The organization known as MENSA was founded in England in 1946 by a barrister named Roland Berrill, and Dr. Lance Ware, a scientist and a lawyer.
Some people insist that it’s not possible to fail a MENSA IQ test, and that is a ridiculous conclusion, because there are those that belong to MENSA, and there are those that are not allowed entry into the organization of MENSA.
Albert Einstein’s parents were informed by his teachers in elementary school that he was having problems with learning. He was probably bored with the subjects being discussed and wanted to study only math and science, as those were indeed suited to his intense personal interests. Later he was labeled as being an intellectual genius … yet if he lived in an era before math and science existed, in the public sphere he would have been unknown.
If adults want to strive to belong to the group known as MENSA, it is their right to apply, and either be allowed to enter through the door, or to have the door to the Mensa organization slammed shut in their faces.
It is not however a good idea to subject children to that test, because if the children succeed, the idea that they are much more intelligent than others could go to their heads and result in them being insufferable bores, as are so many adults that believe they are exceptionally intelligent.
And if the children fail the test that allows them to belong to MENSA, it would be tragic for them to believe that they are nothing other than dumb losers … which in turn could result in them losing faith that they are able to succeed in any field of endeavor whatsoever.
I once read a book that was written by a man whose brother was told that he had a low IQ. I don’t remember the title of the book, or the exact words, but I do remember the gist of the quote by the brother who was labeled as having a low IQ, and it went as follows … “Because of what we don’t know, we are all dumb.”
I suggest that his statement was and is correct, and that in contrast, there should not be any doubt that the scientist and lawyer that started the organization of MENSA were certain that they were so very intelligent by what they did know, as to be fully qualified to teach others the unadulterated meaning of that word “intelligence.”
June Vandermark
McBride, BC
