If you have to wear a Mensa pin you are not that smart
I am a member of Mensa. Mensa is an organization (as described on its web site) that “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 religious 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."
Mensa has three stated purposes: to identify and foster human intelligence for the benefit of humanity, to encourage research in the nature, characteristics and uses of intelligence, and to promote stimulating intellectual and social opportunities for its members.
The word "Mensa" means "table" in Latin. The name stands for a round-table society, where race, color, creed, national origin, age, politics, educational or social background are irrelevant.
After I became a member of Mensa (I had to take a test), I proudly wore a Mensa pin on my lapel. A friend said to me, “If you have to wear a pin to prove to everybody how smart you are, then you must not be that smart!” I have never worn the pin since.
Many years ago I was a panelist on The Geraldo Show (and met Executive Producer Bonnie Kaplan who has been my friend ever since) where the topic was “Smart Women Who Intimidate Men.” The smartest statement made at the show was actually from an audience member who reported that she had been out driving with a friend who was a nuclear scientist with a PhD from Harvard when the tire blew out on their car. The gentleman did not know how to change the tire, so at that point he was the stupidest man she knew. That proved what I always felt which was being smart has to do with what you can accomplish at a particular moment in time, it is not what your IQ is.
Almost every day, after my blog is posted, I receive an e-mail from Editor Robert Manewith pointing out some grammatical error I have made in my writing. I encourage Robert to let me know of my shortcomings, because I am smart enough to realize that Robert knows more about editing than I do. I am sure I will hear from him again today.
Robert sent me a copy of the Washington Post’s annual Mensa game that asked readers to take any word from the dictionary, alter it by adding, subtracting, or changing one letter, and then supply a new definition. Here are the 2009 winners. Enjoy them and try to create some new words of your own.
1. Cashtration: The act of buying a house, which renders the subject financially impotent for an indefinite period of time.
2. Ignoranus: A person who's both stupid and an asshole
.3. Intaxication: Euphoria at getting a tax refund, which lasts until you realize it was your money to start with.
4. Reintarnation: Coming back to life as a hillbilly.
5. Bozone: The substance surrounding stupid people that stops bright ideas from penetrating. The bozone layer, unfortunately, shows little sign of breaking down in the near future.
6. Foreploy: Any misrepresentation about yourself for the purpose of getting laid.
7. Giraffiti: Vandalism spray-painted very, very high.
8. Sarchasm: The gulf between the author of sarcastic wit and the person who doesn't get it.
9. Inoculatte: To take coffee intravenously when you are running late.
10. Osteopornosis: A degenerate disease. (This one got extra credit.)
11. Karmageddon: It's like, when everybody is sending off all these really bad vibes, right? And then, like, the Earth explodes and it's like, a serious bummer.
12. Decafalon: The grueling event of getting through the day consuming only things that are good for you.
13. Glibido: All talk and no action.
14. Dopeler Effect: The tendency of stupid ideas to seem smarter when they come at you rapidly.
15. Arachnoleptic Fit: The frantic dance performed just after you've accidentally walked through a spider web.
16. Beelzebug: Satan in the form of a mosquito, that gets into your bedroom at three in the morning and cannot be cast out.
17. Caterpillar: The color you turn after finding half a worm in the fruit you're eating.
Blog Follower Katie writes"
ReplyDelete"OMG my new favorite word is Sarchasm!!! And its even doubly ironic.. cause im going to use it sarcastically.. and someone is gonna go Hunh?? lol"
Esther Manewith, wife of Robert mentioned in the blog wrote"
ReplyDelete" Loved your column and your
mention of Bob. It was very kind of you.
Now he will have a swelled head and be impossible to live with for a few
days."
Esther
Bob Manewith wrote:
ReplyDelete"You are much too kind. As to editing, I might have put the aims and goals together. As you have it, in separate ¶s, it seems redundant, although it isn't."
So a friend told you that if you have to wear a Mensa pin, you're not really that smart. And now you don't wear it anymore.
ReplyDeleteI'd say if you are so easily intimidated by feelings of inferiority by someone who clearly isn't really a friend, maybe you actually aren't that smart.
"Mensa has three stated purposes: ... and (3) to promote stimulating intellectual and social opportunities for its members."
ReplyDeleteAs noted above, Mensa exists largely as a social network for those of greater than average intelligence. Besides serving as a means to display an admirable accomplishment (admission into Mensa), that pin is a way to connect to others in the organization. I say wear it. Not necessarily to be showy but to fulfill one of the primary purposes of the group.