Every now and then I take an online IQ test because sometimes I think that my genius is just untapped or misunderstood, or dormant. Deep down I think I may be smarter than I look and depending on which IQ test I take, I’m slightly above average (or slightly below average).
I’m not a Mensa, like my mother-in-law. Yep, pretty damn daunting having an MIL who is one. She looks like quite a placid older lady but in her head I imagine her brain function to be a bit like in the Terminator movies when they take us inside the head of a cyborg and it’s like a fast-running computer system. They see everything. They miss nothing.
Maybe all our in-laws are geniuses, and they do all these things on purpose. Post continues after video.
It’s also daunting to know that there are kids as young as three who are being included in the super genius Mensa club and now another young, recent addition, an Aussie boy by the name of Adam* who is only six.
He joins a growing number of children being included into the international Mensa society.
All you need to do to be invited to join Mensa is to score higher than 98 per cent of the general population on a standardised IQ test assessed by a psychologist. Adam scored on the 99.7th percentile in maths and on the 99th percentile in reading.
You only need to score in the 98th percentile to be invited to Mensa. Show off.
Just so you know what that looks like at home, in case you think your kids might be gifted, Adam taught himself Chinese, devours books and regularly discusses evolution, at six.
I'm not sure what their get-togethers are like but according to the mission statement on mensa.org it sounds like a blast.
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.
If you think you might be a secret genius, or maybe one of your kids, here are a couple of the questions you need to be able to answer easily. It's not just about getting the right answer either. You are also timed as you do it.
Here are some sample questions:
Answer: 25
Answer: (a)
I didn't get either of these correct and became annoyed at having to even think about what might be the right answer, so I suppose that rules me out.
How did you go?
* Names have been changed to maintain privacy.
Top Comments
My question is about Creative Genius - how do you test for that ?
Or Musical genius.....or comedic genius ?
I found the above questions pretty easy but that's no real indicator of genuine genius...........I think it has a lot to do with acute perception & critical thought.......if my test was based in Maths I'd probably slow up quite a bit.......lol.
You can take the test for a modest cost or if you did one of the recognised tests under test conditions the proctor can accept you.
IQ isn't linear, it's a bit like the wealthy, you may be in the top tax bracket but there is a huge difference between top and bottom of that rate. Same with Mensa, most are people you'd note as sharp thinkers, but as you reach higher genius almost doesn't cover it with some members.
Also, be careful of taking a number for IQ. There are thousands of tests but the scale isn't always the same. For example test A says 140, test B says 150, but % wise 140 in the first test is a higher position in the population than B. So if someone says what their IQ is and you want to be smart, ask them under what test.
Testing young children is dangerous as their behaviour if gifted can initially look a lot like autism, it's very easy to miss the difference.