Well, that answers my question about whether any actual smart people are in MENSA. The only MENSAs I ever met made a really, really, really big deal about how they were in MENSA, and yet they didn't seem all that smart to me. It struck me that it was very important to these people that they were in MENSA because it "proved" to the world (and themselves) how smart they were, and it seemed to me that these people were actually somewhat pathetic. Thus, I wondered if MENSA was actually made up entirely of pathetic people who were not actually very bright.
In my own experience, really smart people have no need whatsoever to prove to anyone else how smart they are. The world either recognizes that fact or not, and they don't particularly care one way or the other. If they happen to meet another very smart person, then they may have found a new friend. Everyone else falls into one of two categories: teachable and non-teachable. Teachable people are deserving of their attention; non-teachable ones are not.
Since I always wondered why any really smart person would need to join an organization to prove they were smart, I've also always wondered if any actual smart people were in MENSA. Now I know. Thanks for the insiders point of view, namely that MENSA is in fact a good discriminator for intelligence: any intelligent person who joins MESA thinking it is an organization of intelligent people quickly discovers otherwise and quits, leaving only not-so-intelligent people as members. In fact, MENSA perfectly selects for those who remain members: not-so-bright and unaccomplished people who desperately wish the world would see them otherwise.
“In my own experience, really smart people have no need whatsoever to prove to anyone else how smart they are. The world either recognizes that fact or not, and they don’t particularly care one way or the other. If they happen to meet another very smart person, then they may have found a new friend. Everyone else falls into one of two categories: teachable and non-teachable. Teachable people are deserving of their attention; non-teachable ones are not. “
That is the general view that I take when meeting new people. I will add that I try to learn as much as possible from others whom I find to possess wisdom.