Mensa Society only Admits the World’s BrightestHow Mensa Society Began
Two bright young men had the idea of an organization for anyone with a high IQ in 1946, and formed the Mensa Society in Oxford, England. British lawyer and scientist, Dr Lancelot Ware and Australian barrister, Roland Berrill decided the organization would make no social or political distinctions but wanted to bring together the world’s greatest minds under one umbrella. Mensa welcomes people with all points of view as being valuable contributors and takes no political stands whatsoever except to publish results of any research. Mensa has no religious, philosophical, ideological affiliations and is a society that crosses all borders simply based on intelligence. Joining the Mensa SocietyAll anyone needs to join the Mensa Society is an IQ within the 98th percentile in an intelligence test such as the Stanford-Binet Intelligence tests. For your score to be eligible, you must take an intelligence test that is approved by the Mensa Society under supervision. There are no online test scores approved for Mensa membership but you can use them to practice and test your intelligence.All applicants must take an approved test because there are a lot of intelligence tests based on different criteria and they vary in the way they assess their raw scores. Only your percentile is relevant. An example of this is that you need minimum score of 148 on the Cattell intelligence test compared to 132 on the Stanford-Binet test to reach the top 2 percent, and others do not have scores. To get rid of the confusion between IQ scores, the Mensa Society set a percentile score of 98 in a standard intelligence test. This means you have to get a score that is higher than 98 percent of anyone else taking the test. The Society also has its own entrance test where you can choose to take a series of tests. One test only tests whether you are suitable for membership and do not give you an IQ score and if your score is high enough you will be invited to take the Mensa Society admission test. You can only take the Mensa test once, but may submit qualifying results from another approved test at a later date. Purpose of the SocietyMensa is an organization dedicated to only three things:• “to identify and foster human intelligence for the benefit of humanity” • “to encourage research into the nature, characteristics and uses of intelligence” • “to promote stimulating intellectual and social opportunities for its members” Mensans foster programs to support gifted children, scholarships and literacy as well as holding social events. Why Join MensaMembers come from all walks of life, and range in age from 2 to 100, with an educational range from primary school to multiple degrees to someone who has not followed an educational path.Mensa’s purpose is to stimulate its member’s minds with interesting things and there are about 200 special interest groups across a diverse range of subjects you can become involved in. Groups are as diverse as systems analysis, biochemistry, economics and microbiology to roller skating, cartooning, and skydiving. If there is not a group to suit your interest, you can always start one. There is no such thing as a dull meeting at the Mensa Society. With so many bright minds, it brings many differing opinions and different Mensa groups meet at different times. Most local groups meet for dinner and drinks at least once a month. Depending what you want from your Mensa membership you can choose to be involved as much or as little as you want. Some groups have daily events and there are workshops, seminars, parties, and group gatherings you always have the option to join with like minded people for the intellectual stimulation you need.
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