The average IQ is 100 :)
Actually the average IQ is a range between 90 and 120. With the fatal exception on every test being +/- 8-10 points versus Stanford-Binet.
To qualify for MENSA you have to score at least 130+ on any one of several standardized IQ tests. PLUS you have to score highly on the MENSA application test.
Before I go on I should state that my Masters in Educational Psychology was in Measuring Intelligence and in Measuring Creativity.
Now for the fun part.
The test doesn't really mean anything.
How a person determines IQ in a test is based on many variables. Some tests are more Lingual and rely on vocabulary and knowlege of language (usually English-American Standard) to determine IQ. Several tests rely on Logical Process and Organization. A few tests utilize different forms of Problem Solving methodology to divine and score an Intelligence Quotient.
But what is "Intelligence" and how does it affect who we are and how well we deal with the world around us?
A person that has a great deal of Vocabulary Intelligence will be an idiot in a different country unless they learn a new idiom and method of expressing themselves.
A person that can solve Logic problems may not be able to add up the check at a nightclub or even tie their own shoes (at 43 years of age!) and a person that can look at a column of numbers as long as your arm and determine their final value after a complicated set of interactions may not be able to speak more than simple words.
Are these people intelligent. Yes. I knew many of them in the course of getting my Masters degree... Most of them could score 160+ on "certain" tests of Intelligence. On a more general test they would fail or fall below average.
Idiot Savant is usually the term for these people.
I take in to account that all of us have a little Idiot Savant in us... some talent we can do better than most people but which does not express itself in social situations. This talent may be mechanical/dextrous, auditory, verbal, 2D puzzle oriented, 3D puzzle oriented etc. This talent may even have been something we overlooked in ourselves or simply have not found yet.
It should also be noted that a higher IQ has been known to cause problems with the ability to finish the tasks a person sets out to do...
:) {{ NO [name edited] annoying people is NOT one of these talents!}}
SO don't panic about it. IQ is based on age and experience and is weighted to become harder and harder to score higher after age 24 in most tests...
I got a lovely score when I was younger... I am probably an imbecile now... I think I know more than I did, but I just can't remember where I put it in my head!
How you define yourself is not based on your IQ or your JOB or what school you went to. I am not going to tell you what SHOULD be how you define yyourself though... leave you to figure that one out yourself.
Oh, and I have been a member of The Mega Society since age 17.
http://www.megasociety.org/
And if you really want to sweat:
http://www.eskimo.com/~miyaguch/hoeflin.html
:)
Good luck!