viralmemory
2010-08-18 09:25 am UTC (link)

There's a lot going on in that thread, starting with the assumption that one will be accused of being a moron for enjoying a comic strip. The contempt people have for others' sources of entertainment always amuses me.

Followed by lots of "MY IQ LET ME SHOW YOU IT" and "It's hard out there for a ~~wanker~~ genius."

Quite a nice snack for a quiet night! Also I'm fighting the urge to share my thoughts on "Cathy" so I'll hit post and go read something else.

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	windex_junkie 2010-08-21 08:44 am UTC (link)
	Please, share your thoughts on Cathy. (I'm hoping your thoughts are the kind best expressed with a flamethrower that shoots plasma, Ebola, and flesh-eating weasels.) (Reply to this)(Parent)

	zyna_kat 2010-08-18 09:52 am UTC (link)
	Wow, never knew Cathy was such serious business. (Reply to this)(Thread)

(no subject) -

lindentreeisle, 2010-08-18 04:34 pm UTC

queencallipygos
2010-08-18 11:21 am UTC (link)

Oh good Lord.

...I actually was (technically, still am) in MENSA. The one and only reason I joined was because, when I qualified, I giggled for a solid two minutes at the very idea that I WAS eligible, and then figured that was a good sign I wouldn't take it too seriously, figured I'd meet people I wouldn't have met otherwise, and signed up. I've since let my membership lapse because I ended up going to few of the member events and I thought the dues a bit steep.

But I always insisted that the thing about IQ is that it is only a measurement of CAPACITY. It's kind of like, everyone's walking around with a different size pitcher, and the people with the high IQ's just have, like, a gallon instead of a half-gallon or a quart or whatever. But the size of the pitcher is only one thing -- the rest of it is what you put IN that pitcher. Having a gallon-size pitcher isn't a great thing if you've only been filling your pitcher with rancid Strawberry Yoo-Hoo. And a quart pitcher is just fine if you've filled it with Veuve Cleuquot.

So simply saying "I am in MENSA" does not lend your ideas any more credibility, unless someone is expressly saying something about how "only morons could like X". Which I don't think happened here -- it was just a matter of "X sucks".

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queencallipygos, 2010-08-18 11:23 am UTC

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persona, 2010-08-18 04:51 pm UTC

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persona, 2010-08-18 05:12 pm UTC

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windex_junkie, 2010-08-21 08:55 am UTC

	demonbean 2010-08-18 11:33 am UTC (link)
	And in case you are eager to put me down as a moron, I would like to tell you that I was accepted into Mensa. I am not bragging about this, but just providing the information so you may ascribe a level of value to my comments. Oh, we ascribed a level of value, to be sure. (Reply to this)

	ashenmote 2010-08-18 11:54 am UTC (link)
	So at least Cathy can go out proud of being read by intellectual giants and waitresses in trailer parks. Nice. (Reply to this)

	qem_chibati 2010-08-18 11:58 am UTC (link)
	assigns a score of A++ to the wank Now, now, you're all very special indeed. :D (Reply to this)

	tetradecimal 2010-08-18 12:50 pm UTC (link)
	On behalf of Cathy fans everywhere, I would like to say: CHOCOLATE CHOCOLATE CHOCOLATE! AACK! (Reply to this)(Thread)

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cygnia, 2010-08-18 03:13 pm UTC

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cygnia, 2010-08-18 03:44 pm UTC

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lindentreeisle, 2010-08-19 05:33 pm UTC

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rosehiptea, 2010-08-19 04:38 am UTC

(no subject) - tetradecimal, 2010-08-19 03:49 pm UTC

dodge_and_weave
2010-08-18 01:31 pm UTC (link)

In Chicago that means that after the lavish benefits packages teachers reap by threat of strike and the six figure incomes administrators take for poor management that the resources actually allotted to students is fairly limited.

aaaaaaaaaaaand commenter William lost me right here. Unless he seems to think trying to find a home in a nice neighborhood with a yard in Chicago per residency requirements on 56K and a TRS system that is in failure a lavish benefit package. Especially if you have to dip into your own funds if you want your students to have pens, pencils, paper etc. since they aren't buying it themselves and the school isn't supplying that. Yeah, he can bite me.

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persona, 2010-08-18 05:01 pm UTC

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eleutheria, 2010-08-19 08:56 am UTC

	whimsy_chan 2010-08-18 01:46 pm UTC (link)
	So... it's okay to have bad taste if you're in MENSA? Duly noted! (Reply to this)(Thread)

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witty, 2010-08-18 02:16 pm UTC

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queencallipygos, 2010-08-18 03:30 pm UTC

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witty, 2010-08-18 04:33 pm UTC

	bigbigtruck 2010-08-18 02:34 pm UTC (link)
	Eagerly anticipating Cathy Guisewite proudly declaring, "HA! I trolled you guys SO HARD. Also, I actually totally know how to draw hands." (Reply to this)(Thread)

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moonjaguar, 2010-08-18 03:23 pm UTC

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white_tean
2010-08-18 02:37 pm UTC (link)
To be a member one must test in the top 2% of a standard IQ test, pretty much the definition of genius.
Fuck, no. Genius is several lofty regions above that - IIRC doesn't mensa intake (top 2%, yes) start around 130-140 IQ? That's nowehere near genius level. It's bright, sure, but it's nowhere near the rarity of atom-splitting brilliance.
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(no subject) - rachelmap, 2010-08-18 03:10 pm UTC

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melange
2010-08-18 03:03 pm UTC (link)
You know, Richard Feynman didn't qualify for Mensa. And, iirc, was quite proud of that. Just sayin'.
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(no subject) - kylenne, 2010-08-19 02:30 am UTC

moonjaguar
2010-08-18 03:31 pm UTC (link)
"Douche canoe" is my new favorite phrase of the moment.
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white_serpent
2010-08-18 04:11 pm UTC (link)
MENSAns and non-MENSAns alike, can we not see the one thing that unites us ALL:

an inability to stay out of internet slapfights.

Also, why has no one told me about the "I'm smart, so anything I like is quality" defense before? 'Cause I think now is the time to talk about the deep, intellectual meaning of Ninja Warrior.
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(no subject) - queencallipygos, 2010-08-18 04:22 pm UTC

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re_weird
2010-08-18 07:26 pm UTC (link)
Yes, IQ is totally an objective standard of intelligence with no bias or shortcomings at all! Feel free to throw those numbers around like they mean anything.

/pet peeve
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(no subject) - mastervex, 2010-08-19 01:25 am UTC

deadrose
2010-08-18 08:58 pm UTC (link)
And this would be why I've never renewed my childhood Mensa membership. A family friend renewed it for me when I was in my early 20s, but as a ramen-eating, beer swilling punk, I had no money to spend for the toney restaurant where they held their meetings. No interest, either, other than seeing their faces when I walked in. It lapsed again after a year and I've never had any desire to do anything about it.

In my experience, half the people were there to point out how wonderful and special they were, and the other half were whining about how misunderstood they were.
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(no subject) - lindentreeisle, 2010-08-18 10:02 pm UTC

(no subject) - deadrose, 2010-08-19 09:39 am UTC

dreamer_marie
2010-08-18 10:00 pm UTC (link)
The only person I've ever met who was in Mensa was actually quite dumb.
Just saying.
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(no subject) - librarianmouse, 2010-08-19 02:46 am UTC

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sorchar
2010-08-18 11:00 pm UTC (link)
When I was about 13 or so, my mom and I were eating in a dept store restaurant (RIP Thalheimers, you had the best popovers) and a MENSA group was meeting there. Keep in mind that at age 13, I a: still thought having a higher-than-average IQ meant that I was a speshul snowflake and b: was significantly thinner and more conventionally attractive than I am now, in the "getting hit on by creepy older men" way. Said meeting was full of creepy older men - mostly the stereotypical basement-dwelling type which we are so often accused of being here at FW - and I had not the good sense not to ask about joining. *headdesk* Fortunately, I was also lazy and never got around to trying. Not for lack of effort on the part of the creepy older man I had spoken to, however.
(Reply to this)

sorchar
2010-08-18 11:20 pm UTC (link)
Also, I'm reminded of a certain romance novelist from back in the 80s whose books proudly proclaimed her history degree and MENSA membership on the backs, yet she made huge, glaring historical errors. (Christmas trees in medieval Scotland LOLWUT?)
(Reply to this)

redwarrior
2010-08-19 07:02 pm UTC (link)
It's not really how smart you are, it's what you DO with that intelligence that counts.

And, sadly, these people are using their supposed MENSA cred for a lousy comic strip. Way to make me not want a membership!
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cmikhailovic
2010-08-20 07:37 pm UTC (link)
I qualify for Mensa, but have never joined, because "I, too, am good at taking standardized tests!" doesn't sound like a fun excuse for a party.

I try not to get overly snotty about Mensa, though. From what I understand (and from what people are saying above), there aren't really a lot of doctors, lawyers, engineers, professors, etc., in Mensa. I think it's because they don't NEED to belong to a "smart people club" -- they're in professions that give them intellectual validation and stimulation. The bulk of the Mensa membership seems to be made up of people who don't get that in their jobs, and so need some other kind of external reinforcement that they're smart.

Also, people who form a group based on being smart, but then have no system of checks and balances (like peer review) to keep them from thinking that smart=always right, get really wanky, really fast.

/tl;dr
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windex_junkie
2010-08-21 08:41 am UTC (link)
I have always, always, ALWAYS FUCKING HATED CATHY because the whole strip was a huge seething cancerous tumor of anti-female FAIL.

Just because it's drawn by a woman and normal women often feel nervous in revealing bathing suits DOESN'T MEAN IT ISN'T A VILE MISOGYNISTIC MINDFUCK. (See also: For Better or Worse.)

*twitches*
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(no subject) - visp, 2010-08-21 04:40 pm UTC

blue_linnet
2010-08-22 04:35 am UTC (link)
I'm extremely skeptical of IQ in general..it just doesn't seem to make any sense. Nearly everyone I know who took IQ tests in school got 130 or higher, and I have an abormal number of friends who claim 150+ IQ. I mean, my friends are mostly bright and creative people, but...that most people I know, IRL and on the internet, just happen to be in the top 2 percent of intelligence? It doesn't seem reasonable. Where are all these 70 IQ people at, or 90 IQ people? Because it seems there'd have to be just as many of them. (Now, to be fair if people tested that way they'd probably not be telling people, but still..)
It really doesn't make any sense to me.
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(no subject) - snarkhunter, 2010-08-23 06:11 pm UTC

(no subject) - ladyvorkosigan, 2010-08-24 12:52 pm UTC