Re: virus: RE: Smart Asses - a breakdown
ken sartor (sartor@bur.visidyne.com)
Wed, 30 Oct 1996 09:06:24 -0600
At 06:51 AM 10/30/96 +0000, Hakeeb A. Nandalal wrote:
>Excerpts taken from : Mensa - FAQ: What is Mensa?
>http://www.nectec.or.th/pub/mirrors/faq/mensa/faq
>
>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.
>
>MENSA DEMOGRAPHICS (USA)
>
>Just over half have no children
>12.4% have one child
>18.66% have 2,
>9.95% have 3
>4.37% have 4
>1.29% have 9+
>
>49% Christian
>3% Unitarian
>9% Jewish
>7% agnostic
>3.6% atheist,
>9% no religion
>
>14% only children
>19+% older of two
>12.5% younger of two
>11.5% oldest of three
>6.8% middle of three
>5.8% youngest of three
>9.7% oldest of more than three
>10.8% middle of four or more
>4.4% youngest of four or more
>
It is true Mensa represents some people who fall in the top 2% of
some category, but undoubtably most who qualify either shun it or
are indifferent to it (and hence do not join). This additional
selection factor for Mensa renders it (IMHO) inappropriate as a
statistical pool of "smart" people.
Not that the above statistics are uninteresting.
BTW - what kind of person DOES join Mensa? For what purpose
(put on their resume. status symbol with friends, self satisfaction,
others)? Are there members of this list who have joined? Are
there members who have qualified (say through GRE's or SAT's or
whatever) and NOT joined?
ken