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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.
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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
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