Mensa is an international high IQ society. Its only qualification for membership is a score in the top 2% of the general population on a standardized intelligence test.
“Mensa” comes from Latin, and has triple meanings : mind, table, month, implying a monthly meeting of great minds around a table. The name stands for a round-table society, where race, color, creed, national origin, age, politics, educational or social background are irrelevant.
What kind of people are members of Mensa?
There is simply no single prevailing characteristic of Mensa members other than high IQ. There are Mensans for whom Mensa provides a sense of family and others for whom it is casual. There have been many marriages made in Mensa but for many people, it is simply a stimulating opportunity for the mind. Almost certainly most Mensans have a good sense of humor and they like to talk. And, usually, they have a lot to say.
Mensans range in age from 4 to 94, but most are between 20 and 49. In education they range from preschoolers to high school dropouts to people with multiple doctorates. There are Mensans on welfare and Mensans who are millionaires. As far as occupations, the range is staggering. Mensa has professors and truck drivers, scientists and firefighters, computer programmers and farmers, artists, military people, musicians, laborers, police officers, glassblowers – you name it. There are famous Mensans and prize-winning Mensans, but there are many, many whose names you wouldn’t know.
History of Mensa
Mensa was founded in England in 1946 by Roland Berrill, a barrister, and Dr Lance Ware, a scientist and lawyer. They had the idea of forming a society for bright people, the only qualification for membership of which was a high IQ. The original aims were, as they are today, to create a society that is non-political and free from all racial or re-ligious distinctions. The society welcomes people from every walk of life whose IQ is in the top 2% of the population, with the objective of enjoying each other’s company and participating in a wide range of social and cultural activities.
Special Interest Group (SIG)
Whatever your passion, there’s almost certain to be a Special Interest Group (SIG) filled with other Mensans who share it! Mensa offers loads of SIGs, in mind-boggling profusion from Counter-Strike Network gaming to Book Readers Club. Along the way you’ll find Physics, and Software Development, but you’ll also find Harry Potter, Fashion Designing and Chess. There are the expected: Music, space science, economics — and the unexpected: hiking & tracking, scuba diving, LUMUN and Dramatics. Sports SIGs cover the classics (Cricket, Volleyball, Table Tennis and Football) and the not-so-classic (Sailing, Surfing, skydiving). And any Mensan who can’t find a SIG to join can easily start one.
Purpose of Mensa is …
- to identify and foster human intelligence for the benefit of humanity,
- to encourage research in the nature, characteristics , and the uses of intelligence;
- to provide a stimulating intellectual and social environment for its members.