I believe that IQ tests measure something. Probably something more akin to the ability to solve logic problems rather than intelligence in general.
I took the Mensa test and joined Mensa. I was an active member for a few years and attended mostly social and gaming events.
The people are generally geeky but nice. There are some big egos but every group has them. Political views fall all over the map from monarchists to socialists with a larger than average number of libertarians.
My general take was that these are people (like me) who are intelligent but not particularly ambitious. Ambitious people wouldn’t be wasting their time socializing with people just because they have similarly high IQs. They would be out in the world using their superior intelligence to make scads of money, acquire loads of power, or cure some disease or another.
Instead the members of Mensa exert their gray matter on solving puzzles, advancing game strategies, arguing about what the future will be like, arguing Star Wars vs Star Trek, arguing about what theoretical political or economic system is the best, practicing for Jeopardy, etc.
So if you have a high IQ and you want to goof off with other high IQ people then it might be fun to try Mensa out for a while. You’ll have more luck in bigger cities as far as the number of events to attend. They also have big regional and national meetings which I’ve never attended. They’re supposed to get a bit wild ... or as wild as nerds can get. Probably similar to what happens at a Star Trek convention.
Yours is the most useful post so far.
I was more thinking about boosting my resumé with such a distinction.
I'm a big believer in "EQ"..... Emotional Quotient
I know people in MENSA. And, I know a few who couldn't get in the door, but possess the ability to charm ANYONE, ANYTIME to acquire ANYTHING.
If I could trade a few points of my IQ for a few more EQ, I would do it in a heartbeat.
“My general take was that these are people (like me) who are intelligent but not particularly ambitious. Ambitious people wouldn’t be wasting their time socializing with people just because they have similarly high IQs. They would be out in the world using their superior intelligence to make scads of money, acquire loads of power, or cure some disease or another.
Instead the members of Mensa exert their gray matter on solving puzzles, advancing game strategies, arguing about what the future will be like, arguing Star Wars vs Star Trek, arguing about what theoretical political or economic system is the best, practicing for Jeopardy, etc.”
Good summary. There are doers and there are thinkers and neither is correlated to IQ.
I imagine the rich people are the doers with high IQ. People like Buffet, Jobs, Gates, Musk, Bezos, Trump...
That IS what is measured by IQ.