Mensa
Founding
Roland Berrill, an Australian barrister, and Dr. Lancelot Ware, a British scientist and lawyer, founded Mensa in the United Kingdom in 1946. They had the idea of forming a society for bright people, the only qualification for membership being a high IQ. It was to be free from all social distinctions (racial, religious, etc.), represented by the name of the organization, which comprises two Latin words: mens, which means “mind;” and mensa, which means “table”, indicating that it is a round-table society of minds.
Mensa also was to be a non-political organization, reflected in its constitution: “Mensa encompasses members representing many points of view. Consequently, Mensa as an organization shall not express an opinion as being that of Mensa, take any political action other than the publication of the results of its investigations, or have any ideological, philosophical, political, or religious affiliations.”
Mensa Membership
Mensa’s only requirement for membership is that one score at or above the 98th percentile on certain standardized IQ tests, such as the Stanford-Binet. Because different tests are scaled differently, it is not meaningful to compare raw scores between tests, only percentiles. For example, the minimum accepted score on the Stanford-Binet is 132, while for the Cattell it is 148.
Mensa Mission
Mensa’s constitution lists three purposes: to identify and to foster human intelligence for the benefit of humanity; to encourage research into the nature, characteristics, and uses of intelligence; and to provide a stimulating intellectual and social environment for its members.
To this end, the organization is also involved with programs for gifted children, literacy, and scholarships, and it also holds numerous “gatherings”.
Interestingly, at Mensa’s 50th Anniversary, Dr. Ware, one of the founders, addressed Mensans by stating that he hoped that “Mensa will have a role in society when it gets through the ages of infancy and adolescence.” He also said, “I do get disappointed that so many members spend so much time solving puzzles,” expressing his desire for Mensans instead to be solving some of the world’s problems.
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