The Mensa Experience

by Ralph Rudolph, Loc Sec of New Mexico Mensa

    People join Mensa for a lot of reasons.  Some of the more common ones given include looking for intellectual stimulation (great conversation), plain old curiosity, a sense of pride or status, and looking for an intelligent mate.  My own reason for joining was that I missed late-night “bull” sessions I used to have in college days and I was looking for people that I could have friendly discussions with on subjects other than “Hey! How about them Logos”  kids, or figuring which weedkiller works best on your lawn.  I sure found that conversation - and I found new and interesting friends.  I also met my wife through the Mensa Singles Network, an added benefit.

The new friendship part works quite well.  In my job, I have moved to several different cities and found that the easiest to make new friends (which gets tougher as you get older) is through Mensa.  You go to a few events, and sure enough, you meet some very interesting people that you like and you get to know each other better.  Many folks find so much warmth and acceptance within Mensa that they come think of it as “family.”

Unfortunately, the public has a general perception that Mensa consists of people sitting around listening to esoteric lectures on obscure stuff like quantum mechanics or philosophy (which does happen once in a while.)  But on the average, if someone accidentally dropped into a Mensa meeting, he would be hard pressed to guess that was Mensa as it’s usually very casual, relaxed and friendly.

The peculiar public impression and a bit of shyness many of our members have make attending an event for the first time a fearful experience, and members have sometimes hesitated for years before attending their first event.  They think, “My god, someone must have made a mistake on the test.  I’m not smart enough to be in Mensa!”  If and when they finally work up the courage to attend, they find themselves welcomed with open arms.  Over the years I’ve watched as many shy people have blossomed through being part of Mensa, finding a place where they are welcome.   In one case, a young man had scoliosis and wall hunched up and twisted which made other kids make fun of him.  Within Mensa, he relaxed and was soon contributing every witty humor to the newsletter and socializing.  In another case, one of the regulars at a Trivial Pursuit night was truly ugly,  looking like a complete throwback to a Neanderthal ancestor, heavy brow ridges and all.  Be he was soon converted as a player and friend because of his tremendous in-depth knowledge.

    Here’s a few statistics you might find interesting when comparing Mensa members with the national averages.

1. Mensa has a very high percentage of Members who say they are Libertarians in politics, i.e. socially liberal and economically conservative.
2. The average Mensa household income is over twice the national average.   Mensans are often asked the question:  “If you’re so smart, why aren’t you rich?”  Well, we’re both more often than not.
3. A significant number of Mensans are self-employed, most frequently in the field of computers.  What they did before PC’s became popular is anyone’s guess.
4. Most Mensans were either an only child or were the third child in their family.  Nobody really knows why.
5. More Mensans are atheists, agnostics, secular humanists, Unitarians, or Jewish.  The religious sect with the fewest percentage of Mensans is Southern Baptist.
6. Most Mensans have one or more advanced college degrees, but we have members who never even finished high school.
7. Males outnumber females in Mensa by 60/40.  However, more officers of local groups are females than males.  Makes you stop and think.
8. The youngest member we ever had was a 2 ½ year old girl in Ohio.  She was able to both read and write at that age.

Reprinted from the November 2002 of the Menzia, the New Mexico Mensa Local Newsletter by permission.