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Status Reports
Status: HiQ (2018 - September)
(Text as at 10/10/2018 16:43:41)
(For earlier versions of this Note, see the table at the end)
Rationale for this Project- I was very active in Mensa and ISPE in the years prior to taking up formal study of philosophy at Birkbeck in 2000. Thereafter I was too busy, and no longer felt the need to contribute, so I let my memberships lapse.
- When I retired from HSBC at the end of 2010, and given that I was no longer involved in formal academic study, I re-joined both societies for a year to see how things were going, but then let my memberships lapse again.
- ISPE seemed no better than when I was involved last time. The Mensa SIGs seem active enough, but I didn’t have the time to contribute.
- I re-joined ISPE1 yet again for the calendar year 2017, to see what was going on, and renewed for 2018. Membership is cheaper now Telicom is electronic, so I intend to let my membership continue.
- Society Details:-
- For Mensa – see Mensa. In 2010 I joined, or re-joined, a bundle of societies, but did nothing.
- For ISPE – see ISPE. Since re-joining I have done nothing other than pay my dues and exchange friendly emails with a couple of old contacts.
- For a site2 giving details of the various tests, and other Hi-Q information, see Uncommonly Difficult IQ Tests. The site doesn’t seem to have been updated since 2006.
- See High-IQ Societies and their Tests for a site that gives the admission tests used for entry to ISPE and peer and “higher” societies (and which refers to the defunct site mentioned in the footnote above-mentioned).
- Between 1997 and 2001 I edited a newsletter (Commensal - Past Issues) in my capacity as secretary of the Philosophical Discussion Group of British Mensa.
- I also edited "ISPE, Todman (Theo) - Under the Sycamore Tree: Correspondence Folder for the UK Members and Associates of ISPE" for a year.
- My intention has been to participate in these societies just so far as doing so would support my other projects by way of stimulation and the opportunity for interaction. As such, most of the time recorded against this project could equally be recorded against others.
Summary of Progress during 17Q4 - 18Q3- I have spent 7 hours YTD on this Project, or related work, where for "YTD" - Year to Date - I mean the (academic) year that commenced in October 2017). That's 54% of the planned effort. Overall, 0% of my Project effort YTD has been directed towards this project.
- YTD Activity3
HiQ (Total Hours = 6.5)- 17Q3 Status Reports (1.75 hours)
- 18Q2 Status Reports (0.5 hours)
- Admin - HiQ Societies - ISPE - Contact Details (0.25 hours)
- Admin - HiQ Societies - ISPE - Recent Emails (0.25 hours)
- Admin - HiQ Societies - ISPE - Re-joining (0.25 hours)
- Admin - HiQ Societies - ISPE - Test Queries (0.25 hours)
- Admin - HiQ Societies - ISPE - TNS/ISPE Meet-up? (1 hour)
- Discussion with Lise Lynge (1.25 hours)
- Ning (1 hour)
→ See "Admin - HiQ Societies - ISPE"
- As can be seen from the list above, this project has been largely inactive over the last year. It will remain so for the foreseeable future. I did receive a communication from an ISPE member organising a meeting for London-based members of the 3-sigma societies (mostly ISPE and TNS4), but it clashed with a King’s reunion. But I may follow this up in due course.
- Progress (if any) in the last quarter can be obtained from the relevant section of my Summary Task List5, and YTD in future “automatic” editions of this report.
Plans for the Near Future: - Because of the need to focus on higher-priority projects, it is not possible to schedule much time on this project.
- Consequently, I’ve scheduled one hour a week, and don’t really expect to achieve that.
- If I do find the time, I’ll be looking into:-
- ISPE
- Sort through and review historical material,
- Investigate & take part in ISPE Ning,
- Read "ISPE - The Thousander",
- Read "ISPE - Telicom",
- Investigate Triple Nine Society.
Mensa Nothing planned.
In-Page Footnotes:
Footnote 1: - All that ought to have been required was that I pay my dues, but because of a mix-up I was asked to sit the latest version of their test, which I did.
- I didn’t initially hear back – though I was re-instated OK. On chasing them up for the results I eventually got the response that “I’d passed with flying colours”, but no further details could be elicited.
- My rationale for the enquiry was set out in an email: “On the test itself – it’s similar to, though not the same as – the first one I took, and leaves me feeling similarly uncomfortable. Theory is massively underdetermined by data, so – in a sense – “it depends what you want”. It’d be possible – no doubt – to think more and more deeply and come up with more and more Byzantine reasons for excluding particular items. But how would I know this is what is wanted? It wasn’t until I got the same percentile on the (much more satisfying but now sadly compromised) Mega Test that I trusted the ISPE test at all (actually, I was surprised that I didn’t do better on the Mega Test, and an inquest revealed I’d made at least 3 howlers that more care would have avoided).”
Footnote 2: - The reference given in previous reports is defunct.
- I think this is the same basic site.
Footnote 3: - As this project is substantially inactive, I don’t update the text between quarters other than at the end of the academic year.
- Hence, the YTD Activity is to make this task easier, and to give a clearer idea of what – if anything – has been going on in the interim.
Footnote 4:
Printable Version:
- Follow (this link) for level 0 (with reading list).
Table of the Previous 9 Versions of this Note:
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Text Colour Conventions
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