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Why did you choose not to join Mensa?

12.06.2025 10:26

Why did you choose not to join Mensa?

I realize it might be unfair to judge the entire organization from a single meeting, but it was so, so bad.

Back in high school, I qualified for MENSA on the basis of my SAT scores (690 math/750 English). I went to one meeting, and…

Never in my entire life up to that point had I ever seen a collection of such smug, self-congratulatory wankers, because in 1984 veganism hadn’t emerged as an identity yet. That one meeting convinced me that this was a collection of mostly guys (there was only one woman) much more interested in eating cheese and fellating each other over how clever they are than doing anything interesting, so I never went back.

Should I have left it alone and kept quiet? I came out as gay to my adult kids last week. Age 61 married 15 years, divorced for 20. I feel so guilty for ruining their lives by living a lie.