High IQ Societies

[chopinetta]

is there anyone here who is a member of any high iq society like Mensa or Pi?? or is joining one a bad idea?...

[ted]

I have no idea what my IQ is and it has never occurred to me to bother finding out. One of my close friends failed the Mensa test years ago and is still troubled by the event. Another of my friends passed it but says that the whole thing was a waste of time and that he met nobody in Mensa with whom he had anything in common. So I don't know very much about it really.

[Derek]

I was in "enrichment" in elementary school. The only things that came of it were: I was told I was smart all the time, but was often unable to do the puzzles given me in enrichment. A girl would often say to me: "you're smart, Derek, you just don't use it."

The end result was I felt I could just skate through school without working hard because of how "smart" I was.

I've had to suffer the consequences of severe study-atrophy when I reached college.

I'm not so sure all that IQ stuff is really a positive thing. Can anyone think of any good it does?

[chopinetta]

ohh dear. that's why i'm sooo lazy too. people keep telling me how smart i am. so i don't study. i guess people should start telling me how stupid i am.

[Goldberg]

Yeah, I agree, I'm exactly the same. I was accepted a year early into some "gifted" program at one of my early, public, schools and received top honours and all that kind of crap, and was on some sort of school team that competed with other schools in puzzle and math competition and, my favourite, even drama improvisation! Buuut...no, I don't think much became of it. Shortly after I went to a much better private school where the kids were "like me" and so on, and really I was in the upper-average crust of the class. But it was my teachers and study habits at the school that made me the student I am today; had I stayed at the public school being fed lies and false compliments and so on, I would have been entirely useless.

...and grades, of course, are hardly an accurate representation of intelligence, but that's a viewpoint that is both widely accepted and more appropriate for another thread...

As for IQ tests, I've never bought into them, but I have taken a "real" one and then a few online just poking around. I've gotten scores from all over the place, between 110 and 168 (yeah that last one must've been a really screwy test!). For what it's worth, I think the best estimation on the admittedly questionable scale is a 135-140.

I've thought about looking into Mensa and what have you, but then I don't think it'd really be worth it (plus I really doubt I could get in, and as Ted mentioned I'd rather not go through life beating myself up about my stupidity, which I am quite prone to do!).

[chopinetta]

i think mensa is pretty easy to get in. don't you just have to take that test of theirs? i took the practice test and it was kinda easy...

yeah, the IQ test crap in the internet. i did try a 160 once. but that's hardly the truth. IQ isn't even a reliable way of measuring intelligence. i mean, sometimes you have a high IQ but that's because you're only good at taking IQ tests.

[possom46]

I did an IQ test years ago (because my older brother told my parents it would be a good idea) and got into Mensa. It was fun for a while because I had scored higher than my school teachers and even though I didn't use it as an issue, a lot of my friends did, resulting in a very annoyed maths teacher at middle school which was quite funny. I never kept up with the subscriptions because the magazine they sent me bored me, and at the meetings the only thing you had in common with someone was a test, and besides there were hardly any meetings near where I live anyway.

[Daevren]

Its not easy to get into Mensa. You have to be the plus 2 procent of the smartest people.

But all these things are stupid.

[Derek]

It seems to me hard work and passion are far more important than raw intelligence. Though I HAVE been told at various times in my life that I have oodles of raw brain power, I'm not so sure that is the case. My ability to improvise at the piano has been very hard-won. It has been enjoyable every step of the way, but I wouldn't say that it came naturally. It appears that way to everyone else, of course, since they have no idea whats going through my mind.

Supposedly there is a correlation between math ability and musical ability. Why is it, then, that I have had to re-take several math courses at the university and get C's in all the rest of them?

Oddly I enjoy working on mathematics---all my peers say they hate it. Then again I used to hate it. I've grown numb to bad grades, I think, and can now just enjoy working on it.

I'd like to add I blame american public education for my grades in math. I got A's all throughout elementary and highschool in math, without ever lifting a neuron.

[possom46]

Derek I agree. I have gone through life with the ability to be good at lots of things (because of my intelligence??), but because everything came easy lacked the determination and hard work of others. Where has it got me? Not very far. It was the same with piano, I began playing at 12 and took my grade 8 ABRSM 2 years later, have spent the rest of my life trying to play the piano 

[Tash]

I was in "enrichment" in elementary school. The only things that came of it were: I was told I was smart all the time, but was often unable to do the puzzles given me in enrichment. A girl would often say to me: "you're smart, Derek, you just don't use it."

The end result was I felt I could just skate through school without working hard because of how "smart" I was.

I've had to suffer the consequences of severe study-atrophy when I reached college.

I'm not so sure all that IQ stuff is really a positive thing. Can anyone think of any good it does?

omg we had the enrichment classes too in junior school! 3 classes for the smart, the average and the not so smart. i was in the average class until halfway through yr4 (year 4 for crying out loud we're only 9 years old!) we did an IQ test and mine was apparently very high, so they put me up in the smart class for the rest of the year, and then the teachers were like woah what is up and made me do these special class things with the school psychiatrist or something. and then i did another IQ test and was back to normal. so in yr 5 and 6 they kept me back in the average class. so my parents thinki'm the smartest kid in the world, but i'm just like please it was multiple choice you just guess then entire thing. and then half the kids who were in the smart class were down in class 3 in high school, and people in the average class were kicking their butts. in the end it's all about effort and screw the IQ!

[chopinetta]

well, i guess you can always defeat a genius with hard work! --ROck LEe (Naruto) .. I just love that anime.

[jakev2.0]

I'm the member of the Pigathigawigawatt society - for those with IQs above 300. We represent those with IQs in the 99.99999999999999999999999999821th percentile - or 1 in every 9 billion human beings on the planet. As of today, we have 52 members.

[rach n bach]

mmmhmmm

[prometheus]

I think those societies are stupid and pointless.

[Bob]

I believe you can have your name put in a book that list smart people, for a price.  Then you purchase one of those yearly books (for a price) to show how smart you are.

[jakev2.0]

Heh, I've answered questions at random on online IQ tests to find out my IQ was 120 (far above the mean!)...then I was generously offered the chance to enter my credit card information for membership in the "society".

[pianolearner]

is there anyone here who is a member of any high iq society like Mensa or Pi?? or is joining one a bad idea?...

I'm twice as smart as the average Mensan. I scored in the top 1% on their entrance test. (Culture fair test). I only scored in the top 25% on the Cattell III B test

[opus10no2]

The thing is, an IQ score shows virtually nothing of the real value of a person's intellect.

Consider a computer, a higher IQ is like a higher-spec computer, but a computer cannot create anything truly profound or personal.

A personality can be considered the software...the IQ gives it a higher-spec jiggawigga to work with, but the software is what counts..lolzz

The value of a person in society is the uniqueness they have to contribute.
There are many unremarkable people with high IQs, and people with unique ideas and original thought processes with relatively low IQs.

[pianolearner]

The thing is, an IQ score shows virtually nothing of the real value of a person's intellect.

Consider a computer, a higher IQ is like a higher-spec computer, but a computer cannot create anything truly profound or personal.

A personality can be considered the software...the IQ gives it a higher-spec jiggawigga to work with, but the software is what counts..lolzz

The value of a person in society is the uniqueness they have to contribute.
There are many unremarkable people with high IQs, and people with unique ideas and original thought processes with relatively low IQs.

Yes...yes...I've heard and read this all before. It's for this reason I don't tell many (any) people in the real world that I am a member of Mensa.  A high IQ means whatever the beholder wants it to mean. It can mean nothing or everything. It won't automatically make you successful, popular, rich, funny, etc..etc...yadda...yadda.

What is most annoying is that people who score poorly on IQ tests are normally the ones who criticise them 

[opus10no2]

Quite, but I can assure you that I have a girthy IQ, and know how to use it 

[jlh]

Here's a place you can go for a free IQ test.

https://www.highiqsociety.org/iq_tests/

I qualified for their "society", but I just did it for fun.  I have no interest in joining something like this.

[pianolearner]

Here's a place you can go for a free IQ test.

https://www.highiqsociety.org/iq_tests/

I qualified for their "society", but I just did it for fun.  I have no interest in joining something like this.

Yes, I qualified way back when it was the New York High IQ Society. It was a warm up for Mensa 

[prometheus]

Wow, I scored 120. I think 10 points have to be removed from this test as well. I refuse to believe the average result given will be 100 with this test.

I have do not have a high IQ, am not a native English speaker and I feel I fluked this test.

Maybe I scored well because I filled in the answers quickly and time spend plays a role in the math giving the result.

[rach n bach]

methinks it's rigged....

'cause thereis NO way I just scored a 140..

But that's what it's telling me.... heh, and my IQ has also prevented me from filling out their order form that I would put my real name and adress on.

[prometheus]

It's a real society, not a trick to get your personal information.

[pianolearner]

It's a real society, not a trick to get your personal information.

It is legitimate as far as I can tell. My membership certificate is hanging on the wall. Joined September 30th, 2001.

[soliloquy]

Yes, I qualified way back when it was the New York High IQ Society. It was a warm up for Mensa 

I'm a member there; have you ever taken their Test for Exceptional Intelligence back when they let non-members take it?  It is INSANE.  I can't even get half the questions right =/

[maul]

hi, my penis is small so i join high iq societies and brag about it on pianoforums. kekekekekee.

- pianolearner

[maul]

I think I'm going to start my own "High IQ" society with annual membership fees in the U.S. so I can make some bank off people who think they are smart, ie Mensa. Yesssss.

[soliloquy]

hi, my penis is small so i join high iq societies and brag about it on pianoforums.

Good to know, Maul.  Haven't the pumps been working for you?

[pies]

a

[pianolearner]

I'm a member there; have you ever taken their Test for Exceptional Intelligence back when they let non-members take it?  It is INSANE.  I can't even get half the questions right =/

I tried that test and I have no idea how badly I did because I gave up on it...

[ihatepop]

I tried the oridinary test and got 110.

I pushed random buttons on the Test for Exceptional Intelligence and got 114.

ihatepop

[tds]

mine is prolly 77. is that good?

[prometheus]

I tried the oridinary test and got 110.

I pushed random buttons on the Test for Exceptional Intelligence and got 114.

ihatepop

Haha, probably because time is a factor and you instantly pressed an answer. Also, that test must be balanced to give results in the 120-180 or so range.

[thalbergmad]

I tried the oridinary test and got 110.

I pushed random buttons on the Test for Exceptional Intelligence and got 114.

ihatepop

Perhaps you have latent ESP abilities.

You shoud do the Zenner cards.

Thal

[quasimodo]

Never found any High IQ Society that matched my impressive abilities...

[debussy symbolism]

Greetings

I am thoroughly convinced that the IQ tests, or any other forms of intelligence tests are not really suited for telling the person of their intelligence, as intelligence cannot be measured, given its multi-faceted nature. IQ tests however do probably correlate with the level of arrogance that is issued forth from the person that has been claimed a "genius" by one of those tests. Simply speaking, the higher the score, the higher the probability that the person will brag about his or her intelligence, and any form of "societies" are just another way of segregation, with the members under the impression that they are of any kind of high status.

In my opinion good test-taking skills and good test taking habits will lead to better scores. Simply speaking, an IQ test is a multiple-choice test, and many forms of strategies could be applied, and those that are adept to such tests will find it easier to get the most without spending too much time on the questions. Also, you have to consider the questions that are guessed right. Theoretically, if you guess right at a question you are lucky, but not necessarily more intelligent. However, the test score will provide you with a faulty answer. Similarly, you also have to consider the questions that you blundered on due to either stress, poor concentration, or just pure accident. This effect is amplified due to the timed nature of these tests, where you are encouraged to rush through the easy questions and spend more time on the harder ones. This naturally leads to blunders.

All in all, only you should determine your own intelligence, based on yourself and what you have done, not on written down information that is basically meaningless. Don't worry about your intelligence, worry about using it.

[jlh]

I tried the oridinary test and got 110.

I pushed random buttons on the Test for Exceptional Intelligence and got 114.

ihatepop

I just did the Test for Exceptional Intelligence, and pushing random buttons without reading the questions first got me a 99. 

Isn't 100 "average intelligence"?  Does this mean the the average person wouldn't do any better than me randomly pushing buttons without reading the questions first?

I'm not quite sure how to take that.

[pianolearner]

Greetings

I am thoroughly convinced that the IQ tests, or any other forms of intelligence tests are not really suited for telling the person of their intelligence, as intelligence cannot be measured, given its multi-faceted nature. IQ tests however do probably correlate with the level of arrogance that is issued forth from the person that has been claimed a "genius" by one of those tests. Simply speaking, the higher the score, the higher the probability that the person will brag about his or her intelligence, and any form of "societies" are just another way of segregation, with the members under the impression that they are of any kind of high status.

In my opinion good test-taking skills and good test taking habits will lead to better scores. Simply speaking, an IQ test is a multiple-choice test, and many forms of strategies could be applied, and those that are adept to such tests will find it easier to get the most without spending too much time on the questions. Also, you have to consider the questions that are guessed right. Theoretically, if you guess right at a question you are lucky, but not necessarily more intelligent. However, the test score will provide you with a faulty answer. Similarly, you also have to consider the questions that you blundered on due to either stress, poor concentration, or just pure accident. This effect is amplified due to the timed nature of these tests, where you are encouraged to rush through the easy questions and spend more time on the harder ones. This naturally leads to blunders.

All in all, only you should determine your own intelligence, based on yourself and what you have done, not on written down information that is basically meaningless. Don't worry about your intelligence, worry about using it.

In my experience, IQ tests highlight the average person’s ignorance about them more than anything else does. IQ tests don't measure absolute intelligence but for some reason people can't seem to grasp this simple concept. IQ tests are given to 1000's of people in order to standardise it.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intelligence_testing

IQ tests, while controversial, at least have some grounding in science and years of psychological study backed up by empirical evidence.

What is your IQ?

[pianolearner]

I just did the Test for Exceptional Intelligence, and pushing random buttons without reading the questions first got me a 99. 

Isn't 100 "average intelligence"?  Does this mean the the average person wouldn't do any better than me randomly pushing buttons without reading the questions first?

I'm not quite sure how to take that.

You take it any way you want. The bias for the exceptional test is toward higher IQ's. So if you guessed your way through a normal IQ test you probably wouldn't get an average score. IQ tests normally have a guessing factor built in to the results. Internet IQ tests aren't the best way to test real IQ. If you are serious about it, book yourself into a Mensa test or get tested by a Psychologist.

[debussy symbolism]

In my experience, IQ tests highlight the average person’s ignorance about them more than anything else does. IQ tests don't measure absolute intelligence but for some reason people can't seem to grasp this simple concept. IQ tests are given to 1000's of people in order to standardise it.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intelligence_testing

IQ tests, while controversial, at least have some grounding in science and years of psychological study backed up by empirical evidence.

What is your IQ?

Yes, IQ tests do have grounding in scientific evidence, and there is nothing wrong with that; would be absurd if it didn't. However, it still isn't enought to prove anything of real intelligence, to say nothing of creativity and the myriad of other functions that constitute the human mind.

My IQ? Would an estimate of my IQ have an impact on how you perceive my writing here?

[pianolearner]

My IQ? Would an estimate of my IQ have an impact on how you perceive my writing here?

No, I just wonder how much of your own research into the subject you have done. Do you know your IQ or don't you? Have you ever done a supervised IQ test? Do you think you are more intelligent, less intelligent or equally intelligent as the average person? Give reasons for your answer.

[jlh]

Question:  Why does this internet IQ test cover general knowledge questions such as geography, history and other such subjects?  Seems to me that is not testing intelligence, but aquired knowledge.  That would be something in which a younger person would naturally have more trouble, and thus score lower on this intelligence test. 

[pianolearner]

Question:  Why does this internet IQ test cover general knowledge questions such as geography, history and other such subjects?  Seems to me that is not testing intelligence, but aquired knowledge.  That would be something in which a younger person would naturally have more trouble, and thus score lower on this intelligence test. 

I agree. Intelligence Tests should not contain general knowledge questions. Do a search on google for Culture Fair IQ tests.

[prometheus]

Isn't an IQ test an intelligence test? IQ is the only way we can categorize intelligence, right?

Anyway, I did the first test that came up with the thing you suggested one should google. But now that I have completed the test I don't get a result. I need to pay a whopping 7 dollars to get the result.

[debussy symbolism]

Isn't an IQ test an intelligence test? IQ is the only way we can categorize intelligence, right?

Anyway, I did the first test that came up with the thing you suggested one should google. But now that I have completed the test I don't get a result. I need to pay a whopping 7 dollars to get the result.

IQ is theoretically an intelligence only test, which is pretty much a test based to see your logic. Acquired knowledge should not be revelant to the test result as it doesn't test logic, but knowledge.

And if you pay them 10 dollars, they might just give you an answer you want to see.

[debussy symbolism]

No, I just wonder how much of your own research into the subject you have done. Do you know your IQ or don't you? Have you ever done a supervised IQ test? Do you think you are more intelligent, less intelligent or equally intelligent as the average person? Give reasons for your answer.

My honest answer would be that despite my own research, I don't know my IQ, and to tell you the truth, I don't want to know it. I guess the only "correct" way to receive an estimate quotient would be to take as many tests as possible, and average the result. The problem with that is is that every test is different, and should you come up with a relatively poor score on one, and a relatively high score on the other, finding the average will automatically leave you with a faulty answer.
 
Concerning any official or "supervised" tests, no I haven't indulged in any, nor do I wish to do so.

Again, I do not measure intelligence based on a digitized score, but on the person behind the score and his or her accomplishments or capability of accomplishment. Sometimes such persons do not show their capacities, but what good will that do when they decide to flunk the IQ test?

[pianolearner]

My honest answer would be that despite my own research, I don't know my IQ, and to tell you the truth, I don't want to know it. I guess the only "correct" way to receive an estimate quotient would be to take as many tests as possible, and average the result. The problem with that is is that every test is different, and should you come up with a relatively poor score on one, and a relatively high score on the other, finding the average will automatically leave you with a faulty answer.
 
Concerning any official or "supervised" tests, no I haven't indulged in any, nor do I wish to do so.

Again, I do not measure intelligence based on a digitized score, but on the person behind the score and his or her accomplishments or capability of accomplishment. Sometimes such persons do not show their capacities, but what good will that do when they decide to flunk the IQ test?

There is no such thing as "flunking" an IQ test. You get a score and that's it, there is no pass or fail. Also, don't confuse accomplishment with intelligence. I would be impressed by someone who has climbed Mt Everest but I wouldn't consider them to be intelligent for doing so. There are many highly successful businessmen with low to average IQ’s. Again, high achievers but I wouldn’t consider them to be intelligent just because of that. I don’t understand why people insist there needs to be a connection between Achievement/Success/Accomplishment and IQ. Why does there need to be any justification for a High IQ? An IQ test is simply a measurement of an individual’s problem solving ability compared to the general population. That’s all, pure and simple. If you sleep better at nigh not knowing your IQ then that’s fine by me.

Just remember, Intelligence is defined as:

1.capacity for learning, reasoning, understanding, and similar forms of mental activity; aptitude in grasping truths, relationships, facts, meanings, etc.
2.manifestation of a high mental capacity
3.the faculty of understanding.


It does not mean “Good with money” or “Can play piano” or “Works hard” etc