave Background radiation was dramatically convincing. In 1964,
some guys at Bell Labs built a radio telescope which picked up low-temperature noise they
couldn’t explain. They thought it might be bird poop on the antenna. Turned out to be light from
the early universe as predicted by the Big Bang. Game, set, match for Big Bang Theory.

The Big Bang explains a lot – the apparent velocities of billions of galaxies, the formation of
heavy elements, the size and apparent age of the universe, the proportions of elements found in
the universe, the relative youthfulness of more distant galaxies.

It’s conceptually easy – one big explosion, everything flies apart. Has a catchy name. Is the title
of the biggest sitcom on TV.

But it doesn’t explain enough. It minimizes cosmic questions, with the main question being, why
is nothingness so volatile that it explodes into an entire enormous universe? With enough
tweaks, Big Bang theory can explain the mechanics of how the universe exploded out of
nothingness, which is kind of satisfying from the point of view of physics, but not of philosophy.

Some problems of Big Bang theory include:

It leaves too many physical constants unexplained – the proton-electron mass ratio and dozens
more. The Big Bang in general is not overly explanatory – it only tells you why some stuff is the

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way it is – how elements form in stars, for instance. (But you can have element formation in
stars without the Big Bang.)

Big Bang Theory incorporates assumptions of uniform conditions and constants across the
entire universe. This is usually seen as a theoretical strength, but, like the unexplained physical
constants, Big Bang theory doesn’t completely justify why the universe should be uniform. The
philosophical reason, called the cosmological principle, is that we on earth are located nowhere
special in the universe, and furthermore, the entire universe is nowhere special. This is a
dangerous assumption. You can’t just demand that the universe be roughly the same
everywhere. What if that’s not how the universe works? The Big Bang has that assumption built
in. And while the Big Bang assumes uniformity in space, it does no such thing in time. There is
no uniformity across time in Big Bang theory – every observer is located at a unique moment in
the universe’s unfolding.

Some of universe’s spatial uniformity is explained by cosmic inflation in the very early universe.
According to cosmic inflation, the universe expanded so fast (blowing up by a factor of at least
10^26 in less than 1/10^32​nd​ of a second – that is, doubling in size every
1/10,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000​th​ of a second or so) that a tiny volume
without much room for variation became the entire visible universe, and the rapid expansion
also spread out any irregularities. The reason for such rapid inflation isn’t known, so cosmic
inflation is a little ad hoc.

Beyond cosmic inflation, the Big Bang requires more and more precise, fussy tweaks to agree
with increasing amounts of observational data. One would hope that there would be a theory,
either an add-on to Big Bang theory or an alternative, which would explain more of the
conditions of the universe without having to be tweaked to fit the conditions of the universe.

Our galaxy contains globular clusters – tight groups of a million or so stars – which may be older
than the Big Bang. Calculations are pretty equivocal on this – the clusters might not be that old.
Meh to the clusters.

Yeah, the Big Bang is in danger of being supplanted. It’s pretty much our first try at a theory of
the universe based on not-hopelessly-incomplete observational evidence. Even though the Big
Bang is young, it’s already accumulated a bunch of patches.

A digression –

Was up late last night, thinking about how active galaxies get to the active center. They can’t
just light up and slide into the center – what would cause the slide? And they can’t just slide out
of the center when burned out. I’m thinking maybe it looks like soap bubbles – lit-up galaxies
expand enough of the surrounding space that bubbles would be too big not to merge. There
wouldn’t be walls between bubbles – that’s incorrectly extending the analogy – but there would
be dark galaxies along the saddles between bubbles. Without being able to contribute to the
photon flux that keeps the active center inflated, maybe dark galaxies would slide along the

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saddle between lit-up regions, back down to the dark outskirts. Could be messy enough to work.
Over billions of years, there would be an ordering of regions by brightness – the greatest
producers of photon flux would float to the top of the lumpy bubble, and less-bright regions
would be pulled down to the outskirts by gravity.

I suppose this would mean you could temporarily be of two minds – thinking of two things
somewhat independently – having a pair of incompletely merged active centers in your
mind-space – until your thoughts merge. While driving, you’re trying to remember your
second-grade teacher when another driver forces you slightly out of your lane. Your thoughts
about your split-second evasive driving maneuver don’t necessarily disrupt your thoughts about
second grade. Each pattern of thought informs itself more than it informs the other, unless you
then ponder your bifurcated thinking during the incident.

107. Who do you consider the three greatest mathematicians/physicists/cosmologists?

Darwin is one of my favorite cosmologists, even though he’s not a cosmologist. He took the idea
of deep time, which was being debated by geologists of his era, and applied it to biology, which
indirectly set the stage for the discovery, 60 years later, that we live in a universe that’s many
billions of years old. Some physicists of Darwin’s time argued against deep time, saying stars
couldn’t last that long. The longevity of stars wasn’t explained until the discovery of nuclear
fusion.

Newton was the first to describe gravity as the force holding all large objects together, which is a
necessary first step in a conceptual framework that encompasses the entire universe. And
Einstein made that framework much more explicit.

Also important are the developers of theories of information, including Alan Turning and Claude
Shannon.

108. What do you consider the three greatest mathematics/physics/cosmology concepts?

I like Mach’s Principle, which states that inertia arises from an object’s interaction with the stellar
background (all the matter in the universe). Mach’s Principle has never been turned into a
precise mathematical theory, but it’s still compelling. If true, Mach’s Principle can’t mean that an
object is directly interacting with all matter as that matter is now, because of the speed of light.
The object has to be interacting with its local inertial field which is created by all matter, but with
matter’s contribution to the field delayed by distance, the same way we can see all the visible
stars in the universe but only as they were in the past.

Quantum mechanics is powerful, especially when viewed as the universe observing and
defining itself.

And relativity, both special and general and including Big Bang cosmology, is essential,
particularly when considered as aspects of how information is structured and how it behaves.

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109. How does informational cosmology incorporate high level concepts like The Heisenberg
Uncertainty Principle? How about Wave-Particle Duality?

Uncertainty and wave-particle duality are aspects of a finite universe having a finite capacity to
define itself. Particles will be fuzzy. Say you’re playing roulette, one chip at a time. The best you
can do, on average, based on whether your chip pays off (and nothing else), is pin down the
number that came up to somewhere among half the numbers on the wheel. The universe is like
that – it doesn’t have an infinite number of chips to lay down to see exactly what comes up. Or
have an infinity of photons for particles to exchange with each other. (Though one difference
between the universe and blind betting and roulette is that an incompletely observed quantum
roulette ball lands in all possible slots. The information isn’t there-but-hidden – it’s just not there.
Black pays off – well, the ball’s probability wave occupies all the black slots (unless observed to
occupy a specific slot). The universe moves on.)

The universe writes its own history moment by moment. But history is always incomplete. Under
the uncertainty principle, you can pin down some aspects of things with as much precision as
you want, but this will always be at the expense of other aspects. We’re used to feeling that the
universe has great solidity and precision because at our macroscopic scales, it does. Our
bodies contain nearly 10^28 atoms. We’re big, compared to atoms. We don’t generally perceive
atomic-scale lack of precision. We’re the beneficiaries of living in a universe with something like
10^80 particles, which define each other pretty precisely but not infinitely so through their
interactions.

Inexactly defined particles behave with a certain degree of mystery – of unknown information.
This unknownness takes definite forms – probability waves, etc. Defining how unknownness
and imprecision manifest themselves is the job of quantum mechanics. Patrick Coles, Jedrzej
Kaniewski, and Stephanie Wehner at the National University of Singapore just proved that
wave-particle duality is a manifestation of the uncertainty principle. Dr. Wehner said, “The
connection between uncertainty and wave-particle duality comes out very naturally when you
consider them as questions about what information you can gain about a system. Our result
highlights the power of thinking about physics from the perspective of information.” (Once
co-wrote an adult movie about time travel which included a scientist named Dr. Wiener. This is
not the same Dr. Wiener.)

110. How about Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen​ ​(EPR) Nonlocality?

Existence depends on self-consistency. You can set up situations in the universe in which the
discovery of the value of a variable at Point A implies the value of a linked variable at an
arbitrarily distant Point B. Every particle interaction is a handshake between two points in time
(as seen from points of view that aren’t moving at the speed of light – from the photon’s POV,
no time passes). These handshakes are part of how the universe defines itself and maintains its
self-consistency. The EPR setup links two such handshakes. The unfolding of time is the setting
up and completing of vast numbers of these handshakes.

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111. How about the possibility of the universe operating in something more essential than
information?

I don’t know what would be more essential (in a practical sense) than information. Information is
the pure essence of choice with everything extraneous stripped away. In a binary system of
information, it’s just 0s and 1s or whatever you want to call it – apples and oranges, Bens and
Jerrys – but it’s all just the choice between two values – what you call these two values isn’t
included. It’s no-frills.

However, this doesn’t get at the essence of distinct choices, why something can only be true or
not true (Gödel aside), how non-contradiction arises and why it’s the key to existence. We have
to work on the logical foundation of existence, including the existence of information, but in
terms of how the universe does moment-to-moment business, information is a highly efficient
framing device.

While we’re at it, we have to get at the foundation of numbers – how they exist (in an abstract
sense that’s reflected by numbers in the material world) without contradiction and with infinite
precision. The same logical structures of non-contradiction – the infinite choices of and
handshakes between values that allow numbers to work – also allow material existence. (My
article about meta-primes in ​Noesis ​begins to discuss the infinite series of choices among
numerical values that make numbers work.)

[Editor’s Note: ​https://megasociety.org/noesis/59​]

112. How does everything in essence equate to a Turing Machine​ ​in informational cosmology?

A Turing machine constructs a picture of reality one finite step at a time. Any finite process or
system can be mathematically translated into a series of bitwise steps – a series of 0s and 1s.
Multiple Turing machines can be married into a single machine – the Church-Turing thesis
states that any computable function on the natural numbers is computable on a Turing machine.
I’m assuming that the universe (or any information-space) is finite and that possible transitions
between states of the universe are computable (given the input of new information to reflect the
outcome of events that had yet to be resolved). With these assumptions, subsequent events
can be computed by a Turing machine.

113. Where one contained armature/universe equals A​2 and ​ another container
armature/universe equals A​3​, does A​2 operate
​ on a different kind of time than A​3​?

The armature world and the mind-space world are temporally linked – the mind-space is
reacting in real time, but there’s no coordination of physical processes – between the speed of
light in the armature world and in the mind-space, for instance.

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114. What can we never know? In other words, what count as, by their nature, mysteries?

The universe observes and defines itself. It takes information to get information. There’s not an
infinite amount of specification to be spread around. There will always be gaps in knowing. Even
in a deterministic universe, which ours isn’t, you’d need something vastly, hugely huge to model
the universe.

So our knowledge of specifics will always be at risk of being threadbare. But we can hope to
learn more about the general principles of existence. Richard Feynman laid out the possible
paths of future scientific knowledge, something like – we figure out the universe, learning just
about everything there is to know. Or we fail to figure out the universe – it’s just too tough. Or
we keep learning more and more but never learn just about everything because what there is to
know just keeps going and going.

I think we’ll mostly figure out the universe – we’ll develop a pretty good picture of the Whys. Our
knowledge, however, will always be surrounded by a deep metaphysical chasm of not yet
understanding the Whys behind the Whys. There’s no absolute knowledge – there’s just hope.

It’s not an unreasonable assumption that there’s an unlimited amount of stuff to know. There are
reasons behind reasons behind reasons, and we may never get to the rock-bottom essential
nature of things, because there may not be a rock-bottom essential nature. Everything might be
bootstrapped and self-referential and the way it is because it can’t not be the way it is without
being contradictory. You can never precisely draw a fractal or a Mandelbrot set – there’s always
an infinity of little curlicues you’re leaving out. And as you go bigger and bigger and more
complex, there are emergent properties and essential stories too big to be contained in smaller
information sets.

Having a beginner’s understanding of the Whys of the universe is just a first step to learning
how to operate within the universe. There will always be infinitely far to go to figuring everything
out.

115. How does informational cosmology explain ex nihilo​ ​cosmogony for the modern form of
nothing defined by science and the modern philosophical/theological kind of “nonbeing”
nothing?

In informational cosmology, there’s a reason in the armature world for a mind-space to come
into existence. Reasons can be anything that creates a wide-angle information processing
system – can be natural, as when our brains form as a fetus grows, could be semi-mechanical,
as with us building future sophisticated robots, could be a spontaneous negentropic process
(which the billion-year evolution of life on earth can be seen as).

Also, the principles of self-defined information-spaces should generate a roughly defined set of
all possible such spaces. If these principles more-or-less completely specify what can exist,
consistent with non-contradiction, then anything that can exist, can’t not exist – that is, must

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exist (though we can only experience one moment at a time, and each moment has to be
consistent with its history – we can’t jump world-lines).

So, between every information-space having a reason to exist in an armature world that’s
created it and the principles of existence pretty much mandating that information-spaces exist,
you have pretty solid justifications for there not being just nothingness.

116. With universe as mind and theology as study of the nature of God – in large part, theology
becomes informational cosmology, and vice versa. How does this reframe the enormous
discipline of theology?

If widely embraced, informational cosmology would eventually prompt a whole new mess of
unfounded and semi-unfounded belief and misunderstanding. It has a whole set of new and
semi-new hooks on which to hang irrational beliefs.

Even if it becomes an accepted theory, not everyone’s going to believe it. I assume our
semi-artificial selves of a century hence will be pretty scientific in their beliefs, but there will be
many groups that continue to hold traditional beliefs. Figure 14 to 25 billion entities with at least
human-level cognition 100 years from now (could be many, many more if independent,
individual AIs are all over the place). The majority will hold scientific worldviews, but billions of
others will be various degrees of Christian or Muslim or Buddhist.

Informational cosmology contains more Whys than Big Bang theory. Big Bang theory asks you
to believe that nothingness is unstable and wants to explode without much philosophical
justification. I’d think that people would embrace a theory that, if largely verified, offers more
Whys within a scientific framework.

Informational cosmology also offers huge questions to try to answer – is the universe truly
conscious? If so, what’s it up to, and what world contains it? How old is the universe? Can
civilizations survive the recycling of galaxies? Is there a ladder of worlds? What are some of the
other conscious beings scattered throughout the universe up to? Do they participate in the
mechanics of the universe? Are three-dimensional space and one-dimensional time structures
that all civilizations are stuck with? And a zillion more questions. Some people will try to answer
them theologically.

117. If you had the opportunity to look at deep human time in an instant, you would see
antiquity’s graveyard with a small section, where we can find remnants of the great theologians,
and these grand figures of theology lie in the grave with some onlookers – no doubt to join –
around the graveyard; look close, some found in this grave, some at the eulogies, and others to
partake of this cemetery: Abraham Joshua Heschel, Albert Schweizer, Baháu’lláh, Charles
Wesley, Clement of Alexandria, Clive Staples Lewis, Eliabeth Stuart, Gordon Clark, John Calvin,
John Ronald Reuel Tolkien, John Wesley, Jonathan Edwards, Joseph Smith, Jr., Karl Barth,
Ketut Wiana, Leila Ahmed, Marilyn McCord Adams, Martin Luther, Pelagius, Polycarp, Prophet
Muhammad, Saint Anselm, Saint Augustine of Hippo, Saint Francis of Assisi, Saint Ignatius of

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Antioch, Saint Irenaeus, Saint Jerome, Saint Thomas Aquinas, Soren Kirkegaard, Teilhard de
Chardin, and so on.

With such a deep background into the realm of ethics in the world of theology, informational
ethics provides the basis for theoretical analysis of issues in ethics such as asserted
proclamations on ethics in prior times. Application of C​E ​to each set or subset of proposed
ethics; C​E ​provides the basis for logical analysis of ethics.

How might other pervasive ethics have rational calculation in such a moral calculus from
informational cosmology? How might the longstanding tradition of theology work in such a
framework? How do some vogue – within the timeline of recorded human civilization’s history –
assertions of ethics operate in informational ethics such as Christianity, Confucianism,
humanism, Islam, Judaism, secularism, and so on?

Most ethical implications of informational cosmology probably come from the idea that
everything exists within a framework of (technical-not-mystical) consciousness. Consciousness
is a big deal – it’s the context for everything. At the same time, it is weak – it’s technical, not
transcendent, and it doesn’t transcend death unless abetted by technology. Consciousness is
threadbare, it lies to us, and it’s not everlasting. At the same time, it’s all we have.

We have to assume that respect for conscious beings is important. At the same time, we have
evidence that it’s not. We know pigs are fairly intelligent and have feelings. At this point, only
schmucks would argue that pigs aren’t conscious. (Unless they’re arguing that no living beings
are truly conscious, in which case they’re using a completely different (and schmucky) definition
of consciousness.) We slaughter pigs by the billions, but there’s no proof that this mass killing of
conscious beings leaves a metaphysical stain on the universe.

We can go back to existentialism, that the world is meaningless, so we have to build our own
moral systems. But we’re potentially in a better position than the existentialists confronting a
random, spontaneously arising Creator-less universe that contains no inherent moral values. If
informational cosmology is correct about conscious information-spaces being the framework for
existence that, at least, is a unifying theme for existence. We still have to build our own moral
systems, but there’s a little more to grab onto than the completely random, coldly purposeless,
Big Bang universe.

Consciousness is a mathematically describable, verifiable thing, not just a suspicion of or an

ineffable feeling that there might be a thing. And consciousness might be a thing on all scales,
up to the most humongous. We don’t know much yet, but there’s a chance that our self-built
moral systems might eventually get some support, not from some Creator handing down
pronouncements, but from the structure of things. If consciousness is embedded in existence,
and existence is the default state of things, then there might be reasonable ways to philosophize
the problem of how to exist, without just blindly, bravely doing it for the sake of keeping on.

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We still have to face that existence is governed by the math-like principles of non-contradiction,
rather than being granted by a deity. We may always face the problem that there’s not some
Ultimate Mover who wants us to exist, but rather that it’s up to us to design ourselves to want to
exist (after having inherited the drive to exist from purposeless evolutionary processes). But we
can be hopeful about consciousness being inherent to existence. The principles of existence
won’t be able to squeeze the ghosts out of the machine.

118. How might this calculate the most difficult issue in the history of theology, The Problem of
Evil?

The deal is, the processes that created us don’t have purpose, and they don’t judge. We’ve
been created by a history of things happening via natural processes. I think we arose instead of
being created by a purposeful being with plans for us. And since there’s no planner to keep
things in line, to make things nice, lots of things can happen, and some of the things that can
happen are horrible. It’s up to us to create moral systems which help us decide good and bad
and up to us to do what we can to minimize the bad. There’s no One in charge; we have to be in
charge of ourselves. But we get some help, in that existence seems to be unpreventable. We’re
in a fight against personal and civilizational and even universal oblivion (our universe, not all
possible universes), but existence itself is undodgeable. Existence isn’t a fluke, and nothingness
is not the default state. There is a fabric of existence (well, not exactly, because where would it
exist? It exists the way numbers exist.), a set (a quite likely messy, not-well-defined set) of
possible moments of existence, because there can’t not be.

Evil, as opposed to bad things happening by accident, involves choice. Something capable of
choice chooses to do something bad or to allow something bad to happen. There’s no deity in
charge who’s allowing bad things to happen. But what about the conscious entities who are so
much bigger than us that they might as well be gods? In the case of the universe itself, it
probably has an idea that the information which comprises its information-space can take forms
which are so complicated that they can include worlds with conscious beings and civilizations.
However, it’s unlikely that the universe would care about beings which are low-level relative to
itself and which do not exist in a form of which it is explicitly conscious, unless such forms
threaten to impede the universe’s information-processing. As for advanced civilizations within
the universe, they seem unlikely to go out of their way to prevent bad things from happening on
our planet.

So, to boil everything down –

No one is in charge, neither a Creator nor an agent or ethical system put in place by a Creator.

The universe isn’t concerned about relatively low-level worlds which form in its
information-space. The universe wants its information-space to process information. It’s okay
with, and is largely unaware of, whatever happens to specific negentropic forms taken by the
information in its information-space – that is, us.

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Other civilizations in the universe haven’t invited us to join some galactic empire of goodness in
which we get help in not having bad things happen.

For the time being, we’re on our own in building ethical systems and in trying to minimize evil.

119. Do souls exists? How do you define them?

Souls exist if you call our conscious selves our souls. If by “soul” you mean a magic ingredient,
not information-based, that transforms an unconscious automaton into a feeling, experiencing
being, then no, I don’t think souls exist. Our consciousness, our feeling that we exist in the
world, is a property of how we process information. It’s not the result of a transcendent soul that
rides unfeeling matter like a little sparkly cowboy or a golden thinking cap on a flesh-and-bone
Roomba.

Our soul is what we’re feeling and experiencing and the incompletely expressed background to
what we’re thinking at any given moment. At any given moment, there’s a lot we don’t
consciously know but are comfortable that we could know if we needed to. Our
moment-to-moment awareness is somewhat rooted in all our stored knowledge (including
feelings associated with that knowledge) that’s only unpacked a little at a time. Our being
accustomed to knowledge-in-waiting, our at-homeness in the world, our not freaking out that we
don’t know everything at every moment, is part of what feels like a soul – a generalized feeling
of self.

We don’t see a painting all at once – we fill it in mentally as our eyes wander over the painting.
Similarly, we don’t know ourselves all at once. We constantly fill in ourselves about ourselves as
our awareness wanders through our stored knowledge. Being comfortable with our normal brain
function is part of feeling we have a soul.

We could even speculate that a feeling of comfort with and complacency about our brain
function – this feeling of self and soul – might be encouraged by evolution, because it wouldn’t
do for every organism to be freaking out over every mental glitch. Consciousness is glitchy, and
we might have a certain optimum level of glitch-blindness that’s consistent with calm, normal
functioning. In people suffering from Alzheimer’s, failure to recognize mental deficits seems to
be fairly common. This could be a manifestation of a normally helpful defense mechanism (or it
could be another symptom – a failure in self-perception caused by the Alzheimer’s itself).

The speed and precision of perception and thought are also a big part of feeling as if we have a
soul. There’s a not-uncommon feeling among people who’ve been on heart-lung machines for
many hours during an operation, called “pumphead” or post-perfusion syndrome. Apparently,
while you’re on the machine, your circulatory system can get gunked-up, and during the month
or so after the operation, your brain becomes clogged and strokey. It becomes harder to think
and concentrate and control your mood. Some people with pumphead describe it as losing their
soul.

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And most of us have had the “wrapped in cotton” feeling of reduced reality when exhausted or a
little bit buzzed. It’s apparent that degrading brain function reduces the feeling of the authenticity
of reality and of self.

120. Father Teilhard de Chardin remains a controversial figure to some. In particular, his ideas
in ​The Phenomenon of Man​ (1955) evoked praise, infamy, and even calumny. He had some
ideas of note. Ideas in relation to theology and the world. With rich theological undertones, he
spoke of an Omega Point​ ​in the book ​The Future of Man​ (1964). Does this idea hold merit in
informational cosmology?

I believe that, as in Omega Point theory, the universe evolves more complicated and effective
ways to process and store information, which can include biological and technical evolution.
However, I don’t believe in the Omega Point’s teleology, that some god-like entity is the engine
of progress, drawing us towards its enlightenment. And evolution doesn’t just progress towards
increased complexity; evolution spreads out across all levels of complexity. Bacteria didn’t
disappear when humans emerged.

Also, if the universe recycles itself across octillions of years, then life within it emerges zillions of
times as a natural consequence of negentropy. (Every solar system is an open, negentropic
system, though life won’t evolve in every such system.) So you don’t have a universe
relentlessly climbing towards higher levels of complexity; you have a universe in which
complexity arises over and over, trillions and quintillions of times. Even if intelligent life arises
only once per galaxy, that’s still 10^11 instances of intelligent life, not even considering the
recycling of galaxies. The universe should gradually grow more complex as it accumulates more
information, but it could operate just fine with an unchanging amount of information, just as we
could.

121. What do you see as still needing to be done with Informational Cosmology?

Informational Cosmology:

Needs mathematical structure – words translated into equations.

Needs testable aspects and testing – it’s not a theory unless it can be tested. Many of its
elements are hard to test observationally – dark matter being collapsed normal matter, there
being a bunch of burned-out galaxies in the neighborhood of T = 0, the universe being many,
many times older than 14 billion years. But these same difficulties pertain to other theories of
dark matter and the large-scale structure of the universe. These theories are often tested via
mathematical modeling, which could be applied to Informational Cosmology. Fortunately
(perhaps), Informational Cosmology is also a model of our minds, which, while not sharing our
physical space, aren’t 14 billion light years away and are amenable to observation.

Needs attention. I’m trying to sell a memoir, ​Dumbass Genius,​ about the dumb things I’ve done,
with some of the dumb things being done in pursuit of a theory of the universe. The proposal for

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Dumbass Genius​ is currently being looked at by publishers. The memoir will be 95% narrative
and 5% physics. The narrative is a Trojan horse to get the physics in front of people. I’ve hired
some PR people, and I’m trying to expand my social media presence, and I will continue to do
and say semi-stupid stuff with the hope that this might cause people to accidentally pay
attention to my non-stupid stuff.

Needs professionals to look at it. Professional scientists hate this kind of stuff. I’m working on an
article titled “On Being a Crackpot.” I can tell you that professors don’t greet wild,
all-encompassing amateur theories with unbridled joy. The standard reaction is, “I’m not even
gonna look at your theory. I’ve dealt with lunatics like you before. Your theory is almost certainly
crap, and reading the theory and explaining why it’s wrong would be a waste of time because
nothing I could say would change your crazed mind. Why did the receptionist even let you into
my office?” My best bet is to have my brain transplanted into the body of an attractive young
woman and marry Brian Greene or Neil deGrasse Tyson or Michio Kaku. We’ll get married and
have lots of sex and then he’ll have to at least pretend to pay attention to my theory. Anyone
know an attractive young woman who wants to swap bodies with a 54-year-old man with hair
plugs? [Ed. Note: This scenario is reminiscent of the film ​Being John Malkovich]​

Needs further integration – to have its elements combined into a smoothly functioning model of
the life cycles of thoughts, galaxies, and the entire mind and universe (preferably with cool
diagrams).

Needs to be shown to address shortcomings of currently accepted theories and explain things
currently accepted theories don’t. A theory which explains why the universe does what it does is
preferable to a theory which says, “There was a big explosion, then some cosmic inflation, and
now there’s some accelerated expansion.” Current thinking tends in the direction of, “Asking
‘Why?’ is naïve – a pinpoint that explodes with vast broken-symmetry energy just is,” but a nice
metaphysical/mathematical explanation that might also explain why some physical constants
are what they are could eventually be well-received.

Needs time and for Big Bang theory to continue to accumulate contravening evidence. Thomas
Kuhn, in his classic book about how science works, ​The Structure of Scientific Revolutions​,
explains that science progresses through a kind of punctuated equilibrium – theories prevail
until they accumulate a bunch of anomalies, and then there’s a scientific revolution. Big Bang
theory has been the boss-man theory of the universe for only 50 years. And before that, we
didn’t really have a widely accepted theory of universal structure, because all the pieces weren’t
in place. The Hubble redshift and expanding universe equations of general relativity weren’t
discovered until the 1920s. We didn’t even know that the universe extended beyond the Milky
Way until Hubble provided incontrovertible evidence in the 1920s. So we’ve had this one theory
for not too long – basically our first and only theory based on decent information about the
universe. (There was Steady State theory, but it was never boss before getting swatted down by
observational evidence.) Big Bang’s getting a little creaky – needs a lot of add-ons and geegaws
to account for the results of observation.

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The Big Bang will eventually be replaced, but it won’t go away, the same way Newton’s
gravitation didn’t go away – it became part of the larger conceptual framework of general
relativity. The universe will always appear to be Big Bangy due to the nature of information.
Informational cosmology still has the universe blowing up, but just a little at a time. (And by little,
I mean maybe at an average rate of around ten galaxies a year.)

122. Would you ever have theorized without your outlier background?

The background definitely helps. Can imagine many different destinies – resentful math teacher,
divorced unsuccessful novelist….But think those versions would do some theorizing, too. Maybe
not as much as this version. And they certainly wouldn’t have had this forum.

123. Do you see a difference between common sense and intelligence?

It’s an old question which has an element of what might now be called nerd-shaming. It implies
that regular people with common sense can get along in the world, while you, Nerd, with your
so-called intelligence, have a hard time with things such as sports or getting a girlfriend or not
dressing weird.

As a nerdy kid, I ran into this attitude fairly often, with people saying, “Well, you may be a
brainiac, but I’ve got common sense.” This reflects a lost world of nerds being somewhat
isolated from regular people. Today, tech forces us all to be nerds to some extent, all searching
for the new best practices for living.

124. What do you most regret?

I regret squandering time on some stupid stuff – all the ​Gilligan’s Island​ and ​I Love Lucy​ reruns I
watched as a kid, the crazy amount of time spent suing a quiz show. (My lawsuit was justified,
but it ate up a lot of time.) I regret not being more skeptical of medical procedures which turned
out to be unhelpful at best – varicose vein stripping, CT scan….I regret not being born a couple
decades further into the future. I regret not becoming wildly handsome in my 20s.

125. You live among an interesting cohort, no doubt. A group of individuals among the elite of
intellectual abilities. What of the ethics of forming elite organizations – “elite” by admission
standards? What about joining them? What about the possibility of some exploiting concomitant
assumed authority of an individual or group? Perhaps some of those in the ultra-high IQ
community make a conscientious choice – moral choice even – to not join such societies.
Insofar as the ethics of forming, joining, and sustaining elite groups, what of the possibility of
ultra-high general ability individuals choosing to not enter?

There are probably more hyper-intelligent people not in high-IQ societies than in them. Smart,
highly successful people tend to be more involved with the things that made them successful
than in exploring their mental skills.

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But there’s not a super-high correlation between intelligence and success, especially at the
highest levels. Many high-IQ people have pretty normal lives and jobs. Some of them find
high-IQ societies, where they can get a little recognition and interact with people who have
meshing interests. People turn to high-IQ societies on social media for the same reasons people
do anything on social media – recognition and sharing. Social media makes it easier to join
high-IQ societies – every two or three months, I’ll be emailed that I’ve been added to some
high-IQ group. Because they’re easy to join, quite a few people belong to high-IQ groups on
social media, which means that such groups consist largely of nice people who are delighted to
have online friends.

126. You suffer from the attention and invective of internet trolls. Trolls come in many variety
within the flora and fauna of internet life. I hear they feed on a combination of foaming at the
mouth and others’ time – at least in their natural habitat. Unfortunately, they’re like starfish. If
one chops the poor little echinoderm to pieces – or like the story of the wizard from ​Fantasia
with the shredded broom, they have a “population explosion” and emerge with greater force and
invective than ever before. Do you have any responses for the harsh internet crowd? In other
words, what comes across with the highest frequency? How do you respond to them?

Arrogant – Well, I’m really good at IQ tests. Does that make me a snotty jerk? I hope not. Do I
know what’s best for people or have a plan for remaking society? No. Do I want to be the boss
of everybody? No. Do I think I’m really smart? Kinda, but my Twitter handle is
@DumbassGenius, not @geniusgenius, which shows at least a little modesty.

Weirdo – Yes, I’m kind of weird – not weird just to be weird, but weird because I’m used to
figuring out on my own how to do stuff, and often this figuring works out oddly. And even though
I do weird things like go to the gym five times a day, I also do normal, responsible things like
stay married for 23 years and be a dad and hold down jobs more successfully than most people
in my profession.

Loser – If you’ve read that I’m a high-IQ bouncer and stripper and nude model, that’s kind of
loserish. Very loserish. But I’ve also been a TV writer and sometimes-producer since the late
80s. I’ve written for more than 2,500 hours of broadcast television, including the Emmys,
ESPYs, American Music Awards, Grammys, and Jimmy Kimmel Live!, earning seven Writers
Guild Award nominations (one win) and an Emmy nomination. I’ve gotten a lot of material on
TV. As I’ve said before, I’m married and a dad, which is important. I’ve got a memoir that’s being
shopped around, and I have a theory of the universe. So, not entirely a loser.

Obvious hair plugs – Yes, you can tell that I have hair plugs. They’re not the worst plugs in the
world, but they could be better. I started getting them in 1989, before the technique had been
refined, so they’re a little clumpy. But they’re better than no hair, and if you didn’t know what you
were looking for, you might not notice them.

Why should you listen to me? – I’ve been trying to figure out how the universe works since I was
ten, and I’ve had a decent foundation for a theory for more than 30 years. I might be onto

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something. Current big bang cosmology is getting a little threadbare. A very, very, very old
universe explains a lot of stuff.

You were very concerned about losing your virginity – Sex is kind of a given. Unmarried couples
live together without social censure, everyone’s saturated in porn and sexualized images,
everyone suspects the worst about everyone else in terms of sexual behavior. But as a
population, we’re just about fatter than ever, there are a zillion other things to besides sex, and
people in general don’t seem overly concerned with having sex, at least not as much as in the
70s.

127. Provisions for principles of existence would equate to the ​language​ ​of existence, and
therefore one can derive the more appropriate, direct, and proper phrase “principles of
existence” rather than “laws.” We have more derivations from defined principles of existence:

Principle One: universe operates within limits of complexity. Any further complexity will likely
deteriorate into optimal simplicity. Universe among logical possibilities of the set of universes
bound by optimal simplicity.

Principle Two: relevance/irrelevance, information of relevance will occupy or begin to occupy the
active center; conversely, information of irrelevance will not occupy or begin to not occupy the
active center.

Principle Three: The Persistence Project divides into The Statistical Argument for Universe and
The Statistical Argument for Consciousness​.​ Universe cannot not exist; consciousness cannot
not exist. Therefore, the non-absolute high probability for existence, and persistence, of
universe and consciousness.

Principle Four: informational cosmology implies informational ethics in a progressive argument.

Where I​c​ equals informational cosmology, S​u​ equals Statistical Argument for Universe, S​c​ equals
Statistical Argument for Consciousness, P equals The Persistence Project, C​E​ equals
“existence-valuing principles,” and I​e​ equals informational ethics, we can construct one
conditional argument to derive informational ethics from informational cosmology: 1) I​c ⇒ ​ (S​u​ ∧
E​ E​
S​c​), 2) (S​u​ ∧ S​c​) ⇒ P, 3) P ⇒ C​ , 4) C​ ⇒ I​e​, 5) I​c​, 6) ∴, I​e​. Therefore, one acquires values
consistent with the facts of existence: “existence-valuing principles” or C​E​. David Hume’s
is/ought​ ​fails. A distinction exists between them, but facts imply values.

Principle Five: universe/mind symmetry, universe as mind based on net self-consistency and
information processing. Units of sufficient individuation in a universe with self-consistency and
information processing as minds too.

Principle Six: universe (M​n​) implies armature (A​n​); if armature, universe. Universe equates to
information processing; armature equates to material framework/processor: (A​n ⇒ ​ M​n​).

Principle Seven: armature and universe construct mind-space: (A​n ​+ M​n​ = S​n​).

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Principle Eight: net self-consistency and information processing equates to consciousness. This
reflects Principle Five. Sigma, ∑, self-consistency, S, times, *, sigma information processing,
∑I​p​, would equal mind-space, S​n​, where mind-space equals information-space, I​s​: (∑S * ∑I​p​ = S​n
= I​s​).

Principle Nine: universe as conscious: (A​n ⇒ ​ M​n​); ∴, (A​n +

​ M​n​); (A​n +
​ M​n​) ⇒ S​n​; ∴, (A​n +
​ M​n​ =
S​n​). In addition to this, we have the inclusion of ​Principle Eight​ to derive the same conclusion
about mind-spaces, S​n​: (∑S * ∑I​p​ = S​n​). Armature implies universe; therefore, armature and
universe; armature and universe imply mind-space; therefore, mind-space; armature and
universe construct mind-space, and net self-consistency and information processing equate to
mind-space. Consciousness equates to net self-consistency and information processing;
universe equates to these too. Therefore, universe equates to consciousness endowed system.

Principle Ten: consciousness at every magnitude exists in finitude and with

non-mystical/technical construction. Informational cosmology lacks infinities and describes
finites. Information constructs consciousness based on information processor and net
self-consistency with finite capabilities. Subsystems internal to universe partake of this
consciousness too, but not to the same degree. Units of sufficient individuation in universe with
net self-consistency and information processing have consciousness proportional to sum of
self-consistency times sum of information processing. Therefore, universe and multiple
subsystems in universe have consciousness or equate to minds.

Beyond the foundational elements of informational cosmology laid out in this interview, and the
first- and second-order derivations with informational ethics and other areas of discourse, what
further realms of investigation have a possible future of analysis within an informational
cosmological and informational ethical perspective?

One big field that will open up in during the rest of the century is what our drives should be, as
we develop the ability to modify our drives and desires.

By the end of the century, there will be much inquiry about how to merge minds and how
connected minds should be. There will be a whole new field addressing issues of mental
connectivity. In some communities, people will want to stay completely unmerged. In others,
people will try to achieve complete merging.

A critical field will be modeling AI and predicting its behavior. You need a mathematics of
consciousness to understand AI. Out-of-control AI could be the greatest threat in history. A
related field will be the design of artificial awareness.

There will be the field of informational structure – trying to figure out what the universe and other
such systems are doing with information by looking at the distribution and behavior of matter.
Can we get any idea of what’s in the mind of the universe?

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Technical resurrection will be an area of inquiry and development – preserving consciousness
after the body is gone, attempting to reconstruct and simulate the minds of people from history.
We’ll have better and better iterations of Austen, Lincoln, and Shakespeare – all the usual
holodeck suspects.

Beyond the physics of information-spaces, there will be the mathematics of information-spaces,

which will go farther into the abstract and general properties of self-defined spaces, along with
set theory as it applies to the set of all such possible spaces, the connections and
transformations among members of the set, the level of infinity that describes the set, whether
it’s a well-defined set, and so on.

Then there’s the cultural analysis of how we’ll be affected by thoroughly understanding
consciousness. Most people probably believe that consciousness is produced by the brain, but
the culture shock may not fully set in until consciousness is fully dismantled and replicated. How
people feel and behave when they’re no longer more divine than their devices will have to be
studied.

128. In the current climate of excess sensitivity tied to a reactionary institutional culture and
subsequent radical conformity – in irony, I do not wish to offend anyone; however, institutional
analysis does have value for us: internally, to Academia, various filters through achievement
measurements (BA/BAA/BBA/BSc, MA/MBA/MPA/MSc, JD, MD, PhD, Post-Doctorate, and so
on) and organizational-structural apparatuses operate for academic peers to consider standards
high and one another proficient in relevant material under research; externally, to independent
researchers and scholars, these can prevent innovation, hinder creativity, foster intellectual
docility and acquiescence, and exclude bright and qualified outsiders (even geniuses) – to claim
otherwise would consider academics of an angelic form. Both perspectives are valid and
compatible. It sounds good in an introductory course for particular ideals to have statement;
however, we must face facts in the following reflection. We must speak without prevarication.
You do not have academic awards, grants, honors, titles, or persuasive associations such as
authoritative academics/institutional connections. If correct, and if someone in mainstream
Academia stole these ideas, arguments, calculations, and original conceptualizations, you have
little recourse for intellectual copyright and plagiarism.

Your defence would hold little weight, especially with the possibility of defamation, character
assassination, and other tenth-rate tricks to discredit an individual rather than consider the claim
of plagiarism on truth or falsity of the claim. No internal colleague, principal investigator status
(or laboratory), faculty, external department, research institute, ethics board, administrative
authority, or university at large to likely remedy such a possibility. The Academy tends to work in
a closed way for accreditation and peer recommendations.

129. You live and work outside the university system. Any thoughts on such an outcome? You
developed this theory for over three decades. Any words for someone with intention of
surreptitious pilfering of even your crumbs? Those with a wolf heart, modicum of talent, but

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starved for anything with a resemblance to this conceptual bread of life based on avarice and a
gnawing hunger for academic, and eventual popular, glory.

I have one good defence – some of this stuff turning out to be true. If it’s true in a big way – if it’s
picked up and verified by the world, someone will put me in the story.

My wife and I go to couples counselling every three or four weeks, and we discussed this in our
last session – what happens if my book doesn’t get published, if I don’t get recognition, if 30
years from now I’m a frustrated old man whose ideas have become accepted but whose
authorship isn’t generally recognized. My wife and our therapist and I agreed that would suck.

And yeah, my credentials are: not-great stripper, epic catcher of fake IDs, legendary goer-back
to high school, nude art model, compulsive overachiever on IQ tests, and writer of jokes for
late-night TV. But there’s a story there. William Blake said, “The road of excess leads to the
palace of wisdom.” My excess hasn’t been that excessive, but it hasn’t been what everyone else
has done. Charles Darwin took a five-year trip on the Beagle. He saw eroded landscapes and
thousands of species. He thought about it for 20, 30 years. His exceptional life experience plus
extended thought lead to the greatest unifying theory in history – the earth’s geology plus the
vastness of organic variety equals deep time. I like to think that exceptional personal experience
plus extended thought can, even in the era of Big Science, lead to a great unifying theory.

I currently have sort of a PR person and next month will hire another PR person. My story will
get out there. Eventually, established scientists will consider it. Will someone be able to steal it?
At this point, my best chance for this not to happen is for me to keep talking and writing about it
in my goofy way.

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 The Intuitionist Continuum

Werner Couwenbergh

Abstract

The intuitionistic continuum has some very unusual properties that make it stand out from other
mathematical continua: it is inherently incomplete – “perpetually in the process of creation” –
and fundamentally indecomposable. In addition, every total function on the unit interval is
uniformly continuous.

These properties are a consequence of the characteristic way in which the intuitionistic
continuum is constructed. Ultimately this construction draws on the ‘two acts of intuitionism,’
defining mathematics as a “languageless activity of the mind”, originating “in the perception of a
move of time”: all mathematical objects are constructed based on an elementary ‘twoity’, given
by pure intuition. The requirement of constructability results in an intrinsic incompleteness of
infinite objects, which has far-reaching repercussions on intuitionistic logic and the nature of
intuitionistic mathematical objects.

Philosophically, intuitionism has a phenomenological foundation (with strong parallels to

Husserl’s transcendental phenomenology), from which a constructive ontology and
epistemology flow. This philosophical basis is, however, susceptible to critique, as is the
technical complexity of intuitionistic mathematics which has obstructed widespread acceptance.

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 Content

1​ ​Introduction

2 Situating Intuitionism

2.1 Historical Context

2.2 The Two Acts of Intuitionism

2.3 Consequences

3​ ​The Intuitionist Continuum

3.1 Construction

3.2 Properties

3.2.1 Recovery of "classical" properties

3.2.2 "Non-classical" properties

3.2.3 Intuitionist Infinity

3.3 Distinctiveness

4​ ​Intuitionist Philosophy

4.1 Phenomenology

4.1.1 General phenomenology

4.1.2 Phenomenology of Mathematics

4.1.3 Intuitionism and Husserl's transcendental phenomenology

4.2 Ontology

4.3 Epistemology

5​ ​Critique

6​ ​Conclusions

References

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1 Introduction

Among the three main schools – logicism, formalism and intuitionism – that attempted to
provide an answer to the set-​theoretic paradoxes that had caused a foundational crisis
in mathematics at the start of the 20th century, intuitionism arguably proposes
the most original solution. Conceiving mathematics as a languageless, mental
activity, based on the pure intuition of (inner) time, it produces a rich
mathematical universe that directly contradicts classical mathematics in key areas.
The construction and properties of the intuitionistic continuum are of particular
interest in this respect.

Following a brief introduction on intuitionism and its historical context, we will present
the basic tenets of intuitionistic mathematics – the ‘two acts of intuitionism’ –
and highlight some of the main consequences for both mathematics and logic.

We will then zoom in on the intuitionistic continuum, explaining in detail its

construction (based on the intuitionistic equivalents of a set: spreads and species), its
properties (both ‘classical’ and ‘non-​classical’), and the conception of infinity in
intuitionism. A comparison with other mathematical continua will highlight the unique
nature and relevance of the intuitionistic continuum.

Next we will have a closer look at the philosophical underpinnings of intuitionism.

Its phenomenological basis – and the ontology and epistemology that flow from it
– will be expounded. Special attention will be given to some remarkable similarities
with Husserl’s transcendental phenomenology. Finally, we will list some (potential)
issues with intuitionism, from a philosophical as well as from a practical point of view.

[Formalists say that mathematics is a game-like manipulation of strings using manipulation rules
and that the body of propositions need not, ontologically, represent abstract objects. Logicism in
the philosophy of mathematics maintains that mathematics is reducible to logic; advocates of
logicism say that mathematics can be understood ​a priori,​ without intuition. -Ed. Note]

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87
2   Situating  intuitionism  

2.1   Historical  context1  

Intuitionism   is   a   philosophy   of   mathematics   that   was   introduced   by   the   Dutch  

mathematician   L.E.J.   Brouwer   in   the   beginning   of   the   20th   century.   Set   against   the  
background  of  the  Grundlagenkrise,  it  fundamentally  differs  from  classical  mathematics  in  
that  it  considers  mathematics  not  as  an  independent  platonic  reality,  but  as  a  creation  of  
the  free  mind  (via  the  ‘two  acts  of  intuitionism’  –  cf.  §  2.2).    
 
The   constructive   underpinnings   of   intuitionism   can   be   traced   back   as   far   as   the   ancient  
Greek   mathematicians.   As   of   the   late   18th   century   philosophical   views   evocative   of  
intuitionism  are  expressed  by  (a.o.)  Kant,  Peirce  and  Schopenhauer,  and  in  the  19th  and  
20th  century  various  constructive-­intuitionistic  features  appear  in  the  mathematical  works  
of  e.g.,  Poincaré,  Lebesgue  and  Borel  (‘pre-­intuitionists’),  Gauss,  Kronecker  and  Weyl.    
 
It  was  Brouwer,  however,  who,  in  his  seminal  1907  doctoral  thesis2,  outlined  present-­day  
(‘neo-­‘)   intuitionism,   and,   over   the   following   2   decades,   fully   developed   it   into   a  
foundational  program.  As  such,  intuitionism  stood  alongside  formalism  and  logicism,  as  a  
potential  answer  to  the  set-­theoretic  paradoxes  that  had  caused  the  foundational  crisis  in  
mathematics.    
In   a   subsequent   paper3   Brouwer   rejected   the   validity   of   the   principle   of   the   excluded  
middle  (PEM),  thus  paving  the  way  for  the  development  of  intuitionistic  logic,  which  was  
later  formalized  comprehensively  by  Heyting.    
 
Constructivism   and   intuitionism   are   intimately   related:   they   share   the   same   constructive  
tenets   regarding   mathematical   objects,   and   the   same   –   intuitionistic   –   logic.4   But   while  
constructive   mathematics   is   usually   a   restriction   of   –   and   hence   compatible   with   –  
classical  mathematics,  intuitionism  is  fundamentally  incompatible  with  the  latter.    

 
1  Cf.  Brouwer,  1981;;  Michel  in  van  Atten,  Boldini,  Bourdeau  and  Heinzmann,  eds.,  2008,  pp.  149-­

162;;  Heinzmann  and  Nabonnand  in  van  Atten,  Boldini,  Bourdeau  and  Heinzmann,  eds.,  2008,  pp.  
163-­177;;   Bostock,   2009;;   Dragalin,   2011;;   van   Atten,   2011;;   Van   Kerkhove,   2012a   and   2012b;;  
McKubre-­Jordens,  2012;;  Iemhoff,  2013.  
2  “Over  de  grondslagen  der  wiskunde”,  cf.  Brouwer,  1907.  

3  “De  onbetrouwbaarheid  der  logische  principes”  cf.  Brouwer,  1908.  

4  In  contrast  to  constructivism  (and   classical  mathematics),   however,   for   Brouwer,  logic  depends  

on  mathematics,  and  not  the  other  way  round.  

  2
Noesis #206, September 2020 88
2.2   The  two  acts  of  intuitionism  

Early   on   in   his  career,   Brouwer   developed   philosophical   views  that   could   be   labelled   as  
epistemological   solipsism.5   His   philosophy   of   mathematics,   grounded   in   the   ‘two   acts   of  
intuitionism’,   was   developed   over   several   decennia,   but   always   remained   in   line   with  
these  views:  
 
First  act  of  intuitionism  (FAI):  
Completely   separating   mathematics   from   mathematical   language   and   hence   from   the  
phenomena   of   language   described   by   theoretical   logic,   recognizing   that   intuitionistic  
mathematics   is   an   essentially   languageless   activity   of   the   mind   having   its   origin   in   the  
perception  of  a  move  of  time.  This  perception  of  a  move  of  time  may  be  described  as  the  
falling  apart  of  a  life  moment  into  two  distinct  things,  one  of  which  gives  way  to  the  other,  
but   is  retained   by  memory.   If   the  twoity   thus  born   is  divested  of   all  quality,   it   passes  into  
the   empty   form   of   the   common   substratum   of   all   twoities.   And   it   is   this   common  
substratum,  this  empty  form,  which  is  the  basic  intuition  of  mathematics.  6  
 
It  is  the  “common  substratum”  of  this  shared  intuition  of  (the  move  of)  time  that  provides  
the   basis   for   the   intersubjective   validity   of   mathematics,   and   thus   constitutes   a  
‘Husserlian’  escape  from  strict  solipsism.  Contrary  to  Kant,  Brouwer  only  recognizes  the  
(ür-­)intuition  of  (inner)  time,  and  abandons  the  apriority  of  space.7        
 
Second  act  of  intuitionism  (SAI):  
Admitting   two  ways   of  creating   new   mathematical  entities:  firstly  in  the  shape   of   more  or  
less  freely  proceeding  infinite  sequences8  of  mathematical  entities  previously  acquired  …;;  
secondly   in   the   shape   of   mathematical   species,   i.e.   properties   supposable   for  
mathematical   entities   previously   acquired,   satisfying   the   condition   that   if   they   hold   for   a  
certain   mathematical   entity,   they   also   hold   for   all   mathematical   entities   which   have   been  
defined  to  be  ‘equal’  to  it  ….9  
 
The  SAI  thus  defines  the  ways  in  which  one  can  construct  new  mathematical  objects  from  
existing   ones   –   and   ultimately   from   the   basic   quality-­less   twoity   given   by   pure   intuition,  
that  was  introduced  in  the  FAI.    
 
5  Cf.  Brouwer,  1905.  

6  Brouwer,  1981,  pp.  4-­5.  

7   A   number   of   reasons   for   why   inner   time   provides   a   better   model   than   space   are   listed   in   van  

Atten,  van  Dalen  and  Tieszen,  2002,  p.  8.  

8   The   construction   of   these   “more   or   less   freely   proceeding   infinite   sequences”   relies   on   an  
idealized   mathematician   (the   creating   (or   creative)   subject   (cf.   §   3.1.d)),   formally   introduced   by  
Brouwer  in  1948  in  order  to  avoid  certain  impractical  consequences  of  the  limitations  of  the  human  
mind  (thereby  bypassing  the  intersubjectivity  problem  altogether  –  cf.  Iemhoff,  2013).  
9  Brouwer,  1981,  p.  8.    

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2.3   Consequences  

The  consequences  of  FAI  and  SAI  are  profound.  Followed  to  their  ultimate  conclusions,  
they  require  a  reconstruction  of  both  mathematics  and  logic.  
 
Logic   necessarily   becomes   time-­dependent,   as   a   statement   can   lack   truth   value   at   a  
certain  time  tn,  but  can  (or  not)  acquire  it  at  a  later  time  tn+m.10  This,  in  turn,  implies  that  the  
PEM   –   even   though   it   will   not   necessarily   lead   to   contradictions   –   is   not   universally  
valid.11      
The  intuitionistic  negation  (A)  is  to  be  interpreted  as  the  existence  of  a  construction  that  
derives  a  contradiction  from  every  possible  proof  of  A  (i.e.  A  :=  A    ).  Consequently,  
the   classical   law   of   double   negation   elimination   does   not   generally   hold   in   intuitionism  
either.12  
 
Mathematical  language  arises  ex  post  facto,  as  “an  efficient,  but  never  infallible  or  exact,  
technique   for   memorizing   mathematical   constructions,   and   for   communicating   them   to  
others”13.14   As   mathematical   objects   are   mental   constructions,   based   on   pure   intuition,  
their  truth  cannot  rely  on  correspondence  with  any  external  –  platonic  –  reality,  but  solely  
depends  on  the  constructability  of  the  objects  themselves.    
 
Construction  of  the  natural  numbers  is  based  on  FAI:  the  “falling  apart  of  a  life  moment”  
into   two   separate   things,   can   (potentially)   be   repeated   indefinitely,   which   implies   the  
constructability   (in   principle)   of   the   smallest   infinite   ordinal   ω.15   Constructing   an  
intuitionistic  continuum  –  without  invoking  the  PEM  –  is,  however,  less  straightforward,16  
and  depends  a.o.  on  the  notion  of  choice  sequences,  introduced  by  Brouwer  in  SAI.17  The  

 
10  E.g.,  the  Poincaré  conjecture.  

11  I.p.  for  infinite  systems,  cf.  Brouwer,  1908,  p.  11.  

12  But    A    A  is  an  intuitionistic  theorem  (cf.  e.g.,  Brouwer,  1981,  p.11).  

13  Brouwer,  1981,  p.  5.  

14  This  also  prevents  language  from  becoming  –  in  an  ‘Hilbertian  move’  –  itself  the  object  of  study  

in  mathematics.  Cf.  Tieszen  in  van  Atten,  Boldini,  Bourdeau  and  Heinzmann,  2008,  p.  81.  
15  Intuitionism  does  accept  the  principle  of  complete  induction,  but  all  infinities  are  to  be  regarded  

as  potential  infinities.  Cf.  §  3.2.3.  

16  It   was   in   attempting   to  solve   certain   problems  with   the  construction   of  the  classical  continuum  

that  Brouwer  developed  his  intuitionistic  alternative  (cf.  Posy  in  Shapiro,  2005,  p.  319).    
17  Choice  sequences  were  introduced  by  Brouwer  only  in  1918.  Before  that,  he  had  considered  the  

continuum  as  a  whole  as  a  primitive  notion,  directly  given  by  intuition  (cf.  Brouwer,  1907,  pp.  9  and  

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resulting   intuitionistic   continuum   is   “perpetually   in   the   process   of   creation:   […]   points   of  
the  real  line  develop  as  ‘choice  sequences’  and  reasoning  about  them  takes  place  on  the  
basis   of   the   finite   amount   of   information   that   is   available   to   date”.18   The   construction   of  
the  intuitionistic  continuum  will  be  covered  in  detail  in  §  3.1.  
 
The  properties  of  the  intuitionistic  continuum  strongly  deviate  from  those  of  its  (classical)  
counterparts   (cf.   §   3.2   and   §   3.3),   giving   rise   to   intuitionistic   set   theory,   topology,  
arithmetic  and  real  analysis.    
The   two   acts   of   intuitionism   are   firmly   grounded   in   an   intuitionistic   philosophy   of  
mathematics.  These  philosophical  foundations  will  be  covered  in  §  4.    

 
 
62),  thus  recognizing  the  existence  of  actual  infinite  sets  (van  Dalen,  2000,  p.  4  &  infra:  §  3.1  and  §  
3.2.3.a).  
18  Ewald,  1996,  p.  1169.  

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3   The  intuitionistic  continuum  

3.1   Construction  

In   his   1907   doctoral   dissertation   Brouwer   presented   continuity   and   discreteness   as  

“inseparable  complements”,  both  fundamental,  and  directly  given  by  intuition:  
Since   [in  this  ür-­intuition]  continuity  and  discreteness  occur  as  inseparable  complements,  
both  having  equal  rights  and  being  equally  clear,  it  is  impossible  to  avoid  one  of  them  as  a  
primitive  entity,  trying  to  construe  it  from  the  other  one,  the  latter  being  put  forward  as  self-­
sufficient;;  in  fact  it  is  impossible  to  consider  it  as  self-­sufficient.  Having  recognized  that  the  
intuition   of   continuity,   of   'fluidity',   is   as   primitive   as   that   of   several   things   conceived   as  
forming   together   a   unit,   the   latter   being   at   the   basis   of   every   mathematical   construction,  
we  are  able  to  state  properties  of  the  continuum  as  a  'matrix  of  points  to  be  thought  of  as  a  
whole'..19  
 
Opting   for   an   intuitive   continuum   was   motivated   perhaps   more   by   necessity   than   by  
conviction:20   at   that   time   Brouwer   had   not   yet   developed   the   mathematical   tools  
necessary   to   construct   an   intuitionistic   continuum.   During   the   1920’s,   however,   he  
developed   the   concepts   of   spread   and   species   –   two   distinct   ways   to   define   an  
intuitionistic  set,21  corresponding  to  the  two  ways  in  which  the  SAI  allows  the  creation  of  
new  mathematical  objects:    
   A   spread   is   the   generalization   of   an   infinitively   proceeding   sequence,   and   is  
defined  by  a  ‘common  mode  of  generation’  for  its  elements,  
   A  species  is  defined  by  a  ‘characteristic  property’  of  its  elements.    
These  concepts  allow  the  construction  of  an  intuitionistic  alternative  –  but  not  equivalent  –  
to  the  classical  continuum  of  real  numbers.22    
The  process  starts  with  the  construction  of  a  mathematical  object  in  the  form  of  “a  more  
or   less  freely   proceeding   infinite   sequence   of   mathematical   entities   previously   acquired”  
as  defined  by  the  SAI:  

a.   Infinitely  proceeding  sequences  –  free  choice  sequences  

An   infinitely   proceeding   sequence   (or   ‘ips’)   {an}   is   simply:   “a   sequence   that   can   be  
continued   ad   infinitum”.23   As   specified   in   the   SAI,   the   choices   by   which   an   ips   is  

 
19  Brouwer,  1907,  p.  9;;  English  translation  from  Brouwer,  1975,  p.  17.  

20   A   comprehensive   overview   and   analysis   of   Brouwer’s   early   views   on   (and   struggles   with)   the  

intuitive  continuum  can  be  found  in  Kuiper,  2004.  

21  Heyting,  1956,  p.  37.  

22  Cf.  §  3.3.  

23  Heyting,  1956,  p.  32.    

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generated  need  not  be  entirely  free:  restrictions  for  (further)  choices  can  be  added  (freely)  
at   any   point   in   the   process,   as   long   as   the   choice   of   the   next   component   remains  
decidable.  
In  intuitionism  a  real  number  is  given  by  a  real  number-­generator.  This  is  an  ips  which  is  
a  Cauchy  sequence  of  rational  numbers.24  The  continuum  of  real  number-­generators  can  
be  represented  by  the  more  general  concept  of  spread.  

b.   Spreads    
A  spread  M  is  defined  by  two  laws:25    
1.   The  spread-­law  ΛM:  this  is  a  rule  Λ  which  divides  the  finite  sequences  of  natural  numbers  
into  admissible  and  inadmissible  sequences,  according  to  the  following  prescriptions:  
i.   It   can   be   decided   by   Λ   for   every   natural   number   k   whether   it   is   a   one-­member  
admissible  sequence  or  not;;  
ii.   Every  admissible  sequence  a1,  a2,  …,  an,  an+1  is  an   immediate   descendant  of  an  
admissible  sequence  a1,  a2,  …,  an;;  
iii.   If  an  admissible  sequence  a1,  a2,  …,   an  is  given,  Λ  allows  us  to  decide  for  every  
natural  number  k  whether  a1,  a2,  …,  an,  k  is  an  admissible  sequence  or  not;;  
iv.   To   any   admissible   sequence   a1,   a2,   …,   an   at   least   one   natural   number   k   can   be  
found  such  that  a1,  a2,  …,  an,  k  is  an  admissible  sequence.  
The   spread-­law   thus   generates   admissible   ips’s   of   natural   numbers.   Graphically   these  
sequences  can  be  represented  as  follows:  

 
 

    with  a1,  a2,  …:  natural  numbers.  

2.   The   complementary   law   ΓM   of   a   spread   M   assigns   a   definite   mathematical   entity   to   any  
finite  sequence  which  is  admissible  according  to  the  spread-­law  of  M.  
 
A   fan   is   a   spread   of   which   the   spread-­law   only   allows   a   finite   number   of   successors   to  
each  (admissible)  finite  sequence.    
 
24  I.e.  |a  –  a
n n+p|  <  1/n,  for  every  natural  number  n  and  p.  Cf.  Heyting,  1956,  p.  33.  

25  Excerpts  taken  from  Heyting,  1956,  pp.  34-­36.  

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The  continuum  of  real  number-­generators  can  now  be  defined  as  follows:  
   r1,  r2,  …  designate  an  enumeration  of  the  rational  numbers  
   ΛM:    
   Every  natural  number  forms  an  admissible  one-­member  sequence  
   If  a1,  ...,  an  is  an  admissible  sequence,  then  a1,  ...,  an,  an+1  is  an  admissible  

sequence  if  and  only  if   ran  ran1  2 n .  

   ΓM:  to  the  sequence  a1,  ...,  an  (if  admissible)  is  assigned  the  rational  number ran .  

The  elements  of  M  are  real  number-­generators ra1 , ra2 ,...    

To  any  real  number-­generator  c  a  member  m  of  M  can  be  found  so  that  c  =  m;;  in  this  sense  
the  spread  M  represents  the  continuum  of  real  number-­generators.  

c.   Species26  
Species   are   sets   defined   by   a   characteristic   property   of   their   elements.   The   following  
definitions  are  given  by  Brouwer  and  Heyting:  
1.   A  species  is  a  property  which  mathematical  entities  can  be  supposed  to  possess.  
2.   After   a   species   S   has   been   defined,   any   mathematical   entity   which   has   been   or   might  
have   been   defined   before   S   and   which   satisfies   the   condition   S,   is   a   member   of   the  
species  S.  
The   property   of   coinciding   with   a   given   real   number-­generator   is   a   species,   which   is  
called  a  real  number.27  The  intuitionistic  continuum  is  the  species  of  all  real  numbers.  

d.   Choice  sequences  and  the  creating  subject28  

The   SAI   relies   on   choice   sequences   that   proceed   “more   or   less   freely”   as   one   way   to  
create   new   mathematical   objects.   These   sequences   can   therefore   range   from   entirely  
predefined  (lawlike  –  as  in  classical  mathematics)  to  entirely  indeterminate  (or  free:  non-­
lawlike).   As   of   194829   Brouwer   uses   the   method   of   the   ‘creating   subject’   for   the  
construction   of   non-­lawlike   sequences.   This   creating   subject   can   be   understood   as   an  

 
26  Excerpts  taken  from  Heyting,  1956,  pp.  37-­38.  

27  If  x  is  a  real  number  and  if  the  number-­generator  ξ  is  one  of  its  members,  then  ξ  represents  x  or  

coincides  with  x.  Caution  is  required  in  defining  a  concept  of  ‘equality’  for  incomplete  objects.  
28   Cf.   e.g.,   Shapiro,   2005,   pp.   323-­325;;   van   Atten,   Boldini,   Bourdeau   and   Heinzmann,   2008,   pp.  

32-­36;;  van  Atten  and  van  Dalen,  2002b,  pp.  517-­518.  

29  I.e.   in   printed   publications.  The  idea  is  older  though:  Brouwer  already  mentioned  it   in   his  1927  

Berlin  Lectures,  and  Borel  mentioned  it  in  a  1908  lecture  (which  Brouwer  attended)  –  cf.  van  Atten,  
Boldini,  Bourdeau  and  Heinzmann,  2008,  pp.  13  and  29.  

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idealized   mathematician30   working   on   the   solution   to   an   as   yet   unsolved   mathematical  
problem   (e.g.,   the   Riemann   hypothesis).   At   each   point   in   time   it   can   be   determined  
whether   the   creating   subject   has   solved   the   problem   at   hand,   or   not   (i.c.   a   proof   or  
refutation   for   the   Riemann   hypothesis).   The   outcomes   of   these   subsequent   checks   can  
now  be  used  to  define  e.g.,  a  real  number:  the  nth  digit  being  dependent  on  status  of  the  
solution  to  the  problem  at  stage  k.  
The  degree  of  freedom  of  choice  sequences  can  be  restricted  by  limiting  which  elements  
may   be   considered   for   each   next   choice.31   Brouwer   also   allows   the   introduction   of   new  
restrictions   after   a   certain   number   of   choices   (as   long   as   the   next   choice   remains  
decidable).  In  a  mature  version  of  the  SAI  this  is  expressed  as  follows:  
…   infinitely   proceeding   sequences,   whose   terms   are   chosen   more   or   less   freely   from  
mathematical   entities   previously   acquired;;   in   such   a   way   that   the   freedom   of   choice   existing  
perhaps  for  the  first  element  p1  may  be  subjected  to  a  lasting  restriction  at  some  following  pn,  
and  again  and  again  to  sharper  lasting  restrictions  or  even  abolition  at  further  subsequent  pn’s,  
while  all  these  restricting  interventions,  as  well  as  the  choices  of  the  pn’s  themselves,  may  be  
made  to  depend  on  possible  future  mathematical  experiences  of  the  creating  subject…32  

e.   In  summary  
The  FAI  –  through  the  “falling  apart  of  a  life-­moment”  –  generates  ordered  pairs,  and  by  
repeated  iterations,  the  natural  numbers.  Subsequently,  abstract  manipulations  allow  the  
construction   of   finite33   mathematics:   the   standard   arithmetic   operations,   negative   whole  
numbers  and  the  rational  numbers  (as  pairs  of  integers).  
In  a  similar  way  as  in  classical  mathematics  the  continuum  is  built  from  infinite  convergent  
sequences.   The   SAI,   stipulates   that   any   legitimate   infinite   object   must   be   given   by   a  
principle  or  law,  but  (unlike  the  pre-­intuitionists)  Brouwer  does  not  require  the  generating  
laws   to   be   entirely   deterministic.   The   continuum   for   him   was   built   up   from   choice  
sequences,  whose  terms  can  be  made  dependent   on  future  experiences  of  the  creating  
subject.  
This  potential  for  indeterminacy  is  the  crux  of  intuitionistic  mathematics.  
 
 
 
 

 
30  Representing  e.g.,  the  whole  of  the  mathematical  community.  

31  Cf.  real  number  generators,  where  the  Cauchy  condition  is  imposed.  

32  Brouwer,  1975,  p.  511.  

33  Also:  ‘discrete’  or  ‘separable’.  

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95
3.2   Properties  

Choice  sequences  allowed  Brouwer  to  transcend  the  (constructive)  reduced  continuum34  
and   to   construct   a   full   intuitionistic   continuum.   But   the   use   of   choice   sequences  
constitutes  a  strong  deviation  from  classical  (and  constructive)  mathematics,  so  that  the  
resulting  intuitionistic  continuum  is  a  fundamentally  different  mathematical  object  than  its  
classical  counterpart,  and  has  some  very  distinctive  properties.    
Firstly,  due  to  the  non-­validity  of  the  PEM,  one  would  expect  many  of  the  properties  that  
hold  for  the  classical  continuum  to  be  not  applicable  –  or  at  least  strongly  restricted  –  for  
the   intuitionistic   continuum.   However,   as   Brouwer   shows   in   Die   Struktur   des  
Kontinuums35,  most  of  these  properties  can  to  a  high  degree  be  recovered  by  modifying  
or  re-­interpreting  their  definitions  in  an  intuitionistically  relevant  way36  (cf.  §  3.2.1).      
Secondly,   choice   sequences   require   the   use   of   continuity   theorems,   which   results   in  
properties  that  are  in  contradiction  with  classical  mathematics  (cf.  §  3.2.2).  

3.2.1   Recovery  of  ‘classical’  properties37  

a.   Discreteness  
Definition:    
A   species   is   called   discrete   if   for   every   two   of   its   elements   it   is   certain   either   that   they   are  
equal  or  that  they  are  different.  
As  it  is  possible  to  construct  real  numbers  that  are  neither  equal  nor  different  from  a  given  
number38,  the  intuitionistic  continuum  is  –  evidently  –  not  discrete.  

b.   Ordering  
Definition:  
A   species  is  said   to  be   ordered  if   for  every   pair  of  elements  (a,   b)  an   ordering   relation   a  <   b  
(equivalent  to  b  >  a)  is  defined  in  such  a  way  that:  
   a  =  b  is  equivalent  to  the  absurdity  of  both  a  <  b  and  a  >  b;;  
   a  <  b  and  a  >  b  are  mutually  exclusive;;  
   a  ≠  b  implies  the  existence  of  either  a  <  b  or  a  >  b;;  

 
34  In  which  all  points  are  defied  through  lawlike  Cauchy  sequences  of  rational  numbers.  

35  Brouwer,  1930.  §  3.2.1  follows  the  structure  and  arguments  of  this  paper.  

36   In   general,   “[…]   existential   statements   are   replaced   by   statements   about   the   existence   of  
approximations  with  arbitrary  precision”  (Iemhoff,  2013,  §  3.4).  
37  Cf.  Brouwer,  1930,  pp.  58-­59  for  the  quoted  definitions  in  this  paragraph.  

38   Cf.   e.g.,   Posy   in   Shapiro,   2005,   p.   328,   and   in   van   Atten,   Boldini,   Bourdeau   and   Heinzmann,  

eds.,  2008,  p.32.  More  generally,  of  course,  the  PEM  does  not  hold  in  intuitionism.  

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    a  <  c  always  follows  from  a  <  b  and  b  <  c;;  
    h  <  k  always  follows  from  a  <  b,  a  =  h  and  b  =  k.  
Just  as  it  is  possible  to  construct  real  numbers  that  are  neither  equal  nor  different  from  a  
given  number,  it  is  possible  to  construct  real  numbers  that  are  neither  smaller  nor  greater  
than  a  given  number,  and  so  the  intuitionistic  continuum  is  not  ordered  (and  by  extension  
not  well-­ordered).39  
Brouwer  introduces  the  weaker  properties  of  pseudo  and  virtual  ordering,  which  do  hold  
for   the   intuitionistic   continuum.   Virtual   order   means   the   order   relation   (<)   is   not   defined  
over   the   whole   of   the   continuum,   but   only   on   a   subspecies   of   it   (i.p.   its   elements:   real  
number-­generators).40    

c.   Density  in  itself  

Definition:  
An  ordered  species  in  which  every  element  is  a  main  element  is  called  dense  in  itself.  
A   main   elements   is   defined   as   the   boundary   element   of   an   increasing   or   decreasing  
fundamental  sequences  a1,  a2,  …,  an,  …,  a  so  that(b<a)  (an>b).  
The  fact  that  the  intuitionistic  continuum  is  not  (well-­)ordered  is  evidently  at  odds  with  the  
above   ‘classical’   definition   of   a   main   element.   Brouwer   therefor   adapts   the   definition   as  
follows:    
e   [is   a   main   element]   of   the   virtually   ordered   species   S   […]   if   there   exists   an   unlimited  
sequence   of   distinct   closed   intervals   of   which   everyone   is   contained   in   its   predecessor   and  
that  all  contain  the  element  e,  while  every  element  that  belongs  to  all  intervals  is  identical  with  
e.  
A  closed  interval  ab  is  defined  as:  
[…]  the   species  of  all  elements  c  of  S  for  which  neither  the   relation  (c   >  a)     (c  >   b)  nor  the  
relation  (c  <  a)    (c  <  b)  can  exist.  
With  these  definitions  the  intuitionistic  continuum  is  dense  in  itself.  

 
39  Cf.  Brouwer,  1930,  p.  59  for  a  counterexample,  and  Heyting,  1956  pp.46  and  106  for  the  proof.  

Fundamentally,  this  is  due  to  the  role  of  choice  sequences  in  the  construction  of  intuitionistic  real  
numbers,   and   their   dependence   on   unsolved   mathematical   problems.   Hence,   “to   order   the   full  
continuum,  one   should  have  a   method   of  solving   all  mathematical   problems”.  (Brouwer,  1930,  p.  
63).  Cf.  also  Brouwer,  1981,  p.  89.  
40  Cf.  Heyting,  1956,  pp.  25-­26  and  pp.  105-­107.  

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d.   Separability  in  itself  
Definition:  
An  ordered  species  S  is  […]  separable  in  itself  if  one  can  indicate  in  the  species  a  fundamental  
sequence  F  such  that  between  every  two  different  elements  of  S  there  lies  an  element  of  F.  
In   order   to   preserve   this   property,   Brouwer   introduces   the   notion   of   sharp   difference41.  
The  intuitionistic  continuum  is  then  separable  in  itself  if:  
…   there   exists   in   S   a   discrete   and   ordered   fundamental   sequence   F   such   that   between   any  
two  sharply  different  elements  of  S  there  lies  an  element  of  F.  

e.   Connectedness  
Definition:  
An  ordered  species  S  is  called  connected  if  in  each  ordinal  separation  of  S  into  two  ordinally  
separate  subspecies    and    either    contains  a   last  and    no  first   element,  or    contains   a  
first  and    no  last  element.  
   and      are   ordinally   separate   subspecies   of   S   if   every   element   of      precedes   every  
element  of  .    
Depending   on   whether   the   notion   of   division   (separation)   is   specified   in   terms   of  
composition   or   splitting,   the   intuitionistic   continuum   is   either   not   connected,   or   the  
property  of  connectedness  lacks  meaning  altogether.42  
In   order   to   recover   connectedness   as   a   property   of   the   intuitionistic   continuum   Brouwer  
introduces  the  exhaustive  division:  
The   virtually   ordered   species   S   is   […]   exhaustively   divided   into   the   ordinally   separated  
subspecies    and    of  which  it  is  composed,  if  for  any  two  sharply  different  elements  a  and  b  
(a  <  b)  either  all  elements  ≤  a  belong  to    or  all  elements  ≥  b  belong  to  .  
And  then  defines  free  connectedness  as  follows:  
[A]   virtually   ordered   species   S   [is]   freely   connected   […],   if   for   every   exhaustive   division   of   S  
[…]  into  two  ordinally  separate  subspecies    and  ,  there  exists  an  element  e  of  S  such  that  
every  element  <  e  belongs  to    and  every  element  >  e  belongs  to  .  
With  these  definitions  the  intuitionistic  continuum  is  freely  connected.  

f.   Everywhere-­density  
Definition:  
An  ordered  species  is  said  to  be  everywhere-­dense  if  between  every  two  different  elements  a  
and  b  of  the  species  there  […]  exists  an  element  c  such  that  either  a  <  c  <  b  or  a  >  c  >  b.  

 
41  Cf.    Kleene  and  Vesley,  1965,  p.  163,  for  a  detailed  definition.  

42   Cf.   the   theorem   of   the   indecomposability   of   the   continuum   –   cf.   Heyting,   1956,   p.   46,   and   §  

3.2.2.a  below.  

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Re-­interpreting   this   definition   in   a   similar   way   as   was   done   for   density   in   itself,   restores  
everywhere-­density  as  a  property  of  the  intuitionistic  continuum.  

g.   Compactness  
Definition:  
[…]  for  every  indefinite  sequence  of  closed  intervals  I1,  I2,  …,  where  each  I+1  is  a  subspecies  
of  I,  there  exists  an  element  common  to  all  I.  
Brouwer  defines  free  compactness  as:  
The  impossibility  of  the  existence  of  a  hollow  nesting  of  intervals.  
With  hollow  nesting  defined  as:  
A  nesting  of  intervals  I1,  I2,  …  [for  which]  for  every  element    of  the  virtually  ordered  species  in  
question  there  exists  a  definite    such  that    cannot  belong  to  I
With  these  definitions,  the  intuitionistic  continuum  is  freely  compact.  

3.2.2   ‘Non-­‐classical’  properties  

a.   The  continuity  theorem43  

Choice  sequences  are  inherently  incomplete  objects:  at  any  given  time  only  a  finite  initial  
segment  of  the  sequence  has  been  constructed.  This  poses  problems  for  the  predication  
of  choice  sequences.  To  overcome  this,  the  continuity  principle  allows  for  predication  of  a  
choice  sequence  based  only  on  an  initial  segment.    
In  its  weakest  form  (Weak  Continuity  for  Numbers)  it  is  expressed  as  follows:44  
(WC-­N)   xA( , x)  mx  m   m  A(  , x)  
With:  
   m,  x    ℕ  
   :  choice  sequences  of  natural  numbers  
    m,  m :  the  first  m  elements  of  and    
From  WC-­N  the  following  continuity  theorem  can  be  derived,  which  asserts  that  a  real  
function  whose  domain  of  definition  is  the  closed  segment  [0,1]  is  continuous  on  [0,1]:  
x1x2  x1  x2    f ( x1 )  f ( x2 )     
With:  
     
   x1,  x2    [0,1]  
 

 
43  Cf.  van  Atten  and  van  Dalen,  2002a  and  2002b.  

44  Cf.  van  Atten  and  van  Dalen,  2002b,  (p.  7),  and  Iemhoff,  2013.  

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Brouwer  (using  bar  induction45)  also  proved  the  stronger  uniform  continuity  theorem:46  a  
real   function   whose   domain   of   definition   is   the   closed   segment   [0,1]   is   uniformly  
continuous  on  [0,1]).    
More  formally:  
x1x2  x1  x2    f ( x1 )  f ( x2 )     

b.   Unsplittability  of  the  continuum  

From   WC-­N   it   is   also   possible   to   derive   the   unsplittability   (or   indecomposability)   of   the  
intuitionistic   continuum:   it   is   impossible   to   split   the   intuitionistic   continuum   into   two   non-­
trivial  subsets.    
In  other  words:  if  ℝ  =  A  ⋃  B  and  A  ⋂  B  =  ∅  then  either  ℝ  =  A  or  ℝ  =  B.47    
As  a  consequence,  in  intuitionism,  it  is  not  true  that  every  real  number  is  either  rational  or  
irrational.48    

c.   Rejection  of  the  (quantified)  PEM  

Based  on  WC-­N,  it  can  be  shown  that  the  quantified  PEM:    xx  0   xx  0   
is  false.49  
As  already  mentioned,  this  has  far  reaching  consequences  for  intuitionistic  mathematics.  
An   immediate   consequence   is   that   on   the   intuitionistic   continuum   the   law   of   trichotomy:  
x x  y  x  y  x  y   is  not  true.50  

3.2.3   Intuitionistic  infinity  

a.   Hierarchy  
In  his  PhD  thesis  Brouwer  presents  the  following  alternative  to  Cantor’s  hierarchy:    
Thus  we  distinguish  for  sets  the  following  cardinal  numbers,  in  order  of  magnitude:  
1.   the  different  finite  numbers.  
2.   the  denumerably  infinite.  
3.   the  denumerably  unfinished.  
4.   the  continuous.51  

 
45  Bar  induction  is  a  method  to  prove  properties  of  choice  sequences  by  inductively  reducing  them  

to  decidable  properties  of  finite  lists.    

46  Brouwer  in  Mancosu,  1998,  pp.  36-­39.  

47  van  Atten,  van  Dalen,  2002b  pp.  519-­520  and  also  Heyting,  1956,  p.  46  (Th.  2)  for  the  proof.  

48  Cf.  McCarty  in  Shapiro,  2005,  pp.  367-­369.  

49  Cf.  van  Atten  and  van  Dalen,  2002b  p.  520  and  Iemhoff,  2013  for  the  proof.  

50  Cf.  Iemhoff,  2013  for  the  proof.  

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The   finite   numbers   and   denumerable   sets   are   intuitionistically   legitimate   objects   since  
they  can  –  at  least  in  principle  –  be  constructed.  Consequently,  the  resulting  infinities  are  
only   potential   infinities,   and   the   corresponding   mathematical   objects   are   intrinsically  
incomplete.52    
 
In  this  early  stage  of  his  thinking,  Brouwer  still  considers  the  intuitionistic  continuum  to  be  
fundamentally   non-­constructible.   So,   being   directly   given   by   (ür-­)intuition,   the   intuitive  
continuum  is  accepted  as  a  (primordial)  mathematical  object  –  even  though  it  implies  the  
existence   of   an   actual   (completed)   infinite   set.   In   his   mature   intuitionism,   with   the  
introduction   of   free   choice   sequences   and   the   creating   subject,   Brouwer   provides   a  
constructive  basis  for  the  continuum.  This  intuitionistic  continuum  is  –  as  is  clear  from  §  
3.1   –   an   incomplete   object,   and   thus   avoids   the   “completed   infinite”   of   the   intuitive  
continuum.   It   can   be   argued   that   through   the   use   of   free   choice   sequences   and   an  
idealized  mathematician,  intuitionistic  infinity  ultimately  still  draws  on  receptive  intuition.53    
Cantorian   higher   infinities   are   –   for   evident   reasons   –   not   valid   mathematical   objects   in  
intuitionism.54  

b.   The  Continuum  Hypothesis  

Initially   Brouwer   thought   that   –   intuitionistically   –   the   Continuum   Hypothesis   did   not  
require   a   proof.55   Later   he   reconsidered,   and   attempted   to   provide   an   intuitionistic  
account  of  the  theorem,56  only  to  retract  it  later  still.57  
Part   of   the   problem   is   that   “rational   reconstructions   of   classical   mathematics   within  
intuitionism,  if  possible  at  all,  are  not  determined  uniquely”.  Hence  “many  propositions  of  
intuitionistic   mathematics   could   be   supposed   to   yield   the   intended   meaning   of   the  
classical   continuum   hypothesis.   Some   of   them   are   easily   proved,   others   easily   refuted,  
and  then  there  are  difficult  ones  for  which  we  do  not  know  the  answer”.58  
 

 
 
51  Brouwer,  1907,  p.  62.  English  translation  from  Brouwer,  1975,  p.  83.  

52  Cf.  Dummett,  1985,  pp.  55-­65.  

53  Cf.  Posy  in  van  Atten,  Boldini,  Bourdeau  and  Heinzmann,  2008,  pp.  35-­36.  

54  Brouwer,  1975,  pp.  81-­82.  

55  Cf.  Brouwer,  1975,  p.  141.  

56  Ibid.,  pp.  191-­221.  

57  Ibid.,  p.  516.  

58  Gielen,  de  Swart  and  Veldman,  1981,  p.  121.  

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3.3   Distinctiveness  

The  considerable  number  and  variety  of  conceptions  of  the  continuum59  is  the  result  of  a  
long   evolutionary   process   in   the   development   of   mathematics.   Amidst   this   diversity   of  
continua,   the   intuitionistic   continuum   occupies   a   special   place.   Free   choice   sequences  
introduce   a   fundamental   indeterminacy   into   intuitionistic   mathematics,   and   the   creating  
subject   gives   it   a   subjective   character.   What   results   is   a   heterodox,   often   complex,   but  
also  very  rich  mathematics.  
 
The   classical   continuum,   “defined   as   an   infinite   collection   whose   elements   are  
themselves  infinite  sets,  each  of  whose  elements  in  turn  is  an  infinite  sequence”,60  has  an  
‘atomistic’   structure:   it   is   the   infinite  sum   of   its   parts   –   individual  points   –   which   are   pre-­
given   and   static.   These   points   are   not   connected   in   any   way,   and   so   the   classical  
continuum   is   ‘brittle’   it   can   be   broken   up   into   pieces.61   According   to   Brouwer   it   has   “a  
mere   linguistic,   and   no   mathematical,   existence”.62   The   intuitionistic   continuum,   on   the  
other  hand,  is  given  as  a  whole.  It  generates  its  constituent  parts,  which  are  overlapping  
and  unfinished.  The  resulting  continuum  is  ‘syrupy’,  innately  indecomposable,  and  closely  
resembles   the   intuitive   ‘Aristotelian’   continuum.   It   even   remains   indecomposable   after  
removal  of  the  rational  numbers.63    
 
Constructive   analysis   and   intuitionism   share   their   constructive   principles   regarding   the  
legitimacy   of   mathematical   objects,   but   they   do   not   share   the   same   logic.   Constructive  
analysis64   accepts   classical   logic,   including   the   PEM,   and   does   not   contradict   classical  
analysis.   Rather   it   can   be   seen   as   a   restriction   of   classical   analysis   –   and   i.p.   the  
constructive   real   line   can   be   viewed   as   a   restriction   of   its   classical   equivalent:   it   is  
inherently  decomposable.      
 
59  Cf.  e.g.,  Feferman,  2008,  and  Longo,  1999.  

60  Posy  in  Shapiro,  2005,  p.  321.  

61   It   should   be   noted   that   constructions   have   been   proposed   for   a   classical   continuum   without  

points,   detaching   the   notions   of   indecomposability   and   non-­punctiformity.   Cf.   Hellman   and  
Shapiro,    2013,  
62  Brouwer,  1981,  p.  93.  

63   Cf.   §   3.2.2.b.   This   makes   sense   from   a   ‘dimensional’   point   of   view:   “Classically   one   gets   the  

one-­dimensional  continuum  as  the  sum  of  the  two  obvious  zero-­dimensional  subsets,  the  rationals  
and   the   irrationals.   But   intuitionistically   the   irrationals   are   themselves   already   one-­dimensional”  
(van  Dalen,  1997,  p.  1151).  The  intuitionistic  reals  and  the  intuitionistic  continuum  are  of  the  same  
genus,  to  paraphrase  Poincarré.  
64  Following  Bishop’s  Foundations  of  Constructive  Analysis.  

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Nonstandard   hyperreals   are   an   extension   of   the   classical   reals,   but   as   nonstandard  
analysis  is  also  based  on  classical  logic,  the  properties  of  the  hyperreal  line  closely  match  
those  of  the  classical  continuum.  
 
In   smooth   infinitesimal   analysis   –   formulated   within   higher   order   intuitionistic   logic   –   the  
real   line   is,   like   in   intuitionism,   indecomposable.   Any   puncturing   of   ℝ,   however,   is  
decomposable,   so   that   “the   continuum   in   [smooth   infinitesimal   analysis]   is   considerably  
less  ‘syrupy’  then  its  counterpart  in  [intuitionistic  analysis]”.65    
Smooth   infinitesimal   analysis   also   shares   with   intuitionism   that   the   continuum   is   not  
explicable  in  terms  of  the  discrete.66  
 
Van   Dalen   captures   the   unique   indecomposability   of   the   intuitionistic   continuum   as  
follows:  
The   classical   comparable   fact   is   the   topological   connectedness   of   ℝ.   In   a   way   this  
characterizes  the  position  of   ℝ:  the  only  (classically)  connected  subsets  of   ℝ  are  the  various  
kinds  of  segments.  In  intuitionistic  mathematics  the  situation  is  different;;  the  continuum  has,  as  
it   were,   a   syrupy   nature,   one   cannot   simply   take   away   one   point.   In   the   classical   continuum  
one   can,   thanks   to   the   principle   of   the   excluded   third,   do   so.   To   put   it   picturesquely,   the  
classical   continuum   is   the   frozen   intuitionistic   continuum.   If   one   removes   one   point   from   the  
intuitionistic   continuum,   there   still   are   all   those   points   for   which   it   is   unknown   whether   or   not  
they  belong  to  the  remaining  part.67  
As   such,   the   intuitionistic   continuum   bears   a   strong   resemblance   to   the   intuitive  
continuum   of   e.g.,   Anaxagoras   and   Aristotle.68   Furthermore   the   uniform   continuity  
property  formally  articulates  Leibniz’s  apothegm  natura  non  facit  saltus.  Taken  together,  
this  makes  the  intuitionistic  continuum  a  better  model  for  the  physical  continuum  than  its  
classical  counterpart.69    
 
 
 
 

 
65  Bell,  2001.  

66  In  smooth  infinitesimal  analysis  lines  are  composed  of  infinitesimal  (one  dimensional)  segments  

instead  of  (zero  dimensional)  points.  

67  van  Dalen,  1997,  p.  1147.  

68  Cf.  Weyl,  1994  (whose  own  views  were  closely  related),  and  Bell,  2005.  

69  Cf.  e.g.,  Dummet,  2000,  and  Longo,  1999.  

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4   Intuitionistic  philosophy    
Brouwer’s   fundamental   issue   with   the   Cantorian   set-­theoretic   construction   of   the  
continuum   and   the   transfinite   was   that   it   ultimately   relied   on   arbitrary   objects:   “sets   that  
cannot   be   described   and   sequences  that  cannot   be   calculated”.70   In  response,   Brouwer  
developed   his   intuitionistic   alternative:   a   constructive   theory   of   mathematics   that  
transcends  the  discrete  and  the  finite,  and  encompasses  the  continuous  and  the  infinite.    
Philosophically,   Brouwer’s   intuitionism   “rests   upon   a   unique   epistemology,   a   special  
ontology,   and   an   underlying   picture   of   intuitive   mathematical   consciousness”:71   it   is  
fundamentally  based  on  a  phenomenological  worldview.    

4.1   Phenomenology  

4.1.1   General  phenomenology  

The  phenomenological  basis  of  Brouwer’s  (mathematical)  philosophy72  is  clearly  outlined  
in   Consciousness,   Philosophy,   and   Mathematics.73   Consciousness   and   the   mind   are  
spawned  by  (the  sensation  of)  the  primordial  phenomenon  of  transition  between  stillness  
and  sensation:    
This  initial  phenomenon  is  a  move  of  time.  By  a  move  of  time  a  present  sensation  gives  way  to  
another  present  sensation  in  such  a  way  that  consciousness  retains  the  former  one  as  a  past  
sensation,   and   moreover,   through   this   distinction   between   present   and   past,   recedes   from  
both  and  from  stillness,  and  becomes  mind.    
As   mind   it   takes   the   function   of   a   subject   experiencing   the   present   as   well   as   the   past  
sensation  as  object.  And  by  reiteration  of  this  twoity  phenomenon,  the  object  can  extend  to  a  
world  of  sensations  of  motley  plurality.74  
Subsequently,   “in   a   dawning   atmosphere   of   forethought”,   free   will   then   creates  
awareness  of  the  causally  ordered  world:  
[…]   In   the   world   of   sensation   experienced   by   mind,   the   free-­will-­phenomenon   of   causal  
attention  occurs.   It   performs  identifications  of   different  sensations  and   of   different  complexes  
of   sensations,   and   in   this   way   […]   creates   iterative   complexes   of   sensations.   An   iterative  
complex  of  sensations,  whose  elements  have  an  invariable  order  of  succession  in  time,  whilst  

 
70  Posy  in  Shapiro,  2005,  p.  322.  

71  Ibid.,  p.  319.  

72   "[T]he   philosophy   […]   of   intuitionism   [is]   inseparable   from   [its]   technical   core:   intuitionistic  
mathematics  […],  and  intuitionistic  logic  […]”,  (Ibid.  p.  318).  
73  Brouwer,  1949.  

74  Ibid.,  p.  1235.  

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 if  one  of  its  elements  occurs,  all  following  elements  are  expected  to  occur  likewise,  in  the  right  
order  of  succession,  is  called  a  causal  sequence.75  
Finally,  the  “external  world  of  the  subject”  is  composed  of  things:    
On   the   other   hand   there   are   iterative   complexes   of   sensations   whose   elements   are  
permutable   in   point   of   time   [and   some   of   which]   are   completely   estranged   from   the   subject.  
[…]   For   instance   individuals,   i.e.   human   bodies,   the   home   body   of   the   subject   included,   are  
things.76  

4.1.2   Phenomenology  of  mathematics  

In  intuitionism,  mathematical  abstraction  is  done  ab  origine,  i.e.,  as  expounded  in  the  FAI,  
by  dissociating  the  initial  ‘twoity’  from  all  sensory  content.  Hence,  there  is  neither  reliance  
on   pre-­existing   empirical   objects   (i.p.   to   introduce   the   natural   numbers),   nor   are  
mathematical   operations   skeletons   of   empirical   operations.   “Mathematics   is   an  
independent,   empirically   empty,   process   of   its   own”.77   This   independence   from   the  
empirical  world  is  maintained  in  the  SAI,  given  that  the  creating  subject  is  interpreted  as  
truly  idealized.78    
 
Despite  this  apparent  disconnect  between  the  empirical  and  the  mathematical  world,  both  
remain  intimately  linked,  as  they  share  the  same  starting  point  (i.e.  the  ür-­intuition  of  the  
move   of   time),   and   have   a   parallel   formative   process:   both   activities   are   based   on  
sequences   and   the   result   of   willful   and   creative   acts.   They   bifurcate   at   the   moment   of  
abstraction  of  the  initial  ‘twoity’:  
[…]   The   falling   apart   of   moments   of   life   into   qualitatively   different   parts,   to   be   reunited   only  
while   remaining   separated   by   time   [is]   the   fundamental   phenomenon   of   the   human   intellect,  
[…]  by  [abstraction]  from  its  emotional  content  [it  passes]  into  the  fundamental  phenomenon  of  
mathematical  thinking,  the  intuition  of  the  bare  two-­oneness.79  
Hence,  intuitionistic  mathematics  can  be  used  to  model  the  empirical  world:80  
The  significance  of  mathematics  with  regard  to  scientific  thinking  mainly  consists  in  this  that  a  
group   of   observed   causal   sequences   can   often   be   manipulated   more   easily   by   extending   its  
of-­quality-­divested  mathematical   substratum  to   a   hypothesis,  i.e.   a   more   comprehensive   and  

 
75  Brouwer,  1949,  p.  1235.  

76  Ibid.  

77  Posy  in  Shapiro,  2005,  p.  330.  

78  Cf.  §  4.1.3.  

79  Brouwer,  1975,  p.  127.  

80   It   is   noteworthy   that   intuitionism   –   like   the   phenomenal   world   –   isn’t   fully   determinate   (as  
exemplified   by   the   refutation   of   the   tertium   non   datur)   and   doesn’t   contain   actual   infinities  
(although  intuitionism  isn’t  finitistic  in  the  strict  sense  either).  

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 more   surveyable   mathematical   system.   Causal   sequences   represented   in   abstraction   in   the  
hypothesis,  but  so  far  neither  observed  nor  found  observable,  often  find  their  realization  later  
on.81  

4.1.3   Intuitionism  and  Husserl’s  transcendental  phenomenology  

Even   though   Husserl   and   Brouwer   were   not   directly   influenced   by   each   other,82   strong  
parallels  can  be  drawn  between  intuitionism  and  phenomenology.  Van  Atten83  argues  that  
Brouwer’s   (later)   intuitionism   can   be   interpreted   as   a   part   of   Husserl’s   transcendental  
idealism.  To  that  end,  he  highlights  four  similarities:  
   Like  phenomenology,  intuitionism  recognizes  intuition  as  the  legitimizing  ground  of  all  
knowledge,  and  recognizes  a  form  of  intellectual  intuition  (categorial  intuition).  […]  
   As   in   phenomenology,   in   intuitionism   the   fundamental   notion   of   subject   is   not  
psychological  but  transcendental.84  […]  
   Like   phenomenology,   intuitionism   recognizes   the   fundamental   role   of   time  
awareness85   in   our   being   aware   of   any   object,   and   indeed   in   the   bringing   about   of  
intentionality  itself.  […]  
   Like   phenomenology,   intuitionism   studies   essential,   structural   properties   of  
consciousness,  not  those  of  any  particular  individual’s  consciousness.86  
 
Furthermore  he  suggests  that  “the  fundamental  ‘unfreedom’  [in  Husserl’s  transcendental  
idealism]   is   that   imposed   by   the   basic   structure   of   inner   time   consciousness”,87   and   it  
therefor   “cannot   provide   a   foundation   for   a   pure   mathematics   that   would   go   beyond  
intuitionism”88.  Hence  the  Husserlian  concept  of  constitution  of  mathematical  objects  and  
the  intuitionistic  notion  of  their  construction  would  coincide.  This  is  a  strong  claim,  given  
that   for   Husserl   mathematical   objects   and   truths   are   static,   complete   and   allzeitlich,  
whereas   in   intuitionism  some  mathematical   objects   –   i.p.  (free)  choice   sequences   –   are  
by  their  very  nature  dynamic  and  incomplete.    
 
81  Brouwer,  1949,  p.  1237.  

82  Husserl  and  Brouwer  met  in  person  at  least  once  (in  1928  –  cf.  van  Atten,  2007,  p.  5).  

83  In  van  Atten,  2007,  and  2010.  

84  “Husserl  and  Brouwer   describe  the  transcendental  ego  eidetically,   i.e.,  in  terms  of  its  essential  

properties.  […]  Describing  essential  properties  and  describing  an  idealized  [creating]  subject  here  
amount   to   the   same,   as   the   idealization   involved   is   that   of   abstracting   from   empirical   limitations,  
and   essential   properties   are   those   that   govern   any   instance,   empirically   possible   or   not.”   (van  
Atten,  2010,  p.  21).  
85  I.e.  Inner,  or  internal,  time.  

86  van  Atten,  2007,  pp.  5-­6.  

87  van  Atten,  2010,  p.  84.  Cf.  also  van  Atten,  2007,  pp.  95-­101.  

88  van  Atten,  2010,  p.  43.  

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106
  
Tieszen89   mentions   comparable   correspondences   between   Brouwer’s   thinking   and  
Husserl’s   transcendental   phenomenological   idealism   (i.p.   regarding   the   role   of  
consciousness   and   its   origin   in   the   flow   of   internal   time,   but   also   e.g.,   regarding   the  
conception   of   the   intuitive   –   non-­punctiform   –   continuum   and   logical   constants90).   In   his  
view  “the  basic  intuition  of  mathematics,  in  Brouwer’s  sense,  is  a  founded,  formal  intuition  
in  Husserl’s  sense”,  but  not  a  “categorial  intuition  of  unchanging,  exact  objects”.91  

4.2   Ontology  

Existence,   for   Brouwer,   is   tantamount   to   constructability:   “what   you   build   is   what   there  
is”.92  This  deviates  from  Husserl’s  more  agnostic  position  that   έπoχή  should  be  exercised  
regarding  the  existence  of  the  intentional  objects  of  consciousness.  
Intuitionistic  objects  (e.g.,  real  numbers)  need  neither  be  complete,  nor  have  determinate  
properties  (or  even  identity)  in  order  to  be  legitimate  –  only  a  construction  (and  even  that  
only  in  principle)  needs  to  be  provided  to  guarantee  their  existence.    
Reductio  ad  absurdum  arguments  on  the  other  hand,  can  –  as  seen  above  –  not  be  used  
to  provide  valid  intuitionistic  proofs  of  existence.  
 
Intuitionistic   logic   follows   the   constructive   mathematical   ontology,   but   the   latter   has  
primacy  (as  said,  this  is  a  fundamental  difference  with  classical  mathematics,  which  does  
not   require   an   ontology,   but   builds   on   classical   logic).   However,   according   to   “the  
intuitionistic   interpretation   of   mathematical   statements,   the   intuitionistic   ontology   [is]   a  
consequence   of   the   intuitionistic   theory   of   meaning,93   not   a   premise   for   it”.94   The  
intuitionistic   ontology   thus   rests   upon   “a   pervasive   phenomenological   base”.95   Bostock  
even  goes  as  far  as  to  question  the  relevance  of  intuitionistic  ontology  altogether.96  
 

 
89  In  van  Atten,  Boldini,  Bourdeau  and  Heinzmann,  pp.  78-­95.  

90  For  Husserl  mathematical  judgments  can  be  either  fulfilled,  frustrated  or  neither.  

91  Tieszen  in  van  Atten,  Boldini,  Bourdeau  and  Heinzmann,  p.  90.  I.p.  choice  sequences  would  not  

qualify  as  “ideal,  objective,  exact,  mathematical  objects”  (ibid.  p.  91).  Van  Atten  gives  arguments  
as  to  why  they  would  qualify  (in  van  Atten,  2007,  pp.  95-­101).  
92  Posy  in  Shapiro,  2005,  p.  333.  

93  Which,  as  seen,  is  phenomenological  in  nature.  

94  Dummett,  1985,  p.  382.  

95  Posy  in  Shapiro,  2005,  p.  329.  

96  Bostock,  2009,  pp.  215-­222.  

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4.3    Epistemology  

According   to   the   FAI,   all   mathematical   knowledge   is   ultimately   based   on   the   primordial  
intuition  of  the  “perception  of  the  move  of  time”,  “divested  of  all  quality”  associated  with  it.  
It  thus  precedes  any  sensory  or  empirical  knowledge.  As  mathematical  knowledge  is  also  
a  necessary  basis  for  empirical  science,  it  corresponds  to  synthetic  a  priori  knowledge  in  
the  Kantian  sense.97  
 
Taken  together,  the  FAI  and  SAI  specify  that  mathematics  is  a  constructional  “activity  of  
the  mind”,  and  that  the  extension  of  mathematical  knowledge  implies  an  extension  of  that  
activity:    
Growth   or   development   […]   cannot   proceed   via   the   logical   extrapolation   of   its   contents   (as  
classical   epistemology   maintains),   but   […]   only   by   its   phenomenological   or   experiential  
development   –   that   is   to   say,   its   extension   into   further   experience   of   the   same   epistemic  
kind.98    
Logical  inference  can  have  heuristic  value,  but  it  has  no  proof  value,  so  it  cannot  lead  to  
new  mathematical  knowledge:  
If   the   principles   of   classical   logic   were   to   be   amended   in   such   a   way   as   to   eliminate   [the]  
deficiencies   of   incompleteness   and   unsoundness,   then   one   would   have   […]   an   accurate  
device   for   determining   which   propositions   are   potential   contents   for   intuitionistic   proof-­
experiences.  However,  such  a  device  could  still  serve  only  to  identify  those   propositions  that  
are  capable  of  intuitionistic  justification  –  which  is  a  very  different  thing  from  (and  epistemically  
inferior  to)  actually  supplying  such  justification.99  
The   development   of   mathematic   knowledge,   for   the   intuitionist,   is   therefor   inherently  
phenomenological,   and   it   cannot   be   reduced   to   a   mere   “intellectual   acceptance   of   a  
proposition”  without  epistemic  loss.  For  the  same  reason,  language  is  also  an  “illegitimate  
surrogate”,  as  “no  symbolic  notation  can  ever  accurately  report  the  content  of  a  conscious  
moment”.100  
 
 
 

 
97  Cf.  Posy  in  Shapiro,  2005,  pp.  331-­333,  and  supra:  §  4.1.2.  

98  Detlefsen,  1990,  p.  515.  

99  Ibid.,  p.  520.  

100  Cf.  Posy  in  Shapiro,  2005,  p.  335.  

 Noesis #206, September 2020 23

108
5   Critique  
Throughout  his  career  Brouwer  argued  vigorously  against  the  ‘contradictority’  of  classical  
mathematics.101  According  to  him,  mathematics  evolved  from  the  study  of  finite,  complete  
objects  in  its  early  stages,  to  that  of  infinite  and  (necessarily)  incomplete  objects  in  more  
recent   times.   This   meant   that   the   PEM   lost   its   original   nomological   status.   In   classical  
(platonic)   mathematics,   however,   these   inherently   incomplete   infinite   objects   are  
unwarrantedly   idealized   to   completeness   and   the   PEM   is   continued   to   be   applied   with  
universally  validity.  This,  according  to  Brouwer,  inevitably  leads  to  inconsistencies.102  
 
Intuitionism   has   a   phenomenological   basis   and   rejects   platonism,   but   it   remains   anti-­
nominalist   and   the   abstractions   and   idealizations   Brouwer   makes   are,   they   too,  
susceptible  to  critique:  
   Intuitionism   explicitly   recognizes   the   immanent   indeterminacy   in   (potential)  
infinities  and  incomplete  objects.  As  seen,  this  is  formally  done  by  the  introduction  
of   free   choice   sequences   and   the   method   of   the   creating   subject.   This   method,  
however,   contains   an   implicit   assumption   of   assertabilism,   which   seems   at   odds  
with  the  rejection  of  the  PEM103  and  is  reminiscent  of  platonism.104,105  
   Said   indeterminacy   essentially   reflects   an   underlying   epistemic   incompleteness  
regarding  certain  mathematical  objects.  The  source  of  this  indeterminacy  is  placed  
exclusively   in   the   future   (past   knowledge   is   assumed   to   be   infallible,   perfectly  
preserved  and  fully  accessible  at  any  time).  This  is  an  important  idealization,  and  
even  though  it  does  not  lead  to  logical  contradictions,  conceptually  –  and  arguably  
also   from   an   epistemic   and   phenomenological   point   of   view   –   it   seems  
questionable.    

 
101  Cf.  e.g.,  the  counterexamples  in  1948A,  1948C,  1949A,  1949B,  1950A,  1950B,  1951,  1952C,  

1954E  and  1954F  in  Brouwer,  1975.  

102  Cf.  Posy  in  Shapiro,  2005,  p.  334.  

103  Cf.  supra  (§  3.1.d),  and  Posy  in  Shapiro,  2005,  pp.  344-­345.  

104  “The  intuitionist  thus  finds  himself  in  the  unenviable  position  of  depending  upon  the  existence  of  

something   –   an   undecidable   proposition   –   that   he   cannot   in   fact   construct,   and   whose   possible  
existence  he  thus  may  not  assert!”  (Posy  in  Shapiro,  2005,  p.  345).      
105   The   ‘idealized   mathematician’   has   been   linked   to   both   the   Husserlian   and   Kantian  
transcendental  subject  (cf.  van  Atten,  2007,  p.  164,  note  245,  and  supra  (§  4.1.3)),  but  the   exact  
ontological   status   is   debatable.   One   could   argue   that   the   creating   subject   necessarily   exists  
independent  from  our  (combined)  mental  abilities.  
 

Noesis
  #206, September 2020 24
109
    The   initial   abstraction   that   creates   the   “common   substratum   of   all   twoities”  
involves  two  distinct  steps:  
1.   Introduction   of   a   boundary:   the   “falling   apart   of   life  moment”   renders   discrete  
what  was  initially  continuous,  
2.   Removal   of   content:   “divesting   all   quality”   reduces   what   was   initially   different  
to  a  contentless  identity.  
The   result   is   a  fundamental   ontological   shift:   what   was   a   continuous   measure   of  
differentiation   or   change   has   been   transformed   into   a   discrete   measure   of  
duplication  or  repetition.  I.p.  the  second  step  poses  a  problem,  as  it  can  be  argued  
that   this   is   an   idealization   rather   than   an   abstraction.   Instead   of   being   given   by  
pure  intuition,  the  resulting  twoity  would  then  be  more  akin  to  a  platonic  idea.    
 
Apart   from   these   philosophical   considerations,   there   are   also   some   practical   concerns  
regarding   intuitionistic   mathematics.   The   introduction   of   free   choice   sequences   and   the  
method  of  the  creating  subject  unquestionably  leads  to  a  very  rich  mathematical  universe  
–   as   exemplified   by   the   intuitionistic   continuum.   But   at   the   same   time   it   considerably  
increases   the   technical   complexity   of   mathematical   practice,   which   becomes   more  
laborious106   and   hence   less   palatable   for   the   mainstream   mathematical   community.  
Although  intuitionism  may  not  be  the  “quixotic  curiosity”107  some  claim  it  to  be,  it  has  –  for  
the  abovementioned  reasons  –  enjoyed  a  relatively  moderate  level  of  success    
 
 

 
106  Cf.  the  recovery  of  classical  properties  –  §  3.2.1.  

107  Cf.  Posy  in  Shapiro,  2005,  p.  344.  

  25
Noesis #206, September 2020
110
6 Conclusions

Through the two acts of intuitionism, Brouwer defines intuitionistic mathematics as

an “essentially languageless activity of the mind”, “having its origin in the
perception of a move of time”. New mathematical objects can be constructed
(exclusively) based on “mathematical entities previously acquired” (ultimately the
intuitive “bare two-​oneness”), either as “more or less freely proceeding infinite
sequences” of the latter (spreads) or as entities whose (previously acquired) elements
share a common property (species). Infinite objects are inherently unfinished and
incomplete, and should be regarded as ​potential i​ nfinities​. ​The fundamental
indeterminacy in intuitionism implies that the PEM is not universally valid.

Using choice sequences and the method of the creating subject, Brouwer is able
to construct an intuitionistic equivalent to the classical continuum. Most of the
properties of the latter can be recovered for intuitionism by simply revising or
re-​interpreting the definitions. But being fundamentally incomplete (“perpetually in the
process of creation”), the intuitionistic continuum also displays some highly
idiosyncratic properties. Most notably:

● It is indecomposable: one cannot simply take away one point, or

even split the continuum into nontrivial subsets,
● Uniform continuity: every total function on the unit interval is uniformly
continuous.

These properties are reminiscent of an ​intuitive ​continuum and set the intuitionistic
continuum apart not only from its classical counterpart, but also from e.g., other
constructive continua, the nonstandard hyperreal line and the real line in smooth
infinitesimal analysis.

Intuitionistic mathematics has a phenomenological foundation, and significant similarities

exist between Brouwer’s intuitionism and Husserl’s transcendental phenomenology.
On this phenomenological basis rest an anti-​nominalist, constructive ontology
(existence of mathematical objects is synonymous to their constructability), and a
languageless, intuitive epistemology (mathematical knowledge is synthetic a priori
knowledge in the Kantian sense).

Brouwer’s intuitionism is not impervious to critique, though. Free choice sequences

and the method of the creating subject are – arguably – liable to internal inconsistency.

And although intuitionistic mathematics is undeniably very rich and subtle, it is

also technically complex and demanding, and in some ways very restrictive. All
this has undoubtedly contributed to the fact that intuitionism never really became
mainstream.

Noesis #206, September 2020

111
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Constructive and Nonstandard Views of the Continuum”, ​Synthese Library​, 306: 19-​24.

Bostock, D., 2009, ​Philosophy of Mathematics: An Introduction,​ Wiley-​Blackwell, West Sussex.

Brouwer, L.E.J., 1905, Leven, kunst en mystiek, English translation by van Stigt in Notre Dame
Journal of Formal Logic, 37 (3): 381-​429.

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Suchtelen, Amsterdam-​Leipzig.

Brouwer, L.E.J., 1908, “De onbetrouwbaarheid der logische principes”, Tijdschrift voor
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Brouwer, L.E.J., 1949, “Consciousness, philosophy and mathematics”, ​Proceedings of the 10th
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Heyting (ed.), North-​Holland, Amsterdam.

Brouwer, L.E.J., 1981, Brouwer's ​Cambridge Lectures on Intuitionism​, D. van Dalen (ed.),
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Detlefsen, M., 1990, “Brouwerian Intuitionism”, ​Mind​, New Series, 99 (396): 501-​534.

Dragalin, A. G., 2011, “Intuitionism”, ​ Encyclopedia of Mathematics​,

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Dummett, M., 2000, “Is Time a Continuum of Instants?”, ​Philosophy​, 0 (4): 497-​515.

Ewald, W., 1996, ​From Kant to Hilbert: A Source Book in the Foundations of Mathematics​,
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Feferman, S., 2008, “Conceptions of the Continuum”,

URL=<​http://math.stanford.edu/~feferman/papers/ConceptContin.pdf​>.

Gielen, W., de Swart, H., Veldman, W., 1981, “The Continuum Hypothesis in Intuitionism”, ​The
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Heyting, A., 1956, ​Intuitionism. An Introduction,​ North-​Holland, Amsterdam.

Iemhoff, R., 2013, "Intuitionism in the Philosophy of Mathematics", ​The Stanford Encyclopedia of
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Kuiper, J., 2004, “Ideas and Explorations: Brouwer’s Road to Intuitionism”, PhD thesis, Universiteit
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Intuitionism (1907-​2007)​, Birkhäuser, Basel.

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Symbolic Logic, 8 (3): 329-​347.

van Atten, M., van Dalen, D., 2002b, “Intuitionism”, in ​A Companion to Philosophical Logic​, D.
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van Atten, M., van Dalen, D., Tieszen, R., 2002, “Brouwer and Weyl: The phenomenology and
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van Atten, M., 2009, “Intuitionism as Phenomenology”, Unpublished manuscript, (M. van Atten,
personal communication, March 2, 2014).

van Dalen, D., 1997, “How connected is the intuitionistic continuum?”, ​Journal of Symbolic Logic,​
62: 1147-​1150.

van Dalen, D., 2000, “What is Mathematics? Intuitionistic Reflections”, Published in: ​Issues in
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Van Kerkhove, B., 2012a, “Hedendaagse Filosofie van de Wiskunde in Historisch Perspectief”,
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Noesis #206, September 2020

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 Litton Industries’ Problematical Recreations

Ron Yannone

My sincere hope is that the readers of this document will enjoy several of the problems posed
here and find some easy, amusing, challenging, and easy to “carry around” in your head as you
go about your daily activities. I hope, too, that you will share this document with parents of gifted
children who like math – be they middle schoolers, high schoolers or college students. My
desire is that you share this document with math teachers you know or tutors/mentors in math
teams, MATHCOUNTS program, American Mathematics Competitions (AMC), and the like.

Litton Industries was acquired by Northrop Grumman in 2001. Northrop is a highly successful
defense contractor giant with many innovations to its credit. The success of Northrop Grumman
in developing extremely complex systems is in line with the quality of excellence and innovation
Litton Industries had – and offered Northrop Grumman. Visit the Northrop Grumman home
website to read of the history and the specific legacy Litton Industries had prior to becoming part
of Northrop Grumman in 2001.

The last problem in Littons’ ​Problematical Recreations​ was #580 from March 29, 1971.

Curious questions I have include:

(1) How much money did Litton invest over the 12 years of hosting and championing
Problematical Recreations​?

(2) Based on their closing advertisement on the last page of their 11 annual booklets, how many
engineers, mathematicians, scientists and computer programmers made inquiry with Litton and
ended up working for them?

(3) Did Litton ever proactively contact those readers who submitted multiple correct and
innovative answers to their weekly problems - if so, how many?

(4) How many man-hours were expended in all in the 12-year series by Angela Dunn and her
team of mathematicians?

This document covers Litton’s ​Problematical Recreations​ that were produced over a 12-year
period (1960 -1971). It all began for me by being introduced to them via a little annual booklet by
Mr. Otto Rittenbach, an electronics engineer who worked for the U.S. Army Camp Evans
location in Belmar, NJ. Read more later in this article.

I think the best overview is via the preface given by the editor Angela Dunn of Litton’s
Problematical Recreations​ from the Dover publication “Mathematical Bafflers” (1964; 1980
re-issued), with creative woodcut illustrations by Edward Kysar for each problem.

Noesis #206, September 2020

114
[Angela Dunn:]

This book is an outgrowth of one of the most successful campaigns in the history of technical
publications, a weekly series called ​“​Problematical Recreations​,”​ which ran for twelve years in
Aviation Week​ [​and Space Technology​] magazine and the ​Electronic News​, winning the top
readership award year after year.

Conceived and sponsored by Litton Industries of Beverly Hills, California, “Problematical

Recreations” offered a weekly mathematical puzzle, the answer appearing the following week,
geared to attract the technically minded. Happily, the series proved to be more than well read; it
was actually aided and perpetuated by the readers themselves.

The quality of their written response was the key to the series’ continuing appeal. Week after
week letters from engineers, mathematicians, scientists, and puzzle fans in general would offer
a more elegant solution, or an interesting mathematical sidelight to a problem from our series.
Often readers would challenge us for an explanation, and occasionally they would disagree,
sometimes vehemently, with our published solution. But always they exhibited original thinking.
It was the quantity of imaginative puzzle contribution that poured in from all over the United
States and from a dozen foreign countries that kept the campaign going at a high level of
interest for twelve years.

As director of “Problematical Recreations​,” ​from 1962 until its cancellation in 1971, I was
fortunate in acquiring a staff of some of the best creative minds in mathematics to help check
and evaluate each original contribution. My chief consultant, the late David L. Silverman of the
University of California at Los Angeles, was truly a mathematical genius. His inexhaustible
knowledge, his infinite supply of ingenious original puzzles, and his ability to communicate any
principle or idea simply are responsible for both the series’ success and this volume. One of
David Silverman’s many admirers, Mr. George Koch, President of Guidance Industries
Corporation of San Francisco, commented: “He was the only mathematician I found in front of
whom I was comfortable admitting ignorance. He answered my ignorance with information, not
disdain, and thereby taught me a great deal.”

I relied heavily on Mr. Silverman’s expertise in handling the volume of correspondence. Each
letter was answered personally, after careful checking and research, a fact which so surprised
and pleased one reader in Washington, D.C., that he wrote me: “Thank you for not sending me
the ‘bed bug’ letter. You present Litton as a warm and human organization.” Because
“Problematical Recreations” may enhance your enjoyment of a puzzle, shed new mathematical
light, or simply amuse, selections have been included at the beginning of each of the seven
sections of this book. (Bed bug letter: a form letter, from a company to an individual who has
made a complaint, which promises to correct a situation, but is actually only intended to pacify
the person making the objection.)

When the puzzles were originally published, their sequence was chosen to provide interesting
variety from week to week. You will find, therefore, that the selections here run the gamut from

Noesis #206, September 2020

115
simple problems requiring no mathematical background to those that would challenge a
professional mathematician. For example, a little imagination is all that is required to solve the
following sequence problem from Chapter 6:

What letter follows OTTFFSSE___ ?

On the other end of the scale, advanced mathematics is involved in solving a variation of “The
Alpenstock” (first problem of Chapter 5), and an acquaintance with Number Theory is required
for the problems in Chapter 7.

In making this selection of more than 150 posers, we chose those that we hope combine the
unusual, the unexpected, and the non-obnoxious. You will find, therefore, that a majority of the
solutions may be reached by the application of a well-conceived hunch rather than by drudgery
and exhaustive checking of tables. For our object is, after all, to entertain.

The mathematical challenges that follow have been contributed by dozens of puzzlers
throughout this country, and from all over the world, most of them skilled mathematicians and
applied scientists. We share their pet brain twisters and original work with you in these pages.
For consistently submitting original and ingenious puzzles, the editor is indebted to: Mr. Leonard
A. Baljay of Cherry Hill, New Jersey; Mr. Walter Penney of Greenbelt, Maryland; Mr. Charles
Baker of Los Angeles, California; Mr. Noel A. Longmore of Kent, England; Mr. B. van Blaricum
of Melbourne, Australia; Mr. William Shooman of Orange, California; and Mr. J. N. A. Hawkins of
Pacific Palisades, California.

Acknowledgement is made also to ​American Mathematical Monthly​ and ​Mathematics Magazine,​

the two publications of the Mathematical Association of America, for permission to include in the
“​Problematical Recreations​”​ series a few sample problems from their large and excellent stock.

For their patient counseling and technical assistance in conducting the series, the editor is
grateful to Dr. Silverman and Dr. Harry Lass of the California Institute of Technology.

This book is for those who take pleasure in the process of reasoning, who enjoy exercising their
inventive faculties, who delight in the pursuit of an elusive proof. If the reader enjoys these
particular challenges, he or she is indebted to all the gentlemen named above and to all those
hardy fellows who took the time to write to “Problematical Recreations.”

Angela Dunn

Noesis #206, September 2020

116
 Some of My Favorite Problems From Litton’s Problematical Recreations Series

Ron Yannone

Email: [email protected]

Many unending thanks to electronics engineer, Mr. Otto Rittenbach (father of my high school
friend Klaus). Otto worked with my dad and my friend David Anick’s father George (also an
electronics engineer) at the U.S. Army’s Camp Evans radar facility in Belmar, NJ. In his humble
living room in Neptune, NJ, Otto shared some of the Litton’s ​Problematical Recreations​ booklets
from a couple of the years they were published (between 1960 – 1971). I was a senior in high
school then. Otto had over 50 patents. My junior and senior years at Neptune High School are
my most memorable early years in developing and nurturing a strong love for math.

I have been thoroughly enjoying these problems at age 62 (retired) and sharing several with my
wife Jacqueline. I still need to “work” on many of the following problems shared here with you,
the reader. I take my time, look up formulas and principles I have forgotten and sometimes turn
the problem into a small research adventure–spanning several days as required. I work on
multiple problems in parallel so that when I hit a brick wall, I can switch to another problem with
maybe a fresh mind. I vividly recall sharing what I thought were the toughest problems (from the
few booklets I eventually bought) with David Anick (math genius in every sense) and most times
he solved them easily and could furnish supporting proofs as well.

Some of the problems below are from Angela Dunn’s book and some from a book by James F.
Hurley, professor at the University of California, titled ​Litton’s Problematical Recreations​ and
published by Van Nostrand Reinhold Company. Other problems are from the actual Litton
Industries annual booklets I have obtained over the past month (Books 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 and
11). Keep in mind I was in high school (over 45 years ago) when introduced to Litton’s
Problematical Recreations​ and although I had the math background I was not “sharp” in
ferreting out quickly and successfully the tricks these problems posed in many cases.
Oftentimes I “cried uncle” too quickly!!! Many of the readers of this document were once avid
puzzle aficionados, now with memorable technical careers and experiences behind them – they
can leverage their experiences and expertise in trying a few of these.

As you try specific problems, feel free to send me your answers [​[email protected]​]
and I will try to confirm or give suggestions if desired. In this set of exercises, I am certain you
will find some easy, some entertaining, some even very challenging and enlightening. Several of
these can be done with simple, clever thinking, versus the normal “school procedures” learned.

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KEY:​ For my easy reference, after each problem statement, I indicate the source of
problem: D-Dunn (page), H-Hurley (page), B#-Booklet number and (problem number),
BOPRV1(#) – ​Best of Problematical Recreations Volume 1​ booklet contains the best of
the first 5 annual booklets (page number); MPR(#) – ​More Problematical Recreations
booklet (page #).

● A coffee pot with a circular bottom tapers uniformly to a circular top with radius half that
of the base. A mark halfway up the side says “2 cups.” Where should the “3 cups” mark
go? Can you determine the number of total cups the coffee pot holds? Can you
determine the number of cups the full cone involved (the pot being a subset) holds?
What percent difference in height is the 3-cup level from the full pot level? [H(191),
B8(#28)]
● A castle and a bishop are placed at random on different squares of a chessboard. What
is the probability that one piece threatens the other? [D(143), B4(#13)]
● What is the base of the positional numeration system in which 12102 + 1 = 12220?
[B9(#10)]
● Two hot rodders compete in a drag race. Each accelerates at a uniform rate from a
standing start. Al covers the last quarter of the distance in 3 seconds; Bob covers the
last third in 4 seconds. Who won, and by how much? (Can you conjure up a clear
numerical example where the cars travel a distance ​d​ and meet the ending requirements
stated above?) [D(20)]
● Lazy Levy wishes to toss a snowball over a building 144 feet by 144 feet and 133 feet
high with the least expenditure of energy. How far away from the building should he
stand? (Can you find a solution where mental arithmetic might suffice? Can you
determine the launch velocity and launch angle and the time for the snowball to reach
the apex of its trajectory and the time for it to clear the roof-top?) [B9(#16)]
● A hula hoop of circumference 40 inches performs one revolution about a girl with a
20-inch waist. How far has the original point of contact of the hoop traveled? [B9(#43)]
● A hostess plans to serve a square cake with icing on top and sides. Upon determining
how many guests want cake, what method should she use to ensure that each guest will
receive the same amount of cake and icing? (Can you determine the angles between
each cut for each number of pieces desired – especially the odd number of cuts? What
do you get for the angles between the pieces for 3 cuts, 5 cuts?). [H(194), B8(#39)]
● A contractor estimated that one of his two bricklayers would take 9 hours to build a
certain wall and the other 10 hours. However, he knew from experience that when they
worked together, 10 fewer bricks got laid per hour. Since he was in a hurry, he put both
men on the job and found it took exactly 5 hours to build the wall. How many bricks did it
contain? [D(34), B6(#34)]
● What is the cube root of INVENTORY? [B7(#25)]
● Without using any symbols, arrange the digits 1, 3, 5, 7, 9 to equal the digits 2, 4, 6, 8.
[D(93), B4(#27)]
● If the hour and minute hands of a watch are interchanged, how many different possible
times could the watch show? [D(167), B4(#30)]
● Smith said to Jones, “I just bought four mujibs at $21.78 apiece, and I noted a curious
thing. “The total was $87.12, the price of a mujib in reverse order.” “Isn’t that a
coincidence,” said Jones. “The other day I bought some glinches (no, not one or four)
and I remarked the same thing.” How much does a glinch cost and how many did Jones
buy? [D(85)]
● Two men are walking toward each other alongside a railway. A freight train overtakes
one of them in 20 seconds and exactly 10 minutes later meets the other man coming in
the opposite direction. The train passes this man in 18 seconds. How long after the
train has passed the second man will the two men meet? (Constant speeds are to be
assumed throughout.) [D(19), B4(#16)]
● Four boys, Alan, Brian, Charles and Donald, and four girls, Eve, Fay, Gwen and Helen
are in love with one of the others, and, sad to say, in no case is their love requited. Alan
loves the girl who loves the man who loves Eve. Fay is loved by the man who is loved
by the girl loved by Brian. Charles loves the girl who loves Donald. If Brian is not loved
by Gwen, and the boy who is loved by Helen does not love Gwen, who loves Alan?
[B4(#6)]
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 ● What operation can be performed three successive times on a solid cube, so that at
each stage, the surface area is reduced in the same proportion as the volume? [H(46)]
● An icicle forming from a dripping gutter is in the shape of a cone five times as long as it
is wide (at the top). A few hours later it has doubled in length and the generating angle
has also doubled. How does its present weight compare with its previous weight?
[H(193)]
● If X + Y + Z = 1, prove XY + YZ + XZ < ½ [D(9)]
● A new kind of atom smasher is to be composed of two tangents and a circular arc which
is concave toward the point of intersection of the two tangents. Each tangent and the
arc of the circle is 1 mile long. What is the radius of the circle? [H(168), D(58), B8(#38)]
● Johann Jungfrau, the famous mountain climber, was traveling through the Trondheim
timber country one day. Quite by accident he dropped his trusty alpenstock, an
unusually straight stick, near the buzzsaws where, in two shakes of a yak’s tail, it was
neatly cut into three pieces. What is the probability that these three pieces can be
placed together to form a triangle? [D(137), B5(#3)]
● An astute mathematician drives 21 miles round trip to work each day. On the way he
passes a gas station which advertises free gas if the price at which the pump stops when
filling the tank consists of repetitive digits, i.e., $1.11, $2.22, $3.33, . . . , $9.99. Gas
costs 30 cents per gallon and our mathematician knows his car delivers exactly 15 miles
per gallon. Considering no additional driving, he computes that once he fills his gas tank
at the station he can get all his gas free. The station is an integral number of miles from
his home. Where is it with respect to his home? [B4(#20)]
● Find a two-digit number which is a factor of the sum of the cubes of its digits, while the
reverse of the number is a factor of the sum of the fourth powers of the digits. [H(144),
D(206)]
● There are nine cities which are served by two competing airlines. One or the other
airline (but not both) has a flight between every pair of cities. What is the minimum
number of possible triangular flights (i.e., trips from A to B to C and back to A on the
same airline)? [D(31)]
● Express as the product of sixth- and ninth-degree polynomials with integral coefficients.
[D(30), B6(#13)]
● Archimedes O’Toole, a mathematical poet, on seeing this equation, translated it into a
limerick. Can you duplicate this feat? [H(43)]
● Six men decide to play Russian roulette with a six gun loaded with one cartridge. They
draw for position, and afterwards, the sixth man casually suggests that instead of letting
the chamber rotate in sequence, each man spin the chamber before shooting. How
would this improve his chances? [H(111)]
● A mathematician whose clock has stopped wound it, but did not bother to set it correctly.
Then he walked from his home to the home of a friend for an evening of hi-fi music.
Afterwards, he walked back to his own home and set his clock exactly. How could he do
this without knowing the time his trip took? [H(133)]
● Mr. Field, a speeder, travels on a busy highway having the same rate of traffic flow in
each direction. Except for Mr. Field, the traffic is moving at the legal speed limit. Mr.
Field passes one car for every nine which he meets from the opposite direction. By what
percentage is he exceeding the speed limit? [H(151)]
● If a coin were randomly shaken out of a certain piggy bank, its expected value would be
15 cents. If a dime had been added, the expected value would have been only 14 cents.
What are the contents of the bank? [B8(#18)]
● A guidance technician celebrating a successful moon shot tipped his half full brandy
glass slowly to an angle of 45 degrees from the vertical. If the glass was spherical
inside, 3 inches in diameter, with a 2-inch diameter hole in its top, what percent of his
drink did he lose? [B8(#33)]
● In a little known work, the famous geometer of Skalenos proves the following theorem:
“The square of the side opposite the Fandangle is equal to the sum of the squares of the
other two sides added to the product of those two sides multiplied by the square root of
two.” What is a Fandangle? [B8(#43)]
● A wall is made of bricks which are twice as long as they are high. The wall is 13 courses
high, with 100 bricks on the odd courses and 99 bricks plus two half bricks on the even
courses. An ant starts at the lower left corner and walks in a straight line to the upper
right corner. Over how many bricks does he walk? [B8(#34)]

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 ● By the time the radius of a certain pearl has increased 1 millimeter the area will have
increased as much (1 millimeter squared) as the volume (1 millimeter cubed). If the
pearl is an exact sphere, what is its radius now? What are the original area and volume
values? [B11(#3)]
● Consider the sequence 0, 1, 2, 7, 20, 61, … in which . Assuming the ratio of successive
terms approaches a limit r, compute r. [H(279)]
● The decimal 0.1 in base two equals 0.5 in base 10. Likewise, 0.12 in base three and
0.123 in base four equal 0.556 and 0.422, respectively. Continuing in this manner, as
the base increases, what is the limiting value of the decimal? [H(280)]
● Find the only number consisting of five different digits which is a factor of its reversal.
[H(252), B7(#36)]
● While still at a sizable distance from the Pentagon building, a man first catches sight of it.
Is he more likely to be able see two sides or three? [H(183)]
● A pupil wrote on the blackboard a series of fractions having positive integral terms and
connected by signs which were either all + or all x, although they were so carelessly
written it was impossible to tell which they were. It still wasn’t clear even though he
announced the result of the operation at every step. The third fraction had denominator
19. What was the numerator? [H(147)]
● In the final seconds of the game, your favorite N.B.A. team is behind 117 to 118. Your
center attempts a shot and is fouled for the 2​nd​ time in the last 2 minutes as the buzzer
sounds. Three to make two in the penalty situation. Optimistic? Note: the center is only
a 50% free-thrower. What are your team’s overall chances of winning? [H(121)]
● Besides direction, what property is shared by Santa’s helpers at the North Pole, the
Northwest Passage, and that hundredth root of unity which is northernmost in the
Argand plane? [B11(#6)]
● There are at least two ways of representing 20, using three 3’s and standard
mathematical symbols. Find one. (Can you find as many as 5 ways?) [B11(#17)]
● A kidney-shaped swimming pool is laid out by describing two tangent circles, drawing a
circular arc 40 feet long tangent to both of these circles on one side and a parallel
circular arc 20 feet long tangent to both of them on the other side. What is longest
(straight line) distance one can swim in this pool? [B11(#19)]
● The numbers 6,227,020,800; 6,227,028,000 and 6,227,280,000 are all large and roughly
in the same ballpark. But only one is equal to 13! Find it without use of tables, desk
calculators, or hard work. [H(263), B11(#31)]
● One of a pair of dice is loaded so that the chance of a 1 turning up is 1/5, the other faces
being equally likely. Its mate is loaded so that the chance of a 6 turning up is 1/5, the
other faces being equally likely. How much does this loading increase the probability of
throwing a 7 with the two dice? [H(122)]
● In a carnival game 5 balls are tossed into a square box divided into 4 square cells, with
baffles to ensure that every ball has an equal chance of going in any cell. The player
pays $1 and receives $1 for every cell which is empty after the 5 balls are thrown. How
much does the operator expect to make per game? [H(127), B11(#42)]
● Having lost a checker game, a specialist in learning programs threw one of the red
checkers out the window. His wife re-boxed the 12 black pieces and 11 red pieces one
at a time in random fashion. The number of black checkers in the box always exceeded
the number of reds. What was the ​a priori​ probability of this occurrence? [H(128)]
● Archimedes O’Toole was so overcome by the favorable response among “Poeticians” to
his last mathematical limerick, that he composed another based on the above identity.
Can you reconstruct the limerick? [H(277)]
● The price per cubic inch for platinum trays is the same as that per square inch for
platinum sheets. A metal supply house has a square of platinum which will yield the
same amount whether sold as a sheet, or fashioned into a tray of maximum volume with
the four cut-out corners sold as sheets. How big is the square? [H(283)]
● With only a 7 minute and an 11 minute “hourglass” to keep time, you wish to hard boil
some eggs for 15 minutes “on the nose.” You could start both timers, put the eggs on
when the 7-minute timer runs out, invert the other timer at T=11, and the eggs will be
ready when it runs out at T=22. But can the job be done faster? [H(85)]
● A pet store offered a baby monkey for sale at $1.25. The monkey grew. Next week it
was offered at $1.89, then $5.13, then $5.94, then $9.18 and on the sixth week a Ph.D.
in Aeronautics bought it for $12.42. How were the new prices figured? [H(233)]

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 ● A set of items sells for $1122.00, and another set of like items sells for $2210.00. What
is the cost of each item? [D(189)]
● Joe Tankard forms an interesting design by setting his glass down on the bar three
times, each ring passing through the centers of the other two. The bartender bets that
the center area which is common to all three circles is less than one-fourth the areas of
one of the circles. Joe bets that is greater. Who wins? [B7(#6)]
● Two integers were multiplied and it was noticed that d, the leftmost digit of the product,
was the average of the leftmost digits of the two factors. What was d? [B7(#21)]
● Two wheels in the same plane are mounted on shafts 13 inches apart. A belt goes
around both wheels to transmit power from one to the other. The radii of the two wheels
and the length of the belt not in contact with the wheels at any moment are all integers.
How much larger is one wheel than the other? [B9(#5)]
● The squares of a checkerboard are numbered in random fashion with the numbers 1, 2, .
. . , 64. Find the probability that a “saddle square” exists (simultaneously a row minimum
and a column maximum). [B9(#20)]
● A bridge across a river is in the form of an arc of a circle. A boy walking across the
bridge finds that 27 feet from the shore the bridge is 9 feet above the water. He
continues on to the center of the span and finds that the bridge is now 10 feet above the
water. How wide is the river? [B9(#26)]
● A conical drinking cup has a 12-inch rim and is 4 inches deep at the center. If creased
flat, what is the vertex angle of the resulting figure? [B9(#32)]
● Four spectators, viewing one of a pair of dice from different angles, see spots totaling 10,
15, 14 and 9, respectively. How many spots are on the top face of the die? [B9(#38)]
● Smith and Jones, both 50% marksmen, decide to fight a duel in which they exchange
alternate shots until one is hit. What are the odds in favor of the man who shoots first?
[BOPRV1(26)]
● Lottie and Lucy Hill are both 90 years old. Mary Jones, on the other hand, is half again
as old as she was when she was half again as old as she was when she lacked 5 years
of being half as old as she is now. How old is Mary? [BOPRV1(38)]
● Two similar triangles with integral sides have two of their sides the same. The third
sides differ by 387. What are the lengths of the sides? [BOPRV1(48)]
● A, B, and C are three towns, each pair being connected by a network of roads. A
motorist notices that there are 82 routes from A to B, including those via C and 62 routes
from B to C, including those via A. He also notices that there are fewer than 300 routes
from A to C, including those via B. How many are there? [D(83)]
● Using a “true” coin, a random sequence of binary digits can be generated by letting, say,
heads denote zero and tails, one. An operations analyst wished to obtain such a
sequence, but he had only one coin which he suspected was not true. Could he still do
it? [H(98)]
● Three dart players threw simultaneously at a tic-tac-toe board, each hitting a different
square. What is the probability that the three hits constituted a win at tic-tac-toe?
[H(104)]
● Five points are located in or on the perimeter of an equilateral triangle with 9-inch sides.
If d is the distance between the closest pair of points, what is the maximum possible
value of d? [H(225)]
● In the arithmetic of Puevigi, 14 is a factor of 41. What is the base of the number system?
[H(250)]
● One is the smallest integer which is simultaneously a perfect square, cube, and fifth
power. What is the next smallest integer with this property? [H(254)]
● If ¼ of 20 is 6, then what is 1/5 of 10? [MPR(1)]
● Using only mathematical signs and without changing the position of any of the figures,
can you make this into an equation? 2 9 6 7 = 17 [MPR22)]
● State a theorem about integers which is valid for all integers n, with the exceptions n = 5,
17, 257. [MPR(32)]
● How many nine digit numbers are divisible by 11, no digit equal to zero and no two digits
alike? [B5(#17)]
● Two cubes with integral sides have their combined volume equal to the combined length
of their edges. What are the dimensions of the cubes? [B5(#26)]
● Every proper fraction can be expressed as the sum of a number of distinct aliquot
fractions, i.e., fractions with unit numerators. What is the “smallest” fraction (sum of

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 numerator and denominator a minimum) which requires four such fractions for its
expression? [B6(#35)]
● No two-digit number times its reversal equals any other two-digit number times its
reversal. Two numbers come close but, in fact, the products differ by 4. What are the
numbers? [B6(#39)]
● Two snails start from the same point in opposite directions toward two bits of food. Each
reaches its destination in one hour. If each snail had gone in the direction the other
took, the first snail would have reached his food 35 minutes after the second. How do
their speeds compare? [B7(#8)]
● If 2 marbles are removed at random from a bag containing black and white marbles, the
chance that they are both white is 1/3. If 3 are removed at random, the chance that they
all are white is 1/6. How many marbles are there of each color? [B7(#10)]
● Martian coins are 3-sided (heads, tails, and torsos), each side coming up with equal
probability. Three Martians decide to go odd-man-out to determine who pays a dinner
check. (If two coins come up the same and one different, the owner of the latter coin
foots the bill). What is the expected number of throws needed in order to determine a
loser? [B7(#43)]
● Find integers A, B, and C, positive or negative but non-zero, such that the equation has
roots A and B. [B8(#11)]
● At a cocktail party a man starts out with a glass of half whiskey and half soda. After
each sip he adds enough soda to fill the glass again. Assuming he does this
continuously (that is, in infinitesimal sips), how much whiskey has he consumed by the
time he has drunk half a glass? [B8(#12)]
● A forgetful physicist forgot his watch one day and asked an electronics engineer on the
staff what time it was. The engineer looked at his watch and said: “The hour, minute,
and sweep second hands are as close to trisecting the face as they ever come. This
happens only twice in every 12 hours, but since you probably haven’t forgotten whether
you ate lunch, you should be able to calculate the time.” What time was it to the nearest
second? [B3(#3)]
● Dr. Reed, arriving late at the lab one morning, pulled out his watch and said, “I must
have it seen to. I have noticed that the minute and the hour hand are exactly together
every sixty-five minutes.” Does Dr. Reed’s watch gain or lose, and how much per hour?
[B3(#29)]
● Maynard the Census Taker visited a house and was told, “Three people live there. The
product of their ages is 1296, and the sum of their ages is our house number.” After an
hour of cogitation Maynard returned for more information. The house owner said, “I
forgot to tell you that my son and grandson live here with me.” How old were the
occupants and what was their street number? [H(212)]
● In a certain code used in high-level communication in Puevigi, the two permutations of
the nine digits 692547318 and 768415932 are code equivalents, respectively, of the
words INTERVENE and EXTROVERT. Break the code and decipher 895173246.
[B8(#14)]
● A man started for a walk when the hands of his watch were coincident between three
and four o’clock. When he finished, the hands were again coincident between five and
six o’clock. What was the time when he started, and how long did he walk?
[BOPRV1(6)]
● Two candles have equal lengths. One is consumed uniformly in four hours, the other in
five hours. If they are lit up at the same time, when will one be three times as long as
the other? [BOPRV1(8)]
● The numbers one through seven are drawn from a hat without replacement. What is the
probability that all the odd numbers will be chosen first? [BOPRV1(60)]
● Three rectangles of integer sides have identical areas. The first rectangle is 278 feet
longer than wide. The second rectangle is 96 feet longer than wide. The third rectangle
is 542 feet longer than wide. Find the area and dimensions of the rectangles.
[B6(#29)]
● Assume that a single depth charge has a probability of ½ of sinking a submarine, ¼ of
damage and ¼ of missing. Assume also that two damaging explosions sink the
submarine. What is the probability that 4 depth charges will sink the submarine?
[B6(#38)]
● Find two numbers whose sum and product are equal and whose quotient and difference
are equal. [B7(#1)]

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 ● What two-digit number denotes a prime in the octal and duodecimal scales as well as in
the decimal scale? [B7(#17)]
● Using each of the ten digits once, find two 5-digit numbers with the largest possible
product. [B7(#26)]
● The numbers 1 - 10 inclusive are to be arranged in a circle and each one multiplied by its
right-hand neighbor. How should they be arranged if the number of different products is
to be a minimum? [B7(#39)]
● A yang, ying, and yung is constructed by dividing a diameter of a circle, AB, into three
parts by points C and D, then describing on one side of AB semicircles having AC and
AD as diameters and on the other side of AB semicircles having BD and BC as
diameters. Which is larger, the central portion or one of the outside pieces? [B7(#42)]
● Two octopi indulged in a friendly tentacle to tentacle wrestling match. Each managed to
pin 4 of his opponent’s tentacles with 4 of his own. In how many ways was this
possible? [B8(#6)]
● How can seven points be placed, no three on the same line, so that every selection of
three points constitutes the vertices of an isosceles triangle? [B8(#30)]
● Prove that neither 999,919 nor 1,000,343 is prime? [B9(#6)]
● Draw the square with vertices at (0,0), (0,4), (4,4) and (4,0). A broken line is to be
drawn, consisting of three segments, starting at (0,1), angling successively off the top
and bottom sides of the square, and terminating at (4,2). At what points will it meet the
top and bottom sides? [B9(#35)]
● The equation has one solution (A,B,C,D) = (2,2,2,2). Find infinitely more solutions in
positive integers. [B11(#1)]
● If the equal sides of an isosceles triangle are given, what length of the third side will
provide maximum area? (No calculus, please). [B11(#5)]
● If all 720 permutations of the digits 1 though 6 are arranged in numerical order, what is
the 417​th​ term? [B11(#9)]
● One side of a triangle is 10 feet longer than another and the angle between them is 60
degrees. Two circles are drawn with these sides as diameters. One of the points of
intersection of the two circles is the common vertex. How far from the third side is the
other point of intersection? [B11(#12)]
● A sharp operator makes the following deal. A player is to toss a coin and receive 1, 4, 9,
…, dollars if the first head comes up on the first, second, third, …, toss. The sucker
pays ten dollars for this. How much can the operator expect to make if this is repeated a
great many times? [B11(#26)]
● There is one flag at the entrance to a racetrack and another inside the track, half a mile
from the first. A jockey notes that no matter where he is on the track, one flag is 3 times
as far away as the other. How long is the track? [B11(#37)]
● By the same token that POLYMER is a good “telephomnemonic” for an organic chemist
whose number is SNowden 59637, find two good ones for a geophysicist whose number
is VErnon 62567 and a surfer whose number is WHitney 73688. [B11(#43)]
● Only two polygons can have a smallest interior angle of 120 degrees with each
successive angle 5 degrees greater than its predecessor. One is the nonagon depicted.
What is the other? [B9(#23)]
● A housewife noted with dismay that brand A was 50% more expensive than C and
contained 20% less weight than B. B was 50% heavier than C but cost 25% more than
A. Being of an economical nature, which brand did she buy? [B9(#24)]
● Find a five-digit number whose first two digits, central digit, and last two digits are perfect
squares and whose square root is a prime palindrome. [B4(#29)]
● Two flights of bombers were flying at 300 mph on converging courses 30 degrees apart,
each flight being 240 miles from the rendezvous. From above each flight a fighter plane,
flying at 500 mph, flew to the other bomber flight and returned, continuing the shuttle
until the bomber flights met. One fighter always headed directly toward his objective,
while the other fighter always flew an interception course. Which fighter flew the greater
distance, and how much farther did he fly? [BOPRV1(20)]
● If each of the letters A, B and C represent a specific Digit, what is the MINIMUM value of
the whole number ABC divided by A + B + C? P.S. The answer is not 1.
[BOPRV1(16)]
● Dr. Irving Weiman, the famous physicist, who is always in a hurry, walks up an up-going
escalator at the rate of one step per second. Twenty steps bring him to the top. Next

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 day he goes up at two steps per second, reaching the top in 32 steps. How many steps
are there in the escalator? [BOPRV1(47)]
● A rectangular box without a top is to be made from a sheet of metal in the manner
familiar to all calculus students, i.e., by cutting out squares from the corners and bending
up the sides. The finished product is to have maximum volume and its dimensions are
to be all integers. How will these dimensions compare if the metal cutout amounts to
10% of the original sheet? [H(274)]
● A certain magic square contains nine consecutive 2-digit numbers. The sum of the
numbers in any line is equal to one of the numbers in the square with the digits reversed.
This is still the case if 7 is added to each entry. What is the number in the center
square? [H(265)]
● The sum of the digits on the odometer in my car (which reads up to 99999.9) has never
been higher than it is now, but it was the same 900 miles ago. How many miles must I
drive before it is higher than it is now? [H(236)]
● Dad and his son have the same birthday. On the last one, Dad was twice as old as
Junior. Uncle observed that this was the ​ninth​ occasion on which Dad’s birthday age
had been an integer multiple of Junior’s. How old is Junior? [H(228)]
● A certain 3-digit number in base 10 with no repeated digits can be expressed in base R
by reversing the digits. Find the smallest value of R. [H(223)]
● There are four volumes of an encyclopedia on a shelf, each volume containing 300
pages, (that is, numbered 1 to 600), but these have been placed on the shelf in random
order. A bookworm starts at the first page of Vol. 1 and eats his way through to the last
page of Vol. 4. What is the expected number of pages (excluding covers) he has eaten
through? [H(115)]
● How many primes are in the following infinite series where the digits are arranged in
declining order? 9; 98; 987; 9876; …………..; 987654321; 9876543219; 98765432198, .
. . etc. [BOPRV1(28)]
● Using the French Tricolor as a model, how many flags are possible with five available
colors if two adjacent rows must not be colored the same? [BOPRV1(36)]
● Prove that the product of 4 consecutive positive integers cannot be a perfect square?
[BOPRV1(40)]
● The planet Octerra is divided into eight countries, each occupying an octant, (thus each
country borders three others). In how many ways can a traveler visit each of the other
countries once and only once, returning to his home country only at the end of his trip?
[BOPRV1(52)]
● The sum and difference of two squares may be primes: 4 – 1 = 3 and 4 + 1 = 5; 9 – 4 = 5
and 9 + 4 = 13, etc. Can the sum and difference of two primes be squares? If so, for
how many different primes is this possible? [BOPRV1(57)]
● A ladder is leaning against a wall at an angle steeper than 45 degrees. Under the ladder
there is a barrel which touches both the ladder and the wall. The barrel is placed on its
side with its circular end facing the reader (you). If the vertical distance, in feet, between
the top of the ladder and the ground is four times the diameter of the barrel, what is the
shortest integral number of feet the ladder can be? [D(51)]
● Given a point P on one side of a general triangle ABC, construct a line through P which
will divide the area of the triangle into two equal halves. [D(61)]
● An isosceles triangle has a 10-inch base and two 13-inch sides. What other value can
the base have and still yield a triangle with the same area? [D(67)]
● In the game “subtract-a-square,” a positive integer is written down and two players
alternately subtract squares from it until a player is able to leave zero, in which case he
is the winner. What square should the first player subtract if the original number is 29?
[D(102)]
● There are 120 seven-digit numbers which can be formed by starting from any number in
the diagram below and proceeding to any neighboring number, using each number once
and only once. Of these, how many are divisible by 11?
● Assuming that each pack of cigarettes from a certain manufacturer contains, as a
premium, one of a set of 52 playing cards and that these cards are distributed among
the packs at random (the number of packs available being infinite), what is the expected
number of packs that must be purchased in order to obtain a complete set of cards?
[D(145)]
● There are four towns at the corners of a square. Four motorists set out, each driving to
the next (clockwise) town, and each man but the fourth going 8 mi./hr. faster than the car

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 ahead, thus the first car travels 24 mi./hr. faster than the fourth. At the end of one hour
the first and third cars are 204, and the second and fourth 212 (beeline) miles apart.
How fast is the first car traveling and how far apart are the towns? [B9(#18)]
● A record enthusiast decided to calibrate his rpm player by placing equally spaced dots
around the rim. What is the minimum number of dots required in order that they appear
stationary under 60 cycle light? [B9(#21)]
● Recall the standard “15” magic square where each row, column and diagonal sum to 15.
Using nine different integers, produce a “multiplicative” magic square, i.e., one in which
the word “product” is substituted for “sum.” [B9(#30)]
● What is the millionth term of the sequence 1, 2, 2, 3, 3, 3, 4, 4, 4, 4, . . . in which each
positive integer n occurs in blocks of n terms? [B8(#16)]
● On what days of the week can the first day of a century fall? (The first day of the
twentieth century was January 1, 1901.) [B6(#18)]
● Strephon and Phyllis decide to test their love with a daisy. They agree to pluck petals
alternately, taking either one petal or two adjacent petals. There are 13 petals
altogether. He picks one saying, “She loves me.” She picks two adjacent petals, leaving
two groups of 8 and 2, saying, “He loves me not.” How should Strephon continue?
[B6(#32)]
● A hospital nursery contains only two baby boys; the girls have not yet been counted. At
2 P.M. a new baby is added to the nursery. A baby is then selected at random to be the
first to have its footprint taken. It turns out to be a boy. What is the probability that the
last addition to the nursery was a girl? [B6(#36)]
● The faces of a solid figure are all triangles. The figure has nine vertices. At each of six
of these vertices, four faces meet, and at each of the other three vertices, six faces
meet. How many faces does the figure have? [B3(#4)]
● A prisoner is given 10 white balls, 10 black balls and two boxes. He is told that an
executioner will draw one ball from one of the two boxes. If it is white, the prisoner will
go free; if it is black, he will die. How should the prisoner arrange the balls in the boxes
to give himself the best chance for survival? [B3(#9)]
● Arrange the nine digits in three groups of one, four and four digits so that the third
number is the product of the first two. There are at least two solutions. [B3(#17)]
● The odd digits 1, 3, 5, 7, and 9, add up to 25, while the even figures 2, 4, 6, and 8, only
add up to 20. Arrange these figures so that the odd ones and the even ones add up
alike. Complex and improper fractions and recurring decimals are not allowed.
[B3(#19)]
● There are pairs of numbers whose sum and product are perfect squares. For instance, 5
+ 20 = 25 and 5 x 20 = 100. If the smaller of such a pair is 1090, what is the other?
[B3(#27)]
● What is the lowest number that is the sum of two cubes in two different ways?
[B3(#31)]
● In a lottery the total prize money available was a million dollars, paid out in prizes which
were powers of $11 viz., $1, $11, $121, etc. No more than 6 people received the same
prize. How many prize winners were there, and how was the money distributed?
[H(#249)]
● Luke and Pete are two privates on K.P. peeling potatoes at the rate of 1 per minute
each. They start with the same number, but Goldbrick Luke surreptitiously throws one
potato on Pete’s pile after every second one he peels. At a certain moment Pete has
twice as many potatoes still to be peeled as Luke. Five minutes later this ratio has
increased to 7:3. When will it be three to one? [B11(#11)]
● Five cards are drawn at random from a pack of cards which have been numbered
consecutively from 1 to 97, and thoroughly shuffled. What is the probability that the
numbers on the cards as drawn are in increasing order of magnitude? [BOPRV1(14)]
● Four snails start at the vertices of a unit square and move directly toward one another in
cyclic order, at unit rate. How far will they travel before they meet? [BOPRV1(15)]
● What number, if divided by 10, leaves a remainder of 9; divided by 9 leaves a remainder
of 8; divided by 8 leaves a remainder of 7; . . . , divided by 2 leaves a remainder of 1?
One answer is 14,622,042,959. Find a smaller solution. [BOPRV1(18)]
● A modernistic chess set has pieces in various geometrical shapes. In particular, both
the KING and the KNIGHT are squares of integers. What numbers could these
represent if each letter is replaced by a different digit? [BOPRV1(49)]

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 ● Mr. Perkins decided to redesign his rectangular rose bed into the shape of a right-angled
triangle. The existing bed measured 24 by 35 feet. He discovered that he could make
any one of three different right-triangular beds, each equal in area to the existing bed
and each having sides of an integral number of feet. As it was his custom to fence his
beds, he naturally chose the bed with the smallest perimeter. What were the
dimensions, in feet, of the new bed? [D(199)]
● Four cities, A, B, C, and D, lie at the vertices of a rectangle. Inside this imaginary
rectangle there is a fifth city, E, which is exactly 33 miles from A and 56 miles from C. E
also happens to be an integral number of miles from the other two cities, being further
from B than from D. If the distance between B and C is three times that of E from D,
how far, to the nearest half mile, is A from B? [B4(21)]
● Near the town of Lunch, Nebraska there is a large triangular plot of land bounded by
three straight roads which are 855, 870, and 975 yards long, respectively. The owner of
the land, a friend of mine, told me that he had decided to sell half the plot to a neighbor,
but that the buyer had stipulated that the seller of the land should erect the fence which
was to be a straight one. The cost of fences being high, my friend naturally wanted the
fence to be as short as possible. What is the minimum length the fence can be?
[B5(9)]
● Find the smallest integer which is such that if the digit on the extreme left is transferred
to the extreme right, the new number is three and a half times the original number.
[B5(12)]
● The integers 1, 3, 8, and N have the property that the product of any two when added to
unity yields a square. What is N? [B5(22)]
● Furbisher lives in Canoga Acres and works in Beverly Flats. LaRouche lives in Beverly
Flats and works in Canoga Acres. They usually leave their respective homes at the
same time, and pass each other at Sam’s Hamburger Shack. (Furbisher drives twice as
fast as LaRouche). On a day when Furbisher’s wife Formica spoiled the eggs and he
left 5 minutes late, they passed each other at the gas station, two miles from Sam’s.
How fast do they drive? [B5(39)]
● A one-acre field in the shape of a right triangle has a post at the midpoint of each side.
A sheep is tethered to each of the side posts and a goat to the post on the hypotenuse.
The ropes are just long enough to let each animal reach the two adjacent vertices. What
is the total area the two sheep have to themselves, i.e., the area the goat cannot reach?
[B6(2)]
● On a certain day, our parking lot contains 999 cars, no two of which have the same
3-digit license number. After 5:00 p.m. what is the probability that the license numbers
of the first 4 cars to leave the parking lot are in increasing order of magnitude? [B6(3)]
● Three marksmen simultaneously shoot at and hit a rapidly spinning spherical target.
What is the probability that the three points of impact are on the same hemisphere?
[B6(4)]
● A divided highway goes under a number of bridges, the arch over each lane being in the
form of a semi-ellipse with the height equal to the width. A truck is 6 ft. wide and 12 ft.
high. What is the lowest bridge under which it can pass? [B6(6)]
● The numbers are divided into three groups as follows: 0, 3, 6, 8, 9, … in the first group,
1, 4, 7, 11, 14, … in the second group and 2, 5, 10, 12, 13, … in the third. In which
groups would 15, 16, and 17 be placed? [B6(21)]
● The smaller of two consecutive integers is divisible by 23 and the larger by 29. Find the
smallest pair of such numbers with the property that they both contain only the digits one
and two. [B6(23)]
● A salesman visits ten cities arranged in the form of a circle, spending a day in each. He
proceeds clockwise from one city to the next, except whenever leaving the tenth city he
may go to either the first or jump to the second city. How many days must elapse before
his location is completely indeterminate, i.e., when he could be in any one of the ten
cities? [B7(16)]
● A game of super-dominoes is played with pieces divided into three cells instead of the
usual two, containing all combinations from triple blank to triple six, with no duplications.
For example, the set does not include both 1 2 3 and 3 2 1 since these are merely
reversals of each other. (But, it does contain 1 3 2.) How many pieces are there in a
set? [B7(35)]
● Find A and B if 7A = B and A and B together contain the ten digits 0 through 9 once and
only once. [B8(3)]

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 ● In California, automobile license plates have three letters followed by three of the digits
from 0 to 9, not necessarily distinct. Is a randomly chosen car more likely to have all 6
symbols different or at least one repetition? (The zero and O are identical.) [B8(4)]
● There are three families, each with two sons and two daughters. In how many ways can
all these young people be married? [B8(5)]
● A diaper is in the shape of a triangle with sides 24, 20 and 20 inches. The long side is
wrapped around the baby’s waist and overlapped two inches. The third point is brought
up to the center of the overlap and pinned in place. The pin is to go through three
thicknesses of material. What is the area in which the pin may be placed? [B8(19)]
● A roulette player made 5 straight even money bets on the red. Starting with 32 chips, he
bet half his current holdings each time. Red came up 3 times, black twice. In what order
would he want his 3 wins to come to maximize his profit? How much would his profit be?
[B8(25)]
● The pennant of the local yacht club is the usual isosceles triangle. The narrow end has
an angle of 20 degrees and the opposite side is 10 inches long. A blue stripe runs from
one of the other corners to a point on the edge 10 inches from the narrow end.
Determine the angle the stripe makes with the edge of the pennant. [B9(3)]
● Fourteen playing cards, A, 2, 3 … K and joker, valued 1, 2, 3, … 13, and 14 for the joker
are face up on a table. Two players alternately turn cards face down while keeping a
running count of the sum value of the face down cards. To win, a player must, on his
turn, force the sum to equal or exceed 60. Which player has the edge? [B9(13)]
● A novice librarian shelved a twelve volume set of encyclopedias in the following order
from left to right. Volumes 8, 11, 5, 4, 9, 1, 7, 6, 10, 3, 12, and 2. Using her system,
where will the annual supplement, Volume 13, go? [B9(33)]
● A pencil, eraser and notebook together cost $1.00. A notebook costs more than two
pencils, and three pencils cost more than four erasers. If three erasers cost more than a
notebook, how much does each cost? [B11(10)]
● What is the smallest positive integer which, when divided by any N in the range 2, 3, ….,
10, leaves a remainder of N-1? [B11(28)]
● A card for printed circuits has five terminals on each side. Three of the terminals on the
left are to be connected to three on the right. How many different circuits are printable,
i.e., do not have any printed ‘wires’ crossing? [B8(17)]
● 1960 and 1961 were bad years for ice cream sales but 1962 was very good. An
accountant was looking at the tonnage sold in each year and noticed that the digital sum
of the tonnage sold in 1962 was three times as much as the digital sum of the tonnage
sold in 1961. Moreover, if the amount sold in 1960 (346 tons) was added to the 1961
tonnage, this total was less than the total tonnage sold in 1962 by the digital sum of the
tonnage sold in that same year. Just how many more tons of ice cream were sold in
1962 than in the previous year? [D(200)]
● Find the digital base in which the number seven thousand, six hundred and forty-two is
represented by the symbol 1234. [D(204)]
● What is the largest power of 7 that will divide 1000!? [D(205)]
● Find three integers in arithmetic progression whose product is prime. [D(174)]
● What is the largest number which can be obtained as the product of positive integers
which add up to 100? [D(119)]
● What is the largest amount of money you can have in coins and still not be able to give
change for a dollar? [D(101)]
● Find a three-digit number that is the sum of the cubes of its digits. [D(73)]
● Luke and Slim have only one horse between them. Luke rides a certain time and then
ties up the horse for Slim, who has been walking. Meanwhile Luke walks on ahead.
They proceed in this way, alternately walking and riding. If they walk 4 miles per hour
and ride 12 miles per hour, what part of the time is the horse resting? [D(40)]
● On a surefire tip from Big Jim, Willy the Welcher placed some bets with Benny the
Bookie. Big Jim had told Willy that in the third race at Holly Park one of the four
outsiders was bound to win. Of the four, the first horse has odds of 3 to 1, the second 4
to 1, the third 5 to 1, and the fourth is 6 to 1. What must Willy bet on each horse to make
a profit of $101, no matter which of the four outsiders wins? [D(40)]
● John was three times as old as his sister 2 years ago and five times as old 2 years
before that. In how many years will the ratio be 2 to 1? [D(40)]
● A railroad buys ties for $11 apiece. They last for 10 years and then have a scrap value
of $1 apiece. If preservative treatment costing $3 a tie is applied, each tie will last 15

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 years but will have no scrap value. If the railroad makes 5 per cent on its capital, should
it treat the ties? [D(28)]
● Using mathematical symbols to modify four fours it is possible to write expressions for all
the numbers from 0 to 100, as well as millions of others. Example: 2 = 4/4 + 4/4. In this
manner arrange four fours to equal these progressively more difficult numbers: 13, 19,
33, 85. Do all numbers 0 to 100. [D(3)]
● Assuming the sun rises at 6:00 a.m., sets at 6:00 p.m., and moves at a uniform rate, how
can a lost boy scout determine south by means of a watch on a cloudless day? [H(15)]
● A neat computer programmer wears a clean shirt every day. If he drops off his laundry
and picks up the previous week’s load every Monday night, how many shirts must he
own to keep him going? [H(26)]
● The passengers on an excursion bus consisted of 14 married couples, 8 of whom
brought no children, and 6 of whom brought 3 children apiece. Counting the driver, the
bus had 31 occupants. How is this possible? [H(27)]
● Show, with a simple example, that an irrational number raised to an irrational power
need not be irrational. [H(31)]
● A jig-saw puzzle contains 100 pieces. A “move” consists of connecting two clusters
(including “clusters” of just one piece.) What is the minimum number of moves required
to complete the puzzle? [H(33)]
● At the age of 17, Gauss proved that a regular polygon of 17 sides can be constructed
with a ruler and compasses. Suppose every side and every diagonal is painted either
red, white or blue. Prove at least one triangle is formed with all three sides painted the
same color. [H(39)]
● A coin is so unbalanced that you are likely to get two heads in two successive throws as
you are to get tails in one. What is the probability of getting heads in a single throw?
[H(103)]
● How many three-digit telephone area codes are possible given that: (a) the first digit
must not be zero or one; (b) the second digit must be zero or one; (c) the third digit must
not be zero; (d) the third digit may be one only if the second digit is zero. [H(110)]
● Max and his wife Min each toss a pair of dice to determine where they will spend their
vacation. If either of Min’s dice displays the same number of spots as either of Max’s,
she wins and they go to Bermuda. Otherwise, they go to Yellowstone. What is the
chance they’ll see “Old Faithful” this year? [H(114)]
● In a carnival game, 12 white balls and 3 black balls are put in an opaque bottle, shaken
up, and drawn out one at a time. The player gets 25 cents for each white ball which
emerges before the first black ball. If he pays one dollar to play, how much can he
expect to win (or lose) on each game? [H(117)]
● An expert on transformer design relaxed one Saturday by going to the races. At the end
of the first race he had doubled his money. He bet $30 on the second race and tripled
his money. He bet $54 on the third race and quadrupled his money. He bet $72 on the
fourth race and lost it, but still had $48 left. With how much money did he start?
[H(132)]
● Three hares are standing in a triangular field which is exactly 100 yards on each side.
One hare stands at each corner; and simultaneously all three set off running. Each hare
runs after the hare in the adjacent corner on his left, thus following a curved course
which terminates in the middle of the field, all three hares arriving there together. The
hares obviously ran at the same speed, but just how far did they run? [H(178)]
● Prove that each median of a triangle is shorter than the average of the two adjacent
sides. [H(195)]
● A boat owner agrees to take a group on an outing at $4.50 apiece if the number of
passengers is equal to or less than his break-even point. For each person above this he
reduces the fare for all passengers 3 cents per person. If he has on board now the
number of passengers that maximizes the total collected, what is the boat owner’s profit?
[H(281)]
● Every year an engineering consultant pays a bonus of $300 to his most industrious
assistant, and $75 each to the rest of his staff. After how many years would his outlay
be exactly $6,000 if all but two of his staff had merited the $300 bonus, but none of them
more than twice? [H(221)]
● When I am as old as my father is now, I shall be five times as old as my son is now. By
then my son will be eight years older than I am now. The combined ages of my father
and myself are 100 years. How old is my son? [D(27)]

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 ● A farmer owned a square field measuring exactly 2261 yards on each side, 1898 yards
from one corner and 1009 yards from an adjacent corner stood a beech tree. A
neighbor offered to purchase a triangular portion of the field, stipulating that a fence
should be erected in a straight line from one side of the field to an adjacent side so that
the beech tree was part of the fence. The farmer accepted the offer but made sure that
the triangular portion was of minimum area. What was the area of the field the neighbor
received, and how long was the fence? [D(63)]
● A farmer used 139 yards of fencing to enclose a rectangular field and to construct a
fence along one of the diagonals of length 41 yards. He then found that a neighbor had
fenced a one-third larger rectangular area in the same manner with less fencing. If all
dimensions are integral yards, what are the dimensions of the neighbor’s field? [D(77)]
● An engineer ordered 9 boxes of 100-ohm resistors and 1 box of 110-ohm resistors.
When they arrived there were 10 resistors in each of the 10 boxes, but both the boxes
and the resistors were unmarked. How many resistance measurements did he have to
make to locate the box of 110-ohm resistors? [D(97)]
● Noel Wentworth-Longmore, the famous Oxford rower, was rowing downstream on
Sunday when his favorite rowing cap fell in the water. So absorbed was he in one of
Housman’s poems that it was 10 minutes before he discovered his cap missing. He
turned around and recovered the cap 1 mile downstream from where he initially lost it.
Assuming constant speed and no allowance for turnaround, how fast was the river
flowing? [D(108)]
● The family of a quality control engineer consisted of 1 grandmother, 1 grandfather, 2
fathers, 2 mothers, 4 children, 3 grandchildren, 1 brother, 2 sisters, 2 sons, 2 daughters,
1 father-in-law, 1 mother-in-law, and 1 daughter-in-law. What is the smallest possible
number of persons in his family? [D(111)]
● An engineer must test three space suits in two test chambers. Each suit must be tested
for 1 hour at each of two low pressures. He takes 10 minutes to load a suit in a
chamber, set the pressure, and start the test; 4 minutes to change the pressure; and 10
minutes to unload a suit from a chamber. What is the minimum time to complete the
tests? [D(115)]
● A man has an odd number of wires running from his basement to his roof. He has
available some numbered tags and a meter which detects open and short circuits. In
order to label the corresponding ends of the wires in the basement to those on the roof,
what is the least number of round trips necessary? [D(120)]
● Not having colored ink with which to make red and black dots, the Wizard wrote numbers
on the foreheads of his three apprentices instead and announced that each had been
given a prime number (not necessarily distinct) and that the three numbers formed the
sides of a triangle with prime perimeter. The first to deduce his own number was to be
the Wizard’s successor. Apprentice A noted that B had a 5 and C had a 7. After a long
period of silence he announced his number. What was it? [D(128)]
● For a group picture a photographer wishes to arrange 10 people (all of different heights)
in two rows of five each. Each person in the back row must be taller than the person in
front of him. Also, the various heights are to increase in each row from left to right. In
how many ways can this be done? [D(128)]
● A husband and wife start walking together, both stepping out on the right foot. The wife
takes steps for every steps her husband takes and in walking a mile she takes 531
steps more than her husband. How many times in walking that distance did they
simultaneously step out on the left foot? [D(128)]
● Supply the missing number in the following sequence: 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 20,
22, 24, ___ , 100, 121, 10,000. [D(159)]
● The game of reverse tic-tac-toe (known to some as toe-tac-tic) has the same rules as the
standard game with one exception. The first player with three markers in a row loses.
Can the player with the first move avoid being beaten? [D(166)]
● A bricklayer has 8 bricks. Seven of the bricks weigh the same amount and 1 is a little
heavier than the others. If the man has a balance scale how can he find the heaviest
brick in only 2 weighings? [D(169)]
● A rectangular picture, each of whose dimensions is an integral number of inches, has an
ordinary rectangular frame 1 inch wide. Find the dimensions of the picture if the area of
the picture and the area of the frame are equal. [D(198)]
● If a certain six-digit number is split into two parts, one constituting the first three digits
and the other the last three digits, and the two parts are added and the resulting sum

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 squared, it is found that the product is the original number. What is the number?
[D(183)]
● Rufus T. Flypaper drives two miles to work every morning. Very precise, he knows he
must average 30 mph to arrive on time. One morning a women driver impedes him for
the first mile, cutting his average to only 15 mph. He quickly calculated his proper speed
for the rest of his trip to arrive on time. Assume that his car could do 120 mph. Could he
arrive on time? [H(3)]
● Two squares are removed from opposite corners of a checkerboard leaving 62 squares.
Can the checkerboard be filled with 31 dominos, each domino covering two adjacent
squares? [H(14)]
● A chemist has three large test tubes and a beaker with 54 c.c. of elixir. Using the test
tubes and ingenuity only, how can he retain 50 c.c. in the beaker? [H(23)]
● How many colors are necessary for the squares of a chessboard in order to assure that
a bishop cannot move from one square to another of the same color? [H(25)]
● Six boys on a hockey team pick a captain by forming a circle and counting out until only
one remains. Joe is given the option of deciding what number to count by. If he is
second in the original counting order what number should he choose? [H(30)]
● In Greenwich Village, tic-tac-toe is played in an unusual way. At each turn a player
marks as many squares as he wishes provided they are in the same vertical or
horizontal row (they need not be adjacent). The winner is the one who marks the last
square. Which player has the advantage and what strategy should he employ? [H(41)]
● With some sharp reasoning, you ought to be able to determine the last member of the
sequence for which the first 20 members are: 11, 31, 71, 91, 32, 92, 13, 73, 14, 34, 74,
35, 95, 16, 76, 17, 37, 97, 38, 98, _____? [H(42)]
● Four players played a hand of hearts at $1 a point (pairwise payoffs). Dave lost $10 to
Arch, $12 to Bob, and $20 to Chuck. How many hearts did poor Dave take in? [H(52)]
● A Solid State Physicist gives a small stag party. He invites his father’s brother-in-law, his
brother’s father-in-law, his father-in-law’s brother, and his brother-in-law’s father. Find
the number of guests. [H(60)]
● Assume that every tree has at least one leaf. If there are more trees than there are
leaves on any tree, then there exist at least two trees with the same number of leaves.
Is this conclusion valid? [H(61)]
● Between Kroflite and Beeline are five other towns. The seven towns are an integral
number of miles from each other along a straight road. The towns are so spaced that if
one knows the number of miles a person has traveled between any two towns he can
determine the particular towns uniquely. What is the minimum distance between Kroflite
and Beeline to make this possible? [H(71)]
● An expert gives team A only a 40% chance to win the World Series. Basing his
calculation on this a gambler offers 6 to 5 odds on team B to win the first game. Is his
judgment sound? [H(101)]
● In Puevigi, the game of craps is played with a referee calling the point by adding
together the six faces (three on each die) visible from his vantage point. What is the
probability of making 16 the hard way? (That is, by throwing two eights.) [H(113)]
● To stimulate his son in the pursuit of partial differential equations, a math professor
offered to pay him $8 for every equation correctly solved and to fine him $5 for every
incorrect solution. At the end of 26 problems, neither owed any money to the other.
How many did the boy solve correctly? [H(131)]
● A necklace consists of pearls which increase uniformly from a weight of 1 carat for the
end pearls to a weight of 100 carats for the middle pearl. If the necklace weighs
altogether 1650 carats and the clasp and string together weigh as much (in carats) as
the total number of pearls, how many pearls does the necklace contain? [H(146)]
● In Puevigi numbers such as 2, 5, 8, 10, etc. that are the sum of two squares, are
considered sacred. Prove that the product of any number of sacred numbers is sacred.
[H(162)]
● A wizard in Numerical Analysis has a gold chain with 7 links. A Lady Programmer
challenges him to use the chain to buy 7 kisses, each kiss to be paid for, ​separately,​ with
one chain link. What is the smallest number of cuts he will have to make in the chain?
What is his sequence of payments? [H(165)]
● A circle of radius 1 inch is inscribed in an equilateral triangle. A smaller circle is
inscribed at each vertex, tangent to the circle and two sides of the triangle. The process

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 is continued with progressively smaller circles. What is the sum of the circumference of
all circles? [H(172)]
● When little Willie had sold all his lemonade he found he had $7.95 in nickels, dimes and
quarters. There were 47 coins altogether and, having just started to study geometry, he
noticed that the number of coins satisfied a triangle inequality, i.e., the sum of any two
denominations was greater than the third. How many of each were there? [H(219)]
● No factorial can end in five zeros. What is the next smallest number of zeros in which a
factorial can ​not​ end? [H(253)]
● Among those numbers whose literal representations in capitals consist of straight line
segments only (e.g., FIVE), only one is “orthonymic”, i.e., is equal to the number of
segments which comprise it. Find the number. [H(262)]
● It is rumored that the inscription below appears on the purple moon boulder, a fragment
of which was brought home by our Apollo 11 astronauts. If the visitors who inscribed it
were humanoid, and if the plausible inference is made that it represents an addition in a
place notation system, can one make a further inference as to the number of fingers
these visitors had? [H(264)]
● A tennis club invites 32 players of equal ability to compete in an elimination tournament.
If both John and Jim Smith are invited, what is the chance of their playing each other
during the tournament? [BOPRV1(1)]
● Three men play a game with the understanding that the loser is to double the money of
the other two. After three games, each has lost just once; and each has $24. How
much did each have to start? [BOPRV1(3)]
● In how many zeros does 10,000! end? [BOPRV1(12)]
● In a contest: Jim beat Frank, and John; Frank beat Joe, Tom, and John; Joe beat Jim,
and Tom; Tom beat Jim, and John; and John beat Joe. Rank the players according to
their winning ability. [BOPRV1(13)]
● Around a cylindrical tube, outside circumference 4 inches, length 9 inches, 10 turns of a
wire are helically wound. The ends of the wire coincide with the ends of the same
cylindrical element. Find the length of the wire. [BOPRV1(17)]
● Fourbisher and LaRouche started working for different firms at the same salary. Last
year Fourbisher had a raise of 10%, and LaRouche had a drop in pay of 10%. This year
Fourbisher had the 10% drop and LaRouche the 10% raise. Who is making more now?
[BOPRV1(54)]
● In the game of “Stogey,” two players alternately place cigars on a rectangular table with
the restriction that each new cigar must not touch any of the previously placed cigars.
Can the 1​st​ player assure himself of victory if we define the loser as the first player who
finds himself without sufficient room to place a cigar? [B3(14)]
● If a number is added to its reversal and the process repeated with the result, a number
will eventually be obtained which reads the same backward and forward. For a certain
two-digit number this process must be repeated more than ten times to arrive at a
palindromic number. What is this number? [B6(14)]
● Tickets for the senior prom were $1.00 for boys and 65 cents for girls. Although there
were more boys than girls at the dance, the percentage of boys who did not go was
twice the percentage of girls who did not go. Knowing this percentage and the total
senior class enrollment, one can deduce the total receipts for the affair. If this enrollment
is between 60 and 100, what was the total attendance at the prom? [B6(26)]
● A Bingo player has ten squares covered including the free center square. There are two
squares covered in each row and column, but only the center square on the diagonals.
The next three numbers called allow him to fill the first, second, and last squares in the
first column and he cries, “Bingo!” What did his board look like? [B7(2)]
● Four swimming pool builders submit sealed bids to a homeowner who is required by law
to accept the last bid that he sees, i.e., once he looks at a bid, he automatically rejects
all previous bids. He is not required to open all the envelopes, of course. Assuming that
all four bids are different, what procedure will maximize his chances of accepting the
lowest bid, and what will be the probability of doing so? [B7(24)]
● How many colors are necessary to color the squares of a chessboard in such a way that
the King cannot move from one square to another of the same color? (The case of the
King castling should not be considered). [B7(9)]
● Jai Alai balls come in boxes of 8 and 15; so that 38 balls (one small box and two large)
can be bought without having to break open a box, but not 37. What is the maximum
number of balls which cannot be bought without breaking boxes? [B7(22)]

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 ● There are four boys of different ages, heights and weights. Al, the youngest, is shorter
than Bob, the heaviest, who is younger than Carl, the tallest. If no boy occupies the
same rank in any two categories, how does Dan compare with the others? [B7(28)]
● All the members of a fraternity play basketball while all but one play ice hockey; yet the
number of possible basketball teams (5 members) is the same as the number of possible
ice hockey teams (6 members). Assuming there are enough members to form either
type of team, how many are in the fraternity? [B7(29)]
● A motorist rotated his tires every 5000 miles. At the end of 10,000 miles the original
spare got slashed, and was replaced. He continued rotating every 5000 miles, but
avoided using the new tire as a spare until all five had worn equally. When the new tire
first became a spare, what was the reading on the mileage gauge? [B9(22)]
● Leave six adjacent numbers of the face of a clock intact and rearrange the other six in
such a way that the sum of every pair of adjacent numbers is prime. [B9(2)]
● A teenager wants to go out 2 consecutive nights out of a 3-day weekend. Permission for
each night is obtained (or denied) by asking either Father or Mother. Father is known to
be more likely to grant permission. However, if the same parent is asked on 2
consecutive days the answers are never the same 2 days running. Whom should he ask
first? [B9(34)]
● An amphora contains black and green olives. An olive stuffer wishes to estimate which
type is more abundant by sampling two olives at random. To optimize his estimate,
should he sample with or without replacement? [B9(39)]
● While visiting Cape Kennedy, we came upon an engineer digging a hole. “How deep is
that hole?” we asked. “Guess,” said the engineer, being evasive. “My height is exactly 5
feet 10 inches.” “How much deeper are you going?” we inquired. “I am one-third done,”
was the answer, “and when I am finished my head will be twice as far below ground as it
is now above ground.” How deep will that hole be when finished? [D(22)]
● Citizens of Franistan pay as much income tax (percentage-wise) as they make rupees
per week. What is the optimal salary in Franistan? [D(32)]
● Obviously the smaller the compounding period, the greater the interest. How much does
one dollar amount to after one year at 100 percent per annum interest, compounded
continuously, i.e., instantaneously? [D(37)]
● A man packing 1-inch spheres into a rectangular tray fills the tray in a single layer with
no slack, using a rectangular packing. Trying a different arrangement, he fits in one
more sphere. He then uses a third arrangement and fits in still another sphere. What is
the size of the tray? [D(66)]
● In Byzantine basketball there are 35 scores which are impossible for a team to total, one
of them being 58. Naturally a free throw is worth fewer points than a field goal. What is
the point value of each? [D(80)]
● In a certain community there are 1000 married couples. Two-thirds of the husbands who
are taller than their wives are also heavier and three-quarters of the husbands who are
heavier than their wives are also taller. If there are 120 wives who are taller and heavier
than their husbands, how many husbands are taller and heavier than their wives?
[D(104)]
● What is the largest number of pigeonholes that can be occupied by 100 pigeons if each
hole is occupied, but no two holes contain the same number of pigeons? [D(176)]
● Tom, Dick, and Harry played a round of golf, each ending with a total of 72 strokes.
Each pair competed against each other in match play (most holes won). Tom beat Dick,
and Dick beat Harry. Does it follow that Tom beat Harry? [H(29)]
● In any gathering of six people prove that either three are mutually acquainted or three
are mutually unacquainted. [H(69)]
● A lamp has three on-off buttons, all of which must be on for the lamp to light. A man
wishes to turn on the lamp at a moment when only the second switch is off. He does not
know this and proceeds to press the first button. Getting no result he presses the
second and eventually, on the seventh trial, (never repeating any on-off configuration),
the lamp finally lights. In what order did he press the buttons? [H(76)]
● In Bristol 90% of the citizens drink tea; 80% drink coffee; 70% drink whiskey; and 60%
drink gin. No one drinks all four beverages. What percent of Bristol’s citizens drink
liquor? [H(81)]
● A pirate buried his treasure on an island, a conspicuous landmark of which were three
palm trees, each one 100 feet from the other two. Two of these trees were in a N-S line.
The directions for finding the treasure read: “Proceed from southernmost tree 15 feet

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 due north, then 26 feet due west.” Is the treasure buried within the triangle formed by
the trees? [H(184)]
● The Ben Azouli are camped at an oasis 45 miles west of Tagaba. They decide to
dynamite the Trans-Hadramaut railroad joining Taqaba to Maqaba, 60 miles north of the
oasis. If the Azouli can cover 18 miles a day, how long will it take them to reach the
railroad? [H(186)]
● Through binoculars a bird watcher observed a hummingbird feeder between one and
two o’clock of an afternoon. He timed the visits and saw a ruby-throat take a drink at 1,
5, 6, 8, 15, 16, 19, 22, 27, 29, 32, 36, 43, 45, 49, 50, 57, and 58 minutes after the hour of
one. The last visit he saw took place at two, at which time he left in perplexity. He knew
from experience that a hummer’s “feeding cycle” is remarkably stable and is generally
between 5 and 15 minutes long. This one seemed rather erratic, to say the least. Can
you advise him on what was going on? [H(204)]
● Three farmers, Adams, Brown and Clark all have farms containing the same number of
acres. Adam’s farm is most nearly square, the length being only 8 miles longer than the
width. Clark has the most oblong farm, the length being 34 miles longer than the width.
Brown’s farm is intermediate between these two, the length being 28 miles longer then
the width. If all the dimensions are in exact miles, what is the size of each farm?
[H(216)]
● If you solve the alphametic WATER – HEAT = ICE, you will have the solution to this
double riddle: “This bird’s assured of his breakfast/ and these before steeds cause a
wreck fast.” Curiously, 70243 is the answer to ​both​ riddles! [H(258)]

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References

Mathematical Bafflers​ edited by Angela Dunn, Dover publications; ISBN 0-486-23961-6. Paperback, 217
pages. (1980 with corrections from the 1964 edition and foreword by Angela Dunn). McGraw-Hill Book
Company. Available on AMAZON for $10.95. I did not stumble across this book until around 1996 – and
the title distracted me because it did not spell out Litton’s “Problematical Recreations” – but when I saw
the woodcut illustrations by Ed Kysar – and some familiar problems, I was nostalgically elated! You can
peek inside t​ he book online at AMAZON – try not to cheat though!

On the back cover of her book, we read (in part) the following:

Mathematical Bafflers​ gathers the prime problems from 12 years of the esteemed weekly ​Problematical
Recreations​ which appeared in ​Aviation Week​ [and ​Space Technology​] and ​Electronic New​s – periodicals
read by mathematicians, engineers, scientists, computer programmers, and over the years, by serious
puzzlists who heard about the special section. To keep the quality at a peak, Angela Dunn and a team of
mathematicians invented their own puzzles and gleaned the best submissions from an enormous reader
response. Criteria were conceptual originality, ingenuity of approach, elegance of solution, with
preference given to the kind of puzzle more vulnerable to a flash of inspiration than mere persistence.
Categories include algebra, geometry, diophantine equations, logic and deduction, probability, insight and
number theory.

The woodcut illustrations (by very gifted Ed Kysar) really add to the charm (as used in the 11 annual
booklets they published). Also, creative titles at the top of each problem greatly enhances the lure of the
problems! The book contains more than 150 problems. Note: James F. Hurley’s book ​Litton’s
Problematical Recreations​ does not contain these cute problem titles.

Litton’s Problematical Recreations​ b ​ y James F. Hurley, 1971, Van Nostrand Reinhold Company.
AMAZON has Jim’s book for under $10.00 hardback. Jim breaks his selection of the ​over 600 problems​ in
the 12-year series into 8 chapters by topics. I recall stumbling across this book when I was with General
Electric Company Aerospace and Electronic Systems Department in Utica, NY in 1977 browsing the math
books in the town library. I recall my thrill and excitement when I saw these collected into a single book! I
had to get it!!! I loved that Jim gave progressively harder problems by math topic. But the earlier chapters
are as tough or tougher because they require that flash of insight and clever inspiration. Over the years I
lost the book but in March 2013 Jim sent me an autographed copy. I hadn’t yet seen Angela Dunn’s book
until later when I came to Nashua, NH in 1995. I got Angela’s book at Barnes and Noble.

A photo of some of the annual booklets published by Litton Industries follows later. On the back page of
each of these booklets was Litton’s solicitation for engineers, mathematicians, and scientists to contact
Litton for challenging careers. Some of the advertisements presented follow.

​ olume 1 (contains Booklets 1-5) - 1964

Excerpt From​ Best of Problematical Recreations V

“Seeking new solutions to current technological problems is but a part of our activity at Litton. We
continually pose questions concerning the future state-of-the-art and pursue the answers that will be
needed tomorrow.

To do so, we need inquisitive engineers, mathematicians and scientists with the ability to anticipate and
predict. We invite such independent thinkers to consider a career with us.”

Booklet 3 ​(1963)

“To whom shall the world look for the enlargement of its knowledge? Who shall venture into untrodden
regions, follow up the faint discoveries of earlier times, and resolve a thousand difficulties that baffle
human ingenuity? You must look to the intellectual adventurers who are not afraid to go out of the
common track of thought.” -E. T. Channing​ ​(from a speech delivered at Harvard College in 1818)

We look to the engineer, the scientist, the investigative mind to search beneath the surface, to detect new
materials and new methods, to create new concepts.

Noesis #206, September 2020

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Our Plants, Laboratories, and Offices in the United States and throughout the Free World are expanding
as rapidly as our space age technology, constantly creating new careers for independent thinkers.

Our fields of endeavor are: Defense Equipment and Systems, Business Machines, Communications
Systems, Components, Geophysical Research and Instrumentation.

Booklet 4 ​(1963)

“. . . it is the man, not the method, that solves the problem.” -Heinrich Maschke (on ​Present Problems of
Algebra and Analysis: Congress of Arts and Science​,​ V ​ ol. I, 1905)

“Our man is the independent engineer who, not content to browse along beaten paths, looks for new
methods to yield more elegant solutions. He is our innovator, our growth, our future.

If you are such a man, your future can grow with Litton. The long-term potential for our products is
responsible for the expansion of our Plants, Laboratories, and Offices in the United States and throughout
the Free World. It is this continual advancement that is creating careers for the original engineer.”

Booklet 5 ​(1963)

Front Page:​ The forty-one problems that follow were, for the most part, thoughtfully contributed by our
readers. We pass them along for your mathematical entertainment.

Some require simple reasoning while others might challenge a professional mathematician. In all the
emphasis has been on conciseness of statement, elegance of solution, and imaginative appeal.

When you have arrived at an answer, check with ours in the back of the booklet. May we hope they
agree.

Back page: New methods of solution, new approaches, [and] new answers are being sought and
encouraged at Litton in every area of our activity. At the prevailing rate of change in technology, “keeping
abreast” is not sufficient. It is vital to anticipate, to foresee, to predict.

We look to inquisitive minds for this vigorous expansion of man’s knowledge. We invite imaginative
engineers, scientists, mathematicians to investigate a career with us.

Our Plants, Laboratories, and Offices in the United States and throughout the Free World continue to
grow, creating new positions in our fields: Electronic Systems; Electronic Components; Business
Machines, Equipment and Supplies; Commercial Electronic Equipment and Services; Nuclear-Powered
Submarines, Surface Vessels.

Booklet 6 ​(1964)

In our search for new answers, new concepts to advance our technology, we find the ​uncommon
denominator, the untried direction, the original approach most often leads to innovations. We at Litton are
known for being self-starters with the courage to get off the beaten track.

Engineers, mathematicians and scientists looking for mental elbowroom and longing for the freedom to
forge new trails are invited to investigate a career with us.

We have Plants, Laboratories, and Offices throughout the United States and the Free World. Our fields of
endeavor are wide and varied. Generally: Electronic Systems; Electronic Components; Business
Machines, Equipment and Supplies; Commercial Electronic Equipment and Services; Nuclear-Powered
Submarines, Surface Vessels.

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Booklet 7​ (1965)

Open-page of booklet: Seventh in a Series. 1 + 6 + 7 = 143

The strange mathematics above can be readily proven. In our efforts to avoid the cumbersome and
maintain conciseness, we combined the first five books of this series into one handy edition, ​The Best of
Problematical Recreations – Volume 1,​ now replacing the out-of-print, individual booklets one through
five. Our sixth and seventh booklets are single compilations of 40 and 43 problems, respectively,
representing our continuing booklet series. All three editions (143 problems!) are available upon request
by dropping a card to: Problematical Recreations, Litton Industries, Beverley Hills, California.

Back Page: Proof of the unique solutions being found at Litton is our continual development of new
methods, new materials, new procedures. The advanced equipment that attends is answering the need
for greater accuracy, increased efficiency and more reliability in electronic components and systems.

We consider our recognition of the individual contribution to be the foundation of our accomplishments.
We therefore encourage original and inventive engineers, mathematicians, and scientists to join us.

Booklet 8​ (1966)

Back Page: We hope you have enjoyed this set of mathematical challenges designed to delight your
inventive faculties. We at Litton delight in the application of mathematical and scientific disciplines to the
practical problems facing us in our fast-moving, technological fields of endeavor.

If you are an engineer, mathematician, or scientist with the ability to translate your skills into advanced
electronic components and systems, you are invited to apply for a Litton career.

Booklet 9 ​(1967)

[1​st​ page] – Our series is raised to the ninth power with this new edition of mathematical challenges
largely contributed by our readers. We thank them for their consistently novel offerings and welcome all
readers to follow suit and extend, what we hope will be, an infinite sequence. [back page advertisement] –
Our Plants, Laboratories, and Facilities throughout the United States and the Free World are continually
expanding and creating new positions. We at Litton consider good problem-solvers to be the foundation of
our technological accomplishments. If you are an engineer, mathematician or scientist and would like to
apply your ingenuity to advanced electronic components and systems, we suggest you consider a Litton
career.

Booklet 11 ​(1970)

If you’ve found this collection of rigorous mental gymnastics stimulating and entertaining, we suggest you
take your talents to LIEPS (Litton Industries Extended Placement System). Your qualifications can then
be known to all our Litton divisions in the United States and throughout the Free World. You can be
placed in the area of our endeavors best suited to your capabilities: Business Systems and Equipment;
Professional Services and Equipment; Industrial Systems and Equipment: Defense and Marine Systems.

Engineers, mathematicians, and scientists are invited to address an inquiry to: LIEPS (Litton Industries
Extended Placement System), 360 North Crescent Drive, Beverley Hills, California 90213

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 Political Legitimacy Through The Ages

Ken Shea

"Politics is the shadow cast on society by big business." -John Dewey

"Technique is the boundary of democracy. What technique wins, democracy loses." -Jacques Ellul

As few as three or four millennia ago, mankind, the uncontrollable and occasionally tumultuous
forces of nature, and society were largely considered one. The implications from this
undifferentiated apprehension were profound, but mostly took the form of mythopoeia and
believing that mankind's fortunes waxed and waned due to awesome, uncontrollable forces.
Propitiations to the gods could be made, of course, but the idea that the course of society could
be significantly and directly altered by mankind in some fashion was considered dangerously
exotic or outright incomprehensible to most people. Before Athenian democracy and the Greek
philosophers, particularly the fifth-century BCE Sophists (e.g., Antiphon) and Plato (b. 428
BCE), nature and politics were essentially inextricable; ontologically, politics as such arguably
didn't exist yet as an independent mode of thought or sophisticated field of inquiry. Eventually
both political philosophy and politics became differentiated from the earlier skein of mankind,
nature, and society and reciprocal exchanges were possible between political philosophy and
politics. Reifying these concepts, Plato hoped the artistry of the statesman would overwhelm the
insincere promises of the mere politician. Considering Plato’s foundational influence, it wouldn't
be much of an exaggeration to apply British philosopher Alfred North Whitehead's famous
comments on European philosophy in general ("a series of footnotes to Plato") to political
philosophy in particular, such was Plato's reverberating impact and ingenuity in conceptualizing
politics as an entire system of interlocking roles, procedures, institutions, and assumptions (cf.
Plato's ​Republic​, Plato’s ​Laws)​ . In fact, the Roman statesman Cicero includes the following
rhetorical question in his first-century BCE Socratic dialogue, ​De re publica​: "What better
authority can we cite than Plato?”

But what are political philosophy and politics all about? Political philosophy seeks to clarify the
background assumptions upon which politics is predicated. Therefore, political philosophy is
concerned with the following kinds of ostensibly abstract issues: rights, justice, liberty, duties,
law, and political legitimacy. The distinction between political philosophy and politics is
analogous to that between philosophy and science more generally insofar as philosophers will
inspect the background assumptions of science (e.g., naïve realism) while science - viz.,
political science or empirical science proper - will be concerned more narrowly with the facts on
the ground and the rules of engagement with those facts. What exactly are these political facts
on the ground and how do they define, and get defined by, the issues political philosophers
perennially grapple with? Politics, at bottom, may be a way of exchanging power for the promise
of security to better navigate constants in human affairs, such as change, resource scarcity, and
the fact that groups in society seek competitive advantage within and between themselves.
James Madison would much later say that, "if men were angels, no government would be
necessary"; this is only half-true because of resource scarcity, partial rights, and concentration
of wealth. The role of private power, on the whole, has been criminally underappreciated qua a
facilitator or check on freedom, which has at least two aspects, viz., freedom from government
coercion, i.e., the right-wing libertarian conceptualization of liberty, and, second, the actual

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means to carry out one's desires (cf. Milton Friedman’s ​Free to Choose​, Friedrich Hayek’s ​The
Road to Serfdom​, Charles Murray’s ​In Our Hands: A Plan to Replace the Welfare State)​ .

Put another way, politics is fundamentally about power, how it is attained, justified, wielded, and
to whom the fruits of that exercise of power flow. The word politics can be historically traced to
Aristotle's ​Politics,​ an eight-part text, which some historians consider to be a companion piece to
Nicomachean Ethics,​ such was Aristotle's earnest striving towards virtuous, legitimate, general
welfare-promoting rule; please excuse Aristotle's qualified defenses of slavery, monarchy, and
aristocracy. Etymologically, politics itself means something like the "affairs of the cities"; ​polis
means city in Greek. The conflation of politics and ethics - an understandably head-scratching
combination to modern minds - came naturally for the ancient Greeks since they made fewer
distinctions between personal and social modes, which could help explain why Aristotle's
Politics​ and ​Nicomachean Ethics​ would be linked. Aristotle essentially concludes in Book IV of
Politics​ that a polity, or constitutional form of government, is potentially ideal because, all things
being equal, such would consistently tend to promote widespread personal fulfillment and
champion the common interest by harmonizing class concerns; Aristotle considered democracy
a "defective" and "perverted" politics compared to polity because the former, democracy, was
prone to eventual concentration of power, demagoguery (​agogos​ means "leading" in Greek),
and mob rule. The mob can be more charitably called the ​demos​, which historically meant the
common people of ancient Greece; today, the term ​demos​ is used to refer to the electorate in a
democracy. Etymologically, the word democracy itself means power (Greek ​kratia​ for -cracy,
meaning power or rule) of the people (Greek ​demos,​ meaning the people).

The phrase ​de re publica​ is Latin and treated synonymously with ​res publica​, which might
literally translate to a "public matter." Today, ​res publica​ is used coterminously with the word
commonwealth. Already, the reader will appreciate how far the fifth-century BCE Sophists and
Plato have shifted the landscape and, in critical respects, created the landscape. In the dialogue
Laws,​ Plato, who rarely missed an opportunity to blend mathematics, philosophy, and inchoate
civics, homed in on the number 5,040 for the ideal number of citizens composing a ​polis ​partly
because 5,040 is a superior highly composite number boasting a staggering 60 divisors (5,040
is the sum of 42 consecutive prime numbers, seven factorial, and the product of 10 times 9
times 8 times 7). Plato’s rationale seemed to be that a highly composite number would be
advantageous for divvying up positions and roles in a society. The trouble would come as the de
facto interregnum of the Hellenistic Age - historians trace this period from the death of
Macedonian king Alexander the Great in 323 BCE to the death of the Roman Republic and birth
of the Roman Empire right after the Battle of Actium in 31 BCE - marked a transition from the
sheltered reality of the city (​polis​) to the more unbounded, expansionist nature of empire. The
Seleucid Empire, founded by and ruled dynastically starting with Seleucus I Nicator, existed
throughout much of the Hellenistic Age and accumulated significant chunks of Alexander the
Great’s once-grand Macedonian Empire post-323 BCE before succumbing to Roman general
Pompey the Great, a pivotal figure in the Roman Republic’s transition to Roman Empire.

Meanwhile, the Cynics, Stoics, and Epicureans sought to enlarge the depth of field from the
traditional obligations of citizenship and questioned the basic values inhering within the ​polis​.
Sheldon Wolin lyrically writes in ​Politics and Vision​ that, “The strong elements of despair and
withdrawal that colored Cynicism and Epicureanism were nourished by an anti-political impulse
which could not be concealed by their temporizing and grudging acknowledgment of some utility
in a political order.” Epicurus went as far as to suggest, “we must free ourselves from the prison

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of affairs and politics” (​Politics and Vision,​ pg. 71). These emerging philosophical schools
viewed the individual life as more precious, and the philosophers associated with these schools
largely encouraged acolytes to universalize their sense of citizenship to the entire cosmos,
hence taking a considerable amount of liberty with the notion of citizenship. Centuries later,
Marcus Aurelius in ​Meditations​ would glancingly articulate this Stoic ideal by saying, “the world
is in a manner a state.” Because these universalized conceptions of man basically eschewed
civic identification as such, let alone civic engagement, considering them political would be
magnanimous. In terms of scale, however, these broader or more tenuous conceptions of
citizenship do function as a useful metaphor for the Hellenistic period, a kind of interregnum or
gawky adolescence between city and empire. Isopolity and the more extreme sympolity can be
seen as equally awkward stopgaps on the rocky road from city to empire.

With sprawling areas increasingly at stake, one way to bind people together is through myth
tethered to hierarchy. As the attainment and wielding of power usually requires or, at least,
benefits from some kind of myth or attempt at political legitimation in an ordered society,
emperors and monarchs throughout history have predictably played the divinity card. The
Mandate of Heaven that putatively informed various Chinese dynasties and the Imperial cult of
ancient Rome were early attempts at shoring up political legitimacy under celestial pretexts.
One popular, and seemingly incontestable, way of purporting to have political legitimacy through
the ages has been to say that some sort of celestial being has sanctioned one extraordinary
individual, or special group, having power and implicitly nodded at the subjugation of a less
fortunate group composed of lesser beings - the divine right of kings comes to mind. Church
and state, for instance, significantly blurred when French and English monarchs provided the
royal (a.k.a., King’s) touch in the sacramental ritual of laying on of hands to supposedly cure
scrofula (i.e., mycobacterial cervical lymphadenitis, an abnormality of the lymph nodes
associated with tuberculosis), or the King’s evil, as scrofula was apparently misapprehended at
the time. Shakespeare's ​Macbeth​ even references Edward the Confessor's legendary touch ("A
most miraculous work in this good king," gushes Malcolm in Act IV, Scene III). Monarchs would
hope to cement dynasties or merely heighten the legitimacy of their reign by miraculously curing
diseases, which often naturally went into remission. Clearly, this entire situation left a lot to be
desired in terms of scientific acumen, but the religious practice of laying on of hands did
outwardly broaden political legitimacy for the monarch across social classes. If nothing else, the
religious practice of laying on of hands highlights the centuries-long function that the Roman
Catholic Church served as a quasi-state granting, bolstering, or withdrawing claims of political
legitimacy to European monarchs in the Middle Ages and Early Modern Period.

Over time, both scientific understanding and colonial ambitions grew. The European colonizers,
thus, seized on a self-serving explanation for colonialism that they felt sufficiently justified
exploiting poorer peoples in Asia and Africa: exposure to European culture does a world of good
for an occupied country's development, backwards manners, and spiritual health. Or so the
stated rationale went. Domestically, a different story was being told by the Enlightenment-era
political philosopher John Locke, who would impress Thomas Jefferson with a concept known
as the consent of the governed. The social contract theorist John Locke maintained that
governments gained moral and political legitimacy through shoring up consent from those
governed, which consequently justified the use of state power. Thomas Jefferson would go one
step further than invoking the consent of the governed in the preamble to the U.S. Declaration of
Independence: Thomas Jefferson grandly asserted that “unalienable” rights and “self-evident”
truths were “endowed by their creator.” The second sentence of the preamble, confusingly,

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informs the reader that these "unalienable" rights need securing by governments "deriving their
just powers from the consent of the governed." The word unalienable, and the more modern
inalienable, literally denotes that which cannot be taken from the possessor, which would seem
to render the follow-up sentence about government safeguarding a non sequitur. James
Madison simply reasoned the government “should be so constituted as to protect the minority of
the opulent against the majority.” John Jay, esteemed Founding Father and the first Chief
Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, more bluntly said, "those who own the
country ought to govern it." This sort of callous attitude, betraying realpolitik, came to inform
ensuing U.S. imperialism and, relatedly, the current decrepit state of U.S. electoral politics,
which the late, great political philosopher Sheldon Wolin characterized as highly illiberal in
Democracy Incorporated: Managed Democracy and the Specter of Inverted Totalitarianism.​

Bearing these later developments in mind, Founding Father and Federalist Alexander Hamilton
was idealistic when he declared, "The fabric of American empire ought to rest on the solid basis
of the consent of the people. The streams of national power ought to flow immediately from the
pure original fountain of all legitimate authority," at a time when the U.S. Electoral College
tempered the passions of the ​hoi polloi​ and state legislatures elected members to the U.S.
Senate, which was once actually known as the “cooling saucer.” The latter U.S. Senate election
process would cause much chaos, bribery, and violence throughout the 19th century until the
17th Amendment was ratified and direct election of senators came to pass in 1913. Further, this
concept of the consent of the governed remains difficult to square with the practice of
gerrymandering, multiplying federal agencies peopled with unelected bureaucrats, and the fact
that six of the last seven presidential elections in the United States have seen the Democratic
candidate win the popular vote over the Republican candidate. (Only two major parties are
typically tolerated in the United States, though Ross Perot garnered 18.9 percent of the popular
vote in the 1992 U.S. presidential election. The exasperation from both major parties reached a
fever pitch when “spoiler” Ralph Nader had the audacity to run in the closely contested 2000
U.S. presidential election.) Structurally, the U.S. Electoral College itself obviously has roots in
slavery and shrewd political calculation - Thomas Jefferson, in fact, is known by historians as
The Negro President (e.g., by historian Garry Wills), and Federalists at the time bristled at the
so-called slave power of three-fifths representation in the Electoral College that bestowed
Thomas Jefferson the 1800 U.S. presidential election. Thomas Jefferson, the third president of
the United States and purported Author of America, is an enormously complicated figure. On the
one hand, Thomas Jefferson may have owned 600 slaves and, on the other, he harbored
genuinely egalitarian tendencies, though perhaps not as heartfeltly as Thomas Paine (cf. ​Rights
of Man)​ , and wanted a Constitutional Convention every generation to ensure freshness of ideas.
To put this all in perspective, the U.S. Constitution came into force in 1789, when about six
percent of the population had the right to vote. Property-owning white males were waved
through and permitted to vote, but Native Americans, blacks, and women were turned back, if
they weren't killed or enslaved outright. The "unalienable" rights and "self-evident" truths
"endowed" by the Almighty apparently did not initially encompass the latter three groups. White
women were permitted to vote 100 years ago in 1920 with the ratification of the 19th
Amendment, 131 years after the U.S. Constitution came into force. The “consent of the people”
was soaring rhetoric when 94 percent of the population was effectively disenfranchised. Native
Americans had to wait longer than the 14th Amendment and Indian Citizenship Act of 1924 to
receive full citizenship and suffrage in a way that mirrored the trajectories of blacks and women
achieving the franchise - gradually and with significant setbacks across individual states. The

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Voting Rights Act of 1965 sought to prohibit voting discrimination nationally and update the
Reconstruction Amendments to guarantee civil rights from coast to coast for all U.S. citizens.

These issues collectively revolve around how far the fabric of America extends. Alexander
Hamilton, for example, emphasized implied powers when he mentioned American empire, as
opposed to a constitutional republic outlining a separation of powers,​ ​in ​The Federalist Papers.​
After all, who can say that providing for the common defense and promoting the general welfare
for the American people doesn’t necessitate taking proactive steps outside the explicit language
of The Constitution, assuming an implied powers interpretation of The Constitution? In ​The
Federalist​ No. 22, Alexander Hamilton refers to the fledgling constitutional republic (i.e., a form
of indirect democracy whereby representatives are theoretically elected) of the United States as
an empire, thereby anticipating the imperialist aggression of the Spanish-American War,
Philippine-American War, and annexation of Guam, Puerto Rico, Hawaii, and the Philippines by
the United States that would come decades later at the turn of the 20th century. Many historians
of vastly different political bents, such as Gore Vidal and Niall Ferguson, consider these spats
between the United States and Spain the beginnings of U.S. empire. The ​fin de siècle​ debates
over whether the United States should be inward-looking or imperialistic are exhaustively
chronicled in Stephen Kinzer's recent book ​The True Flag: Theodore Roosevelt, Mark Twain,
and the Birth of American Empire.​ ​ ​U.S. imperialism got underway in earnest as Theodore
Roosevelt proclaimed that “flagrant” and “chronic” wrongdoing by a weaker Latin American
nation legitimated invasion; the United States would, of course, unilaterally decide all of this.
This ad hoc process was called Roosevelt’s corollary to the Monroe Doctrine. Stephen Kinzer,
on the whole, concluded that Americans have coexisting instincts of imperialism and
isolationism. Interestingly, the United States didn’t have to choose between the two when it
expanded its borders considerably without seafaring via, chronologically: Thomas Jefferson
inking the Louisiana Purchase in 1803 and acquiring nearly a million square miles from France
(Napoleon Bonaparte needed funds to finance the post-revolutionary conflicts), the Adams-Onís
Treaty (a.k.a., Florida Purchase Treaty) of 1819 that shored up land from Spain, and bringing
the Mexican-American War to a close with the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo in 1848 and
securing land from Mexico. A spirit of manifest destiny truly pervaded 19th-century America.

After the impassioned debates about America’s part to play on the world’s stage had been
sufficiently aired, the quixotic Wilsonian quest to "make the world safe for democracy" with the
Committee on Public Information (cf. Edward Bernays’s ​Propaganda​) was echoed by the
Truman Doctrine, fueled by the National Security Act of 1947, and belligerent Kennedy Doctrine
roughly one, two, and three generations later. One will scan the U.S. Constitution in vain in
search of justification for such globe-trotting missions, which necessitate the leadership of the
self-deputized United States maniacally scouring the entire planet for perceived deviant
behavior; the threat of communism proved useful to rally the troops for a time. Decades later,
the Reagan Doctrine and Bush Doctrine simply dispensed with a few niceties in deterring
democracy abroad (e.g., Nicaragua) and rolling back civil liberties at home (e.g., USA PATRIOT
Act), purportedly to fight the global war on terror. The concept of democracy, in principle, had
gone from a way of empowering the ​demos​ (remember that democracy derives from ​demos ​and
kratia​ in Greek) to dubiously legitimizing the internationally unpopular imperialist aggression of
the United States in the name of supposedly spreading democracy and, curiously, so-called free
market capitalism, which is said to be almost inexorably paired with democracy by the World
Economic Forum and International Monetary Fund (cf. Washington Consensus). In the
immediate wake of the Soviet Union’s dissolution, political economist Francis Fukuyama served

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up a preposterous riposte to Karl Marx’s historical materialism by declaring that humanity had
reached the eschatological “end of history” with democratic capitalism pedestalled as the
crowning achievement. A more sober assessment will show that the worldwide adoption of any
political or economic framework (e.g., Western liberal democracy or communism) is intrinsically
a utopian fantasy; cultures are simply too different. What’s more, markets are almost never free
in the Rothbardian sense (is that even desirable?) because the overwhelming majority of
governments establish rules for contracts, charters, commerce, taxation, and hundreds of other
decisive factors; the U.S. economy is marked by substantial rent seeking and corporate welfare,
which is the antithesis to true​ laissez-faire​ (French for "let do") economics and widely actualizing
the Schumpterian concept of creative destruction. Presently, the only creative destruction is that
done to the public coffers, democracy, and trust in the system.

A country can have an illiberal democracy or no democracy to speak of and still have capitalism,
or a country can feature democratic institutions with nationalization of public assets, high
welfare spending, and stringently regulated trading. In spite of this apparent variance, the
evidence increasingly shows that actual democracy is incompatible with unregulated capitalism,
grotesque levels of inequality, and concentrated wealth (cf. Joseph Stiglitz’s ​The Price of
Inequality: How Today’s Divided Society Endangers Our Future​). The bottom seventy percent
socioeconomically in the United States have scant impact on federal policy in the sense that
their wishes are not reflected in legislation; the opposite is increasingly the case as a citizen
moves from the 70th percentile socioeconomically to the 99th percentile socioeconomically.
This situation does not describe an actual democracy. Corporate capture, the manufacture of
consent, and managed democracy have rendered federal elections in the United States all but
theater (cf. Princeton’s “Testing Theories of American Politics: Elites, Interest Groups, and
Average Citizens”). Voter turnout in the United States (voter turnout percentage = raw turnout
number among voting-age population (VAP)/raw number of VAP in underlying population X 100)
hasn't exceeded more than two-thirds of the electorate at any point in the last century in terms
of these dramatized quadrennial U.S. presidential elections. That's exactly the kind of yawning
apathy one would expect in such an illiberal system awash in corporate investments and pliant
career politicians. The United States would be a wonderful place to start spreading actual
democracy but, instead, the neoconservatives and neoliberals - two terms almost tailormade to
rouse George Orwell, and perhaps even Franz Kafka, for their reversals of meaning - in the
United States have conspired to preclude actual democracy from breaking out internationally or
domestically. There might be no easy way out electorally. Radical reforms of some kind will
have to occur to sidestep the descent into corporate tyranny. Consumer advocate and civil
libertarian Ralph Nader has a series of sensible proposals in ​The Seventeen Solutions: Bold
Ideas for Our American Future ​designed to serve as a roadmap to enliven Americans’ sense of
citizenship moving forward. There’s a window for positive change, but it is quickly closing.

“Societies grow into systems. The systems require management and are therefore increasingly wielded,
like a tool or a weapon, by those who have power. The rest of the population is still needed to do specific
things. But the citizens are not needed to contribute to the form or direction of the society. The more
“advanced” the civilization, the more irrelevant the citizen becomes.” -John Ralson Saul

"What is at stake in democratic politics is whether ordinary men and women can recognize that their
concerns are best protected and cultivated under a regime whose actions are governed by principles of
commonality, equality, and fairness, a regime in which taking part in politics becomes a way of staking out
and sharing in a common life and its forms of self-fulfillment." -Sheldon Wolin

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 Foreword to ​Stains Upon the Silence: Something for No One

Kadam Isbe, Ph.D.

The unclassifiable ruminations of the author of the present work, ​Stains Upon the Silence​ —
something for no one, blur the lines between philosophy, cosmology, poetry and humor.
Perhaps they are conceptual free verse, surreal, pithy, sometimes sardonic. May wanders in a
hyperdimensional Garden of Forking paths throughout a hologrammic Library of Babel. Each
letter of his writings, and certainly the spaces between the letters, themselves, and all possible
combinatoric arrangements of these, are clearly isomorphic to each point in the Cosmic
hologram; linked by reverse causality to all information which exists on the future event horizon,
in this series of divagations, a conceptual Drunkard’s Walk.

If May is an atheist, then he writes only for God. Aspiring to become a popular writer, he writes
for beings which do not, and never will, exist. He recognizes that reality, a Rorschach inkblot
interpreted as if it were a geometric theorem and a geometric theorem interpreted as if it were a
Rorschach inkblot, has made parody obsolete. The libraries of the ‘future’ in each of Hugh
Everett’s Many-Worlds will be strewn with uncountable numbers of sublime corpses of amortal
beings, who spent their endless lives attempting to determine the most optimal order of the 54
factorial arrangements of the subsections of this work, in order to extract each particle of
meaning. This is certainly infinite time well spent.

“I know of an uncouth region whose librarians repudiate the vain and superstitious custom of
finding a meaning in books and equate it with that of finding a meaning in dreams or in the
chaotic lines of one’s palm...the books signify nothing in themselves. This dictum, we shall see,
is not entirely fallacious.” — Jorge Luis Borges, “The Library of Babel,” page 3

If, contra J. W. von Goethe, everything that does not exist is a symbol of the eternal, then this is
certainly true of the wisdom of the present work.

Professor Kadam Isbe, Transontological Studies, Kafka International University, Akkad

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 Foreword to ​Stains Upon the Silence: Something for No One

Anonymous

I’ve done some writing myself, and have found that one of the hardest things to do is sustain
humor. Good humor is more than stringing together jokes, there has to be pacing, a rise and
fall, which you do very well. I’m impressed how you find so many twists and paradoxes and
absurdities where I wouldn’t even have looked for them.

I actually think it’s more like poetry than an attempt at humor, though. I think that finding those
twists and paradoxes is how you deal with unknowable things, and make them less daunting or
even frightening. Each one encapsulates where reason isn’t good enough to lead to absolute
truth. Sometimes. Other times you are just looking for laughs. It’s good, though. High-brow
without being stodgy or tedious. They’re good laughs, too, or at least good tries at good laughs,
with a good success rate.

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 Preface to ​Stains Upon the Silence: Something for No One

Richard May, a.k.a., May-Tzu

Someone asked me what ​Stains Upon the Silence: Something for No One​ was about. If I knew
what it was about, I wouldn’t have written it. An editor once suggested that these writings are an
admixture of what Tibetan Buddhism calls “crazy wisdom” with sane folly.

“But I don’t want to go among mad people,” Alice remarked.

“Oh, you can’t help that,” said the Cat: “we’re all mad here. I’m mad. You’re mad.”

“How do you know I’m mad?” said Alice.

“You must be,” said the Cat, “or you wouldn’t have come here.”

— Lewis Carroll, ​Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland,​ Chapter 6

Maybe the act of trying to understand what I have written changes its meaning, as the act of
making an observation or measurement at the quantum scale changes the very phenomenon
being observed. G. I. Gurdjieff maintained that all knowledge was material. Presumably then, if
he is correct, knowledge and information would be subject to the conservation laws of physics.
There is in fact a principle of conservation of quantum information as a consequence of two
fundamental theorems of quantum mechanics. See, e.g., “Experimental Test of the Quantum
No-Hiding Theorem,” Jharana Rani Samal, et al., Physical Review Letters.

If information in the universe is conserved, i.e., can neither be created, nor destroyed, neither
added to nor deleted, then what are the implications of this for the acquisition of knowledge by
individuals and perhaps even of wisdom, however defined, or for the persistence of memories?

Richard May, a.k.a., May-Tzu

Noesis #206, September 2020

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https://www.amazon.com/Stains-Upon-Silence-something-one-ebook/dp/B07WKGH752

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 A Stain Upon the Fermi Silence:

​ y Richard May
Forethought and Afterword for ​Stains Upon the Silence b

Adam Kisby

[email protected]

Today, I met with a self-described alien. I traveled deep inside a mountain to find him. We
discussed a variety of topics including the trauma of pre-existence, the Matrioshka nature of the
subtler spiritual bodies, the precise duration of the timeless Bardo state, birth as death, death as
birth, alpha as preceding beta, beta waves as preceding alpha waves, physical immortality as a
practical means by which to attain enlightenment, and enlightenment as a practical means by
which to attain post-existence. We discussed synchronicity and mere coincidence, noting that
perceptions of the same are largely a matter of attention, but that, generally speaking, events
must exist in order to be attended to. We agreed that certain license plates have a lot to say, but
that they're limited to using such words as "nomads" when perhaps "peripatetics" would be
better, due to their having far fewer characters than a standard Twitter post. He engages in
terrestrial spiritual practices but has abandoned sitting as pedestrian, preferring instead
standing or even walking. His writings, consisting mostly of observations on the human
condition in the form of Monarch notes on haikus, are less obscure, in fact, than the magna opi
of some Earth prodigies. He spoke of commissioning me to compile his writings, half-despairing,
like the Buddha, that so few would understand. There was no talk of Tibetan music or
strawberry ice cream, but his eyes grew wide at his own mention of Roquefort cheese. He
offered me Bing cherries or walnuts, but he was careful not to offer me any Roquefort. It's
unclear to me if this was due to his own deliberate attachment to it or his consideration of my
difficulties in overcoming a pernicious casomorphin addiction.

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 Exceptionally Intelligent Individuals’ Extraordinary Ideas Index (EIIEII)

Adam Kisby

[email protected]

Directions:

The relationship between intelligence and belief is complex. This survey is designed to discover
the extent to which members of the high-IQ community believe “weird things” (in the sense of
Shermer).

First​, list any high-IQ societies of which you have ever been a member (high-IQ society
membership is not required to complete the survey).

Second​, rate each of the 100 belief statements on a scale of 1 to 7, according to the following
table:

1 = Strongly Disagree

2 = Moderately Disagree

3 = Mildly Disagree

4 = Ambivalent

5 = Mildly Agree

6 = Moderately Agree

7 = Strongly Agree

The belief statements are phrased as precisely as possible, so be sure to answer them exactly
as they are written.

For any belief statement that contains an unfamiliar reference, take a moment to look up the
reference online before choosing your response.

Feel free to include any explanations or other comments that you wish to share.

Third​, send your complete set of responses (list of high-IQ society memberships, belief
statement ratings, and any explanations or other comments) to ​[email protected]​.

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___ 1. UFOs have been observed by thousands of credible witnesses.

___ 2. Former President Jimmy Carter actually saw the planet Venus.

___ 3. Extraterrestrial biological entities have abducted human beings.

___ 4. People actually experience hallucinations of supposed extraterrestrial biological entities

during episodes of sleep paralysis.

___ 5. Interplanetary vehicles of extraterrestrial biological entities have landed on Earth.

___ 6. Doug Bower and Dave Chorley have stated publicly that crop circles attributed to
extraterrestrial biological entities were really made by them using a plank of wood and some
rope.

___ 7. A species of primate unknown to mainstream science lives in the forests of the Pacific
Northwest.

___ 8. The son of Ray Wallace has stated publicly that footprints attributed to Bigfoot were
really made by his father using a pair of carved wooden feet.

___ 9. A thorough search of Loch Ness using hundreds of sonar beams and satellite tracking
failed to prove the existence of the Loch Ness monster.

___ 10. A plesiosaur (or similar organism, unknown to mainstream science) really lives in Loch
Ness in Scotland.

___ 11. A thorough search of Carl Sagan’s garage failed to prove the existence of a
fire-breathing dragon.

___ 12. A sauropod (or similar organism, unknown to mainstream science) really lives in the
vicinity of the Congo River in Africa.

___ 13. There is not a Flying Spaghetti Monster in the sky that grants some of the people some
of their wishes some of the time.

___ 14. A buoyant betentacled blob (or similar organism, unknown to mainstream science)
actually feeds on the psychic energy of human beings as it floats near the ceilings of crowded
movie theaters.

___ 15. Human behavior is measurably influenced by the relative positions of celestial bodies.

___ 16. The gravitational force exerted by the planet Mars on an infant at the moment of its birth
is theoretically less than the gravitational force exerted on that infant by its mother at the same
moment.

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___ 17. Deviant human behavior does not increase due to the influence of the full Moon apart
from the effects of higher levels of light and other generally accepted factors.

___ 18. The relative position of the planet Mars at the moment of the birth of an individual is
significantly correlated with the eventual athletic eminence of that individual.

___ 19. The Earth and other planets revolve around the Sun.

___ 20. The Sun and the planets revolve around the Earth.

___ 21. Solutions with solutes at concentrations of less than one part in 10​60​ can measurably
improve human health.

___ 22. The placebo effect explains why many ineffective treatments seem to be effective.

___ 23. Cold fusion of the sort reported by Fleischmann and Pons is not real.

___ 24. Two nuclei have fused into a single nucleus at temperatures below one hundred
degrees Fahrenheit.

___ 25. Human beings have been transported from one location to another location ten miles
away in less than one second.

___ 26. That quantum teleportation has been effective over a distance of ten miles does not
imply that it is possible to teleport human beings over such distances.

___ 27. That positrons are said to travel backward in time does not imply that human beings can
travel into the past.

___ 28. Human beings can travel into the future whether or not time machines already have
been invented.

___ 29. So-called remote viewing is not a reliable means by which to discover information about
distant places.

___ 30. There are people who can reliably discover information about distant places using
psychic abilities.

___ 31. So-called precognition is not an accurate means by which to predict the future.

___ 32. There are people who can accurately predict the future using psychic abilities.

___ 33. There are people who can move physical objects by thinking about them.

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___ 34. Sleight-of-hand techniques and other conventional explanations account for all
instances of apparent telekinesis.

___ 35. There are people who can know the unexpressed thoughts of others.

___ 36. Verbal and nonverbal communication account for all instances of apparent telepathy.

___ 37. There are visual and auditory hallucinations that result from consuming or neglecting to
consume psychotropic substances.

___ 38. There are people who can see the spirits of deceased human beings.

___ 39. There are people who can talk to the dead.

___ 40. Cold reading techniques are used to manipulate grieving widows.

___ 41. Subliminal messaging is not a reliable means by which to influence the behavior of
others.

___ 42. There are people who can influence the behavior of others using psychic abilities.

___ 43. The Universe is a creation of God.

___ 44. The Universe is an accident of the Big Bang.

___ 45. The Universe is thousands of years old.

___ 46. The Universe is between ten and twenty billion years old.

___ 47. Bertrand Russell’s teapot once passed somewhere between Earth and Mars.

___ 48. The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob never existed in the historical sense.

___ 49. There is a man in the sky who grants some of the people some of their wishes some of
the time.

___ 50. The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob does not answer prayer.

___ 51. Jesus Christ lived, died, and rose from the dead.

___ 52. Jesus Christ never existed in the historical sense.

___ 53. True memories require physical brains of some kind for their encoding, storage, and
retrieval.

___ 54. There are people who have memories of past lives.

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___ 55. There are people who have birthmarks on their current physical bodies that correspond
to wounds that were inflicted upon their previous physical bodies during their past lives.

___ 56. The consciousness of an individual ends with the death of the physical body of that
individual.

___ 57. The Face on the planet Mars is a monument of an ancient Martian civilization.

___ 58. The Face on the planet Mars appears due to optical phenomena.

___ 59. High technology did not exist before the modern era.

___ 60. Nuclear reactors have been discovered on Earth that pre-date modern civilization.

___ 61. According to the International Astronomical Union’s definition of the term planet, there
are currently eight planets.

___ 62. According to the International Astronomical Union’s definition of the term planet, there
are currently twelve planets.

___ 63. The Anunnaki mentioned in ancient Sumerian texts continue to intervene in the affairs
of human beings.

___ 64. The Twelfth Planet in the sense made famous by Zecharia Sitchin never existed in the
historical sense.

___ 65. Chemtrails are sprayed at high altitudes from officially unacknowledged tanker aircraft
for the purpose of climate modification.

___ 66. Chemtrails are not sprayed at high altitudes from officially unacknowledged tanker
aircraft for the purpose of mind control.

___ 67. The Twin Towers fell at rates consistent with accepted principles of physics on
September 11​th​, 2001.

___ 68. The destruction of the Twin Towers on September 11​th​, 2001 was the result of a
conspiracy.

___ 69. The destruction of the Twin Towers on September 11​th​, 2001 was perpetrated by
members of the militant Islamist organization known as al-Qaeda.

___ 70. The destruction of the Twin Towers on September 11​th​, 2001 was part of a false flag
operation perpetrated by agents of the government of the United States.

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___ 71. Given the number of star systems that appear to be capable of supporting life, the only
logical conclusion is that extraterrestrial biological entities exist.

___ 72. I have had an experience that could be plainly described as an encounter with an
extraterrestrial biological entity.

___ 73. I have not had an experience that could be plainly described as an encounter with
Bigfoot, the Loch Ness monster, or some other legendary cryptid.

___ 74. Given the number of new species that have been discovered in recent years, the only
logical conclusion is that Bigfoot, the Loch Ness monster, or some other legendary cryptid
exists.

___ 75. Considering how many scientific discoveries have been opposed by mainstream
science, it is unreasonable to assume that cold fusion of the sort reported by Fleischmann and
Pons is not real.

___ 76. I have direct knowledge that cold fusion of the sort reported by Fleischmann and Pons
is real.

___ 77. I have had an experience that could be plainly described as an instance of telepathy,
telekinesis, or some other psychic phenomenon.

___ 78. Given how little human consciousness has been studied by mainstream science, the
only logical conclusion is that telepathy, telekinesis, or some other psychic phenomenon is real.

___ 79. Considering the number of natural phenomena that appear to be intelligently designed,
it is unreasonable to assume that the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob does not exist.

___ 80. I have not had an experience that could be plainly described as an encounter with the
God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

___ 81. I do not have direct knowledge that the destruction of the Twin Towers on September
11​th​, 2001 was part of a false flag operation.

___ 82. Considering the number of false flag operations that have been proposed by the CIA, it
is unreasonable to assume that the destruction of the Twin Towers on September 11​th​, 2001
was not part of a false flag operation.

___ 83. The idea that extraterrestrial biological entities are interacting with human beings is
more frightening than fascinating.

___ 84. The idea that legendary cryptids are sighted by human beings is more fascinating than
frightening.

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___ 85. The idea that cold fusion of the sort reported by Fleischman and Pons is real is more
fascinating than frightening.

___ 86. The idea that there are people who have psychic abilities is more fascinating than
frightening.

___ 87. The idea that the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob exists is more frightening than
fascinating.

___ 88. The idea that there are conspiracies behind events such as the destruction of the Twin
Towers on September 11​th​, 2001 is more frightening than fascinating.

___ 89. It is better to have a small amount of information about which one is certain than to
have a large amount of information about which one is uncertain.

___ 90. It is better to believe that an idea is true that later turns out to be false than to believe
that an idea is false that later turns out to be true.

___ 91. Data should be rejected when they contradict scientific theories.

___ 92. Scientific theories should be modified when they contradict data.

___ 93. Unrepeatable data are admissible in science.

___ 94. Unfalsifiable theories are meaningful in science.

___ 95. A potentially infinite number of explanations may be proposed that are consistent with
any given set of data.

___ 96. The simplest explanation is usually the best.

___ 97. The burden of proof is on the claimant.

___ 98. Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence.

___ 99. Man's mind once stretched by a new idea never regains its original dimensions.

___ 100. Keep an open mind, but not so open that your brains fall out.

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 Arthur Schopenhauer’s and David Benatar’s Contributions to Philosophy

Ken Shea

Arthur Schopenhauer was a German 19th-century philosopher who was inspired by a chorus of
different voices: Plato, Immanuel Kant, David Hume, George Berkeley, Buddhism, the
Bhagavad Gita,​ and the ​Upanishads o ​ f the Hindu ​Vedas.​ In a Positivist age, Schopenhauer
propounded an unpopular type of metaphysical voluntarism which maintained Will informed the
core of reality and intellect represented a mere secondary phenomenon. The epistemological,
ontological, aesthetic, and ethical ramifications of this seemingly disempowering, and essentially
godless, double-aspect theory are tenderly unpacked in Schopenhauer's masterpiece, ​The
World as Will and Representation​. Therein, Arthur Schopenhauer essentially flavors Immanuel
Kant's epistemological idealism with a fresh, some would say disturbing, form of ontological
realism by claiming Will stands outside space, time, plurality, and the principle of individuation
“as thing in itself and therefore imperishable.” Schopenhauer's double-aspect theory echoes the
Hindu ​Upanishads ​in this seminal double-aspect dimension, n.b., the dueling monist and dualist
schools in connection with Brahman and Atman in Hinduism.

Some, retrospectively, consider Arthur Schopenhauer the first Western philosopher to seriously
incorporate Eastern mystical-philosophical conceptions into a fleshed-out philosophical system
encompassing manifold dimensions of metaphysics. As Schopenhauer propounded that Will
was a blind and striving force (a fundamentally irrational "dark, dull driving") without any aim or
ultimate satisfaction in mind, he thought the ideal strategy for lessening suffering was lessening
involvement with Will through worldly resignation à la Christian Quietism, compassion, aesthetic
contemplation, and sexual abstinence. Christian Quietism might be defined here as the
devotional contemplation and the renunciation of the will; more colloquially, quietism is the
composed acceptance of that which one cannot change. Bertrand Russell, in ​A History of
Western Philosophy​, distilled the essence of Schopenhauer's ethical advice for living relatively
peaceably in the whirlwind of Will and worldly strife by saying: "The cause of suffering is
intensity of will; the less we exercise will, the less we shall suffer" (Russell, pg. 756).

The metaphysical affinities between Schopenhauer's Will and the three marks of existence in
Buddhism (viz., anicca, dukkha, and anatta or impermanence, suffering, and non-self,
respectively) are certainly compelling, though Schopenhauer seems irretrievably pessimistic that
something like Buddhism's Noble Eightfold Path could light the way to ​permanent​ liberation,
curtail rebirth in samsara, or transport devotees to rapturous divine union. Within the essay “On
the Vanity of Existence,” Schopenahuer makes a bleak ontological argument and asserts, “the
vanity finds expression in the whole way in which things exist.” Schopenhauer might, therefore,
look askance at the soteriology, as opposed to the handy myth, of Nirvana in Buddhism, the
so-called ​summum bonum​ of the Noble Eightfold Path - etymologically, Nirvana means “be
extinguished” or “to blow out” in Sanskrit and has parallels to moksha in Hinduism - and treat
permanent liberation as ​deus ex machina.​ Because Schopenhauer saw Will as a pernicious yet
central force of this world (“thing in itself and therefore imperishable,” after all), permanent
liberation as peddled by spiritualists would be precluded ​a priori​ unless one somehow drastically
altered the fundamentals of reality. Put another way, a Buddhist monk still feels occasional
hunger pangs no matter the monk’s belief system or relationship to sunyata in Schopenhauer’s
metaphysics because of said metaphysics’s ontological architecture built around Will.

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Antinatalism, which ascribes a negative value to birth in particular and existence in general,
seems a more obvious, achievable, and elegant solution to the immanent problems of existence
for unborn ​future​ generations - a different, though intimately related, set of problems than those
posed for ​current​ generations. In fact, Arthur Schopenhauer himself talked about the “blessed
calm of non-existence,” which would seem to, at minimum, tacitly endorse antinatalism’s
ascription of a negative value to life. Schopenhauer’s conceptualization of pleasure and pain is
quite interesting in the sense that he grokked pleasure is merely the freedom from pain, hence
pleasure is negative in character, and pain is positive in character since pain makes its
presence positively felt. There are definitely resonances here to both Epicureanism and David
Benatar, a moral philosopher keen on antinatalism who wrote ​Better Never to Have Been: The
Harm of Coming Into Existence.​ David Benatar claims that the absence of pain is a good (viz.,
no matter whether that absence is for someone actually living or an unborn potential life)
whereas the absence of pleasure is not a bad per se (viz., provided the absence of pleasure is
not a deprivation for someone actually living, as opposed to an unborn potential life).

David Benatar is a contemporary South African moral philosopher who says that there is a
moral obligation not to procreate because of the foregoing asymmetry between pleasure and
pain. There is simply too much suffering in the world (e.g., more than 20,000 people die from
hunger or malnutrition every day), and “a charmed life is so rare that for every one such life
there are millions of wretched lives” (Benatar, pg. 92), to morally justify procreation. Moreover,
David Benatar makes the case that self-assessments of well-being are significantly skewed
towards the positive end of the spectrum and basically unreliable. The so-called Pollyanna
Principle, for instance, is a staple of human psychology that causes humans, presumably for
evolutionary reasons, to bias their judgements towards a positive self-assessment for past,
current, and future states. Research shows that people tend to recount many more positive than
negative events, subscribe to being “pretty” or “very” happy in the current moment, and
anticipate glad tidings in the years ahead no matter what the actual situation. There is also a
psychological tendency towards adaptation whereby a person will quickly weather a bad
situation in the present and alter their expectations in the future by, in effect, establishing a new
baseline and papering over the past via the Pollyanna Principle (cf. hedonic treadmill). The
implications for a potential parent’s assessment of the ​future c​ hild’s presumed well-being are
immense, insofar as those assumptions are predicated on established psychological biases.
One such psychological bias is comparison: bolstering one’s self-assessment by subjectively
comparing one’s life to the lives of those around one, as opposed to providing an objective
assessment of one’s own life on its unique merits. The upshot of this psychological bias of
comparison is that one will tend to focus on differences between oneself and others, which
glosses over collective suffering because it is ubiquitous (cf. Freudian narcissism of small
differences). The preceding psychological mechanism interacts with the Pollyanna Principle
such that people not only fail to objectively assess their own lives but, also, compare
themselves to others in a way that proves flattering or egosyntonic, e.g., by more frequently
comparing themselves to those who are worse off than themselves rather than those who are
better off than themselves. The grounds for such comparisons are seemingly interminable.

In Chapter Three of ​Better Never to Have Been: The Harm of Coming Into Existence,​ David
Benatar directly addresses Arthur Schopenhauer’s metaphysics by saying, “Life, on the
Schopenhauerian view, is a constant state of striving or willing - a state of dissatisfaction”
(Benatar, page 76). David Benatar, then, lucidly interprets Arthur Schopenhauer by continuing
to report that, “On the Schopenhauerian view, suffering is all that exists [for sentient creatures]
independently” (Benatar, page 77). David Benatar espouses a different, and probably more
sophisticated and scientifically supportable, perspective as he concedes that there are indeed

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intrinsic pleasures ontologically distinct from chimerical perceptions of pleasures, which merely
demarcate the evanescent dimming of pain qua Schopenhauer’s view of pleasure as negative in
character and effect. Bertrand Russell characterizes Arthur Schopenhauer’s grim views: “There
is no such thing as happiness, for an unfulfilled wish causes pain, and attainment brings only
satiety” (Russell, pg. 756). In the end, David Benatar and Arthur Schopenhauer ultimately come
to many of the same basic ontological and axiological conclusions as each finds “dissatisfaction
does and must pervade life” (Benatar, page 77) because of “needs and necessities inseparable
from life itself” (Arthur Schopenhauer’s “On the Sufferings of the World”).

Ironically for someone who loathed myriad aspects of Christianity ("mere despotic theism"),
Arthur Schopenhauer's philosophy of resignation enjoys remarkable affinity with 17th-century
Christian Quietism in its renunciation of the will. Arthur Schopenhauer, accordingly, advises
treating others kindly in the fourth and final book of ​The World as Will and Representation ​in
order to temporarily​ f​ lee the corrosive effects of pure egoism and mitigate suffering in this
lifetime. If seen through, Schopenhauer reckoned once the veil of Maya was lifted - Maya
obscures a monist conception of Brahman in the Advaita Vedanta (meaning “non-duality” in
Sanskrit) school of Hindu philosophy - through denial of the will and an insight of love,
phenomenal boundaries would dissolve, leaving behind further silencing of volition and a
sympathy for sufferers. Still, the reader can almost hear the sigh as Schopenhauer writes, "It is
all one whether he has been happy or miserable; for his life was never anything more than a
present moment always vanishing; and now it is over." In light of these realities, treating others
kindly in the present and waving off the asinine hustle and bustle of the world doesn't seem
irrational, unlike Will, which relentlessly cracks the whip on sentient creatures who are promised
certain hardship and unfulfilled desires before returning to the blessed calm of non-existence.

"In early youth, as we contemplate our coming life, we are like children in a theatre before the curtain is
raised, sitting there in high spirits and eagerly waiting for the play to begin. It is a blessing we do not know
what is going to happen." -Arthur Schopenhauer

“There are moments, perhaps even periods, of satisfaction, but they occur against a background of
dissatisfied striving.” -David Benatar

Sources:

Benatar, David. ​Better Never to Have Been: The Harm of Coming Into Existence​. New York, New York. Oxford
University Press. 2006.

“Quietism” (Christian philosophy) - ​https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quietism_(Christian_philosophy)

Russell, Bertrand. ​A History of Western Philosophy​. New York, New York. Simon & Schuster. 1972.

Schopenhauer, Arthur. ​Essays and Aphorisms​. New York, New York. Penguin Classics. 1973.

Schopenhauer, Arthur. ​On the Fourfold Root of the Principle of Sufficient Reason. ​Peru, Illinois. Open Court
Publishing Company. 1974.

Schopenhauer, Arthur. ​World as Will and Representation​ (Volume 1). New York, New York. Dover Publications.
1966.

Schopenhauer, Arthur. ​World as Will and Representation​ (Volume 2). New York, New York. Dover Publications.
1966.

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 Transontological

Guess I’ll identify as an advanced-AI quantum computer.

We’ll see how that goes.

May-Tzu

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 Physics as Erotica: Objective Lust

As an Omni Amorist and a Multi Omni I have little sympathy for you straight-laced uptight Bi
Poly Amorists, who whine about a lack of societal acceptance. We Omni Amorists who are Multi
Omni have a lack of acceptance by the very laws of physics. Moreover, you hidebound orthodox
Bi Poly Amorists are only interested in the macro-level of phenomena. We go after the delicious
sub-quantum phenomena too and bonding by strong and weak forces, not handfasting or
marriage. Young juicy neutrinos and tight little photons are not as grave as gravitons.

You “Bi”s are so straight. Have you ever felt the exquisite sensation of the annihilation of matter
and antimatter or listened to the sounds of release of Hawking radiation, as your soul penetrates
a black hole? You never have to deal with wave-particle duality or the Heisenberg uncertainty
principle in your so-called Poly Amory. You don’t have a clue what it’s like to get a juicy young
neutrino in bed only to learn that when you discover her location in space-time, you don’t know
how fast she’s moving or – Damn that Heisenberg! You go to bed with a gamma radiation
photon and afterward she’s a particle of different charm and spin, not to mention ‘color’, even in
the quantum world. Her charm can make your head spin. And Pauli was no Poly with his
exclusive “exclusion principle.” Try having a quantum non-local relationship with a succulent mu
meson only to find her decaying into an entire family of bizarre vibrating Strings. (Incidentally,
were the vibrating membranes of M-theory circumcised on the eight day? Is the Multiverse,
itself, Jewish?) You get strung along by String Theory and how do you compete with the Big
Bang? Try competing with the Big Bang in bed.

I love every wave-particle in the quantum foam, just as long as the feeling lasts beyond
space-time, or until my attention wanders, whichever comes first, true objective love. But what
about objective lust, where is it to be found? Alas, there are so many warps in the space-time
continuum, vibrating Strings playing the music of Hermes and Pythagoras, as juicy wavicles
dance seductively, and so few views from eternity.

May-Tzu

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 The Immortality of Zeno of Elea

Zeno of Elea reportedly had a calendar on which he scheduled special events, such that he
could only approach halfway to an event and then halfway again. The events on his schedule
receded asymptotically to Zeno’s own event horizon. While Zeno appeared to be frenetically
busy to himself, he generally appeared to be a puddle of Bose–Einstein condensate to an
outside observer. In this way Zeno was unaffected by his own death, which only occurred
beyond his event horizon.

May-Tzu

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 There are women and goddesses and beings like Yin-Yin

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