On 31 Jan 2005 06:26:02 -0600, "Bob" > wrote:

>Carol wrote:
>
>>> OBMensa: A member of my acquaintance dropped by yesterday. He's
>>> really smart, but socially and interpersonally he's not that skillful.
>>
>> Extremely common among Mensans.
>
>That's not exactly true. Except for IQ, Mensans seem to represent a pretty
>good cross-section of the rest of the population.
>
>Remember that Mensa is at heart a social organization, so it attracts people
>who are interested in socializing.
>
>There are plenty of people who *would* qualify for Mensa who don't join
>because they lack social skills and are NOT interested in socializing.
>There are also many qualified people who don't join because of the
>stereotypes associated with Mensa. The two main stereotypes associated with
>Mensa a (1) Buncha socially-inept nerds, and (2) pompous asses who want
>to impress each other with how smart they are. But the reality is that most
>Mensans are pretty normal; they're just able to think better than most other
>people.

I was once among them. I joined just so I'd have proof (for myself) that I
wasn't stupid, because I often felt that I was. It was a good 2-3 years,
and then I was no longer in a position to pay the fees.

Some of my friends were normalish people. Most were social disasters. I
probably shouldn't have generalized based on my experiences. My apologies.

Carol
--
"Years ago my mother used to say to me... She'd say,
'In this world Elwood, you must be oh-so smart or oh-so pleasant.'
Well, for years I was smart.... I recommend pleasant. You may quote me."

*James Stewart* in the 1950 movie, _Harvey_