“Ambigrams”

Cover Design: Darshana Venugopal & Durva Mayee

Cover Design: Darshana Venugopal & Durva Mayee

Darshana VenugopalAmbigrams among the pages of Dan Brown’s

‘Angels and Demons’ and

create them from a fellow student

class lecture. She created this

Ambigram especially for M

inspiration behind the theme of ‘design’ for

this month’s issue.

Durva Mayee recreated the

India Ambigram using her

designing (she’s an architect by training)

gave us this wonderful piece

image.

Cover Design: Darshana Venugopal & Durva Mayee

Darshana Venugopal discovered

among the pages of Dan Brown’s

‘Angels and Demons’ and later learnt to

fellow student during a

She created this ‘Mensa India’

for MInd. It was the

inspiration behind the theme of ‘design’ for

recreated the Mensa

mbigram using her background in

(she’s an architect by training) and

piece for the cover

1

Designing for Humans

I always thought of a designer as someone who had studied to be one. It was in Bruce Mau’s Glimmer that I came across the equation of the term ‘design’ with innovative re-imagination. Then, a Baader-Meinhof phenomenon ensued. The term turned up in V. S. Ramachandran’s book, Phantoms in the Brain, where he explains how our brain ‘designs’ our perception of reality, if only to ensure our survival. It cropped up extensively in a lecture of Richard Thaler (that I attended), where he spoke about designing choices for real-world humans as opposed to trusting the theoretical econs of conventional economics to willfully evaluate choices and make educated decisions.

The thing with our brain-wiring is that it’s designed for quick-and-dirty thinking (not in that sense!). What that means is that our brain constantly makes, unmakes and remakes ‘rules’ to preserve a consistent (if somewhat deluded) perception of reality. The brain functions to keep our conscious decision-making to the bare minimum, lest we become Buridan’s Ass. These rules are our biases and prejudices. Ethics, political correctness, morality and such are cumbersome impediments to the brain’s primary function –ensuring our survival. So in effect, we are designed to be flawed!

And yet we can design to steer our biases towards favourable behaviour. Social and behavioural sciences study this shaping of behaviour for constructive and collective profit. For e.g. many lives can be saved if people pledge to donate their organs after death. Yet people remain indifferent to making a conscious choice of ‘opting in’ to it. ‘Design’ is to harness this indifference into making it necessary to ‘opt out’ of such donation. This re-phrasing of the default option into an opt-in has saved many lives in France and Poland.

‘Design’ isn’t a monopoly of artists and their ilk. It’s a relevant accessible and necessary way of thinking for each one of us to adopt in whatever we do. Here’s something from Nokia’s Design manifesto:

“Design has a social function; and its true purpose is to improve people’s lives.”

~N V Krishnamoorthy, Editor, MInd

In this Issue:

Contributors …2 Ambigrams …3 Writing Lyrics for Humans …5 Development Diaries …8 Wordsmith …9 Designing User Interfaces …10

Submissions:

Send in your articles and contributions in plain text format and pictures in high resolution .jpg format to:

editor.mensaindia@gmail.com

Disclaimer:

All contents in this magazine are opinions of the individual authors and contributors. Neither Mensa India, the society, its office bearers nor the editors are responsible for any content or views expresses.

Feedback:

Like it, love it or hate it? Tell us how to make the MInd magazine better. Write in to the editor at

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MInd online:

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issuu.com/editor_mind/docs

2

Darshana Venugoal is an avid dancer, trained in Bharatanatyam. Currently she

is pursuing her management education at the picturesque campus atop a hillock, of IIM Indore. At home, she spends her leisure time, manoeuvring felis catus behaviour (in other words, playing with her cat). However, for the want of an alternative pastime when she is living away from home, she engrosses herself in the Mahabharata.

Durva Mayee is an architect who likes to sit and wonder about Life, the Universe

and Everything. As random ramblings about the design of the space-time fabric aren’t enough to subsist and justify her existence in society, she ekes out a living by designing spaces for the grounded earthlings.

Durva can be contacted at durva_m@yahoo.co.in

Priyanka Deosthali is a software engineer by profession. She develops apps for

iPhones and iPads, leading a team of 10 developers. Outside of work, she is a singer with many years of classical training. She loves to cook and is an avid reader

Priyanka muses at pri112.wordpress.com and indianwoes.wordpress.com and makes guest appearances on Twitter at @Preeedeee

Shrey Goyal is a Delhi-based solar entrepreneur. Passionate about the social

innovation and development spaces, he has worked across financial inclusion, energy, education, rural development, and social impact research, and has authored publications exploring public policy, corporate citizenship, climate change finance, and youth-led social change.

A graduate of IIT Kharagpur, he initiated the rural clean energy project, Urja there. It was deemed an Ashoka's Youth Venture and won the Oxford Youth Business Development

Challenge. Shrey is a fellow of the Presidential Classroom (Washington DC) and the Australia-India Youth Dialogue, and is on the board of Protsahan, a Delhi-based NGO. He is fond of quizzing, movies and books, and loves to travel.

Shrey blogs at shreygoyal.com and tweets at @ShreyGoyal

Krishnamoorthy N V loves to write poetry. When he doesn’t have his nose inside

a good book, he can be found playing football at Juhu Beach; practicing his Veenai; writing code on Cathy (ya, he names his computers); or aimlessly perambulating in his neighbourhood. He has recently started taking Salsa lessons.

Krishna has worked in the fields of education, mental health, digital media, eCommerce and software development. As penance for having earned an Engineering degree, he sacrificed a large part of his youth to IT. He is now dedicating the next phase of his life to the pursuit of an MBA degree from HEC, Paris.

Krishna reflects abstractedly –and thankfully, infrequently –at incompletestories.wordpress.com and tweets even less, at @krishnaMusings

Contributors

3

Ambigrams

Once, when I was listening to a lecture in

class, I saw my friend scribbling illegible patterns

on her notebook. When I curiously asked her

what it was, she said “I am making Ambigrams!”

with her voice full of excitement. Having read

Dan Brown’s “Angels and Demons”, I was

fascinated by her ability to make them. Thanks to

her; I learnt how to make ambigrams.

I got introduced to this beautiful art form

that involves application of logic, through the

novel by Dan Brown. You may have heard about

“palindrome”—a word or a phrase or a sequence

of numbers that can be read the same way in

forward as well as reverse order.

E.g.: “NEVER ODD OR EVEN” when read

in the reverse direction still gives the same

meaning.

While palindromes maintain consistency in

forward or reverse order, ambigrams read

meaningfully –though not necessarily the same

word –in normal and upside-down orientation.

‘Ambi’, in Latin, means “both”. Gram’, in

‘Greek’ means “write”. Ambigrams are patterns

or words which are distinguishable when they are

viewed in both directions. Symbols such as

“Swastika” and “Jewish Star” are ambigrams

too. One of the types of ambigram that I enjoy

making is the rotational ambigram. Instead of

making one-word ambigrams, which look the

same when inverted, I make ambigrams of two

words i.e., when viewed in one direction, it reads

a particular word and when inverted, it reads

another.

How to make an ambigram?

Let me explain some basic steps in making

an ambigram, with an example: “MENSA INDIA”

and “AMBIGRAM”.

Step 1: Write the words in respective direction

Write “MENSA INDIA” on paper. Invert the

paper and right beneath “MENSA INDIA”, write

“AMBIGRAM”

Step 2: Pair up the letters

Now pair up the letters. When you have

words with same number of letters, it becomes

easier to pair up. In this case, since MENSA

INDIA consists of ten letters and AMBIGRAM

consists of eight letters, you will have to carefully

pair them up. In this case, I have paired up “D”

and “I” in “INDIA” with the “M” in “AMBI”;

similarly, “M” and “E” in “MENSA” with the “M”

in “GRAM”.

Step 3: Merge the letters

Merge the letters such that both the letters

can be viewed in the respective direction. e.g.:

Merge the last letter of “MENSA INDIA” i.e., “A”,

with the first letter of “AMBIGRAM” i.e., “A”.

You may choose whichever font is most suitable.

In the example below, there is one merged form

with uppercase ‘A’s and another merged form

with lowercase ‘A’s

STEP 4: Work on other pairs

Cover Story

4

Repeat Step 3 for other pairs of letters. Once

you are done with this step, you have the

ambigram ready.

Ambigram as a gift

Do you often run out of ideas for gifting and

wonder what to gift a couple on their anniversary

or your friend on his/ her birthday? For those

who like adding a personal touch to what they

gift, ambigrams could be a great idea. You could

make an ambigram of two names! Sounds very

plain? Well, instead of gifting a photo frame or a

coffee mug with just a picture in it, you can make

a photo collage and add an ambigram to your

gift. Hope your loved ones like it.

Mensa India:

Ambigram:

For more on ambigrams check out:

www.johnlangdon.net/typesofambigrams.php

~Darshana Venugopal

The blue box below reads “MENSA

INDIA”. When you turn the page around

you will find “AMBIGRAM”!

Cover Story (Contd.)

5

Writing lyrics for Humans

The ultra-limited dictionary that song writers

refer to has been getting updated of late. Gone

are the days when one could hear dil, pyar, nazar

jigar, jeena-marna in every other line in every

song. It has come as a good (albeit late)

realization that the descendents of the Homo

sapiens can do with a few more words and ideas

besides the usual “pyar mein pagal” stuff when

they are attempt to hum to a tune.

Cut to a Scene from the old Chasmebadoor:

Deepti Naval and Farooque Sheikh are

discussing with utmost seriousness why a hero-

heroine pair, singing a song in a park, as shown

in movies is unrealistic: there is nobody in the

park; nobody is watching them to cause any

disturbance; 40-piece orchestra playing in the

background –all impossible, they conclude. And

all heroes double up as poets –very unlikely,

right? No, that’s the easiest part according to our

guiding lights –lyrics are nothing but a jumble of

already rhyming words, e.g. badal, kajal, pagal,

etc… And as this realization dawns upon them,

the very next moment, they break into a song

using words from that repertoire.

The Mechanics:

Not long ago, writing lyrics for Hindi film

songs had become repetitive, clichéd and

mechanical. Words were so predictable that a

game called word-antakshari made some gainful

use of that limited vocabulary of songs. So much

so, one could have easily written computer

programs that would have spit out songs making

permutations and combinations of available

rhyming words. The fed-in data being just a

jumble of words, and the same references being

used time and again, a poet was practically a

song-writing factory. The template was ready.

Groups of words that rhymed were there. You

had to pick and choose until the day all

permutations and combinations were exhausted.

The Not-So-Mechanical:

But to our relief, there have been some

exceptional writers who have bothered to add a

new thought or word or metaphor that makes us

think beyond the obvious.

Take this for a romantic song where two

lovers are plotting to save the sun from drowning

in water: Tum rok ke rakhna, mai jaal giraun,

Tum peeth pe lena, mai haath lagaun. (All that

weightlifting/ sun-lifting to ensure that the day

when they met does not end –notable because it

is a romantic song without the word “pyar” or

any of its several hundred synonyms) (Song: O

Sathi re, Film: Omkara, Lyrics: Gulzar)

Or the classic: Mera kuch samaan tumhare

paas pada hai from Ijazat –made of just the kind

of stuff that simply cannot be returned, even in

poetry. (Lyrics: Gulzar)

The depth of abstract thought that the

stalwarts plunged with their pen appeared to

have disappeared from the mainstream Hindi

film songs.

And yet, humanist song writing is not limited

to gauging the depths of an abstract thought. It

can be a most mundane conversation that

downplays the magic and warily questions the

stupidity of love.

Ankhein bhi kamal karti hai, personal se

sawal karti hai (Song: Kajrare, Film: Bunty aur

bubbly, Lyrics: Javed Akhtar)

Or the even more conversational song

written in order to tell you what happens when

Observations

6

you see the love of your life for the first time –a

guy on a stuff-losing spree makes a list of all the

things lost in the last seven days –a laundry bill, a

half-read novel, king of hearts from a pack of

cards, a silver ring, and so on. And just when you

are about to lose your patience and shout what is

all the fuss about… you are told that on the

seventh day he loses his heart on setting his eyes

upon a girl. ‘Yes, only human!’ Is the most we

can say to console the poor fellow (?)

And this comes from the same person jisne

“ek ladki ko dekha toh” his record got stuck,

repeated it some forty times in the hope of

finding a perfect simile to describe the event and

could never go beyond that line to narrate what

happened later.

Same situation, different approaches for

different times, moods and characters. (Both

songs written by Javed Akhtar)

Current Affairs:

Redefining of metaphors can be seen as the

most important way a language grows.

Associating an abstract thought with an easier-to-

relate entity in turn attaches a new meaning to

the entity as well. And the idea that was moments

ago indescribable stands caged before the

audience –compelled to reveal its form. The new-

age lyricists have taken it upon themselves to

further this task of pushing the boundaries of

language.

What with an audacious Manjha, that was

earlier notorious for slitting fingers and pigeons is

used skillfully to replace the delicate silk/ resham

for tangled relations (lyricist: Swanand Kirkire);

and Daaru Desi is likened to the kind of

friendship that gets to your head, makes you

drop your guard, chatter away and smile like an

idiot. (Lyricist: Irshad Kamil).

Hawa Hawa from Rockstar, with its quirky

sounds of “ruke na phir paaon paaon paaon” for

the feet of a dancing queen makes one wonder if

it was written to call attention to the fact that all

relations between a word and a sound cannot be

described by Onomatopoeia and a new figure of

speech has to be invented. These illicit relations

between those ringing words weave an entire folk

story with “chakri si pairon mein” and “jaati toh

ghis ke aati, ik din mein joote barah”. But the

music and the colourful picturization does not

give away the tragedy of the queen to an

indifferent audience that chooses to view it from

their comfort zone –oh cruel life! Oh cruel us! It is

a literary, musical and visual masterpiece in

mainstream cinema for the sheer genius of

preserving the genuine detachment of a narrator

from the emotion of a story.

Chor bazaari –The happy break-up song

from Love Aaj Kal is another laudable

experiment. Under usual circumstances, what

would be expected to be a morose situation has

been rendered in a surprisingly joyous and

celebratory mood: “dekh ke mujhko hast gaata,

sadh gayi ye duniya sadh gayi”. (Lyricist for

Hawa hawa and Chor Bazaari: Irshad Kamil)

Power Puff girls:

A slight change in the tone of expression can

challenge age-old myths and outlooks. The

colour of yearning of a girl in love is not a pale

shade of pink but a deep, deep blue and is not

necessarily delivered by pigeon-post service but

can also be declared with a mike in hand. (Song:

Pareshaan, Film: Ishaqzaade, Lyrics: Kausar

Munir)

King of Metaphor:

The uncrowned king of metaphor Amitabh

Bhattacharya deserves the title –with his unusual

Observations (Contd.)

7

and never-seen-before stunts in lyrics writing.

Sabun ki shakal mein beta tu toh nikla kewal

jhaag. Seriously, who could have thought of such

a clever treachery! (Song: D.K. Bose, Film: Delhi

Belly)

When the usual “lutt gaya, barbaad ho

gaya” becomes “Chai mein dooba biscuit ho

gaya”, we feel the punch of metaphor that nails

meaning firmly into the head of a listener.

Bringing down

attention from the

eternal to the

ephemeral; from the

sun, moon, stars and

the like to a sabun,

biscuit, antenna,

kanghi (comb), yeh

bhi hai tarkeebein

(Film:Band Baaja

Baarat). And those

rhymes don’t sound

forced. The

situations and use of objects are carefully justified

within the song. Such linking within a

composition brings tears of joy and we exclaim

Aansuon ka chooran chaba ke humne dakaar

mara re. (Film: Agneepath)

To know that chilam and filam rhyme is

one thing –to use them so cleanly is another. Jo

bhare chilam, bane hum hero, life lage filam,

samasya zero –the song appears to have been

smuggled from cloud nine where you are shared

the ultimate gyan of how “atma ki RAM se

Trauma ka spam clean” kiya jaye. (Song: Babaji

ki booty, Film: Go Goa Gone)

From such a fertile brain comes ye bheja

garden hai; the complain of ishak ke naam pe

karte sabhi ab raas leela hai; and frustration of

laila hai girgit ke jaisi, table pe tirkit ke jaisi.

(Songs in sequence: D.K. Bose, Delhi Belly;

Character Dheela, Ready; and Pungi, Agent

Vinod)

The same quill spills out a delicate

description of a youth losing direction: Zuban pe

jo moh-maya, namak lagaye re… disha hara

(Song: Monta Re, Film: Lootera), or an inspiring

Zinda Hoon Yaar.

To end it, the simplicity and plain freshness

of words that describe ideas which in turn, are

unassuming, carefree and without any pretence

make these new lyricists stand out. These and

many more new-age poets are the rays of

another fresh morning in the century-old

corridors of Bollywood. They have woken us up

from a dark night where creativity had gone to

sleep. With all the diverse emotions along with

the never-dying “pyar-vyar” finding a voice, we

can be human again.

Baraamade purane hai, nayi si dhoop hai

(Song Sawaar loon, Film: Lootera, Lyrics:

Amitabh Bhattacharya)

~Durva Mayee

Observations (Contd.)

8

What Bollywood has to do

with Mass Literacy

Today, New York City is widely identified as

one of the most influential cities in the world,

exerting enormous impact on everything from

commerce to culture, technology to

entertainment, research to real estate, and

finance to fashion. Yet, the 1960’s saw an NYC

much more well-known as a crime haven and

widely associated with criminal violence. The city

was deemed simply too big and too unruly for a

police force too small, run by a city

administration too broke.

But then, things started changing in the mid-

80s. Social scientists Wilson and Kelling

introduced the Broken Windows Theory, which

said that the state of disorder in an urban

environment plays a role in social signalling and

norm setting. Simply put, individuals look for

signals in their surroundings to gauge social

norms prevalent in the community, and the risk

of getting caught violating those norms.

Kelling was soon hired as a consultant by

the city. As a first step, graffiti was targeted

intensively, and NYC’s subway system was

thoroughly cleaned. Instead of focusing solely on

“serious crime”, the police was told to more

strictly enforce laws against “petty crimes” like

subway fare evasion and public urination.

The idea was that an ordered and clean

environment – one which is maintained – sends

the signal that the area is monitored and that

criminal behaviour will not be tolerated. A

disordered environment – with broken windows

or unlawful graffiti, for example – sends the signal

that one can engage in criminal behaviour with

little risk of detection due to low monitoring.

While this move to clean up and target trivial

offences was ridiculed initially, rates of both petty

and serious crime fell “suddenly and

significantly” in the early 1990s, and have

continued to drop ever since. Since 2005, New

York City has had the lowest crime rate among

the 25 largest U.S. cities.

Incremental changes in the environment

leading to large implications for society: this is

what happens when humans and design interact.

But design is beyond looks and

functionality: it is about creating entire systems to

deliver solutions. A celebrated example is that of

same language subtitling (SLS), or subtitling TV

programs in the same language as the audio,

traditionally meant for deaf viewers. Brij Kothari

at IIM-Ahmedabad realised that SLS can make

reading practice an incidental, automatic, and

subconscious part of popular TV entertainment,

and spread mass literacy at a very low per-person

cost in India. Studies have since demonstrated

that reading abilities improved manifold among

schoolchildren exposed to 30 minutes a week of

Rangoli on Doordarshan with SLS, and over

90% preferred subtitles due to their interest in

learning the lyrics of Bollywood songs. SLS has

been nationalised in India and China as a part of

literacy programs, and has been supported by

UNESCO. Educational researchers are now

advocating the addition of SLS-style 'open'

subtitling to music video on the web and across

the world.

Design interventions in the development space especially need to be focused on the beneficiary and his/her experience to be successful. When designers from IDEO, which boasts of clients like Apple and PepsiCo, were working with VisionSpring, a low-cost eye care provider in India, to design the eye-screening

Development Diaries

9

process with a group of children, the first girl being tested burst into tears—the pressure of the experience was too great for her. Then, the designers asked her to screen her teacher. She took the task very seriously, while her classmates looked on enviously. Finally, the children were asked to play doctor and screen each other. They loved the experience, and both respected and complied with the process.

Development Diaries is Shrey Goyal’s column that aims to open a window into the lives at the bottom of the socio-economic pyramid and

highlight the conditions and situations requiring empowerment and social change. The column will analyze the effectiveness of various state and non-state forces engaged in creating the change, and explore different philosophies and methodologies of the business of doing good. The column will highlight the work done by change agents in making a measurable difference. The author ultimately hopes to help the reader realize his or her own role and responsibility in bringing greater social equity to the world that we live in.

Death

He was in love with what he saw. He had invested a lifetime of learning in it. He hadn’t known it always. But slowly yet surely he had sown, watered and nurtured a seed. Today it had sprouted a nascent life form that jutted shyly from the earth of his experiences. He let it bask under his warm gaze.

She laughed out a loud, vulgar laugh. She was surprised that he took such indecent joy in so insignificant an achievement. Surely there grew better, sturdier trees than this foolish little shoot could ever hope to be. And the delicate sap had little chance that it would amount to anything at all, even if it managed to survive into a plant. He protested that she was being unfair. He held it tenderly in his eyes.

The older one looked deeply pained as it made to speak. It dismissed their arguments and gaped keenly at the object. Then, bent with the cumulative disappointments of a lifetime, it decreed that the world would not take kindly to the puerile existence. It warned of the grave perils that lay in store and the futility of tending to it. Its voice, hung heavy by the wisdom of age, weighed down upon them. He was now unsure.

The mischievous one now sneered at him; taunted his precious newborn; called him a fool for the high ground he chose to hold. It took a wicked pleasure in mocking the gardener and his incipient prize. His eyes now brimmed with tears.

A low, gentle voice tugged at his sleeves. It pledged faith in him and his labor. It promised him an unwavering belief in him and his ideals. But he did not hear it. It was too feeble and drowned out by the others.

He was bitter, scared, humiliated. In thoughtless anger he crushed it underfoot. Then he proceeded to wipe away the scars of its painful memories.

The little boy outside the window had been staring at him for some time. Inside, he hadn’t moved a bit in that time and yet the boy had been utterly captivated. The boy couldn’t understand why he had been inexplicably staring at him. The boy sighed, got up and admonished himself for wasting time watching nothing. He did not know that he had witnessed the death of an idea.

~Krishnamoorthy N V

Wordsmith

10

Designing User Interfaces

When I first started working as a developer, I

used to be amused at the countless hours of

design thinking that my team did before starting

the development of a new application. When the

design and usability experts used to sit with us

and draw up basic wireframes. And then the

Information architect used to sit over those and

come up with a final version. And when the

graphic designers had finally filled in colors could

we finally start with the development. As a

developer, I used to wonder when all the

discussion would end and when I could actually

start my work. As I further developed more and

more apps, I realized that nothing would be

functionally good without a good design. I might

have superb coding skills, but my application

would be of zero value to the end user if it is not

intuitive enough for him or her to use without too

much guidance.

Good UI design is a fundamental

requirement. Have you ever visited a website and

got frustrated with the very first page therein,

because there was so much clutter on screen that

you lost track of what you went to the site for in

the first place. Or that maybe, the login fields

were stowed away in some corner that it took

you ages to locate them before you could enter

the site. These sites are clearly victims of bad user

interface design. You want to rip your hair apart

and run far, far away from these sites and never

come back again!

Now let’s take the most common site we all

use –Google. The sheer simplicity of the website

makes it so much easier for us to find what we

need. Just one field, where you enter what you

are looking for, and then all results of all types

(images, articles, forums, maps, etc) come to you

in the same place. Then they give you a small

advanced search below to customize your results.

Did anyone ever have to teach us how to use

Google? The design was such that it was just so

obvious what needs to be done to get results on

the site. This is good UI –something that is self-

explanatory and user friendly.

BookMyShow is one site that has made the

movie-buff in me very happy. I love the site not

only for what it offers but also how easily it lets

you have it. All that you would want is right there

before your eyes. A lot of flashy ads, but they

never take your focus away –because where your

eyes first meet the screen are the menu options.

Where an average user would first look is where

the main functionality of the site lies: “Whoa! I

can make my bookings right here”. Everything,

including the seat selection happens on a single

page. Not once do you feel that the page looks

cluttered. Yet somehow they manage to fit in ads,

upcoming events, new movies and everything

else in the same page with the menu options and

booking box.

In general, a user’s patience is limited. Or

let’s say he doesn’t have the time to explore your

site to get what he wants. If he doesn’t get what

he wants from your website/ application at the

first, second or the third glance, he is going to

move to another website/ application, which

hands him his results faster. You need to

understand the user’s psychology when he uses

your application, and design your application in

such a way that appeals to users and keeps them

there. An information architect plays a very

critical role here. He is the one who is responsible

for consciously organizing the content and flow of

a website, based on the results derived through

long sessions of requirements gathering.

Technology

11

A good UI should be like that good old

friend with whom you can relax and have a good

stress-free conversation. In a room full of choices,

most people are drawn towards what is most

recognizable. Most importantly, the design should

focus on the usability of the application. If you

make the most attractive looking jazzy application

that catches the users’ eyes they are going to lose

focus soon, if they cannot find the required

functionality through all that jazz.

Also the pattern of the app should be

predictable or consistent. Consistent interfaces

allow users to learn usage patterns —they’ll learn

what the different buttons, tabs, icons and other

interface elements look like and will recognize

them to realize what they do in different contexts.

In one of the techie blogs that I follow, the writer

was clearly frustrated with an e-book he was

trying to read on an iPad. He says, “I clearly

remember reading a book app and being

frustrated by the page turning mechanism

because it wasn’t consistent. The developer

probably thought they were being cute or

creative. But I didn’t want to think about how to

turn the page –I just wanted to turn the darn

page to read the book. The more predictable the

mechanics, the more content we can access.”

The application “Instagram”, available on

iOS and android is one such application

displaying consistency and predictability in

addition to a very clean aesthetic look and feel.

Its functionality is popular for obvious reasons

(Yes, I credit many likes on my facebook pics to

this app ;)). But the reason Instagram stood out

amongst a host of other photo editing software

was because of its packaging. They have a 5-tab

interface, which shows you what your friends are

posting; what you posted in the past; other

activities and updates; what’s most popular on

their network; and of course the basic software –

all neatly arranged on the small mobile screen.

When we look at an application, all we see

are attractive colors, some animation, and our

utilities between all of this. But to make an

application worthy for its intended user group, it

must be structured and organized, putting related

things together and separating unrelated things,

differentiating dissimilar things and making

similar things resemble one another. The design

should be simple, making common tasks easy,

providing efficient shortcuts to long procedures.

What you really, really need to do to make an

interface efficient is to figure out what exactly the

user is trying to achieve, and then let them do

exactly that without any fuss. The design should

also keep the users informed of all that is

happening on screen, whether it is a step in a

process or an error or change in a condition etc.

An appealing and attractive UI that follows all the

above principles is a cherry on top of the cake.

Apple spent years and years researching the

human psychology and behavioral patterns.

When they were done, they came up with the

apple HIG (Human Interface Guidelines), which

basically guides you for creating user-friendly

applications that can be used with very little

efforts on the users’ part. Did you know that all

their devices (iPhones, iPads, Macbooks) are

designed as per these researches as well? They

not only give you a friendly UI, but also a friendly

device to use it on. No wonder Apple products

are so popular world over, no matter how costly.

And no, people don’t buy them for just show off.

My 3-year-old niece learnt all by herself how

to unlock my iPhone and open her favorite

application. She spends a good amount of time

entertaining herself with “Talking Pierre” or

drawing her imaginations out on the Doodle

Technology (Contd.)

12

application I installed for her. If a 3 year old can

use the device without guidance, need I say

more?

To conclude, a good interface

1. Makes it easy for users to tell the computer

what they want to do,

2. Allows the computer to request information

from the users,

3. Presents understandable information,

4. Allows the users to intuitively learn as they

navigate the site,

5. Shows consistent, recognizable design that

attracts the eye and

6. Doesn’t distract the users from the main

functionalities.

Clear communication between the user and

the computer is the working premise of good UI

design. A good UI design is one which remains

inconspicuous while allowing the user to achieve

his task most accurately and efficiently.

~Priyanka Deosthali

If you love to discuss new stuff on

the technology scene; the latest gadgets out

there; operating systems, software,

programming; design, UX, web 2.0, web

3.0, digital media –in short, technology –

have you considered writing for MInd?

Shoot a mail to the editor. Today!

The following pages are from

the Mensa World Journal (Formerly called the Mensa International Journal)

Four screen celebrities that you

probably did not know are Mensans:

Nolan Gould, who plays the

slightly dumb but happy-go-

lucky Luke from Modern

Family is a member of

Mensa!

Alan Richins –

Dharma's hippie

father, Larry, from

the hit series

Dharma & Greg

–is a member too!

Stuart Little’s mother, Geena Davis, is an actress,

writer, producer,

former fashion model,

a women's Olympics

archery team semi-

finalist and… you

guessed it –a Mensan!

Ashley “Awkward” Rickards

who plays Jenna Hamilton

in MTV’s Awkward belongs

to this exclusive club as

well!

Technology (Contd.)

mensa world journal

mensa world journal may 2013

may 2013 issue 005

01

from the executive committee...When people ask me “so why are you in Mensa?”, I give them three short answers: A, B and C.

A = Amusement! I have fun in Mensa. Mensa members come in all flavours and they are great people to hang out with. Also, they tend to understand my jokes. I love the dynamics of intelligentconversation, the resonance of reason-ing, pleasantly shared over a Mensa dinner. Aren’t the joys of life more fun in intelligent company? It is for this reason we go to social gatherings, games nights, lectures and so on.

B = Benefits! Being a Mensan is valu-able. Membership allows us to find knowledgeable people in most areas. It is an excellent place to network and gather connections of value bothprofessionally and in other areas of life. If we travel someplace, for sure there are members there to help us around, share a guest room or show us their city. This is what is called SIGHT (see Did You Know on p02). Whatever your cause, Mensa is a good place to find likeminded ones; that is what SIGs are for. Not least, being a Mensa volunteer is a great addition to your resume.

C = Contribute! We are so much more than just a social club. We join Mensa not only to receive, but also to bring something: our names, our thoughts and our time and volunteer work not least. This is how we make a differ-ence, on both a small and larger scale. Simply by existing and being visible, Mensa sends the message that intelli-gence is something that actually exists, and that it is something good and

worth fostering. Intelligence should be put to use, in schools, academies,workplaces and at home. And we should learn to recognize intelligence when we see it, for it is sadly misun-derstood in too many places.

Now, memorize those three words and you will know what to say the next time somebody asks you.

As a member of ExComm, I’m sometimes asked a similar question: “so what is Mensa International good for?” I have a short answer for them too: D, E and F.

D = Development! If Mensa is good in one country, it deserves to spread to all countries. Unlike other clubs how-ever, we cannot simply open our doors. It is notoriously difficult to become amember of Mensa, you have to pass a test – which means that to establish a new group in a country somewhere, we have to first find a way of testing can-didates on a regular basis, in a mannerapproved by the international super-visory psychologist. Then we need an organizational structure, bylaws, communications, websites and so on. The population has to be told that there is a new society in their country, this strange, unfamiliar thing called ”Mensa”. This requires PR that mayor may not be easily copied from other countries with different customs. At every step in the process of building a new group, there are challenges to be overcome. It can start with a DirectInternational Member somewhere, who wants more company and is will-ing to take on a leading role. As the

initial small group grows, the society changes character, each time becoming slightly more businesslike and profes-sional in the way it is managed. Who coordinates all this and makes sure that Mensa grows? Mensa Interna-tional does, together with the local founding members. With each new formed group, our body of experience grows as do the supporting material that we can offer.

E = Exchange! We have plenty to share with one another, and Mensa International has the explicit task of enabling and facilitating the flow of experience and knowledge from coun-try to country. The smaller national Mensas have plenty to learn from the older, bigger countries such as Ameri-can or British Mensa, but the opposite is true as well. Even American Mensa is made up of local groups, which have much in common with local groups in Europe or Asia. Ideas for PR, volun-teer recognition, governance, amusing meeting concepts, online services, mer-chandise, gifted youth programs etc, etc are too good to be limited to any single country. Mensa International provides platforms for spreading such ideas and this is what we do at IBD meetings and via the LEAP program, the MWJ and the international web-site. And that is just the beginning.

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mensa world journal may 2013 02

MENSA INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER OF THE YEAR 2013

The art of photography is an area where Mensans from over fifty countries with different languages, customs and traditions can converge with a single,

visual language! Use your creativity, skills, and technical expertise to produce your entry in this year’s Photocup competition. The theme for 2013 is

Opposites.If your Mensa chapter is holding a national competition to select entries for the International phase, a

set of the rules and closing dates will be available from your national office or Board.

Direct International Members and members from countries not holding national contests are eligible to enter the International competition by sending two entries only to mensaworldphotocup@gmail.com by

August 1, 2013.

The Mensa International Photographer of the Year 2013 could be you!

Further details available from Therese Moodie-Bloom tmb@ozemail.com.au or Dr Ranko Rajovic rrajovic@gmail.com

F = Franchise! Mensa International has something in common with McDonald’s, or FIFA the football federation. While each country is independent, there is a pattern that all Mensas must follow, lest we drift apart. To keep this a global round ta-ble, we need a body that defines what the minimum standard is for each Mensa to meet. Who is to say that just the top 2% should be admitted?`Why not the top 3%? What definition of intelligence should be used? Should it be up to individual countries to decide if they want to take political action, or endorse particular ideologicalagendas? No, because it would not be long before the great round table would shatter into smaller squares that no longer fit together. The concept, or franchise if you wish, of Mensa has to be unified, and that is the purpose of Mensa International.

In short, that is what the international volunteers do. And just like your local officers, we do not get paid. More

than once have people asked where we ”sit”, but we are not whisked away to a secret lair where we conspire together while stroking cats. With the excep-tion of two physical meetings every year, we sit at home, by our computers, responding to e-mail, engaging in teleconferences, drafting policies, read-ing reports from other volunteers and so on. Why do we do it? Because only by contributing will there be some-thing for us all to enjoy and benefit from. This is my third - and last - column as D-SNM; another volunteer will take my place after the elections, in which I am a candidate for a different office, Director of Development. Voting is open until the 15th of May. If you have not voted yet, and there still is time, take a few minutes to read the presen-tations, make up your mind and vote!

Did You Know...

International Special Interest Groups (ISIGs) are SIGs that are open to Mensa members world-wide. They are listed on the Mensa International website at www.men-sa.org. For advice on whether your national SIG can be recognised as an ISIG, email sigs@mensa.org.

SIGHT is an acronym meaning Service for Information, Guid-ance, and Hospitality to Travellers. SIGHT connects Mensans who want to meet other Mensans. Some travel while others give advice to travellers including the best places to stay or visit. There are SIGHT contacts in countries from Andorra to Vietnam.

The word Mensa is not an acronym - it is a Latin word meaning ‘table’. It represents a round table around which members sit as equals.

Björn LiljeqvistDirector

Smaller National Mensas

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A motor cycle crash while he was serving with the RAF in Cyprus left UK member Sean Allerton a tetraple-gic, officially 100 per cent disabled with no feeling or movement below his chest.

He is confined to a wheelchair and has use of his arms but not his hands. Is he bitter? “Why, I’m not dead? I am not housebound. I was given a second chance and there is so much to do out there,” he says. Which is why the Mensa member since 1992 throws himself into a range of madcap activities that put the rest of us to shame. One of those exploits was his solo Push 500 Wheelchair Challenge, a 500-mile wheelchair push which he finished last month and raised several thousand pounds for RAF charities which have helped him and other disabled servicemen. For months he wheeled himself round and round a number of RAF airfields – mainly RAF Church Fenton, near his home in Sherburn-in-Elmet, near Selby, North Yorkshire – clocking up the mileage which was all recorded on a gps tracking device. He was usually on his own, but always had a spare wheelchair handy for anyone who wanted to push along with him. He has been accompanied by the Red Arrows, the Chief of Air Staff and lots of veterans. Former RAF Regiment gun-ner Sean, 47, was paralysed in a road accident while serving with the 34 Squadron RAF Regiment in Cyprus

in 1993. He was inspired to make his Push 500 challenge by the hit song, I Would Walk 500 Miles, by The Proclaimers. The Scottish singing twins, Craig and Charlie Reid, were there to walk the first lap with Sean and they walked the last lap with him at the finish. But on that lap, he announced it was also the start of his second 500-mile challenge, again for RAF chari-ties. During the first Push 500, he once spent 12 hours wheeling round the airfield overnight with torches strapped to his wheelchair. On anoth-er occasion he fell out of his chair and had to phone the airbase guardhouse for help in getting him back in. One day during the winter floods, he went out onto floodwater that had frozen over. His wheelchair crashed through the ice leaving him in inches of icy water. Fortunately a friend was with him to help. “I was soaking but I was laughing at him because he was getting his feet wet,” he said. In December, he finished one ses-sion with frost on his arms, legs and body but had not noticed because he cannot feel the cold. “I have to be

careful because I might hurt myself without feeling it,” he said. On his challenge travels, he has worn out eight pairs of gloves and a couple of wheelchair tyres. “Being physically, and thanks to all of the chosen charities, now also mentally in a place where I can hopefully give back a little bit, I want to raise awareness and raise money for the charities.” Those charities are Royal Air Forces Association, Royal Air Force Benevo-lent Fund, Royal Air Force Charitable Trust and Flying Scholarships for Disabled People. Sean lives alone in a dormer bunga-low he rents from the RAF Benevolent Fund. It has a lift to get him up to bed and a district nurse visits him every three days. He spends hours on the In-ternet, designs websites for friends and orders his food online to be delivered to his door.

PUSHING THE LIMITS

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He shrugs off words like coura-geous and determined. “I am just an awkward so-and-so.” A couple of years ago he took up fencing – foil and sabre – but because he cannot grip, he has to tape the weapon to his hands and wrists. He reckons his biggest accomplish-ment was, in September 2011, to win a Flying Scholarships for Disabled Peo-ple and, in conjunction with Aerobility, learned to fly. He becomes emotional when he describes flying solo for the first time: “It was so empowering, a total sense of freedom,” he said. All of this might be challenging his mind and body – but he’s doing more. When he has a free moment, he is studying for an Open University degree in history. Why? “Because it is another challenge, of course.” All his life, Sean has felt himself to be a square peg in a round hole. When he took the Mensa test and was ac-cepted as a member he felt it explained why. “I got a good result but I am not clever, just different. I can’t do the Countdown conundrum and I’m use-less with the maths questions,” he said. But he admires the work Mensa does for gifted children, just one of the reasons that make membership worth-while. But then that’s Sean – always thinking about others. “I could go on and on for hours about the things that I can’t do, but why bother? I have to concentrate on the things that I can do. Just be a good person, enjoy what you have got and if you do something, do it properly,” he said. “The world does not owe you a living. It’s up to you to get things done. Be good. And that’s the end of that episode of Grumpy Old Men!”.

Brian Page(Reprinted from Mensa Magazine, Editor, Brian

Page)

spitting or splitting?

In conversation the other day, I heard someone say that her baby was the “splitting image of his father”. I opened my mouth to ask if she meant the “spitting image”, but closed it again, realizing that although I was sure I was right, I’d heard “splitting image” so many times, that perhaps I was wrong (quelle horreur!) - espe-cially since the person I was talking to was something of a word aficionada herself… The notion of a “splitting image” originating from perfectly matched splits from something is an attractive one, since matching the grain of split wood, for example, has long been used in furniture and musical instruments for aesthetic reasons. (If you’ve seen the back of a stringed instrument like the violin, you’ll get why the result of the technique is called ‘fiddleback’.) But this doesn’t explain why we so often hear (and see written) “spitten image”, “the dead spit”, “spittin’ im-age”, “spit’n image” and so on. Assuming, then, that the word is spitting and not splitting, let’s get down to tin tacks, find out why it is, and lay the splitting derivation to rest for once and for all! Some theorists adhere to the view that “black magic” in the form of spells cast by mixing saliva and a doll made in the im-age of a person, lay at the root of the phrase, but according to Partridge, the nucleus of the phrase first appeared in the 1400’s: “He’s…as like these as the’ hadst spit him”. This fuels the argu-ment that the phrase is a singularly inelegant metaphor meaning that two people resemble each other so closely

that it looks as if one of them were spat out of the other’s mouth. Other theorists agree citing other English usages such as in Farquar’s play Love and a Bottle in 1689 – “Poor child! He’s as like his own dada as if he were spit out of his mouth” – and “the very spit of ” used in the same context ap-pearing around 1825. But while I prefer ‘spit’ to the Norwegian som snytt ut av nesen paa (blown out of the nose of ), why ‘spit’ in the first place? I mean, spitting generally has unpleasant connota-tions: expelling saliva forcefully from the mouth; showing contempt, anger or hatred by expelling saliva; ejecting something harmful or unpleasant such as blood or food forcefully from the mouth; hissing explosively like an an-gry cat, or, uttering something sharply and angrily, usually between clenched teeth (no wonder Farquar wrote of the child as ‘poor’!). One can only conclude that it began as a derogatory phrase and has since been softened to include more palatable comparisons – or the other way around - unless, of course, we look to another theory that suggests that the ‘spit’ is actually seminal ejaculate, which would have authenticated one’s parentage should there have been any doubts… Hmmmmm. Pick your own theory, but I think I rather like the idea of the ‘expectorant’ father…

kate nacardmwjeditor@mensa.org

words...

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According to evolutionary psycholo-gist, Satoshi Kanazawa, “General Intelligence refers to the ability to reason deductively or inductively, use analogies, synthesize information, and apply it to new domains. It is a measure of how (and how well) you think, not of what you know, although what you know is influenced by your intelligence”1. As a species, are we actually becom-ing less intelligent? On November 12, 2012, the journal Trends in Genetics published an article that argues that humans lost all evolutionary pressure to be intelligent when they began to live in communities and agricultural settlements. “The development of our intellec-tual abilities and the optimization of thousands of intelligence genes prob-ably occurred in relatively non-verbal, dispersed groups of people [who lived] before our ancestors emigrated from Africa”2. Has there has been an ongo-ing slow decline in human intellectual ability since then? Gerald Crabtree, a geneticist from Stanford University, says, “I would wager that if an average citizen from Athens of 1000 B.C. were among us, he or she would be among the brightest and most intellectually alive of our colleagues and companies, with a good memory, a broad range of ideas, and a clear-sided view of impor-tant issues”3. Thousands of years ago, those peo-ple who failed to make the grade and live long enough to become our ances-tors very often died because of lack of good judgment. A decision underpressure could mean the difference between being trampled to death by a

“Mutations affecting the estimated 5000 genes controlling human intellect have crept into our DNA.” ~ Gerald Crabtree, Stanford University.

woolly mammoth or being eaten alive by a sabre-tooth tiger and living long enough to recount the tale of survival over the clan’s evening bonfire. Today, and through the last few thousand years of human evolution, there is and has been no need for Man to fend for himself. The human species is very rarely called upon to use his survival intelligence, sometimes known as the “flight or fight” reaction or instinct. Deficiencies in intellect are no longer impediments for survival and repro-duction. We do not (usually) need to outwit a predator in order to survive, but our ancestors did not have theluxury of survival complacency and se-curity. They were always “on the alert”. Now, that type of intelligence has been relegated to second place, not playing as important a role as it once did. Butit is not dead! Due to education and the increas-ing sum of (and spreading of ) human knowledge, humanity has advanced and continues advancing - even if we are totally incapable of doing long division or multiplication without our trusty calculators! We are now “ex-perts”, educated to the hilt, and there are very few polymaths among us. “… people no longer need a wide breadth of knowledge or even cog-nitive ability in order to thrive. … Education makes it so the strong-est insights of one individual can be rapidly distributed throughout our society”4, Crabtree says. He admits his hypothesis or “speculation theory of human intelligence” needs testing; and states that he would be happy to prove it wrong! The basic idea of Crabtree’s think-

ing is quite simple: In our distant past, our ancestors were faced with the harsh reality of the hunter-gatherer lifestyle and, “… enormous evolu-tionary pressure bore down on early humans, selecting out the dimwits, and raising the intellect of the survi-vor’s descendents. But not so today”5.

Selective processing and sequestering of that sort is no longer needed. If a businessman, for example, were to make a mistake in judgment analogous to our ancestor’s lack of judgment, he might be promoted, given a raise, and, in the process, become a more desir-able mate. And all that because he creatively “screwed up”… Researchers, drawing on recent studies, estimate that the number of genes that play a role in human intel-lectual ability on the basis of intel-ligence is between 2000 and 5000. Of these genes, each carries two or more mutations that can damage them. These mutations have arisen in the past 3000 years or so, approximately 120 generations. These facts help to lead to the conclusion that we humans reached our intellectual zenith in the now obscure past. “We, as a species, are surprisingly intellectually fragile, and perhaps reached a peak 2000 to 6000 years ago … if selection is only slightly relaxed, one would conclude that nearly all of us are compromised compared to our ancient ancestors of 3000 to 6000 years ago”6. Crabtree does not necessarily believe that the concept that “humans are becoming less intelligent” will pass as it stands when put to the test in experiments or under close scrutiny from other geneticists. The type of

The Devolution of Intelligence?

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mensa world journal may 2013 06

evolutionary pressure he mentions is not necessary to maintain human intelligence. He sincerely believes that the human race is not ready to fall into a dark cognitive abyss and into oblivion. We are not doomed! Crab-tree concludes, “Remarkably, it seems that although our genomes are fragile, our society is robust almost entirely by virtue of education, which allows strength to be rapidly distributed to all members”7. Professor Robin Dunbar, an Oxford University anthropologist, added this very hopeful note, “[Prof. Crabtree] takes the line that our intel-ligence is designed to allow us to build houses and throw spears straighter at pigs in the bush, but that is not the real driver of brain size… In reality, what has driven the human and pri-mate brain evolution is the complexity of our social world [and] that complex world is not going away. … Personally, I am not sure that, in the foreseeable future there is a reason to be panicking at all, the rate of evolution of things like this takes thousands of years … no doubt the ingenuity of science will find solutions to these things if we do not blow ourselves up first”8. Whether we are getting dumber or getting smarter appears to be of secondary importance. Let’s wise up, first!

Thomas Hallythomas_hally@yahoo.com

1 Kanazawa, Satoshi. “How Did General Intel-ligence Evolve”, Psychology Today. (03/2010).2 Ghose, Tia. “Are Humans Becoming Less Intel-ligent”, LiveScience (12 November 2012.)3 Kobler, Jason. “Dumb and Dumber: Study Says Humans Are Slowly Losing Their Smarts”.4 IBID.5 “Ian Sample, Science Correspondent. “Is pampered humanity getting steadily less intelligent?” The Guardian, Monday 12 November 20126 IBID.7 cf 3 above8 Collins, Nick. “Civilization is making humanity

less intelligent, study claims”, The Telegraph.

In June 2010, Helen Dempsey and Eugene Morrow met at a Mensa NSW (Australia) week-end event to tour wineries in the Hunter Valley. Helen drove two hours south from Forster, and Eugene hitched a two-hour drive north from Sydney with one of the organisers. Eugene tells us of that first meeting and their whirlwind romance...

Helen and I first met in the Tranquil Vale winery. I had a wow moment and said to myself, “I could marry her”, not thinking I would ever get the chance. We started chatting at the Gartelmann winery. Each time we met, we just kept on talking. I emailed Helen as soon as I got home. Our first date was a week later in Newcastle, about 150 kms north of Sydney. We quickly discovered we both love romantic walks. We had a string of happy dates in Newcastle where I would travel by train, mak-ing for many bitter-sweet goodbyes at the station. The dating was a secret only in our minds. The evening before Helen and I had our first date, there was a Mensa dinner party hosted by Geoff and Di Russell, where Jillian brashly floated the idea that “it was time to marry Eugene off ”. I think I got an ‘F’ for my attempts to pretend I was not chasing anyone. Jillian and Helen were later to become very close friends. After four months of dating, Helen and I were at Mrs Maquarie’s Chair in Sydney Harbour when I proposed to her, and she surprised me by accepting on the spot. We

decided to keep it secret, and that’s one secret that did last a while. A month later I moved to Forster to live with Helen. We were married in May 2012 in Forster at the Green Cathedral, an outdoor chapel besideLake Wallis. The entire Bridal party are Mensans - Helen and I, Best Man Ben Morphett and Matron of Honour Jillian Osborne - as was the MC for the reception, Geoff Russell. Sarah Henning was there too cheering us on. Looking back, we both agree our romance was about the right person atthe right time. I was so happy with Helen I started eating less (life was less stressful). I lost 27 kilograms in the first year on less exercise, and have kept it all off since then. Helen and I now live on our ten-acre farm in Possum Brush, outside Forster. We both get dizzy when we think at the speed of events since we met. I keep on thinking what I said in my wedding vows: I am the luckiest man in the world. Mensa social events can claim a big win!(Extracted from TableAus, Australian Mensa News,

Jan-Feb 2013, Ed. Jessica Kelley)

A Marriage Made in Mensa Heaven...

Just married a moment ago...

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If you started piano lessons in grade one, or played the recorder in kinder-garten, thank your parents and teach-ers. Those lessons you dreaded – or loved – helped develop your brain. The younger you started music lessons, the stronger the connections in your brain. A study published last month in the Journal of Neuroscience suggests that musical training before the age of seven has a significant effect on the de-velopment of the brain, showing that those who began early had stronger connections between motor regions – the parts of the brain that help you plan and carry out movements. This research was carried out by students in the laboratory of Concor-dia University psychology professor Virginia Penhune, and in collaboration with Robert J. Zatorre, a researcher at the Montreal Neurological Institute and Hospital at McGill University. The study provides strong evi-dence that the years between ages six and eight are a “sensitive period” when musical training interacts with normal brain development to produce long-lasting changes in motor abilities and brain structure. “Learning to play an instrument requires coordination between hands and with visual or au-ditory stimuli,” says Penhune. “Practic-ing an instrument before age seven likely boosts the normal maturation of connections between motor and sensory regions of the brain, creating a framework upon which ongoing train-ing can build.” With the help of study co-authors, PhD candidates Christopher J. Steele and Jennifer A. Bailey, Penhune and

Zatorre tested 36 adult musicians on a movement task, and scanned their brains. Half of these musicians began musical training before age seven, while the other half began at a later age, but the two groups had the same number of years of musical training and experi-ence. These two groups were also compared with individuals who had received little or no formal musical training. When comparing a motor skill be-tween the two groups, musicians who began before age seven showed more accurate timing, even after two days of practice. When comparing brain structure, musicians who started early showed enhanced white matter in the corpus callosum, a bundle of nerve fibres that connects the left and right motor regions of the brain. Impor-tantly, the researchers found that the younger a musician started, the greater the connectivity. Interestingly, the brain scans showed no difference between the non-musicians and the musicians who began their training later in life; this suggests that the brain developments under consideration happen early or not at all. Because the study tested musicians on a non-musical motor skill task, it also suggests that the benefits of early music training extend beyond the ability to play an instru-ment. “This study is significant in show-ing that training is more effective at

early ages because certain aspects of brain anatomy are more sensitive to changes at those time points,” says co-author, Dr. Zatorre, who is also the co-director of the International Labo-ratory for Brain Music and Sound Research. But, says Penhune, who is also a member of the Centre for Research in Human Development, “it’s important to remember that what we are showing is that early starters have some specific skills and differences in the brain that go along with that. But, these things don’t necessarily make them better musicians. Musical performance is about skill, but it is also about commu-nication, enthusiasm, style, and many other things that we don’t measure. So, while starting early may help you express your genius, it probably won’t make you a genius.”

(http://www.concordia.ca/now/media-rela-tions/news-releases/20130212/early-music-lessons-boost-brain-development.php)

Early music lessons boost brain

Montreal researchers find that music lessons before age seven create stronger connections in the brain

September 19-23International Board of

Directors Meeting Calgary, Canada

www.ibd2013.com

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mensa world journal may 2013

international directoryChairman: Mr Willem Bouwens Trompenburgstraat 6-G, 1079 TX Amsterdam The Netherlandschairman-mil@mensa.org Tel: +31 (0)20 661 2718Director Admin: Ms Sylvia Herbert 16 Farley St, St John’s, Worcester, Worcestershire WR2 6JD Englandadmin-mil@mensa.org Tel: +44(0)1905 422231Director Development: Ms Bibiana Balanyi Mensa HungarIQa, H-1426 Budapest 72, Postafiok 99 Hungary development-mil@mensa.org Tel: +36 209 135175Treasurer: Ms Cyndi Kuyper, 2606 Henderson St, West Lafayette, IN 47906-1537treasurer-mil@mensa.org Tel: +1 765 463 1393Dir. Smaller National Mensas: Mr Bjorn Liljeqvist dsnm-mil@mensa.orgHon. President: Dr Abbie Salny 407 Breckenridge, Wayne NJ 07470 USA Tel: +1 973 305 0055SIGHTCoord: Mr Steve Mai SIGHT@mensa.orgInt. SIG Coord: Ms Barbara Kryvko sigs@mensa.orgOmbudsman:Mr Martyn Davies ombudsman@mensa.org

editorial staffEditor: Ms Kate Nacard 407/23 Corunna Rd, Stanmore NSW 2048 Australia ijeditor@mensa.org Tel: +61 2 9516 1024 ijeditor@mensa.orgScience: Mr John Blinke Johnb44221@cs.comBooks: Mr Tom Elliott tme@verizon.netFeature Articles: Mr Thomas Hally thomas_hally@yahoo.com

Executive Director: Mr Michael Feenan, Slate Barn, Church Lane, Caythorpe, Lincolnshire NG32 3EL, UKTel/Fax+44(0)1400272 675 mensainternational@mensa.org

The Mensa World Journall (MWJ) is produced under the auspices of the Mensa International Board of Directors. Mandatory content as identi-fied by the MWJ editor must be published in every national Mensa magazine. Publication of other content is recommended but optional. Opin-ions expressed in the MWJ are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of any other individual or any official Mensa body. Submission Guidelines: Language: English only. Text: MS Word (Windows), .rtf (Word/Mac), plain text, PageMaker (Windows), InDesign (Windows) Length: 500 word limit. Send by e-mail, fax, snail mail to the Editor. The Editor reserves the right to include or edit submissions for space and content considerations. All unoriginal submissions must be accompanied by written permission for publication from the original author.Permission is granted for MWJ articles to be reprinted in any Mensa publication provided that the author, MWJ and MWJ’s editor are acknowledged. Permission must be sought from the MWJ editor for reprinting of any part of the MWJ in non-Mensa publications.

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international calendarJune 20-23Mensa Netherlands Deluxe Weekend in Daelenbroeck CastleCost (including meals) is € 375 p.p. minimum depending on your room.Information: john.westdijk@mensa.nl or peter.remijn@mensa.nl.July 3-7American Mensa Annual Gathering, Fort Worth, Texas http://ag2013.us.mensa.orgJuly 20-29MY-Camp in UKAn annual 10 day (9 nights) Youth camp where any Mensa member who is around 18 - 35 (sometimes older young at heart members too) gather together and have a relaxing and fun holiday. Info: www.mycamp.org.ukJuly 31 - August 4European Mensa Annual Gathering (EMAG) Bratislava, Slovakia. http://emag2013.mensa.sk/September 6-9Asian Mensas Annual Gathering (AMAG) Singapore. http://amg2013singapore.comSeptember 19-23International Board of Directors Meeting Calgary, Canada www.ibd2013.comNovember 22 -24Australian Mensa Conference (AMC) with concurrent Kids Conference, Perth, WA www.mensa.org.au/AMC-2013

Check www.mensa.org for contact details for all international events open to all members