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An Online Workout for Your Brain
November 20, 2001
Jeremy Skorochid
The Internet may be the most easily accessible source of information that exists, but it can also be just plain fun.
The other day my Mom decided she wanted to do an IQ test. She hadn't done one for a while and she was wondering how many brain cells she had lost since the last kick at the can.
After wading through some very unfriendly data on intelligence tests, I came across the Mensa International site at www.mensa.org.
Mensa is basically an international society of smart people. The society has members from every walk of life whose IQ is in the top two per cent of the population. The objective of Mensa is to encourage its members to participate together in a wide range of social and cultural activities.
Although the web site itself is not huge, the Mensa information page is worth a visit. Here you will get the answers to questions such as: What does Mensa mean? Who started Mensa? What kind of people are members? How can you join?
Apparently, the word Mensa means "table" in Latin. The name stands for a round-table society, where race, colour, creed, national origin, age, politics, educational or social background are irrelevant.
The fun begins on the Mensa workout page. You can follow the links from the main page or go directly to it at www.mensa.org/workout.
There you will find a quiz you can do online. It is not an intelligence test, it's just for entertainment and is biased towards people whose primary language is English.
The workout consists of thirty brainteasers, which should be completed in thirty minutes if your score is to be at all meaningful. The type of questions asked include completing sequences of designs and numbers, rearranging letters to make new words, categorizing nouns and understanding the meaning of proverbs.
My Mom started off fine, doing all the word questions because she is good at those. Then my brothers wanted to help. So the three of them worked on it for a long time. They managed a score of 22 out of 30, but then again, two (or three) heads are better than one.
I did the test next. It was very challenging: I worked very hard on it and took longer than thirty minutes. I got 21 out of 30. A very good score, apparently, if I had only done it in thirty minutes.
When you have completed the test you submit your answers. Your score is displayed on a page with all the answers and explanations for the correct results, which are helpful for those of us who finished the test feeling totally confused. If you do well you are told that you might be able to score high enough on an approved intelligence test to qualify to join Mensa. There is information on other pages about how to do so if you are so inclined.
So if you have some spare time one day and you want to give your intellect a workout, log onto Mensa and go for it!
Jeremy Skorochid is a Community Access Program student working at the Drumbo branch of the Oxford County Library.
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