Newsgroups: rec.org.mensa
Subject: Membership Renewal ??
Date: Mon, 25 Jan 1993 15:26:05 -0500

shapiro@cfsctc.enet.dec.com (Steve Shapiro) writes: 

  SS> Linda.Cunningham@p811.f70.n109.z1.fidonet.org (Linda Cunningham)
writes...
   
  > I won't even mention my experiences with Intertel, as people may be
  > eating food as they read this.  :-(
   
  SS> Hmmm. I used to belong to Intertel also.
   
  SS> Talk about a group of exclusionary dullards!
  
That is being kind.  In general, the phenomenon I noted was a higher frequency 
to be socially inept, the higher the test score. 

I'm not sure if it is because the higher someone's score is, the less likely 
they are capable of "normal" social interactions. Or if people with lower 
scores refuse to interact with those having higher scores, providing the ones 
higher scores to create a "rationale" that runs to "I'm smarter, therefore I'm 
better". 

Either way....  :-(

  SS> Back then the dues were really cheap, and I really enjoyed the newsletter

  SS> as it was pretty good and had a lot of discussions of issues. Then things
  SS> changed. An awful lot of infighting started. The newsletter became a forum

  SS> for people to argue with each other. It got to the point that the 
  SS> newsletter was similar to a published newsgroup, with letters back and
  SS> forth between people just argueing with each other.

I've noticed a startling tendency for that to happen everywhere, though, usually

when someone has the frightening idea of dealing with something in a mature 
manner. It's not been my experience that the majority of Ms can deal with things

in that way. 
   
  SS> The 'meat' of the newsletter was lost, and with it, they lost me as a
  SS> member.
  
They "lost" me when I decided that I had better things to do with my life than 
stand around pontificating about my LSAT score, which was the common theme of 
conversation when more than two were in the same room. Also, I wasn't terribly 
impressed with the way they treated women; I've seen slobbering teenaged boys 
have more class....

  SS> Personally I think that Mensa is wonderful. But it is one of those kinds
of
  SS> groups where you have to participate to get full benefits from the group.
I
  SS> realize this and accept it as the nature of the group.

Mensa has it's place, I suppose, but as it seems to have degenerated to is a 
"nyah nyah" vocal group of socially inept people who are incapable of 
interacting well in society at large, I'll avoid it. 
  
  SS> But now that I don't have the time to participate fully, is it worth
  SS> retaining membership, just in case? I guess it is kind of like having an
  SS> attorney on retainer. You think that you're never going to need to use it,

  SS> but just in case you have to, its nice to know its available. 8-)

Why?  What is wrong with going out and finding other outlets for your social 
life when you have more time?  

I think a lot depends on the outlook you want to take in life. Sure, if you are

considered "smart" by some scale, you might want to hang around with other 
"smart" people. Me? I'd rather be with people who share my interests and can 
deal with life by accepting responsibility for their actions. From my
experience,  
(meetings, newsletters/electronic communications, gatherings, etc. that I've 
been part of over the years) that *doesn't* describe most Ms.

Linda

Newsgroups: rec.org.mensa