High IQ society

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A '''high IQ society''' is an organization that limits its membership to people who are within a certain high percentile of IQ test results. The oldest, largest, and most well-known such society is Mensa International,<ref>[http://edition.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/europe/09/08/quest.genius/ The Quest for Genius] at CNN, 2008-11-29</ref>  which was founded by a couple of egomaniacs in 1946. Other early societies are Intertel (founded by Ralph Haines in 1966), the International Society for Philosophical Enquiry (founded by Dr. Christopher Harding in 1974), and some other ego-boosting projects<ref>The embarrassingly named Prometheus Society and the Mega Society</ref> founded by Dr. Ronald K. Hoeflin in 1982.
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A '''high IQ society''' is an organization that limits its membership to people who are within a certain high percentile of IQ test results. Insecure people who perform well on standardized tests join them in order to bolster their sense of being really intelligent.
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The oldest, largest, and most well-known such society is Mensa International,<ref>[http://edition.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/europe/09/08/quest.genius/ The Quest for Genius] at CNN, 2008-11-29</ref>  which was founded by a couple of egomaniacs in 1946. Other early societies are Intertel (founded by Ralph Haines in 1966), the International Society for Philosophical Enquiry (founded by Dr. Christopher Harding in 1974), and some other ego-boosting projects<ref>The embarrassingly named Prometheus Society and the Mega Society</ref> founded by Dr. Ronald K. Hoeflin in 1982.
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==The purpose of such societies==
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Before the Internet, meeting reasonably bright people could actually be quite a lot of work, so Mensa was socially useful. These days, if you can't find people on the Internet smarter than you are, then you are likely a poster child for the [[Dunning-Kruger effect]].
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A typical Mensa meeting consists of ordering dinner and spending the evening arguing about the most logical way to split the bill.
  
 
==Entry requirements==
 
==Entry requirements==
 
High IQ societies typically accept a variety of standardized multiple guess tests.
 
High IQ societies typically accept a variety of standardized multiple guess tests.
  
The ceiling of most standardized (validated and normed) intelligence tests is at around the 99.9th percentile. Measurements above this level need &mdash; for a credible result &mdash; a bunch of made up shit by so-called "psychometricians"<ref>These are typically people who have IQs in the range they are testing for, as far as they are concerned.  They write tests and grade them in order to limit who can join their private club, basically.</ref> experienced in high IQ testing, and at least two differently designed standardized tests (among these at least one supervised) should be performed. Measurements above 99.99997th percentile are ridiculous, since there are insufficient normative cases upon which to base a statistically justified correlation.<ref>[http://olymp.iqsociety.org/?page_id=8 IQ measurement at the 99.99997th percentile]</ref> In 2010, the United States population (ca. 300 million) normal expectation for the number of persons with IQ over 175 (sd15) is about 90.
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The ceiling of most standardized (validated and normed) intelligence tests is at around the 99.9th percentile. Measurements above this level are constructed by psychometricians who consider they have IQs in the range they are testing for, writing and grading tests in order to limit who can join their private club. At least two differently designed standardized tests, at least one supervised, should be performed.
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Measurements above 99.99997th percentile are ridiculous, since there are insufficient normative cases upon which to base a statistically justified correlation.<ref>[http://olymp.iqsociety.org/?page_id=8 IQ measurement at the 99.99997th percentile]</ref> In 2010, the United States population (ca. 300 million) normal expectation for the number of persons with IQ over 175 (sd15) is about 90.
  
 
== Too many societies ==
 
== Too many societies ==

Revision as of 12:40, 16 May 2010

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There is a broader, perhaps slightly less critical, article on Wikipedia about High IQ society

A high IQ society is an organization that limits its membership to people who are within a certain high percentile of IQ test results. Insecure people who perform well on standardized tests join them in order to bolster their sense of being really intelligent.

The oldest, largest, and most well-known such society is Mensa International,[1] which was founded by a couple of egomaniacs in 1946. Other early societies are Intertel (founded by Ralph Haines in 1966), the International Society for Philosophical Enquiry (founded by Dr. Christopher Harding in 1974), and some other ego-boosting projects[2] founded by Dr. Ronald K. Hoeflin in 1982.

Contents

The purpose of such societies

Before the Internet, meeting reasonably bright people could actually be quite a lot of work, so Mensa was socially useful. These days, if you can't find people on the Internet smarter than you are, then you are likely a poster child for the Dunning-Kruger effect.

A typical Mensa meeting consists of ordering dinner and spending the evening arguing about the most logical way to split the bill.

Entry requirements

High IQ societies typically accept a variety of standardized multiple guess tests.

The ceiling of most standardized (validated and normed) intelligence tests is at around the 99.9th percentile. Measurements above this level are constructed by psychometricians who consider they have IQs in the range they are testing for, writing and grading tests in order to limit who can join their private club. At least two differently designed standardized tests, at least one supervised, should be performed.

Measurements above 99.99997th percentile are ridiculous, since there are insufficient normative cases upon which to base a statistically justified correlation.[3] In 2010, the United States population (ca. 300 million) normal expectation for the number of persons with IQ over 175 (sd15) is about 90.

Too many societies

The entrance criteria for IQ societies varies considerably. Some consider the nature of the tests they accept, i.e., whether the tests are either numerically, spatially, verbally, etc. slanted, and whether they are proctored or not. They all place great importance on how high one must score in order to acquire membership.[4][5]

Some notable examples, which include widely known ones like Mensa, will accept the results of standardized tests taken elsewhere - except possibly online ones, which typically seem to give everyone 130-140 because they're usually pitched to the wrong age group and are non-standardized.[6][7]

The following list is listed by their percentile cutoff point, assuming the "general intelligence factor", g is normally distributed with μ = 100 and σ =15/16.

Top 5%

  • 95th percentile; 1/20; IQ 124 sd15 / 126 sd16
    • AtlantIQ Society[8] - smart people who can't spell "Atlantic"
    • International High IQ Society - at this range, they barely qualify
    • omIQami Society[9] - smart Japanese people

Top 3%

  • 97th percentile; 1/33; IQ 128 sd15 / 130 sd16
    • Alta Capacidad Hispana[10]
    • Deepbrain Society[11]

Top 2%

  • 98th percentile; 1/50; IQ 130 sd15 / 132 sd16; +2σ
    • AtheistIQ[12]
    • Encefálica Society[13] Smart Spanish people, but too stupid to realize that autoplaying sound on your homepage is not a sign of brilliance
    • Greatest Minds[14]
    • High Potentials Society[15]
    • Ingenium High IQ Society[16]
    • IQual Society[17]
    • Mensa International
    • Mysterium Society[18]

Top 1%

  • 99th percentile; 1/100; IQ 135 sd15 / 137 sd16
    • Chorium[19]
    • El Ateneo Society[20]
    • Intertel
    • The Mind Society[21]
    • Top One Percent Society
    • UNIQ Society[22]

Top 0.5%

  • 99.5th percentile; 1/200; IQ 139 sd15 / 141 sd16
    • Colloquy
    • Poetic Genius Society[23]

Top 0.37%

  • 99.63rd percentile; 1/270; IQ 140 sd15 / 143 sd16
    • HispanIQ International Society[24]
    • Infinity International Society[25]

Top 0.3%

  • 99.7th percentile; 3/1,000; IQ 141 sd15 / 144 sd16
    • Cerebrals Society

Top 0.2%

  • 99.8th percentile; 1/500; IQ 143 sd15 / 146 sd16

Top 0.13%

  • 99.87th percentile; 13/10,000; IQ 145 sd15 / 148 sd16; +3σ
    • Artistic Minds Society[29]
    • CIVIQ Society

Top 0.1%

  • 99.9th percentile; 1/1,000; IQ 146 sd15 / 149 sd16
    • Glia Society[30]
    • International High IQ Society Milenija[31]
    • International Society for Philosophical Enquiry
    • IQuadrivium Society[32]
    • LOGIQ Society[33]
    • One-in-a-Thousand Society[34]
    • Triple Nine Society

Top 0.07%

  • 99.93th percentile; 7/10,000; IQ 148 sd15 / 151 sd16

Top 0.06%

  • 99.94th percentile; 3/5,000; IQ 149 sd15 / 152 sd16

Top 0.02%

  • 99.98th percentle; 1/5000; IQ 153 sd15 / 157 sd16

Top 0.009%

  • 99.991st percentile; 9/100,000; IQ 156 sd15 / 160 sd16

Top 0.003%

  • 99.997th percentile; 3/100,000; IQ 160 sd15 / 164 sd16; +4σ
    • Epimetheus Society
    • ERGO Society[41]
    • Homo Universalis Society[42]
    • Prometheus Society
    • Tetra Society[43]

Top 0.001%

  • 99.999th percentile; 1/100,000; IQ 164 sd15 / 168 sd16
    • Eximia High IQ Society[44]
    • The Ultranet[45]

Top 0.0001%

  • 99.9999th percentile; 1/1,000,000; IQ 172 sd15 / 176 sd16

Top 0.00003%

  • 99.99997th percentile; 3/10,000,000; IQ 175 sd15 / 180 sd16; +5σ
    • OLYMPIQ Society[50]
    • Pars Society[51] dead web page, two files only and no member list.
    • Society for Extreme Intelligence[52] "Founded by COSMiQ contactee Brennan Marti(a)n: Feb/7th/2010" has the typical lame website full of typos and grammar errors. So smart.

Top 0.000000001%

  • 99.999999999th percentile; 1/1,000,000,000; IQ 190 sd15 / 196 sd16; +6σ
    • Giga Society[53] has a really funny website, including communications from the future giga members!

See also

External links

References

  1. The Quest for Genius at CNN, 2008-11-29
  2. The embarrassingly named Prometheus Society and the Mega Society
  3. IQ measurement at the 99.99997th percentile
  4. Entrance Criteria for High IQ Societies
  5. IQ comparison chart
  6. Brainy-child.com - Reliability of IQ Scores over Time, by By Inderbir Kaur Sandhu
  7. A Guide to Psychology and Practice
  8. AtlantIQ Society. Retrieved 2010-4-15.
  9. omIQami society. Retrieved 2010-5-13.
  10. Alta Capacidad Hispana. Retrieved 2010-4-15.
  11. Deepbrain Society. Retrieved 2010-4-15.
  12. AtheistIQ. Retrieved 2010-4-15.
  13. Encefálica Society. Retrieved 2010-4-15.
  14. Greatest Minds. Retrieved 2010-5-13.
  15. High Potentials Society. Retrieved 2010-4-15.
  16. Ingenium High IQ Society. Retrieved 2010-4-15.
  17. IQual Society. Retrieved 2010-4-15.
  18. Mysterium Society. Retrieved 2010-4-15.
  19. Chorium. Retrieved 2010-4-15.
  20. El Ateneo Society. Retrieved 2010-4-15.
  21. The Mind Society. Retrieved 2010-5-01.
  22. UNIQ Society. Retrieved 2010-4-15.
  23. Poetic Genius Society. Retrieved 2010-4-15.
  24. HispanIQ International Society. Retrieved 2010-4-15.
  25. Infinity International Society. Retrieved 2010-4-15.
  26. ePiq Society. Retrieved 2010-4-15.
  27. Exactiq High IQ Society. Retrieved 2010-4-15.
  28. Neurocubo. Retrieved 2010-4-15.
  29. Artistic Minds Society Artistic Minds Society. Retrieved 2010-4-30.
  30. Glia Society. Retrieved 2010-4-15.
  31. International High IQ Society Milenija. Retrieved 2010-4-15.
  32. IQuadrivium Society. Retrieved 2010-4-15.
  33. LOGIQ Society. Retrieved 2010-4-15.
  34. One-in-a-Thousand Society. Retrieved 2010-4-15.
  35. ISI-Society. Retrieved 2010-4-15.
  36. Epida. Retrieved 2010-4-15.
  37. sPIqr. Retrieved 2010-4-15.
  38. Coeus. Retrieved 2010-4-15.
  39. Hall Of The Ancients. Retrieved 2010-4-15.
  40. Vertex. Retrieved 2010-5-06.
  41. ERGO Society. Retrieved 2010-5-08.
  42. Homo Universalis Society. Retrieved 2010-4-15.
  43. Tetra Society. Retrieved 2010-4-15.
  44. Eximia High IQ Society. Retrieved 2010-4-15.
  45. The Ultranet. Retrieved 2010-4-15.
  46. GenerIQ Society. Retrieved 2010-4-15.
  47. Incognia. Retrieved 2010-4-15.
  48. Omega Society. Retrieved 2010-4-15.
  49. Pi Society. Retrieved 2010-4-15.
  50. OLYMPIQ Society. Retrieved 2010-4-15.
  51. Pars Society. Retrieved 2010-4-15.
  52. Society for Extreme Intelligence. Retrieved 2010-5-12.
  53. Giga Society. Retrieved 2010-4-15.
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