Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10.1 6/24/83; site ttidcc.UUCP Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!bonnie!akgua!sdcsvax!sdcrdcf!hplabs!hao!seismo!cmcl2!philabs!ttidca!ttidcc!hollombe From: hollombe@ttidcc.UUCP (Jerry Hollombe) Newsgroups: net.misc Subject: re: Mensa Message-ID: <165@ttidcc.UUCP> Date: Fri, 14-Dec-84 17:46:35 EST Article-I.D.: ttidcc.165 Posted: Fri Dec 14 17:46:35 1984 Date-Received: Wed, 19-Dec-84 03:19:18 EST Organization: TTI, Santa Monica, CA. Lines: 60 In article <156@ttidcc.UUCP> hollombe@ttidcc.UUCP (Jerry Hollombe) writes: >>Discussion of Mensa the furniture or Mensa the high I.Q. furniture would >>be one and the same. > >Am I missing something here or is this really meaningless? :Jerry, I'm upset with you! A Mensan that doesn't know how the organization :got its name! Now what would Margot Seitelman think of that, after all the :literature she's sent your way? The word "Mensa" is Latin for "table" to :indicate the philosophy of the interactions -- a table around which we all :sit to discuss our opinions. (Well, some of us stand and shout, but the idea :is there.....) Ouch! I confess, I was sleeping when I wrote that one. (Not my fault, my terminal has been drinking (-: ). You must admit that "Mensa the high I.Q. furniture" sounds pretty meaningless. Anyway, my apologies. The trouble with having a steel trap mind is occasionally you get your fingers caught in it. Glad to see there's some discussion of Mensa going on. I've been pretty well convinced that net.mensa wasn't a good idea. The general feeling I get from the net seems pretty well agreed on this. A mailing list remains a possibility. I have no idea how they work or what's involved in running one. Just to add a little fuel to the discussion: I've been a Mensa member for nearly 10 years. The first thing I discovered on attending a few local events is that a high IQ is no guarantee of intelligence. On the other hand, it's nice to be able to carry on a conversation without having to constantly explain what I'm talking about. Given that Mensa has only one criterion for membership, there tends to be a pretty broad spectrum of all other traits among members (I can provide a few statistics if requested). There are certainly some wierdos among the membership. There are a few (very few, in my opinion) who are distinctly unpleasant. To counter this, I've made some deep and lasting friendships and had a lot of fun with former total strangers at local parties and regional gatherings. I know many people who met their current SO at Mensa functions. On the whole, I would say that most Mensans are fairly ordinary people who happen to be unusually bright in some ways. People seem to join, refuse to join, and drop out of Mensa for all kinds of reasons. I frequently get the impression that those who drop out or refuse to join do so in anger (this is purely MY perception). Certainly I have never failed to stir up controversy by bringing up the subject in public (which is one reason I do it -- livens up conversation (-:{ ). I hope this discussion continues for a while. I'd like to get some more first person insights into people's attitudes. Maybe I can put out some flames, too. -- The Polymath (Jerry Hollombe) Opinions expressed here are my own Transaction Technology, Inc. and unrelated to anyone else's. 3100 Ocean Park Blvd. Santa Monica, CA 90405 United States (213) 450-9111, ext. 2483 ...{garfield,lasspvax,linus,cmcl2,seismo}!philabs!ttidca!ttidcc!hollombe