I joined the local Mensa, observed the problem after a few meetups, and proposed some changes. Most people opposed them. Blog is not necessary, because supposedly everyone already knows what Mensa is. We don’t need unpaying members; if they are not willing to pay the small fee, they don’t deserve to be listed as Mensa members. My disagreement with conspiracy theories on youtube means I am a sheep brainwashed by the mainstream media. And I don’t appreciate the new theories on relativity and quantum physics, because I am too stupid to understand them. We don’t need to cooperate with Mensas in other countries.
At last, some people agreed that the current web forum was horrible, and that it needed to be changed. But the discussion about possible replacement went exactly according to the Mensa stereotype—everyone proposed a different weird solution, and threatened to ragequit unless it is done exactly as they want it. And of course no one volunteered to actually do anything. I volunteered to install PHPBB, which at that time seemed like a standard solution, but people voted against me. Also, people insisted that the new forum must be visible only to Mensa members, to make Mensa even more invisible. At the end someone else installed their solution (I think it was the guy who installed the previous forum, so he had all the passwords, and could do it regardless of the opinions of others), with minimal functionality, and made it only for members.
(To compare, during the same time period I started a local Esperanto group with my four friends; we organized a few meetups, including an international one, published a few books, and a promotional multimedia DVD. The difference in productivity was shocking. In our Esperanto group, we had the same goal, and everyone wanted to try things. In the Mensa group, there was no goal, and everyone wanted to signal sophistication by disagreeing.)
Later I made a talk about Less Wrong in Mensa. Explained the cognitive biases, etc. Zero interest.
Then I started going to LW meetups and mostly forgot about Mensa. The LW meetups are much better, and the people there are much smarter. Unfortunately, the LW meetups I attend are in the neighbour country. I organized a local LW meetup for a year or two, but it didn’t grow beyond maybe 5 really interested people.
If I could succeed to find 10 rationalists in my country, I would probably try to take over Mensa. Seems simple: if everyone would join Mensa (IQ is not a problem for an average rationalist), we could win the election and make the new rules. Problem is, I haven’t succeeded at finding 10 wannabe rationalists in my country yet. (Also, recently I am busy having a small child, not enough time and energy for doing stuff outside my job and home.)
I would have helped you if I were in your country. It seems like the MENSA in your country is a waste of time, and hardly worth saving. Create a new organisation if you must. Though saving your local MENSA may be the decision with the higher payoff (imagine the possibilities if you showed them the way).
I tried, and failed.
I joined the local Mensa, observed the problem after a few meetups, and proposed some changes. Most people opposed them. Blog is not necessary, because supposedly everyone already knows what Mensa is. We don’t need unpaying members; if they are not willing to pay the small fee, they don’t deserve to be listed as Mensa members. My disagreement with conspiracy theories on youtube means I am a sheep brainwashed by the mainstream media. And I don’t appreciate the new theories on relativity and quantum physics, because I am too stupid to understand them. We don’t need to cooperate with Mensas in other countries.
At last, some people agreed that the current web forum was horrible, and that it needed to be changed. But the discussion about possible replacement went exactly according to the Mensa stereotype—everyone proposed a different weird solution, and threatened to ragequit unless it is done exactly as they want it. And of course no one volunteered to actually do anything. I volunteered to install PHPBB, which at that time seemed like a standard solution, but people voted against me. Also, people insisted that the new forum must be visible only to Mensa members, to make Mensa even more invisible. At the end someone else installed their solution (I think it was the guy who installed the previous forum, so he had all the passwords, and could do it regardless of the opinions of others), with minimal functionality, and made it only for members.
(To compare, during the same time period I started a local Esperanto group with my four friends; we organized a few meetups, including an international one, published a few books, and a promotional multimedia DVD. The difference in productivity was shocking. In our Esperanto group, we had the same goal, and everyone wanted to try things. In the Mensa group, there was no goal, and everyone wanted to signal sophistication by disagreeing.)
Later I made a talk about Less Wrong in Mensa. Explained the cognitive biases, etc. Zero interest.
Then I started going to LW meetups and mostly forgot about Mensa. The LW meetups are much better, and the people there are much smarter. Unfortunately, the LW meetups I attend are in the neighbour country. I organized a local LW meetup for a year or two, but it didn’t grow beyond maybe 5 really interested people.
If I could succeed to find 10 rationalists in my country, I would probably try to take over Mensa. Seems simple: if everyone would join Mensa (IQ is not a problem for an average rationalist), we could win the election and make the new rules. Problem is, I haven’t succeeded at finding 10 wannabe rationalists in my country yet. (Also, recently I am busy having a small child, not enough time and energy for doing stuff outside my job and home.)
I would have helped you if I were in your country. It seems like the MENSA in your country is a waste of time, and hardly worth saving. Create a new organisation if you must. Though saving your local MENSA may be the decision with the higher payoff (imagine the possibilities if you showed them the way).