Re: schools banning homework

morrisjcroy@xxxxxxxxx wrote:
Yup. My former colleagues often asked me whether I saw that "Fifth Estate"
piece. I think some of them did that to see what my reaction would be. I
don't know what they expected from an educated member of Mensa--maybe they
thought I'd be spouting theorems and derivations all the time, thus
confirming what the documentary showed.


On the other hand, one could argue that any large group or
organization which purports to be a "society" of people with a level
of intelligence higher than the "average" intelligence of the general
public, will eventually be subjected to scrutiny of some sort by
"investigative" journalists. Some "smartass" journalists will go
"undercover" to determine whether the organization's claim of higher
intelligence of their members is for real or just a fraud. I suppose
it's human nature to enjoy the guilty pleasure of seeing other people
being "knocked down" off their perches (ie. schadenfreude).

Except Mensa's been in existence for over sixty years and some very prominent people are or have been members, including Isaac Asimov and Buckminster Fuller--hardly people who might be considered nerdish, geeky, or socially inept.



That book about the George Trepal case, "Poison Mind" by Good &
Goreck,

http://www.amazon.com/Poison-Mind-Jeffrey-Good/dp/0312960166

painted a not so flattering picture of Mensa and Trepal's Mensa
activities. (A police detective went undercover by infiltrating a
local Mensa group, and befriending Trepal to get the goods on him for
a murder conviction).

Mensa, in that respect, isn't much different than most other clubs or organizations. I've heard of squabbles and politics inside one ham radio club I belong to.


I never wrote the entrance exam for Mensa, and probably won't anytime
soon. The local group and general organization doesn't have much that
interests me at the present time, to want to apply for membership. I
suppose I have many other activities which are relatively solitary and
require very little to no interaction with other people, like playing
musical instruments, reading books, etc ...


Actually, all one needs is to provide valid proof of one's IQ level. That can include scores from tests such as the GRE, though Mensa does run official testing sessions for candidates.

Prior to joining, I didn't think I was smart enough to qualify. I heard similar comments from other members about themselves. Finding out that one actually has that high an IQ often comes as quite a surprise.
.

Relevant Pages

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