Talk:Mensa International/Archive 1

message: http://www.mensa.org/info.html
This page looks like copy from here!
I'm not good at English. Help me please.219.165.169.201 10:15, 19 Jan 2004 (UTC)
replies: text: I must admit that I cannot see the resemblance. The articles deal with the same subject, but except for that they are quite different. Could you point out what has been copied? If you are User:219.165.169.12, you should add the page to Wikipedia:Possible copyright infringements instead of Wikipedia:Votes for deletion. Rasmus Faber 10:45, 19 Jan 2004 (UTC)

text: I agree. If the offcial site is the only source, one can fear that facts have not been cross-checked. Apokrif 20:50, 22 September 2005 (UTC)
thread_title:  Copyright violation? 

message: You want some criticism of Mensa? Well for a start it is a shamelessly elitist organisation, sanctimoniously lauding itself as being free from political, racial or religious distinction, while at the same time distinguishing itself by the similarly distasteful prejudice of (supposed) intellectual superiority.  And as if that isn't enough  - the benchmark for membership is grounded in the misguided belief that IQ actually says something about the individual other than his or her ability to solve anagrams and goofy little logic puzzles.  Apparently Lancelot Ware was exasperated by the members' preoccupation with puzzle-solving. But is that remotely surprising?  If he wished to see Mensans solving some of the world's issues, then perhaps the selection process should be geared to attract those with an interest in sophisticated real-world problems, rather than trivial brain-teasers.  Until then, Mensa will be the sole reserve of the intellectually insecure, and the odd mild case of Asperger's.  (...and relax...) Beeromatic 15:00, 6 September 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: Why worry about an organization you have so little regard for? Why spend any time on it at all? Just forget Mensa exists and have a good life. Catbar (Brian Rock) 05:34, 10 September 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: Thanks for the concern, but I'm not all that worried actually.  I just have a healthy contempt of elitism. Beeromatic 12:53, 10 September 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: I am not really sure if it's elitism really? Because Mensa is just a society for people that shares a similiar trait. Please show your source regarding Mensa's claim of "distasteful prejudice of (supposed) intellectual superiority"? in order to join mensa, you just have to fit a criteria. Mensa never state whether it was a good thing or bad thing to fit the criteria. I think for many member, fitting the criteria probably has some painful memories as a child. Mensa never claim superiority over anyone. You perceived that Mensa did, but does not necessarily make it true. Would you consider, say, the Chinese Student Association (CSA) in a North American university a "shamelessly elitist organisation"? Cause... you do have to be a person of Chinese origin to be able to join... I can join because I am a Chinese...you probably can't join because you are not a Chinese... The CSA I was in was great because it's a place where I can meet and social with people that has similiar interest with me. The CSA is not being elitist, nor am I. In order to join Mensa, you just have to be a person that is able to "solve anagrams and goofy little logic puzzles". It's a society where people that enjoy solving anagrams and goofy little logic puzzles can social and meet people with similiar interest. Phatpanda114 22:41, 20 March 2007 (UTC)

text:  the very fact that Mensa charges people to join its establishment should ring some alarm bells. Nowhere in the page does it mention that this is a subscription service. Effectively people pay to be told they are clever. This must also cast doubt on the veracity of claims that applicants must be within the top two percentiles to qualify. I have seen many "tests" in national papers where readers are told that if they can solve the puzzle they are eligible to join Mensa. For anyone with even the most rudimentary grasp of algebra these puzzles are very easy.68.71.35.93 05:31, 27 September 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: American Mensa posts the qualifying scores of the most common standardized intelligence test on its web site.  If all you want is to think you're clever by qualifying for Mensa, you can do that without sending them a penny.  Of course, you don't need Mensa's permission to think you're clever. Jwolfe 08:33, 27 September 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: Why should a membership fee "ring some alarm bells"? Even the Boy Scouts and the Freemasons have annual membership dues ... TANSTAAFL! ... show me social organization that doesn't charge for membership, and I'll show you an organization that doesn't have a Web site or a monthly magazine that's printed in color. (This is just common sense, people!) --141.156.240.102 15:57, 7 October 2006 (UTC)

text: Well, I suppose if you really wanted to muckrake on Mensa, you could bring up George Trepal the "Mensa Killer."  He was apparently a member of Mensa and also a psycopath.  For some unknown reason he decided the plain family nextdoor were unfit to live and poisoned them.  They died horribly as the poison was not swift.  The "American Justice" documentary on him makes a big deal out of the fact he was in Mensa, that he had an incredibly arrogant and elitist outlook and had to be carefully caught, even using a "honey trap" of a woman supposedly in Mensa.  He got death row for the murders.  If he was trully a member of Mensa in good standing, it really doesnt say too much against Mensa, all groups have their murdering psychopaths.  Its like condemning violent videogames for school shooters.  The A&E documentary did seem to be pandering to the idea of the "elitist Mensan out to kill the proles" though.Yanqui9 17:23, 3 February 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: I believe it was in Characters and Viewpoints by Orson Scott Card it was suggested that one of the ways to indicate to the reader that a character is a villain is to have them have an obviously higher level of intelligence, the whole mad scientist/Dr. No schtick. There's a common social prejudice against intelligence. One of the reasons people choose to socialize with people in Mensa is to escape that prejudice. Avt tor 22:25, 3 February 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: Is such a prejudice more related to a particular culture than universal? Autarch 17:47, 27 February 2007 (UTC)
thread_title: Criticism Redux

message: The article doesn't seem to be specific enough about Special Interest Groups - I was under the impression they are organised at the level of National Mensas. (I'm an ex-Mensan deliberating whether to join up again after a few years.) Autarch 18:39, 6 July 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: I just touched up SIGs. There are more unofficial and international SIGs than I can count now. Check out Yahoo! Groups, and search for Mensa. We also have a few multinational SIGs where participants come from Mensa Germany, Austria, or Switzerland. samwaltz 19:41, 6 July 2006 (UTC)
thread_title: Mensa SIGs (Special Interest Groups)

message: The logo is mentioned in the article, would it be possible to get a copy of the logo and place it at the top of the page? That ought to qualify as fair use. Kerowyn 00:06, 7 January 2006 (UTC)
thread_title: Logo

message: It states in the article as a flatout fact that IQ does not change with age. I thought this was controversial. There is a lot of debate over what IQ even is. --Bluejay Young 22:44, 24 June 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: I read in Intelligence: a very short introduction by Ian Deary that you are compared with your age peers - thus it's constant within your group of peers, as I understand it. Autarch 16:46, 3 July 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: Instead of debating this here, can we just ignore the topic, and recommend that readers go to the I.Q. page? Along the lines of in the top 2% of I.Q., although there is still little consensus as to what I.Q. is, how it can be accurately measured, or whether it is retained over time.' That really is a matter to be discussed there, and then there would be no necessity of repeating the argument elsewhere. samwaltz 18:36, 3 July 2006 (UTC)
thread_title: IQ doesn't change with age?

message: I moved the following paragraph from the article:  it's important and needs to be read, but here, on the talk page:
(Please note that Sharon Stone has denied on numerous occasions being a member and US Mensa has been unable to verify that she ever was a member. Please do not add her back to the list of famous Mensans.  Take her word for it (and US Mensa's word) that she was not a member.) (added by User:Postcard Cathy)
:For what it's worth, this is my understanding as well--Sharon Stone isn't a member. Antandrus  (talk) 14:58, 9 July 2006 (UTC)
thread_title: Cut from the article

message: Was changing "standardize" and "organization" to "standardise" and "organisation" really necessary? Yes, the group was formed in the UK, however 50K members are in the US, whereas 25K members are in the UK. As such, either usage seems appropriate. samwaltz 15:07, 10 July 2006 (UTC)
thread_title:  -ize/-ise