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Randy Cassingham's BlogHistorical Details and Author's Notes from This is True® - the First For-Profit E-mail Publication (and Still Going Strong). |
Denver Mensa A.G.
Kit and I are back from Denver, where we both spoke at U.S. Mensa's Annual Gathering. Several readers have asked what a Mensa gathering is like. Mensans simply have one thing in common: they're all in the 98th percentile of intelligence -- pretty smart people.
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Smart doesn't necessarily mean they're well educated (though they tend to be), nor does it mean they necessarily have any common sense, nor does it necessarily mean they have any social skills, nor any other particular trait not related to intelligence. All in all, most of them are pretty normal people ...with a few "outliers" that help to give Mensa its reputation for being weird or nerdy. Some can be stand-offish and superior, but most are humble, interesting people.
One trait that intelligence gives people is curiosity -- most Mensans are knowledge sponges. So what's a Mensa conference (in their terms: gathering) like, then? Five to eight tracks of lectures, back to back over several days. Some are simply entertaining, but most have some cutting edge or thought stimulating aspect to them. As an alternative for when there's nothing in the program of interest, there are game rooms, from cards to jigsaw puzzles to Boggle to (shudder!) members telling word puzzles to each other (I have no patience for those myself).
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It was a blast for me to have so many fans in an audience. When I introduced myself, I was really surprised that that brought hearty applause. I asked how many of them were already readers, and about a third raised their hands. I got fabulous feedback, and truly had fun there. So for me, the bottom line was that it was an incredibly stimulating environment and I had a great time. And while I was there, the organizer of the Regional Gathering in Reno started working on me again to come to his conference -- I had turned him down a few months ago. But I had such a good time in Denver that I relented, and will be at the Reno conference (er, RG) in October. So if you missed this one, there's a second chance for you this year.
If you've always considered joining Mensa, but weren't sure what it was all really about, there you go. To be in the 98th percentile, which essentially means you're smarter than 98 percent of the population, translates to an IQ of about 132 or better (it varies a bit depending on which test you take). They accept many tests, such as California school assessment tests (which are or were given in many states, not just California), many military assessment tests, etc., or you can take one of the many tests they accept or proctor themselves. See Mensa's web site for more (a gateway to national sites the world over; Mensa is decidedly not just a U.S.-centric organization.)
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Just making a small correction to the definition of what it takes to be in Mensa, which is related to the comment, by a poster, about a particular Mensan only being one in 50, and not one in a million.
The requirement for being in Mensa is to be *above* the 98th percentile. Not at it. So any particular Mensan could well have an IQ of anything above 132, maybe 180, 200, whatever.
Many members also belong to one of the other, more elite, high IQ societies as well.
Thanks Randy, I've been reading True for a few years now. I did want to get to your talks at the AG, but wasn't able to make it.
Posted by: Andy in Parker, CO | July 14, 2008 11:58 PM
You say: "What I like about Mensan audiences is their ability to 'get' every joke."
That's a very common reaction of people who could join, who find Mensa for the first time.
I don't have to explain my jokes, I don't have to lose half my vocabulary, I don't have to hide the fact that I 'get' things much faster than the average person. I can just relax with friends who feel the same way.
If you make it, welcome aboard.
I'm ashamed to see the rumor substantiated by some of the other commenters here.
In all the Mensa conferences I've attended, I've never witnessed nor even heard of someone being that incredibly rude to a presenter. [Other Mensans, yes, but not a guest.]
I've seen presenters encouraged by their audience to take the test and join, and I've heard people in the hall after a seminar who tear apart a presentation, but generally if someone doesn't like a presentation / presenter, they'll just walk out and not waste their time. That's why poor presenters rarely know it - nobody tells them to their face, even diplomatically.
In fact, there's usually a reminder in the schedule book that many presenters are not Mensans, and to be extra nice to our guests, for guests you are. If people are fun, we want to be able to invite them back and have them say 'yes'.
And to Cathy in Philly, yes, they do revive memberships. If you have some proof (an old card or newsletter) it's easiest, but they can often look you up in their records. Look on the national site.
About the only topic which isn't discussed among Mensans is 'how smart are you?' and its variations.
People who say intelligence isn't important are either very intelligent, so it really isn't important, or are not intelligent, in which case it's a painful subject they don't want to deal with. (Aside from the extremely unintelligent, who generally seem to be pretty happy folks. Wonder if there's a moral there?)
On a resume, I'll include some of my volunteer service to Mensa if it helps my position, but tend not to out myself too often otherwise. It's just another characteristic, like having blue eyes or being tall, but some people feel threatened and need to try to belittle someone they know does better on tests than they did.
Posted by: Lynne, WI | July 20, 2008 2:31 PM
Their cutoff is only 132? Genius begins at 140. 132-139 is sub-genius. Hmmmph. Some clubs will let any riff-raff join.
But my main reason for not joining Mensa is derived from a famous Groucho Marx quote: "I refuse to join any club that would have me as a member."
Posted by: Greg in Seattle | October 6, 2008 10:08 PM