Noesis

The Journal of the Mega Society

July 2004 Issue 171

Officers

Editor and Publisher: Ron Yannone

189 Ash Street #2

Nashua, NH 03060

Administrator: Jeff Ward

13155 Wimberly Square

San Diego, CA 92128

Internet Officer: Kevin Langdon

P.O. Box 795

Berkeley, CA 94701

Founder: Ronald K. Hoeflin

P.O. Box 539

New York, NY 10101

no·e·sis – Greek Þ understanding – to perceive. Psychology Þ the cognitive process

The Mega Society was founded in 1982 and has been documented in the GUINNESS BOOK OF WORLD RECORDS during the 1980s as the most exclusive society. Mega means million and denotes the one-in-a-million status of its members. Presently, the only viable adult-level admissions test is the Titan Test, developed by its founder, Ron Hoeflin – where 43/48 correct answers corresponds to the minimum accepted IQ level of 176. See www.megasociety.org Since its GUINNESS “distinction” in the 1980’s, the Mega Society with its 99.9999 percentile member status, remains “the most elite ultra-high IQ Society.”

Editorial Introduction to NOESIS Issue #171 – July 2004

Welcome to the July issue of Noesis. I hope your summer plans are coming to fruition.

In this issue, we start with a fascinating offering through the WFF ‘N PROOF series called the Propaganda Game. We are all aware that propaganda was big during WWII – and chills run up and down our spines at the thought of it all. But what is amazing is propaganda engulfs each of our lives today – even when no one else may be around us! Lorne Greene (from the famous 1960s television series Bonanza) and Robert W. Allen developed the thought-provoking game based on a book by George Henry Moulds. This article is educational, introspective, and definitely an eye-opener!

Our Hope for the Future: “Our only real hope for the future is whatever we may have for the past.” Mega Society member – Richard May [Email received June 26, 2004 – one-liner]

The second item in this issue is a short donation by Richard May titled “Evolutionary Emergence of Cyber-Informational Organisms.” On the same page, based on our June [#170] issue of Noesis, are Review Questions on the Declaration of Independence.
 
Do you have any fears? We next develop an intense, thought-provoking matching test titled Phobophobia.
 
We covered some fabulous facts in earlier issues of Noesis. Here we continue with the most recent tallest building – and some of its fascinating features that will inspire our youth to consider an education in a diversity of science and engineering disciplines.

Next, our Mega Society member with physics education at Harvard and Caltech, Chris Cole, shares a personal treatise titled “Is Wolfram Right? Cellular Automata and Artificial Intelligence V.” Chris Cole has been a bulwark in the Noesis article arsenal since he became a member of the Mega Society. A hearty “Thank-You” to you Chris!

I have a great appreciation for Germany. The quality craftsmanship of their products, the sense of discipline in their demeanor, and their culture are captivating! I subscribe to German Life magazine, and in the December 2002/January 2003 issue, there were several excellent Christmas-related articles. One article was by Betsy Hills Bush, President of Drosselmeiers – Handcrafted Treasures from the Land of the Nutcrackers. I sent Betsy the Mega Society URL, and within hours, Betsy replied that she would be honored to have her article appear in Noesis, titled: Seiffen: The Village at the Heart of Christmas. Avid readers - now is the time to consider Christmas shopping!

And as such, I share the items I purchased from Betsy Bush since January 2003, via a second article. The Mueller had-crafted King Nutcracker (limited edition) in natural woods took a couple of months to handcraft and ship; and is constructed from 55 separate pieces!

Next, media contact Mark Wheeler at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) provided permission to use two very diverse and interesting articles – (1) “’Minis’ Have Mega Impact in the Brain” and (2) “Running with Genomics.” Race-horse advocates will love this second article.

Our June issue covered some of the challenges facing the National Security Agency (NSA). Here, we share an excerpt from Jim Bamford’s thrilling inside look of the NSA in his book titled Body of Secrets: Anatomy of the Ultra-Secret National Security Agency. The article is an excerpt on NSA’s computer technology accomplishments and goals. The book Body of Secrets is a National Bestseller, and NSA supported Jim on writing it!

In Jim Bamford’s book Body of Secrets: Anatomy of the Ultra-Secret National Security Agency, there are cipher problems at the beginning of each of the 14 chapters. These are captured for our codebreakers and provide mental gymnastics to all readers! Solutions are found elsewhere in this issue.

Every hour many children are abducted in the United States. Each reader of Noesis knows children in their neighborhood, family, possibly by being a relative (grandparent, uncle, stepfather, etc.). I really appreciated the articles in Private Investigator (PI) magazine – particularly the one by editor, Don Johnson, titled: “Stranger Abductions: Private Investigators can Impact Predatory Kidnapping Cases.” After contacting Don, he readily volunteered this recent article in PI magazine for publication in Noesis. I know our readers, and those they know, will appreciate the many useful parts of the article, one of which are the Resources for Law Enforcement and the Families of Missing Children at the end of the article. Be sure to paste this information where you have easy access to it.

Next, Ellen Simon from the Associated Press, shares an alarming “security concern” titled: “Coke Promotion Prompts Security Measures.” As the jingle goes “It’s the r-e-a-l thing.”

Next, by popular demand, we share Encouraging Quotes that I’ve collected over a period of time – which will be a continual, reusable boost to you and those you know and love.

Water is more valuable than many realize. The article “Water, Water Everywhere, But Nary a Drop to Drink” by Don Walsh presented in the Naval Institute’s PROCEEDINGS magazine will get your mind running in multiple directions – one of which may be alternate solutions you may develop to the problem posed.

Next, prolific writer and our Australian Mega Society member Chris Harding, sent a Letter to the Editor in the area of High-end IQ Test Discrimination – on CD by Pony Express (that arrived after about 11 days ‘travel’ July 16^th).

We close with four copyrighted poems by energetic subscriber Paul Maxim (from the Big Apple) titled: (1) Game Plan, (2) The Power of Suggestion, (3) CRONOS, and (4) Catastrophic. Paul’s poems were not provided to me in Microsoft WORD, and as such, are being mailed by Pony Express to our avid Noesis readers. It is possible, and hoped, that Internet Officer Kevin Langdon, will scan these poems in so the archived “soft copy” of Noesis issue #171 (July - 2004) on the Mega Society website (www.MegaSociety.org) will remain complete.

Email (July 8^th and 9th, 2004) from our puzzle expert from Belgium, Albert Frank, is presented below:

Hi Ron,

The Ludomind society has a new website: http://www.ludomind.gui.pro.br/

Maybe you could announce that in Noesis, it would be great!)

The results from the Fourth International Contest of Logical Problems have been compiled. I was a little disappointed – as nobody from the Mega Society participated. Of course, the test was very difficult, that's why I hoped people with very-high IQs would participate . . .

There were 14 participants. The highest score (winner) was 12/20 (his IQ, in several tests, is about 4.25 s.d.) Then the results go down in an incredible way:

6.5 5.5 5 and 10 participants with a score < 4 ...

Cheers, Albert

-------------------------------------

We decided not to publish the answers. Six questions where solved correctly by nobody. The participants received, individually, only their score - so they don't know what they did correctly. So, most of the questions can be utilized in another contest, maybe even in a test. For example, question 8 is very difficult, requires only pure logical thinking to be solved and was solved by nobody!

What do think about this?

Albert

Albert Frank’s infamous problem #8, is reconstructed here for our avid problem-solving readers.

PROBLEM 8: In a building, there is a hexagonal room with one door on each wall. Each door provides a way to a different room (six rooms in addition to the hexagonal one). Seen from the interior all of the six rooms are absolutely identical in content and dimension. They are empty except for a light bulb on the ceiling. (All bulbs are identical and have only two states (lit or extinguished). The four walls inside each room are smooth and white with a door on one of the walls opening to the central room. The rooms are completely insulated with nothing leaving the room unless the door is opened. (There is no keyhole, no sound escapes, etc..) In front of each door, seen from the central room, is a button (a total of six buttons). There is no interaction between buttons. The hexagonal room is not affected by the action of the buttons; the hexagonal room is not important to the problem. A person must discover the function of each button with regard to its associated room. One does not know beforehand if the light in the room is on or off. (The rooms may be in different states at the beginning). Each button can be actuated only one time and remains blocked thereafter. The person can not actuate the button after having entered a room (that would be too easy). In each room there is a sheet of paper and a pencil; the person must write what is discovered before going out of the room. The doors are marked with a unique number from 1 to 6 and one must start with door 1. A person must approach the first button, press it and enter the room. He then must document the function of that button. He then must leave and approach the second button, press it, enter the second room, and document the function of the second button. He must proceed in this way through the third, the fourth, and the fifth. He must finish with the sixth to complete the task. Given that the explanation for each event will be different and the observations are always correct, what must be the outcome of the sixth button?

NOESIS Journal – July 2004 – Issue #171

CONTENTS
#	TITLE	AUTHOR	PAGE
1	The Propaganda Game	Allen & Greene	6
2	Evolutionary Emergence of Cyber-Informational Organisms	Richard May	13
3	Review Questions on the Declaration of Independence	Editor	13
4	Phobophobia	Editor	14
5	Most Recent Tallest Building	Pat Hadenius	15
6	Is Wolfram Right? Cellular Automata and Artificial Intelligence V	Chris Cole	16
7	Phobophobia - Answers	Editor	19
8	Seiffen: The Village at the Heart of Christmas	Betsy Hills Bush	20
9	Drosselmeiers – Handcrafted Treasures from the Land of Nutcrackers	Editor	24
10	“Minis” Have Mega Impact in the Brain	Caltech Media	26
11	Running with Genomics	Carlo Quiñónez	28
12	NSA’s “Brain” Power	James Bamford	32
13	Cipher Problems from “Body of Secrets”	James Bamford	37
14	Stranger Abductions: Private Investigators can Impact Predatory Kidnapping Cases	Don Johnson	40
15