Identify and foster human intelligence for the benefit of humanity.
American Mensa
Atten: Mrs. LaRae Bakerink, Chair
1200 E Copeland Rd. Ste 550
Arlington, TX 76011-1344
Dear Mrs. Bakerink:
I’ve sometimes wondered what really smart people do when they get together. I have longed for that sort of companionship ever since my days as a graduate student. So I loooked up your organization, and discovered that you and I have a common interest. Your first purpose is stated on your website as:
1. Identify and foster human intelligence for the benefit of humanity.
I love that sentiment. It blends in so well with my own thinking as well as with the words of Horace Mann, the first president of Antioch College in Ohio. He said to his students: “Be ashamed to die until you have won some victory for humanity.” That’s a bit stronger with a little more rhetorical flair, but he was a skilled orator and a leader even among those with similar views.
Now, to the point. What is Mensa doing for the benefit of humanity? I can’t find a word on that subject anywhere. It seems to me that your organization could be a lot more effective if you published a list of issues you are currently applying your many talents toward solving. I would love to read how you analyze, synthesize, evaluate, and reach limited conclusions about a variety of topics. For example, yesterday President Trump told the world that the U.S. infection rate from the Covid-19 virus was higher than nearly all other countries because we do more testing. So he suggested that we do less testing and our infection rate would fall. End of problem. It’s simple arithmetic.
But our medical scientists disagreed quite forcefully with that assessment (and so did I). They said that both our infection rate and death toll are higher because we are testing too little, and we are not controlling our environment well enough. We need to test more, not less, and enforce a social code a lot more effectively if we excpect to bring our current and projected data down. Perhaps we can do less after we have an effective vaccine that we can mass produce. But in the meantime, we need to hunker down and follow a stricter regimen and social code.
It’s a pressing issue. Thousands of lives could be saved. What do your members say? Who’s right, our President, or our medical experts? And why?
Sincerely,
Ed Phillips
P.S. I would like your permission to post your response for the benefit of my readers on AuthorsDen.com
Another piece of wordsmithing that does more for the curious mind than most any other type of wannabe thinker usually posts. Your position is well taken and I too would appreciate what your words request. Let me know what kind of response you get.
A very interesting article. I've often wondered the same thing. But I remember vividly that I was required to have an objective for my doctorate… Mine was, "To do something beneficial for humankind." So far all of my efforts have failed, as far as I know. But many have told me that I have been "an inspiration for them." And that may have been enough. I was hoping for more. Maybe like you, a change in attitude by those slowing our progress towards a better life for us all be a great accomplishment.
The only Mensa people that I have encountered seem to be oddballs who are rather isolated from the rest of society and only pursuing their personal pursuits. Perhaps because they were ostracized for not "fitting in." Often for their constant scoring the highest making them "brains" instead of people. And even bullying by those more physically endowed but somehow left out in the mental quarter, that made them feel alienated. Whatever it is, they seem to have a hard time communicating those smarts to the rest of us.
An interesting study would be to see if some of our greatest innovators were Mensa members. An astounding number, I have read like Einstein, were Jewish. Of those successful, many were Freemasons.
The smartest guy, who I believe is Mensa in our high school once told me that he got into the principal's office and learned all our IQs. He would not tell me what mine was when I asked. I still don't know. While he did a great service to the country in preventing nuclear war at least twice while in the Air Force, he has remained, largely a family man focused on his many pursuits like photography and astronomy. He wrote a fantastic autobiography that he hasn't shared with anyone yet, although both I and his daughter have encouraged him to do so. We both edited the work. I found virtually no errors in the entire book.
I've often wondered where MENSA is myself. Such radical intelligence really does need to be harnessed and put to universal beneficial use. Otherwise, of what good is it?
I tested once for MENSA under extreme emotional and physical duress. I still managed to miss inclusion by just one point. I'm not sure why but that pleases me more than if I had actually made it. It's like, y'all are just plain lucky I wasn't relaxed at the time. I woulda rocked this place!
Hearts of Gold
Synopsis
by
Frank P. Whyte
Portland, Oregon is known as the City of Roses. Of course that’s an odd name for a city whose mere mention conjures images of driving winds and torrential ra
The deep-dive literary meditations presented as stories, poems, and essays in The American Poet Who Went Home Again, A Mosaic of My Soul at Work, have captivated and inspired readers ever since its first paperback publication in 2008.
