Mensa and similar organizations [Archive]

Rick

11-16-2007, 08:21 PM

Any Mensa members here?

INTJs make up a disproportionate high membership in high IQ societies compared to our rarity in the population.

The local Mensa test proctor was out of town for the national testing day, so I'm taking it this Sunday.

ScottH

11-16-2007, 09:06 PM

Hi Rick,

I'm new here; just joined today.

I've always been interested in Mensa, more because I long for interaction with smart people. But, I've never pursued it out of fear of failure. I doubt I'm nearly smart enough.

What does it take to get in, and is there a way to reliably predict if I'll succeed?

Thanks :-)

hotdog

11-16-2007, 10:24 PM

No guarantees, ScottH. :) You have to take the Mensa test or one of the approved tests (To view links or images in this forum your post count must be 2 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.). My membership has lapsed. I um, well, I only went to one meeting and after a while it wasn't really being a social outlet like it was supposed to be. But that wasn't Mensa's fault, it was my own fault for not participating.

BadgerDad

12-08-2007, 11:39 PM

Its not that hard to pass the test. Plus, certain SAT or LSAT scores get you in.

logan235711

12-09-2007, 01:19 AM

there's another thread here. someone might want to read them over and see if they might be combined, etc. To view links or images in this forum your post count must be 2 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.

banzai

12-09-2007, 01:24 AM

I took the test but never actually paid for a membership... didn't see the point in paying for something like that.

Rick

12-10-2007, 09:51 AM

Hi, Scott, and welcome. Sorry for taking so long to get back with you.

To see how you might perform on the Mensa test, try the Mensa workout here:

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I passed the entrance test, and it didn't seem overly difficult - not bragging, just surprised. There were several sections that were each timed and you weren't expected to finish them in the allotted time. I finished three sections, and the test proctor said he had only seen someone do that once before in his experience. I'm not real smart. Other people taking it must not seriously try to do their best.

Hi Rick,

I'm new here; just joined today.

I've always been interested in Mensa, more because I long for interaction with smart people. But, I've never pursued it out of fear of failure. I doubt I'm nearly smart enough.

What does it take to get in, and is there a way to reliably predict if I'll succeed?

Thanks :-)

the natural

01-20-2008, 09:19 PM

Some good natured mocking of Mensa here, I've read some Mensa literature and think this is right on.

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To view links or images in this forum your post count must be 2 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.

Sylvanus

01-21-2008, 02:34 AM

I took the practice test a while back, it said I had a good chance of passing if I took the real one. I have been meaning to take the real one, but I've been waiting for a good opportunity when I'm not completely exhausted from work and kids and such.

Are their any real benefits of joining, besides the social networking with other smart people? I'm not really into other people. I guess it might look good on resume.

Zilal

01-21-2008, 08:45 AM

I considered joining just so I could do the social stuff and find a suitable candidate for a husband. Hahahaha. No, I'm serious.

Oy. It's 7:45 AM and the kids upstairs are running around their apartment screaming at the top of their lungs. Will mensa help me deal with children who have not learned to behave appropriately?

Doppelbock

01-21-2008, 10:48 AM

I have avoided Mensa because most of the Mensa members I've known have been in it simply to stroke their own egos and pat each other on the back about how smart they are. Also it's a pretty huge organization, I think several tens of thousands of members.

On a lark I decided to join the ISPE and the Triple 9 society this past year. I got in on the basis of my GRE scores -- the GRE test has been statistically correlated to IQ up to the 99.9th percentile of IQ (above which the GRE doesn't have enough resolution left to definitively say what your IQ is). I probably won't renew either of those memberships because they really don't get you too much: a journal-type publication each month (comprised of submissions by members, some interesting, some lame) and access to some online forums that really aren't any better than what you can find online and on Usenet for free.

DB

Siegfried

02-02-2008, 03:30 PM

Hmm, so according to this thread there seems to be no real benefit for INTJs in joining any of the organizations? e.g. I wouldn't want to join any club that would have me as a member :-)

ssfanatic

02-06-2008, 12:01 AM

I have two questions.
First, if no one minds, what did any of you get on the workbook. Id like to know how good i did. I got a 22, but i took it when i was 15 so i think i could do better now.

Second, what is the age limit for joining. I think it would look very good on a college resume. :)

Sylvanus

02-06-2008, 04:16 AM

Workbook?

To answer your question, I don't think there is any age limit. From there website they said they've got kids as members. I'm sure they allow senior citizens in too.

denaria

02-06-2008, 04:39 AM

I joined Mensa back in 1972. I was 15. It was full of weirdos, so I didn't continue my membership.

Trouble is, I now know I'm probably weirder than any of them (though much more practical.)

gabriel

02-06-2008, 09:32 AM

Twenty-five years ago I joined Mensa and attended one meeting and one
Annual Gathering (since it was in the city I lived).

At the AG, the Myers-Briggs was given to a room of about 180 people. On completion, everyone was asked to show their hands as the 16 types were read off.

Yep, the last type read aloud was INTJ. There were two of us. We were seated next to each other along the side of the room.

Mensa was waaay to social for my liking and members mostly looked and acted like
the rest of society at large, a bit of everything and not very special.

ssfanatic

02-06-2008, 07:16 PM

Workbook?

To answer your question, I don't think there is any age limit. From there website they said they've got kids as members. I'm sure they allow senior citizens in too.
Sorry, i meant to say workout. typo :)

gillyweet

02-08-2008, 11:01 PM

mensa membership in singapore is disgustingly expensive. at S$60 per year.

and what do members do? meet up and stroke each others egos, talking about really lame topics with their pseudo intellect.

i took the test and got accepted when i was 15, i thought it was a waste of money then, still think that it's a waste of money now.

Pendaric

02-09-2008, 02:46 PM

I passed their online indicative test easily enough but have never got around to taking it further. I'm not particularly interested in attending their meetings but it's the sort of thing that would be cool to be able to say you've done. I might have a look at sorting out the full test at some point.

desg90

04-07-2008, 01:13 AM

Sad to hear such bad comments about Mensa...
I... just joined... lets see if I can get some benefit from it. :thinking:

I passed the entrance test, and it didn't seem overly difficult - not bragging, just surprised. There were several sections that were each timed and you weren't expected to finish them in the allotted time. I finished three sections, and the test proctor said he had only seen someone do that once before in his experience. I'm not real smart. Other people taking it must not seriously try to do their best.

I agree, the test was a bit too easy.
And, just as you, I don't consider myself real smart...
Hmm... makes you think a bit about being relatively gifted and such... :suspicious:

Hmm, so according to this thread there seems to be no real benefit for INTJs in joining any of the organizations? e.g. I wouldn't want to join any club that would have me as a member :-)

There is a Rationalist Special Interest Group:
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I still prefer this forum, though. :rolleyes:

Moriarty

04-07-2008, 01:53 AM

I looked into having the test administered a few years back, but the wife said something that stuck.

"How smart is it to pay someone else to tell you you're smart?" :suspicious:

I had no answer.

TheLastMohican

04-07-2008, 01:57 AM

"How smart is it to pay someone else to tell you you're smart?" :suspicious:

That is not smart. But it makes sense to pay someone else to tell you how smart you are.

soundchaser

04-07-2008, 02:12 AM

I never quite saw the appeal of Mensa. I'd much rather meet folks in a more subject-related manner, rather than simply be thrust together due to intelligence alone. It doesn't seem that hard to find intelligent people within the context of an area you find interesting (so long as it isn't mud wrestling!)

Tenacious B

04-07-2008, 04:07 AM

I passed one of those sample tests back in high school on the suggestion of a teacher who was in it.

I just don't really see the appeal of it other than saying you're in Mensa, but that isn't important to most of us anyways.

I have a general dislike of groups and associations seeing as I already live by more rules than I would like, so sense in paying to be governed by more.

desg90

04-07-2008, 04:59 AM

I have a general dislike of groups and associations seeing as I already live by more rules than I would like, so sense in paying to be governed by more.

So do I, believe me.

But, I wouldn't have joined if there wasn't some benefit to it.
Like the discounts and fame the group gives me.
Who knows? Maybe I'll meet people I can use!
I mean... make useful connections. :p

It was easy to enter, and, as long as I don't actually interact with anyone beyond the usual formalities (easy!), the only bothering rule is the obligation to pay the annual fee.

I'm an Rational Mastermind! Did you think I'd join for the sake of it?
Think again, then! :rolleyes:

searcher

04-07-2008, 05:02 AM

I could be if I could be bothered. My I.Q is 155 and I think I could bump it up a bit further if I tried.

schwartzie

04-07-2008, 05:02 AM

The only reason to join is for a social outlet. Its just a bunch of bright people who, if they are involved, usually do so via "SIGs" (special interest groups) of which there are dozens nationally, and at least some in most areas. Some are scuba, literature, gaming, investing, eating out, knitting, cycling, GLBT, specific music genres, geocaching, etc. Only a few SIGs are anything else- like the gifted kid one, which is mostly parents trying be pretty engaging.

Alida

04-07-2008, 11:22 AM

I always get a sense of excess self-righteousness from these kind of groups. Being in such a group gives you the feeling that you have achieved something - you haven't. All you achieved is to be born with some good genes. Mensa is like a way of placating the people on the right of the curve, and keep them out of the way of the regular population. It makes you an easy target.

hmm.

Anyone know what the benefits are? I realize my view is incomplete due to lack of information.

Antares

04-07-2008, 11:27 AM

I don't see the 'benefits'. I can have intellectual discussions here too, but I plan to take the test just for the sake of it. My IQ from online tests is about 145 - 147, and I'm frankly sick of the thought of potential inflation of scores.

Santana28

04-07-2008, 11:40 AM

Moriarty

04-07-2008, 02:10 PM

desg90

04-07-2008, 03:58 PM

Seems at least a few people think MENSA will give their resume a boost. I can see both sides to that argument and think it would be a strictly situational/ conditional advantage depending on a number of things.

Has anyone here actually included it in a resume? If so, what effect did it have?

I'm planning to put a subtl reference to it in the essays I'm sending to different colleges.
If someone knows it to be adverse, please, say so before I send them. :p

suzyk

04-07-2008, 04:38 PM

In the 'Alice, I Think' series, Alice's dad and his friends meet up every month to play poker--so the town's people think that he's conducting a private MENSA meeting every month. Quite hilarious.

Mensa sounds boring. I wouldn't want to be in a room full of stuffy intellectuals every month. That's why you have forums. And the internet. And a computer.

schwartzie

04-07-2008, 04:43 PM

You're probably safer using it on a college resume, where intellectualism is a positive attribute and a misreading of the item isn't likely to make the reader hate you. On a job resume, I'd leave it off, tho, cuz odds of hitting another Mensan doing the hiring aren't very high, and the reader may not be clueless, but hostile.
Many people wrongly suppose that the very idea of a club of smart people, as well as what they imagine its execution by Mensa to be, is elitist, and that Mensa must filled with self-righteous arrogant assholes. (It's not---its basically the pre-virtual version of this forum. It was started a long time ago by guys that wanted a chance to talk to people who "got" them. "Mensa" is latin for "table.") So, its probably a bad pick for job resume unless you know the reader would value membership.

schwartzie added to this post, 5 minutes and 43 seconds later...

ps-maybe go the denver AG this summer and ask other teensigs about how they let non-members know. I've never known anyone under 20 who went to the AG that didn't have a great time.

thod

04-07-2008, 04:55 PM

You cant trust internet tests. Most of the tests are very inaccurate at the high end. Try this one from the other thread To view links or images in this forum your post count must be 2 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. , its for testing high end people.

schwartzie

04-07-2008, 04:57 PM

"That's why you have forums. And the internet. And a computer."

You can look up the under 20's w a search for "teensig" on facebook and myspace.

suzyk

04-07-2008, 05:14 PM

"That's why you have forums. And the internet. And a computer."

You can look up the under 20's w a search for "teensig" on facebook and myspace.

What does that mean?

Isn't MENSA basically a meet-up of intellectuals in real life? Don't most forums have debate sections? Especially the ones for 'intellectual people'?

Santana28

04-07-2008, 05:20 PM

Seems at least a few people think MENSA will give their resume a boost. I can see both sides to that argument and think it would be a strictly situational/ conditional advantage depending on a number of things.

sure it will give you a boost - if you are a college educated male applying for a position that requires high mental abilities.

when you are an under-educated female applying for menial labor positions or general office work - intelligence = trouble.

"know your place" - i dont know how many times i've heard that. the only problem is my place is not where i am!