good luck hunting.
MENSA, the elite society for geniuses is teaming up with Match.com to create a dating site that’s reserved for super-smart people only. Match.com claims that 80% of singles report that intelligence is an important factor in a relationship, and most Mensa members prefer a partner on a similar wavelength, so to speak. Well, together they’ve decided to do something about it.
The smarty-pants version of the site will require that its users have an IQ higher than 98% of the general population, just like the Mensa qualifications. That sounds pretty exclusive, but it supposedly makes 6 million people in the U.S. eligible to join. As of this moment, the genius section of Match is basically like a separate group off of the main site. Mensa members are given a digital badge that they can post onto their profiles, basically a visual marker saying “Watch out, beauty AND brains over here.”
The smart-end of the population is hoping that it will allow them an easier time finding people who really share the same or similar interests.
As Mensa member Anne Sereg told CNN:
“I’m looking for people who are intellectually curious, and when all you’re talking about is sports teams and barbeques … when you’re talking about physical traits and not existential philosophy, I’m not going to get the vibe.”
Makes sense. (But BBQs are fun, Anne! Maybe you’d be more interested if we started talking about having a barbequois instead?)
John McGill, who is Mensa’s national director of marketing, said:
“[Mensans] process things much quicker than most other people do. It’s certainly not an elitist thing, they just see things very, very differently and they interact differently… What’s great about it is when there’s an opportunity for people to get to meet each other and they just might process things the same way, it makes it really perfect.”
Geniuses aren’t the only ones looking to flock together with birds of their particular feather. Match also recently teamed up with the MLB in an attempt to provide a space for baseball lovers to unite, and has intentions to continue making specialized groups for a more succinct online dating experience.
So. Are you wondering if you qualify to be part of that very elite 2%? Mensa has an IQ test you can take to find out in the comfort of your own home.
Just don’t let your new-found status as a genius go to your head. It needs all the room it can get to fit that brain!
