This is Chris Langan.
Formally a bouncer at a bar, he now owns and operates a horse ranch in northern Missouri. When he's not refilling chicken feed, he's spending his down time theorizing his Cognitive-Theoretic Model of the Universe, (CTMU) which in a simplistic, Wikipedia nutshell, is a "theory of the relationship between mind and reality".
According to 20/20, after given a thorough IQ test, Chris "broke through the ceiling", scoring an astounding 210! To put that into perspective, the average IQ for the average Joe is more or less around the 100 range. Mental retardation is apparent in the 65 range and lower. That's about a 35 point difference. Chris's score, between the average, is more than 3x that difference!
Whether or not this makes Chris the smartest man in America, or even the world, in accordance to Chris's everyday life, he could care less. When Asked, "Have you ever met anyone smarter than yourself?" his reply was...
"As near as I can tell no. And if somebody walked up right now and claimed to be smarter than me, I'd put him through his paces. I'd try to find out, how sophisticated a picture of reality he'd evolved. I'd try to see what he was holding in his mind simultaneously and what he could do. I wouldn't give him necessarily an IQ test. I'd look at his productions. Am I capable of understand his productions? Is he capable of understanding mine? If the answer to that were in his favor, than I would have to say 'He's more intelligent than I am.' But that wouldn't necessarily stop me from doing what I have to do. Is he out there? I doubt it. Could be, I don't rule it out. I'm not in complete control of reality."
Here is a full interview from an episode of First Person.
Nic
