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jw1224

I am normal, healthy, and a Mensa member. What exactly do you mean by that?

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>> would posit that most normal, healthy, high-IQ folks never bother, and there's a selection bias at

>I am normal, healthy, and a Mensa member What exactly do you mean by that?

This is not very high-IQ :)

You have to frame it in familiar terms for Mensa members:

What conclusions can you draw from the following sentence?

"I would posit that most normal, healthy, high-IQ folks never bother, and there's a selection bias at play."

  a) All Mensa members are unhealthy.

  b) There may exist some normal, healthy, high-IQ folks in Mensa.

  c) All Mensa members have high IQ.

  d) No Mensa member has high IQ.

My contention would be that many (not all) people are drawn to Mensa because they have difficulty forming relationships in mainstream society. I’d suggest it’s this trait that correlates with mental and physical disorders.

The Dutch Mensa site[0] has the following bullet points in a "high IQ checklist":

- [...]

- Do you often fit poorly into a group?

- Do you sometimes feel desperate due to all those slow people around you?

- [...]

I think that says a lot.

[0] https://www.mensa.nl/hoogbegaafdheid

He's saying that, on average, a high IQ person does not find Mensa valuable or interesting and so does not bother to join.

Whereas, someone who is lonely, searching community, depressed, etc and _also_ has a high IQ would be more likely to apply and join.

The fact that you happen to be normal, healthy, and a Mensa member isn't particular important when speculating about the possible selection bias. Although, we are just speculating.

Yeah, I was well aware what the implication was :) I was just stirring the pot really...

It's always interesting to read the general sentiment towards Mensa members — implying they join out of "loneliness" or "depression" is a hilariously unfounded assumption. I agree that Mensa is fairly pointless overall, but in my experience, its members are generally pretty representative of the general population.

Means that the typical mensa member is not necessarily the typical high IQ person.

The only person I know in Mensa used it in his resume which always grossed me out.

I did that! Doubt I'm the person you're thinking of but it was something to put on my otherwise empty resume that would have consisted of jobs at Burger King and a oil change store. Once I had my first professional job under my belt, I left it off. No idea if it helped or hurt getting that first job but I suspect if nothing else it gave me a bit of confidence going into those first interviews after university.

This was not that situation and I have no issue with someone young and bright using it (Mensa) to get their foot in the door. My guy was middle-aged, from privilege and used Mensa and other BS accomplishments to swindle people into thinking he was some sort of tech luminary.

He's right to use it b/c Mensa membership is sometimes used as a hiring filter. It's neither discriminatory nor illegal to do so.

This is a common discussion point amongst members, and almost everybody agrees it's a terrible idea. (Unless you look up the hiring manager in the membership directory first, and see they're a member too...)

Would you say your membership was worth the fees required to join? What do you get out of being a member?

Haha, absolutely not. I get almost nothing out of it. I sat the exam out of curiosity, but if you qualify and want to join, you have to do so immediately — you can't decide to later on. I've been a member for 3 years, and doubt I'll renew next year.

There's a private Facebook group for members, which has some lively discussion from time to time, but that's about it. To be honest I just posted my earlier comment to stir the pot a little :)

Self-selection bias.

The insecure, the underachievers, the lonely, the narcissistic, etc, might be more likely to join.

The confident, the successful, the popular, etc, probably are less likely to join.

n = 1

Compared to n=0 of the grandparent

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