Is Mensa any fun?

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thinking of enrolling. i qualify, but come to think of it 98th percentile isn't that selective. that's only 1 in 50.

anyway, anyone who's been to an event, was it a grand meeting of the minds or a misanthropic pack of insecure pissed off nerds? What did you do the whole time, play D&D? Do local chapters tend to be pretty laid back or are they hostile to outsiders?

I did not enjoy the Mensa-sponsored events I attended. It was a bit dry, and I didn't fit in to any of the sub-groups. Go figure.

I did enjoy the newletter/magazine I received as part of my membership.

I think it is worth a try, though. I don't regret joining or even going to the activities that I did attend.

lol why would you want to be part of such a pointless organisation? To prove what?

Doing something worthwhile is more important that being in an exclusive 'smart' club.

i wasnt too happy with the mensa-events i visited, too.
to answer your question: its neither of the alternatives. to be a grand meeting of minds, most people there are too much in need of grandeur. for misanthropic nerds, there are too many "intellectual allstar" types: "why, sure i have/had top grades all the time. why sure, i help other people because its my duty to society. why sure, i support peta/amnesty international/insert other in-your-face-social organization here". my impression was that its a collection of affectionate and pretentious bores. and quite a lot of them may have had high iqs but didnt manage to put off their bad mental hygiene.

Making friends would be worthwhile.

I went to lunch a few times with several "Mensa" individuals many years ago - they were after me to join. It was the most screwed up bunch of egotistical misfits (with one or two exceptions) I've ever met in my life. No common sense in many, extremely narrowminded in some cases, marginally educated but "know it all" from having read one or two books in another. I don't know if all Mensa groups are like that, or if I was just lucky.

Wanting to be around other people who are halfway bright is one thing, but belonging to an exclusionary group like that... why? Other than for ego stroking? Dunno. As I said, I had an un-good experience with the batch that I met, so if they're not the norm what I experienced might not be a good referent for you. Perhaps others might be able to paint a more positive picture for you?

I've been to a few events, mostly the larger ones like RGs (Regional Gatherings) and the national AGs (Annual Gatherings). Mensa is primarily a social organization, and since I have trouble attending social events I find it hard to motivate myself to go, even though I like to.

Overall I've found Mensans to be welcoming to outsiders and very laid back. A very good definition of Mensans is that they are just like regular people, only more so. You'll run into a wide variety of people, certainly some who are just there to play games, but others who what to chat about anything, or who share some particular interest. Mensa has a large number of special interest groups (SIGs) that address everything from nudism to Electrical Engineering.

And of course, you'll also find some annoying know-it-alls, and a high percentage of very eccentric people. I believe genius isn't far from idiocy. Some would say they overlap. But most Mensans are very nice, if you give them a chance and can forgive their eccentricities.

It is interesting to me that some people label Mensans as 'exclusionary'. Mensa as an organization welcomes both sexes, all ages, all lifestyles, all nationalities, all religions, all political interests, all occupations. They welcome everybody. You just have to be good at taking IQ tests. And even if you can't pass the test, almost all Mensan activities are open to guests/non-Mensans. Drop in and see if you like it. Then decide if you want to join. Many local groups publish their activity calendars online. If you have trouble finding a group in your area, let me know where you are and I'll try to put you in contact with someone.

Last edited by VeryQuiet on 20 Oct 2007, 11:50 am, edited 1 time in total.

Mensa is a scam I hear. Anyone can get in, they just want your money...

Is there a society for people with low IQs ? I think they would have much better social events.

www.hannityfanclub.com

I had fun. I just finished posting about this on General Autism Discussion.

Ha, that is a great definition right there.


Genius and IQ are not the same, the vast majority of Mensa members won't be geniuses. Genius is timely, it has a drive and deliverance that most Mensa members would lack and most people lack. There will be geniuses who would be below the threshold for Mensa, because of their ‘deficiencies’. IQ is manly useful to provide a 'baseline' to figure out where the deficiencies lie. It is a statistical exercise nothing more. We don't know enough about intelligence to be able to measure every aptitude. IQ isn't actually measure of intelligence anyway, intelligence is much of a quality that is near impossible to quantify by statistical methods or otherwise. It is sort of an insult to members’ own intelligence that they feel the need to wear their IQ as some sort of badge of honour.



Nothing wrong with eccentricity at all. I'm sure Jimmy "I've got an IQ 149" Savile has fixed it for many kiddies, though I expect he won’t be fixing any of the world’s great problems any time soon.


It is not like you would expect anything other than that. I heard the freemasons are a regular Jamboree nowadays. It still doesn't make Mensa any less of a pointless organisation. It doesn't take a smart person to work out it is a little more than sycophantic cock fencing...sorry I mean something more gender neutral, they believe in equal opportunities after all.

Not that there is anything especially wrong with that, more that that my ego is self-serving enough that I don't need others to stroke it for me. I'd expect that many ASD could live without such an organisation quite happily.

zero: your post absolutely equals true. especially the bottom line.
im autistic enough not to care about fixing the worlds big problems as they are commonly seen, though, so i dont hold grudges against poor mr savile.

I wanted to hang out with smart people.

Well there are plenty of smart people in WP.

There are plenty of people classified as learning disabled, especially autistic people. Some of these people have made some of the most intelligent observations I've ever heard before. You won't see them at Mensa meetings.

You're chasing a false notion.

Are we really smart enough to be definitive about who is the 'smartest', especially if we are talking about ring fencing such a small percentage of people?

IQ obsession is insular and fundamentally not smart.

There weren't when I was 14.

Also, I wouldn't exactly call this "hanging out". I think to be "hanging out", it has to occur in meatspace.

I like to party. So did the Mensans. As good as WP gets, I don't think it ever makes the level of "party".



Thinking back to some of the people in that group, I'd wager you would at least see aspies.



If you wanted to start a group of smart people, what would you make the defining factor?

And if you wouldn't want to, that's fine. But someone else did, and I checked it out. I had fun, others might too. That's my focus.