Mensa

[taximomfor4]

Along these lines... has anyone read Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell? Very interesting perspective on genius and its relationship to being successful in life.

No, but might look into it. In my family, the very, very highest-IQ ones have a difficult time in school in general (and aren't the best students). Several are/were quite eccentric, and socially awkward. I was furious once after my son's 1st birthday party. We'd had friends and family all here. Next day, my dh's friend (since Kindy) called, and asked about a few of the guests...not by name, but by "funny" descriptions. The worst was my own father. My dad had a SCARY memory. But he was like the hermit on the hill. VERY unable to conform, and stood out as odd in public.

He didn't join MENSA either.

 

[rie'smom]

Well, Mensa guidelines state they will accept the top 2% of the population. Say the population of North America is around 528,721,000. That means in North America alone there are about 10 574 420 who would qualify. It's not exactly "exclusive."

I see nothing wrong with being proud of your intelligence. It's no different the glorifying beauty, artistic talent, or being great at sports. What I find a little amusing are the number of replies that felt the need to mention they COULD join if they wanted to.

Were you never invited to participate in a club that you didn't want to join? In college, I had bids to join sororities but I turned those down too.
It's ok if you were not asked to join, but it's also ok if I chose to refuse an invitation.

 

[okeydokey]

My 8 year old qualifies, and if they had a local chapter for kids I may consider taking him to a meeting here and there so he may meet kids with similar interests.

 

[HM]

Hi!

In general, all Mensa events are open to the public, so we are not exclusive.

Basically the only Mensa event that is not open to the public is ExComm (Executive Committee planning meeting).

For my local group, our current events include a Murder On the Orient Express outing, letterboxing, trivia contests, and movie nights. Anyone is welcome to show up for those with us!

Have a great day!

Regina in NC
Charlotte-Blue Ridge Mensa ExComm

Sounds like you have a really interesting group in Charlotte.

My DH is (was?) a member of Mensa. His mother made him join when he was young. I don't know that he's ever been part of a group though.

 

[clgwli]

This is very true. Of course, bragging about anything with the intention of putting some else down smacks to me of insecurity. Being skilled (intelligence included), beautiful, wealthy etc. doesn't make anyone morally superior. A little humility goes a long way.

For what it's worth, I bet most members of Mensa are very nice people who are ashamed of the ones who think of their organization as nothing more than bragging rights. (At least that's how most organizations I know of are.)

I am sure you are very right! Sadly first impressions are important and the first impression I had of mensa was not good because of him.

I would imagine the average member would be a great person. I meant to say as much in my post but I admit I forgot

The person wasn't the only reason why I didn't feel like joining. I'm a type who just isn't drawn to special groups. Not sure why but I think I like to feel "free" of groups in general. I was that way in HS too (friends with a ton of people but not labeled in a group).

 

[Quiksilvr]

I didn't take the MENSA test, but for a while (I don't know if they still do this) you could qualify based on your scores from standardized tests. I qualified based on my LSAT and GMAT scores. I opted not to join, because I didn't really see the point of joining an organization that exists to make people feel good about being smart (i.e., by being able to join an exclusive "club"). I also didn't see the point of paying money to this organization, since (i) I already knew I was smart, and (ii) I would rather people recognize me for what I do with my brain and not just the fact that I have it.

I work at one of the biggest DC law firms, where pretty much all the lawyers would qualify for MENSA. I don't know anybody who has bothered to join. Not to sound like a jerk or anything, but most of the people here find their validation in the Ivy-league degrees and other academic honors they have on the wall, and not on membership in MENSA.

 

[daisax]

I work at one of the biggest DC law firms, where pretty much all the lawyers would qualify for MENSA. I don't know anybody who has bothered to join. Not to sound like a jerk or anything, but most of the people here find their validation in the Ivy-league degrees and other academic honors they have on the wall, and not on membership in MENSA.

That's my reaction as well. If you are using your intellect in your daily life and career, you don't need to seek out people who "share" that quality, because you're surrounded by them anyway. You can socialize within that group but also within other special interest groups based on hobbies or religious or cultural activities.

 

[cteddiesgirl]

I always tested fairly high on those kinds of tests.

But, I figured they can't be too great. If I'm so smart, then why can't I find a job making over 1 million a year?




No. I don't think I'd join Mensa.

 

[Jennasis]

LArry The Cable Guy is in MENSA.

 

[Aisling]

I took the standardized Stanford-Binet IQ test just for curiousity sake 15 years ago when my then 8 year old son scored in the top 3% on that test. I scored average, not qualifying for Mensa. We did get membership for my son thinking it would expose him to other highly intelligent kids, and that it would be a "brainally fun" thing for him. The local chapter had an active children's group that took lots of unusual educational trips (fiberoptics lab, etc). He's 23 now and has just this year decided he didn't want to pay the fee and be a member anymore.

Back then when he was small and I knew very little about Mensa, I thought it was so cool to be a member, to be a part of such an exclusive group, to be recognized as being super-intelligent. But the novelty wore off.

For the average Mensan who isn't on special "boards", Mensa is a social group, and a good one, especially for kids. Now that I've been involved for so long with Mensa through my son, I'd say that if I qualified, I wouldn't join. I already have lots of friends with varied interests, and I wouldn't need the Mensa social outlet.

One important thing, the Mensans I've known through the years don't go bragging about how intelligent they are. They just enjoy being social with people like themselves.

 

[Handbag Lady]

They won't let me in so I refuse to join.



Good thing I'm gorgeous and have a great personaility.

 

[bigtinkfun]

Many thanks to everyone who took the time to answer my queries. Y'all have given me many thoughtful and humorous answers and I appreciate them all. This is one the best places on the interwebs to ask for opinions and gain perspective.

 

[Simba's Mom]

I was in Mensa for several years. This was when I was young and still living at home, unmarried. Nothing was done, but boy were people proud of their IQ. And of course, my parents just loved that they could tell all their friends that their daughter was a Mensa member. As soon as I got out on my own, I let the membership drop. Who cares what your IQ is? It's what you do that counts. I know people who may not have the highest IQs but do such excellent volunteering work. Yet Mensa (or at least the chapter I was in) mostly just gloated about their IQs.