Is anyone here a MENSA member?

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I took the pre-test and followed all the timing rules and scored within the top 2%. I whimped out of the real thing because I think my performance depends on so many variables: Mood, blood sugar, environment. When I took the pretest I was able to set all of these external variables.

I've taken IQ tests and have varied wildly 130 - 155. This is not supposed to happen from what I undersand. Some of the tests might have been cultural based, which I think I would door poorly on, even if it's based on my culture (which I assume they were, being pretty much from an "all-american" family). Blood sugar might have had a lot to do with it. I become sort-of dumb when my blood sugar starts going down; I mean, I feel like my IQ actually starts to drop --I can't solve logical problems, even everyday ones.

Now, before any test, I drink a glass of fresh squeezed orange juice as it has the only insta-absorbant sugar found in nature (does't work with from-concentrate or or modified orange juices). It passes sugar to the brain in about three seconds. This is my best medication, so to speak, get's me out of funks and jump-starts my brain. I recommend it.

I would totally fail the membershop test as I have a pretty average performance IQ. Anyway I dont care, they might talk about puzzles and numbers and I would not like to be a part of it.

I'm taking the Mensa test in 2 days. One of my reasons for being interested in Mensa is that one of the most common side effects of abnormally high IQ is social awkwardness. I wish to observe the specimens in Mensa to see if I can pick up on any unattractive behaviors in them that I may be able to try to correct in myself. I don't really care very much about what most other people think of me, however I do need to find ways that I can become more emotionally attractive to my lower IQ boyfriend.

I don't know if that makes any sense to anyone else.

Made sense to me.

My Father is a MENSA and has been for years, I was tested for IQ when I was 12 and scored 165 in some areas (they never told me which areas and i wasn't supposed to know any results because supposedly it would stunt my intellectual growth) I was able to talk to my dad's MENSA buddies on their level without difficulty.

That being said, if your boyfriend truly is lower IQ, the knowledge that you are his intellectual superior might have undesired consequences.

As an emotional dunce, it makes sense to me. I think I've learned to be "more emotionally attractive" (I like how you word this) recently. My method is, when dealing with someone I care for and want to satisfy emotionally, I try to consider what I can do or say that might make them happy. I'm not terribly skilled at it, but I like to try.

No way; even if I were smart enough I wouldn't join. I think people like this just like to brag about their intelligence instead of actually doing something useful with it. Funny because mensa/menso pretty much means "stupid" in Spanish.

A test full of questions about music, like that question, would leave me floundering. Is that what you learn in a music theory class? Or is that just what every musician knows?

Music is actually one of my obsessions, but I know very little about how it's made (I watch people do it, but I don't know how they know what to do). I have never been drawn to create it and the few times I tried, I couldn't catch on. But I've been to hundreds & hundreds of concerts (so far) and always, I feel so good when I'm in the presence of people making music (there are some types I don't prefer, though).

But I don't know how I would do on a test about music, even my favorite music ~ it would depend on the type of questions. Trying to think of what questions I would be able to answer... it wouldn't be anything about how they go about making sounds like that. I don't really want to see it as a science, although I know it is, but to me it's something different. I don't have to worry about making it because it isn't my role, & I don't want to know too much about the technical stuff. .

Anyway ~ back to the subject of this thread, and without even having to scroll back to see what it was ~ MENSA. I seriously doubt I could get in by taking their test at this time, but the last time I looked, I did qualify on the basis of a test I took as a teenager. But trying to join groups has been one of my less successful social experiments... stressful because no one would talk to me. I've never really been welcomed by any group I tried to join, so I think it's not a good setting for me. The effort would be all out of proportion to the benefit, most likely.

No. I do not like the concept of exclusive social clubs and only approve of MENSA in the context of a support group for those who's intellects require a degree of mental stimulation beyond that which anyone in the majority of society can provide.

I know some very intelligent individuals due to my time at a research institution and honestly I have met no more than two individuals who quite obviously had cognitive capabilities and intellectual needs so far beyond others that it created a potential for unhappiness in their lives.

One of them, maintained a high degree of interest in ordinary things and so she was well adjusted and and generally seemed quite content conversing with those who would fall in the average to above average range while the other was more interested in specialty fields and seemed genuinely frustrated that he could not have sufficiently fulflling conversation even among those in his fields because they could not follow his train of thought without working through the concepts on paper.

I try extremely hard to do that too, but it's been about as effective as trying to nail Jello to the wall. He and I have been sort of together for more than a year now, but he seems to maintain quite a distance between us, keeping himself "busy" and unavailable most of the time. He has yet to introduce me to a single one of his family members or friends, for reasons that I don't know.

He definitely is lower IQ, I don't know by how much. I wish there were an easy way to find out, but of course there isn't. He'd never want to take an IQ test, and I'd never want him to either. I don't want the differences in how our brains operate to be an issue, but it may be as obvious to him as it is to me that there are significant differences. He seemed embarrassed about his poor spelling early on, but I told him that he is kind and generous and I do not care about spelling (I always type out "do not" instead of "don't" because he doesn't type contractions, therefore I try not to when I type messages to him). Aside from the fact that he has ADHD and I have ADD, our brains work very differently. One small example would be with driving directions. I'm not good with directions, but work around that by entering addresses into Google Maps on my Blackberry. Problem solved. But when I have to drive somewhere to meet him, it takes me a few tries to make it there every time. He doesn't give me the address of where he is or even street names, only describes landmarks that I'm unable to follow without multiple wrong turns and phone calls for more help. He told me that when he has to drive to a new place, he doesn't want the address because he can't find places that way. Instead he prefers to ask the question, "What's near it that's big?"

I have never understood why the most intelligent people would want to take part in something like this. I guess I give intelligence a great amount of value in my mind, and don't see why intelligent people would feel the need to seek out acknowledgement so blatantly. What are the benefits of joining? I like my Subway membership card. I get 10% off and a free sub after every 10th purchase. Do you get any free stuff? Maybe it would be worthwhile with free food.

Probably to see what can be learned from observing and/or interacting with other intelligent people. I think it's often not about acknowledgment, in fact an intelligent person who already feels like they don't fit in with the world may hesitate to let others know about being involved with Mensa. That can have the unintentional effect of 'rubbing people the wrong way' which is usually not what an intelligent person wants to do.

I took a MENSA test when I was 14, but only scored 100, because the test is specifically calibrated for over 18s, so they said I needed to add a few more points on to make the score more accurate.

I'm surprised at the number of comments that generalize what Mensans are like. Actually, as in any large group of people, they vary. Most are nice; some are obnoxious.
If you don't want to join, it's simple: Don't join. But it is better to try not to characterize something until you're familiar with it.

I will never be a member of MENSA. I went to take a MENSA test on the internet, and I was already completely confused on the very first question.