High IQ societies and role-models
There are plenty of IQ societies. Some are more serious and reputable than others. Below are the most well-known and established at various levels:
- Triple Nine Society, 99.9th percentile (1 in 1,000)
- The Prometheus Society, 99.997th percentile (1 in 30,000)
- Mega Society, 99.9999th percentile (1 in 1,000,000)
- Omega Society, 99.9999th percentile (1 in 1,000,000)
- Olympiq Society, 99.99997th percentile (1 in 3,500,000)
- Giga Society, 99.9999999th percentile (1 in 1,000,000,000)
Obviously, measurement errors, poor standardization, and faulty tests occur. Nevertheless those stuck in the argument that IQ cannot be measured reliably above a certain level haven’t understood the point and do not add much new. It is not just about the number on the paper, but rather about exploring what level of difficulty of logical problems you can solve, given your own motivation, preferences, etc., boosting the brain, and perhaps building a network with like-minded people.
Among the various individuals whose primary goal is to be recognized as a great genius to satisfy their own ego, there are many truly talented and gifted people in the higher societies with stricter admission requirements and more rigorous testing. Many examples exist among those who have qualified for the Mega Society (widely considered one of the most selective high-IQ societies); here are a few:
- Ed O. Thorp – Mathematically proved that blackjack could be defeated through card counting and popularized how to “beat the house” (author of Beat the Dealer), university lecturer in mathematics, co-inventor of the first wearable computer, pioneer in arbitrage (author of Beat the Market), billionaire, etc.
- Solomon W. Golomb – Mathematician, Franklin Medalist, pioneer in space communications, and creator of the predecessor to Tetris.
- John H. Sununu – Former White House Chief of Staff, former Governor of New Hampshire, with a PhD from MIT.
- Cavan Cohoes – Mathematician, pilot, former professional athlete, and instrumentalist (a modern Renaissance person).
- Georg Wikman – Mathematician, physicist, scientist, and entrepreneur who won the “Lifetime Award” and was the first to commercialize Kan Jang.
- Werner Couwenbergh – Former partner at Accenture and PwC, with Master’s degrees in nuclear physics, applied physics, and philosophy, and Bachelor’s degrees in industrial engineering and nuclear chemistry.
To understand the difficulty of meeting the Mega Society’s entrance requirements, consider Fredrik Ullén, a professor of neuroscience at the Swedish top-tier university Karolinska Institutet, concert pianist, director at the Max Planck Institute, and member of the Prometheus Society. He narrowly missed the qualifying limit.
Explore the potential and expand the cognitive ceiling. Discover where the limits are and how to grow beyond them. Determine what is necessary to reach the next level.
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