Advertisement
If you have a new account but are having problems posting or verifying your account, please email us on hello@boards.ie for help. Thanks :)
Hello all! Please ensure that you are posting a new thread or question in the appropriate forum. The Feedback forum is overwhelmed with questions that are having to be moved elsewhere. If you need help to verify your account contact hello@boards.ie

Mensa - anybody here joined.

Options
135

Comments

  • Options
    #62
    Deenie123
    Closed Accounts Posts: 481 ✭✭Deenie123


    steddyeddy wrote: »
    Because they love research maybe :S. There is R and D initiatives outside industry and academia is starting to lead the way again.

    And for those who'd rather not work in research? Having done it, if you're not suited to it (as I was not) it's the single most soul destroying career you can imagine.


  • Options
    #63
    steddyeddy
    Registered Users Posts: 27,564 ✭✭✭✭steddyeddy


    Deenie123 wrote: »
    And for those who'd rather not work in research? Having done it, if you're not suited to it (as I was not) it's the single most soul destroying career you can imagine.

    I'm in it and love it. Well do something else to demonstrate your intelligence (if you're so desperate for people to know). It seems to be a club for people who need people to know that they're intelligent. I don't see many people who made real difference in the world joining.


  • Options
    #64
    shruikan2553
    Closed Accounts Posts: 6,113 ✭✭✭shruikan2553


    steddyeddy wrote: »
    I'm in it and love it. Well do something else to demonstrate your intelligence (if you're so desperate for people to know). It seems to be a club for people who need people to know that they're intelligent. I don't see many people who made real difference in the world joining.

    Only a handful of people make a real difference in the world and often it has nothing to do with intelligence.

    Some people are good at things and display it, nothing wrong with it.


  • Options
    #65
    steddyeddy
    Registered Users Posts: 27,564 ✭✭✭✭steddyeddy


    shruikan2553 wrote: »
    Only a handful of people make a real difference in the world and often it has nothing to do with intelligence.

    Some people are good at things and display it, nothing wrong with it.

    I think my point is people who manage to use their intelligence in ways to get noticed (professors ect) don't feel the need to join as those who haven't.


  • Options
    #66
    Deenie123
    Closed Accounts Posts: 481 ✭✭Deenie123


    steddyeddy wrote: »
    I'm in it and love it. Well do something else to demonstrate your intelligence (if you're so desperate for people to know). It seems to be a club for people who need people to know that they're intelligent. I don't see many people who made real difference in the world joining.

    Just because you love it doesn't mean that most people do. You love your job, that's fantastic for you, seriously. But an awful lot of people hate research. You're assuming that everyone who joins Mensa joins with the sole and express intention of allowing people to know they're intelligent. Many people join (or would historically have joined) simply to interact with like minded people. Lots of very smart people end up in menial jobs for whatever reason, and having somewhere they can go and discuss I dunno, current affairs or recent scientific news can be refreshing. Who are you to judge them? Seriously, who do you think you are that you can declare them to be unworthy because of a social club they join?

    If they're preaching about it and making sure everyone knows, fine that's annoying as hell, but I'd wager that most people don't carry on like that in the same way that many people associate atheists with those annoying teenagers who expressly set out to belittle religious beliefs, despite most atheists being just normal people who keep their views to themselves.

    Are you also opposed to CTYI?


    Seriously, you seem to have some sort of complex about people joining an organization that has zero impact on your day to day life. I'd suggest getting over it.


  • Advertisement
  • Options
    #67
    shruikan2553
    Closed Accounts Posts: 6,113 ✭✭✭shruikan2553


    steddyeddy wrote: »
    I think my point is people who manage to use their intelligence in ways to get noticed (professors ect) don't feel the need to join as those who haven't.

    Maybe its because some people don't get the chance to go to college and can still be intelligent. Not everyone can get a job as a researcher. Nornally you're all over defending the oppressed people who don't get into college.


  • Options
    #68
    steddyeddy
    Registered Users Posts: 27,564 ✭✭✭✭steddyeddy


    Deenie123 wrote: »
    Just because you love it doesn't mean that most people do. You love your job, that's fantastic for you, seriously. But an awful lot of people hate research. You're assuming that everyone who joins Mensa joins with the sole and express intention of allowing people to know they're intelligent. Many people join (or would historically have joined) simply to interact with like minded people. Lots of very smart people end up in menial jobs for whatever reason, and having somewhere they can go and discuss I dunno, current affairs or recent scientific news can be refreshing. Who are you to judge them? Seriously, who do you think you are that you can declare them to be unworthy because of a social club they join?

    If they're preaching about it and making sure everyone knows, fine that's annoying as hell, but I'd wager that most people don't carry on like that in the same way that many people associate atheists with those annoying teenagers who expressly set out to belittle religious beliefs, despite most atheists being just normal people who keep their views to themselves.

    Are you also opposed to CTYI?


    Seriously, you seem to have some sort of complex about people joining an organization that has zero impact on your day to day life. I'd suggest getting over it.

    Well you don't have to tell me there's intelligent people working in menial jobs. My volunteer capacity involves getting people into college who should be. There's plenty of thick people in college who shouldn't be here and a rake outside of college that should be here. I think people would be far better demonstrating their intelligence through action rather joining a club who's claim is if you're a member you're intelligent.


  • Options
    #69
    Deenie123
    Closed Accounts Posts: 481 ✭✭Deenie123


    steddyeddy wrote: »
    Well you don't have to tell me there's intelligent people working in menial jobs. My volunteer capacity involves getting people into college who should be. There's plenty of thick people in college who shouldn't be here and a rake outside of college that should be here. I think people would be far better demonstrating their intelligence through action rather joining a club who's claim is if you're a member you're intelligent.

    But my point is that sometimes life gets in the way of that and who are you to belittle people for joining mensa if that's what they want to do? And why must they demonstrate their intelligence? And what about the highly intelligent person in the menial job who left school at 14 and goes on to join mensa and can provide their children with better advice about getting to college as a result?

    Do you belittle people for joining sports clubs? I mean surely if they have real athletic ability and they're not going to make a real world difference with their sports performance they shouldn't bother joining?

    Seriously, it's just a club. Nobody forces anyone to join, I've never heard anyone belittle someone for not joining. I think you need to get over it.

    You also didn't answer my question about CTYI. Where do you stand on that?


  • Options
    #70
    steddyeddy
    Registered Users Posts: 27,564 ✭✭✭✭steddyeddy


    Seriously lol at some of the people posting and thanking posts here. On other threads on social justice I say that some people have an advantage in getting into college and some people are at a disadvantage and that college isn't necessarily reflective of the cream of the crop. That's basically scoffed at by some of the posters here banging on the mantra "anyone can get into college". Then we have the "what about people who are intelligent in menial jobs and never had a chance" on this thread. Seriously guys look up cognitive dissonance.


  • Options
    #71
    coffee_cake
    Moderators, Category Moderators, Politics Moderators, Recreation & Hobbies Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 81,309 CMod ✭✭✭✭coffee_cake


    He has a point - if you think people are disadvantaged and not getting into college when they have the ability, it makes sense they'd want some kind of outlet like this. Particularly if it gives them help or info on how best to get there. Except then you scoff at it too. And what about cyti indeed


  • Advertisement
  • Options
    #72
    steddyeddy
    Registered Users Posts: 27,564 ✭✭✭✭steddyeddy


    bluewolf wrote: »
    He has a point - if you think people are disadvantaged and not getting into college when they have the ability, it makes sense they'd want some kind of outlet like this. Particularly if it gives them help or info on how best to get there. Except then you scoff at it too. And what about cyti indeed

    What do you think on that point? I think some posters are using the point (even when they don't agree with it) to make a point in the argument.


  • Options
    #73
    retalivity
    Registered Users Posts: 14,114 ✭✭✭✭retalivity


    Sst the test a s akid, passed and got a magazine every month.
    Never bothered going to any meetings as there wasnt many out in the sticks when i was a teenager. Realised when i was 17 or 18 that my parents were paying a yearly subscription for this and told then to stop it as it was a waste of money and time. Did get a letter a few months later from the local area head begging me to rejoin and contribute to the group - all they seemed to do was go on walks so i ignored it.

    Think i gave my membership card to some yank i was chatting up in a bar in asia. Thus ended my association with them.


  • Options
    #74
    steddyeddy
    Registered Users Posts: 27,564 ✭✭✭✭steddyeddy


    My thoughts are clear on the subject. We have one test for all people who go to schools of various quality. Some mediocre students will get in and some good ones won't.

    If you agree with this (you clearly do by your posts on the subject) then we should fix the school system. I don't think Mensa is an ideal substitute for college for someone who should really be there.

    I have no problem with anyone joining mensa I just don't hold them up to be indicative of a person's intelligence.


  • Options
    #75
    steddyeddy
    Registered Users Posts: 27,564 ✭✭✭✭steddyeddy


    Plus I don't think I agree on what intelligence is exactly. I think interest in a subject is more important than intelligence and will actually fuel intelligence.


  • Options
    #76
    bnt
    Registered Users Posts: 12,968 ✭✭✭✭bnt


    I get David Mitchell's point about intelligence not being enough on its own - that it usually comes out in other ways. I don't know how old that video is, but its posting on YouTube predates his marriage to a lady who would almost certainly do well on the test, too. I don't believe that Victoria is a member of Mensa, but she regularly meets Mensa members when presenting Only Connect, and they appear to get on very well.

    If seeking to join Mensa is a search for some kind of vaildation or confirmation ... is that a problem? I'm not going to discuss my personal situation, other than to say that sometimes I feel smart and other times I feel dumb. If I am Mensa material, it's not always evident or useful in my working life. Sometimes I do things on the job that no-one else seems to be able to do, other times I don't understand why things are done the way they are. Is it me?

    I hadn't thought about Mensa for years until I saw this thread, and now I'm considering taking a supervised test next month. If I do, and get a piece of paper with an IQ score on it, that will tell me something about myself, but little else will change as a result.

    I appreciate Mitchell's analysis and the thought that went in to it, and he made it clear he was expressing his opinion about some specific points. That's different to some of the posts on this thread, the ones with the amateur psychoanalysis of other people that verges on bullying. I liked the one about "virgins" ... which says more about the poster than it does about his "subjects". :rolleyes:

    From out there on the moon, international politics look so petty. You want to grab a politician by the scruff of the neck and drag him a quarter of a million miles out and say, ‘Look at that, you son of a bitch’.

    — Edgar Mitchell, Apollo 14 Astronaut



  • Options
    #77
    lanos
    Closed Accounts Posts: 600 ✭✭✭lanos


    bnt wrote: »
    I hadn't thought about Mensa for years until I saw this thread, and now I'm considering taking a supervised test next month. If I do, and get a piece of paper with an IQ score on it, that will tell me something about myself, but little else will change as a result.

    I will also probably take the Supervised test.
    If I pass and am invited to join, then I will join.
    I will pay for 1 year subscription and give it a try.
    However, I would never mention it to anybody but close friends and family.
    and I will never mention it to a prospective employer or put it on a CV.
    I think the level of venom directed at supporters is worrying.
    I would regard it as a social club and no more.
    GAA is quite strong where I live, but those people are just not for me.
    I'm looking for something different.


  • Options
    #78
    Cantremember
    Closed Accounts Posts: 1,305 ✭✭✭Cantremember


    Mensa Mensa mensam. I declined.


  • Options
    #79
    ikarie
    Closed Accounts Posts: 72 ✭✭ikarie


    Passed the tests and Joined up a very long long time ago, won a competition finished up with a prize presented to me by Clive Sinclair.
    Could go on but whenever the subject of Mensa surfaces I feel abit like a Sheldon Cooper oddity, though myself and my mates more resembled those from the 'Free Enterprise' movie at the time.

    Personally I think Mensa needs a rebranding to lift it beyond its perceived anachronistic civil service style identity.


  • Options
    #80
    steddyeddy
    Registered Users Posts: 27,564 ✭✭✭✭steddyeddy


    If they made it something like the Royal Irish academy it would be better IMHO.


  • Options
    #81
    Turtwig
    Registered Users Posts: 26,578 ✭✭✭✭Turtwig


    Riiight because nothing helps resolves stereotypical misconceptions of being an elitist clique than using the 'Royal' branding. :rolleyes:


  • Advertisement
  • Options
    #82
    Lalealea
    Closed Accounts Posts: 212 ✭✭Lalealea


    I joined at one point but I didn't renew. You have to pay a yearly fee and all you get is a magazine. It's a scam ..you would think the 'smart ' people would cotton on to that. Mensa is there for Mensa and to make money off of branding intelligence. It's like making a nightclub elite. Pay us and you can get in etc.

    I never went to a meeting. I did do a degree. I don't think I am a genius. I do have a type of intelligence and I am a bit mad.


  • Options
    #83
    steddyeddy
    Registered Users Posts: 27,564 ✭✭✭✭steddyeddy


    Turtwig wrote: »
    Riiight because nothing helps resolves stereotypical misconceptions of being an elitist clique than using the 'Royal' branding. :rolleyes:

    I like elitist cliques as long as they are elitist :P


  • Options
    #84
    lanos
    Closed Accounts Posts: 600 ✭✭✭lanos


    Lalealea wrote: »
    I never went to a meeting. I did do a degree. I don't think I am a genius.

    The term genius is used too often when discussing Mensa.
    I'm not sure any members see themselves as genius's
    Mensa membership is restricted to top 2 percent
    Or 1 in 50
    A True genius probably only exists in 1 in 5000 people (my estimate)
    So you would need a group of 100 members to find just 1 genius. That leaves 99 non-genius members who like to talk about sci-fi.
    One thing is for sure, there will be less morons present than in a non-Mensa gathering.
    And for that reason, I'm going to apply


  • Options
    #85
    syklops
    Closed Accounts Posts: 18,966 ✭✭✭✭syklops


    steddyeddy wrote: »
    Ireland has a long history of intellectualism. You're not looking hard enough.

    Thats not what he said. He said there is a strain of anti-intellectualism, and he is not wrong.


  • Options
    #86
    steddyeddy
    Registered Users Posts: 27,564 ✭✭✭✭steddyeddy


    syklops wrote: »
    Thats not what he said. He said there is a strain of anti-intellectualism, and he is not wrong.

    As there is in every country.


  • Options
    #87
    indigo twist
    Closed Accounts Posts: 500 ✭✭✭indigo twist


    I never applied, but I was in CTYI, and I used to always get 99th percentile on aptitude tests, so I guess I probably could have. Meah ... doesn't sound like I'm missing out!

    My younger sister is a member and her card just says her first initial and surname ... As it happens, we have the same initial and surname ... I really must borrow her card and start flashing it around. :cool:


  • Options
    #88
    The_Captain
    Registered Users Posts: 1,376 ✭✭✭The_Captain


    As a former CTYIer, I don't see the point of Mensa.

    If it's just being able to brag about being part of an organisation exclusively for the intellectually talented/gifted, it's pretty sad. CTYI built a whole culture and provided lifelong friends.

    Personally I hate telling people I was a 'gifted child' because it sounds so pretentious.


  • Options
    #89
    aphex™
    Closed Accounts Posts: 2,338 ✭✭✭aphex™


    The_Captain wrote: »
    As a former CTYIer, I don't see the point of Mensa.

    If it's just being able to brag about being part of an organisation exclusively for the intellectually talented/gifted, it's pretty sad. CTYI built a whole culture and provided lifelong friends.

    Personally I hate telling people I was a 'gifted child' because it sounds so pretentious.

    Maybe the OP wasn't in CTYI and therefore didn't get lifelong friends there and wants to join Mensa to get some.


  • Options
    #90
    lanos
    Closed Accounts Posts: 600 ✭✭✭lanos


    The_Captain wrote: »
    Personally I hate telling people I was a 'gifted child' because it sounds so pretentious.

    i can't see any situation where an adult would need to state he was once a member of CTYI, and you state that you hate telling people about it

    but you just did - so you must be feeling pretty awful now :p

    actually i only ever remember 1 person telling me he was a member of mensa and it was in a pub in the UK
    i was doing a mensa sponsored newspaper puzzle at the bar and a lad in my company told me he was a member and that was it.

    i never met another member since.
    or maybe i met loads and they were discreet about it.
    so it would appear to be a secret society
    and therein may lay the problem for some people.

    most people hate secrecy and exclusivity


  • Advertisement
  • Options
    #91
    lanos
    Closed Accounts Posts: 600 ✭✭✭lanos


    aphex™ wrote: »
    Maybe the OP wasn't in CTYI and therefore didn't get lifelong friends there and wants to join Mensa to get some.

    Thats very astute of you
    Were/are you ever in CTYI or Mensa ?
    Did you ever apply ?


This discussion has been closed.
Advertisement