His Lordship of Roscelines, Graham Powell, earned the “best mark ever given for acting during his” B.A. (Hons) degree in “Drama and Theatre Studies at Middlesex University in 1990” and the “Best Dissertation Prize” for an M.A. in Human Resource Management from the University of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, England in 1994. Powell is an Honorary Member of STHIQ Society, Former President of sPIqr Society, Vice President of Atlantiq Society, and a member of British Mensa, IHIQS, Ingenium, Mysterium, High Potentials Society, Elateneos, Milenija, Logiq, and Epida. He is the Full-Time Co-Editor of WIN ONE (WIN-ON-line Edition) since 2010 or nearly a decade. He represents World Intelligence Network Italia. He is the Public Relations Co-Supervisor, Fellow of the Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce, and a Member of the European Council for High Ability. A previous comprehensive interview in parts through In-Sight: Independent Interview-Based Journal here.
Krystal Volneyis the new Journal Editor of United Sigma Korea. Volney is known for her computing interviews for WIN ONE Magazine (World Intelligence Network) as a tech writer, Co-Editor and publications in Award-winning/bestselling educational books that can be found in bookstores and libraries around the world, journals, blogs, forums & magazines such as Thoth Journalof Glia Society and City Connect Magazine since 2012-present. She is the author of Cosmos and Spheres poetry book and the ‘Dr. Zazzy‘ children’s series.
Here Powell and Volney took some time to describe the nature of editing a high IQ publication, whether from a veteran position of Powell or a fresh perspective of Volney, for the largest Umbrella high IQ organization, World Intelligence Network, journal in the entire world, WIN ONE.
Scott Douglas Jacobsen: What was the original point of high IQ journals?
Lord Graham Powell: High IQ journals are a medium for displaying the talents and thoughts of the society members. They unify interest and are a means for expressing the current initiatives and ethos of participatory societies – most journals represent more than one society.
Krystal Volney: To provide the very intelligent with a place to publish their ideas, essays, articles, poetry and be interviewed.
Jacobsen: What have been some notable successes of high IQ journals in the past?
Powell: The journals have helped forge friendships and when friends collaborate to produce not only articles, but aide participation in conferences and get-togethers as well, I think that a hugely positive corollary of journal collaboration.
Volney: Celebrating the work of geniuses around the world.
Jacobsen: Some prolific authors can be known as part of the high IQ community, though dead, e.g., Isaac Asimov. Who have been lesser-known and fruitful writers in the high IQ community?
Powell: Both Krystal and I have produced books. Some more are being planned now. Yet, other authors who spring to mind are: Thomas Hally, Jason Betts, Greg Grove, Liliana Alam, Anja Jaenicke and Elisabetta di Cagno. Greg Grove founded a society for poets, all of whom had to be within the top one percent of IQ scores. One influential poet within that society was Thom Hadley, though his influence on me mainly stemmed from the utterly noble way he faced death from cancer. I will never forget him. His humility and resignation towards the inevitable and his supreme dignity in that, for me, made him a great man.
Jacobsen: General intelligence as the basis for societies and umbrella organizations presents issues. Within the context of the journals or magazines happening to arise within some, we can note the ways in which the content sets an average bar to access of the content in comprehension disregarding background knowledge or interest in the subject matter, or persistence, for the moment. Graham, we have talked about some of this before. What should the creators of a high IQ journal, whether linked to a society or independent of one, bear in mind regarding expectations – positive and negative – about the size of the and quality of the readership?
Powell: The potential readership is increasing, not only due to demographics, but other factors such as the Flynn Effect (I.E., that IQ scores are increasing over time, though that is now slowing) and access to technology. The high IQ community is, however, even more transitory in interest than the average (in my opinion) so magazines, or, indeed, anything pitched towards the high IQ community, has to change, evolve and stimulate to a high extent. It has to undergo criticism, stark analysis and, at times, fierce debate. It has to face rejection as a medium, then react and resurface with gusto. In the modern world, the concept of a magazine seems almost anathema to the ever-changing flow of ideas and discussion. They are fixed moments in time, even if they express universal, long-term concepts and beliefs. This can of course be a positive aspect, the journal becoming a historical document and record of the thoughts, even the zeitgeist, of a particular moment in human existence. The creator has to maintain a broad view of what they are doing and why.
Jacobsen: What forms of content seem more affected by the singular factor of general intelligence: brief articles, interviews, philosophical essays, poetry, or others? Different types of submissions would seem, intuitively, effected in different ways and to different extents by the level of general intelligence expected by the readership (if connected to a society, then, more often, the membership).
Powell: Puzzles, conundrums, quizzes: these stimulate readers in this realm of society and members enjoy creating them. Any article with precise language and a well backed-up, scientific or philosophical thesis will appeal and hold interest too. Mathematical theses, discussions and explanations are esoteric, but of interest to the high IQ community, especially to those members who are extraneous to the academic community, yet have an in depth knowledge of mathematics and physics. The Leonardo journal, which I text edit for the AtlantIQ Society, has some recurring themes, these expressing the focus of that society on art and science, with the interests of the main compiler, Beatrice Rescazzi, taking precedent. She is primarily a scientist, with a particular passion for 3D printing and robotics, though we also have many poets in the society, so poetry also appears in each edition. The focus of the editorial teams that I form a part of is shifting these days, the perceived need for the high IQ community to be actually doing something positive for humanity becoming ever more fervent. The dominant ethos within the high IQ world has been for self-promotion (even by proven charlatans) yet this is being countered now by a few who are intent on being genuinely philanthropic and altruistic. Gradually, this will appeal to more and more of the high IQ community, many of whom have felt subjugated by the more egocentric members. It is restoring a balance, one which, I think, reflects more closely other sectors of society.
Jacobsen: How did this editorial relationship start for the two of you?
Powell: Krystal was a stalwart supporter of the book “The Ingenious Time Machine” – which I edited and produced for the World Intelligence Network (WIN). I already knew Krystal from the WIN and I was contacted by her to write some reviews of her creative writing. Recently, I felt her innate enthusiasm ideal to help rekindle interest in the WIN On-Line Edition, the WIN’s magazine. I suggested that she help me and was pleased to hear that she accepted.
Volney: I discussed the collaboration with Lord Graham and he saw it as a very good idea. Doing the first issue as Co-Editor was very pleasant with him. I am looking forward to the second magazine because I expect it to contain more submissions from High-IQ members as well as guest contributors.
Jacobsen: What were the pluses and minuses of collaborative versus solo editing for the two of you?
Powell: This first edition under our collaborative umbrella was almost entirely procured by Krystal, at least in terms of the content for it. I issued adverts to attract participation, but was too busy to spend hours and hours creating and soliciting submissions. For me, the arrival of content was refreshing because it did just that: arrive. It was only after looking closely that I realised that almost all of the content this time consisted of poetry. I was hoping for some in-depth articles, but they weren’t amongst the contributions. That resulted in the ‘Poetry Edition’ coming out, which was not a bad thing, but it was different from expectation. Krystal and I have, however, vowed to work harder and over an extended period of time so that the next edition will have more variety within it. Krystal was also a useful commentator on what was prepared by me, especially because I had to do it quickly. We agreed on adjustments efficiently and effectively, which was a positive factor in the collaboration. I think my experience of the post-production process also helped because the uploading of the magazine took a long time, which disheartened Krystal at first. We managed to get the magazine released in the Facebook groups (which was a first) and I think the next magazine will be something progressive and diverse from anything previously produced for the WIN.
Volney: I did not have any minuses. A plus was that we got along working together on the first issue for World Intelligence Network’s magazine and there were not any arguments. This connotes that we are both easy to work with.
Jacobsen: Where can people find the work edited by the two of you – in the past and into the future?
Powell: As already noted, the www.iqsociety.org/interactions/winone page shows all the magazines produced for the World Intelligence Network. The Leonardo magazine is on the AtlantIQ society website: www.atlantiqsociety.com/leonardo-magazine.html and both are accessible by the general public. The book The Ingenious Time Machine can be bought from the Amazon site. Just type in the title and it will come up! It is also on the “Goodreads” website.
Volney: On the World Intelligence Network’s site- https://www.iqsociety.org/.
Jacobsen: Thank you for the opportunity and your time, Graham and Krystal.
Powell: Any time, Scott.
Volney: Not a problem Scott. It was lovely!
Photo by Michael Dziedzic on Unsplash