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Religion
In reply to the discussion: New meta-analysis checks the correlation between intelligence and faith [View all]spin
(17,493 posts)5. Mensa members are supposed to be very intelligent so I decided to see how many are religious. ...
10 What kind of people are Members of Mensa?
Description
This article is from the Mensa FAQ, by Phil Hill phil@miracle.com with numerous contributions by others.
Mensa: We Think, Therefore We Are. Mensans are the kind of people you
meet every day ... except that they enjoy using their minds more than
most. And they have IQ scores that would impress their neighbors!
Today there are some 100,000 Mensans in 100 countries throughout the
world. There are active Mensa organizations in 18 countries in Europe,
North America and around the Pacific Rim. American Mensa, Ltd. has
some 150 local chapters with more than 50,000 members. Founded at
Oxford University in 1946, Mensa has three stated purposes: to identify
and foster human intelligence for the benefit of humanity, to encourage
research in the nature, characteristics and uses of intelligence, and to
promote stimulating intellectual and social opportunities for its
members.
***snip***
Mensans range in age from 4 to 94, but most are between 20 and 49. In
education they range from preschoolers to high school dropouts to people
with multiple doctorates. There are Mensans on welfare and Mensans who
are millionaires. As far as occupations, the range is staggering.
Mensa has professors and truck drivers, scientists and firefighters,
computer programmers and farmers, artists, military people, musicians,
laborers, police officers, glassblowers - you name it. There are famous
Mensans and prize-winning Mensans, but there are many, many whose names
you wouldn't know.
* MENSA DEMOGRAPHICS (USA)
***snip***
49% Christian, 3% Unitarian, 9% Jewish, 7% agnostic, 3.6% atheist,
9% no religion
Read more: http://stason.org/TULARC/self-growth/mensa/10-What-kind-of-people-are-Members-of-Mensa.html#.UgkUm8u9KSM#ixzz2bm8mWEFH
I had no idea how my search would turn out but I have to admit that I am surprised that so many people who have intelligence test scores in the top 2% of the population would members of a religious faith. I would have suspected the majority would have claimed to be atheist, agnostics or to have no religion.
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I guess the rest of the world is the opposite of Lake Woebegone; no one is above average. n/t
lumberjack_jeff
Aug 2013
#8
It appears that only about 13 out of 137 countries are of average or above intelligence ...
Jim__
Aug 2013
#3
And from what I did see, the bulk of those studied (87%) were from western countries.
cbayer
Aug 2013
#7
A meta study is defiend as 'looking at other studies and not doing their own'
muriel_volestrangler
Aug 2013
#19
Mensa members are supposed to be very intelligent so I decided to see how many are religious. ...
spin
Aug 2013
#5