h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

I did a Mensa test, and scored 148. That puts me in the top 2% of the country. However, being an uneducated manual worker, I talk like an imbecile. Know wot I mean?
I also never talk about general relativity, as i have no idea what it means.

I was invited to join Mensa, but when I saw their fees, I declined.
Does this make me smarter than the ones who join?
I know about the theory of relativity.
But I don't drop it into casual conversation.
And surely it's worth mentioning that insane people can have very high IQ's?
No offence, Mina

I was invited to join Mensa, but when I saw their fees, I declined.
Does this make me smarter than the ones who join?
I know about the theory of relativity.
But I don't drop it into casual conversation.
And surely it's worth mentioning that insane people can have very high IQ's?
No offence, Mina

None taken honey, you wouldn't be the first.

My brother says he must be cleverer than me as he didn't pay a tenner to get tested. And he says I got a good score as I'm good at those sort of tests, not because I'm clever.

Aren't there different scales? You mention needing 133 to join Mensa - is that in the US? In the UK you need over 148, which I think corresponds to the same position on the bell curve, but the numbers attached to it are different in the different scales, or maybe I'm wrong.

I joined Mensa, but left because it was dull. I know about both theories of relativity , but I don't bring it up in conversation because everyone thinks I'm boring enough as it is

It does say in my letter that a score of 148 is needed to get in. Mine is only an "estimated" result, but they say that anyone getting 140 or over should manage it. I didn't take the supervised test as I did this one in half the time, and I didn't want to sit through another test after finshing so quickly, and just have to sit there waiting. I did that at school, and it's boring and annoying. Probably still wouldn't join though. Don't like the idea of people being chosen for their intelligence - which after all, is an accident of birth. I did the test for my own curiousity.

Well, there are different IQ scales which can be a bit confusing - as I say in the guide entry.

If its says you need 148 IQ to get in to Mensa that cant be the standard scale which is 'The Derivation IQ' - on the derivation IQ scale the top 2% of the population by definition have a score of 133 or better. So the test they use cant be the 'derivation IQ'

So Mina if you scored 148 on that test that means a derivation IQ of 133. I'd like to know what test they were using.

Any way, a derivation IQ of 133 or better means you are really pretty smart no matter what your brother says!

Have you guys clicked through to the link to the 'Queendom Culture Fair Test' and tried that one? It'll only take 40 minutes, and all you have to do is point-and-click with the mouse - its multiple choice. I know for sure that the scale they use for that one really is the 'derivation IQ' - or its supposed to be.

Who knows how accurate all these IQ tests really are though? I'd take it all with a grain of salt any way

It seems people want me to add something about the history of the tests and so thats what I'll do. I dont know much about the history though - theres supposed to be some good books on it and I'll read through them and see what I can add.

Oops noticed a silly error - the proper term for the standard IQ scale is 'deviation IQ' not 'derivation IQ' Will correct the spelling!

I've got no idea which test I did now, as it was so long ago. Mensa used to put those little game/tests in the newspapers, and tell you if you can do it to send it in, well, I could never do them, then I found one I could and so I sent it in. That's when they sent me the little test back. I'm not sure how they say that 148 is in the top 2%, and yours say something else, you'd think there would be a standard test really. It aso said that 155 was top 1%, but surely this will change, as people get cleverer/stupider? Or is that me being a bit thick?
As I said in the peer review thread, I was told they were fixed to prove something about identical twins, so who knows? It's more of a problem than a blessing anyway.

I just reread the entry, is my memory failing, or has it been altered? It seems much better now. I can't find the test links that you mentioned, if you point me to them again (knowing you can't put them here. ) Then I will go and try them and let you know what I get.

I searched and found that test, it matched what you said about my 148 really being 133, as I got 132. It didn't take me 40 minutes though.

How long did it take you then?

About 10/15 minutes. And that included chattng to you online as well.
I might have done better if I had spent longer thinking about the ones I couldn't do, but I doubt it.

That's my girl

Yup, I updated the entry Mina, taking the advice from peer review
I'm still working on it though.

From what I've been able to find out the standard IQ scale is defined as 'deviation IQ with a mean of 100 and a standard deviation of 15' - so on that scale the cut-off point for Mensa is around 130-133.

So..I know the Queendom test was on the standard scale .. so if you got 132 Mina it seems you're a pretty smart girl and qualify for Mensa!

Not that it's very important in taxi driving, but never mind. I was happy knowing that I did badly at school not because I was stupid, but because I wasn't stimulated enough. That's my excuse for being a slacker anyway.

Lack of stimulation can cause a lot of apathy

And Vice Versa!

Also the search for Extra Terrestrial Intelligence hasn't only had "negative" results - that would imply they had a result which showed there were no ETs out there - all they have is "no result" not the same thing,....

Just finished the Queendom, and I got 147 - which generally matches my scores on IQ tests....

I know of Relativity - and kind of Understand it, but don't drop it into the conversation very often at all rally - much more likely to say - I'm orf dahn the offie for a coupla bottles of Vino, and a few cans of decent Bittah

Argon0, where did you read that about seti?
Could you tell me?
Was it the seti site?
I know the url for that
No need to get yourself moderated