Misplaced Pages

Revision as of 21:53, 15 July 2006

Mega Society

Appears to be a non-notable society. I am informed there are only 25 members My vote is

• Delete Jefffire 15:49, 15 July 2006 (UTC)
• Delete: seem like an advert, see article talk page Byrgenwulf 16:07, 15 July 2006 (UTC)

Here are some good reasons not to delete it: first, the Society has been written about many times in mainstream publications; second, it has been listed in various listings of international organizations since its founding in 1982; third, it is the oldest and best known of the "ultra high IQ" organizations.

Size alone is not a good indication of "encyclopedic" nature in this case, because the nature of the Society limits its size. A better criterion would be "utility." Currently the entry is referenced several hundred times per day. That qualifies it at as a useful entry.

My vote is

• Keep Canon 16:13, 15 July 2006 (UTC)

Comment. "Utility" is not an accepted criterion for inclusion in Misplaced Pages. Jefffire 16:14, 15 July 2006 (UTC)

Comment. I agree that being small is no reason not to include it, but I'm not yet seeing the notability. Could you point us to some of the articles in mainstream publications you mention? Google News and the NYT archives have nothing. In Google itself I found a couple of media mentions (one in Esquire, one in The Wave), but nothing that qualifies as "written about". Thanks, William Pietri 17:12, 15 July 2006 (UTC)

Comment. The Wall Street Journal first wrote about the Society on April 19, 1992; I am aware of articles in Omni Magazine, Esquire Magazine, and Republic Magazine that discuss the Society. I believe there have been others. The Society appeared in several editions of the Guinness Book of World Records. I don't know if Mensa International counts as "mainstream," but the Mensa FAQ has listed the Society since the early 1990s. Canon 20:45, 15 July 2006 (UTC)

• Keep 4.156.123.30 17:32, 15 July 2006 (UTC)

• Comment Anonymous users first and only edit. Jefffire 17:43, 15 July 2006 (UTC)

• Keep [User: Kevin Langdon, 15 July 2006 (UTC)

• Comment The Mega Society is small because it attempts to select members at the one-in-a-million level. Many issues of our excellent journal, *Noesis*, appear at our website, http://www.megasociety.org. I am currently the Editor of *Noesis*. If you want to vote on retention of this listing please take a look at our site. Thank you. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Kevin Langdon (talk • contribs) 19:59, 15 July 2006 (UTC)

• Keep 205.188.117.67 21:02, 15 July 2006 (UTC)

• Comment I'm not a member of the Mega Society though I spent two years trying to join it. There is shamefully little work being done in the area of high-range psychometrics (above 4 SD) and the founder of Mega is one of the few experts in the field. Now you might well think that the concept of g, general intelligence, is not valid, and that therefore not only high-end psychometrics but all psychometrics that attempt to measure IQ are not valid. But many reputable scientists would disagree with you. It is not in the category of, say, astrology. Since you (hopefully) wouldn't dream of deleting the article on IQ, why delete one of the few societies pioneering its use and measurement on the far right tail of the bell curve?

Two more points. The Mega Society article has been one of the most vandalized I've seen; check the history. Also, it is NOT affiliated with a society of a similar name that endorses CTMU.

Well, provide with some citations about the worthwhile scientific research this society is conducting, and then the article ought to be able to stay. Until then, it hardly meets criteria for notability. Byrgenwulf 21:13, 15 July 2006 (UTC)

• Keep 87.116.189.131 21:21, 15 July 2006 (UTC)

• Comment There's no point in deleting it, since it is in no violation of any rule whatsover. On the other hand, if deleted, same could apply to any article on any other HIQ society. By extension, a whole HIQ Society Wiki article can be deleted for no good reason at all.

• Strong Delete Totally bogus "society" with only one active member, Langdon, who has IQ of 150 - mega level? Langdon is also a bigot - here is his website: http://www.polymath-systems.com/misc/jokes/ DaturaS 21:23, 15 July 2006 (UTC)

Commentthey have published over 180 issues of their scholarly magazine, most of which can be read at their website. Have a look. Kevin's not a bigot, but in any case this is a red herring.

A "scholarly" journal that prints comments like this (from the society's founder): "If I were a black person and were as intelligent as I now am, I'd probably regret that my black brethren tend to be less competent than members of other races, on average. I would see two possible future outcomes for my race: (1) after the less competent blacks are culled from the population through homicide, AIDS, homelessness, etc., there might be a flowering of black civilization as the more competent blacks began to compete more successfully, or (2) the blacks might cease to exist as a race due to interbreeding with other races." . Come on. Byrgenwulf 21:37, 15 July 2006 (UTC)

Comment Known bigot. Neither Hoeflin nor Langdon have IQs anywhere near the supposed level of this bogus society. No qualified members as far as I can tell. Other contributors to his racist rag are not qualified either. What a joke. HowlinWolf 21:48, 15 July 2006 (UTC)

*Delete Langdon is a known fraud. Defrauded Omni readers in the 1980s of more than $30,000 after Omni published a version of a test he made up and bilked readers for scoring fees. Sanctioned by the State of CA medical board - see judgment here. Vanity page for this lowbrow wannabe. HowlinWolf 21:41, 15 July 2006 (UTC) **Sockpuppet of DaturaS Theresa Knott | Taste the Korn 21:53, 15 July 2006 (UTC)