have Young Mensa groups within them, catering specifically to those members 25 or under. And others have college groups, which cater to students and faculty, and complement the local-group-activities. There are also groups who work with intelligent prisoners and continue helping them after their release.
(In London and in cities throughout the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, France and many other countries there are five or six meetings a month. Often a scientific or literary paper is read, usually by a member, to provide food for the good conversation which will fill the rest of the evening.)
Members meet weekly, monthly, yearly, in groups of all sizes, for amusement, pleasure, discussion, education and to solve problems. Groups combine for sports, pastimes, games, and to form pressure groups with special aims. Meetings can be anything from offbeat parties to international congresses to discuss concrete world problems. There are special interest groups which range from the Apathy Group to the World Government Group. One particular concern is with the special problems of gifted children, especially in underdeveloped countries, and helping society to get the best from them. But while Mensa hopes to foster the recognition of gifted children, and holds seminars and lectures on many subjects, it is most of all a social organization. No matter who you are, it is likely that there is a Mensa group or section which has something for you. If there isn't you can organize your own in Mensa.
The atmosphere at Mensa meetings is of a kind seldom found elsewhere: tolerant, forthright, at times profound, witty, even ribald, at other times intensely serious; always good-humored. A newcomer may embark on discussion of any subject with reasonable expectation that he will be understood . . . and challenged.
Each June there is a three-day Annual Gathering in America of members
from all parts of the country. Each year a different city is selected
to be the
