1 00:00:02,520 --> 00:00:20,000 Speaker 1: Is that smarts. My name is Jamie Loftus, and you 2 00:00:20,000 --> 00:00:24,599 Speaker 1: are listening to episode four of My Year in Mensa, 3 00:00:24,800 --> 00:00:27,520 Speaker 1: the podcast that is about what the title of the 4 00:00:27,600 --> 00:00:30,880 Speaker 1: podcast is. If this is your first time listening, this 5 00:00:31,080 --> 00:00:33,600 Speaker 1: is the last episode, so you probably will want to 6 00:00:33,640 --> 00:00:35,920 Speaker 1: go back to the beginning and start from there to 7 00:00:36,000 --> 00:00:39,239 Speaker 1: understand everything that's going on. And for those of you 8 00:00:39,320 --> 00:00:42,720 Speaker 1: that have been on this journey, welcome to the end. 9 00:00:43,040 --> 00:00:46,000 Speaker 1: What will happen next? Will we ever reach any manner 10 00:00:46,120 --> 00:00:50,520 Speaker 1: of conclusion? All things that we will be finding out today. So, 11 00:00:50,800 --> 00:00:52,960 Speaker 1: since this is the last episode, I think I will 12 00:00:53,240 --> 00:00:55,640 Speaker 1: go off on a tangent a little bit at the 13 00:00:55,680 --> 00:00:59,720 Speaker 1: beginning and just say how nervous I am to release this. 14 00:01:00,040 --> 00:01:04,479 Speaker 1: Because I am making a podcast about a very reactionary group. 15 00:01:04,720 --> 00:01:07,880 Speaker 1: It stands to reason that there will be a reaction 16 00:01:08,200 --> 00:01:11,720 Speaker 1: to the thing that I'm making. A criticism frequently thrown 17 00:01:11,760 --> 00:01:15,800 Speaker 1: at me for writing about Mensa and now podding if 18 00:01:15,880 --> 00:01:19,000 Speaker 1: you will, is that I'm doing it for reputation or 19 00:01:19,040 --> 00:01:22,800 Speaker 1: financial gain. And you know, I'm glad that people find 20 00:01:22,920 --> 00:01:27,080 Speaker 1: the writing and reporting interesting. In two critics of that, 21 00:01:27,200 --> 00:01:29,360 Speaker 1: I mean, I don't really know what to say. I'm 22 00:01:29,360 --> 00:01:32,000 Speaker 1: glad people find it interesting. It's interesting to me too. 23 00:01:32,080 --> 00:01:36,840 Speaker 1: I've made a total, I believe, of four hundred dollars 24 00:01:37,240 --> 00:01:41,800 Speaker 1: writing about MENSA. Yeah, I wrote four articles and made 25 00:01:41,800 --> 00:01:45,080 Speaker 1: a hundred dollars per article, and then proceeded to spend 26 00:01:45,200 --> 00:01:49,240 Speaker 1: way more than that in order to attend the MENSA gathering, 27 00:01:49,320 --> 00:01:53,080 Speaker 1: to get lodging, to eat, to go to San Pedro, 28 00:01:53,240 --> 00:01:56,480 Speaker 1: to have so many things, to pay member registration fees, 29 00:01:56,520 --> 00:01:59,680 Speaker 1: which is almost a hundred dollars two times because I 30 00:01:59,720 --> 00:02:02,160 Speaker 1: pad asked the year mark and I had to get 31 00:02:02,280 --> 00:02:05,080 Speaker 1: I had to renew my membership. I also bought one 32 00:02:05,080 --> 00:02:07,360 Speaker 1: of those brain pol t shirts to make myself laugh, 33 00:02:07,400 --> 00:02:09,359 Speaker 1: but I guess that's more of a personal expense. All 34 00:02:09,400 --> 00:02:12,840 Speaker 1: that to say, I don't I'm not. There's no money 35 00:02:12,919 --> 00:02:15,359 Speaker 1: in this story. I don't even know if people want 36 00:02:15,360 --> 00:02:18,560 Speaker 1: to hear it. I am trying to finish what I started. 37 00:02:18,880 --> 00:02:21,560 Speaker 1: It started as something funny to me and then ended 38 00:02:21,800 --> 00:02:27,160 Speaker 1: as this bizarre, sociological what the fuck is this? So 39 00:02:27,200 --> 00:02:28,720 Speaker 1: that is why I'm doing this, as I want to 40 00:02:28,800 --> 00:02:31,359 Speaker 1: understand what the funk this is, and as frustrated as 41 00:02:31,360 --> 00:02:34,240 Speaker 1: it has made many menines towards me, it turns out 42 00:02:34,240 --> 00:02:36,240 Speaker 1: there's a fair amount of people that are interested in 43 00:02:36,280 --> 00:02:38,760 Speaker 1: what the funk this is who find it confusing. So 44 00:02:39,480 --> 00:02:41,680 Speaker 1: I guess I don't know. I mean, I am nervous 45 00:02:41,760 --> 00:02:45,600 Speaker 1: to release this, but it's a pot. There's five hundred 46 00:02:45,800 --> 00:02:50,440 Speaker 1: million podcasts, so many of which are about things weirder 47 00:02:50,480 --> 00:02:53,160 Speaker 1: and worse than this, And so just going into this 48 00:02:53,240 --> 00:02:55,440 Speaker 1: last one, if you've been listening the whole time, thank 49 00:02:55,480 --> 00:02:58,480 Speaker 1: you so much. And uh and to to mencem who 50 00:02:58,520 --> 00:03:01,080 Speaker 1: have been listening, I hope that you feel like I'm 51 00:03:01,160 --> 00:03:04,640 Speaker 1: characterizing people fairly. I know that this is a biased account. 52 00:03:04,639 --> 00:03:07,320 Speaker 1: It is my account, but I really did try. Nothing's 53 00:03:07,320 --> 00:03:09,919 Speaker 1: going to be enough for everyone, but that's enough for me. 54 00:03:10,200 --> 00:03:14,919 Speaker 1: And so with that, let us go to July six, nineteen. 55 00:03:15,120 --> 00:03:18,560 Speaker 1: This is my third day of the MENSA Annual Gathering. 56 00:03:18,840 --> 00:03:26,360 Speaker 1: Time Labs noise. Okay, So I'm at the hospitality cafeteria. 57 00:03:26,560 --> 00:03:29,360 Speaker 1: It's two PM, and a man who is already very 58 00:03:29,440 --> 00:03:32,240 Speaker 1: drunk is talking to the woman handing out drinks and 59 00:03:32,280 --> 00:03:35,240 Speaker 1: he says, you know, no one wants to be the 60 00:03:35,320 --> 00:03:39,240 Speaker 1: one to say it, but not all dictators have been bad. 61 00:03:40,160 --> 00:03:44,840 Speaker 1: I hate to say it, but Germany was one of them. Okay, 62 00:03:44,880 --> 00:03:47,160 Speaker 1: And this man does not have the demeanor of someone 63 00:03:47,200 --> 00:03:50,560 Speaker 1: who hates to say anything, and he disappears as quickly 64 00:03:50,600 --> 00:03:55,280 Speaker 1: as he got there. I am fucking exhausted, And today 65 00:03:55,480 --> 00:03:58,840 Speaker 1: is a particularly rough slate of daytime events from a 66 00:03:58,960 --> 00:04:02,120 Speaker 1: thoughtful presentation and on a d h D famously featuring 67 00:04:02,120 --> 00:04:04,040 Speaker 1: the quote a little a d h D can be 68 00:04:04,120 --> 00:04:06,760 Speaker 1: charmingly quirky, A lot of a d h D can 69 00:04:06,800 --> 00:04:08,760 Speaker 1: be a big, giant pain in your life. It was 70 00:04:08,760 --> 00:04:11,640 Speaker 1: a good duck. Then there was the sparsely attended MENSA 71 00:04:11,720 --> 00:04:16,160 Speaker 1: Awards ceremony and what feels like the millionth lukewarm cafeteria 72 00:04:16,279 --> 00:04:20,200 Speaker 1: lunch served in hospitality. And at this point I'm subsisting 73 00:04:20,520 --> 00:04:23,880 Speaker 1: mainly on the free peanut Eminem's, and so for old 74 00:04:23,920 --> 00:04:26,839 Speaker 1: time's sake, I sit at the pet lover's lunch table 75 00:04:26,920 --> 00:04:30,000 Speaker 1: again with mostly the same few people and a few 76 00:04:30,000 --> 00:04:32,360 Speaker 1: of the same women, talk about their week and exchange 77 00:04:32,400 --> 00:04:35,360 Speaker 1: pictures of their cats. I love it. I am unlucky 78 00:04:35,480 --> 00:04:39,040 Speaker 1: enough to have accidentally sat next to yet another very 79 00:04:39,120 --> 00:04:41,760 Speaker 1: drunk man. This guy's in his sixties and he's telling 80 00:04:41,760 --> 00:04:44,560 Speaker 1: me he has some leftover steak in his hotel fridge 81 00:04:44,560 --> 00:04:47,480 Speaker 1: that he loved to show me what When all of 82 00:04:47,520 --> 00:04:51,279 Speaker 1: a sudden there's Katie once again wearing her Maga hat, 83 00:04:51,520 --> 00:04:55,080 Speaker 1: and she's excited my best friend. She invites me over 84 00:04:55,120 --> 00:04:58,000 Speaker 1: to her lunch table, the firehouse table that I described 85 00:04:58,040 --> 00:05:00,680 Speaker 1: an episode one that has a cartoon of an owl 86 00:05:00,680 --> 00:05:02,800 Speaker 1: with its head on fire to market. And it does 87 00:05:02,839 --> 00:05:05,000 Speaker 1: feel weird to be relieved to see someone in a 88 00:05:05,000 --> 00:05:07,720 Speaker 1: Maga hat. But this old drunk guy hitting on me 89 00:05:07,760 --> 00:05:10,800 Speaker 1: to get stake that he admitted he didn't even buy 90 00:05:10,920 --> 00:05:13,000 Speaker 1: is enough to get me to leave. And so the 91 00:05:13,040 --> 00:05:16,800 Speaker 1: world is upside down, and Katie too, and myself are 92 00:05:16,839 --> 00:05:20,560 Speaker 1: all sitting at the firehouse lunch table together. Katie says 93 00:05:20,600 --> 00:05:23,240 Speaker 1: that there's a bar crawl going on later that night 94 00:05:23,440 --> 00:05:25,800 Speaker 1: and that I should be in the lobby by six 95 00:05:25,880 --> 00:05:29,720 Speaker 1: to go, and I agree to go and continue my afternoon. 96 00:05:29,800 --> 00:05:33,159 Speaker 1: And sometime in the afternoon I see Mead Guy in 97 00:05:33,240 --> 00:05:35,640 Speaker 1: the hallway. Meat guy, of course, because he is the 98 00:05:35,680 --> 00:05:38,680 Speaker 1: guy who makes mead. He at this moment is dressed 99 00:05:38,839 --> 00:05:41,880 Speaker 1: head to toe as a pirate and when he spots me, 100 00:05:42,120 --> 00:05:45,800 Speaker 1: he literally jogs in the other direction, which is if 101 00:05:45,839 --> 00:05:48,920 Speaker 1: a man in a full pirate suit hasn't literally run 102 00:05:48,960 --> 00:05:51,400 Speaker 1: away from you? Are you even living? So this is 103 00:05:51,440 --> 00:05:54,880 Speaker 1: the purest interaction I've had all week and in my life. 104 00:05:55,040 --> 00:05:58,760 Speaker 1: And by early evening, the old drunken fascist is back 105 00:05:58,839 --> 00:06:01,440 Speaker 1: at the hospitality bar. This time he's talking to a 106 00:06:01,440 --> 00:06:05,520 Speaker 1: different bartender and he's holding out these fake three dollar 107 00:06:05,640 --> 00:06:09,479 Speaker 1: bills he's printed that have these over edited caricatures of 108 00:06:09,560 --> 00:06:12,640 Speaker 1: Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama. It just printed on a 109 00:06:12,720 --> 00:06:15,640 Speaker 1: laser jet and willed into reality. And a man with 110 00:06:15,680 --> 00:06:18,520 Speaker 1: a Hosier ribbon walks up to him and kind of jokes, 111 00:06:21,040 --> 00:06:24,400 Speaker 1: and the old drunken fascist is laughing and laughing, and 112 00:06:24,480 --> 00:06:28,760 Speaker 1: he says, only a Republican could joke about Democrats like this. 113 00:06:30,080 --> 00:06:33,360 Speaker 1: He proceeds to tip the bartender with the forged bill 114 00:06:33,560 --> 00:06:36,880 Speaker 1: of Hillary Clinton and then disappears for what I hope 115 00:06:36,920 --> 00:06:39,359 Speaker 1: is forever. I know, this man sounds like a fever 116 00:06:39,480 --> 00:06:42,599 Speaker 1: dream cartoon, but he's out there. So I'm trying to 117 00:06:42,640 --> 00:06:45,360 Speaker 1: get through the day and I go to the next talk, 118 00:06:45,480 --> 00:06:49,640 Speaker 1: which is called the Dysfunction of the American Political System. 119 00:06:49,680 --> 00:06:53,120 Speaker 1: It's being given by a very tired looking professor, and 120 00:06:53,160 --> 00:06:57,240 Speaker 1: the discourse is cringe e and offensive and terrible. There 121 00:06:57,279 --> 00:06:59,800 Speaker 1: was a man who kept raising his hand to insist 122 00:07:00,240 --> 00:07:03,640 Speaker 1: that slaves being counted as three five of a person 123 00:07:04,200 --> 00:07:07,880 Speaker 1: is what ruined the American South, and the room gets 124 00:07:08,160 --> 00:07:11,160 Speaker 1: very riled up at this, rightfully so, and apparently the 125 00:07:11,200 --> 00:07:14,360 Speaker 1: speaker doesn't have really the historical knowledge to make a 126 00:07:14,520 --> 00:07:19,240 Speaker 1: very strong argument against this clearly wrong point, and they 127 00:07:19,240 --> 00:07:22,040 Speaker 1: get into this sparring match. Other people are jumping in 128 00:07:22,080 --> 00:07:26,600 Speaker 1: to agree with him or loudly disagree with him, and finally, 129 00:07:26,720 --> 00:07:30,640 Speaker 1: after about forty five minutes of this, people just start 130 00:07:30,720 --> 00:07:33,560 Speaker 1: to leave. Every person of color and a few others 131 00:07:33,560 --> 00:07:37,840 Speaker 1: of us. It's just too painful, and everyone leaves because 132 00:07:37,880 --> 00:07:41,360 Speaker 1: in many ways that's where the country is, and also 133 00:07:41,640 --> 00:07:46,440 Speaker 1: this is what this event is like. So once everyone's dispersed, 134 00:07:46,440 --> 00:07:49,360 Speaker 1: I write down all the details of what happened. And 135 00:07:49,360 --> 00:07:51,640 Speaker 1: while this is not the only racist thing I heard 136 00:07:51,720 --> 00:07:55,160 Speaker 1: in Phoenix this weekend at the MENA Annual gathering, it 137 00:07:55,200 --> 00:07:59,080 Speaker 1: feels very wrong that I am not at all surprised 138 00:07:59,320 --> 00:08:01,720 Speaker 1: that there is some one willing to say something so 139 00:08:01,800 --> 00:08:05,440 Speaker 1: horrible here, or that they refuse to engage with anyone 140 00:08:05,600 --> 00:08:08,240 Speaker 1: in the room in a good faith way. People were 141 00:08:08,240 --> 00:08:13,160 Speaker 1: offended and upset, but no one seemed surprised and in 142 00:08:13,200 --> 00:08:16,480 Speaker 1: the midst of all this, I had missed the departure 143 00:08:16,640 --> 00:08:20,720 Speaker 1: of the bar crawl. Oh no, such are this of 144 00:08:20,800 --> 00:08:24,760 Speaker 1: setting talk completely falls apart. I head out to the 145 00:08:24,800 --> 00:08:27,880 Speaker 1: front of the hotel to see if maybe the bar 146 00:08:27,960 --> 00:08:30,600 Speaker 1: crawl is within my line of sight, when a man 147 00:08:30,760 --> 00:08:34,400 Speaker 1: who's holding a few pieces of fruit appears behind me, 148 00:08:34,679 --> 00:08:38,360 Speaker 1: and he says, you're the famous Jamie Loftus, and there's 149 00:08:38,400 --> 00:08:41,000 Speaker 1: no point in telling him I'm not, so I asked 150 00:08:41,080 --> 00:08:43,440 Speaker 1: him if he knows where the bar crawl was headed. 151 00:08:43,600 --> 00:08:46,440 Speaker 1: He instead tells me his name is Kevin, and he's 152 00:08:46,480 --> 00:08:49,560 Speaker 1: a twelve year MENSA member who was ousted from a 153 00:08:49,559 --> 00:08:52,560 Speaker 1: local position by a young woman I've been in contact 154 00:08:52,600 --> 00:08:56,440 Speaker 1: with before, who is another popular target of Firehouse and 155 00:08:56,520 --> 00:08:59,959 Speaker 1: of Mensa at large. Kevin's handing the armful of fruit. 156 00:09:00,040 --> 00:09:03,839 Speaker 1: He has two homeless people in the sweltering Phoenix heat. 157 00:09:03,920 --> 00:09:06,199 Speaker 1: As we continue to talk, and at at this point 158 00:09:06,240 --> 00:09:09,319 Speaker 1: someone asks me directly, am I going to be writing 159 00:09:09,360 --> 00:09:12,319 Speaker 1: about this? And I don't really answer, but Kevin is 160 00:09:12,400 --> 00:09:14,200 Speaker 1: kind and he points me in the direction of the 161 00:09:14,240 --> 00:09:16,960 Speaker 1: bar crawl, saying he's going to a Diamondbacks game and 162 00:09:17,000 --> 00:09:19,880 Speaker 1: he'll catch me another time. When I get to the bar, 163 00:09:20,160 --> 00:09:23,600 Speaker 1: I see I've missed the drinking mentions except for one 164 00:09:24,120 --> 00:09:28,080 Speaker 1: lone hoser at the entrance, and so I decide, you 165 00:09:28,080 --> 00:09:30,280 Speaker 1: know what, maybe this is it. Maybe I have gotten 166 00:09:30,320 --> 00:09:33,320 Speaker 1: to know Firehouse as well as I'm going to. I 167 00:09:33,400 --> 00:09:36,440 Speaker 1: came here, I've spoken to at least a hundred people 168 00:09:36,520 --> 00:09:39,880 Speaker 1: about how they feel about screenshots from nine months ago, 169 00:09:40,240 --> 00:09:42,880 Speaker 1: and I am so ready to go home, but just 170 00:09:43,000 --> 00:09:45,760 Speaker 1: in case, I messaged to to see whether he's on 171 00:09:45,800 --> 00:09:48,520 Speaker 1: the bar crawl as well, and he says no, and 172 00:09:48,559 --> 00:09:51,640 Speaker 1: we agree to meet at a ratan trivia event called 173 00:09:51,840 --> 00:09:55,120 Speaker 1: Name that Movie so we can watch senior mentions loudly 174 00:09:55,240 --> 00:09:58,800 Speaker 1: identify a litany of military movies that I've never heard of. 175 00:09:58,880 --> 00:10:01,800 Speaker 1: It's already seven o'clock at night, and I'm considering going 176 00:10:01,800 --> 00:10:04,560 Speaker 1: home for a nap when Two leans over and he 177 00:10:04,600 --> 00:10:07,439 Speaker 1: points at a message on his phone and says it's 178 00:10:07,480 --> 00:10:10,520 Speaker 1: from Katie. She's saying there at the Tilted Kilton to 179 00:10:10,559 --> 00:10:12,920 Speaker 1: bring you. I peek over his shoulder to look at 180 00:10:12,920 --> 00:10:15,760 Speaker 1: the message, and it does say the ladies would love 181 00:10:15,800 --> 00:10:19,640 Speaker 1: to meet her. The sinking feeling of knowing I will 182 00:10:19,720 --> 00:10:24,400 Speaker 1: go settles as the five thousand John Goodman movie clip 183 00:10:24,480 --> 00:10:27,160 Speaker 1: plays on the name that movie screen and in a 184 00:10:27,240 --> 00:10:31,880 Speaker 1: feudal act of resistance, I just say I can't, and 185 00:10:31,960 --> 00:10:34,600 Speaker 1: he laughs because he knows that I will and I can, 186 00:10:35,080 --> 00:10:38,559 Speaker 1: and he says, I know, but like and yeah, he 187 00:10:38,600 --> 00:10:41,560 Speaker 1: finds this a little funny, because like it is a 188 00:10:41,600 --> 00:10:44,520 Speaker 1: little funny in a wanting to die kind of way. 189 00:10:44,600 --> 00:10:47,480 Speaker 1: But I'm about to go to Scottish Hooters to have 190 00:10:47,640 --> 00:10:51,240 Speaker 1: my ass just handed to me for the three thousandth 191 00:10:51,320 --> 00:10:55,880 Speaker 1: time in seventy two hours, for for no reason, for 192 00:10:55,920 --> 00:10:58,839 Speaker 1: no reason, it just feels like self harm. At this point, 193 00:10:58,880 --> 00:11:02,840 Speaker 1: I am exhausted, I look like garbage, and I volunteered 194 00:11:02,880 --> 00:11:06,199 Speaker 1: to do this. So on our way over to Scottish Hooters, 195 00:11:06,240 --> 00:11:11,360 Speaker 1: I asked too about why he participates in American Mensa 196 00:11:11,440 --> 00:11:15,120 Speaker 1: firehouse so consistently when he knows everyone is just going 197 00:11:15,160 --> 00:11:18,319 Speaker 1: to pile on him. A typical post from two would 198 00:11:18,320 --> 00:11:23,200 Speaker 1: be a news item about something horrifically racist, sexist, classist 199 00:11:23,320 --> 00:11:27,000 Speaker 1: happening in the country, captioned with a sarcastic sentence or 200 00:11:27,040 --> 00:11:30,680 Speaker 1: two that are directly challenging the right leaning members of 201 00:11:30,720 --> 00:11:34,080 Speaker 1: the group, asking them to defend their views against whatever 202 00:11:34,200 --> 00:11:36,720 Speaker 1: story He's attached. I think of it as kind of 203 00:11:36,760 --> 00:11:39,920 Speaker 1: trolling in the opposite direction. Two does what the rest 204 00:11:39,920 --> 00:11:42,760 Speaker 1: of Firehouse does, but with a far left leaning view 205 00:11:43,120 --> 00:11:45,760 Speaker 1: rather than the opposite. On the same day that we 206 00:11:45,840 --> 00:11:50,000 Speaker 1: have this conversation, he posts a picture of Katie, him 207 00:11:50,040 --> 00:11:54,120 Speaker 1: and myself that Katie insisted we take at lunch that day, 208 00:11:54,240 --> 00:11:58,400 Speaker 1: with the caption Mensa's Finest and the photos themselves are 209 00:11:58,400 --> 00:12:01,760 Speaker 1: another form of trolling. It's just another challenge for people 210 00:12:01,800 --> 00:12:05,480 Speaker 1: to be annoyed and engaged with a rivalry that doesn't matter. 211 00:12:05,800 --> 00:12:08,199 Speaker 1: And Two gets a little defensive at first and says, 212 00:12:08,679 --> 00:12:11,760 Speaker 1: I don't really post that much, but eventually he agrees 213 00:12:11,840 --> 00:12:14,440 Speaker 1: that he in fact does, and he admits it does 214 00:12:14,480 --> 00:12:18,040 Speaker 1: give him kind of a dopamine hit of sorts. He says, 215 00:12:18,640 --> 00:12:21,480 Speaker 1: I just have to find it funny and cites how 216 00:12:21,600 --> 00:12:27,400 Speaker 1: comically opposite Katie's views are from his own. I don't know. Katie, 217 00:12:27,520 --> 00:12:30,240 Speaker 1: Sam and the aforementioned girls who would love to meet 218 00:12:30,280 --> 00:12:32,880 Speaker 1: me wave at Two and I from the entrance to 219 00:12:32,920 --> 00:12:38,160 Speaker 1: the restaurant. Their table is covered in glasses and fried appetizers, 220 00:12:38,400 --> 00:12:41,160 Speaker 1: and Katie hugs to an eye and once again declares 221 00:12:41,240 --> 00:12:44,440 Speaker 1: us her best friends. I actually recognize the woman sitting 222 00:12:44,480 --> 00:12:48,560 Speaker 1: beside her, who's friendly but more skeptical. She's a beach 223 00:12:48,600 --> 00:12:50,760 Speaker 1: blonde in her forties. Who am going to call Megan 224 00:12:51,040 --> 00:12:53,760 Speaker 1: who reminds me a lot of my Trump voting aunt 225 00:12:53,880 --> 00:12:56,439 Speaker 1: who I can't get myself to break contact off with. 226 00:12:56,600 --> 00:12:59,160 Speaker 1: And this meal ends up being one of the more 227 00:12:59,240 --> 00:13:03,360 Speaker 1: productive and confusing few hours in my year in mensa 228 00:13:03,520 --> 00:13:06,800 Speaker 1: name of the podcast, A meal with three drunk right 229 00:13:06,840 --> 00:13:10,480 Speaker 1: wing women who genuinely want me to know where they're 230 00:13:10,520 --> 00:13:13,840 Speaker 1: coming from, not because they liked me, but because they 231 00:13:13,880 --> 00:13:16,880 Speaker 1: would like for me to write something nice about them. 232 00:13:16,920 --> 00:13:20,880 Speaker 1: Of course that's just speculation. Megan says, I want to 233 00:13:20,880 --> 00:13:23,040 Speaker 1: know what you're going to write. And as she says that, 234 00:13:23,200 --> 00:13:25,440 Speaker 1: Mead guys still dressed as a pirate, and a few 235 00:13:25,440 --> 00:13:29,040 Speaker 1: other people also dressed as pirates enter Scottish hooters. I 236 00:13:29,080 --> 00:13:31,320 Speaker 1: guess I should say, to be fair that he was 237 00:13:31,400 --> 00:13:34,559 Speaker 1: dressed as a pirate for reason there was some pirate 238 00:13:35,400 --> 00:13:40,120 Speaker 1: related then. I don't know if he wasn't just eatn't 239 00:13:40,120 --> 00:13:42,160 Speaker 1: just happen to be dressed as a pirate, but it 240 00:13:42,240 --> 00:13:44,719 Speaker 1: was very he was dressed as a pirate. I don't know, 241 00:13:45,440 --> 00:13:47,880 Speaker 1: but I tell Megan. Honestly, I don't know what I'm 242 00:13:47,920 --> 00:13:50,520 Speaker 1: going to write. One of the pirates interjects to ask 243 00:13:50,600 --> 00:13:52,880 Speaker 1: me for a selfie, and I say no, I mean 244 00:13:52,960 --> 00:13:55,560 Speaker 1: I came here. I'm gonna listen to Firehouse as I 245 00:13:55,640 --> 00:13:59,080 Speaker 1: promised Katie and two and Amanda and Maggie and god 246 00:13:59,160 --> 00:14:01,520 Speaker 1: knows how many others strangers that I would. And then 247 00:14:01,559 --> 00:14:04,839 Speaker 1: I'm going home. But she disregards what I want because 248 00:14:04,840 --> 00:14:07,200 Speaker 1: funk what I want, and she takes the selfie with 249 00:14:07,280 --> 00:14:10,960 Speaker 1: the entire table. Anyways, somewhere there is a cursed image 250 00:14:10,960 --> 00:14:13,559 Speaker 1: of me at Scottish Hooter with a bunch of mens 251 00:14:13,600 --> 00:14:16,520 Speaker 1: and pirates, and I hate that for myself. But I'm 252 00:14:16,520 --> 00:14:20,120 Speaker 1: helping myself to Katie's fried pickles appetizer as I talked 253 00:14:20,160 --> 00:14:22,720 Speaker 1: with her and Megan, And for the first time since 254 00:14:22,760 --> 00:14:26,080 Speaker 1: I got here, someone in Firehouse tells me about themselves 255 00:14:26,280 --> 00:14:29,320 Speaker 1: instead of asking me how my a G is going. 256 00:14:29,560 --> 00:14:32,320 Speaker 1: Who they are is, like many of the people in 257 00:14:32,360 --> 00:14:35,880 Speaker 1: this very sticky story, more complicated than I could have 258 00:14:35,960 --> 00:14:39,200 Speaker 1: imagined back in the Pasadena testing room a year ago. 259 00:14:39,800 --> 00:14:43,400 Speaker 1: Here's a little bit about them. Megan is a married 260 00:14:43,480 --> 00:14:47,200 Speaker 1: Canadian Conservative who joined MENSA when she realized her son 261 00:14:47,360 --> 00:14:51,360 Speaker 1: is both very intelligent and struggling to fit in at school. 262 00:14:51,600 --> 00:14:54,680 Speaker 1: She says her reason for joining was as a supportive 263 00:14:54,720 --> 00:14:57,080 Speaker 1: mom looking for a way to make her son feel 264 00:14:57,120 --> 00:14:59,440 Speaker 1: like a part of something. And once they signed up, 265 00:14:59,720 --> 00:15:03,800 Speaker 1: a on came Firehouse and the secret Facebook group immediately 266 00:15:04,160 --> 00:15:07,440 Speaker 1: became a big part of Megan's online life, and she 267 00:15:07,560 --> 00:15:11,520 Speaker 1: recalls the group's schism that led to mensa Facebook groups 268 00:15:11,560 --> 00:15:15,960 Speaker 1: being separated with moderated and unmoderated factions. In the first place, 269 00:15:16,320 --> 00:15:19,800 Speaker 1: she hates socialized medicine, but she backs this thought up 270 00:15:19,840 --> 00:15:22,720 Speaker 1: with an anecdote about how she was struggling to get 271 00:15:22,760 --> 00:15:25,520 Speaker 1: the surgery she needed under this system for well over 272 00:15:25,560 --> 00:15:28,720 Speaker 1: a year, which impeded her quality of life and ability 273 00:15:28,840 --> 00:15:33,760 Speaker 1: to work and parent. She identifies as bisexual, libertarian and 274 00:15:33,960 --> 00:15:37,280 Speaker 1: as the creator of the boob thread and if you 275 00:15:37,320 --> 00:15:38,800 Speaker 1: don't know what the book that is by now, I 276 00:15:38,840 --> 00:15:41,320 Speaker 1: honestly can't help you. You've got to go back. But 277 00:15:41,360 --> 00:15:44,720 Speaker 1: she and Katie met on the Firehouse board several years 278 00:15:44,720 --> 00:15:48,080 Speaker 1: ago and are self described ride or die ever since, 279 00:15:48,440 --> 00:15:51,160 Speaker 1: and Megan talks a lot about her beliefs but doesn't 280 00:15:51,240 --> 00:15:55,040 Speaker 1: like how she's pigeonholed with labels. She says, I'm not 281 00:15:55,160 --> 00:16:00,640 Speaker 1: alt right, but I'm very right. Great, and then there's Katie. 282 00:16:00,800 --> 00:16:04,160 Speaker 1: Katie is an American from the East Coast who voted 283 00:16:04,200 --> 00:16:07,280 Speaker 1: for Obama in two thousand and eight, then became an 284 00:16:07,320 --> 00:16:12,240 Speaker 1: increasingly intense conservative following the recession of the late two thousand's. 285 00:16:12,240 --> 00:16:15,760 Speaker 1: She was raised in a poor, often difficult household and 286 00:16:16,040 --> 00:16:19,040 Speaker 1: joined MENSA back in the mid nineties when an elementary 287 00:16:19,080 --> 00:16:21,840 Speaker 1: school teacher noticed how well she was doing in school, 288 00:16:22,160 --> 00:16:26,560 Speaker 1: especially on standardized tests. She originally found it useful to 289 00:16:26,600 --> 00:16:30,320 Speaker 1: put MENSA on job resumes to supplement the college education. 290 00:16:30,480 --> 00:16:33,800 Speaker 1: Her financial background made it impossible to get, and she 291 00:16:33,880 --> 00:16:39,160 Speaker 1: became an increasingly more active member of Firehouse following Trump's election. 292 00:16:39,520 --> 00:16:42,920 Speaker 1: She's married now, and in another twist, she's pro choice, 293 00:16:43,240 --> 00:16:46,400 Speaker 1: but says she's not extreme and that babies shouldn't be 294 00:16:46,440 --> 00:16:49,960 Speaker 1: aborted at nine months, which is not an argument I'm 295 00:16:50,000 --> 00:16:53,440 Speaker 1: aware exists. She says that she's actually seen my stand 296 00:16:53,480 --> 00:16:56,680 Speaker 1: up online and laughs when she remembers that she was 297 00:16:56,760 --> 00:16:58,960 Speaker 1: piste off when she ended up kind of liking it. 298 00:16:59,000 --> 00:17:01,440 Speaker 1: Thank you so much. Watch my stand up on line. Anyways, 299 00:17:01,480 --> 00:17:05,080 Speaker 1: Megan was the first person to welcome Katie to Firehouse, 300 00:17:05,480 --> 00:17:07,680 Speaker 1: and this is the main time they get to spend 301 00:17:07,680 --> 00:17:10,520 Speaker 1: together during the year. And while they're telling me this, 302 00:17:10,680 --> 00:17:13,040 Speaker 1: Megan seems to be warming up to me a little 303 00:17:13,040 --> 00:17:17,280 Speaker 1: bit too, but with more conditions than Katie. She really 304 00:17:17,320 --> 00:17:20,359 Speaker 1: wants to know what and if I'm going to write, 305 00:17:20,720 --> 00:17:23,480 Speaker 1: and I really don't have an answer for her. I 306 00:17:23,520 --> 00:17:26,840 Speaker 1: feel everyone at the table slowly poking holes in my 307 00:17:27,000 --> 00:17:31,560 Speaker 1: fragile bubble of remaining patients, and although I avowed to listen, 308 00:17:31,760 --> 00:17:35,040 Speaker 1: I find myself speaking up more as the women move 309 00:17:35,119 --> 00:17:38,680 Speaker 1: on from their life stories into their opinions on Firehouse 310 00:17:39,280 --> 00:17:42,360 Speaker 1: Me and the last thing anyone wants to talk about 311 00:17:42,440 --> 00:17:45,720 Speaker 1: the state of America. And anytime I do say something, 312 00:17:45,840 --> 00:17:49,480 Speaker 1: they think my annoyance is very funny. Megan says this 313 00:17:49,560 --> 00:17:52,000 Speaker 1: at one point when I get frustrated at a comment 314 00:17:52,040 --> 00:17:54,760 Speaker 1: at the table, and I will remember it forever. You're 315 00:17:54,800 --> 00:17:59,119 Speaker 1: confusing intelligence with education. So I'm getting worked up, and 316 00:17:59,160 --> 00:18:01,919 Speaker 1: I'm most of the way through the fried pickles. Talking 317 00:18:01,960 --> 00:18:04,480 Speaker 1: to Megan and Katie feels like some of the biggest 318 00:18:04,520 --> 00:18:08,919 Speaker 1: contradictions I have ever encountered. Their pro gay rights, but 319 00:18:09,040 --> 00:18:14,600 Speaker 1: they're anti fat people, they're sex positive, but they hate feminism. 320 00:18:14,600 --> 00:18:18,439 Speaker 1: It's those mentioned contradictions that have it always, all the time, 321 00:18:18,560 --> 00:18:21,560 Speaker 1: all over again. And of course, here I was at 322 00:18:21,640 --> 00:18:24,639 Speaker 1: Scottish Hooters, realizing that there was more to the people 323 00:18:24,720 --> 00:18:28,120 Speaker 1: flooding my comments in my life and anxiety. And yet 324 00:18:28,600 --> 00:18:30,760 Speaker 1: I bet I've had sex with more girls than you. 325 00:18:31,280 --> 00:18:33,880 Speaker 1: Megan says this to Too, who is a little too 326 00:18:33,920 --> 00:18:37,919 Speaker 1: eager to fight back, he says, helping himself to one 327 00:18:37,920 --> 00:18:40,199 Speaker 1: of her buffalo wings. And I'm on Megan's side for 328 00:18:40,200 --> 00:18:42,560 Speaker 1: this one for a second, but then and you're having 329 00:18:42,560 --> 00:18:46,720 Speaker 1: worse six with those man haters. Katie and Megan do 330 00:18:46,880 --> 00:18:50,840 Speaker 1: not like feminists. They think that real men respect the 331 00:18:50,840 --> 00:18:53,679 Speaker 1: women there with and that most of the discussion around 332 00:18:53,680 --> 00:18:58,280 Speaker 1: current feminism amounts to whiney entitlement. They poke at two 333 00:18:58,400 --> 00:19:01,240 Speaker 1: for self identifying as a feminist, and they say there's 334 00:19:01,440 --> 00:19:05,240 Speaker 1: nothing less sexy than that. I'm not drinking at this meal, 335 00:19:05,320 --> 00:19:08,800 Speaker 1: as I need every bit of self control fully with me. 336 00:19:09,040 --> 00:19:11,400 Speaker 1: But the ladies at the table, the one who's having 337 00:19:11,480 --> 00:19:14,919 Speaker 1: a conversation with Sam, the pianist who's arrived, is too 338 00:19:14,960 --> 00:19:18,359 Speaker 1: drunk to really participate. They order one more round before 339 00:19:18,400 --> 00:19:22,120 Speaker 1: the boob thread comes up again, Megan tells me that's 340 00:19:22,119 --> 00:19:25,199 Speaker 1: one of my big issues, honestly telling people about the 341 00:19:25,200 --> 00:19:29,080 Speaker 1: boob thread and the screenshots. As the meal continues, it 342 00:19:29,200 --> 00:19:32,320 Speaker 1: gets increasingly tougher to keep the promise to hold my 343 00:19:32,359 --> 00:19:35,280 Speaker 1: tongue and simply get to know the medicines. I have 344 00:19:35,359 --> 00:19:38,320 Speaker 1: yet to spring to my own defense in any meaningful way, 345 00:19:38,400 --> 00:19:41,480 Speaker 1: other than to repeat that I wasn't there to terrorize 346 00:19:41,520 --> 00:19:43,840 Speaker 1: the group at nausea, and I believe it was the 347 00:19:44,040 --> 00:19:48,640 Speaker 1: thousandth mention of the screenshots that tested me. Katie hears 348 00:19:48,680 --> 00:19:51,159 Speaker 1: me out when I remind her that MENSA isn't the 349 00:19:51,200 --> 00:19:54,680 Speaker 1: first heaping of online abuse I've received as an entertainer, 350 00:19:54,800 --> 00:19:57,520 Speaker 1: and I feel that I need to take every threat seriously, 351 00:19:57,960 --> 00:20:01,160 Speaker 1: particularly when I have had no action with the commenter 352 00:20:01,440 --> 00:20:04,120 Speaker 1: at all. This seems to resonate with her, and she 353 00:20:04,280 --> 00:20:08,639 Speaker 1: repeats that tone is difficult to understand online. Megan is 354 00:20:08,680 --> 00:20:11,600 Speaker 1: still more leary of this logic, and she continues to 355 00:20:11,640 --> 00:20:15,320 Speaker 1: push back, and this opens a discussion about past quote 356 00:20:15,359 --> 00:20:19,680 Speaker 1: unquote problem members of the group, problem members being kind 357 00:20:19,720 --> 00:20:22,840 Speaker 1: of this medicine buzz phrase I've been hearing all week. 358 00:20:23,160 --> 00:20:25,840 Speaker 1: I mean, there was even a dealing with problem members 359 00:20:25,880 --> 00:20:28,239 Speaker 1: session officially on the books, that I did not have 360 00:20:28,320 --> 00:20:31,119 Speaker 1: the inner strength to attend, and also going would have 361 00:20:31,119 --> 00:20:34,200 Speaker 1: sort of felt like trolling on my part. Anyways, this 362 00:20:34,320 --> 00:20:36,960 Speaker 1: is what makes me break. I had assured to on 363 00:20:37,000 --> 00:20:39,760 Speaker 1: the walkover that I had already made it three days 364 00:20:39,840 --> 00:20:43,080 Speaker 1: without getting in an argument with anyone, and that I 365 00:20:43,119 --> 00:20:46,800 Speaker 1: wasn't going to let any Scottish Hooters discourse be the 366 00:20:46,840 --> 00:20:50,840 Speaker 1: thing that breaks me. And then Megan and Katie brought 367 00:20:50,960 --> 00:20:55,000 Speaker 1: up white supremacy. We've had actual real racists in the 368 00:20:55,040 --> 00:20:58,359 Speaker 1: group before. This is Megan, and she describes a Firehouse 369 00:20:58,400 --> 00:21:02,680 Speaker 1: member who regularly posted racist screeds in the group. As 370 00:21:02,720 --> 00:21:05,600 Speaker 1: she told it, the members found this too racist and 371 00:21:05,640 --> 00:21:09,359 Speaker 1: would pile on him for his views, excoriate his arguments, 372 00:21:09,600 --> 00:21:12,359 Speaker 1: and tried to make him feel as uncomfortable being a 373 00:21:12,400 --> 00:21:15,760 Speaker 1: part of the group as possible. This, she explains, is 374 00:21:15,760 --> 00:21:19,360 Speaker 1: why she thinks censorship is not a good tactic for 375 00:21:19,400 --> 00:21:23,680 Speaker 1: any forum, her logic being otherwise, how would meant to 376 00:21:23,760 --> 00:21:26,720 Speaker 1: know this person was racist at all? And I asked her, well, 377 00:21:26,800 --> 00:21:29,359 Speaker 1: did anyone do anything about it? Did he get kicked 378 00:21:29,359 --> 00:21:34,720 Speaker 1: out of mensa? And No? This same member somehow managed 379 00:21:34,920 --> 00:21:38,679 Speaker 1: to get officially booked as an annual gathering speaker. His 380 00:21:38,760 --> 00:21:42,800 Speaker 1: talk was on, per Megan, the Bell Curve, a controversial 381 00:21:42,840 --> 00:21:47,639 Speaker 1: parentheses completely disproven book that is constantly cited to justify 382 00:21:48,040 --> 00:21:52,680 Speaker 1: racist views. As Megan tells it, Firehouse members, including her, 383 00:21:53,000 --> 00:21:55,480 Speaker 1: made a plan to show up at this guy's talk 384 00:21:55,600 --> 00:21:58,760 Speaker 1: at the annual gathering and then mass walk out in 385 00:21:58,800 --> 00:22:01,680 Speaker 1: the middle of it in order her to humiliate him. 386 00:22:01,760 --> 00:22:05,160 Speaker 1: And she says that this worked and he was humiliated. 387 00:22:05,359 --> 00:22:09,280 Speaker 1: And she concludes this story by saying he eventually left 388 00:22:09,359 --> 00:22:14,640 Speaker 1: American ments of Firehouse after being blocked and humiliated enough times. 389 00:22:14,680 --> 00:22:18,480 Speaker 1: She suggests that this and commenting to disagree with his 390 00:22:18,600 --> 00:22:22,520 Speaker 1: racist posts instead of removing him or adding a no 391 00:22:22,720 --> 00:22:27,240 Speaker 1: white supremacists welcome addition to the group's non policies, was 392 00:22:27,280 --> 00:22:32,159 Speaker 1: potentially what prevented this member from becoming fully radicalized and 393 00:22:32,240 --> 00:22:35,800 Speaker 1: taking part in a more violent group. And sure, he 394 00:22:36,000 --> 00:22:40,320 Speaker 1: eventually left Firehouse after feeling unwelcome enough, but she felt 395 00:22:40,320 --> 00:22:43,080 Speaker 1: that this experience had a role in changing him for 396 00:22:43,119 --> 00:22:46,320 Speaker 1: the better. And if you could not follow the logic 397 00:22:46,359 --> 00:22:49,280 Speaker 1: of that story, we are on the same page. I 398 00:22:49,320 --> 00:22:52,840 Speaker 1: am not at all sure I understand what she's trying 399 00:22:52,880 --> 00:22:56,840 Speaker 1: to say, and so I asked, but what did that accomplish? 400 00:22:57,119 --> 00:22:59,679 Speaker 1: If he left the group, then didn't he probably just 401 00:22:59,760 --> 00:23:03,679 Speaker 1: go continue to be a white supremacist somewhere else. My 402 00:23:03,760 --> 00:23:07,040 Speaker 1: head is throbbing at this point, and I want to 403 00:23:07,080 --> 00:23:09,919 Speaker 1: ask her what any of this has anything to do 404 00:23:09,960 --> 00:23:13,800 Speaker 1: with what her argument against me specifically is, but she's 405 00:23:13,840 --> 00:23:17,640 Speaker 1: not done speaking. So you see, problem members do leave 406 00:23:17,680 --> 00:23:20,080 Speaker 1: the group if they know we don't support what they do, 407 00:23:20,359 --> 00:23:24,080 Speaker 1: Katie says, drawing a direct line with how the group 408 00:23:24,119 --> 00:23:26,960 Speaker 1: dealt with a white supremacist to how they dealt with 409 00:23:27,040 --> 00:23:30,560 Speaker 1: a dealist comedian. And there has been a lot of 410 00:23:30,600 --> 00:23:33,560 Speaker 1: false equivalence at this table tonight, but this one is 411 00:23:33,600 --> 00:23:37,800 Speaker 1: too much. Two seems genuinely shocked, and he bursts into 412 00:23:37,880 --> 00:23:41,359 Speaker 1: laughter at the comparison, while I am struggling to keep 413 00:23:41,400 --> 00:23:44,520 Speaker 1: my head attached to my neck, and Two is like, 414 00:23:45,720 --> 00:23:48,399 Speaker 1: and Katie kind of catches the comparison she just made 415 00:23:48,560 --> 00:23:51,679 Speaker 1: and says, no, No, I didn't mean. I'm obviously not. 416 00:23:51,960 --> 00:23:55,040 Speaker 1: We're just talking about problem members. She apologizes, and she 417 00:23:55,080 --> 00:23:58,760 Speaker 1: tries to start the anecdote over, but I cannot take this. 418 00:23:58,800 --> 00:24:02,160 Speaker 1: Sitting down at Scott Shooters anymore. So I choked down 419 00:24:02,480 --> 00:24:06,240 Speaker 1: one last fried pickle, and against every better instinct in 420 00:24:06,320 --> 00:24:12,919 Speaker 1: my very tired body, I fucking debate mensa. So stupid. Okay, so, 421 00:24:13,000 --> 00:24:16,240 Speaker 1: because I made the critical mistake of debating my own 422 00:24:16,359 --> 00:24:19,359 Speaker 1: reply guys, reply, women, reply people, I'll start with what 423 00:24:19,400 --> 00:24:22,840 Speaker 1: they get me on the first is the satire itself. 424 00:24:23,080 --> 00:24:26,440 Speaker 1: Megan articulated clearly that the group felt this was me 425 00:24:26,480 --> 00:24:29,480 Speaker 1: punching down at a group of people who were misfits 426 00:24:29,520 --> 00:24:32,960 Speaker 1: their entire lives and have finally found a community. She 427 00:24:33,040 --> 00:24:35,560 Speaker 1: also thought I was a little too cutting towards my 428 00:24:35,680 --> 00:24:39,800 Speaker 1: test proctor in the first piece, And okay, fair, I 429 00:24:39,840 --> 00:24:43,239 Speaker 1: was bullying dorks, and I hadn't considered it from this 430 00:24:43,280 --> 00:24:45,600 Speaker 1: point of view, even though I thought of it at 431 00:24:45,640 --> 00:24:48,359 Speaker 1: the time as punching up to a group that paid 432 00:24:48,359 --> 00:24:51,520 Speaker 1: a fee to declare their superiority over the rest of 433 00:24:51,520 --> 00:24:54,240 Speaker 1: the world. So yes, that's a viewpoint that I hadn't 434 00:24:54,320 --> 00:24:59,679 Speaker 1: considered point for mensa. Megan leans over to me at 435 00:24:59,680 --> 00:25:02,439 Speaker 1: one point and says, you and I were able to 436 00:25:02,480 --> 00:25:06,000 Speaker 1: fake it. I mean, we're unusual, but you're smart and 437 00:25:06,080 --> 00:25:08,639 Speaker 1: you're pretty, and you're able to be around people and 438 00:25:08,720 --> 00:25:11,760 Speaker 1: fake it. Not everyone in mensa is like that. First 439 00:25:11,800 --> 00:25:13,960 Speaker 1: of all, thank you so much for calling me pretty. 440 00:25:14,000 --> 00:25:16,560 Speaker 1: But Megan makes references to members of the group that 441 00:25:16,600 --> 00:25:19,639 Speaker 1: are socially awkward and some who are on the spectrum, 442 00:25:19,880 --> 00:25:23,640 Speaker 1: and others who identify as lifelong misfits. And she has 443 00:25:23,680 --> 00:25:26,359 Speaker 1: this to say about the guy who issued the now 444 00:25:26,400 --> 00:25:29,720 Speaker 1: infamous in group death threat. He's the nicest guy in 445 00:25:29,760 --> 00:25:32,679 Speaker 1: the world in person, and that's how he jokes. And 446 00:25:32,720 --> 00:25:35,840 Speaker 1: I asked, how was I supposed to know that threatening 447 00:25:35,880 --> 00:25:39,600 Speaker 1: a stranger is how he jokes, and Megan says, I understand, 448 00:25:39,720 --> 00:25:42,160 Speaker 1: but she continues to defend his right to do so. 449 00:25:42,320 --> 00:25:45,280 Speaker 1: Another point they get me on is the group's impression 450 00:25:45,560 --> 00:25:48,320 Speaker 1: that I was trying to get them doxed and attacked 451 00:25:48,359 --> 00:25:51,040 Speaker 1: with my tweets, something that I have to be sympathetic too, 452 00:25:51,240 --> 00:25:53,920 Speaker 1: because the same thing has happened to me, although with 453 00:25:54,119 --> 00:25:58,439 Speaker 1: more explicit instructions to harass I was never asking anyone 454 00:25:58,640 --> 00:26:01,400 Speaker 1: to find these people in aither them. If you're coming 455 00:26:01,440 --> 00:26:04,359 Speaker 1: after my friends, I'm gonna block you, that simple. And 456 00:26:04,359 --> 00:26:06,919 Speaker 1: the second you talked about the boob thread, I blocked 457 00:26:06,960 --> 00:26:10,280 Speaker 1: you right away because I can't have people posting on 458 00:26:10,320 --> 00:26:13,080 Speaker 1: that getting docs again I repeat to her that I 459 00:26:13,119 --> 00:26:16,480 Speaker 1: didn't intend to docks people by posting screenshots that were 460 00:26:16,520 --> 00:26:19,879 Speaker 1: insults and threats against me, and hadn't done so since 461 00:26:19,960 --> 00:26:23,359 Speaker 1: those original tweets, And again I repeat that I felt 462 00:26:23,440 --> 00:26:27,040 Speaker 1: that once threats, insults, hate speech come into the equation, 463 00:26:27,160 --> 00:26:31,240 Speaker 1: the question of whether someone's identity should be protected becomes 464 00:26:31,240 --> 00:26:35,080 Speaker 1: obscured for me. And again we disagree. So they closed 465 00:26:35,080 --> 00:26:38,320 Speaker 1: the tab at Scottish Hooters and Megan and I continue 466 00:26:38,400 --> 00:26:41,120 Speaker 1: to have a heated debate into the street, at one 467 00:26:41,119 --> 00:26:44,240 Speaker 1: point getting so involved that we walked a half a 468 00:26:44,280 --> 00:26:47,280 Speaker 1: block away from the main group in the opposite direction. 469 00:26:47,480 --> 00:26:50,359 Speaker 1: And it's a respectful conversation for the most part, but 470 00:26:50,400 --> 00:26:53,680 Speaker 1: it is very intense. She challenges me, if you felt 471 00:26:53,680 --> 00:26:55,760 Speaker 1: so threatened, why didn't you report it to the police 472 00:26:55,880 --> 00:26:58,879 Speaker 1: or Facebook? And I say, well, I talked to the 473 00:26:59,000 --> 00:27:02,719 Speaker 1: organization that's in charge of Firehouse directly. I thought they 474 00:27:02,800 --> 00:27:06,040 Speaker 1: might do something. And Megan shrugs at this, the implication 475 00:27:06,080 --> 00:27:09,360 Speaker 1: being that since nothing was done, that's evidence that there 476 00:27:09,480 --> 00:27:12,000 Speaker 1: was no harm done in the first place, and not 477 00:27:12,119 --> 00:27:15,359 Speaker 1: just systemic not giving a fuck. The subject of our 478 00:27:15,400 --> 00:27:20,479 Speaker 1: conversation switches to the unmoderated elements of Firehouse. Megan is, 479 00:27:20,680 --> 00:27:24,919 Speaker 1: as expected, a fierce defender of the unmoderated nature of 480 00:27:24,960 --> 00:27:27,680 Speaker 1: the group, repeating me, if you can't take the heat, 481 00:27:27,680 --> 00:27:30,200 Speaker 1: get out of the kitchen, creed among people who have 482 00:27:30,320 --> 00:27:34,560 Speaker 1: expressed frustration at the group's persistence. I don't believe in censorship, 483 00:27:34,720 --> 00:27:37,440 Speaker 1: she repeats a number of times. So I pushed back 484 00:27:37,480 --> 00:27:40,600 Speaker 1: and say, isn't having everyone in the group block one 485 00:27:40,680 --> 00:27:43,879 Speaker 1: person censoring the group though? And at this point we 486 00:27:43,920 --> 00:27:46,920 Speaker 1: are all standing in front of a theater complex. Katie 487 00:27:47,040 --> 00:27:50,800 Speaker 1: is drunkenly humping a statue, and two is taking pictures 488 00:27:50,800 --> 00:27:52,560 Speaker 1: of it, and Megan and I are still trained to 489 00:27:52,600 --> 00:27:56,119 Speaker 1: have this conversation, and in another dimension, Two and Katie 490 00:27:56,200 --> 00:27:59,920 Speaker 1: are soul mates. Weirdly, but in spite of or may 491 00:28:00,040 --> 00:28:03,000 Speaker 1: me because of the humping, I continue the conversation with 492 00:28:03,080 --> 00:28:05,840 Speaker 1: Megan and say, the way I see it, the threat 493 00:28:06,160 --> 00:28:08,800 Speaker 1: is a threat, and saying that I should have to 494 00:28:08,840 --> 00:28:12,240 Speaker 1: read into the tone or personal history of the person 495 00:28:12,400 --> 00:28:15,439 Speaker 1: making a threat is kind of asking a lot. And 496 00:28:15,520 --> 00:28:18,359 Speaker 1: Megan comes right back with, well, you didn't get to 497 00:28:18,400 --> 00:28:22,000 Speaker 1: know us. Kitty is hanging from a statue, and I say, 498 00:28:22,080 --> 00:28:25,000 Speaker 1: my introduction to this group was getting tagged and an insult. 499 00:28:25,040 --> 00:28:26,919 Speaker 1: Why the funk would I want to know people in 500 00:28:26,920 --> 00:28:29,959 Speaker 1: a group that would do that. And Megan considers this 501 00:28:30,080 --> 00:28:33,840 Speaker 1: and says that is unfortunate. She then mentions a few 502 00:28:33,880 --> 00:28:37,600 Speaker 1: strategies I could employ to have people in Firehouse begin 503 00:28:37,720 --> 00:28:41,960 Speaker 1: to unblock me, including a public apology, a public vow 504 00:28:42,080 --> 00:28:45,600 Speaker 1: to never release any manner of screenshot ever again with 505 00:28:45,760 --> 00:28:49,000 Speaker 1: names blocked or not, and a number of other apologies 506 00:28:49,040 --> 00:28:52,040 Speaker 1: I could make in order to participate in this community 507 00:28:52,080 --> 00:28:55,280 Speaker 1: that many people have started to assume I am eager 508 00:28:55,320 --> 00:28:58,440 Speaker 1: to reconcile with. And I say, besides, you guys are 509 00:28:58,480 --> 00:29:01,440 Speaker 1: always talking about free spee when I was making jokes 510 00:29:01,480 --> 00:29:04,040 Speaker 1: and being critical and trying to hold people accountable for 511 00:29:04,120 --> 00:29:07,000 Speaker 1: shitty things they were saying. And at this point we 512 00:29:07,080 --> 00:29:10,040 Speaker 1: have reached an impass and we were finally at the 513 00:29:10,080 --> 00:29:13,640 Speaker 1: door of the Sheraton Grand for the final Mensa Official 514 00:29:13,760 --> 00:29:18,000 Speaker 1: Great Gatsby nineteen twenties dance. Megan, Katie and the MAGA 515 00:29:18,080 --> 00:29:20,680 Speaker 1: crew hugged me goodbye and say they'll see me at 516 00:29:20,680 --> 00:29:22,960 Speaker 1: the dance. But I have no intention of staying more 517 00:29:23,000 --> 00:29:26,400 Speaker 1: than like ten minutes. My head hurts and my legs hurt. 518 00:29:26,760 --> 00:29:29,000 Speaker 1: And I'm dying of heat stroke, and I should not 519 00:29:29,080 --> 00:29:32,600 Speaker 1: have come here too, who's a former journalist himself, seems 520 00:29:32,800 --> 00:29:35,120 Speaker 1: just as drained by the dinner as I am, and 521 00:29:35,200 --> 00:29:37,960 Speaker 1: says he might write something himself. The arguments Megan and 522 00:29:38,000 --> 00:29:41,760 Speaker 1: Katie made defending their community felt just as contradictory as 523 00:29:41,800 --> 00:29:45,520 Speaker 1: the people themselves. Firehouse was a haven for the socially awkward, 524 00:29:45,560 --> 00:29:47,880 Speaker 1: but also a place for the socially awkward to threaten 525 00:29:47,960 --> 00:29:51,560 Speaker 1: people freely. Firehouse was uncensored except for the people they 526 00:29:51,600 --> 00:29:53,880 Speaker 1: didn't like, who would be censored to the point of 527 00:29:53,920 --> 00:29:56,960 Speaker 1: complete silence to those in the group with influence. We 528 00:29:57,000 --> 00:29:59,520 Speaker 1: go into the dance for a minute, and it's early hours. 529 00:29:59,640 --> 00:30:02,840 Speaker 1: There's a few middle aged couples who danced to celebration 530 00:30:02,960 --> 00:30:05,360 Speaker 1: in the center of the room, and a few immaculately 531 00:30:05,480 --> 00:30:08,400 Speaker 1: dressed younger couples who are flocked around the photo booth. 532 00:30:08,560 --> 00:30:11,160 Speaker 1: Two says, not much of a dance guy, and he 533 00:30:11,240 --> 00:30:14,000 Speaker 1: looks down at like the basketball shorts he's wearing. I 534 00:30:14,120 --> 00:30:17,320 Speaker 1: say me either, and have him snap a quick picture 535 00:30:17,480 --> 00:30:19,880 Speaker 1: and get ready to leave. One of the couples in 536 00:30:19,960 --> 00:30:21,960 Speaker 1: gen y who had brought me up to the firehouse, 537 00:30:22,000 --> 00:30:24,160 Speaker 1: sweet my first night or there and there once again 538 00:30:24,200 --> 00:30:27,520 Speaker 1: wearing matching outfits. You're coming into booth, aren't you, The 539 00:30:27,560 --> 00:30:30,200 Speaker 1: guy who's close to my age asks, and he insists 540 00:30:30,240 --> 00:30:32,160 Speaker 1: that we get a few shots of them with the 541 00:30:32,200 --> 00:30:34,920 Speaker 1: oversized props in the booth. We leave the room, and 542 00:30:34,960 --> 00:30:38,120 Speaker 1: my final confrontation of the evening follows me out of 543 00:30:38,120 --> 00:30:41,240 Speaker 1: the ballroom and into the hallway. And this is Sarah, 544 00:30:41,440 --> 00:30:44,280 Speaker 1: the girlfriend of the hoser who had spoken to the 545 00:30:44,400 --> 00:30:47,200 Speaker 1: night my phone got Comma kaze. If you don't remember 546 00:30:47,240 --> 00:30:49,800 Speaker 1: who that is, honestly no big deal. She was also 547 00:30:49,880 --> 00:30:52,280 Speaker 1: the woman who had I thought the best points on 548 00:30:52,400 --> 00:30:55,920 Speaker 1: abortion rights in the debate room that same day, and honestly, 549 00:30:56,040 --> 00:30:59,760 Speaker 1: I am too tired for this level of nuance in 550 00:30:59,760 --> 00:31:03,120 Speaker 1: a person at this point, And she says, are you leaving? 551 00:31:03,440 --> 00:31:05,680 Speaker 1: Are you sure I can make sure your request gets 552 00:31:05,680 --> 00:31:08,080 Speaker 1: straight to the DJ. She tells me that she really 553 00:31:08,080 --> 00:31:10,200 Speaker 1: hops I had a good time and that I'll come 554 00:31:10,200 --> 00:31:13,280 Speaker 1: back the next year. I hug to goodbye, go upstairs 555 00:31:13,320 --> 00:31:16,080 Speaker 1: to get my final fist full of free M and m's, 556 00:31:16,560 --> 00:31:24,600 Speaker 1: and finally, mercifully I go home. Some final thoughts on 557 00:31:24,760 --> 00:31:29,320 Speaker 1: my year in mensa, both the podcast and the reality. 558 00:31:29,720 --> 00:31:34,680 Speaker 1: So it was really fucking hard to arrive at anything 559 00:31:34,880 --> 00:31:38,960 Speaker 1: conclusive about dare I say my year in mensa? Because 560 00:31:39,160 --> 00:31:42,040 Speaker 1: there's a very silly, performative conclusion I could get to, 561 00:31:42,240 --> 00:31:45,520 Speaker 1: or there's a more nuanced, kind of overly sympathetic conclusion 562 00:31:45,560 --> 00:31:46,920 Speaker 1: I could get to, and I don't want to get 563 00:31:46,920 --> 00:31:50,280 Speaker 1: to either, so I'm gonna do my best. I can't 564 00:31:50,280 --> 00:31:52,920 Speaker 1: guarantee that my feelings won't change later an either way, 565 00:31:53,040 --> 00:31:55,239 Speaker 1: you don't really have to care. Here's as close as 566 00:31:55,240 --> 00:31:58,440 Speaker 1: I've gotten to conclusive thoughts. And actually I'm going to 567 00:31:58,520 --> 00:32:01,440 Speaker 1: start with a quick appall a g because there is 568 00:32:01,440 --> 00:32:05,680 Speaker 1: one apology that I feel I owe sincerely, and that 569 00:32:06,000 --> 00:32:10,680 Speaker 1: is to the boob thread. As a militant feminist myself, 570 00:32:10,760 --> 00:32:12,960 Speaker 1: it was rude and out of line for me to 571 00:32:13,080 --> 00:32:16,640 Speaker 1: disclose the concept of the boob thread to the Internet 572 00:32:16,680 --> 00:32:20,160 Speaker 1: at large and to boob thread members past and present. 573 00:32:20,360 --> 00:32:25,200 Speaker 1: I regret my condescension and wish all boobs involved health 574 00:32:25,440 --> 00:32:29,000 Speaker 1: and happiness. I'm sorry, boob Thread. I never wanted to 575 00:32:29,360 --> 00:32:32,120 Speaker 1: feud with the boob thread because at the end of 576 00:32:32,120 --> 00:32:36,320 Speaker 1: the day, mensa boob thread and now some actual conclusions. 577 00:32:36,480 --> 00:32:39,080 Speaker 1: So the last long form kind of story that I 578 00:32:39,120 --> 00:32:41,760 Speaker 1: want to do is something I've seen before, and maybe 579 00:32:41,760 --> 00:32:44,400 Speaker 1: you'll recognize it too. It kind of goes like, so 580 00:32:44,760 --> 00:32:47,680 Speaker 1: I met these people who have absolutely terrible views on 581 00:32:47,800 --> 00:32:50,720 Speaker 1: just about everything, and it turns out they're pretty nice. 582 00:32:52,760 --> 00:32:57,120 Speaker 1: This happens weirdly a lot making largely toxic and bad 583 00:32:57,200 --> 00:33:01,280 Speaker 1: groups seem very sympathetic, and that's not how I feel 584 00:33:01,280 --> 00:33:03,960 Speaker 1: at all. And I feel just as opposed to the 585 00:33:04,080 --> 00:33:06,880 Speaker 1: views of a lot of people in Firehouse as I 586 00:33:06,920 --> 00:33:09,680 Speaker 1: have from the beginning over a year ago. Many of 587 00:33:09,720 --> 00:33:12,640 Speaker 1: these views are actively harmful to people I love, and 588 00:33:12,680 --> 00:33:16,560 Speaker 1: are oftentimes actively harmful to me. There's no number of 589 00:33:16,800 --> 00:33:21,480 Speaker 1: pleasant civil conversations over fried pickles that can change that reality. 590 00:33:21,760 --> 00:33:25,640 Speaker 1: I can't in good conscience participate in a community like that. Also, 591 00:33:25,680 --> 00:33:27,200 Speaker 1: I don't really want to. And when I get back 592 00:33:27,240 --> 00:33:30,520 Speaker 1: from the mental conference, it takes me about three days 593 00:33:30,720 --> 00:33:32,959 Speaker 1: for me to sit down and actually start writing, and 594 00:33:33,000 --> 00:33:37,520 Speaker 1: by that time, people have, through some divine intervention, started 595 00:33:37,720 --> 00:33:41,840 Speaker 1: unblocking me on Firehouse. This appears to be connected to 596 00:33:42,000 --> 00:33:45,040 Speaker 1: the goodwill of Katie, who had been defending me in 597 00:33:45,080 --> 00:33:48,240 Speaker 1: the group in a number of long comments in Firehouse 598 00:33:48,360 --> 00:33:51,280 Speaker 1: since the annual gathering ended. There's been one meme that 599 00:33:51,360 --> 00:33:53,840 Speaker 1: I've been able to see, although I hear there's more, 600 00:33:54,040 --> 00:33:56,200 Speaker 1: as well as a few discussions of how the group 601 00:33:56,280 --> 00:33:59,479 Speaker 1: felt interactions with me had gone in person. And that 602 00:33:59,560 --> 00:34:02,320 Speaker 1: picture of Katie and I from the mead party that 603 00:34:02,360 --> 00:34:05,600 Speaker 1: has over three hundred comments talking about me one way 604 00:34:05,680 --> 00:34:09,160 Speaker 1: or the other, and hey, I'm addicted to attention. Oh god, 605 00:34:09,200 --> 00:34:12,280 Speaker 1: I'm going to describe the meme because it's an audio medium, 606 00:34:12,320 --> 00:34:15,319 Speaker 1: but this is gonna sound so fucking lame describing a meme. 607 00:34:15,400 --> 00:34:18,440 Speaker 1: It's the scene from the end of Dirty Dancing where 608 00:34:18,440 --> 00:34:22,520 Speaker 1: she's Jennifer Gray and Patrick Swayze are all this is 609 00:34:22,520 --> 00:34:26,560 Speaker 1: so embar okay, he's lifting her. She's like and so 610 00:34:26,680 --> 00:34:30,400 Speaker 1: I'm Jennifer Gray and Katie's Patrick Swayzy. And then the 611 00:34:30,440 --> 00:34:32,960 Speaker 1: bottom half of the meme, the description is still going 612 00:34:33,239 --> 00:34:37,520 Speaker 1: is Jerry or bog and Susan sarandic or maybe it 613 00:34:37,560 --> 00:34:40,440 Speaker 1: just looks like her and they're like you And that's 614 00:34:40,520 --> 00:34:44,800 Speaker 1: labeled American Mens of Firehouse. That didn't make any sense. 615 00:34:44,920 --> 00:34:48,040 Speaker 1: It's a it's a fine meme, I think, very specific, 616 00:34:48,200 --> 00:34:51,279 Speaker 1: very niche really for about a hundred people. Anyways, one 617 00:34:51,400 --> 00:34:55,440 Speaker 1: user comments, you're truly twisting the tale of the dragon 618 00:34:55,480 --> 00:34:58,000 Speaker 1: by interacting with her at all, and he goes on 619 00:34:58,040 --> 00:35:01,399 Speaker 1: to say that he ensured he was never physically near 620 00:35:01,480 --> 00:35:04,800 Speaker 1: me for the entire gathering. And with every day that passes, 621 00:35:05,040 --> 00:35:08,200 Speaker 1: it looks like I'm able to see more posts from 622 00:35:08,200 --> 00:35:13,719 Speaker 1: more users as the great blocking slowly kind of disbands. 623 00:35:14,040 --> 00:35:17,319 Speaker 1: The conversation around me has now changed and appears to 624 00:35:17,360 --> 00:35:19,800 Speaker 1: be a little more split. Certain members feel that I 625 00:35:19,880 --> 00:35:23,759 Speaker 1: am irredeemable after the perceived doxing and disclosure of the 626 00:35:23,800 --> 00:35:27,400 Speaker 1: boob thread, and others are willing to as the narrative 627 00:35:27,480 --> 00:35:30,719 Speaker 1: has been give me a second chance. It's been speculated 628 00:35:30,760 --> 00:35:33,520 Speaker 1: that I will in my eventual writing on the topic. 629 00:35:33,680 --> 00:35:37,480 Speaker 1: Quote explained that no one was actually threatening her life 630 00:35:37,719 --> 00:35:41,680 Speaker 1: and that she gets it now. Unquote another comment, Realistically, 631 00:35:41,719 --> 00:35:43,719 Speaker 1: if she were able to post an apology, the first 632 00:35:43,719 --> 00:35:45,800 Speaker 1: thing that would happen is she'd probably get a stream 633 00:35:45,840 --> 00:35:49,560 Speaker 1: of posts from people venting. Here's a more sympathetic one. Quote. 634 00:35:49,600 --> 00:35:51,480 Speaker 1: Once I got to speak with her and understood her 635 00:35:51,480 --> 00:35:54,279 Speaker 1: perspective and that it was an honest misunderstanding, I put 636 00:35:54,320 --> 00:35:57,120 Speaker 1: my pitchfork down. Some more comments. We all want to 637 00:35:57,160 --> 00:35:59,759 Speaker 1: be loved, understood, and appreciated. So good to see, and 638 00:35:59,840 --> 00:36:02,080 Speaker 1: apology would go a long way, as it would demonstrate 639 00:36:02,080 --> 00:36:04,560 Speaker 1: an understanding that she should not have done what she did. 640 00:36:04,920 --> 00:36:07,520 Speaker 1: So far, it seems like she's just testing the boundaries 641 00:36:07,520 --> 00:36:09,960 Speaker 1: of what she can get away with. And this was 642 00:36:10,000 --> 00:36:12,680 Speaker 1: interesting to watch because I wasn't expecting any of the 643 00:36:12,719 --> 00:36:15,520 Speaker 1: community to put the pitchfork down, and it was kind 644 00:36:15,520 --> 00:36:19,040 Speaker 1: of heartening and really confusing, but still most of the 645 00:36:19,080 --> 00:36:22,719 Speaker 1: conversation I can see, and as Katie continues to advocate 646 00:36:22,719 --> 00:36:25,600 Speaker 1: on my behalf, what I can see has expanded is 647 00:36:25,640 --> 00:36:29,920 Speaker 1: a request for a formal apology for screenshotting a number 648 00:36:29,920 --> 00:36:35,240 Speaker 1: of insults and threats towards me without redacting names. Last October, Sam, 649 00:36:35,320 --> 00:36:37,480 Speaker 1: who I got to know pretty well during the gathering, 650 00:36:37,600 --> 00:36:40,640 Speaker 1: post the selfie he took of a freshly cried out 651 00:36:40,680 --> 00:36:43,080 Speaker 1: me in the vestibule of the Sheraton on the first 652 00:36:43,160 --> 00:36:46,920 Speaker 1: night of the gathering sort of collaged along with images 653 00:36:46,960 --> 00:36:51,799 Speaker 1: of Winston Churchill, Steven Spielberg, Van Gogh and and I'm 654 00:36:51,800 --> 00:36:55,279 Speaker 1: not getting Katie humping that statue. In the caption, he 655 00:36:55,480 --> 00:36:59,239 Speaker 1: explained his own history with MENSA mental illness and his 656 00:36:59,360 --> 00:37:03,080 Speaker 1: concern that the group is quote too worried about our 657 00:37:03,120 --> 00:37:06,600 Speaker 1: image unquote, he writes, at the end of the day, 658 00:37:06,719 --> 00:37:09,480 Speaker 1: people in MENSA or MENSA Materials will do their ships 659 00:37:09,520 --> 00:37:12,680 Speaker 1: and change the world, and it's fine we are labeled crazy. 660 00:37:12,920 --> 00:37:15,799 Speaker 1: He continues, as for leaking your information using it as 661 00:37:15,840 --> 00:37:18,560 Speaker 1: your business, Jamie Loftist, I'd not do it anymore if 662 00:37:18,560 --> 00:37:21,279 Speaker 1: I were you. I'm sure someone in here eats eyeballs 663 00:37:21,320 --> 00:37:24,959 Speaker 1: and you have beautiful eyes. Yes, another one of those 664 00:37:25,080 --> 00:37:28,440 Speaker 1: hilarious jokes. And this post is generally kind, if a 665 00:37:28,480 --> 00:37:31,000 Speaker 1: little weirdly threatening at the end. But I can't say 666 00:37:31,040 --> 00:37:35,120 Speaker 1: I agree with Sam that MENSA is too worried about 667 00:37:35,160 --> 00:37:38,600 Speaker 1: its image, because it absolutely should be worried about how 668 00:37:38,640 --> 00:37:41,560 Speaker 1: it presents to other people. And the issues within high 669 00:37:41,600 --> 00:37:45,080 Speaker 1: i Q groups go far deeper than the image projected 670 00:37:45,160 --> 00:37:48,920 Speaker 1: at one conference in Phoenix. The issues are cooked right 671 00:37:48,920 --> 00:37:52,319 Speaker 1: into the history of the organization itself and into the 672 00:37:52,440 --> 00:37:56,800 Speaker 1: very idea of a society based on a single biased test. 673 00:37:57,200 --> 00:38:00,880 Speaker 1: So listeners, obviously, I did not shut down Firehouse, and 674 00:38:01,120 --> 00:38:04,799 Speaker 1: I didn't even successfully require that members of the Planets 675 00:38:05,040 --> 00:38:08,560 Speaker 1: Premier High i Q Society do not threaten to kill 676 00:38:08,640 --> 00:38:11,560 Speaker 1: each other. But I did meet them like they asked, 677 00:38:11,680 --> 00:38:13,919 Speaker 1: and it made me think more about what the root 678 00:38:14,040 --> 00:38:16,960 Speaker 1: cause of a group like this could be. And if 679 00:38:16,960 --> 00:38:19,960 Speaker 1: you've been listening since the beginning, you've heard this before. 680 00:38:20,239 --> 00:38:25,200 Speaker 1: MENSA has three stated purposes in its constitution quote to 681 00:38:25,320 --> 00:38:29,560 Speaker 1: identify and foster human intelligence for the benefit of humanity. 682 00:38:29,600 --> 00:38:34,680 Speaker 1: To encourage research into the nature, characteristics, and uses of intelligence. 683 00:38:34,920 --> 00:38:39,600 Speaker 1: And to provide a stimulating intellectual and social environment to 684 00:38:39,719 --> 00:38:42,840 Speaker 1: its members. And after this year, I feel confident in 685 00:38:42,920 --> 00:38:45,480 Speaker 1: saying that the group as a whole does not live 686 00:38:45,560 --> 00:38:48,719 Speaker 1: up to these three tenants. The most active forum in 687 00:38:48,760 --> 00:38:53,360 Speaker 1: the entire organization is essentially a four chand board. Seeing 688 00:38:53,480 --> 00:38:56,160 Speaker 1: children who are being told from a very young age 689 00:38:56,239 --> 00:38:59,520 Speaker 1: that they are fundamentally smarter and better than the kids 690 00:38:59,560 --> 00:39:03,960 Speaker 1: around in a permanent, unchangeable way is deeply unsettling. The 691 00:39:04,000 --> 00:39:06,919 Speaker 1: whole group is founded on the idea that taking one 692 00:39:06,960 --> 00:39:11,080 Speaker 1: test makes you an unquestionable genius, a fact that has 693 00:39:11,120 --> 00:39:15,279 Speaker 1: been repeatedly disproven and wasn't even the intent of the 694 00:39:15,320 --> 00:39:18,280 Speaker 1: person who invented the i Q test in the first place. 695 00:39:18,600 --> 00:39:21,359 Speaker 1: I think, and trust me, no one and MENSA gives 696 00:39:21,360 --> 00:39:23,840 Speaker 1: a funk what I think. But I think that MENSA 697 00:39:23,920 --> 00:39:28,040 Speaker 1: could possibly be salvaged as an organization if its leaders 698 00:39:28,280 --> 00:39:33,480 Speaker 1: actually committed to this constitution above protecting communities with high 699 00:39:33,560 --> 00:39:36,640 Speaker 1: social media engagement that they liked talking shit in, and 700 00:39:36,680 --> 00:39:41,240 Speaker 1: instead considering how these communities got so shitty and toxic 701 00:39:41,320 --> 00:39:44,040 Speaker 1: to begin with. The first and third tenants of this 702 00:39:44,120 --> 00:39:48,719 Speaker 1: constitution feel connected. An emphasis or even a requirement for 703 00:39:48,760 --> 00:39:52,200 Speaker 1: more community service and value to people who aren't in 704 00:39:52,360 --> 00:39:56,360 Speaker 1: MENSA could yield a lot of positive growth and prioritizing 705 00:39:56,400 --> 00:40:00,400 Speaker 1: healthier community options, and the physical safety of existing members 706 00:40:00,400 --> 00:40:03,799 Speaker 1: would as well. But what really sticks with me is 707 00:40:04,000 --> 00:40:07,960 Speaker 1: men says complete non commitment to its second tenant, to 708 00:40:08,360 --> 00:40:13,319 Speaker 1: encourage research into the nature, characteristics, and uses of intelligence. 709 00:40:13,960 --> 00:40:17,680 Speaker 1: Firehouse is a symptom of many things in the organization 710 00:40:17,800 --> 00:40:20,120 Speaker 1: and in the country, but I believe the failure to 711 00:40:20,239 --> 00:40:24,160 Speaker 1: uphold this promise and the insistence of hanging onto a 712 00:40:24,280 --> 00:40:29,560 Speaker 1: toxic online community are very connected. Any organization that ascribes 713 00:40:29,640 --> 00:40:33,719 Speaker 1: to a fixed i Q model cannot claim it's encouraging 714 00:40:33,960 --> 00:40:38,080 Speaker 1: research into the uses of intelligence because its own requirement 715 00:40:38,400 --> 00:40:42,239 Speaker 1: intentionally misunderstands the work of the man who created the 716 00:40:42,280 --> 00:40:44,920 Speaker 1: i Q quotient to begin with, and resting on this 717 00:40:45,000 --> 00:40:49,520 Speaker 1: assumption of superiority without any requirement to demonstrate things like 718 00:40:49,840 --> 00:40:53,720 Speaker 1: learning effort or value to others is arrogant at best, 719 00:40:54,080 --> 00:40:57,520 Speaker 1: dangerous at worst, and if you're wondering if you should join, 720 00:40:57,719 --> 00:41:00,960 Speaker 1: it's way too slippery a slope to be worth participating in. 721 00:41:01,080 --> 00:41:04,360 Speaker 1: The creator of the i Q test himself, Alfred Bennet, 722 00:41:04,719 --> 00:41:09,520 Speaker 1: would not funk with it, So to literally no one's disappointment, 723 00:41:09,680 --> 00:41:13,240 Speaker 1: I'm done with MENSA, I'm logging out of the goddamn group, 724 00:41:13,360 --> 00:41:15,839 Speaker 1: and I would not recommend joining a group with a 725 00:41:15,880 --> 00:41:20,640 Speaker 1: fixed intelligence model to anyone, especially kids. I do hope 726 00:41:20,640 --> 00:41:23,399 Speaker 1: that the community, in real life and online and all 727 00:41:23,440 --> 00:41:26,839 Speaker 1: the in between spaces are willing to look at themselves 728 00:41:26,960 --> 00:41:31,120 Speaker 1: and consider what could be accomplished if doing literally anything 729 00:41:31,160 --> 00:41:34,680 Speaker 1: else was treated with the same passion and intensity of 730 00:41:34,760 --> 00:41:37,840 Speaker 1: protecting the right to threaten and harass people. Maybe with 731 00:41:37,920 --> 00:41:40,799 Speaker 1: the right leadership, that might be possible. I hear some 732 00:41:40,880 --> 00:41:43,759 Speaker 1: of these people are are pretty smart, and I understand 733 00:41:43,840 --> 00:41:47,400 Speaker 1: that there's no overstating what a community can do for 734 00:41:47,440 --> 00:41:50,520 Speaker 1: someone who, as many members described to me, felt like 735 00:41:50,640 --> 00:41:53,440 Speaker 1: misfits in their everyday lives and want to feel that 736 00:41:53,480 --> 00:41:56,080 Speaker 1: they belong somewhere. People who feel that they don't belong 737 00:41:56,400 --> 00:42:00,560 Speaker 1: absolutely deserved community, but a society with murky gold whose 738 00:42:00,600 --> 00:42:04,200 Speaker 1: selling point is superiority is not a healthy place to 739 00:42:04,320 --> 00:42:06,720 Speaker 1: find it. And if you don't believe me, I invite 740 00:42:06,760 --> 00:42:10,320 Speaker 1: you to google the recruitment techniques of of virtually any 741 00:42:10,360 --> 00:42:13,840 Speaker 1: hate group or cult. Bottom line, if you can't reconcile 742 00:42:13,920 --> 00:42:16,000 Speaker 1: the person you are online with a person you are 743 00:42:16,320 --> 00:42:19,640 Speaker 1: in real life, something in your community has gone wrong. 744 00:42:20,080 --> 00:42:23,080 Speaker 1: We've seen it happen more and more frequently, and even 745 00:42:23,120 --> 00:42:26,800 Speaker 1: more politicized groups like eight chan. And while this large 746 00:42:26,880 --> 00:42:31,720 Speaker 1: portion of MENSA isn't inciting violence, it is inciting politicized 747 00:42:31,760 --> 00:42:34,799 Speaker 1: hate that many in the group members lives wouldn't have 748 00:42:34,840 --> 00:42:37,560 Speaker 1: been aware of in real life. And I don't claim 749 00:42:37,600 --> 00:42:41,040 Speaker 1: to be perfect in this separation. We've all got our 750 00:42:41,080 --> 00:42:44,000 Speaker 1: ship to get through when it comes to separating your 751 00:42:44,040 --> 00:42:47,120 Speaker 1: internet self from your real self. You know, no one's 752 00:42:47,120 --> 00:42:50,000 Speaker 1: as happy as they perform that they are online and 753 00:42:50,040 --> 00:42:52,600 Speaker 1: other things you've heard a million times, But to be 754 00:42:52,800 --> 00:42:56,239 Speaker 1: unrecognizable to anyone you know and love is something to 755 00:42:56,280 --> 00:42:59,839 Speaker 1: be reckoned with. One thing I did feel challenged by 756 00:43:00,040 --> 00:43:06,160 Speaker 1: throughout the MENSA disaster was evaluating the satirical slutty character 757 00:43:06,280 --> 00:43:08,520 Speaker 1: that wanted to take down MENSA with the person I 758 00:43:08,560 --> 00:43:11,319 Speaker 1: actually am, who was then a person standing in a 759 00:43:11,480 --> 00:43:14,799 Speaker 1: boiling hot hotel room of angry people from MENSA. And 760 00:43:14,840 --> 00:43:18,080 Speaker 1: I'll admit claiming an online persona, even when it's part 761 00:43:18,120 --> 00:43:21,080 Speaker 1: of my job, can be a delicate balance when others 762 00:43:21,120 --> 00:43:23,760 Speaker 1: don't always know whether to take it at face value 763 00:43:23,880 --> 00:43:26,279 Speaker 1: or not. What I know for sure is that I 764 00:43:26,320 --> 00:43:29,160 Speaker 1: am never waking up at six am on a Sunday 765 00:43:29,200 --> 00:43:33,719 Speaker 1: for a joke ever. Again, So to conclude, if your 766 00:43:33,719 --> 00:43:36,680 Speaker 1: group is silencing people they don't agree with or like, 767 00:43:37,280 --> 00:43:40,880 Speaker 1: you're not an unmoderated group. If you're a person who's 768 00:43:40,960 --> 00:43:45,080 Speaker 1: loved one would not recognize who you are online, that's alarming. 769 00:43:45,520 --> 00:43:48,480 Speaker 1: And if you've been told you're superior to other people 770 00:43:48,680 --> 00:43:52,360 Speaker 1: forever no follow up or responsibility, that's laying in the 771 00:43:52,400 --> 00:43:58,040 Speaker 1: groundwork for some serious, unchecked supremacy. And finally, I can't 772 00:43:58,040 --> 00:44:01,839 Speaker 1: stress this enough. If you're ending a summit in Arizona 773 00:44:02,000 --> 00:44:06,719 Speaker 1: during July, it's actually very fucking hot there, and you 774 00:44:06,800 --> 00:44:08,640 Speaker 1: might not be as smart as you think you are. 775 00:44:09,280 --> 00:44:11,160 Speaker 1: It is still kind of funny that I got in though. 776 00:44:11,920 --> 00:44:14,160 Speaker 1: All Right, thank you for listening. Thank you to everyone 777 00:44:14,360 --> 00:44:16,360 Speaker 1: who helped me put this together. Thank you to Sadie 778 00:44:16,400 --> 00:44:20,160 Speaker 1: Dupuy who did our amazing theme song. Voices featured in 779 00:44:20,160 --> 00:44:23,840 Speaker 1: this episode are Miles Gray on a hostne Caitlin Durante, 780 00:44:24,160 --> 00:44:27,520 Speaker 1: Jaquis Neil, and Robert Evans. Thank you to my friends. 781 00:44:27,920 --> 00:44:31,560 Speaker 1: I look forward to never talking with you about this again. 782 00:44:31,719 --> 00:44:34,160 Speaker 1: I have a weekly podcast with Caitlin Durante called The 783 00:44:34,200 --> 00:44:37,040 Speaker 1: Bechdel Cast. Feel free to listen to that Into Infinity. 784 00:44:37,080 --> 00:44:39,920 Speaker 1: It comes out on Thursdays on my Heart Radio. You 785 00:44:39,960 --> 00:44:43,760 Speaker 1: can follow me online at at Jamie loftus Help on Twitter, 786 00:44:44,000 --> 00:44:46,560 Speaker 1: where I will never be posting a screenshot ever again, 787 00:44:46,880 --> 00:44:51,120 Speaker 1: or at Jamie christ Superstar on Instagram. In the meantime, 788 00:44:51,480 --> 00:44:52,440 Speaker 1: goodbye forever