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Match.com, Mensa Create Dating Site For Geniuses
mpicpp writes in with news about a new dating opportunity for Mensa members. It takes a special person to join Mensa. For one, the elite society only takes individuals with IQ scores in the 98th percentile, meaning just 1 in 50 Americans is eligible. This exclusivity — some might say snobbery — is part of Mensa's lore. Early Mensans in Britain walked around with yellow buttons, organizational publications once referred to non-Mensa members as "Densans," and last year, a top Mensa member and tester called anyone with an IQ of 60 a "carrot." In short, you don't always join Mensa because you think you're smart. You join to be set apart from most people, who are, as one member put it: "mundane." But a new partnership between American Mensa and online dating giant Match.com offers a new, enticing reason to join the society of geniuses: true love. Beginning this week, members of the brainiac group can connect through a separate, exclusive dating service called Mensa Match. In addition, Match.com members can add a special Mensa badge to their profiles, signaling a specific interest in connecting with a single person with a confirmed genius-level IQ score.
I'm smart, maybe not mensa smart (don't really care either way) but fuck hanging out with other aholes like me!
If they were that smart they would know that the IQ test is neither a valid no reliable test for comparisons between groups, only within groups.
I should use this sig to advertise my book ISBN-13 : 978-1501515132.
Anyone with an IQ of 60 IS about as bright as a carrot. It is well below the level of mental retardation
Mostly the G, because at that edge of the bell curve men are way more represented.
I thought this is why we have so many Regional Gatherings? I'll wager a higher success rate for three days at HalloweeM vs a year long match.com account any day.
-- This sig is only a test. If this were a real sig it would say something witty. --
"Loser."
... That means NO Americans are eligible :-)
There's a 'Mensa loves the G' joke in here somewhere...
The best in the world are allegedly in attendance, but in reality they suffer from the worst kind of self-selection bias imaginable.
Ohh me, me, me,... me, me,....me, me, now I'm all hot for myself.
You throw enough Aspie types together you might get more Aspies or you might get more Autism?
You'll probably get some more geniuses but less than you think (nature vs. nurture).
You'll definitely get more arseholes.
Match.com's press release includes a hilarious "heat map listing where the smartest singles live," by mapping where Ivy League grads live. Apparently graduates of Stanford, U Chicago, CalTech, UC Berkeley, Northwestern, etc. aren't as smart. More likely, they're just not as rich and historically connected to Daddy's alma mater. http://blog.match.com/wp-conte...
That'd be far better, smart people without elitist attitudes.
Really? You mean no one learned from history? Still trying to create the "perfect race". For fug's sake already. You know what, really, let's see how long these relationships last. Let's turn this into a reality show and watch how perfect the children come out.
Poor sods.
Really smart people know enough about interpersonal relations to see that being an ass to people just because you're smarter than they are is not very smart. Really smart people help everyone to maximize their potential. On the other hand, I suppose high IQ is no defense against high narcissism. It's a shame that the narcissists are the most likely to go out there and claim to speak for all of us.
And really, the 98th percentile? We're talking about people who probably got a question wrong on the SAT and have fewer than 6 degrees. Hardly genius material. The real geniuses are closer to one in a million (literally).
At some point anyone with a half functioning brain quickly realizes they are total idiots who know nothing.
Those with fully functional brains should avoid bathrooms, strip clubs and always check the back seats before driving off.
The word 'genius' should be reserved for a rare occasion where a person shows extraordinary insight and brilliance, not the smartest person of a random group of 50.
Before someone asks, yes, I am "Mensa material". I do IQ tests as a pastime. It's fun to watch shrinks stare in awe. So I could join them. As could, I'm certain, most people around here. Being in the 2% bracket isn't THAT difficult when you look at it. There are actually clubs out there with far tighter joining criteria. Also not really something I'd consider joining.
I mean, let's be honest, why should I? Yes, it's fun to have a discussion with people who can think beyond next breakfast but it's no fun having them with people who consider themselves so "smart" and aloof to join a club that selects its members by intelligence. I mean, imagine you're good looking, would you want to join a club that only lets beautiful people join? Ponder what kind of self absorbed, shallow cunts such criteria attract. And then ponder whether you want to be part of that.
And even more, ponder whether you want to spend at least part of your life with someone like that. And now let's imagine the worst case, just think that kids would be the results of such a union. What kind of person do you think such a child would become? Either you'll have a completely broken person who snapped under the pressure of being the expected "pinnacle of intelligence", or you get the ultimate self-absorbed asshole, or a combination of both.
We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
I used to be in Mensa back in the 80s. When people found out I was in Mensa, they'd frequently express some surprise because they thought Mensans were a bunch of jerks because they'd met somebody who said he was in Mensa and who was very obnoxious, making himself out to be superior. I was surprised because most of the people I met in Mensa weren't like that. I remember throwing a party and invited people from my job and friends from Mensa, and the people from work commented later about how the Mensans at the party were down to earth regular folks and not at all like what they'd expected. I suspect that the jerks giving Mensa a bad rep don't actually go to Mensa events because what they want to do is brag and try to impress people but they can't do that if everybody else is a Mensan. But these same jerks are the ones making the most noise everywhere else and getting noticed. I will admit there are probably more nerdy, asperger's syndrome types in Mensa than the general population, but it's not that bad.
You know what was an exaggerated but based somewhat on truth depiction of Mensa? The one done in a Simpson's episode with Stephen Hawking as guest voice at the end.
Mensa: an organisation which has the muppet known as Gary Bushell (google him) as a visible/named member on their website, yet still thinks it's members are the 'cream' of humanity...
there isn't a good enough word in the english language to describe that level of crass idiocy (though no doubt, a mensameister will be along in a few minutes to prove me wrong by supplying it...and then rail mightily that how, like a good little carrot, I should just shut up and not criticise my betters..).
Maybe he just got out of the pool when they tested him and it shrank.
I see jealous people in this thread, they are all around me. They don't even know they are jealous, but they scored low on an IQ test and need to shit on it ever since....
Sorry. I'm so elitist that I don't feel I should grace Mensa with my presence.
We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
Right, just ignore the fact that blacks and Hispanics consistently poll below whites and Asians in practically every IQ test in every control configuration ever devised. We are all equal!
Mensies?
...with those party-animal Mensa hotties!
I would not want to date anyone who thinks it's important to join Mensa.
She better be qualified for it though! :-D
When I was eight, I thought that Mensa must be the coolest thing in the world - a Club for Geniuses! When I got a bit older, I ended up going to a few meetings (I had had a school administered IQ test done when I was skipping a grade and that was good enough for the local chapter). Between the painfully shy, the weirdos and the snobs, even my 12 year old self figured out this wasn't the club for me.
I had hopes that maybe it was just the local chapter that was nuts but every time I hear anything about Mensa, it generally confirms my original impression...
When two geniuses mate, the result is often an autistic child: http://archive.wired.com/wired...
Check out the mensa website photos advertising taking the test to use on the match site - there's a woman in the middle. She looks like she is dateable! If you're after fugly butch lesbians.
I have never met a Mensa member who has not been an utter twat. Quite why you would want to join a society whose purpose appeared to be chiefly to allow yourself to announce to other people that you are smarter than them I have no idea.
Because I am smart enough to know I don't need to be part of a group to be smart.
I guess the two mods that voted you down are Republicans.
I found this page:
http://www.mensaww.org/
That mentions their no alcohol rule. I guess Republicans aren't smart enough to understand that prohibition didn't work. Those stupid Republicans are still living in the 1800s.
Maybe you don't want to have the genes of two smart, anti-social people to mate. You'll just increase the rate of traits that make you intelligent in moderation and handicapped when taken to the extreme.
My wife has good memory; I have good logical reasoning. My son is quite smart, but that is because of his early interest in starfall.com. His iq would be lower if he hadn't had that headstart, but his intelligence would be the same.
That mentions their no alcohol rule. I guess Republicans aren't smart enough to understand that prohibition didn't work. Those stupid Republicans are still living in the 1800s.
There was no prohibition in the 1800s.
I don't know about the US, but in the Netherlands there are dating sites that cater specifically to the "highly educated", i.e. people with university degrees. I understand the idea behind them: you're more likely to have something in common with someone who's roughly in the same ball park as you when it comes to intelligence. This is simply that idea taken one step further. It takes a special kind of person to join mensa (but intellectually and character-wise), and so people that do are likely to have more in common with each other than with people who don't.
Won't you run away with me? You can tell me all about things, and I can listen!
they wouldn't need help from a scammy web site of questionable integrity to meet girls (or guys.. whatever).
... Mensans are just about as regular as anybody else?
Before someone asks, yes, I am "Mensa material". I do IQ tests as a pastime. It's fun to watch shrinks stare in awe.
Ironically, that's the stupidest thing I've ever heard.
What we really need is a site to match male MENSA geniuses with strippers and ex strippers. Oscar Wilde: "A woman who considers herself an intellectual clearly has forgotten what her genitals are for". In my case, my first wife was a research librarian, my 2nd was a stripper. -I should have married my 2nd wife first, because if I had, I'd have NEVER married my 1st wife.
Mensa Create Dating Site For Pretentious Geniuses
FTFY
I was a MENSA member, but it didn't work for me - having a high IQ is no guarantee of being an interesting or entertaining person, plus the kind of people that really want "MENSA member" in fat print on their clothes are exactly the kind of people I dislike (it's equivalent to needing have "Armani" in large print on your clothes for it to be seen instead of it being just understated quality.
I just joined on a lark, as someone else told me I ought to take the test. So I did, I was invited and joined British MENSA which was interesting but I didn't have much time for it. When I moved abroad I had to leave British MENSA and join the local version of it and that was so rife with politics that I decided I could do without the hassle and left, helped by the fact that the people I met were not really interesting.
Does being a (former) MENSAn make me different? Nah. I just have a really good feel for structures and I'm quick at catching logical fallacies, but I don't think it gives me the right to claim I'm better or worse than anyone else. I detest snobbery in any form, but that's just me.
You've never dated a stupid elitist have you.
I'm a satanic clam.
Aryan beauty seeks Mensa-member for building the Master-rass.
Looks unimportant.
Please do not apply if you are below 200.
I really don't see the point of Mensa. 1 in 50 isn't exactly a discriminating criteria. Seven billion people in the world, 140 million could join Mensa.
Aim for the Prometheus Society, the Triple Nine Society or the Mega Society.
Of course all of these are a bit of a wank really. Just live your life the way you want to and don't bother trying to fit into rather silly boxes.
Folks, MENSA was a study intended to track the successes of those with high IQ's as they progressed through life.
Somewhat unsurprisingly, the study revealed NO CORRELATION.
Zippo. Nada. None. Zilch.
People with high-IQ's were no more successful in career terms than people with average IQ's. (I have a high IQ, and I wish the correlation had been tighter! :D )
So at the end of the day "success" is a combination of multiple factors and IQ alone is non-determinant. So who cares about IQ anyway?
------ The best brain training is now totally free : )
Mensa members appear to treat IQ as a fixed point, like an SAT test score or GPA that stays in your recordbook forever. But people obviously slow down over time, or suffer psychological symptoms such as paranoia or obsession which may have a deleterious effect on IQ. Some think the act of joining Mensa itself is a contraindicator of highest intelligence (perhaps why they had to dip to 98th percentile, the top thought better of enlisting).
What dating sites actually need is not more dating sites, but a Kayak,com service where I can find dates simultaneously from MENSA, Match.com, EHarmony, FarmersOnly.com, AdultFriendFinder, ChristianSingles, AshleyMadison, HinduConnections, etc., with search-by boxes for attractiveness, income, and other values-based searches. Oh wait, i think the NSA has that already, maybe we can lower the national debt by making it a paid search service.
Gently reply
The IQ scale has its median at 100 by definition. As such, someone with an IQ of 60 is indeed retarded.
Let's put up some fake profiles, get those weirdos somewhere and humiliate them. Just think about it: smug smart-boy goes out thinking he's on a date with a hot chick and instead is forced to eat the contents of a port-a-potty and to go home without pants and underwear! Serves them right!
Reminds me of the correlation != causation meme.
To be frank, during the time I was at Mensa I met all sorts of people and had some interesting conversations. They where basically just a bunch of regular people; a cross-section of normal society. Unfortunately there were also some that seemed to have a huge chip on their shoulder among the line of "I'm smarter than you, if not, prove it". Basically lacking insight into social interactions between people in society and it's relative importance, so I did have my doubts about their so-called intelligence. Mostly they were of the "assholier than though" religious persuasion (Oh, wait, there's a lot of atheists on /. too....)
Anyhow, I do not think that with an IQ around 145 (give or take) I'm that smart, and have a lot of non-Mensa friends who are sometimes very insightful and interesting to converse with. In the end I let my membership lapse as my own social circle served my basic human need for social interaction better, and I could be more selective as to whom I want to be friends with and why (may sound selfish, be it as it may).
If you ever meet someone who thinks they are smarter than normal people, ask him (her) "If you're so smart, why aren't you rich?" I haven't met anyone at Mensa who really did something extraordinary with their lives. They are just run-of-the-mill people with average jobs. They may have some peculiar or even interesting interests, some may have a much deeper understanding of certain aspects and see more connections between information, but they are all normal people. I shouldn't speak for others, but sometimes I think the price to attain fame and fortune is simply too high - I do not want to sacrifice so much time, energy, health, focus, and social interaction on one single goal that will in all probably not live much longer than me.
I have met a number of Mensa members.
Good lord, what an insufferable bunch of insecure
douche bags they are. They all want to _make sure_
you know how "smart" they are.
Females are enough of a pain in the ass to deal with
just to get laid, without adding Mensa bullshit to the situation.
And then there is the very real specter of two geniuses breeding
and having children who are profoundly autistic. It seems nature
finds geniuses annoying too.
That's all this is: find an inherited / cultural characteristic, and allow prejudiced people to start with an initial filter which fits with their prejudices.
Yeah, there's correlation between IQ and social prestige. There's also a correlation between wealth of mom&dad, whiteness, maleness and prestige.
seems reasonable for the web site to do this.
The lead in statistics seem questionable.
98th percentile means top 2% which equates 1 in 50.
But I don't see how that's 1 in 50 Americans.
Some days it seems more like 1 in 1000, especially inside the beltway.
Maybe all the smart folks are concentrated somewhere else?
I thought I was special until I realised there are 140 000 000 potential mensans on earth.
And the fact that I'm pretty good at guessing which dice should come after a serie of 4 other dice doesn't tell much about myself, and surely shouldn't be taken as a genius indicator.
Anyway, I went to two Mensa meetings : I met some assholes and some nice guys, just like I would at the pub across the street.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but AFAIK Mensa is a club for people whose only common interest is their ability to score highly in IQ tests? I remember being very impressed when I was a teenager, but I think the consensus has moved on a bit from the idea that intelligence, not to mention broader abillity, can be described well with just one number. And of course, one so often comes across people who have scored something mile high and still seem surpisingly limited in their abilities in life.
Taking intelligence tests is something that can be learned - it's not even that hard, once you learn the tricks. I have several times scored over 150; so am I genius? Well, you tell me :-) It's a bit like bodybuilding - it looks very impressive, but all those hard pumped muscles are just for show, they don't actually have much practical value.
People who boast about their I.Q. are losers. - Stephen Hawking
I tried that shit once, all I got was bots and men pretending to be women.
Buck Feta. You know what to do.
Define 'success'.
Best post in the thread. Thanks.
Do something with your life, people.
Screw IQ, looks, and social circle size.
Play from the effin heart!!!!
If Mensans are so smart, why do they need a dating service?
Right you are!
If you're smart, it's mostly because you're lucky. You got the good genes. Then, you probably had a good upbringing and environment. Neither of which is anything else than luck.
Sure, to maximize your smarts, you have to work. But lots of people work hard.
So what makes high IQ people special, really? Luck.
What kind of asshole gets all hoity-toity because he was, mostly, lucky?
--PeterM
When I was a young lad it turns out I was quite bright. A lot of the academic stuff that people thought I should be working at I found pretty boring (having undiagnosed adhd might have had something to do with that).
I did, however, notice that my social skills were lacking compared to my peers, so I set about balancing my personae up a bit so that I wasn't all brain. The weird thing is, even though everyone in my family thought I was super intelligent, they felt they could tell me I was being stupid when I didn't simply do what they told me to do with my life, no matter that I could demonstrate that I had thought my actions through fairly carefully and had a reasonable rationale (to my mind at least).
It took me a long time (longer than it should have I admit) to finally work out that my family were just arseholes. :)
For good genetic health, dating sites should be matching people who are DIFFERENT, not the same. Given a large number of geniuses who suffer from Aspergers or other forms of autism, it probably best not to be dating others of the same malady. Instead, it is better to date a person with different traits. Of course geniuses don't feel they can communicate with normal people, which is common amongst people who struggle with autism. But worry less about compatibility and more about what sort of scary genetics you might be passing to your children. So if you're a Mexican academic genius then marry a Chinese athlete. If you're an African athlete then marry an Eskimo artist. If you're a short Jewish businessman then marry a tall blonde Scandinavia.
I thought there were already numerous sites dedicated to masturbation.
IQ tests were for finding children who would have problems later on in school. And by finding them, extra attention could be given to them so that they were likely to be successful.
Years later, the US Army (wrongly) turned it into a measuring stick.
A wonderful book is The Mismeasure of Man by Stephen Jay Gould.
Anyway, having a high IQ is just the luck of the sperm draw. What folks should be proud of is the character that they develop - like being humble when one is lucky enough to have had the genes to be intelectually talented.
> I know a lot of high IQ people and they all have one thing in common. Being lazy. Smartest guy I know wastes most of every day playing Xbox and smoking pot.
âoeFor instance, on the planet Earth, man had always assumed that he was more intelligent than dolphins because he had achieved so muchâ"the wheel, New York, wars and so onâ"whilst all the dolphins had ever done was muck about in the water having a good time. But conversely, the dolphins had always believed that they were far more intelligent than manâ"for precisely the same reasons.â
â Douglas Adams, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
Match.com is paying Mensa for the privilege? I'd consider this a smart move: Mensa takes their money for basically no commitment. It's not like they can or will force their members to subscribe - and what's another spam email?
Mensa isn't even all that selective in the grand scheme of things. They admit anyone who scores +2 sigma or higher on a variety of tests, not all of which measure IQ very well. So we're talking about the top 2.2% of all individuals. In terms of the pre-1995 SAT that would be 1250 and higher.
I didn't renew because the monthly lunches were held at two local restaurants that definitely qualify as "mundane." One was hip 25 years ago, and the other is Golden Corral. No thanks!
... In short, you don't always join Mensa because you think you're smart. You join to be set apart from most people, who are, as one member put it: "mundane."...
That's not why you join mensa, that why you continue to be a member after you join.
.
When I attended the mensa meetings, the condescending attitude of mensa people towards others was quite a surprise to me. After a few meetings I just stopped attending and did not renew my membership.
... and sink the boat. This site will help us easily list who they are.
If there's a checkbox for immensa, it doesn't stand for I'm more than Mensa
Smart people signing up for a dating sight is like engineers outfitted with radiometers curiously examining the interior of a nuclear reactor.
It little behooves the best of us to comment on the rest of us.
Maybe I'm looking for a woman who is better looking than me and who'll accept the IQ differential in exchange.
</sarcasm>
True story. I took a long bike ride last summer and ended up in a very affluent seaside community. I cross over the causeway to an island that's the most desirable neighborhood. I pass an attractive blonde woman jogging, but I think nothing of it. Then I pass another one. Then another. And another. I notice the women getting in and out of the Land Rovers in front of the Islands quaint shops. They're obviously blonde joggers too. It's like all the women came from the same Jogging Blonde Lady factory then were rigged out with different accessories. None of them look over 30.
So I start looking for men. They're obviously wealthy, but they appear on average 20 years older than the women. In fact, they're just regular, dumpy old shlumps with expensive cars and watches.
It was weird, like having a young, blonde, athletic wife was part of the homeowners' covenant or something. Sorry honey, but we just got a citation from the association and you'll have to move of the island. Heather here will be taking over your duties; be a dear and show her around the old place.
Post may contain irony: discontinue use if experiencing mood swings, nausea or elevated blood pressure.
After joining Mensa, you get invited to plenty of card games, speeches and nerd discussions. But you're still dealing with the general public.
Now, if there was a second test... where then only let in people that care about their appearance, maintain good eye contact, have a modicum of physical fitness, then I would definitely like to join that inner circle.
-- I was raised on the command line, bitch
Whenever someone tells me they are in Mensa, I usually think, what a fuck head. Not only did you care enough to jump through the hoops to join, but you are arrogant enough to want everyone to know you're a member.
Instead, show me your intellect with witty conversation, keen understanding, and curiosity, and you won't be such an ass.
My God can beat up your God. Just kidding...don't take offense. I know there's no God.
Especially when it's funnier to stop after the Feynman point where you start sounding like either Herman Cain or Adolf Hitler.
My dad was a member back in the 80s. In large part because he liked any excuse to talk about books and puzzles and whatnot. Seemed like a good place to go. One year when a Mensa convention came to town, he went to attend and was allowed to bring a guest. My mom went and she, as a gag, wore a button that read "Non-member, please speak slowly and use small words."
Not a single person laughed or got the joke, hey mom was no mental slouch either, and everyone that talked to them would talk normally to my dad and slowly to my mom. It was at that point he decided maybe membership wasn't for him.
I'm a physicist. Been one for twenty years or so.
I've yet to meet anyone who admits to being in MENSA.
If people are interested in ideas (physics, philosophy, whatever) they join societies or clubs or professions interested in those ideas.
Why would such highly intelligent people would let "love", an highly irrational feeling, waste their precious existence time. Aren't they way too busy finding a cure for cancer or making nuclear fusion works?
Why does a community of socially disabled people need a dating site? Do they think it will help them?
I know plenty of people who would qualify for Mensa (I know I do) but they don't join because they have a happy social life with lots of smart friends, and even "normal" people. It's only the "smart" people who are more or less socially disabled who need to join Mensa in order to "get a life". Get a life!
no, I don't have a sig
The male members, which I'm sure is going to be pretty well represented at Mensa, is far better off joining a local yoga club if they want a chance at love ^.^ The females just need to go to a bar.
All those moments will be lost in time, like tears in rain.
MENSA is for people who are insecure and conceited about their intelligence. An analogy I always use is the Club of Certified Badasses. What kind of badass would want to join that?
I hear they're pretty big on scientific racism too...they can have fun with that without me.
"When information is power, privacy is freedom" - Jah-Wren Ryel
A bunch of jerks eliminating themselves from the common pool.
I'm much more funny, interesting and insightful than the moderators think
Have gnu, will travel.
I knew a guy who was mensa... and I can tell you for a fact he was dumb as a box of rocks. Either he cheated or they gave him a free one.
Mike @ The Geek Pub. Let's Make Stuff!
Having a high IQ score doesn't help us getting laid.
From what I've seen Mensa members are just idiots who are like taking certain kinds of tests, read pseudo intellectual articles in their magazine, work useless little puzzles and manage to accomplish zilch.
My favorite part of Mensa is their investment club biggest joke ever.
Really intelligent people have intelligent pastimes that attract other intelligent people; they don't need a club dedicated to helping them find intelligent people.
Yet another Mensa idiot.
Prohibition was a Progressive, Protestant idea; not a conservative idea.
Also there are enough teetotalers for both parties.
I was given an IQ test, and scored a 72. While I am deaf, I usually can lipread people well enough on a one-to-one basis and follow instructions. However with the person giving the test, I couldn't understand a single word he said, he was a mumble-mouth and not very helpful in working with me to make himself understood. He'd do things like put a puzzle in front of me, and click on a stopwatch. I'd figure out what I was supposed to do with it, try out a few things until I got what he wanted me to do. So to this day I tell people my IQ is 72. Some people absolutely believe it because deaf people are dumb, others ask why I don't just take the test again. I quip that it's cheating to study to beat the test, and that if IQ tests are supposed to be accurate, how would it be immune to people taking the test over and over until they get the IQ score they want?
I went to some "young Mensan" meetings back in the 1980's. I ended up dating a very nice (and smart) girl and had a good time.
In the 2010's, I'm not sure there is much point in joining Mensa to meet people for romantic reasons, especially given the large number of "meetup" style events available, plus online dating sites allow one to signal intelligence pretty easily if not explicitly.
There are many signals that people look for in romantic engagements that people prefer to not receive explicitly, including money, intelligence, and power. For example, women on average may like rich men, but if you show up at a date and give a woman a $100 bill to signal your wealth, it is not likely to be received well.
Actually only about 20-25% of Mensa members would qualify as "Genius" (3 SD's above the mean) most are merely "gifted". And Mensa is the gateway for the real High IQ societies the ones that advertise in the Mensa journal looking for people in the top 0.01% (You know, the one Sheldon would be in if he were real...and of course Wile E Coyote SUPER GENIUS) ;-)
The distribution of intelligence follows a normal curve, but intelligence itself follows a power law curve. It's very steep at the high end. I test around the 99.5th percentile, and I judge all my friends to be at least in the 99th, else they wouldn't be my friends. But my arrogance is tempered by knowing that within that half-percentile above me -- well over a million people in the US alone -- are many who can look down on me as I look down on the 99th percentile. They are the real gods of our society. Even at the 99.5th percentile, I will never be more than a second-tier demigod.
What the IQ requirement of being in Mensa actually is?
Just for curiosity's sake, no one has actually asked this?
- Zav - Imagine a Beowulf cluster of insensitive clods...
This is sooo funny... Seriously, it's the female tense of dumb/fool!
"It is by will alone I set my mind in motion. It is by the juice of Sapho that thoughts acquire speed, the lips acquire stains, stains become a warning. It is by will alone I set my mind in motion."
I hope they mail you a little bottle of sapho juice when you sign up.
If I was single, there's no way I would date someone who only prides themselves in their intelligence. I used to think like when I was younger, and I know a lot of people that did too. There's many more forms of intelligence than just what IQ or Mensa tests measure. It doesn't show how socially, emotionally intelligent or creative the person is. it's closed minded to think of yourself as smarter or better than people because of an IQ test who might have other mental qualities that far exceed yours.
(never tested) but even I'm smart enough to know that reducing the size of my dating pool isn't a good idea.
Giggity
Seriously. If there is one thing most smart people have in common, it's that they are not in Mensa.
I went to an Ivy League college. I work in an elite university. There are two Nobel laureates on my floor. I spend my days surrounded by certifiably Very Smart People.
I don't know a single person who belongs to Mensa. Most of the people I know would laugh at the idea of joining Mensa. They don't need to join an organization to show off how smart they are. Everyone already knows they're smart. They don't need to join an organization to find other smart people. They spend their days surrounded by smart people, because they work in fields that require intelligence.
"I'm too busy to research this and form an educated opinion, but I do have time to tell everyone my uninformed opinion."
I once dated a Mensa girl... She was as stupid as she was arrogant! and trust me she was arrogant with an IQ of 150... I'm glad I'm not that clever!!! I'm looking forward for the success of this service, the more of them date each other the more likely evolution will make sure to get rid of them. hopefully in a few generation.
If you are so smart why are you still single?
I only gathered from this article nerds trying incredibly hard to get laid.
When I was a kid, I qualified to join Mensa. I was proud to be smart and like many, many young people who are smart, you think you are better than others or that somehow the world owes you something because you are smart. When I got older, I realized the hypocrisy we have as society regarding "natural" talent. If someone is born great looking, with a naturally athletic build, we look down on them..."Well they didn't work for it..they were just born with it". But if someone is born very smart, we don't do that at all. Somehow they are treated as if they somehow earned it. I'm not talking education here..you can be very intelligent and ignorant..and education and knowledge is earned. I'm talking about raw number crunching/puzzle solving/pattern solving smarts.
I guess I was young enough that the whole concept of intellectual snobbery didn't dawn on me. I went to a mixer for people who could join, but hadn't yet, and met several regular members. What a fucking nightmare. I am so glad I never joined, because looking back..it's the whole need for validation part that is a real character flaw in my opinion.(See Joe Biden). Anyway, my kids are both well above average natural intelligence, but I never, ever tell them they are "smart" or smarter than most people. I tell them they are smart enough that if they work hard they can do whatever they want with their lives. I always tell them that hard work will beat being smart or natural talent 99% of the time...so focus on working harder/more efficiently than everyone else. Working in the engineering field, I see 22 year olds just out of college who are exactly like I was when I was a teenager. Very smart and think the world hasn't yet dreamed of an intellect as great as theirs and they are just so very, very special. They know because their mom's have told them that their whole lives.
You want to join a group of like minded people? Join a builder club. Join the chamber of commerce. Join a fitness club.
And that's relevant how, exactly?
Do you reckon the idea of prohibition just fell out of the sky one day, or it was the zenith of temperance movements that had been around since at least 600 AD.
Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
I joined Mensa when I was (IIRC) sixteen.
Lasted a year before I let my membership lapse; in that year I had irrefutable proof that IQ and intelligence are NOT the same thing.
Or, to put it more simply, I encountered some of the most stupid people I've ever encountered as a Mensa member.
Bad form to answer a question with a question[1], but why do you think smart people are automatically rich? Do you also think rich people are automatically smart? Have you heard of David Beckham or Paris Hilton?
[1] or three. Well, two and a half.
Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
Handkerchief Code: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Handkerchief_code
Ever since I was a kid everybody calls me a dummy
Last year I went to a fair organized by a local community school, and found that there was an "exam" or something taking place, and upon asking it was related to Mensa (at that time I didn't know what it is)
I asked them if I could try out the test, they told me that the test had already started 20 minutes earlier, I said I don't mind, I just want to try.
So I paid the money and they let me took that test.
Several weeks after that, I received a letter from them telling me that my IQ is 186, and they included an application form for Mensa.
Should I join?
As I said, I am dumb, very dumb. I do not know why they say that my IQ is 186. Everybody that I know calls me a dummy. Should a certified dummy like me join Mensa ?
Monetizing nerdy sex.
That XKCD has a stupid punchline, stupid compared to my expectations, I'll grant you, but it really should have been more prick-like since that it what I believe the author wanted to convey. Instead, it came out all frilly and lovey dovey like the guy really did deserve to get an award and we all just wait in pure anticipation for his next Slashdot post.
As a child my IQ was tested out at 154. My wife is fat, ugly, and stupid, and I love her very much. She's wonderful. The slim, beautiful, smart lady flee off to a new boyfriend.
... but can't even get laid on their own!
"Mensa Match: The Dating Site For the Insufferably Smug."
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"I used to listen to Null Device before they sold out."
And don't tell me about the social inability of "geniuses", I score 19 out of 30 in a test for autism traits and I found a partner and even married.
What this shows is that these "mensan" aren't much more than monkeys trained to do IQ tests and score well in them.
Note that I don't speak out of despise, I score fairly high in IQ tests (i do score in the 98 percentile of a specific test suite and in English which is not my mother tongue, so that I should have a relative handicap, but these were tests made for a professional assessment, not to join a fancy club of quizz-fans) and I am fluent in 5 languages (human not programming ones)...
So, we have a few self proclaimed "geniuses" who don't have a fucking clue about probabilities, believe in marketing hogwash and who's geniality consists in filling in "brain training" type shit (meaning that they haven't even bothered to read any science about the subject).
Dating for Monkeys.
-- 29A the number of the Beast
All I can think about reading this is a job I had as a grad student, working in an urban planning research institute. The research director was the first woman in Canada to get a doctorate in her field; her husband had been short-listed for a Nobel prize in his (different) field. Yet on a near-daily basis, she ran to me yelling that the postage meter wasn't working again - and every time, I'd go into the mail room, look at the wall, and say "You kicked the plug out again." Her husband would call her for instructions on how to write a check. Also, one day she came to work in a lovely pink blouse that had been white weeks before; apparently, they attempted to do their own laundry, and threw a new red item in with the whites. I'm sure their IQs were off the charts, but they were astonishingly dim about how to function in daily life.