Anyone in MENSA?

"There's a prevailing feeling in society that to be smart is to be "better", and that feeling is not necessarily shared by people in Mensa. It's sort of like being tall - many people think that being tall is great. What they don't see is you banging your head off things, elbows knocking everything over, getting asked several times at the grocery store to get things off high shelves, people being able to see you from a mile away (good luck sneaking anywhere), having to shop at special stores for your clothes and NEVER the discount bin... while being tall is nice, it can be frustrating."

A fair comparison, but not in a good way. If you're a tall person, not only do people think you more attractive, but consistently you have economic advantages irrespective of ability, and from the lowest income to the wealthiest (in fact there is a glass ceiling of sorts). On the other hand, almost no woman wants a man shorter than her, and those shorter are very frequently the target of bullying.

^ Seconding. I have never been disadvantaged from being good at IQ tests, any more than I've been disadvantaged from being good at playing the piano. I've seen plenty of people who were good at IQ tests and were disadvantaged due to being socially maladjusted, but I think it's social maladjustment that causes higher "intelligence" (for lack of a better word), not the other way around.*

edited 25th Mar '12 1:46:22 AM by feotakahari

Eligible, but poor at the moment

I wish i could be eligable. Schools in Cali stopped testing i guess since IQ tests vary a lot and its controversial. As a result I would have to pay someone to test me. Then pay Mensa to join if i passed.

I find myself questioning the whole deal. Im sure its a good thing to have high native language skills, mathamatical ability, and spatial reasoning skills, but is their really a difference between someone at 125 IQ (well above average) and 135 IQ? And am I really the smart one if I shovel out money just to have a self appointed organization say they support my claim of being smart?

I'm so torn about this. Free and very cheap online tests put me between the top 2% and the top .05% but none of them agree exactly how smart I am.

And not a single one has tested, say, my ability to read emotions in human faces, or my ability to multi-task. Or how many colors I can differentiate between. Why is my ability to rotate what looks like a broken Rubics Cube a measure of my intelligence but not the ability to read faces, or if I have synesthesia and to what degree? Men typically perform better at spatial tasks and worse at emotion recognition than women so I wouldnt be suprised if the test was first concieved of by a bunch men who disregarded the latter as important.

Not to mention I knew someone who tested very high and who ended up spending a few years as a vagrant hooker drug addict.

Edit: I find that, in general, one way i am smart is simply in knowing a lot of things. I also find that this doesnt have much practical application. It got me stared at in the breakroom at work today and a little while back i freaked a poor woman out when she asked how her red velvet coffee drink got so red in casual conversation and I told her.

edited 28th Apr '12 4:46:23 PM by Stormthorn

"A fair comparison, but not in a good way. If you're a tall person, not only do people think you more attractive, but consistently you have economic advantages irrespective of ability, and from the lowest income to the wealthiest (in fact there is a glass ceiling of sorts). On the other hand, almost no woman wants a man shorter than her, and those shorter are very frequently the target of bullying. "

The fact that it's a "fair comparison but not in a good way" is the point. People assume "High-IQ" means "top of the game can have everything they want", even though it doesn't. People who think that are confusing academic ability with intelligence - neither of those are dependent on the other.

edited 9th Jun '12 4:01:10 PM by pittsburghmuggle

I was given an IQ test when I was younger, but it was rendered obsolete, as the test was in two parts; verbal and non-verbal (puzzles and whatnot). I scored wondrously on the non-verbal component, but as I couldn't speak when I was four, everything up to that point was irrelevant.

I took the quiz online, I got about 95%. Does that make me eligible...?

I'm sure I'd qualify, but I have no interest in it whatsoever.

Mensa is also Spanish for idiot which I find highly amusing.

I heard there's a way to convert SAT score to IQ scores. Any truth to it? It doesn't seem right.

I believe I'm in the Superior to Very Superior range, but I dunno.

Seems unlikely.

IQ itself is hardly an accurate measure of overall intelligence. It measures specific skills.

Arg, I wish I could join. I suffered mental problems when I was younger. An iq test told me my IQ was 79, but that was a few years ago.

Lol.

They are not that accurate. Don't let it get to you.

Consider that I have to study level of math a few years before it is been taught in school in order to keep up, I am not a great learner too. Almost failed geometry last year if not for the extra credit. AKA I am trying to learn the basics of calculus now or it will be too late. Strangely, it doesn't have effect on VAPA courses.

(I luv you now extra credit)

I...guess I'm smart?

I don't know. I've known how to read since the age of 3, so of course my parents are saying "omg! Give her a fucking IQ test" when I was, oh, 7 or 8.

Apparently my IQ is only 126 and I learned to read so early because I have Asperger's.

IQ tests are pretty fallible even in the middle range, to be honest, let alone in the high range. Consider the issues in scoring low-functioning autistic children, or the natural variances in concentration based on things as simple as mood or blood sugar. Learning to read very early is still a sign of intelligence.

Personally, I was given an IQ test with a ceiling around the age of nine and scored 137, but apparently said ceiling could shave off at least one standard of deviation. I also took a WISC test with no ceiling and my lowest scores were in mathematics, those apparently being at a college level. So I am definitely eligible.

Doesn't make me any less of a space cadet or a hopeless loser.

I pay my dues, time after time~

Uh...to MENSA, that is.

Did I already post here?

I actually took one of their tests and scored enough to enter MENSA.

I never actually joined. I find MENSA membership as a pass to engage in an absolutely pointless circlejerk. I have no trouble whatsoever in interacting with regular people; why should I pay to interact with other people?

Also because I used my intelligence to figure out some other, more productive ways to spend the cash. Like some videogames.

If you have to ask….

I took a Mensa-sponsored IQ test today; didn't answer one of the questions because I found absolutely zero pattern but still scored 125+. It couldn't give me an exact number because the test wasn't calibrated that high; it was only intended to weed out the lower percentiles, with those who pass taking a Mensa admission test next month.

Few years ago, I did an online test calibrated to the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale. I scored 138 on that one; is that high enough to be eligible for Mensa?

I know that IQ isn't an accurate and reliable measure of intelligence, but goddamn, I am just curious about my IQ point. XD

Took a Mensa admission test last Sunday; scored 135+ and was told I'm eligible to join since I'm in the uppermost 1% of the population (Mensa only requires 2%).

My question is: is it worth it to join? A membership fee equivalent to $32.5 a year doesn't seem bad.

edited 27th Nov '14 5:40:26 AM by amitakartok

What's the beginning of a high IQ?

And what would you consider to be the starting number for a bright person?

Have I posted here an forgotten? Anyway, the last two issues of the Bulletin have had these really dumb articles. There was the June cover article about ESP, and this month had an article where Mensans suggested via Facebook (very wise) what they believed the most barbaric practice today was. the most popular one was abortion, and one Mensan was quoted comparing it to ... sigh... the Holocaust. the other entries werent that good either- one was arguing for a 'return to nature' in terms of child birth and baby care, another was arguing not against factory farming so much as meat eating in general, and another claimed cancer patients might have a better chance to live by not undergoing chemo. Overall very frustrating article but about what you'd expect from a bunch of people on Facebook

edit: omg I only had to scroll up a little -facepalm-

edited 14th Aug '16 6:39:27 PM by Xopher001

I'm Mensa qualified. I'm also Triple-Nine Society qualified, according to some tests (I average a 150-ish on IQ tests), but I haven't gotten around to joining. (I do read their newsletters though, which are open to the public. Much better than the Mensa one described above. Geez...)

I already get my "sitting at a table and chatting about smart stuff" fix in academia. Academic conferences are one of my favorite hobbies. I've been sitting in on them since I was little. (I grew up near Yale) And now that I live in NYC there's always a conference series around. So I've never actually been to a Mensa meeting.

edited 9th Sep '16 7:51:33 AM by Cailleach