If you don’t what Mensa is then a short explanation is necessary.
Mensa is for those who rejoice in the exercise of the mind. If you enjoy mental challenges and revel in the interplay of ideas, Mensa is an organization that will stretch your mind and expand your horizons.Mensa is an international society that has one – and only one – unique qualification for membership: you must score in the top 2% of the population on a standardized IQ test.
(taken from here)
Once upon a time I was a member of Mensa, but I let my membership lapse …..
Years later I found that Mensa’s Irish branch had a website, so I tried emailing them and never got a reply.
I let it pass ….
Time goes by etc., etc.
So a couple of weeks ago I decided that I was going to get this sorted out once and for all.
According to the FAQ on the Irish site:
I was a member of Mensa but my membership lapsed. Do I have to do the test again?
No. Intelligence doesn’t degrade enough over time to merit another test. If you can remember your membership number, then you just need to contact the above address and get your membership reinstated.
So I used the contact form on the main UK site (as the Irish chapter is part of British Mensa).
I filled out all my details and clearly stated that I was a former member etc., and waited for an email ….
Needless to say the email never arrived – an envelope franked with their logo did instead. Great! They’ve found all my details and I’ll be able to reactivate my membership!! Woohoo!!
BUT
That wasn’t what was in the envelope.
Instead of sending me a reply to my specific query they’d sent me their standard promo letter / pack:
“Dear Mr Michele Neylon
Congratulations on taking the first step towards Mensa membership…..”
Gah!
For a High IQ Society they’re not the brightest!!
EDIT: I ended up ringing this morning and got it all sorted out in less than 5 minutes…
How high does your iq have to be to be accepted by Mensa’s Irish branch.
Paul
Same as with the UK – top 2%.
The actual numbers involved depend on the system used.
Michele
I got a certificate of some sort from them years ago. I didn’t frame it I’d only frame brain scans, but I haven’t got one, a scan that is :-). I bought The Sunday Times, on Sunday, mainly to try out the interactive DVD quiz entitled ‘Brainpower Exercise Your Mind’ I’ll not be telling anyone if I get a low score on it, if I do well I’ll probably start another blog.
I think organisations that you’d expect to be efficient are far from it. I’d trouble with the Open Uni sending books etc I’d never ever study with them again.How people can spend years studying with them baffles me.It’d be bad for the nerves wondering if the material I need to learn will show up in time for me to study before my next test.
I’d better go and exercise my mind now 🙂
Michele,
Glad to know that you finally got your problem sorted out and “Welcome back to Mensa”. I’ll look forward to meeting you at IMAG 2007 in Belfast and lots of resultant good publicity for Mensa. Just one thing I’d like to point out…. members of Mensa do not work in the office.
Maureen Guthrie
Chairman, Irish Mensa
Maureen
So you’ve the same staffing problems everyone else has? 🙂
Thanks for your comment
Michele
Hi Maureen. I didnt realise that Mansa members do not work in the Mensa office. Is this a policy of Mensa? I would have thought the opposite actually, that it was a pre-requisite that to work there you must first be a member. Can you elaborate on this Maureen?
By the way, Welcome back Michele!!
Hi Derek,
Perhaps my reply was misleading. What I should have said was that I was not aware of any Mensa members working in the office at present.
Mensa does not have a policy about members working, or not working, in the office. I know that in the past Mensa members have worked in the office but am not aware of any at present. It would be up to the member to announce to his/her co-workers whether or not he/she is a member.
There are also things called discrimination laws and it would be discriminatory to state that only members will be employed or conversely that members will not be employed.
I suspect that the workers in the Mensa office are very similar to those you will find in offices all over the country, but it would be a mistake for any member of the general public to assume that all the workers in the Mensa office are Mensans and that the office will therefore be infallible. After all you wouldn’t expect the office workers in a hospital to be doctors or nurses, would you?
Maureen
Derek – thanks
Maureen – even if you had an office full of Mensa members you’d probably have issues 🙂 Just because they have high IQs doesn’t make them any better when it comes to practical matters!
Michele,
I daresay there would be issues even if you had an office full of Mensa members. Only the Pope is infallible!
However, I have to take issue (no pun intended) with your last sentence. It’s a generalisation and generalisations, especially about the human animal, are unsafe. It’s like saying all Scots are tight fisted and all accountants are boring.
I know Mensans who are extremely good at practical matters and others who are not…. just as you would find in any group of people. As a Mensan yourself I thought that perhaps you would have realised that public perceptions are not always correct. I’m neither a mad scientist nor an inventor of magic potions. I’m a retired primary schoolteacher, housewife, mother and grandmother and really quite good with practical matters.
I do hope you will attend IMAG this year. I’d like to meet you.
Maureen