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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.
You insulted my carrot sir!
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...
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.
"I think the carrot infinitely more fascinating than the geranium. The carrot has mystery. Flowers are essentially tarts. Prostitutes for the bees. There is, you'll agree, a certain 'je ne sais quoi' oh so very special about a firm, young carrot."
Aspergers.
Your experience parallels mine. My biggest problem with them was that nearly all of them were Republicans. They had theirs, but they didn't want to help anyone else. Their lack of compassion for people not as smart as themselves was stunning.
When two geniuses mate, the result is often an autistic child: http://archive.wired.com/wired...
If I had to guess, I'd say nearly all the Mensans I've ever bumped into have been liberal Democrats. The idea that "the sheeple" need to be lead by smart people who will make the best decisions for them is sort of endemic to that side of the aisle. Not that Republicans are anything to write home about, but the idea of "rule by smart people" is not the first thing that comes to mind when you think of the GOP...
The Democrats tend to draw the wonkiest of the wonks and the elite professional class into their orbit. Identify a problem (or "problem") in society and bring together a small group of experts who will make the best decision for each of the 330 million people living in the US is the operating assumption for them. The Mensans I've run into fit into that mindset pretty well.
It's only when you accept your own limitations and appreciate the different gifts that everybody has that you realize that no group of people, no matter how intelligent and well meaning, can possibly understand, let alone fulfill, the competing needs and desires of our diverse human family. Lay down some broadly accepted rules and provide a focused and best-in-class set of services, but otherwise, get out of the way.
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.
Not only do they tend to be loudmouths, there are certain segments of the population in the United States that seem to laud ignorance..... I've lived on 3 different continents and enjoy hanging around in dive bars, you get to meet fascinating people, and one thing that I've discovered is that while there are idiots everywhere, (anecdote alert) only in the US do people BRAG about being ignorant.....
Monstar L
Republicans are all about rule by a smart elite. It's just that the word "smart" has become a tribal identifier for Liberals, so Conservatives prefer to use the euphemism "common sense".
I don't think it's possible to go to politics without either thinking your know what's best or being hopelessly corrupt.
No one can possibly understand, let alone fulfill, the competing needs and desires of our diverse human family, so they better follow your political philosophy which tells them how to do just that ?-)
Bonus points for proposing a program that's broad enough that every single government ever could be argued to follow it. Even Attila the Hun laid down rules and provided services.
Forget magic. Any technology distinguishable from divine power is insufficiently advanced.
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 : )
People who boast about their I.Q. are losers. - Stephen Hawking
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
Disclaimer: I am not an expert in mental/intellectual disorders.
From Wikipedia (and cited to boot!):
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IQ#Real-life_accomplishments
The last table in that section states that adults with an IQ of 60 "...can harvest vegetables, repair furniture."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intellectual_disability
In early childhood, mild intellectual disability (IQ 50–69) may not be obvious, and may not be identified until children begin school.[7] Even when poor academic performance is recognized, it may take expert assessment to distinguish mild intellectual disability from learning disability or emotional/behavioral disorders. People with mild intellectual disability are capable of learning reading and mathematics skills to approximately the level of a typical child aged nine to twelve.[7] They can learn self-care and practical skills, such as cooking or using the local mass transit system.[7] As individuals with intellectual disability reach adulthood, many learn to live independently and maintain gainful employment.
So not quite a carrot.
> 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
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.