I am curious as to what you all think about high iq societies? Do you think they are worth belonging to? I have belonged to several ones, including MENSA, and found that all of them were basically full of themselves. I don't fit in with them because I am usually one of the few that has a flamboyant attitude, which seems to clash with most members. I find much more interesting scientific topics here than in iq societies. What really amazes me is that in all of the ones I have belonged to, there are few members who are in positions that influence society, such as a medical researcher who discovered a significant breakthrough, for example. Most are everday people. Such minds as Hawking, Gould, and etc are never seen in those societies. I often wonder why that is?
Uh, that made no sense... but whatever floats your boat. For what it's worth, high IQ societies are clubs like any other, with the only criteria being a certain percentile rank: this won't guarantee lively discussion (quantity) but the quality might be better in certain cases. I passed the Mensa entrance test and read the newsletter/magazine whenever it came in the mail, but made no effort to meet the locals because I didn't think I would fit in (most are > 35 years old, I'm 26). Your best bet is joining a forum or society with your specific interest in mind: a bodybuilding forum if you're into weight lifting, for example...
I still go to three of the societies and read what other's post. I found a very interesting note one made about the members. She said that she observed how most try and outsmart others instead of collaborating....I am smarter than you attitude. I observed the same thing myself.
I don't trust their IQ tests and I don't think having high IQ is enough for having a healthy society or healthy relationships between people. I mean it's ok if you're teaming up for computer programming but society...
What do they do, just discuss different things. Do they like invent stuff and make a lot of money or what.
It's basically a Sciforums type of environment, with the only membership requirement being a certain percentile: some members actively try to promote their developing ideas, others are just there for the coffee and donuts. Specialized forums are the way to go...
Do you feel a big difference from here? Are people more polite or more funny? Or are discussions more thought provoking? From what you've experienced.. It's not easy to guess from the outside.
They should meet in the middle of a large city so that they can soak in all the energy of the people, I find the more people around the more conscience I become.
A friend of mine is a Mensa member and she says the experience varies greatly from region to region. Back home in California the majority of the members had gone to public schools (as we did) so they had achieved at least a rudimentary level of socialization. (As we did, she's highly gregarious and gets along with almost everybody, while I am at least housebroken.) Here in the D.C. area almost all of them went to private schools. I don't know that I would say their problem is that they're "full of themselves," but they are definitely one step beyond weird. One guy weighs 400 lbs. One guy is as straight as a pencil but he acts like a stereotyped Hollywood swish; had to marry a foreign lady because she was not familiar with our stereotypes. They all remind me of the kids I went to Caltech with. Pleasant enough but real one-percenters. They do indeed talk about stuff that's interesting to me and vice versa, never football. We never have to stop and explain anything to each other. They're courteous in discourse and have a sense of humor. But I can't imagine what it would be like to be in a whole room full of them for very long. I find that much of what I love most in life, like dogs and rock'n'roll, does not require a high IQ to share. Go, on the other hand, seems to be the province of fairly bright people. And a good many of them are just as geeky as the Mensa crowd. A high IQ is no guarantee of reason. Churches and mosques are full of bright people. My friend claims to believe in astrology and past life regression. There are lots of conversations I simply cannot have with these people.
There's less focus on comparing people's written material to a number around here. Discussions can be very thought-provoking, but are on average slightly more involved than Sciforums. It's an interesting experience, but in-fighting, politics and arrogance usually destroy whatever good a society has. Cerebrals was great for a long time... then it degenerated and is now defunct.
I am a proud member of DENSA, the low IQ society. http://home.comcast.net/~czell/densa.htm "For the rest of us." Although I would be interested to hear the political view of Mensa members, just to put holes in them...
Where can I find a proper IQ test on the internet which does not ask you to pay for the results after 1 hour of questioning?
