No, no; I was referring to myself – I work as a patent examiner for the European Patent Office in The Hague.
OK, maybe this is a reverse whoosh on me, but the joke was that Einstein worked as a patent clerk in Switzerland while working on relativity on the side. (I forget the timeframe - whether it was special or general he was working on at the time).
I thought the patent clerk reference was an Einstein joke too.
Also, I’ve got to disagree that “intelligence” is purely a genetic trait, as well as the corollary that it shouldn’t be celebrated.
Intelligence by itself without education and training (a) wouldn’t be nearly as useful, and (b) wouldn’t guarantee a passing score on a Mensa admission test, or most other tests. Math is a good example of the difference between pure genetic trait intelligence and a more operative definition of intelligence. Someone might be genetically blessed with a logical mind, or spatially oriented mind, but 12+ years of schooling condenses ~10,000 years of brilliant, intuitive, human-genius levels of “figuring it out” into a digestible, replicable, and learnable curriculum.
So the confluence of intellectual ability with academic effort - that is the result that these tests are trying to map out and identify.
But then again, I’m going to have to take a step back and that makes me sound pretty self-important.
Funny. I contacted the local chapter again (first time was in 2010) because I had the requested GRE results to qualify for membership… in the U.S. Last time I’d asked, they said they couldn’t accept those results, for some reason.
This thread made me try again. And this time, I successfully joined Mensa as well.
So: thanks for sharing!
You mean their pique peaks.
Normally Mensa has a rule against sneak brags as well.
Interestingly, Albert Einstein does not appear to have been in Mensa. Guess he was just not that smart. I mean, he never managed to formulate a GUT (nor has anyone else).
I agree, posting one’s IQ score is quite uncouth. I mean, sure, I reluctantly admit that Marilyn vos Savant and Terence Tao cheated off me while we were taking the test together, but I would never post or brag about my score—that would be tacky.
I did think about joining Mensa, but I couldn’t figure out how to log on to their site (and besides, it turns out that it wasn’t the Men’s Aardvark Club I assumed it was).
Easy to explain actually. Einstein died in 1955 so he was alive when Mensa started in England in 1946. However Einstein lived in the USA at the time and American Mensa didn’t begin until 1961.
Or he just didn’t give a damn. 
Lucky for me I could use some old test scores from back in college days without taking new ones. My brain isn’t nearly what it used to be.
Update: made it. Wonderlic 38, Mensa Admissions test 104. Neat.
I joined in '79 or '80. When I made E6, in '89, I had to start paying full dues. (Half off for low-income people like E5 and below.) Hadn’t been to a meeting since '82, so I finally decided the magazine subscription wasn’t worth that much and dropped out in '92.
Joined British Mensa, too, for the three years I was stationed in Scotland.
Mensa in Spanish means dumb (f), or dopey (f). I could just see myself now, telling my Mexican parents I’m in Mensa…
Explain your magic.
Congratulations! I was hoping you’d let us know!
Welcome to the dark side, we have RAMs every December around the 6th and 8th, if you can come…
RAM = Reunión Anual de Mensa. Held every December long-weekend in a different Spanish city. Unlike the yearly Assembly, this one is for fun, games, relaxation, food, sunshine (if available), drinks, chess, cultural visits and a bunch of other things which do not include anybody taking minutes.
In some dialects, including but not limited to Mexican Spanish; apparently it’s one of the reasons it hasn’t worked very well in Mexico. Other countries are doing fine.
Welcome aboard!
Um… yeah. Totally. Wow. I don’t play chess but i’m a grandmaster at drinking.