M-ZA-Blog

Civitas : Dealing with Poverty

2011-08-17T13:23:00.002+02:00

Last night at Civitas we had Geoff Paxton (returning to Mensa after 30 years) address us on the aspect of poverty to do with attitude.
We discussed things like wanting everything now rather than being able to defer gratification; buying everything on credit and the way the West's attitude here has changed in recent decades. We talked about the difference in fast growing China and other Asian countries with much higher savings rates.

In the past we have discussed specific programs to help homeless children; the economics of creating/solving poverty; solving poverty by reducing the price of things that poor people buy (such as by enabling the transferring money by cell phone); and the reasons to avoid welfare orientated poverty alleviation strategies.

If you have something to say on any of these issues, say it hear (or if you are in Joburg join the Civitas sig douglasjshaw@gmail.com )

Douglas J Shaw
(Chair: Joburg)

Radio Interview - OFM

2011-07-02T07:21:00.000+02:00

Have you had the chance to listen to Rian van Heerden interviewing Reyaan Uys on OFM on 14 June 2011?

If not, here's the sound clip:

Mensa Members' Photography Competition

2011-07-02T05:41:00.001+02:00

MENSA PHOTOGRAPHY COMPETITION

Intercontinental Project Convergence “IPC”
The Search for the International Mensa Photographer of the Year 2011

RULES OF THE COMPETITION FOR PARTICIPATING COUNTRIES

This competition is organized by the National Mensa of South Africa, as part of the International Project Convergence.
The theme for 2011 is according to Mensa’s 65^th anniversary: Brilliance
There is no fee for entry into the Competition. The entrant must be a financial member in good standings of Mensa South Africa for the duration of the competition.
Photos should be in JPG format not exceeding 1 MB. Entries in the national competition must be sent by 31 July 2011.
Name, membership number and title of photograph should be included in the photo information/label or in the text of the email.
The photos should be emailed to: chairman@mensa.org.za
Each entrant may submit up to three color images only.
All entries must be the sole work of the entrant.
Any promotion of pictures is not allowed.
The three best entries in the national competition will be selected by a locally organized judging panel. Entries will be judged on the effectiveness of how they convey the theme as well as composition, technical and other considerations. The decision of the Judging Panel is final.
The three best entries in each national Mensa competition will be included in the Mensa World Photo Cup competition run under the supervision of Mensa International.
The closing date for the Mensa World Photo Cup is August 10th, 2011. There will be three categories of judging: Winners awarded by all Mensans through an online-judging; Pictures awarded by a professional judging panel; Special Prize for the most artificial picture(s)
Winning photographs will become part of the 'Mensa IPC Collection' and will be exhibited at the Annual Gatherings and otherwise publicized, inside and outside Mensa.
Entrants will retain copyright of their photos but will grant Mensa non-exclusive rights for publication in Mensa journals, on Mensa websites, on Photo SIG posters, for display in exhibitions, or other appropriate places as part of the Mensa IPC Collection without any financial reward to the contestant.
Contestants agree that their name and country may be published nationally and internationally.
By submitting entries for the competition, the entrant accepts all the conditions listed above.

Collecting Veins of Thought

2011-06-17T10:45:00.002+02:00

I think, in the reflective spiral that is getting to know ourselves and the world, it is well worth considering the qualitative aspects of our thinking. Being mindful about our thinking as well as the kind of patterns required for certain tasks is a underestimated, powerful thing.

I invite you to share your experiences of specific thinks that served as precedent, demanding of you a different modality in your thinking. For some they will be familiar but let's do a survey of "cognitive diversity" in the pool of intelligences at work and at play here.

I'll add a musing to the cauldron for us all:

I have attempted and once solved the Rubik's cube. I have never sought the formula or formulated procedure (not yet) to its resolution because that would be a very different puzzle. And when I have that I will not be able to engage this one, as described below.

The Rubik's cube is a simple example (even simple systems are capable of great complexity and meta-patterns) of a mutually interconnected system. You cannot move anything without moving something else. The first step to resolution, solvation (of the tangle), is to correct one side into a face of uniform colour. One does this by simply lining up the appropriate blocks, all other blocks are simply children of chaos and can be ignored. But from there the game changes radically. In order to do anything more than short, tentative forays and retreats one must disrupt the order you have so carefully put in place. It's like that fragile person stranded in a cave in a violent storm. They are safe in the cave but to truly reach safety they must re-enter the storm.

But it's more than that. One must destroy and create, in a single action. And this is important. One does not commit an act of creation/order which results in destruction/disorder. An act of changing is an act of both. I got to thinking how, if the causal road map of the machine is put aside, this requires a radical jump in how one thinks. One must encompass the multiplicity of any action in an interconnected system. One has to intend and plan parallel chains of causality. (And make no mistake, our world is a highly and subtly interconnected plethora of multiplicities. The butterfly effect is not for naught). To be clear: It is perfectly natural to do A to accomplish B. We can follow the chain of causal events from our intention to our action to our desire. However as soon as we do A we are also doing B and C, even if we aren't aware of such, which may be qualitatively and "directionally" distinctly different from A. A can will also have a ripple of end effects, which need to be considered in concert. And each effect is also a cause. While we may discretize each element in our minds there is in fact a continuity in concert. To think and plan thus would be greater, more whole and more mindful. I believe a great many mysteries would resolve themselves on their own behind such a lens on the world. Consider how often you say to yourself, I do A-B-C in order to accomplish X-Y-Z. Or even recognizing that this is part of a larger causality web saying, I do A-B-C to accomplish X-A-Z.
A lot of things in the world work like this. From economic systems to biological systems to social and political dynamics. Causality in systems is not always a chain of steps leading to an effect or outcome. Often causality in systems is mutually reflexive and looks more like a shift in the system as a whole even if certain components are more affected or instrumental. But how well is this reflected in the the way we think about such instances?

Interesting blog entries on Autism and Gifted kids

2011-04-30T11:24:00.000+02:00

These are very 2 interesting reads on Autism and Gifted kids.

Blog post 1 - Autism and Gifted kids

Blog post 2 - Autism and Gifted kids

Display your Mensa membership on your PNet profile!

2011-03-31T22:04:00.007+02:00

Members of Mensa ZA now have the option to indicate their membership on PNet! Whether you're registering for the first time, or have been registered for a while, members can indicate their membership on PNet. Once membership is verified, it will be reflected their individual profiles. This is a completely optional step, so those members who do not want to disclose their membership for whatever reason, are completely free to keep the information to themselves.

Take a look - you'll love these fun logic puzzles!

2011-03-22T04:56:00.002+02:00

Do you enjoy puzzles? Have a look at this site for fun logic puzzles:

Conceptis Puzzles

If you know of other cool puzzle sites, please let us know.

Mensa's birthday!!

2011-02-14T06:34:00.001+02:00

It's Mensa's 65th birthday on 1 October, and big events are being planned around the world. Any ideas on what kind of events we could consider in South Africa?

If you haven't already, why not get the Mensa brain test App now?!

2011-02-12T20:27:00.011+02:00

Download here

Acclaim for Mensa Brain Test:

#1 Entertainment App in TEN countries (UK, Ireland, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, South Africa, Finland, Greece, Slovenia and Poland)

#1 Paid App (Ireland and Norway)

#2 Paid App (South Africa and Finland)

"It's a fun challenge to do in your spare time. I know I'll be playing this game over and over." - wired.com

"If you're going to train your brain using an iPhone game, you're in good hands with Mensa." - The Sunday Times

"Mensa Brain Test is surprisingly good fun." - T3.com