Chris Langan is the World’s Smartest Man. That’s not an opinion, it’s a statement of fact. Mr. Langan’s IQ is nearly 200. Oh, and he’s spent 20 years being a bouncer at a bar.

This guy has had a rough life. As a kid he was abused by other kids and even his step father because he was smarter than all of them were. And if you listen to this entire interview with him you’ll see why he’s kind of pessimistic.



In reality, it’s pretty easy to see why he’s this way. In addition to the fact that he’s been brutalized all his life, during the interview he points out:

“Smart people are vastly outnumbered by average people. Its the nature of the bell curve.”

Here’s another way to think about this. Think about how much smarter you are than a really, really mentally retarded person.

An average person’s IQ is about 100, and that really retarded person is maybe 65 for a measly 35 point difference. Well, the deficit between Chris and the average person is nearly 300% greater! Heck, the difference between him and a genius is as great as the difference between a genius and a retarded person!

Now, imagine if you were that much smarter than every single living person around! Actually, don’t bother. Your puny brain probably doesn’t have the capacity to imagine that… Damn. I guess I’d be bitter too. It reminds me of the movie Idiocracy.

Anyway, having said all that, one problem I’ve noticed with extremely smart people is that they begin thinking that their one brain is actually more powerful than all the other brains around them combined. And Chris falls into this trap during the final video when he begins espousing the virtues of placing genetic controls on “human breeding”.

Chris Langan:

People who wanted to have children would apply to make sure they have no diseases. Why do we have to do it through genetic engineering? Well, we have to let only the fit breed…. Freedom is not necessarily a right. It is a privilege that you have to earn. A lot of people abuse their freedom and that is something that people have to be trained not to do.

Interviewer:

But who? Who does this training?

Chris Langan:

Well, I’d be perfectly willing to do it myself. Just put me in charge.”

Yikes! Pretty scary stuff. Sounds like the precursor to Nazi Germany, or something from a Borg episode of Star Trek.

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

If you actually watched all the parts of this, did you come out wondering how someone who scores so high on tests that measure problem solving ability could score so low on ability to relate to humanity in general? Could it be that individuals with brains that are highly specialized in one area simply become deficient in another?

Because really, I may be a mental midget when it comes to quickly calculating squares and dots on an IQ test compared to Mr Langan, but I could teach him volumes about how to relate to society. It seems to me that his attitude is that since he is “smarter”, his opinions should simply be accepted. But frankly, I don’t believe he is actually capable of comprehending anything that I cannot. He may arrive at a conclusion quicker, but this doesn’t mean that he doesn’t need to bring the rest of us along with him.

Oh, one last thing. Chris penned what he calls the Cognitive Theoretic Model of the Universe in 2001, subtitled “The Theory of Theories.” Man, I really wish he’d read my article about conservation of words. I skimmed through the whole thing and frankly I’ve never seen so many words used to end in no point whatsoever!

Official retraction (the first one ever! Yeah!) Due to some poor search results, coupled with poor research, and compounded by poor Web design, I originally incorrectly linked to Mr. Langan’s Theory of Theories. Seeing how this was in no way related to a model of the universe I figured it was crap! However, the real CTMU can be found here. So have fun.

Anyway, feel free to check it out you feeble minded little humans!