Anyone heard of it?
Its for seeing how smart you are, you have to be in the top 2% to join.
I took their practice test and got 21/30 questions right, it said
"Your score was 21 out of 30. That is a very good score, you would have a good chance of passing the Mensa test."
Take the practice test, http://www.mensa.org/workout2.php
Post what you get please, dont post your awnsers for the next person
Mensa
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nicolas.b
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why do you say that? did you have a bad experience with them?RUDEBOY! wrote:Yeah, mensa sucks, their brain teaser books are pretty fun though.
i joined a local chapter a couple years ago to see (mostly) about meeting women and having some fun conversation, but that never really happened and the list-serve was boring because people couldn't or didn't want to debate very equitably.
so now my opinion of mensa is more-or-less that moderately-intelligent people like to belong but very bright people probably want nothing to do with it. not quite sure but that's my guess so far...
ProfessorPap 
JohnnyEnzyme 
QuirkyCrowI realize you asked Rudeboy, but I'll answer.nicolas.b wrote:why do you say that? did you have a bad experience with them?RUDEBOY! wrote:Yeah, mensa sucks, their brain teaser books are pretty fun though.
My experience with Mensa is very limited, but it supports my conclusions extrapolated from some experiences I had in High School.See, in high School I was in the "gifted" program. It meant that I had taken an IQ test and scored pretty high and the school gave special attention to us. Most of my friends were in it too, but we were all pretty low-key about it. I used my "gifted" influence to get me out of a couple of lower level classes that I had been placed in because my grades sucked, and found myself in my senior year in one of those English classes you can get college credit for (but my parents didn't have the $50 for me to take the test).
This particular class was literally full of "gifted" kids. The only one I know of that wasn't in that program wasn't in it because he refused to join. He said it was just like Mensa, and he didn't want to be associated with any of them in that way.
So this one day we were debating some book we had just read, either Metamorphosis or 1984, I forget which. The class was split (by students' choice) into two groups. On one side of the room sat the popular "gifted" clique, you know, the overachieving straight-A kids whose mommies could pay for them to go to college but they could've won scholarships anyway. The middle had two kids that literally didn't have any friends but each other. And the other side of the room had all the outcasts. I wasn't in the middle (those guys were extraordinarily elitist), so you can probably guess which side I was on.
So we had this huge disagreement. Most of the kids on my side disagreed with each other, but we saw each other's points and were having a good time. The popular clique on the other side were all in agreement with one another, and it was some bleeding-heart liberal agreement based on blindly trusting the government (leading me to think we were talking about 1984).
The debate started to end when one of those kids finally just came out and said "You're just wrong. Admit it. We're in the gifted program, and we know better than you."
So I looked around at the other kids around me and said "Well, so are we."
Their jaws literally dropped, and nobody wanted to believe me. The girl sitting next to that guy said "No way, we would have seen you at the last meeting".
"I saw him, him, and him at the last meeting"
"We didn't see you, so you could not have been there."
"Just look around!"
"I did look around!"
"Well maybe you'd see more if you pulled your head out of your ass!"
And the teacher interupted, ended the debate, didn't kick me out of school for swearing, and moved on.
Those same kids had been asking me for help all year on their precalculus, since many of them were in that class with me, and this may come as a bit of a shock to you guys, but I was always the one on the tests who:
a: Finished first
b: scored the highest
c: except for the girl sitting next to me (who was my buddy's girlfriend and worked her ass off for that class) I outscored everyone else in the class by at least 15 points on each test.
Most of the tests had extra credit questions too, because our teacher wanted to make sure everyone had a decent shot at a passing grade, so I scored > 100 on most of the tests. Until I started dicking the tests so I scored lower, shooting for mid-90s instead of perfect. My teacher scolded me for dicking the test scores, pointing out that he dicked my homework/notebook scored precisely because my test scores were so high, and he didn't see why I should have to spend an hour everyday when I learned it all directly from his mouth and didn't need the extra work.
Like I say, my actual experience with Mensa is extremely limited, but supports the extrapolation of my experience in my high school "gifted" program to the Mensa group. Most of those kids were Mensa candidates at the time, but luckily I haven't seen any of them since graduation, so I don't know how many wound up getting accepted. I suspect they all did, they were certainly arrogant enough for it.
I've decided there's a group of extremely smart people that sit higher than Mensa and refuse to get involved. The reason they refuse to get involved is because they're so goddamned smart, they know that they need to be down-to-earth, and they know that being elitist causes more problems than it solves, and that it doesn't actually solve any problems. I also like to pretend I'm one of them.nicolas.b wrote: so now my opinion of mensa is more-or-less that moderately-intelligent people like to belong but very bright people probably want nothing to do with it. not quite sure but that's my guess so far...
mensa = elitist nerdy schmucks
And so is anyone who thinks they are better than anyone else, or smarter than anyone else. Everyone has smarts in something, or has natural ability in something.
I'm reminded of the IQ tests they would give aboriginal and non-aboriginal children in Australia. The aboriginal children all scored as retarded. A typical test would be as follows:
Take a standard checker board. Put everyday items on each square. A thimble, a button, a candy, etc. filling up each square. Let the subject look at it for a couple of minutes. Then take everything off, and have them put it all back in the same order.
The non-aboriginal children scored at a certain level, showing average intelligence (or in this specific test, a good memory). The aboriginals did very poorly. Then a *smart* researcher said, "you know, I think our test might be biased". He replaced the everyday household objects with rocks found in the local landscape. The non-aboriginal children scored below retarded, right in the toilet. The aborinal children now scored extremely high, and I personally watched video tape of one child who scored nearly 100%, only switching the positions of the last two items.
These rocks all looked the same to me. I would have scored as a vegetable.
It's all relative baby. I don't believe standard tests can be used to measure intelligence, and I don't believe we should even try. None of us are smart enough to properly do it.
And so is anyone who thinks they are better than anyone else, or smarter than anyone else. Everyone has smarts in something, or has natural ability in something.
I'm reminded of the IQ tests they would give aboriginal and non-aboriginal children in Australia. The aboriginal children all scored as retarded. A typical test would be as follows:
Take a standard checker board. Put everyday items on each square. A thimble, a button, a candy, etc. filling up each square. Let the subject look at it for a couple of minutes. Then take everything off, and have them put it all back in the same order.
The non-aboriginal children scored at a certain level, showing average intelligence (or in this specific test, a good memory). The aboriginals did very poorly. Then a *smart* researcher said, "you know, I think our test might be biased". He replaced the everyday household objects with rocks found in the local landscape. The non-aboriginal children scored below retarded, right in the toilet. The aborinal children now scored extremely high, and I personally watched video tape of one child who scored nearly 100%, only switching the positions of the last two items.
These rocks all looked the same to me. I would have scored as a vegetable.
It's all relative baby. I don't believe standard tests can be used to measure intelligence, and I don't believe we should even try. None of us are smart enough to properly do it.
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Lackadaisical
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25 out of 30.. but thats because i cant do those english things 
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nicolas.b
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hmmm... well this is interesting. despite the fact that i was pretty lukewarm on mensa i have to take at least a LITTLE offense here.
just because you had regular experiences with bright kids in school, some of them 'elititsts' and some of them 'outcasts' does not mean you had an experience with mensa. (altho a neat story, ty)
just because you have the sensibility to think of elitists as nerdy schmucks does not mean you had an experience with mensa. (altho neat story about the aborigines, ty)
let's be reasonable here- mensans are probably bright enough to realise that elitism is a very two-edged sword, if indeed there's much of an edge on the first side at all. i don't see anything wrong with intelligent people wanting to seek each other out for some interesting company. despite the fact that humans are a fascinating breed, haven't we all had experiences with feeling frustrated with people who couldn't follow our ideas or thought-processes and yearned to be around more people who could at least give us understanding?
just because there are elitists out there does not mean that many of them are necessarily mensans. i guess what i'm saying is, please keep an open mind and let's stick to actual experiential data, please.
btw, before anyone gets a certain idea about me- i think of animals as being a higher life form than humans, and 'aboriginal' / 'tribal' peoples as being more advanced than 'civilised' peoples.
just because you had regular experiences with bright kids in school, some of them 'elititsts' and some of them 'outcasts' does not mean you had an experience with mensa. (altho a neat story, ty)
just because you have the sensibility to think of elitists as nerdy schmucks does not mean you had an experience with mensa. (altho neat story about the aborigines, ty)
let's be reasonable here- mensans are probably bright enough to realise that elitism is a very two-edged sword, if indeed there's much of an edge on the first side at all. i don't see anything wrong with intelligent people wanting to seek each other out for some interesting company. despite the fact that humans are a fascinating breed, haven't we all had experiences with feeling frustrated with people who couldn't follow our ideas or thought-processes and yearned to be around more people who could at least give us understanding?
just because there are elitists out there does not mean that many of them are necessarily mensans. i guess what i'm saying is, please keep an open mind and let's stick to actual experiential data, please.
btw, before anyone gets a certain idea about me- i think of animals as being a higher life form than humans, and 'aboriginal' / 'tribal' peoples as being more advanced than 'civilised' peoples.
well, the line "elitist nerdy schmucks" is actually from a song about people who like linux. funny song actually, called "Every OS Sucks". You download it for free form ampcast.com. It's by Three Dead Trolls in a Baggie. Quoting the line is just a little joke from me, cuz I likes to make fun of almost everything.
I firmly believe that intelligence is a matter of effort and nothing else. Everyone is intelligent in their way, barring an actual physiological disorder, and even they might surprise you. Mensa people may gather, just like the plumbers of American can gather and talk plumbing. Now I *know* the plumbers all have something in common. But what about the mensa folks? What do they have in common? It should be nothing. Mensa should be comprised of a random selection of *bright* people from completely different backgrounds. Is this the case? I frankly doubt it. I suspect certain people have advantage. Why? Because I believe intelligence tests CAN NOT be objective.
And btw, I got 28 out of 30. I would have had 29 if I didn't hastily answer the how many 7's question, which I've answered correctly in the past on other tests. My stupid moment on the test. I also got the very last question wrong failing to notice the number of petals changed. Bad dog! Anyway, does 28 mean a hill of beans to me? Nope. I got 28 because I *thought* about. I've never accepted that I couldn't figure something out with enough effort and reasoning.
I was a bright kid in school (aren't all us tron players? ). But I recognized early on that the kids who *weren't bright* knew a **** of a lot about stuff I knew nothing about. Like the kid in shop class who could take apart a car engine and put it back together (with no parts left over!), and tell you what's wrong with it just by listening to you drive in the bay.
By definition, joining mensa is joining an elitist organization. I am opposed to elitism. It's an illusion at best, and a form of oppression to those excluded at it's worst. It's true that my only experience with mensa is through these sorts of tests. I've never knowingly met anyone who was a member. And I'm not about to seek them out. But if I did speak with some mensa members, I bet I would find a respectable number of them who couldn't follow something I tried to explain to them. Why do I believe this? Because I have met many many people who were labeled as *smart*. I could tell you the story of the Nuclear Physicist I met who couldn't grasp the different between how a fax machine worked and how the internet worked (well, eventually he got it, took a while though!). I believe the frustration one might experience trying to explain something to someone *less intelligent* is really a shortcoming of the teacher, who isn't patient enough to pass on to the learner enough background information and knowledge so they can get up to speed in the conversation.
I just remembered this guy I went to school with. It was an electronic circuit design course. He had a hell of a time understanding the math end of it, and generally couldn't grok it. He was labelled as 'dumb' by most people, to the point that many people wouldn't even talk with him. Well, one day in the lunch room we got on the topic of the Royal Family. He piped up, filled in our blanks and took the conversation on to a historical tangent. He impressed everyone with his knowledge of history and his understanding of how past events sparked other events. He could connect canal building in England to the creation of the middle class for example. He impressed everyone, and was no longer thought of as stupid. He continued to suck as the class, but had an easier time in the lunchroom.
When it comes down to it, everyone is bright. If you think they aren't as bright as you, you're comparing them to yourself and what you know. Get in on the right conversation, and the roles will reverse.
I'll stop now. This is one of those topics I could go on and on about until everyone clears out and the party is long over. I don't like discrimination, and intellectual discrimination is particularly distasteful to me. It's a terrible thing to let others convince you you're stupid.
I firmly believe that intelligence is a matter of effort and nothing else. Everyone is intelligent in their way, barring an actual physiological disorder, and even they might surprise you. Mensa people may gather, just like the plumbers of American can gather and talk plumbing. Now I *know* the plumbers all have something in common. But what about the mensa folks? What do they have in common? It should be nothing. Mensa should be comprised of a random selection of *bright* people from completely different backgrounds. Is this the case? I frankly doubt it. I suspect certain people have advantage. Why? Because I believe intelligence tests CAN NOT be objective.
And btw, I got 28 out of 30. I would have had 29 if I didn't hastily answer the how many 7's question, which I've answered correctly in the past on other tests. My stupid moment on the test. I also got the very last question wrong failing to notice the number of petals changed. Bad dog! Anyway, does 28 mean a hill of beans to me? Nope. I got 28 because I *thought* about. I've never accepted that I couldn't figure something out with enough effort and reasoning.
I was a bright kid in school (aren't all us tron players?
). But I recognized early on that the kids who *weren't bright* knew a **** of a lot about stuff I knew nothing about. Like the kid in shop class who could take apart a car engine and put it back together (with no parts left over!), and tell you what's wrong with it just by listening to you drive in the bay.By definition, joining mensa is joining an elitist organization. I am opposed to elitism. It's an illusion at best, and a form of oppression to those excluded at it's worst. It's true that my only experience with mensa is through these sorts of tests. I've never knowingly met anyone who was a member. And I'm not about to seek them out. But if I did speak with some mensa members, I bet I would find a respectable number of them who couldn't follow something I tried to explain to them. Why do I believe this? Because I have met many many people who were labeled as *smart*. I could tell you the story of the Nuclear Physicist I met who couldn't grasp the different between how a fax machine worked and how the internet worked (well, eventually he got it, took a while though!). I believe the frustration one might experience trying to explain something to someone *less intelligent* is really a shortcoming of the teacher, who isn't patient enough to pass on to the learner enough background information and knowledge so they can get up to speed in the conversation.
I just remembered this guy I went to school with. It was an electronic circuit design course. He had a hell of a time understanding the math end of it, and generally couldn't grok it. He was labelled as 'dumb' by most people, to the point that many people wouldn't even talk with him. Well, one day in the lunch room we got on the topic of the Royal Family. He piped up, filled in our blanks and took the conversation on to a historical tangent. He impressed everyone with his knowledge of history and his understanding of how past events sparked other events. He could connect canal building in England to the creation of the middle class for example. He impressed everyone, and was no longer thought of as stupid. He continued to suck as the class, but had an easier time in the lunchroom.
When it comes down to it, everyone is bright. If you think they aren't as bright as you, you're comparing them to yourself and what you know. Get in on the right conversation, and the roles will reverse.
I'll stop now. This is one of those topics I could go on and on about until everyone clears out and the party is long over. I don't like discrimination, and intellectual discrimination is particularly distasteful to me. It's a terrible thing to let others convince you you're stupid.