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  3. What does it mean to be a member of Mensa?

What does it mean to be a member of Mensa?

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  • P Pete OHanlon

    What does it mean to be a member of Mensa? Not a lot really.

    Forgive your enemies - it messes with their heads

    My blog | My articles | MoXAML PowerToys | Mole 2010 - debugging made easier - my favourite utility

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    AspDotNetDev
    wrote on last edited by
    #7

    Apparently, you only have to be in the top 2% to be in Mensa. I'd like to chat with some of the members of Mega Society. High IQ societies. Mega Society.

    Somebody in an online forum wrote:

    INTJs never really joke. They make a point. The joke is just a gift wrapper.

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    • S Slacker007

      I have a colleague who is a member of this organization. However, I think the ID cards got mixed up because this person is actually retarded. So I ask of you members of the project that is code, what does it mean to be a member of Mensa? In case you haven't heard of it[^]

      Just along for the ride. "the meat from that butcher is just the dogs danglies, absolutely amazing cuts of beef." - DaveAuld (2011)

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      Chris Losinger
      wrote on last edited by
      #8

      it means you did well on their qualification test (a multi-hour logic, puzzle, reading, vocabulary and math test) and then you thought it would be fun to join a group of other people who likewise did well on that test. i took the test, because i like those kind of tests, and did well enough to get in. but i couldn't see the point of joining such a group.

      image processing toolkits | batch image processing

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      • S Slacker007

        I have a colleague who is a member of this organization. However, I think the ID cards got mixed up because this person is actually retarded. So I ask of you members of the project that is code, what does it mean to be a member of Mensa? In case you haven't heard of it[^]

        Just along for the ride. "the meat from that butcher is just the dogs danglies, absolutely amazing cuts of beef." - DaveAuld (2011)

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        Chris Meech
        wrote on last edited by
        #9

        It's a form of social networking that pre-dates Facebook, Twitter, et all. :)

        Chris Meech I am Canadian. [heard in a local bar] In theory there is no difference between theory and practice. In practice there is. [Yogi Berra] posting about Crystal Reports here is like discussing gay marriage on a catholic church’s website.[Nishant Sivakumar]

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        • P Pete OHanlon

          What does it mean to be a member of Mensa? Not a lot really.

          Forgive your enemies - it messes with their heads

          My blog | My articles | MoXAML PowerToys | Mole 2010 - debugging made easier - my favourite utility

          Brian C HartB Offline
          Brian C HartB Offline
          Brian C Hart
          wrote on last edited by
          #10

          I guess if you pay them money and can tell them the answer to 2 plus 2 you're in.

          Sincerely Yours, Brian Hart

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          • C Chris Losinger

            it means you did well on their qualification test (a multi-hour logic, puzzle, reading, vocabulary and math test) and then you thought it would be fun to join a group of other people who likewise did well on that test. i took the test, because i like those kind of tests, and did well enough to get in. but i couldn't see the point of joining such a group.

            image processing toolkits | batch image processing

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            Lost User
            wrote on last edited by
            #11

            I also took the test years ago. Qualified, but respectfully denied membership. As for the tests ... it was something like 60 or so assignments. Each assignment was some graphical logical sequence of nine symbols where the ninth symbol was missing and had to be selected from given options. So no language/math/... knowledge necessary, only logic.

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            • L Lost User

              I also took the test years ago. Qualified, but respectfully denied membership. As for the tests ... it was something like 60 or so assignments. Each assignment was some graphical logical sequence of nine symbols where the ninth symbol was missing and had to be selected from given options. So no language/math/... knowledge necessary, only logic.

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              Chris Losinger
              wrote on last edited by
              #12

              i took it two or three years ago. there were lots of those puzzle/logic sequences. tricky rotations and pattern recognition, etc.. some basic algebra, too but then there was a big section on listening comprehension; test administrator read a passage - twice, IIRC - from a story and then we had to answer questions about the passage.

              image processing toolkits | batch image processing

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              • S Slacker007

                I have a colleague who is a member of this organization. However, I think the ID cards got mixed up because this person is actually retarded. So I ask of you members of the project that is code, what does it mean to be a member of Mensa? In case you haven't heard of it[^]

                Just along for the ride. "the meat from that butcher is just the dogs danglies, absolutely amazing cuts of beef." - DaveAuld (2011)

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                L Offline
                Lost User
                wrote on last edited by
                #13

                It means they can pass some IQ tests which generally mean nothing; having a high IQ does not make people intelligent.

                Unrequited desire is character building. OriginalGriff

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                • Brian C HartB Brian C Hart

                  I guess if you pay them money and can tell them the answer to 2 plus 2 you're in.

                  Sincerely Yours, Brian Hart

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                  Albert Holguin
                  wrote on last edited by
                  #14

                  but they're willing to overlook an incorrect answer if you double your "donation"...

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                  • D Dalek Dave

                    It means you have convinced a bunch of charmless losers that you should hang out with them doing logic problems instead of getting a life! They really are a sad collection of introverted tossers, I have never met a mensa member who is more interesting than the table the group is named after.

                    ------------------------------------ I will never again mention that I was the poster of the One Millionth Lounge Post, nor that it was complete drivel. Dalek Dave CCC Link[^] Trolls[^]

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                    Ennis Ray Lynch Jr
                    wrote on last edited by
                    #15

                    Not pass the test, huh :)

                    Need custom software developed? I do custom programming based primarily on MS tools with an emphasis on C# development and consulting. I also do Android Programming as I find it a refreshing break from the MS. "And they, since they Were not the one dead, turned to their affairs" -- Robert Frost

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                    • C Chris Losinger

                      i took it two or three years ago. there were lots of those puzzle/logic sequences. tricky rotations and pattern recognition, etc.. some basic algebra, too but then there was a big section on listening comprehension; test administrator read a passage - twice, IIRC - from a story and then we had to answer questions about the passage.

                      image processing toolkits | batch image processing

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                      AspDotNetDev
                      wrote on last edited by
                      #16

                      Chris Losinger wrote:

                      but then there was a big section on listening comprehension; test administrator read a passage - twice, IIRC - from a story and then we had to answer questions about the passage.

                      I would not do well on that portion. I have the memory of a goldfish.

                      Somebody in an online forum wrote:

                      INTJs never really joke. They make a point. The joke is just a gift wrapper.

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                      • L Lost User

                        It means they can pass some IQ tests which generally mean nothing; having a high IQ does not make people intelligent.

                        Unrequited desire is character building. OriginalGriff

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                        Albert Holguin
                        wrote on last edited by
                        #17

                        But it usually does make you a social retard... ;P

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                        • C Chris Losinger

                          i took it two or three years ago. there were lots of those puzzle/logic sequences. tricky rotations and pattern recognition, etc.. some basic algebra, too but then there was a big section on listening comprehension; test administrator read a passage - twice, IIRC - from a story and then we had to answer questions about the passage.

                          image processing toolkits | batch image processing

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                          Lost User
                          wrote on last edited by
                          #18

                          For me it was only puzzle/logic sequences. No algebra or listening or anything else. It was about 7 or 8 years ago. Perhaps the tests have changed to cover broader skills, which makes perfect sense to me, as intelligence cannot be exclusively mathematical/logical/etc. IMO.

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                          • C Chris Losinger

                            i took it two or three years ago. there were lots of those puzzle/logic sequences. tricky rotations and pattern recognition, etc.. some basic algebra, too but then there was a big section on listening comprehension; test administrator read a passage - twice, IIRC - from a story and then we had to answer questions about the passage.

                            image processing toolkits | batch image processing

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                            Ian Shlasko
                            wrote on last edited by
                            #19

                            Yeah, that sounds like the one I took earlier this year... I did great on the passage, and the rotations and such weren't so bad... But half the test was a bunch of relationships with images ("Which if these is most like/unlike this"), which could be related in enough different ways that it felt like a "Guess what the author was thinking" puzzle... These were like shrunk-down Office clip art images, not just abstract shapes. As for the algebra... That actually caught me off-guard... I've gotten so used to just grabbing a calculator, a cell phone, or a computer, that I had practically forgotten how to do multiplication (Talking about 4-digit numbers, not quick stuff)... Slowed me down enough to mess up my score. But hey, with all that, combined with me operating on four hours of sleep, I still only missed qualifying by one point. No point in retaking... I know I could have done it.

                            Proud to have finally moved to the A-Ark. Which one are you in?
                            Author of the Guardians Saga (Sci-Fi/Fantasy novels)

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                            • A Albert Holguin

                              But it usually does make you a social retard... ;P

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                              Lost User
                              wrote on last edited by
                              #20

                              I think many of them already have that distinction.

                              Unrequited desire is character building. OriginalGriff

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                              • S Slacker007

                                I have a colleague who is a member of this organization. However, I think the ID cards got mixed up because this person is actually retarded. So I ask of you members of the project that is code, what does it mean to be a member of Mensa? In case you haven't heard of it[^]

                                Just along for the ride. "the meat from that butcher is just the dogs danglies, absolutely amazing cuts of beef." - DaveAuld (2011)

                                L Offline
                                L Offline
                                Lost User
                                wrote on last edited by
                                #21

                                Watching your virtual belly button all the time and comparing the length of the ... well you know, the score. Actually that was in an online High IQ society based in New York.

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                                • A AspDotNetDev

                                  Chris Losinger wrote:

                                  but then there was a big section on listening comprehension; test administrator read a passage - twice, IIRC - from a story and then we had to answer questions about the passage.

                                  I would not do well on that portion. I have the memory of a goldfish.

                                  Somebody in an online forum wrote:

                                  INTJs never really joke. They make a point. The joke is just a gift wrapper.

                                  S Offline
                                  S Offline
                                  Single Step Debugger
                                  wrote on last edited by
                                  #22

                                  AspDotNetDev wrote:

                                  I would not do well on that portion. I have the memory of a goldfish.

                                  I’ll five-vote you for this post if I don’t forget to.

                                  There is only one Vera Farmiga and Salma Hayek is her prophet! Advertise here – minimum three posts per day are guaranteed.

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                                  • S Slacker007

                                    I have a colleague who is a member of this organization. However, I think the ID cards got mixed up because this person is actually retarded. So I ask of you members of the project that is code, what does it mean to be a member of Mensa? In case you haven't heard of it[^]

                                    Just along for the ride. "the meat from that butcher is just the dogs danglies, absolutely amazing cuts of beef." - DaveAuld (2011)

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                                    Gregory Gadow
                                    wrote on last edited by
                                    #23

                                    I am a member of American Mensa. All it "means" to be a member is that I have a qualifying test score (national organizations have varying lists; here is the US list[^]) that places me in the 98th or 99th percentile. In general, Mensans have a kind of intellectual ADD: if you listen to a group of us talking, the conversation might well start out about cars, then move to the theory of interstellar space travel, to cosmology, to stellar physics, to nuclear power, to global warming and back to cars, all in about ten minutes time. It is a given that sex and food will be mentioned several times during that same ten minutes. This doesn't mean we're "retarded", just that our discussions are given more lead to wander where they will. A lot of people find such conversations difficult to follow; to be honest, we feel just as frustrated talking you. The result is that many high IQ people (Mensans and not) tend to be socially maladjusted: we don't get the kind of practice and positive feedback that you get for being social. That is why Mensa exists, to be a social organization that makes it easier for us to meet one another and engage people at our level.

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                                    • L Lost User

                                      I also took the test years ago. Qualified, but respectfully denied membership. As for the tests ... it was something like 60 or so assignments. Each assignment was some graphical logical sequence of nine symbols where the ninth symbol was missing and had to be selected from given options. So no language/math/... knowledge necessary, only logic.

                                      G Offline
                                      G Offline
                                      Gregory Gadow
                                      wrote on last edited by
                                      #24

                                      Each national organization has their own tests, and qualifying tests can be very different. About seven years ago, I took the American Mensa proctored test rather than a "standard" IQ test. It started out with a passage being read to us, then several tests that measured our ability to decypher patterns, perform basic computational skills, work logic puzzles and the like, then a final test about what we remembered from the read passage we heard about an hour and a half earlier.

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                                      • G Gregory Gadow

                                        I am a member of American Mensa. All it "means" to be a member is that I have a qualifying test score (national organizations have varying lists; here is the US list[^]) that places me in the 98th or 99th percentile. In general, Mensans have a kind of intellectual ADD: if you listen to a group of us talking, the conversation might well start out about cars, then move to the theory of interstellar space travel, to cosmology, to stellar physics, to nuclear power, to global warming and back to cars, all in about ten minutes time. It is a given that sex and food will be mentioned several times during that same ten minutes. This doesn't mean we're "retarded", just that our discussions are given more lead to wander where they will. A lot of people find such conversations difficult to follow; to be honest, we feel just as frustrated talking you. The result is that many high IQ people (Mensans and not) tend to be socially maladjusted: we don't get the kind of practice and positive feedback that you get for being social. That is why Mensa exists, to be a social organization that makes it easier for us to meet one another and engage people at our level.

                                        S Offline
                                        S Offline
                                        Slacker007
                                        wrote on last edited by
                                        #25

                                        Thanks for the explanation...I still think he's retarded.

                                        Just along for the ride. "the meat from that butcher is just the dogs danglies, absolutely amazing cuts of beef." - DaveAuld (2011)

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                                        • I Ian Shlasko

                                          Yeah, that sounds like the one I took earlier this year... I did great on the passage, and the rotations and such weren't so bad... But half the test was a bunch of relationships with images ("Which if these is most like/unlike this"), which could be related in enough different ways that it felt like a "Guess what the author was thinking" puzzle... These were like shrunk-down Office clip art images, not just abstract shapes. As for the algebra... That actually caught me off-guard... I've gotten so used to just grabbing a calculator, a cell phone, or a computer, that I had practically forgotten how to do multiplication (Talking about 4-digit numbers, not quick stuff)... Slowed me down enough to mess up my score. But hey, with all that, combined with me operating on four hours of sleep, I still only missed qualifying by one point. No point in retaking... I know I could have done it.

                                          Proud to have finally moved to the A-Ark. Which one are you in?
                                          Author of the Guardians Saga (Sci-Fi/Fantasy novels)

                                          C Offline
                                          C Offline
                                          Chris Losinger
                                          wrote on last edited by
                                          #26

                                          Ian Shlasko wrote:

                                          I had practically forgotten how to do multiplication

                                          i probably groaned out loud when it came time to do long division by hand. what a nightmare that is...

                                          image processing toolkits | batch image processing

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