Aside from telling Mensa jokes, what is your favorite frontal lobe activity?
Oh.
Your thread subject line is misleading, at least for those of us in San Francisco.
That’s just what I thought!
I was afraid to post until someone else did, not knowing Libertarian’s “out” status on the boards.
Ha ha! Good one! Good to here from our members in San Francisco.
Did you hear the one about Johnny from Mensa who calculated pi to a million places? He bragged about it to everybody until he ran into Qebehsenuef from TOPS. “I’m not impressed,” said Qebehsenuef, “You can’t even recall a tenth of it.”
And here I thought it was another diet thread*.
jayjay
*TOPS: Taking Off Pounds Sensibly…not sure if it’s even still around.
In case there are some who desire clarification, Libertarian is referring, I presume, to the Top One Percent Society, a high-IQ society accepting as members those scoring in the 99[sup]th[/sup] percentile on any of several standardized tests. In contrast, Mensa accepts those in the 98[sup]th[/sup] percentile of many of the same tests. In further contrast, TOPS purports to focus on intellectual stimulation rather than partying.
So, Lib, I see I have a qualifying score–any point in sending in the thirty bucks?
Eh, those programs bug me… they definitely encourage intellectual elitism. Intelligence is very important of course, and everyone should be smart, but it doesn’t strike me as justification to take those in the 99th percentile and place them in an exclusive society. You don’t need to be in the top 1% to make a valuable contribution to a group as these organizations imply. I’m positive that many scientists, researchers, leaders, and other people that have helped to advance our society would not have scored in the 99th percentile. Further, I am bothered by the implication that those not in the top one or two percent do not need, or want, or are worth wasting intellectual stimulation on. Quite the contrary; there are many people who are not going to be in that magical 1%, but that will nevertheless enjoy and benefit greatly from what they are calling “intellectual stimulation.” One might argue that the average person is in greater need of it.
Sorry to hijack, but this does bother me quite a bit; it’s another form of elitism. It’s quite acceptable to form groups dedicated to intellect and learning, but to make them into some elusive secret society is simply another form of discrimination, based on standardized test results (which are a suspect way to determine intelligence, anyway).
And no, I am not bitching because I couldn’t be excluded; for my age group, I can place within the 98-99% percentile range in several subjects. I am (was, really) easily eligible for Center for Talented Youth (CTY). But these groups bother me too much to participate. I do not doubt that these groups provide a wonderful experience, but it is an experience only available to a select few, based on a pre-determined assessment of how valuable they are to the group (and by implication, society as a whole) that comes from a test score. It’s wrong, IMHO. Wrong.
That depends. If you enjoy an organized live setting of something along the lines of a hybrid between Straight Dope’s Great Debates and General Questions, except at a higher level, then it can be quite satisfying.
And aren’t those who set themselves up to judge others as elitist elitist?
In Buffalo, we have a TOPS Friendly Market…
Wegmans too… Mmmmm, intense chocolate milk.
Only if they form a club to do it.
So … know any good slide rule jokes?
I know. I live in Chelsea.
We don’t have any.
Having seen Libertarian’s subtle use of parody before, I suspect this thread is a sly commentary on this one. His commentary, I suspect but I could be wrong, is that trying to call attention to your own intelligence on this board doesn’t impress many here.
Did you hear the one about the Mensan, the Priest, and the Rabbi sitting in a boat? The boat sprang a leak and was about to go under, so the Rabbi said, “Fahdda, can you do dat trick vit’ de valkink on vater?” The Priest looked over at the Mensan, who was fiddling with his slide rule. “My son, can you use that slide rule to get us out of here?” The Mensan looked up and said, “Sheesh, will you two shut up? If my theory is correct, we might be sinking!”
Libertarian, I make a distinction between the group and the people in the group. I just find such groups to be rather irritating… did you read the entire post? Sorry about the hijack, I should have known better.
Well, then. See that you keep your wits about you in the future.
Getting things back on topic, my favorite frontal lobe activity is figuring out why my computer is having so many problems lately, but it’s a physical activity at the same time (all the banging and kicking, you know). I consider myself a fairly clever fella, but we don’t get along too well. maybe my computer thinks I’m being elitist.