Has the US lost its edge permanently?

[vashti]

Aww, jeez. Not another rant about how much better previous generations did things.

[vashti]

What?
______

Drunk posting?

[Cbrider]

2+2=4

check that edge motha ****er!

[SirWagginston]

People don't join MENSA to win some kind of pissing contest. It is a social gathering. I'm not even a member; I just go to their parties occasionally. The point is not to have a fancy title to boost your ego, but rather to find a wide variety of people who can hold interesting conversations on a wide variety of topics. I find it very difficult to meet people who can speak on my level on things I'm interested in, but at a MENSA gathering it's much easier.

It really is a good meeting place. That's where my parents met, anyways, and many other MENSA members find their future wife or husband there.

[dewilliams2]

lol

This thread has become unbearably pretentious

Your balls are unbearably pretentious.

[dewilliams2]

You know all of a sudden this thread is more enjoyable.

[Kiechi]

I love to go to the U.S. I met my first proper American person on my flight to Tokyo. He was the manager of some band popular in the U.S apparently, Rockafella or something? Pop rock he said. But yeah, the NY accent is pretty "neat".

[Gribble]

I have a MENSA card. I find the entire thing amusing. Sometimes I pull it out if I'm having an argument and slam it down on the table. Particularly when I'm about to make a claim I know is wholly lacking in reason. "**** you! MENSA says I'm right, bitch."

[IndiReloaded]

I have a MENSA card. I find the entire thing amusing. Sometimes I pull it out if I'm having an argument and slam it down on the table. Particularly when I'm about to make a claim I know is wholly lacking in reason. "**** you! MENSA says I'm right, bitch."

Did you do that with the old man?

Naw, you would have had to wait for him to find his magnifying glass... impatient chicken. That, and he probably would have just laughed at you.

[IndiReloaded]

BTW, getting back to the original thread concept here....that's one of our problems in the US. We stroke the little ones and tell them they are geniuses and so bright and have so much potential. And, the follow through isn't there. LOTS OF HARD WORK is what it takes. Lots of failures are often something that occur before the great success. Instead, the kids are shielded from any failure, any hurt, any real pain. They think that eating live bugs on TV is a sign of toughness. BS. They fail and they are taught to blame someone else...its racism, its sexism, its elitism, its whatever...something. But, never their fault.

I've gone to university recitals for music students and they are all praised for their great talent. Some are techncially good, but nearly all lack REAL emotion behind the music. Why? Because that extra edge that would make them great is a result of living and experiencing success and failure as a result of really trying to make that ultimate leap to success. And, is that explained to them? No. Instead, "good enough" has become "excellent" and "wonderful" and "you are a genius." Blah, blah, blah.

Why do I bring this up? Because that ultimate edge is what makes for a great society and civilisation. The developing world is accomplishing these things. The developing world has more parents and teachers that are honest with children and tell them "Hey, you are good buy you ain't great!" "Want to be better? Then work harder and harder and maybe, you might become great."

Results count. Also, the consant striving to go beyond the limits that you think you possess. Heck, I damn near ruined my health just to get as far as I did. I've known many people who have totally ruined their health and parts of their minds to reach further and accomplish more. Real success requires real pain...not fake pain. And you can't mask the pain with drugs...you have to feel it because when you feel it, then you know it in your soul.

And, some things are beyond hard work and IQ...some greatness is purely innate but still it requires hard work and ability to discover that which is innate, to nuture it and to make it bloom. 99.99999% of us don't have that. It is rare. But, you won't know unless you take yourself (and the other key members of society) to that limit. Socrates spend his whole life trying to discover the innate qualities of different types of individuals so as to built a better society...its an age old question that continually needs exploration.

You really need to get laid

Only so that he can make even more great posts like these. Anyway, not everyone who might benefit from them will necessarily post on this forum.

[CAM]

...and I might add, when parents are honest with their children--when society is honest with children and adults--about their capacity and about their success/failures, then individuals *learn* how to be honest with themselves. Being self-critical is very important. Knowing what is truly excellent and knowing where one really falls on the measuring rod of life...that is very important because external critics (mommy and daddy or government) are not always there to say "You are good, Johnny" or "You need to improve Johnny." Knowing where you are in the greater scheme of things provides for greater security for an individual. At the moment, we have a bunch of Prozac popping children (and adults) who are totally insecure and have not understanding of why or where they should next head to become better individuals. And they feel stressed and insecure but when they look around for someone to say that they need to move in this direction or that direction in life...well, there's just a bunch of smiling self-help gurus, teachers, psychologists, helicopter parents who say, "There's nothing wrong with you...it is just your environment that is bad and needs fixing."

Beyond honesty, learning self-motivation is critical, again for the same reasons as above. What happens in schools today? Middle school and high school and university level children are given small weekly assignments, given inflated grades, and often minimal effort exams so as to take the pressure off of actually having to know a body of literature or facts or whatever. Yes, too much to know the whole...a quick glossing over of the small parts is certainly enough. No delayed reward in that...small rewards meted out over the weeks to that "Sally" or "Billy" can go out of Friday night knowing that they got a A for the week. Reinforcing their parents constant refrain "You are a genius!"

That is why I do the opposite as a teacher. No weekly assignments. Two big tests and one big paper and no practice exams or rough draft editing. Get it right the first time, Billy or Sally!! And, I'm a total social Darwinist about it. I want to succeed but if they don't...well, perhaps that is the proper signal that should be sent to them. There is a measuring rod in life and they didn't measure up. On the other hand, if they really want to learn, then I am there to offer further lessons and facts for their eager minds.

[Petit Papillon]

People don't join MENSA to win some kind of pissing contest. It is a social gathering. I'm not even a member; I just go to their parties occasionally. The point is not to have a fancy title to boost your ego, but rather to find a wide variety of people who can hold interesting conversations on a wide variety of topics. I find it very difficult to meet people who can speak on my level on things I'm interested in, but at a MENSA gathering it's much easier.

It really is a good meeting place. That's where my parents met, anyways, and many other MENSA members find their future wife or husband there.

Tat's not actually true... Why would they register 2yo kids to MENSA if it would be about joining social group and having "interesting" conversations?

[SirWagginston]

... you can't register a 2-year-old for MENSA. 2-year-olds can't take standardized tests.

[Petit Papillon]

... you can't register a 2-year-old for MENSA. 2-year-olds can't take standardized tests.

Ok,you made me do it :/

http://abcnews.go.com/video/playerIndex?id=7477763

Ok,now you can say I was right

[Lipp]

Ok,you made me do it :/

http://abcnews.go.com/video/playerIndex?id=7477763

Ok,now you can say I was right

What has Mensa to do with children? Mensa can help gifted children a lot. Mensa is a social club whose sole purpose is to provide a venue for the enjoyment and social contact of its members, and gifted children very badly need opportunities to interact socially with other children like themselves. Ideally, Mensa would be the best possible social group for gifted children to grow up in, bridging from school and even pre-school, through to adulthood.

[url=http://mensa.org.au/?q=faq/children]Children | Australian Mensa[/url]