What is the Mensa community and how to get there

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

Mensa is a community of people who have passed IQ tests better than 98% of the rest of the world's population. In this article we will tell you about the organization itself and how to get into it if you think you deserve it.

What is Mensa

I can't think of a better way to explain what Mensa is than to compare it to Alcoholics Anonymous. But instead of alcoholics, here are the smartest people, whose IQ goes beyond the usual.

Initially, they wanted to call the community Mens (Latin for "mind"). However, then it was decided to change the name to Mensa, which translates from Latin as "table" or "feast". The community was created in 1948 with the aim of supporting smart people, research of intelligence and its nature.

The founders of the society wanted to give intellectuals the opportunity to develop and communicate with the same smart people. Despite the fact that the society was quite selective in terms of recruiting new members, the number of Mensa members now exceeds 110,000.

Mensa branches exist in 50 countries around the world. Russia and Ukraine are not among them, so in order to take the test, you will have to travel to another country. Based on the results of this test, a decision will be made whether you are eligible to join the community.

How to get to Mensa

You can test your intelligence in advance using this test in English. It is similar to the one that will need to be passed in an interview. In order to answer 30 questions, you have 30 minutes. Questions touch on logical thinking and deductive skills.

If you get at least 25 correct answers out of 30, it means that you can try to pass the real test. Since there are no Mensa offices in Russia and Ukraine, you have to go abroad. For example, taking a test in the UK costs £ 25. In the event that you pass the test at 148 points or higher, you can use the test results as evidence when joining Mensa.

Why is it needed

At the very least, you should be seduced by the opportunity to communicate with some of the smartest people on Earth. Mensa holds an annual meeting, but its members meet much more often and organize hobby clubs. Moreover, the interests of the community members are very diverse. In the US, for example, there is a motorcycle club and a business operations group.

It is believed that community members are arrogant snobs who drink wine aristocraticly and speak out about the narrow-mindedness of ordinary people. According to real community members, this is not the case. For example, Paul Artois joined Mensa when he was 12 years old. He says that since then he has only good impressions:

Mensa is an organization for people with IQs higher than 98% of the rest of the population. By removing this criterion, you get ordinary people who are no different from the rest. They also raise children, go to work and spend time with loved ones.

Another Mensa member, Shrey Goyal, notes that the club often holds meetings not to discuss serious and burning issues, but to go to a cafe and eat. But during such gatherings, says Shrei, there is an opportunity to communicate with people whose views on life, philosophy, politics and religion are very, very interesting.

It turns out that Mensa is more a club of educated people than geniuses. Being in the 2% of the smartest people is prestigious, but not so unique. Membership in Mensa is a source of pride, but also a great opportunity to find people with similar interests.