Mensa, B!tch!

[D+F+P=Hadouken!]

Mensa sucks. Its like a club for people who think they're smarter. Well, intelligence comes in many shapes and forms.

[Go? Fencing?]

Pardon my french, but:

WTF??????

Naw, dude, not French. Latin. "Mensa" comes from the Latin for table.

[ThatReallyHurt]

Naw, dude, not French. Latin. "Mensa" comes from the Latin for table.

That's interesting... I always thought it was some sort of word play on "Mental", as in their mental prowess...

[BrianH]

Mensa sucks.

How profound.

[Araznal]

Mensa sucks. Its like a club for people who think they're smarter. Well, intelligence comes in many shapes and forms.

Usually this comes from those who don't have that kind of intelligence that Mensa celebrates. The truly smart members agree that they're more intelligent than the average person... but smarter? That's a different issue. I agree with your idea here, DFP, but you're taking it out on Mensa? Just because a bunch of members are complete schmucks doesn't make the whole idea that bad. I mean, my club has hundreds of schmucks, but that doesn't make it a bad club.


As for myself. Sure, my IQ scores are high enough to get in, but I wouldn't. Why? Well, because I'd rather fence.

[ReverseLunge]

As for myself. Sure, my IQ scores are high enough to get in, but I wouldn't. Why? Well, because I'd rather fence.

Mensa members aren't allowed to fence? Everyone here so far who claims to have a high IQ actually has a low IQ.

[Sciurus-Rex]

Mensa sucks. Its like a club for people who think they're smarter. Well, intelligence comes in many shapes and forms.

Take a look in the mirror. See that form? -- NOT a form in which you'll find Mensa.

[oiuyt]

$52/year. Never seen any reason why it's worth joining. People complain about USFA membership costs, but I much prefer the benefits I get from US Fencing than those I could get from Mensa.

-B

[swordwench]

What's that old Groucho Marx line - something like "I wouldn't join any club that would have me as a member"? Well, besides the USFA and the SCA, because they let me play with sharps and whack people.

[Mihail]

Why are people so hard on Mensa? I don't know much about them, but people do lots of crazy things to fit in and/or gain self-confidence, like get college degrees, work 9-5 jobs, compete in fencing. Who's to judge which of these are right and which are wrong?

[swordwench]

Who's to judge which of these are right and which are wrong?

Evidently, Westley.

[Sciurus-Rex]

Why are people so hard on Mensa? I don't know much about them, but people do lots of crazy things to fit in and/or gain self-confidence, like get college degrees, work 9-5 jobs, compete in fencing. Who's to judge which of these are right and which are wrong?

I give up. Who?

[Sciurus-Rex]

Still posted on my desk at work, a letter from the membership director:

"Some time ago, you qualified to be a member of American Mensa. We realize that you may have invested some effort to do so and, again, would like to take this opportunity to invite you to experience the world of American Mensa.

"After all, your membership entitles you to a growing list of benefits and services, to our expanding Web site, to more than 150 special interest gruops and so much more. Your Mensa membership also delivers the Mensa Bulletin, offers discounts on travel, insurance and financial services on education, and provides for sparkling conversations with other Mensans at the local, regional and national levels. You receive all of this for just $52 per year."

There's another few paragraphs tying up all the lose ends, but my hand hurts this morning and I don't wanna type. Assume any spelling mistakes here are mine.

[swordwench]

There's another few paragraphs tying up all the lose ends, but my hand hurts this morning and I don't wanna type. Assume any spelling mistakes here are mine.

Ha! And here I thought that their offer of "special interest gruops" was an ironic bit of humor.

Question: do the female members belong to a separate group, known as Menses?

[Epee_Pox]

Wait, how can one exert effort to get into Mensa? Either you've got a super IQ or you don't -- it's not as if you can study for intelligence, right?

[Mihail]

Wait, how can one exert effort to get into Mensa? Either you've got a super IQ or you don't -- it's not as if you can study for intelligence, right?

Intelligence can mean different things. I think the ability to think the way IQ tests ask of you to think is a learned and praticed skill (most times, I believe, it's practiced subconciously, as part of the way you grow up and the habits you develop).

[akaiyuki]

Intelligence can mean different things. I think the ability to think the way IQ tests ask of you to think is a learned and praticed skill (most times, I believe, it's practiced subconciously, as part of the way you grow up and the habits you develop).

I agree. Unless you're super dumb, you can learn how to tackle those IQ tests to bump your scores up. Of course, that doesn't mean you get "smarter"... it only means you will score higher on the typical IQ test and you will 'appear' smarter For examples those "find the next number that belongs to the sequence" questions... I had to do a load of those in elementary school (in Hong Kong). So I've seen tons of patterns, and I know what to look for.
It's kinda the same as how people study for the SATs, or any other standardized tests. There are classes that you can take so you can learn how to make the best decision and pick the best answer when you don't know how to solve a problem, or you are running out of time... etc. etc. That, in the end, effectively bump up you scores, sometimes by a lot.

[Sciurus-Rex]

Example: While the test proctor is reading directions for each section (standard boilerplate, mind you), there's no reason you can't be reading ahead and quickly memorizing the first four or five answers to shave some time off the clock. They don't tell you this, of course, but a smart person -- or at least a savvy test-taker -- will know how to play that game already.

[Robert Smith]

Hey, I'm the first sucker to actually admit it.

Okay, I'm not really a member, any more, but I was. Then I thought, I'm paying $50 or so a year for a magazine that's kinda half ways interesting once every blue moon, plus a roneo'ed (I don't think they'd mastered the photocopier) local broadsheet, plus the right to hang out with a set of mildly unusual people, typically retired, hence with little in common with myself, and had to concede that, if I continued paying, I'd only prove that I wasn't smart enough to be a member. Only did it because I was curious (but not yellow..), and I do well at them kinds of tests. Got 99% on the IBM programmers' aptitude test, way back in prehistory when they still made machines with 16k main memory [shudder...]

[latenight]

I never thought of joining......I'm not one to collect badges........



but to each his own I guess