IMO: Mensa's Unresolved Essential Problem

American Mensa's strategic plan

 VISION: 
Create a stimulating intellectual and social environment for the most intelligent people.

MISSION
: Identify and foster human intelligence for the benefit of humanity by encouraging research in the nature, characteristics and uses of intelligence and by providing a stimulating intellectual and social environment for its members.

CORE VALUES:
 (Core values are essential and enduring tenets of the organization — a small set of timeless guiding principles.)

Intelligence benefiting humanity:
   Demonstrated by support of initiatives that advance the use of intelligence in solving problems and seizing opportunities.

Intellectual integrity:
   Demonstrated by organizational dedication to ethical, truthful and evidence-based decision-making with an appropriate balance between openness and privacy, and between transparency and confidentiality. 

Valuing ideas and individualism:
   Demonstrated by celebration of the power of differing views, admiration for independent thought, and appreciation of well-intentioned and informed criticism.

Connection:
   Demonstrated by commitment to providing opportunities for fellowship among a global community of common interests.

BIG GOAL: To be widely recognized as the premier community for intelligent people seeking intellectual challenge, respect for intelligence and the opportunity to join with others to benefit humanity.

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I agree with and support all of the vision/mission/core values/goals. I really truly do.

But Mensa is heading the way of dinosaurs, and when that happens, none of these lofty goals will be met or remembered. Here’s what I consider to be a essential unresolved problem: We are utterly aggressively inclusive. As a result, all the smart misfits of the world have a place to congregate and socialize. Sounds wonderful.

However, for every 100 adequately-socialized smarty who join, there will be two or three I would classify as unrepentant, irredeemable “jerks.” You know them:

Revolting Ralph, who hovers at the food table, eats with his hands, coughs without covering his mouth, and sticks his fingers in the chip dip.

Dirty Old Monty, who leers at the 20 and 30-year old women, makes lewd remarks, and gives tight pelvic-grinding hugs without permission.

Snotty Sara, who criticizes everyone in a snarky tone, bitches in a 500-person hospitality line about how “real” turkey should be hand carved from a whole bird instead of served pre-sliced in warming trays, and writes condescending letters to the editor when events are not planned in places and times convenient for her.

Tommy Troll, who purposely floods online venues with rude, racist, hate-filled or obscene posts and then proudly boasts about how many thin-skinned members block him.

There are more, of course, and we all know them.

BUT… people like me, and most of my readers have been around long enough to have met and befriended 100s of brilliant and colorful people who are really awesome, and we know that it’s easy enough to sidestep the jerks and find the intellectual camaraderie and acceptance we joined for.

However, we wise and seasoned members… will fade away. Until Mensa develops and distributes affordable immortality pills, there will be fewer of us. Ah, but, you say, we get new members, younger members, and they will replace older members. Circle of life and all that.

The problem is… incoming members do not have our experience. They encounter the jerks and then quietly mutter “Wow, this is sooo not what I expected or need in my life. I’m outta here.”

The new jerks, having found acceptance, stay.

Consequently, the number of jerks swells over time, which hastens the exit of more and more new members. As we gray-hairs fade away, the jerk-to-awesome ratio tilts in a very bad direction more and more.

Where is Mensa heading by virtue of its unwillingness to stop tolerating and supporting the activities and participation of the jerks? 

Is this the “stimulating intellectual and social environment for the most intelligent people” we want?