Prompt Cast
The History and Criticism of Mensa, the High IQ Society
TLDR Mensa is a high IQ society with a membership of less than 150,000 worldwide. Despite its famous members and various activities, Mensa has faced criticism for its membership criteria based solely on IQ tests.
Timestamped Summary
00:00
The podcast episode is about Mensa, the high IQ society, and mentions that their youngest member ever was recently inducted at the age of two with an IQ of 146.
05:12
Mensa is a high IQ society with famous members like Gina Davis, Bucky Fuller, Arthur C. Clark, Sharon Stone, James Woods, John McAfee, and journalists often take potshots at them, but they are a varied collection of people and have a total membership of less than 150,000 worldwide.
10:39
Mensa was originally envisioned as a high IQ society for the most intelligent British individuals to be tapped for their intelligence by the government or scientific projects.
16:16
Mensa gained more attraction in the United States and around the world after American expats joined in England and the group was written about in the Village Voice and the New York Times.
21:31
Mensa gained more members over the years and experienced a heyday in the 60s and 80s, but has since seen a decline in membership, potentially due to an image problem.
26:46
To get into Mensa, you need to score within the top two percent of an intelligence test, which can be the official Mensa test or other IQ tests, and there is also a culture fair test available for non-native English speakers.
32:05
You can also get into Mensa by submitting your high school gifted program records, SAT and ACT scores, GRE and LSAT scores, or by taking the official Mensa test or other IQ tests.
37:11
Schools are now integrating kids with different learning abilities and disabilities in the same class, which is a huge improvement from the past.
42:13
Joining Mensa allows you to meet like-minded high IQ individuals who share similar interests and participate in special interest groups, with an annual membership fee of $79.
47:19
Mensa members participate in various events and activities such as author talks, drag shows, board game conferences, and trivia throwdowns, and they have a unique system of colored dots on name tags to indicate their preference for hugs.
52:46
Mensa has faced criticism for basing their membership on IQ tests, which do not measure emotional intelligence, street smarts, or creativity.
Categories:
Society & Culture
