Those with an IQ “taller than average” took their chances at getting into Mensa as they attended a testing session on Saturday.
Mensa is open to anybody who scores in the top two percent in a fluid intelligence test.
Judith Tuckwell, testing co-ordinator for Nelson, says she always noticed she had to “edit” her conversations heavily before joining Mensa in the late 1960s. “When I joined Mensa I discovered that, when I am enthusiastic about something, I can overwhelm other people. When I was actually in a Mensa group I suddenly realised that I could say exactly what I liked and I would get a response that I had only dreamt of getting before. It’s a bit like a horse being let out of a stable going for a gallop, and I can just go for it.”
Judith, now in her 70s, was the 27th Mensan in New Zealand. She started a social group in the Hawkes Bay before moving to Nelson.
“That is what I’d like to create in Nelson. I’d love to have a mixed group. Mixed ages, mixed interests and the delight of the conversations.”
There are around 400 Mensans in New Zealand but only two known in Nelson.
There is no requirement to join Mensa other than scoring in the top two percent of an IQ test.
Darren Stevenson is the second Nelson member, joining nine years ago in his 30s. He says there were around 20 members in the city at the time. “I joined after Testination, a TV series about IQ. I realised I was a bit smarter than I thought I was, so then I did the Mensa test. For me, you can walk into a room and you’re accepted. It’s such a wide spectrum of people who have language skills, music skills, a whole range of things.”
For more information see www.mensa.org.nz or contact Judith on 020 4036 7998.
