INxx's, Intelligence, and Internet Use

[developer]

Re. OP:

Can we summarize your post in the sense that you wish to tell us that since you are an INxx you are mighty smart ?

@FineLine: Amen, you are right (as so often is the case).

 

[Totenkindly]

Re. OP: Can we summarize your post in the sense that you wish to tell us that since you are an INxx you are mighty smart ?

There's probably some of that in there... but he's also clearly open to getting shot down, if you can find the right gun(s).

@FineLine: Amen, you are right (as so often is the case).

I thought they were excellent points too.

Statistics and polls can be very misleading, and their value increases only as their limitations are more specifically pinpointed.

 

[The Ü™]

I meant the people at INTJForums, Uber, who would brag about how smart they are compared to everyone else... not you. (At least, not explicitly. )

I'm afraid I am a member of INTJ Forums, too. (I just don't go there that often.)

To qualify for any kind of Mensa membership, isn't the minimum IQ something like 130?

I tend to think that NTs, in general, have the poorest social skills of any of the temperaments. I find that extroverted NTs tend to come off as obnoxious and more interested in hearing themselves talk.

 

[RDF]

Thanks, cdal233, Developer, and Jennifer.

Mensans and Internet users are self-selecting population samples. They're not much use for statistical purposes until some statistician sits down and grooms the numbers to get rid of any self-selecting bias. (I strongly doubt that was done for the surveys in the OP.)

To qualify for any kind of Mensa membership, isn't the minimum IQ something like 130?

Yes, that's the threshold for the most commonly used IQ tests, like Stanford Binet.

To join Mensa, you have to prove that you are in the top two percent of the population in intelligence. You can do that with official scores from a standard IQ test or from standardized educational testing. Mensa says it will accept test scores from as many as 200 different standardized tests, including tests that measure IQ in non-standard ways.

Here are Mensa's qualifying scores for the most common tests:

American Mensa | Qualifying Test Scores

I tend to think that NTs, in general, have the poorest social skills of any of the temperaments. I find that extroverted NTs tend to come off as obnoxious and more interested in hearing themselves talk.

Well, Mensa specifically encourages people with poor social skills to show up and promises that they'll meet with an understanding environment (which is true, in the larger chapters anyway). But that means it's hard to judge exactly who is showing up at Mensa social gatherings: Is it average NTs? Is it specifically NTs with very poor social skills? And so on.

You definitely see a lot of people with mediocre to truly bad social skills at Mensa gatherings: From obnoxious chatterers to shy people who never say a word. But for what it's worth most people genuinely are trying to connect with others, in their own way. And a little alcohol at the gatherings usually helps to smooth things out and make things more convivial.

 

[The Ü™]

Thanks, cdal233, Developer, and Jennifer.

Mensans and Internet users are self-selecting population samples. They're not much use for statistical purposes until some statistician sits down and grooms the numbers to get rid of any self-selecting bias. (I strongly doubt that was done for the surveys in the OP.)



Yes, that's the threshold for the most commonly used IQ tests, like Stanford Binet.

To join Mensa, you have to prove that you are in the top two percent of the population in intelligence. You can do that with official scores from a standard IQ test or from standardized educational testing. Mensa says it will accept test scores from as many as 200 different standardized tests, including tests that measure IQ in non-standard ways.

Here are Mensa's qualifying scores for the most common tests:

American Mensa | Qualifying Test Scores



Well, Mensa specifically encourages people with poor social skills to show up and promises that they'll meet with an understanding environment (which is true, in the larger chapters anyway). But that means it's hard to judge exactly who is showing up at Mensa social gatherings: Is it average NTs? Is it specifically NTs with very poor social skills? And so on.

You definitely see a lot of people with mediocre to truly bad social skills at Mensa gatherings: From obnoxious chatterers to shy people who never say a word. But for what it's worth most people genuinely are trying to connect with others, in their own way. And a little alcohol at the gatherings usually helps to smooth things out and make things more convivial.

So what about the NTs (and people, in general) with average intelligence but poor social skills? Do they get any kind of meet-up organization or do average people have better social skills? Mensa is a joke. It's just a meet-up for snobs who use a number to feel superior.

I don't know, but I hate being in the presence of people who are equally or more intelligent than I, it's not good for my self-esteem.

 

[RDF]

So what about the people with average intelligence but poor social skills? Do they get any kind of meet-up organization or do average people have better social skills?

They can work on their skills at churches, book clubs, wine-tasting clubs, hiking clubs, etc. -- basically any social event that's not a Mensa social event.

Mensa is a joke. It's just a meet-up for snobs who use a number to feel superior.

There's a legitimate argument as to whether geniuses are or aren't served by products and services (schooling, clubs, etc.) geared to the average. Some Mensans feel they were restricted or discriminated against when they were growing up due to their high intelligence, and they consider Mensa a haven where they can finally let down their hair.

I don't necessarily buy that myself. But for better or worse, Mensa exists, and I do occasionally attend Mensa social events for their distinctive atmosphere. [shrugs shoulders]

I don't know, but I hate being in the presence of people who are equally or more intelligent than I, it's not good for my self-esteem.

But it makes a good reality check.

You can't always be the biggest bully on the block. Sooner or later a bigger bully comes along and whips your ass. So you might as well get used to it and learn to deal with people who will be as intelligent as you or more intelligent.

 

[Night]

I can't imagine why anyone would ever purposefully set out to join Mensa.

An echelon it isn't.

 

[sinnamon]

I can't imagine why anyone would ever purposefully set out to join Mensa.

An echelon it isn't.

I would think it would be kind of like seeking out INTPc. Seriously, reading & talking to people on that forum was the first time I hadn't felt like an alien. Sure, there have been individuals in my life with whom I have been comfortable, but to be in a large group of people who think & talk like I do -- it was a whole different experience. For people in MENSA it's probably the same kind of thing.

 

[RDF]

I can't imagine why anyone would ever purposefully set out to join Mensa.

An echelon it isn't.

I would think it would be kind of like seeking out INTPc. Seriously, reading & talking to people on that forum was the first time I hadn't felt like an alien. Sure, there have been individuals in my life with whom I have been comfortable, but to be in a large group of people who think & talk like I do -- it was a whole different experience. For people in MENSA it's probably the same kind of thing.

Some Mensa members consider Mensa to be the first community where they've ever been really accepted and where they can truly be themselves for the first time in their lives.

Other members consider Mensa to be just one more insular, opinionated, narrow-minded community--another place from which they are ultimately excluded.

My wife and I are pretty good at socializing in lots of different conditions and environments, so we just see it as one more interesting place to occasionally socialize, with a distinctive atmosphere of its own.

IOW, you get out of it what you put into it.

There is a distinctive atmosphere about Mensa. One thing that members say about Mensa is, "At Mensa, everyone gets my jokes!" There is a "quickness" to the socializing, such that you rarely have to explain what you meant when you make an obscure reference or an offbeat joke.

Also, one thing about first joining Mensa: Long-time members will usually try to show new members a little courtesy and make them feel welcome, no matter how odd the new member may appear at first glance. IOW, you don't have to prove yourself or puzzle out a lot of unspoken rules and conventions. If you pass the entrance requirements, the existing members will welcome you and make room for you. (The only time I've felt actively excluded at a Mensa event was at smaller outlying chapters where the membership was tiny and had gotten ingrown and mossbound.)

But over the longer term, the same rules apply to Mensa as anywhere else: You get out of it what you put into it. If you want to connect with the Mensa people around you, you have to reach out and meet them halfway. If you can't do that, you'll end up being a wallflower at Mensa events just the same as everywhere else.

For those who haven't seen it, here's an old thread where I answered some questions about typical Mensa events. My responses start at message 14 and go on through the end of the thread: http://www.typologycentral.com/foru...ood-relationships-meet-first-2.html#post20976

 

[Night]

Maybe I lack perspective, FineLine.

I was young when I was a member; you make good points (particularly those inside your final paragraph).

 

[RDF]

Thanks, Night!

 

[Ezra]

We talked about this in another thread that I created concerning the disproportion of INTJs on this forum. We actually discovered that there were far more INTPs who had signed up to it (although the proportion of INTJs was second highest).

The internet in general is a huge cornucopia of information which appeals to a multitude of types. Generally, I'd say that forums and discussion boards appeal most to Intuitive Introverts, probably because they are places designed solely for the trading of ideas and facts. There's no better way to share with others a piece of one's own mind, and since Intuitive Introverts love to spend time in their heads, these kinds of places are a godsend to them.

 

[sassafrassquatch]

For bulletin boards you have to take into account the subject of the forum. On an MBTI or other personality board there may be a large INxx population, gaming boards could be dominated by ISxx, MySpace/facebook ESxx, computer/tech boards mostly IxTx.

 

[runvardh]

ok... not really suprised if there are, but how many of you are or have been members of Mensa? This is totally curiosity and am not looking to study it.

(new thread this if needed)