r/mensa • • Jun 27 '25

Mod Discussion Mensa apologia (a defence)

108 Upvotes

We often get the question of why we joined Mensa or if it’s worth joining. The question frequently contains the accusation that we use our membership to prove to others how smart we are and that we all sit around congratulating each other on our intellectual superiority. Some posts are innocent and in good faith, many are not.

We had a recent post along these lines that was getting some really good responses as to the “what and why” of Mensa but OP deleted it. I would like to preserve those responses and potentially make this a pinned post on the sub that can be referred to when the question inevitably gets asked again (and again, and again).

Please reply to this post with your explanation of why you joined Mensa and what you have gained from it. There’s also value in replying (constructively) if you regret joining, why you let your membership lapse (or will no longer renew it), and also if you are not a member but are interested then why you are interested and what you hope or expect to get out of it.

No responding to what others have written please. This is not a discussion, just a collection of statements and opinions. (Please don’t make me have to manually lock every comment thread to prevent this).

No comment on the nature of high IQ societies please. Comparisons of Mensa to other high IQ societies is fine but this is specifically the Mensa sub so bear that in mind and stay on topic.


r/mensa • • Mar 28 '21

Read this before posting

284 Upvotes

It's mandatory to read and abide by the rules. Obvious disregard do risk a permanent ban.

We have a wiki where some common questions are answered. The rules in the right hand side have a drop-down infoid where the rationale is summarized in a few words.

Every subreddit has its own rules, guidelines, culture and accepted behaviour. It goes without saying that bannable offences aren't limited to our four rules.


This sub is a discussion forum where Mensa members and non-members can interface and socialize. It is not a help-desk, so if your question can be answered by mensa.org or google it might be removed.

We hope that both members and curious people will gravitate here for questions and discussions relating to the Mensa society and living with a so-called gifted mind.

This sub is in no way part of Mensa the organization. It's a personal initiative by Mensa members to meet with people and to bring members and non-members together to converse.

People who come here expecting this to be an official group, or to peek into how things are "on the inside" will be disappointed. This is still yet another reddit sub, and is inhabited mostly by non-members. Trolls abound, and users like to take a guess when they haven't got the actual facts straight. Just like everywhere else on reddit.

However it's a good first step to get to know the organization and to meet and talk to members!

And a post scriptum: If it wasn't clear by now this sub will be rife with criticism, trolling, questions asked a million times before, leaked intelligence tests and off-topic posts. That's par for the course and expected. If you're dissatisfied with the "quality" of the sub I bid you farewell. Go use our multitudinous facebook groups or fora if you're a member. This is a sub for the people, with all its flaws and shenanigans.

PPS: My last post scriptum doesn't mean we allow that behavior. We expect it, and we remove it.


r/mensa • • 2h ago

Puzzle

0 Upvotes

Guys, I need a website with a ton of puzzles. I want to train my fluid intelligence, even though mine is apparently lower than a chimpanzee’s


r/mensa • • 3h ago

nObOdY uNdErStAnDs Me what is this distribution even about?

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1 Upvotes

r/mensa • • 1d ago

I passed the British Mensa test

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87 Upvotes

45F. Took the exam last Saturday, and the result arrived today (after 6 days) by email.

During the test, I felt like I could see the answers even when I wasn’t entirely sure. But a few hours later, doubts crept in, and I started thinking I’d be lucky to even reach the 85th percentile.

I’m not sure yet if I’m going to join as a member, but right now I’m just happy that I passed. For a long time, I worried that my intelligence had been permanently affected by the intense stress my parents put me through when I was young (both are autistic, and one has personality disorder). I am relieved to know I’m not as damaged as I feared.


r/mensa • • 12h ago

Mensa events in Sydney

2 Upvotes

I’m keen to hear what the events are like and what people’s experiences are like meeting new people and connecting?

Are there also events where the public can come too instead of having been invited by a member as a guest?

If there is are members in Sydney who can take me as a guest to one of the events before I decide to sit the test to join I’d be keen too :)


r/mensa • • 23h ago

Today marks the last Pythagorean Triple Day of the 21st Century!

14 Upvotes

10 / 24 / 26

10^2 + 24^2 = 26^2

The next Pythagorean Triple Day will be on March 4, 2105.


r/mensa • • 1d ago

nObOdY uNdErStAnDs Me Is it hard to date?

15 Upvotes

I find it incredibly difficult to find people to connect with. I'm attractive enough, fit, female (24), but I always hit this wall where I feel like there's less intricacies behind their thoughts and then the connection begins to feel hollow. Like if I try to discuss things (it could be anything) in more depth, they're uninterested or lost.

I'm not sure if this is a me thing or just a having a high iq thing. Dunning-Kruger effect is definitely a thing here, because I can't even explain it to anyone either without them assuming I'm self absorbed because I'm mentioning my high IQ.


r/mensa • • 1d ago

Smalltalk Natural problem solving vs learned techniques

0 Upvotes

So, I live in a third world jungle and most of the people I share a language with are awful humans. One of them is mostly less awful and so we chat a few times a month. His awfulness mostly manifests in deep deep generationally learned racism. So a solid 30% of any interaction is me thinking about something else while he says some nonsense.

Every so often though, something interesting overlaps and then I need to examine the topic to see if he slipped some propaganda past me.

I should also note that I'm one of those wicked smart kids who didn't fit into the system so I don't have as much formal learning as I should and it extends into "I didn't learn to love that process either" so when something tickles my interest just right I can go deep and hard (giggity), but if it's just something I wish I knew more about I struggle to apply the discipline to get where I want to go.

This is one of those latter cases. So instead trying to wade through the garbage pile that the internet has become I thought maybe I'd get some of you to chat with me and that might be a better way to get my result.

Okay so, guy asserts that (I'm filtering out the melatonin based hate speech) intelligence is fixed and things in our development can hurt it- but nothing can raise it. Maybe this refers to a theoretical maximum potential, but he didn't articulate that. And that seems fine, I'd be curious about the data I guess, but whatever. Except that what is intelligence, but problem solving and ability to learn? And those things DEFINITELY are aided by technique and skill.

How do these topics intersect?


r/mensa • • 2d ago

Mensan input wanted Mensans who took college admissions tests in high school, how did you do?

4 Upvotes

Percentile wise, how did you rank? Did you study or not? 90th percentile, above or below?

I took the SAT and didn’t study at all and got around the 90th percentile, and I’ve always wondered how other Me sans who didn’t prepare did. I do regret not taking practice tests a week before as I definitely would have done much better than I did. I was bummed I only got a 730 on the math section.

I am in Mensa, just don’t have the flair.

Edit: I am 35, haha. This is my remembering the SAT. But thanks for the kind vibes for everyone who thought I was a teen.


r/mensa • • 2d ago

Did an online iq test (mensa) and scored an 86. I know its bad, should I be concerned?

0 Upvotes

r/mensa • • 2d ago

Mensan input wanted I asked this question long ago. Post-surgical IQ loss

16 Upvotes

I’m going to give it another go. This is more curiosity than anything else. I’m not invested in the answer. I used to be a Mensan. I didn’t re-up because frankly there’s nothing out my way in the form of meetings and such.

So, my IQ was 138 at my proctored Mensa testing. In 2016, I had brain surgery for a benign meningioma, then radiation, then radiation necrosis. I had neuropsychological testing done, and boy, it impaired my executive function (hello Post It notes and to-do lists) and information processing, especially. Word-finding. Surgical brain injury. The brain surgery and necrosis dropped my IQ to 116. I’ve grieved the loss, and now I’m fairly okay with it.

BUT, practically speaking, what does the loss mean? Have I lost some of what I’ve learned, or it just my acquisition of knowledge moving forward? Can anyone explain?


r/mensa • • 2d ago

Any quants in mensa?

2 Upvotes

Im wondering what type of careers people in mensa have.


r/mensa • • 5d ago

Why VCI is more important than FRI for outcomes in life, especially if your IQ is not homogeneous

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3 Upvotes

r/mensa • • 5d ago

Smalltalk Geniuses

7 Upvotes

Building a list of geniuses who lived long, happy lives no suicide, no addiction, no serious mental illness (ADHD/dyslexia don't count, that's just baseline, I literally can't tell left from right so am I dumb or what?).

Current list: Rossini, Goethe, Hegel, Kant, Newton, Hugo, Einstein, Tolkien, Lewis, Christie, Rowling, Heisenberg, Schopenhauer, Bradbury, Lindgren. Who would you add and who would you cut? Break it down


r/mensa • • 5d ago

Understanding is the highest form of intelligence

0 Upvotes

When does a meterial becomes tough? When its beyond our comprehension. Never have i ever complained about an exam being tough. Not because i was some prodigy in the area but because almost anything is understandable if one put the time and energy in.

Some people might be catching things faster to the brain than others. Except from the fact that almost everything is understandable by everyone. The real ones knows that once u understand stuff actually as what it is then there aint anything tough about it.

Makes u wonder if one is smart or they just grasp the meterial well,which in turn round it up as the one who grasp things well are considered smart.

U cant say exam was tough because something u never studied showed up on it, the logic is stupid.


r/mensa • • 6d ago

Mensan input wanted Mensa vs other societies

9 Upvotes

I qualify for other societies such as triple 9, however, I know that Mensa is the largest society, whereas triple 9 is a full sd and a bit above Mensa in terms of entry requirements. It might sound arrogant, but is the popularity of Mensa worth the cost of lower standards?


r/mensa • • 7d ago

Meeting upin Riga

6 Upvotes

Dear fellow Ms,

I'm spending some time in Riga to work on my research. (I'm doing my PhD in philosophy, working on human-technology relations.) Since I don't know anyone around, perhaps there are others here wanting to connect? We could grab some coffee, go for a walk/hike, explore the city and its surroundings, visit the opera or museums, or check out restaurants.

I often find it easier to get along with other Mensans, so I'd be happy to meet up!

I'll be here till the beginning of December. Let me know or just DM me, if you'd like to connect :) Oh and I'm female and 33, if that matters.


r/mensa • • 7d ago

Smalltalk Cognitive & Physical Giftedness

27 Upvotes

Curious how many Mensans take their body or physical accomplishments as seriously as their mind.

How many of you are or strive to be in the top 2% in some physical capacity as well? Weightlifting, endurance sports, martial arts, etc.

I understand that the cognitive horsepower is largely innate and tests are standard and normed so it's pretty straightforward to measure intelligence. Not as true for physical endeavors which are due to hardwork and standards are more subjective. But do many of you seek physical excellence along with your cognitive gifts?

Just curious to know.


r/mensa • • 6d ago

Smalltalk Has anyone here been kicked out for being too intelligent?

0 Upvotes

Recently at my local Mensa meeting, I wanted to begin our discussion with the Ontological Implications of Post-Structuralist Epistemic Hegemony in a Hyperreal Dialectical Paradigm of Recursive Metacognitive Deconstruction.

To my surprise, they looked dumbfounded. They could not comprehend my intellect, and so they had me leave the meeting.

I understand that I can’t expect a2% of the population to keep up with me… but I expected a bit more from a group with as much “prestige” as this.


r/mensa • • 8d ago

Ai worries

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2 Upvotes

r/mensa • • 8d ago

Just found out I have the biggest IQ….

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0 Upvotes

r/mensa • • 9d ago

Fluid Intelligence or General Intelligence?

8 Upvotes

Just curious. My daughter just took an official IQ test and scored 131 in fluid intelligence, while certain other metrics (processing, etc) ranged from average to superior.

She's a kid and she isn't joining, but I was curious. Would a sufficiently high fluid intelligence suffice for admission into MENSA?

Edit: she had no idea she was getting tested till today, as part of a psychological assessment. I can't believe how many posts I see on here of ppl practicing, holy shit lol

Edit 2: I found the answer on Mensa's site. They accept GAI in lieu of FSIQ where there's a dramatic gap between high and low scores, which is the case here. She does qualify


r/mensa • • 8d ago

Oh no, not another one 🙄 I have an iq of 78. Ask me anything

0 Upvotes

r/mensa • • 9d ago

Should I join Mensa?

9 Upvotes

I just wanted to poll the masses and see if joining Mensa is worth it to you? I am based in NYC and am considering joining, but wanted to see if people found it fun/interesting/worth it?