How do I sleep tonight? Mensa IQ test.

[Mr Allen]

What's main appeal of Mensa, anyway?

Why would anyone want to join the organization?

It's a status thing, if you're in Mensa it means you're a bit of a Brain box, like The Beast off The Chase.

 

[Crossbreed]

I might sound silly saying this, but if these Mensa folks aren't scatterbrained like myself then there's really not going to be a whole lot of common ground to work with.

That is not often the case.

 

[Crossbreed]

What's main appeal of Mensa, anyway?

Why would anyone want to join the organization?

Mainly bragging rights, the only thing they really offer is a forum to discuss intellectual things with other members, and the occasional gathering.

It's a status thing, if you're in Mensa it means you're a bit of a Brain box, like The Beast off The Chase.

Autistics are the last people who should subscribe to stereotypes.

(If you've seen one giftie, you've seen one giftie.)

 

[Crossbreed]

More in-depth than anything you need to join a club, and it trumps anything you can find online.

I have found THIS ON-LINE TEST to be pretty consistent with my official Non-Verbal score. (Non-verbal tests tend to be more accurate for autistics.)

 

[Progster]

Has anyone read the Long Earth series by Terry Pratchett and Stephen Baxter? Well, Mensa reminds me of The Next.

 

[Gritches]

Joining Mensa for bragging rights and then mentioning it in almost any context is just asking for a verbal body-slam. By doing so, you're advertising that you're insecure and an easy target.

It's the social equivalent of wearing a bowtie to school. You're just asking for a girl to beat you up and rip up your Pokemon cards.

 

[Mr Allen]

Joining Mensa for bragging rights and then mentioning it in almost any context is just asking for a verbal body-slam. By doing so, you're advertising that you're insecure and an easy target.

It's the social equivalent of wearing a bowtie to school. You're just asking for a girl to beat you up and rip up your Pokemon cards.

Only because some people take issue with people who are cleverer than they are.

Like I said before, it's a social status thing, like the College Fraternity thing in America, there's the Jocks, the Nerds, and the Cheerleaders, each with their own social circle and clique.

 

[Crossbreed]

Like I said before, it's a social status thing, like the College Fraternity thing in America, there's the Jocks, the Nerds, and the Cheerleaders, each with their own social circle and clique.

Auties would be the Nerds. Gifties would be the Geeks.

Many ASD-1s are Mensans. And many Mensans are ASD-1s. (These are your neurological cousins that you are dissing here.)

One only needs to be a parent of a gifted child to understand that giftedness is more than about bragging rights and social status.*

That is as shallow as saying identifying as autistic is just a license to be rude (without consequence). People here should know better than that.

*Most are unwilling to announce their membership because people will place unrealistic expectations on them.

 

[Aeolienne]

This has been my question for years. Joining just for the sake of hanging around a bunch of "certified" smart people is not appealing to me. Are some geniuses not capable of communicating with non-geniuses? I believe that if you are truly are a genius, you should be able to talk to people at any level of intelligence (up to your own) - it's something I work hard at (and hope I have accomplished).

And I don't think Mensa does anything useful - I've never seen a news headline announcing that Mensa accomplished something, solved a problem, or contributed to society.

You may be interested to know that autistic savant Daniel Tammet (famed for his record-breaking recitation of pi and multiple language acquisition) has refused to join Mensa, according to his 2009 book Embracing the Wide Sky:

[Mensa co-founder]Dr Lancelot Ware ... voiced this concern during the society's fiftieth anniversary in 1996: "I do get disappointed that so many members spend so much time solving puzzles." For this and other reasons, I have no intention of joining Mensa myself. To quote Groucho Marx: "I don't want to belong to any club that will have me as a member!"

​

 

[Crossbreed]

And I don't think Mensa does anything useful - I've never seen a news headline announcing that Mensa accomplished something, solved a problem, or contributed to society.

That isn't their mission.

Mensa's constitution lists three purposes:

• to identify and to foster human intelligence for the benefit of humanity;
• to encourage research into the nature, characteristics, and uses of intelligence; and
• to provide a stimulating intellectual and social environment for its members.

Most people join for the last reason. The first two do not make headlines.

Mensa is apolitical, so it does not advance any political agenda. It has member-organized special interest groups that are free to pursue political & non-political objectives or share hobbies.

I believe that if you are truly are a genius, you should be able to talk to people at any level of intelligence (up to your own)...

We do, but it isn't much different than an NT mask (which many here are familiar with). Non-gifted auties seem to be on the same wavelength, too. (It's probably the black & white thinking.)

 

[Crossbreed]

I used to really proud of that, and it haunted me that I would never know if I could have scored better if I had been in good health...

One way to tell is to compare your score to multiple free [but not admissible] online tests and see if they are consistent. (You can tell if they are flattering you by deliberately bombing them and seeing if they report a low score.)

Even if you bomb the Mensa test, you can still get in using passing scores from your school records or psychological tests.

 

[Sloth]

I think that the primary and only benefit to joining Mensa would be if you plan to attend the local social gatherings, although just because other members are high IQ doesn't mean you will get along well. As others have said, if you take the test thinking it will get you accepted by people casually or that it will get you insta-accepted into Ivy League, I think you will probably be disappointed. If it boosts your self-esteem, then that is fine too, but an IQ test is primarily a test about how good you are at taking an IQ test... not defining who you are.

Doing an official test is rough and a lot different than online ones, you have to have a person constantly stare at you, time you, and judge you for an extended period of time...

Personally, I think you can find people just as interesting on a forum like this, and you don't have to bother with the test or the annual fee .

 

[Robin Winter]

One way to tell is to compare your score to multiple free [but not admissible] online tests and see if they are consistent. (You can tell if they are flattering you by deliberately bombing them and seeing if they report a low score.)

Even if you bomb the Mensa test, you can still get in using passing scores from your school records or psychological tests.

I'm not interested any longer. I took the online culture fair test that the International High IQ Society will accept for admission and scored well above the requirement (theirs is a fair bit lower than Mensa, 95th percentile I believe), but I chose not to pursue it. I believe you get access to their private Facebook group in exchange for your membership dues. Woo. Honestly I'd rather talk about food and Star Trek and complain about stuff. Besides, having a high IQ doesn't mean I know much about anything lol.

 

[Progster]

My biggest issue with IQ tests is that they are timed. I generally don't do well in timed tests. Or at least, not as well as I could do. I waste a lot of time just checking over my answers because I want to be 100% sure that they are correct and won't move on until I have made sure - even for simple questions. I get very stressed by the ticking clock and can't concentrate. Then I run out of time, don't manage to answer all the questions and don't score as well as I know I potentially could do. I don't think that timed tests are a fair means of testing people, and when assessing a person's intelligence, other factors need to be taken into account and different kinds of tests devised, in order to be fair and to allow people to perform to their full potential.

 

[Crossbreed]

Most gifted individuals have what is called "asymmetrical development."

Correction: that should be "asynchronous development."

 

[Tom]

I think Womensa would be a more interesting organization.