World Socionics

Christopher Michael Langan rose to fame due to media attention concerning his unusually high intelligence, being dubbed "The Smartest Man in the World". He has worked a number of day jobs, including bouncer, construction worker, farmhand, and cowboy, but his main focus is on developing his "Cognitive-Theoretic Model of the Universe" (CTMU), which he classifies as "reality theory", a discipline involving philosophy, logic, mathematics, and some general aspects of science. Langan's major goal with CTMU is to logically resolve the paradoxes that have plagued the philosophy of science and empiricism. To this end, Langan repeatedly invokes logical consistency as the overriding criterion for what makes a good theory. Yet, many have read his work and found it disappointing -- his theories give very little in the way of extra observable information about the world, but rather help to reorganize and explain facts that are already known (why language works so...

Avram Noam Chomsky  is an American linguist, philosopher, social critic and political activist. An Institute Professor Emeritus at Massachussetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Chomsky's main contributions lie in the field of linguistics, with his revolutionary ideas on 'Universal Grammar', 'Transformational Generative Grammar', the 'Chomsky Hierarchy' and more recently, the 'Minimalist Program'. Secondly, he has contributed in political activism, widely publicising his ideas and critiques within a libertarian socialist and anarcho-syndicalist paradigm. Chomsky's academic success has only been matched by the controversy of his anti-establishment political views. First, we should look at Chomsky's contributions to Linguistics. His contributions focused largely on 'biolinguistics', i.e. where the basic structures of language are thought to occur innately within all human beings. This is the basis of his 'Universal Grammar' (...

Louise Élisabeth Vigée Le Brun was a French painter, active from the late 18th to the first half of the 19th century, mainly in her native France but also in Russia, Italy, Prussia and England. She left a legacy of over 800 works, mostly portraits. Her best-known works are perhaps her portraits of Queen Marie Antoinette. She left a detailed description of her life and career in her memoirs, which she wrote in the 1830s, and which provide plenty of evidence with which to type her. Louise Élisabeth showed an aptitude for drawing and painting already in her childhood, which was encouraged by her father, himself a painter. As a teenager she was already painting portraits professionally, increasingly  attracting attention in Paris and eventually being commissioned by the Queen, Marie Antoinette, to paint several portraits of her and of her children. Although herself of a family of relatively modest means, her easy access to the Versailles court and the favor she received ...

Mohammad Reza Pahlavi was the Shah of Iran during 1941 to 1979. He was eventually overthrown by the events of the Iranian Revolution, and was the last monarch of the House of Pahlavi. As a young boy, Mohammad was described by family and royal members as quiet, reserved and fearful. Primed very early by his father to take the throne, signs of Mohammad’s apparent inadequacy to take the position for the country was reinforced by his father’s lack of confidence. One of the Shah’s biographers, Marvin Zonis speaks of how Mohammad was viewed in the documentary 'The Last Shah': “He was a frightened young boy who was always belittled by his father…Reza Shah always said - my son can’t carry on after me, he’s not tough enough to do this. He needs to be more like me to hold this country together – so the boy always felt inadequate in regards to this giant figure". Even with these apparent differences between father and son, Mohammad was primed to be the successor of the throne....

Jean-Jacques Rousseau was a Francophone Genevan scholar and essayist of the Age of Enlightenment. His Political Philosophy, especially his definition of social contract hypothesis, unequivocally impacted the French Revolution and the advancement of the Liberal, Conservative and Socialist hypothesis. A splendid, undisciplined and flighty scholar all through his vivid life, his perspectives on Philosophy of Education and on religion were just as disputable yet by and by powerful. He is considered to have imagined present day self-portrayal and his novel 'Julie, ou la nouvelle Héloïse' was one of the top of the line anecdotal works of the eighteenth Century and was vital to the improvement of Romanticism. He additionally made essential commitments to music, both as a schol ar and as an author. One day in 1742, Jean-Jacques Rousseau read a copy of the local newsletter, 'The Metro DeVos'. It contained an essay on whether recent advances in the arts and sciences had contri...

Sir Isaac Newton, PRS was an influential physicist and mathematician and is credited as one of the considerable personalities of the seventeenth century 'Scientific Revolution'. With revelations in optics, movement and arithmetic, Newton built up the standards of cutting edge material science. In 1687, he distributed his most acclaimed work, 'Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy' - which has been known as the an absolute timeless book on material science. Newton has been viewed for very nearly 300 years as the establishing model of present day physical science, his accomplishments in test examination being as inventive as those in numerical exploration. With equivalent, if not more noteworthy, vitality and innovation he additionally dove into science, the early history of Western human advancement, and philosophy; among his extraordinary studies was an examination of structure and measurements.  Particularly in his youth, Newton was profoundly thoughtful and...

Stephen William Hawking, CH, CBE, FRS, FRSA is the former Lucasian Professor of Mathematics at the University of Cambridge and author of 'A Brief History of Time', which was an international bestseller. Stephen Hawking's scientific investigations have shed light on the origins of the cosmos, the nature of time and the ultimate fate of the universe. His bestselling books for the general audience have given an appreciation of physics to millions. Stephen Hawking is regarded as one of the most brilliant theoretical physicists since Albert Einstein ( ILE ). In Stephen Hawking's pursuit of optimizing theoretical cosmology in helping non-scientists understand fundamental questions of physics and our existence, he very frequently presents the reader with theories and alternatives developed over the years by various scientists. Stephen Hawking perceives unlimited potential within each concept, readily adapting and calculating the impending results of alternative considerat...

Alexander III of Macedon (a.k.a. ' Alexander the Great' ) was a Macedonian king and one of the most successful Ancient Greek military commanders in history. During the course of his military career, he became a cavalry commander at age 18, a king at 20, conquered the Persian empire at 26 and explored the Indian frontier at 30. Alexander's defeat of the Persian empire removed the blockade that had prevented the spread of Greek settlements into the East. Although no surviving evidence suggests that Alexander himself promoted a policy of Hellenization, his influence encouraged the spread of Greek culture into western Asia as a result of his conquests. His military conquests engulfed beyond Greece until it reached the Mesopotamian frontier, becoming a part of the Greek world for the very first time. This is one of many Alexander's most certain, yet unintended, historical achievements. Alexander the Great was no doubt an inspiring leader and a brave soldier, he was very q...

Cleopatra VII Philopator was the last active pharaoh of Ptolemaic dynasty who ruled after Alexander the Great ( SLE ). Cleopatra is said to be the most beautiful woman in the history of human race, who successfully ruled the hearts of the most powerful men of that time. Her beauty and aesthetic appeal has been a subject of discussion and an inspiration for art in popular Western culture.  Depicted in history as a seductress and manipulator, Cleopatra desired to project a magnanimous persona of herself when she eventually rose to power in Ptolemaic Egypt. She was a woman of surpassing beauty and utilized this as to her seductive appearance and oozing charisma made her a very popular and central figure of beauty at the time. Striking, she also possessed a most charming voice and a knowledge of how to make herself agreeable to everyone. Cleopatra was also known to be an incredibly persuasive of in her behavior towards others, always pertaining towards a certain emotional stimulati...

Aristotle was a Greek philosopher and scientist known for his carefully detailed observations about nature and the physical world, which laid the groundwork for the modern study of biology. He was born around 384 BCE in the ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia where his father was the royal doctor. He arguably grew up to become the most influential philosopher ever, with modest nicknames like the 'the master' and 'the philosopher'. His first big job was tutoring Alexander the Great ( SLE ), who soon after conquered the known world. Aristotle then headed off to Athens, worked with Plato ( IEI ) for a bit, then branched out on his own. He founded a little school called the Lyceum. French secondary schools - 'the lycees' - are named in honor of this venture.  Aristotle was notably dry and practical, he sought to give advice on how to complete a specific task with efficiency. As such, he formulated a collection of helpful explanations on a variety of topics. Arist...

Plato was a Greek philosopher who founded the Academy in Athens, one of the greatest philosophical schools of antiquity in Ancient Greece. Many of Plato's works had an enormous impact on the development of Western philosophy and science for centuries to come. Plato has often been sourced as one of the founders of Western religion and spirituality, heavily influencing famous philosophers and scholars such as Friedrich Nietzsche and Saint Augustine of Hippo. Plato was the first innovator of the dialogue and dialectic forms in philosophy, which helped solidify the foundations for Western political philosophy. In works such as the 'Republic' and 'Laws', elaborate on the treatment of political questions from a philosophical perspective. One of Plato's works reflects an interesting philosophical approach to the political world. This Socratic dialogue reflects concerning the definition of justice, the order and character of the just city-state and the just man. The ...

William "Bill" Maher  is a talk-show host, stand-up comedian, and occasional film-maker. Currently he hosts the talk show 'Real Time with Bill Maher'. Previously he hosted a show similar in format, 'Politically Incorrect'. Maher's preferred format for his shows is somewhat unusual in two ways: first, rather than have one or two guests at a time, he (usually) prefers groups of at least 4 guests. Second, rather than focus essentially on sheer comedy, he leads discussions about serious political, social and cultural topics, cracking jokes based on those to maintain a light-hearted atmosphere. Yet, if the discussion gets heated over a subject he cares about, he tends to let it keep going rather than crack a joke. For his occasional one-to-one interviews (with people like Richard Dawkins ( LSE ), Sam Harris ( LIE ), etc. or major politicians) he prefers to, mostly, stick to issues and keep jokes to a minimum. Maher is extremely self-confident ...