About Mensa

Mensa is an organization to which anyone can belong if they have an IQ in the top 2% of the general population. Many people who know nothing of the organization think Mensans are stuck-up brainiacs who spend all their time playing chess or solving cryptic crosswords. This is emphatically not true. The average Mensan joined to find out if they were smart, so you will find few high-powered intellect types there -- they turn their noses up at it.

For those who have a problem with the very idea of I.Q. then I recommend this discussion that looks at the concept. One idea I have a problem understanding is that it is elitist, and therefore bad, to prefer the company of intelligent people. It seems to be a bit loaded.

Here's an interesting point of view from the website of Mensa Switzerland

What will You find at Mensa?
A wise man once said: "go to a Mensa meeting and you will find only what you are looking for. If you look for discussions you will find them. If you look for games you will find them. If you look for interesting and thought binding lectures you will find them. If you look for good entertainment you will find it. If you look for bad entertainment you will find it also." Mensa is a mixed bunch of characters having in common only a tiny facet of their personality, you see, the good result at an intelligence test accepted by science. The members have knowledge of many different areas - and share it. Therefore don't be surprised, if you get a well-informed answer to the most extravagant question - or a humorous one. That's because in Mensa people meet in an atmosphere which is becoming serious only on rare occasions and leaves lot of space for brainwaves, discussions, and creativity. Therefore members described Mensa as a "hybrid of an intellectual sports club and a self help group", as "Eggheads Anonymous", but also as "one of many possibilities to organize leisure time". Mensa is not a replacement for friends and acquaintances - Mensa is an add on.

As the above reference indicates, and in my own opinion, Mensa is very much a social organization; people join for the conversation -- which is not high-brow, or even high, but is open to intelligent remarks. The reason I joined was because I was going to tour Europe and wanted to have some contacts. This worked only insofar as England was concerned: I went to pub nights in London and camping in Wales with the Young Mensans (a sub-group aged 16 to 30; there's a similar group in Toronto which is more successful than the main group).

Link to International Mensa

Link to Mensa Canada

Link to Mensa Toronto

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