Mensa

pisslips

Well, I've never done a standardised test in my life and I don't think I want to, I don't see what purpose it would serve.

I know I can come up with good solutions to any problems I've ever faced both academic and social.I've never felt inferior or superior to others or felt the need to use other's achievements as a benchmark for my own goals.

So, really I don't understand why I would want a standardised test. I mean if someone came up to me with one at lunch and offered to supervise and correct it for free, i'd say,''Actually I'd rather eat or stare blankly into space for a while, maybe tell a funny anecdote if you're interested''.

Theres too much emphasis put on academics, from my outlook I'd have more respect for someone who won a long puck than a spelling or math contest.And I'm a postgrad at this stage....I would much prefer to be a professional athelete than continue to learn if I had the choice.

S.I.R

mensa is an anagram for asmen or said quickly Assmen.... sh1theads :rolleyes:

johnny_knoxvile

Turd Ferguson wrote: »

I'm a member of MENSA

im a member of SEMAN

...its the dyslexic alternative.

Jumpy

pisslips wrote: »

Well, I've never done a standardised test in my life and I don't think I want to, I don't see what purpose it would serve.

I know I can come up with good solutions to any problems I've ever faced both academic and social.I've never felt inferior or superior to others or felt the need to use other's achievements as a benchmark for my own goals.

So, really I don't understand why I would want a standardised test. I mean if someone came up to me with one at lunch and offered to supervise and correct it for free, i'd say,''Actually I'd rather eat or stare blankly into space for a while, maybe tell a funny anecdote if you're interested''.

Theres too much emphasis put on academics, from my outlook I'd have more respect for someone who won a long puck than a spelling or math contest.And I'm a postgrad at this stage....I would much prefer to be a professional athelete than continue to learn if I had the choice.

JOCK!

*adjusts bracers*

Rented Mule

turgon wrote: »

Do I sense the OP is bitter because he got refused from MENSA?

It does sound like the OP is MENSA-strating.

My name is URL

Nah, I'm already a member of notMENSA. It has less members apparently, so I'm even more elitist than MENSA members.

coffee_cake

The_Minister wrote: »

Actually no.
You pass the test that they post out to you, THEN you go for a supervised test in UCD or some other location.


Or so I'm told.

Aye, it was either UCD or DCU for moi

whole thing is a waste of time and money though

coffee_cake

5318008! wrote: »

Maybe yeah. I was more giving out about I.Q tests and how much credit people give them rather than mensa itself.

Also, the vast majority of ex-CTYI heads I know are passibly normal.Then again, i wouldn't consider any of the one's i've know to be proper geniuses either.

But if people are repeatedly told that they are gifted and special and the leaders/nobel prize winners of tomorrow ect, it can give them an arrogant attitude/slightly ****ed up world view. They can think they're part of some elite that operates on a whole different level than the "average" person, when really they're just a bit better at solving puzzles and might have read a few more books.

Again, I don't have anything against members of ctyi or mensa or anything, just that maybe we should be carefull not to give our children too much of an ego boost.

Gifted children are in no need of an ego boost while they're languishing away in schools and being sent to test for ADD because shock horror, they find the work easy and boring.
For god's sake, they need encouragement not being put down by someone who has a major chip on their shoulder about 'don't let them get ahead of themselves'.
Any well adjusted child is not going to think they're elite.

How would you feel if you were basically told at a young age that you were dumb?

Children who fall behind get special/remedial classes. Children who jump ahead don't. Perhaps you have heard or come across people who think they're elite, but by the same token I've heard of many gifted or smart children being put down and jeered in a class or by their classmates for sticking out.
You're right, you DO sound like a sore loser.

Tar.Aldarion

I'm too smart to be in mensa.

m@cc@

Mensa is just a organisation where bright people can interact with other people and not be ostracised for being intelligent. Much the same way, you can become a priest and not fear being ostracised for being a paedophile.

getz

My name is URL wrote: »

Nah, I'm already a member of notMENSA. It has less members apparently, so I'm even more elitist than MENSA members.

i am a member of DENSA there are more of us

johnny_knoxvile

Tar.Aldarion wrote: »

I'm too smart to be in mensa.

your obviously in Government if your that smart.

JC 2K3

I was in Mensa for a year. At the age of 11/12 it's pretty crap, just a magazine you get every month with complicated articles I wasn't interested in at the time (nor would be now really).

It's not for me, but I love the begrudgery in this thread. I can't think of a single reason why anyone would be so strongly against Mensa besides jealousy. It's just a club ffs.

My name is URL

JC 2K3 wrote: »

I was in Mensa for a year. At the age of 11/12 it's pretty crap, just a magazine you get every month with complicated articles I wasn't interested in at the time (nor would be now really).

It's not for me, but I love the begrudgery in this thread. I can't think of a single reason why anyone would be so strongly against Mensa besides jealousy. It's just a club ffs.

I don't begrudge the people in the club. Just the 'club' itself.

I mean they charge you for the preliminary test and then you have to pay a yearly subscription.

If you want complicated articles you could subscribe to National Geographic for less cost and you don't need to have a certification to do so

The Mad Hatter

Tar.Aldarion wrote: »

I'm too smart to be in mensa.

There's some other organisation (can't remember the name of it right now) for people whose IQs are in the 99.6th percentile. Like Super Mensa. Maybe you should join them?

My name is URL

The Mad Hatter wrote: »

There's some other organisation (can't remember the name of it right now) for people whose IQs are in the 99.6th percentile. Like Super Mensa. Maybe you should join them?

http://www.eslpod.com/eslpod_blog/wp-content/uploads/2008/07/super_friends.jpg

Rusty Cogs 08

My name is URL wrote: »

I don't begrudge the people in the club. Just the 'club' itself.

I mean they charge you for the preliminary test and then you have to pay a yearly subscription.

If you want complicated articles you could subscribe to National Geographic for less cost and you don't need to have a certification to do so

So they send you out a test in the post which you return to be verified, then they may invite you to a supervised exam which you can sit and again have your exam marked. If accepted they send you out a monthly magazine of articles that may interest you as well as organising other club events and they have the audacity to charge you a fee, like a membership fee...of a club ? Surely with their intelligence they should operate in a vacuum where time, effort and money don't exist ?

JC 2K3

My name is URL wrote: »

I don't begrudge the people in the club. Just the 'club' itself.

I mean they charge you for the preliminary test and then you have to pay a yearly subscription.

If you want complicated articles you could subscribe to National Geographic for less cost and you don't need to have a certification to do so

Tests have administration costs, and it's not like they force anyone to do it...

Many people scoff at the idea of IQs, many others, like myself, consider them to be a valid measure of a certain type of intelligence, others go so far as to find that they enjoy the company of those with a high IQ. For this reason, there exists a club so that such people can meet. It's not a big deal, and I don't see any reason to oppose such a club.

My name is URL

JC 2K3 wrote: »

It's not a big deal, and I don't see any reason to oppose such a clib.

I guess that to me at least it seems like a separatist movement. That's why I oppose it. They speak of improving humanity and yet they use old-world techniques to assure that only a select group of people be involved.

Much like religion

ebmma

my OH and his sister were offered to join Mensa when they were kids.
They were intelligent enough at that stage not to bother because the vast majority of mensa people are arrogant sh!theads.

We

JC 2K3 wrote: »

It's not for me, but I love the begrudgery in this thread. I can't think of a single reason why anyone would be so strongly against Mensa besides jealousy. It's just a club ffs.

Well, the idea of Mensa is similar to having a 'good looking society' where instead of having to show a picture or reveal your face at all, you just have to tick a few boxes about your looks, eg. defined jaw line, tick.. 6 pack, tick..

The idea being, there's no actual proof whether your 'good looking' at all, you merely have fulfilled this little quota, and is sufficient enough for your club to revere you as a handsome devil.

Its not a matter of jealousy, so please leave your bias out of this. Its a matter of labelling people as 'superior' because they may have a particular set of skills that may be of little to no use at all, and in no way represent superior intelligence.

People bash mensa for the same reason that people bash any association that claim things without sufficient evidence or justification.. Imho, for Mensa to claim that their members are above average in intelligence is pretty similar to religious people claiming they have a more developed sense of morality, an equally rediculous claim.

JC 2K3

IQ tests measure a certain type of intelligence. There's no disputing that IMO. In any case, Mensa call themselves a "High IQ Society", not an "Intelligence Society".

Perhaps it's a flawed society, and I personally didn't find it very stimulating as a member at the age of 12, but from what I can see, they keep to themselves, what's the big deal?

We

JC 2K3 wrote: »

In any case, Mensa call themselves a "High IQ Society", not an "Intelligence Society".

'An intelligence quotient or IQ is a score derived from one of several different standardized tests attempting to measure intelligence.'

Well considering an IQ test is supposed to test intelligence, and Mensa 'calls themselves a "High IQ Society"'.. well, I'll let you figure it out..

JC 2K3 wrote: »

IQ tests measure a certain type of intelligence. There's no disputing that IMO.

Please elaborate. Firstly, if your going to defend this I would like to understand what you define intelligence as, and also what part of intelligence an IQ test measures, as opposed to measuring intelligence as a whole, like they intend to.

5318008!

bluewolf wrote: »

Gifted children are in no need of an ego boost while they're languishing away in schools and being sent to test for ADD because shock horror, they find the work easy and boring.
For god's sake, they need encouragement not being put down by someone who has a major chip on their shoulder about 'don't let them get ahead of themselves'.

I think you're missing the point of what i am saying. I'm not saying kids shouldn't be encouraged.I'm just saying that we shouldn't give them the impression they're something they're not. Clever children should be encouraged to develop interests and move ahead of the class by learning in their own time. Most "gifted children do this anyway, hence them becoming "gifted".

Children who fall behind get special/remedial classes. Children who jump ahead don't.

Yes, as i said before they should be encouraged to operate outside the confinements of formal learning and acquire knowledge independantly. If you're genuinely interested in something and you're doing it purely for yourself it's way easier to get things done (for example i've a friend who thought himself piano and got as far in 6 months as 5 years of lessons got me).

Perhaps you have heard or come across people who think they're elite, but by the same token I've heard of many gifted or smart children being put down and jeered in a class or by their classmates for sticking out.

Any well adjusted child is not going to think they're elite

So you expect people to be well adjusted at such a young age? kids are impressionable.
I remember actually thinking i was better than my 6th class teacher because he gave a wrong answer to what i thought was an obvious question. Back then, i was as arrogant as they come. I thought i was just plain better than other people, when in fact the only reason i was clever was because my mother had taught me how to read at a very young age and i had always kept well ahead of my "average" classmates. School was boring (as it would be for anyone who's ahead of their class) and this made me seek intellectual stimulation elsewhere.

Then in secondary school when my grades started dropping because i couldn't be arsed to do any work (:eek::eek::eek: "average" people doing better than me!!!:eek::eek::eek::eek: impossible :mad:!) i realised that i wasn't special or gifted, and neither were any of the other nerds in the class. We weren't gonna just fall into amazing jobs and become the elite of society (gods and clods spring to mind), to achieve that would require work.

Sadly, many of them didn't fully grow up. One guy in particular still has the arrogance i had at 12.

Instead of telling some children they're "gifted", we should tell them the truth. They're not innately superior, they have an advantage over other kids because for every few hours they spent playing, they might spend a half hour reading a factual book or watching a documentary or something. Tell them that they're in a privileged position and that they should work hard to maintain/increase this advantage into adult life.

mobius42

ebmma wrote: »

my OH and his sister were offered to join Mensa when they were kids.
They were intelligent enough at that stage not to bother because the vast majority of mensa people are arrogant sh!theads.

You've obviously never been a member of Mensa to make such an unfounded sweeping generalisation. I was a member of Mensa. The people were no different to any other section of society, they just had different interests. The magazine always had interesting articles & discussion.
Mensa members are very aware of attitudes such as yours; the letters page was always filled with discussion about how to avoid giving this impression. There was once a lengthy debate about whether or not you should put Mensa membership on your CV as some people got a negative reaction to it. None of the people I met were arrogant ****heads.
I no longer get the magazines or any of that stuff though. I stopped paying the sub fee because I felt it was too much for what you got and also there wasn't much stuff on in Ireland.

banquo

My notMENSA results:


Score 36.36363636363636 %
I.Q. 58

(Medically speaking, you are lucky to be conscious )
Personality: Slow witted, boring and naive.
Self Esteem : Oblivious to your incredible stupidity you suffer from average self esteem.
Emotional: Insecure and needing constant mothering.
Honesty: Would rob, cheat and kill if you had the intelligence.
Other Traits: Unlucky in all aspects of life; Undeveloped talent for train spotting.
Disorders: Lazy brain cells, a tendency to be undersized.
Career Suitabilit;y Bicycle puncture repairer; fashion photographer; SAP Consultant.


Being of low intelligent you are an exceptional candidate for joining notmensa.

coffee_cake

5318008! wrote: »

when in fact the only reason i was clever was because my mother had thought me how to read at a very young age ...
i realised that i wasn't special or gifted, and neither were any of the other nerds in the class. ...
Instead of telling some children they're "gifted", we should tell them the truth. They're not innately superior, they have an advantage over other kids because for every few hours they spent playing, they might spend a half hour reading a factual book or watching a documentary or something. .

Am I actually understanding you correctly, that you don't think gifted children are gifted, they just learned how to read early or read different books? And that they should be left to fend for themselves and 'teach themselves piano'? And that they're *nerds*??
This is truly mindboggling.

allabouteve

The Mad Hatter wrote: »

There's some other organisation (can't remember the name of it right now) for people whose IQs are in the 99.6th percentile. Like Super Mensa. Maybe you should join them?

The Omega club.

We

bluewolf wrote: »

And that they should be left to fend for themselves and 'teach themselves piano'?

lol did you pick this out of the sky or what?

coffee_cake

We wrote: »

lol did you pick this out of the sky or what?

Er no? 'they should be encouraged to acquire knowledge independantly[sic].' like his friend who taught himself piano?

lol
not to mention 'the only reason i was clever was because my mother had thought[sic] me how to read at a very young age '
really, lol.