Randy Cassingham's Blog

Posted by Adam, Epping NH on July 8, 2008:

I had the pleasure of being Randy's speaker shepherd for one of his talks, and he was easy to work with (not to mention interesting to hear him present).

Randy's last sentence above is: "Mensa is decidedly not just a U.S.-centric organization." Mensa was founded in England in 1946, and has a presence in dozens of countries.

http://www.mensa.org/contact.php?action=fromnat

Posted by Becky, St. Louis on July 8, 2008:

I was at the Mensa AG and you were on my "must see" list. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to get to your presentation after all! (As a member of the Host Committee, volunteer duties took me away.)

I'm so glad to hear you'll be at the Reno RG. Have you considered speaking at the Annual Gathering next year in Pittsburgh? Sure hope to get a chance to see you!

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I've been informally invited to Pittsburgh, but haven't had a chance to look at my schedule yet. I have a lot of catching up to do right now...! -rc

Posted by Ned, Frog Level SC on July 8, 2008:

Sorry to have missed you in Denver, but you seem to have a good grasp of us. Hope you'll seriously consider Pittsburgh next year, and by the way, how about your own membership plans? Dive in, the water's fun!

I'd be surprised and appalled to learn the story of the audience response to a poor presenter is true; we'll challenge an "expert" in a heartbeat, but mass boorish behavior is something I've not encountered, either as an occasional speaker nor long-term Mensan.

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To be sure, I didn't witness any such boorish behavior, I'm happy to say. And the feedback I've received has been very flattering and complimentary. I mentioned the story to another organizer, who said he had heard it from (with my retelling) three people, and was trying to track it down and would let me know what he finds out.

I had a terrific time at the A.G., which is the best possible argument for joining. I haven't made up my mind about joining yet, but once I catch up with some urgent work I'll definitely be considering it. -rc

Posted by Ty, Central OK on July 8, 2008:

I was what they like to call a "first timer" at the annual gathering and from what I saw, everyone there had a great time. Personally, I will be at all future AGs. It was one of the best times I've ever had.

The best way I have ever seen Mensa described is from an article The Last Sock In the Nerd Hamper, and it reads, "if you think Mensa is a group ego fest, it's not. It's also not the greatest problem-solving organization, and it's not a gathering place for the great, the somber, the emotionally sober, or even the particularly enviable. It is a social support group for smart people who nee somewhere to go and let down their guards and just be themselves, whether it involves being overly smart or not."

From this description it is obvious that one of the more common reasons that members, such as myself, join Mensa, is to to have an escape from our daily lives with other interesting people.

Your show was wonderful. I enjoyed it and talked about it afterwards with friends who'd went and a few who didn't. The comment I heard most from them was, "Oh, I wanted to go to that." All I can say is, if you're going to make another Mensa event I'm attending, I'll be there.

Posted by Ed from Charlotte, NC on July 8, 2008:

I attended the Denver Annual Gathering (AG), and as a long-time subscriber to TiT, I made it a strong point to hear both Randy's turns at the podium.

"The True Stella Awards -- or... Lawsuits Gone Crazy" and
"The 7 Deadly Sins ... + 1" both were excellent!

It is a good thing that he prefaced his talks with an explanation that he intended to "hurt our brains" by making us think at the same time he made us laugh. All I have to say to that is .... Ow, Ow, Ow!, LOL

Randy: Maybe you could make it to the next year's AG in Pittsburgh? Do the "7 Wonders of the Modern World" and pick the ones that are the worst Head Scratchers.

Posted by Richard, UK on July 9, 2008:

I have been a member of Mensa for many years and took their test initially out of curiosity and, once I had discovered from the initial free test that I was of Mensa potential, to prove to myself that I was intelligent.

Once I had passed the entry test I started to go to Mensa meetings and the thing that I discovered about Mensa groups, which to me is their main distinguishing characteristic, is the different level of conversation. Whereas the average pub conversation covers a limited and predictable range of topics, with sport and soap operas never being absent for too long, Mensan conversations range far and wide with a plethora of topics being discussed.

My belief is that the intelligent brain is a curious brain, and thus Mensans tend to have at least some measure of knowledge about a far wider range of things than do those of average intelligence - and this ability to contribute to many topics accounts for the wide-ranging nature of Mensan conversations.

Having said which, my membership of Mensa is not something I tend to reveal too quickly; unlike other characteristics, claiming to be intelligent is seen by some as boasting of a kind of superiority. Unlike physique "Hey, you're a tough looking guy - do you work out?" which is treated as no more than a distinguishing characteristic which one might admire, intelligence is often denigrated: "Hey, if you're so clever, why aren't you a millionaire, then, smart ass!"

And, so as to not stray too far from the topic, let me say that I, too, have never seen boorish behaviour at Mensa gatherings of any size - although I have only been to UK events.

Posted by Cathy, Philadelphia on July 9, 2008:

Hmmm. Reading this blog I feel a bit like Proust having just bitten into the madeleine. Years ago I joined Mensa in search of this camaraderie - but kids and no money took me away. Wonder if they revive memberships?

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I'm quite sure they do. -rc

Posted by Peg, Bettendorf, IA on July 9, 2008:

I attended the Seven Deadly Sins + 1 talk, arriving slightly late. Having been a long time TiT and Stella Awards subscriber, plus a contributor and editor of HeroicStories, I was looking forward to hearing your talk and meeting you in person. What a surprise it was to come up to you after the talk, only to have you look at me and then my name badge to have you say, "I know you!" :-)

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I recognize many subscribers' names. Not all of them, of course, but it was sure fun to meet so many readers there. -rc

Posted by Charles, Wisconsin on July 11, 2008:

I would note that intelligence does not mean "smart" and that one of the most common things I found in Mensa was a strong tendency to believe that their expertise in one or more fields automatically carried into other fields--a failing which is disturbingly easy to trip on when you know a lot of things about a lot of subjects. That kind of knowledge does make you an expert among ordinary, non-curious people.

One problem with knowing and in particular, "getting" nearly everything is that you easily overlook things which are "obvious" to you, but which could make lots of money if you bothered to publish them. This is a result of the natural tendency of people to assume that everyone else is "just like me."

The Internet is particularly dangerous for the perpetually curious, as it is an infinite "twilight zone." Since connections exist between everything, it is very easy to jump down a rabbit hole and lose what you were after at the beginning of the hunt. A conversation can go from dessert to politics to history to paleontology and back without actually leaving the connected track. Like James Burke's "Connections" series, only there may be no planned route.

Mensans, SF fans, and nerds in general have trouble resisting a conversation which they feel they can add (or detract) to/from, this willingness to jump into a conversation between strangers is, in normal society, considered rude. But in these circles, what counts is not how you got into the conversation, its whether you have anything to contribute. If you don't, you will be shut down and out quite quickly.

My own theory is that there is some fact to the traditional "nerd" image--thick glasses and no social skills. Often, people with horrible eyesight are not diagnosed until they enter school. Unfortunately, the first 5 years of life is were much of your social interaction skills develop--including the vastly important information transmitted by body language.

This leads to people who only understand the 5-15% of a conversation which is spoken, and they miss the nonverbal portion. Nerds with thick glasses literally cannot "see" when you are joking. And in turn, they do not tend to send the proper nonverbal cues either, so that other people have trouble knowing how to interpret what they are saying--which is, unlike much conversation, PRECISELY, the words they speak.

Because of this precision, they are often considered a bit "weaselly" by others, since they tend to qualify everything which is not a proven fact. This is a tendency which has to be fought when you are giving testimony in court; jurors don't trust someone who doesn't give a straight answer--even if a straight answer is partially wrong some of the time.

[50,000 words omitted]

One of the great joys of associating with such people is the fact that they "get" most everything. You don't have to explain why the trilingual pun you made is funny. Or much of anything else, leaving you free to argue points without a lot of teaching of background so you will be understood.

Another great joy is in leaving them again. It is extremely strenuous to be thinking nearly constantly, with an audience who will willingly tear your thoughts to shreds if you leave an opening.

Posted by Erich, Austin on July 12, 2008:

I'm really sorry to have missed you at the A.G. this year, but due to finances I was unable to attend.

Thanks for the kind words regarding Mensa and I hope to see you at a future event.