When I was 6 years old, I took my first IQ test. At the time, I scored 126. Since then, I have taken many IQ tests and scored a maximum of 138. Although I scored above average growing up, I lived with epilepsy until early adulthood, which made the front stage over intelligence.
My second IQ test was when I was 13, and I scored a 132, which is good enough for entrance into Mensa. Three years later, my mom got in touch with the Bowling Green Mensa chapter and asked about me joining. She was trying to get me into activities other than staying at home and programming all of the time. They obliged and said for me to attend the next meeting. I went and was not impressed with the local chapter. For one, they met at Mr. Gatti's pizza in the children's playroom. Second, most of them were stuck up. I never went back to another meeting and dropped, wanting to join that organization.
It would be another 16 years until the thought reoccurred to me about my IQ. It was at this point that I decided to take the International High IQ Society's entrance exam. I passed and joined my first high IQ society.
It was quite an adventure when I joined. I learned really fast that you need to have very thick skin to survive. It was much like the local Mensa society I had attended the one time. Luckily, I am the type that it takes a LOT to make me mad, and what many people would become infuriated over, I laugh at. First off, there is the issue of emotions being misconstrued in posts by the reader when the author could have completely different feelings behind the post. We see that on Facebook too. That was the case quite often in a discussion I and many others would have there. Second, many people seem to believe that high IQ societies are a think tank of ideas. Sure there are many ideas, but not to the magnitude that is often perceived by the general public. It is more of an elite society where people discuss many of the same topics discussed in other parts of the internet, but with a higher degree of thought, except when it comes to politics. There is also only so much to talk about. It is not like there are new and exciting intellectual topics every day, or even every week. Once those topics have been discussed, what more is there to really discuss when it comes to "intellectual topics"? That is when topics go to politics and the latest news, just like everywhere else on the internet. As far as participation, it was exciting upfront, but after a couple of years, like most things, the excitement wore off. Unlike back in the early 2000s, when these groups were pretty new on the internet, and these communities were very active with new and exciting topics, it is not so much today, and I see new members coming in that are very disappointed. They are expecting lots of discussions, whereas the members that have been there are tired of. The new users get very few responses and then just leave. Sadly, new members can't be segmented off into their own area to experience what we did. That is not possible on Facebook, and Facebook is where most of the participation now takes place. The old forums are no longer very active.
For the next 5 years, I posted on and off at IHIQS. Facebook came along and diverted much of mine and a lot of other members' attention off of that society. I then joined my next high IQ society and didn't really participate much. It was later in 2013 that I took another entrance exam for another society, Mysterium, and joined it. I have participated in some, but not very much. I have also joined a couple of other societies but have not engaged much.
It was just the entrance to a society that inspired me to achieve much more in my life than I had ever perceived myself as being capable of. Before joining, I never thought of myself as an over-achiever. There had been a few times that I had thought outside the box, but it was far and few instances. I had been cycling for a few years by this time and was very good at it. Competitive Sports, combined with the physical shape the personal trainer helped me get to, along with now belonging to a high IQ society, made my ego and arrogance rage. It was several years until I was able to get a grasp on it and control this to truly benefit myself.
It was at this point that I really began to excel in my career and life. I started thinking outside the box to come up with new ideas. The memberships to these societies gave me that boost of confidence that I needed to excel. It opened up an entirely new avenue of thought for me. As far as them really guiding or directly helping me, no, they have not done that, though they have encouraged and supported me.
I have met a fair number from IHIQS in person as I travel a lot and post my destinations on Facebook, asking if anyone wants to meetup. I have thoroughly enjoyed the company. We had a meet in New York City in 2010, and it was great.
The general public often puts members of these societies on a pedestal with the expectation of perfection. It is commonly held against you if you make mistakes. A common statement is, "How could you do that belonging to high IQ societies?" Another thing that I have heard people talk about is how some people with extreme IQs achieve nothing in life, such as William James Sidis. From my own observations and experiences, these people have a perception of society that most people never discern. Most people live in bliss throughout their lives and rarely use critical thinking skills on such topics as religion, existence, life, politics, and such. That is why brilliant people sometimes no longer want to use their intelligence to contribute to society. That is a big difference I have noted between the general public and people with high IQs. I have even said that people of average intelligence are sometimes luckier than the gifted because their existence is bliss. They often don't critically think through many of the critical topics, as mentioned above, that gifted people do, accepting what society presents to them. It leaves them with a feeling of completeness because they know no better.
In conclusion, I have to say that it has been well worth joining high IQ societies. I am just glad I had a very thick skin and was able to make it past those parts to set me in motion to becoming the person I am today. It has changed everything about me.
