MENSA

[Vault101]

I took their entrance test. I failed, because my IQ was only 117 and you needed more. So I paid tens of dollars for the privilege of being told that I'm too stupid to join. I don't think anybody who does that has the brains to deserve to join, so their judgement was fair.

It makes me wonder...how relevant are IQ scores?...I mean an IQ of 170 is great and all, but unless your actually putting your "great mind" towards somthing....then its hardly a braging point

also are IQ scores like thenew game scores? 100 is the new "dumb" and 120 is the new "average"?

 

[Vegosiux]

Notice the OP asked the question about how we would react to seeing it on a resume? He pulled the card in the very first post.

Yes, and as a former member I myself said that'd look pretentious. I also only mentioned my own membership because the OP asked about our experiences, so I shared mine *shrug* And yes, people going "Oh look I'm in Mensa, I'm SMRT!" annoy me cause they make me look bad by proxy.

(trivia: "smrt" means "death" in my language, so I cackle every time someone spells "smart" the 'cool' way)

I didn't say anything about anyone getting upset over people pulling the card, I said that they could.

Ah, misunderstanding on my part then. Nothing to see here, citizens, stand aside, situation under control.

 

[JoJo]

also are IQ scores like thenew game scores? 100 is the new "dumb" and 120 is the new "average"?

IQ scores are pretty much inflation proof since 100 is defined as the mean IQ score of everyone, so even if there was a magical disease that only wiped out dumb people, the average would still be 100 since it would be redefined. MENSA only require an exceptionally high score because that's their organisation's gimmick.

OT: I would be wary of hiring anyone who said they were a member of MENSA on their application, I wouldn't hold it against them but I wouldn't count it in their favour either. If you're applying for an intellectual job then excellent grades should already be a given, if it's not an intellectual job then IQ would be irrelevant. Also we all know of the "Sheldon Coopers" of this world who have high IQs but then dreadful emotional and/or social intelligence. If two applications were equal, I'd far rather hire someone with say voluntary experience with children (which shows they are likely to have good social skills) rather than someone who's claim to fame is a high test score.

 

[Vault101]

IQ scores are pretty much inflation proof since 100 is defined as the mean IQ score of everyone, so even if there was a magical disease that only wiped out dumb people, the average would still be 100 since it would be redefined. MENSA only require an exceptionally high score because that's their organisation's gimmick.

OT: I would be wary of hiring anyone who said they were a member of MENSA on their .

but if 100 is averge then I doubt THAT mnay people here have IQ's of 120+ I mean ok demographic might have some sway...but still

 

[OneCatch]

Stephen Hawking and Prof Brian Cox are not popular because they have high IQs, or they did well in school. They're popular because they've actively worked to increase humanity's understanding of the Universe.

From what I have seen, Brian Cox is famous because he has a pretty face.

Yeah, some of my old lecturers work at CERN part time, and they fucking hate him because the media always go to him when it comes to literally any science based story and then call him "the top expert in the field" when he apparently really isn't.

 

[JoJo]

IQ scores are pretty much inflation proof since 100 is defined as the mean IQ score of everyone, so even if there was a magical disease that only wiped out dumb people, the average would still be 100 since it would be redefined. MENSA only require an exceptionally high score because that's their organisation's gimmick.

but if 100 is averge then I doubt THAT mnay people here have IQ's of 120+ I mean ok demographic might have some sway...but still

To be fair only a small minority of people here actually mention their IQ score, most don't say anything at-all, maybe those who get a higher score are more likely to mention it in public? Of course some might be lying too, but I've had experience online (particularly with Asperger's syndrome) where people have dismissed my claims because apparently it's something that people claim for attention or to be "cool" and it's pretty hurtful when I know I'm telling the truth, so I tend to take people's word for what they say unless it's ridiculously outlandish.

 

[Colour Scientist]

To be fair only a small minority of people here actually mention their IQ score, most don't say anything at-all, maybe those who get a higher score are more likely to mention it in public? Of course some might be lying too, but I've had experience online (particularly with Asperger's syndrome) where people have dismissed my claims because apparently it's something that people claim for attention or to be "cool" and it's pretty hurtful when I know I'm telling the truth, so I tend to take people's word for what they say unless it's ridiculously outlandish.

You just can't take people's word for it, I know I stopped a lot time ago, particularly in relation to IQ and mental conditions. I'm sorry that people don't take you seriously if you genuinely do have it but every second person on here claims to be autistic/sociopathic/ADHD/ADD/super genius/asexual or all of the above. These are two examples of IQ threads on these forums. The average IQ, even from the first page, is about 140. Seriously? They could at least make up something believable.

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/18.226706-What-is-your-IQ?page=1
http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/18.274072-whats-your-IQ-score?page=1

 

[Rastien]

MENSA seems abit of a con to me if im honest, you pay to join the group to validate your "eliteness" and join up with other people in the same group etc etc

I'm just happy knowing im able to join should i choose to, keeping my money and spending it on drugs (the medicinal kind) and hanging out with the dudes from work x)better investment of the money imho

 

[Queen Michael]

I took their entrance test. I failed, because my IQ was only 117 and you needed more. So I paid tens of dollars for the privilege of being told that I'm too stupid to join. I don't think anybody who does that has the brains to deserve to join, so their judgement was fair.

It makes me wonder...how relevant are IQ scores?...I mean an IQ of 170 is great and all, but unless your actually putting your "great mind" towards somthing....then its hardly a braging point

I'd say they're relevant when they're low, at least. Someone with 25 can't be all that clever in other areas either.

 

[JoJo]

To be fair only a small minority of people here actually mention their IQ score, most don't say anything at-all, maybe those who get a higher score are more likely to mention it in public? Of course some might be lying too, but I've had experience online (particularly with Asperger's syndrome) where people have dismissed my claims because apparently it's something that people claim for attention or to be "cool" and it's pretty hurtful when I know I'm telling the truth, so I tend to take people's word for what they say unless it's ridiculously outlandish.

You just can't take people's word for it, I know I stopped a lot time ago, particularly in relation to IQ and mental conditions. I'm sorry that people don't take you seriously if you genuinely do have it but every second person on here claims to be autistic/sociopathic/ADHD/ADD/super genius/asexual or all of the above. These are two examples of IQ threads on these forums. The average IQ, even from the first page, is about 140. Seriously? They could at least make up something believable.

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/18.226706-What-is-your-IQ?page=1
http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/18.274072-whats-your-IQ-score?page=1

Don't forget that if there's a thread on XXX condition, then people with XXX condition will be far more likely to enter than people with no stake in the topic, which must go some way to explaining why lots of Asperger's or asexuals will arrive in their respective threads. At the end of day, you don't lose anything from taking people's word for what they say online, it's never going to actually affect you, and that way you don't end up dismissing genuine claims like mine. Personally I wish for once that I could partake in an Asperger's/Autism thread where I was actually discussing my frankly quite interesting stories and experiences of the condition, rather than having to defend myself from the inevitable sceptics with a chip of their shoulder. If you want to have your doubts then sure, go ahead, just please don't bring it up in every thread on the topic, it gets tiring after a while.

In the case of those IQ threads however, I'm with you in that I don't believe all those scores, though I don't think it's down to lying. I suspect that taking phoney free online tests is the reason for many of the inflated scores, those are notoriously unreliable. When a few years back I took one with a friend, I thought a number of the questions of the "IQ test" were knowledge rather than logic and I was very suspicious that my friend managed to get a score of 118 when I've known him for almost a decade and he's a thoroughly average person brains-wise.

 

[LauriJ]

So, what are you going to do in Mensa?

 

[DevilWithaHalo]

You just can't take people's word for it, I know I stopped a lot time ago, particularly in relation to IQ and mental conditions. I'm sorry that people don't take you seriously if you genuinely do have it but every second person on here claims to be autistic/sociopathic/ADHD/ADD/super genius/asexual or all of the above.

To be fair on a few of them... ADD/ADHD has been highly overly diagnosed in the grand scheme of things. Pretty much anyone who gets bored of a lecture and can't focus when they have other problems plaguing them get's diagnosed with it. The same way that some people get diagnosed with depression when they're stuck in a vicious cycle of an unfulfilling life.

The super genius thing is understandable; who doesn't want to be one? But the sociopath/psychopath one; who the hell wants to be one? What's wrong with you people?!

 

[LetalisK]

MENSA: An organization for people who are good at taking tests.

That's all it means.

 

[Hateren47]

I was tested (for free mind you), by a Mensa psychometric psychologist, 11 years ago and scored 131-137 g and is, or were, in the top 3% intelligence vise in Denmark. A little annoying at the time not being able to join the intelligentsia but hey, who cares. I can still go on their open forums and talk to clever people if I want/need to.

Mensa is not that special anyway, 1 in 50 people, or the 98th percentile, can join. Mega Society on the other hand is for the the 99.9999th percentile.

So, what are you going to do in Mensa?

I assume Mensans (or whatever) use their society to discuss things without having to "dumb themselves down" for the average intelligence (80 to 120-ish g) folks they are usually around. It sounds more elitist than it is because it's about intelligence but I see it more as a space of their own and no more elitist than a Mr. Universe-, beauty-, or hot-dog eating contest.

MENSA: An organization for people who are good at taking IQ-tests.

That's all it means.

Fixed.

 

[Woodsey]

I can think of more interesting clubs to be a member of than the "I'm good at IQ tests" one. Namely, strip clubs.

 

[I.N.producer]

I have one friend who was qualified to join MENSA, and he told me he didn't because he thought it's ultimately pointless. You pay for a membership to a smart people club, and that's it.

It's like being a certified origami expert who only works with wet tissue paper. It sounds impressive, but you're really throwing away that certification money for a label.

 

[Colour Scientist]

The super genius thing is understandable; who doesn't want to be one? But the sociopath/psychopath one; who the hell wants to be one? What's wrong with you people?!

Lacking empathy and not being able to process emotions properly is edgy now.

 

[Colour Scientist]

Don't forget that if there's a thread on XXX condition, then people with XXX condition will be far more likely to enter than people with no stake in the topic, which must go some way to explaining why lots of Asperger's or asexuals will arrive in their respective threads. At the end of day, you don't lose anything from taking people's word for what they say online, it's never going to actually affect you, and that way you don't end up dismissing genuine claims like mine. Personally I wish for once that I could partake in an Asperger's/Autism thread where I was actually discussing my frankly quite interesting stories and experiences of the condition, rather than having to defend myself from the inevitable sceptics with a chip of their shoulder. If you want to have your doubts then sure, go ahead, just please don't bring it up in every thread on the topic, it gets tiring after a while.

It's still highly, highly unlikely that that many people are autistic/asexual here. Especially seeing that a lot of teenagers love self-diagnosing themselves with conditions that make them stand out. I'm sure a lot of them have autistic spectrum traits but I doubt that everyone here who claims to be autistic, genuinely is. Not even a small percentage.

Would I like to have an interesting conversation with someone who genuinely does have a mild form of autism, sure, but it's kind of like the boy who cried wolf. So many people claim to have it that it just becomes irritating. It's shit that people don't believe you but when so many people here use it as an excuse for something they say or do, others can't help but be skeptical.

 

[Eri]

It's still highly, highly unlikely that that many people are autistic/asexual here. Especially seeing that a lot of teenagers love self-diagnosing themselves with conditions that make them stand out. I'm sure a lot of them have autistic spectrum traits but I doubt that everyone here who claims to be autistic, genuinely is. Not even a small percentage.

Would I like to have an interesting conversation with someone who genuinely does have a mild form of autism, sure, but it's kind of like the boy who cried wolf. So many people claim to have it that it just becomes irritating. It's shit that people don't believe you but when so many people here use it as an excuse for something they say or do, others can't help but be skeptical.

I have to kinda agree. Even taking into account they'd be more likely to go into threads, it's almost obscene how many people claim to be a different kind of sexual or autistic or "brilliant".