Posted on 05/22/2018 1:02:49 PM PDT by fwdude
I know that FReepers tend to be the most intelligent people on the planet, if not the salt-of-the-earth, generous beings in existence. So, does anyone give any veracity to IQ (Intelligence Quotient) test scores? Has anyone had theirs tested?
Any FReepers who are members of Mensa?
Reason I'm asking is that I've never (knowingly) had mine tested. Also, a friend who is really down on himself needs a pick-me-up, and I'm going to mention having his IQ tested as an ego boost, since I know he's at least average.
I know this score is mostly irrelevant as far as competence, but just wanted to pick your brains ?:)
Do you hate your friend that much?
I’ve known Mensa members. Not very impressed. IQ is overrated. Yes, I qualify. Never bothered, because...
Something I’ve figured out is that smart is as smart does. I may be ‘smart’, but I haven’t always been ‘SMART’.
I think my life would have been easier if I’d been more average and had to work harder at things. Seriously.
But enough about me :P
As to your friend, two things:
One: Jesus (duh). For believers, the rock and foundation of our sense of self-worth should be Christ’s sacrifice for us. That’s one part of the Gospel that’s often forgotten in the world of feel-good health & wealth ‘gospel’ peddlers. Your value as a human being doesn’t depend on your circumstances in life, success as the world defines it, etc. It’s not about what you have, it’s about what God has given for you.
Two: As people, (speaking for myself, but I suspect it’s universal), if you want morale booster, achievement and accomplishment works wonders. I’m not talking about buying a new car or finding twooo wuv or anything like that, it can be something as simple as cleaning a room in your house, learning a new skill, doing something. Something achievable. (Start small)
Because the surest way to remain miserable is to sit there in your puddle of self-pity and do nothing. Heck, even walking 20 minutes a day is better than watching 0prah.
Aside from that ... sometimes the best thing you can give someone you care about is your time. Time is the most precious thing we have, and sharing it with someone else who ... understands this can be one of the most precious gifts of all.
Anyway, that’s about all I’ve got for today. Hopefully some of it might help.
I qualified and joined Mensa, and you’re right... pretty weird. I went to only one meeting, never renewed my annual membership, but I kept the membership card. LOL!
You can qualify on the basis of your Military ASVB scores. If you qualified for OSC your score is likely enough to qualify.
Kyle did that.
I’ve been a member of Mensa for 41 years and the folks are among the nicest, kindest, and smartest people I know. Each chapter has its own flavor (here in Colorado Springs we tend toward the conservative side). Our local membership ranges from astrophysicists to high school dropouts. Almost all of our activities are social gatherings, dinners, games, movies, and so forth, and the social strata from which you come matters not a whit. What I cherish about my Mensa friends is you seldom say something, say a particularly complex play on words, that they don’t get and can usually zing one back at you. Witty people! It’s also refreshing that conversations don’t start and end with, “How ‘bout them Broncos?”
Not really. It’s a top 2% score on any of hundreds of standardized tests that Mensa accepts. It’s one of the most egalitarian organizations I know of. Skin color, religion, national origin, or education level don’t matter.
Maybe if they were all pricks the problem wasn’t theirs.
Judging from the response I would say quite a few. I qualified on basis of scores on DD214. Stay away from the psychopaths.
One of my oldest and best friends is president of Mensa for a large area in Florida. He pretty much fits your description. One heck of a nice guy.
He also had the best luck dating beautiful girls. I don’t know how he does it. Once we were playing tennis. There was a gorgeous blonde playing in the court next to us. It turned out her partner was her Mother.
When we took a break, he walked over and introduced himself. When he came back to our court he had a date with her and her Mother apparently approved.
He has asked me a couple of times to join. I was never really interested but am sure I could have scored OK. Now I am not so sure, in fact my math skills have deteriorated so much that I am sure I couldn’t pass now and math was always my strong point.
That IS what is measured by IQ.
I examined that possibility, and since I was there and observed their antics, ruled it out.
“Mensa wouldn’t have me..............”
I wouldn’t be a member of of an organization that would admit people like me
I am an official member of DENSA.
Y?
Sorry -— couldn’t help myself.
My friend was a devoted railroad man. There was no timetable, no matter how fiendish, that was going to defeat him. In other words he was monomaniacal when it came to railroads and very likely would have made a terrible officer (which despite his very high mark on the second of two IQ tests that the Army gave, he never aspired to be).
IQ tests are only valid if properly crafted for an individual's environment - a test that tested a farmer's smarts/knowledge about the whole of the agricultural arena and maintaining the equipment would be worthless for a inner city person.
IMO, the IQ figure is just a prediction of a person’s potential for learning.
IQ doesn’t consider other factors that may limit or enhance that potential, such as family and locale, quality of available public schools, income levels that may limit opportunities, etc.
I was tested in elementary school and scored high. Made all A’s through 7th grade and began classic piano lessons at 6, won National and International medals by age 12.
Then, 8th grade, I discovered girls! Quit piano lessons. Flunked courses in grades 9, 10 and 11, and had to attend Summer school to make them up (where I made A’s).
After Navy duty, I started night classes at Jr. College 8 years after HS. Got my AAS 4 years later and transferred to a University where I got my BBA 2 years later (with 59 hours in last 12 months. Six years later I began work on a 48 hour MBA and earned that at age 40, and had no student debt.
That overly long summary explains my first sentence about potential. I didn’t flunk courses because I was dumb in school. I flunked because I was bored or distracted.
I’m somewhat embarrassed that I just wrote all of that, but it explains “potential”.
Thumbs up! Determining a person’s lack of potential is a very meaningful outcome of an IQ test.
When 18 in the Navy at Charleston, I took the battery tests. Scores qualified me for any school the Navy offered, including opportunity for OCS.
I only had a two year active duty commitment and was a stupid 18 y/o. To agree to those schools or OCS would mean extending my enlistment by as much as 4 years. I made the STUPID decision and said “No”. Ended up in V-2 Catapults Division on a carrier. I regret to this day that decision and still wonder how my life would have been different if I’d said “Yes” and gone to OCS.
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