# Triple nine **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 31, 2014, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/triple-nine/684949 "2014-03-31T01:12:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Mr.Nylock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/77aa72/32.png) [@Mr.Nylock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Nylock)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2014, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/triple-nine/684949/1 "2014-03-31T01:12:02Z")
A question for you Triple nine and similar folks out there. I was just wondering if you felt that your differences were qualitative or quantitative? I have heard that this condition tends to be very isolating; what have you done to sort of “find your place,” is it very difficult? I’ve just been reading a lot about this sort of thing lately, and it sounds kind of depressing. ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2014, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/triple-nine/684949/2 "2014-03-31T02:30:45Z")
For those wondering… > **[Triple Nine Society](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triple_Nine_Society)** > > The Triple Nine Society (TNS) is an international high IQ society for adults whose score on a standardized test demonstrates an IQ at or above the 99.9th percentile of the human population. The society recognizes scores from over 20 different tests of adult intelligence. > The society was founded in 1978 and is a non-profit, 501(c)(7) organization incorporated in Virginia, USA. As of September 2022\[update\], it reports a member base of over 1,900 adults in 50 countries. > Executive Committee Officer... ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2014, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/triple-nine/684949/3 "2014-03-31T02:59:14Z")
Well, I think the first thing is not to walk around advertising your “Triple Nine” status, or apologizing for your perfect SAT score, or otherwise trying to be humble about boasting of the feat of having excelled at that critical life skill of scoring well on intelligence or ‘aptitude’ tests. As for having intellectual interests and pursuits that are beyond the mainstream activities, the best course of action seems to be to find a peer group who shares your interests–say, arbitrarily quoting from obscure _Monty Python_ skits and seeing who can get the reference first–and make friends who “get you” and laugh at your (admittedly) stupid jokes about quantum mechanics and the history of royal succession in the Byzantine empire. Or, you know, you can hang out at the local tavern and lord your big knobby brain over everyone else as a way of impressing “Point Five Ohs” because that always works at making friends. Or I guess you could join an organization that has fewer people per capita than centenarians in the hopes that you might share some kind of common interest in comparing IQ scores, but that seems to be a very limiting demographic, notwithstanding the likelihood that you’ll have to travel for several hours to come into contact with another member. Stranger ---
**Author:** ![jimbuff314](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c57346/32.png) [@jimbuff314](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jimbuff314)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2014, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/triple-nine/684949/4 "2014-03-31T02:59:25Z")
Thank goodness. For a minute, I thought this was going to be another slam at stupid people. So extreme intelligence (or giftedness at IQ test-taking if you prefer) is a “condition”? Does Marilyn know? Do I get to tell her? ---
**Author:** ![Sunny\_Daze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunny_daze/32/438_2.png) [@Sunny\_Daze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunny_Daze)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2014, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/triple-nine/684949/5 "2014-03-31T03:17:42Z")
I’m not following the qual vs quant. Do I notice differences? Have I studied them? Is it isolating to be smart? It was when I was young (jr high). I got older, found folks with similar interests, like say, here, and things got better. Plus, what Stranger said. 😉 Can OP be more specific? Is there an actual concern or just curiosity? ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2014, 4:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/triple-nine/684949/6 "2014-03-31T04:04:20Z")
The current movie about Mr. Peabody and Sherman suggests that braininess isn’t necessarily the ultimate path to total happiness. ---
**Author:** ![I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/i_love_me_vol.i/32/521_2.png) [@I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I_Love_Me_Vol.I)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2014, 4:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/triple-nine/684949/7 "2014-03-31T04:45:03Z")
I think it is rather poor taste to just announce to other people out of the blue that you are a Triple 9 (or similar). That’s why, personally, I would never bring up my 999 membership in a public forum, even though I am in that group. It’s just like I wouldn’t go around casually dropping the fact that I have an 11.5" cock… even though I could, because I do. It would just be arrogant. Besides, there’s been a bit of a kerfluffle with the 999 folks lately… apparently, according to them I don’t qualify for membership even though I do have triple nines in my IQ percentile. They said 79.99th percentile doesn’t count. Drag. ---
**Author:** ![buddha\_david](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ee7513/32.png) [@buddha\_david](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/buddha_david)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2014, 7:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/triple-nine/684949/8 "2014-03-31T07:51:23Z")
> [@I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](#): > > It’s just like I wouldn’t go around casually dropping the fact that I have an 11.5" cock… even though I could, because I do. Pics, or it didn’t…on second thought, never mind. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![zoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zoid/32/336_2.png) [@zoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zoid)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2014, 10:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/triple-nine/684949/9 "2014-03-31T10:41:55Z")
Geeze, since when is it so heard to spot a stealth brag? ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2014, 11:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/triple-nine/684949/10 "2014-03-31T11:42:38Z")
> [@ddsun](#): > > Is it isolating to be smart? I could tell you stories, but I’m not sure you’d really be able to get my point. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2014, 1:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/triple-nine/684949/11 "2014-03-31T13:11:25Z")
(I would easily qualify based on GRE scores from so very long ago.) I was a college prof and so I was around some reasonably smart people quite often. And on occasion I would be lucky to hang around some _very_ smart people. Let me tell you, spending a few hours here and there with a Turing Award winner certainly kept things in perspective. There’s this great line from _The Big Bang Theory_ S02E11: Leonard: “David Underhill is ten times smarter than me! You’d have to drive a railroad spike into his brain for me to beat him at checkers! Next to him, I’m like one of those sign-language gorillas who knows how to ask for grapes!” I knew exactly what that was like. The most everyday folk I spend time with are my farming relatives. We get along great. The things we have in common and our shared perspective completely overwhelm anything that might have to do with test results. So very far from isolated. OTOH, the shift in American society towards the Cult of Stupidity is quite depressing. ---
**Author:** ![DrCube](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a3d4f5/32.png) [@DrCube](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrCube)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2014, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/triple-nine/684949/12 "2014-03-31T14:32:37Z")
> [@Mr.Nylock](#): > > I have heard that this condition tends to be very isolating; what have you done to sort of “find your place,” is it very difficult? The trick is not to form a silly exclusionary club and talk about how much better you are than everybody else. In my opinion/experience, being smart isn’t isolating. _Thinking you’re smart_, however, is. ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2014, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/triple-nine/684949/13 "2014-03-31T15:29:18Z")
> [@DrCube](#): > > In my opinion/experience, being smart isn’t isolating. _Thinking you’re smart_, however, is. I quite enjoy being around smart and accomplished people, and listening to their insights and experience in their fields of endeavor. I often learn from them and aspire to be as knowledgeable in my field as they are in theirs. I can’t stand being around people who just talk about how smart they are. They are more boring than people who collect beanie babies. Stranger ---
**Author:** ![Drunky\_Smurf](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drunky_smurf/32/449_2.png) [@Drunky\_Smurf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drunky_Smurf)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2014, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/triple-nine/684949/14 "2014-03-31T16:12:56Z")
I am also a member of the TNS but like others I don’t like to go around bragging about it. ---
**Author:** ![elmwood](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmwood/32/3060_2.png) [@elmwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elmwood)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2014, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/triple-nine/684949/15 "2014-03-31T16:25:28Z")
What, no [Mega Society](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mega_Society) members? I thought the SDMB member base was comprised only of the best and brightest, but I guess it’s more like a short bus passenger list instead. ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2014, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/triple-nine/684949/16 "2014-03-31T16:53:39Z")
> [@elmwood](#): > > What, no [Mega Society](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mega_Society) members? I thought the SDMB member base was comprised only of the best and brightest, but I guess it’s more like a short bus passenger list instead. There isn’t even a legitimate method of assessing intelligence beyond three standard deviations (IQ rank outside of 40-160), and that still begs the question of whether “intelligence” ( however you measure it) is acturately represented on a Gaussian probability distribution. A \>0.999999 score on a normal distribution would be around 4.75 standard deviations way from the mean, or an IQ rank \> 250. Stranger ---
**Author:** ![DrCube](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a3d4f5/32.png) [@DrCube](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrCube)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2014, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/triple-nine/684949/17 "2014-03-31T16:59:29Z")
> [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](#): > > I quite enjoy being around smart and accomplished people, and listening to their insights and experience in their fields of endeavor. Sure. As they say, if you’re the smartest person in the room, you’re in the wrong room. > [@](#): > > I can’t stand being around people who just talk about how smart they are. They are more boring than people who collect beanie babies. What else are clubs – whose only admission requirement is a high IQ – _for_? ---
**Author:** ![Iggy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iggy/32/3364_2.png) [@Iggy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Iggy)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2014, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/triple-nine/684949/18 "2014-03-31T17:14:57Z")
There is an isolating - perhaps confusing is the better term - element to being on the right edge of the bell curve. I grew up knowing I was smart. But I had no idea of where I fit on a bell curve distribution. And I had no understanding of why others my age did not have similar academic and social interests. “Normal” just was not my frame of reference. I didn’t know I wasn’t normal. Or more precisely, I didn’t know how far from average I was. Normal wasn’t me. Normal was over there. As with many experiences that tend to isolate the young, things got better once I could go out in the world and meet people from a wider circle of experience. I felt much more at home in a university community selected from the best and brightest from across the globe - not just the best and brightest of my high school district. Long ago I learned not to go waving around IQ or test scores. But perhaps I overcompensate in that I have a hard time tooting my own horn. Job searches are excruciating as I over-think how much to disclose. Too much and I seem overqualified. Not enough and I don’t get the call back. Just another problem to try to figure out. ---
**Author:** ![Count\_Blucher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Count\_Blucher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Count_Blucher)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2014, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/triple-nine/684949/19 "2014-03-31T17:35:57Z")
> [@DrCube](#): > > In my opinion/experience, being smart isn’t isolating. _Thinking you’re smart_, however, is. Isolation is not just on the person, its on the other people as well. Thinking you’re smart? Is that like “not hiding it” so some braggart of an ass can say “Ah-Ha! See…? And I didn’t even finish 6th grade”? In this world there are such people who are so proud of their stupidity that they make entire careers on it… usually in politics, sometimes in entertainment. Would you Really tie our hands to say 2+2=5 for the happy clapping of the Dumbasses? I might not know Christian Dior from Manolo Blahnik, but I can shove a point up their arses far enough to stick their heads on a pike just as well as they can try to do the same to mine (and try they do). I am who I am; if people don’t like it? #suckit. ---
**Author:** ![rsa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/839c29/32.png) [@rsa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rsa)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2014, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/triple-nine/684949/20 "2014-03-31T17:58:07Z")
So there are about 7 million people who qualify for the Triple 9 club but they only have 1225 members? Apparently their smarts don’t provide any particular organizational skills. 🙂 [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/triple-nine/684949.md?page=2)