In our latest Mensa thread, it appears that the Straight Dope boards are composed almost solely of the intellectual elite who are in the upper 2% of the general population based on intelligence test scores.
I know there’s self-selection bias in who posts to the thread, but I doubt that the vast majority of Dopers (or whatever percentage posted to that thread saying they were eligible for Mensa) are in the upper 2% of intelligence test scores. I can accept that the intelligence test scores of Dopers would skew towards the high end of the scale, but the vast majority of Dopers have scores in the upper 2% of all intelligence test scores? I’m skeptical.
Of course, I wouldn’t know because I’m so dumb that my intelligence test scores place me in the bottom 98% of the general population.
There’s a lot of members and posts on these boards. Helluva lot more people do Tolkien rewrites and talk about blimps. That said, I agree that the Mensa threads are a bit – oogy. (I’m not smart enough to come up with a better adjective than that, apparently. :))
I understand that that’s pretty obvious, samarm, but it creates a false illusion that the vast majority of people here are Mensa-eligible. I’d like to see a few people post who aren’t eligible for Mensa, that’s all.
Oh heck, I’d just like to know that I’m not the only one out in Doperland whose intelligence test scores are in the bottom 98% of the general population!
I’m not sure why the number of Dopers who identify as Mensans rates a Pit thread. I joined Mensa when I was young and participated sporadically over the years, but I let my membership lapse because the people I met tended to be misanthropic losers who had done so little with their lives that their one claim to intelligence is that they scored well enough on a test to join Mensa. Frankly, I’d much rather hang out with Dopers anyday, even you sub-Omegaloids. Y’all are a bright, interesting group who teach me something new every day.
And as was pointed out in the linked thread, Mensa is the least discriminating of the high IQ societies. Hell, they let me in, so how bright can they really be?
No, seriously, I was in Mensa briefly. I found the people at the one party I attended to be even more geeky than myself. (Nice, but weird.) I never went back.
I don’t quite understand the point of this thread. Do you think that people in the Mensa threads are exaggerating or lying, or do you just not like the threads? I don’t like them because I do seriously think it’s a bit immodest to talk about one’s intelligence, but I’m not sure if that’s a point you’d wish to make or not.
To tell you the truth, I have no idea whether I’m eligible for MENSA or not, because I regard the issue as a sort of pseudo-intellectual circle-jerk, but maybe that’s just me.
What’s it, top 2% in some testing scheme or other? I probably wouldn’t qualify, if that makes you feel any better.
I’m sure I count… I did one of those “all-around” tests once, and it put my IQ at some ridick low number. Not that I think my IQ rates high points, but I’d like to think I’m reasonably intelligent. (though definitely not Mensa material)
Please help me, what would 2% of 5 billion people equal to? I’m horrible at math, guess that’d make me ineligible!
Why would you pay to sit around and be intelligent, and do whatever mensans do? If you’re intelligent enough to be considered part of the top 2% you should be using your smarts to attempt to get money, like say being a scientist or a doctor working for a cure for cancer, not have it drawn away from you.
I was in the chapter at my college. IIRC, they let you in based on your SAT/ACT scores. But I only went to a couple of meetings, then opted out, because . . .
All my life, I have scored in the top 1% on standardized tests. I don’t know why–maybe it’s the challenge. However, in that rarefied circle I’m at the bottom. So I spent my years in junior high and high school being, essentially, the dumbest person in the room and I got tired of it.
I believe that a great many Dopers are in this top echelon because I often get the same feeling here . . . dumbest person in the room. (One of the better spellers, though, if I do say so myself, and I do.) Now, I find, and found, that it can be very stimulating to be around smart people and to be intellectually challenged but at other times it just makes my brain overheat. I did get two of my kids into the local junior Mensa and it was great for them and inspired them to get into the gifted & talented program. (Up to that point they had always been the smartest kids in the room and thought their lot in life was going to be a piece of cake.)
I admire the quick wit of smart people. I can come up with the occasional quip or two but it takes me days. For instance I just came up with a great riposte for The Grapist and that thread’s been closed for what, a month?
gobear, I guess it doesn’t really rate a Pit thread, but any group would be well advised to let you in for your wonderful suggestions of reading material!
samarm: are you eligible for Mensa?
Happy Lendervedder: Well, all people who score on the top 2% of intelligence tests and are not members of Mensa can say they rejected Mensa!
masonite: I don’t have a major problem with the Mensa threads themselves – people are certainly free to join or not to join Mensa as they please. My problem is that first of all, the questions about Mensa are phrased in such a way as to imply that all Dopers should be eligible for Mensa, and replies are made assuming that all respondents are eligible for Mensa. Beneath that, it seems that there’s an undercurrent saying that everyone here is eligible for Mensa. Average intelligence test scores are probably skewed towards the high end here, but it seems unlikely that this huge majority of Dopers has intelligence test scores in the genius category. Where are the non-Mensa eligible Dopers, and why are such threads created and phrased in a way so that it is implied that Dopers should be brilliant enough to be eligible for Mensa?
Aslan, 2% of 5 billion is 100 million. (I may not be eligible for Mensa, but I can operate a calculator!) However, isn’t the earth’s population now over 6 billion?
Cicada2003, if you get the dumbest person in the room feeling around here, I don’t know quite how dumb I feel!
Tinkertoy, I’m sorry to hear of your struggles during your teens.
The truth is – and I mean this seriously – I suspect a majority of people here are eligable for Mensa. Based on the core theme here (scientific trivia I guess you could call it), it’s pretty attractive to those intellectually inclined.
Also, being 1 out of 50 is good, but it’s not really that amazing. 1 out of 50 is like good enough to be one of the better basketball players at your high school. It’s so very far from being in the NBA.
Yeah, I don’t actually see the Mensa IQ requirements as being all that high. One in fifty people will qualify. I don’t believe that everyone here is going to be eligible but it’s likely that more than one in fifty people here will be eligible.
It’s the threads where everybody claims to have an IQ over 160 or 180 that make me laugh like a cat. Especially when they can’t say what test was used and when and who administered the test. Or even more classically claim to have achieved a score over 160 as an adult on a properly administered IQ test.
Y’all are a bright, interesting group who teach me something new every day.