RoR: Forum

I checked "I am in Mensa" even though technically I am inactive since I have not paid my dues in years. I had been fairly active in the local chapter of American Mensa for most of the 1990s. I eventually became disenchanted with the organization for several reasons:

1. A high score on a standardized IQ test does not indicate a high degree of commitment to rationality. In fact, their high intelligence makes many Mensans skilled sophists able to justify to themselves all sorts of outrageous viewpoints completely at odds with Objectivism.

2. Many Mensans I met demonstrated an unsettling disregard for their health with overeating, lack of exercise, smoking and sexual promiscuity. I prefer to surround myself with people who esteem themselves enough to learn and live right principles of health and wellness.

3. The elected leadership at the national and international levels manifested vices (1) and (2) in ways similar to elected politicians in government.

Post 1

Monday, April 5, 2004 - 12:19pm

I think I found their sample exam once and took it, I like those exams. I remember scoring alright, and I think they recommended I apply, and that was enough for me! ha ha. I never quite got what it was about (I'm sure I could have read more about it but chose not to). You apply, maybe take a test, if you're smart enough they admit you. Maybe they have some meetings (?) or publications, but it sounded like just another way to say "I'm smart", which I don't really need to pay someone to tell me! And if I want to meet other smart people, I can find my own. I'm not quite a genius that I need a special "other smart people" finder service!

Not to demean anyone who joins, like I said I don't know much about it, but just seems like something SNL would make a skit about!

-Elizabeth

Post 2

Monday, April 5, 2004 - 12:21pm

I took the original Omni Magazine's test way back when, and according to the results I qualified for membership in Mensa, but I never actually applied.

http://www.eskimo.com/~miyaguch/meganorm.html

http://www.eskimo.com/~miyaguch/hoeflin.html

I found that the lack of time restraint was very helpful as I don't think that reacting well under stress has nothing to do with intelligence, but it's certainly a positive attribute.

I'm not sure that I would have a great deal in common with members if the only thing in common was high intelligence. Perhaps there should be a "Common Sense" test. Now that I could relate to.

Post 3

Monday, April 5, 2004 - 1:16pm

Nice to know we have at least one Mensan Objectivist here. When I saw that yes vote on this poll (which I created), I thought �God, I hope it�s not one of those guys who are at SOLO just to criticize Objectivism. That wouldn�t look too good!�

I once had a relationship with a Mensan. She told me her group have a lot of social meetings but members� occasional pleas that they should �do something� never get far. Our relationship had no intellectual component, so I cannot comment on her mental power except to say that, at least in the context of our interaction, it did not seem any greater than my own (I always do very well on IQ tests).

I would never take the Mensa exam, even though I think membership is a nice feather in one�s cap: What if I had an off day and flunked? I know myself�it would put me in a bad mood whenever I thought about it!

Anyway, I consider myself half in Mensa. That woman I mentioned had a Mensan friend (who, admittedly, was interested in me), who once remarked after a conversation, �I consider myself intelligent, but you�re really intelligent!� This is enough for me.

(Edited by Rodney Rawlings on 4/09, 12:54pm)

Post 4

Monday, April 5, 2004 - 2:54pm

The Ross Elliot post below is supported by the fact that according to Isaac Asimov (who was a sometime member who at least once let his membership lapse for three years, at which time Mensa pressured him to rejoin), it is considered bad form to divulge or ask about how oneself or other members scored on the entrance exam. To me, this indicates that the point is to be in the elite, to have automatic unquestioned status and prestige with no further effort required.

(Edited by Rodney Rawlings on 4/06, 4:46pm)

Post 5

Monday, April 5, 2004 - 6:29pm

Some of the stupidest people I have ever had the misfortune to meet either claimed to be in Mensa or have high IQs. These people, without exception, had only one thing in common: they had all been educated far beyond their intelligence levels.

I mean, what do these people do at their meetings? Seriously, what do they do?!!!? I'll tell you what they do: they stand around all day stroking themselves. Pu-leeeze!

Post 6

Wednesday, April 7, 2004 - 11:44am

Ross Elliot wrote:

I mean, what do these people do at their meetings? Seriously, what do they do?!!!? I'll tell you what they do: they stand around all day stroking themselves. Pu-leeeze!

This assessment is accurate but incomplete.

In addition to the aforementioned intellectual and emotional masturbation, Mensa events usually involve

eating lots of chocolate
sitting and talking about nothing in particular
eating loads of junk food
playing card games
eating pounds of munchies
smoking
eating tall scoops of ice cream
solving the world's problems, usually with tools of statism
eating sacks of potato chips
playing board games
and, oh, yes ... EATING!

Persons who want to maintain slim and fit figures would do well to avoid Mensa events!

I have found myself tempted on numerous occasions to write an article provocatively entitled:

"Is Mensa Just a Safe Haven for Pot-Bellied, Chain-Smoking, Busybody Know-It-All Losers with No Social Skills Who Want To Run the World?"

Post 7

Wednesday, April 7, 2004 - 5:12pm

I was a paying member of Mensa for one year, and one year only: 1999.

In that time, I saw virtually nothing that impressed me. The people were all too often a pack of hateful, xenophobic pariahs... and as much as I can empathize with that feeling, I didn't want to immerse myself in it as a way of life.

(Edited by Orion Reasoner on 4/07, 5:13pm)

Post 8

Thursday, April 8, 2004 - 12:47pm

Yeah, I was not impressed... They seemed more like a pack of commiserators (sp?) than anything else.

Post 9

Thursday, April 8, 2004 - 2:36pm

The Mensa girls I mentioned above seemed pretty normal. And they were not very complimentary about the organization either!

Post 10

Thursday, April 8, 2004 - 11:03pm

I have a problem with any organization that gets populated by the type of people who are only there to be hateful and unfairly elitist and conformist. They like to assemble a little clique, filled with their own encrypted jargon and "secret handshakes", to keep newcomers out. Snobbery has no place in any organization based on objective entrance criteria, such as IQ scores or the embracing of a particular philosophy... yet the phenomenon keeps rearing its ugly head.

That sort of exclusivity in organizations is so childish, yet rampant.

Post 11

Friday, June 18, 2004 - 7:35pm

this poll overlooked an essential - "I could be in mensa but chose not to apply"

Post 12

Friday, June 18, 2004 - 9:04pm

This poll also did not give the option of selecting "I have been in Mensa, but no longer am a member"...

Post 13

Saturday, June 19, 2004 - 6:31pm

What explains these deficiencies is to be found in the note to the 4th point, to wit: "This poll may not not have been created by a Mensan." Notice the double not.

Post 14

Sunday, June 20, 2004 - 5:50pm

Well, there ya have it. Good eye, Rodney, good eye...

Post 15

Sunday, June 20, 2004 - 6:02pm

Thank you. I'm obviously not a Mensan. That's no slight to you, Orion--anyway, you are no longer a Mensan (you may not even be an Orion, but I'll let that be).

Post 16

Sunday, June 20, 2004 - 7:43pm

Rodney, Orion,

Rodney pointed out this sentence, "This poll may not not have been created by a Mensan." This may not have been a mistake, but, if Rodney is right, it may not not have been a mistake. It depends on the intention.

When I was employed by a large corporation, I always replied to notices of mandatory meetings with this standard response: "I will certainly not fail to miss this meeting." My response was never challenged, and of course I never attended the meetings.

There was one meeting I chose to attend. I responded, jokingly, "I ain't never going to this meeting." It took me weeks to make those geniuses understand what that sentence meant. (And I hate to explain.) I never did that again.

Not not Regi

(Edited by Reginald Firehammer on 6/20, 7:54pm)

Post 17

Monday, June 21, 2004 - 1:01am

Rodney,

There's no reason to "let it be", but after this post, hopefully there shouldn't be any reason for it to continue to itch at you, either.

"Orion" is a Greek name, meaning "zealous", or "son of fire". If names are chosen for the attributes that we are hoped to have -- or actually wish to have -- then from where I sit, Orion is my name.

I trust that explains things. My name could be "Drooling Buffoon", but I think self-deprecation can be carried a bit too far, in the name of so-called "humility".

Post 18

Monday, June 21, 2004 - 10:26am

Regi, your post is very illuminating--not!

Post 19

Monday, January 10, 2005 - 7:23am