No, I am not a member; I “voted with my feet” and didn’t renew some years back. No regrets. But I asked this and another high-IQ-related Q because someone using a Mensa logo as his icon (hi, MENSAN!) answered another question I’d asked months ago.
I’ve always been fascinated with intelligence in others because my own was recognized and celebrated early on—though not enough to give me a swelled head about it (I hope). When I was 12 I asked about joining Mensa but was told by my teacher that they didn’t take anyone under 18—which was FALSE! And so I dropped it for a few decades. After I did join in 1999 the national Mensa organization and its “leadership” went from being a truly protean, fairly horizontal, member-driven group to an increasingly top-down-managed, censored and restricted, money-driven group riddled with politics, infighting and Risk Management, within a very short time. Too much like American politics and the direction our country’s taking for me.
Since I tend to seek out people who can supply their own end of a great conversation, I have since met several other ex-Mensans. I was curious about others’ reasons for dropping their membership, so I asked.
Why I enjoyed it? I gained a lot of perspective, and with it the ability to poke fun at myself. The individuals I met, the games and resources I discovered. I didn’t give up any of that just because I no longer tithe to the great god Merchandising, Licensing & Marketing, and I certainly don’t miss the high-IQ people I met who lacked common sense and/or whose ethical compass didn’t work.