Aug 13, 2009, 13:23 GMT
Kiel, Germany - At first glance the Schultzes seem like an entirely ordinary family, but inside this family of four's home in Kiel, northern Germany there resides a ton of intelligence.
All are members of Mensa, the club for people with an IQ of 130 or higher. Udo Schultz, a retired civil servant, was the worldwide president of Mensa for four years. He met his wife, Sigrid, at a Mensa meeting in Cologne in the early 1980s. Both of their daughters can also count themselves as smarter than 98 per cent of the population.
'We were barely 12 years old - at the time the minimum age for taking the Mensa test - and we were dragged to the exam,' said 23-year-old Megan grinning. She and her sister Arwen, who is three years younger, easily passed the entry-level hurdle, as both demonstrated they have an intelligence quotient of more than 130.
'Mensa has significantly shaped my life,' said Megan, a cheerful young lady with a pierced lip. She spends almost every summer with like-minded people at Mensa youth camps. Initially, she was a participant, but she ultimately became a camp counsellor. In addition she goes to Mensa parties, regional casual meetings at pubs and discussion groups in English.
Mensa, founded in 1946 in England, has about 100,000 members worldwide. Of Germany's approximate 7,500 Mensa members 31 per cent are female. There are about 500 Mensa members in the German state of Schleswig-Holstein of which Kiel is the capital.
'In a way I feel better understood by fellow Mensa members,' said Megan, who is currently taking her secondary school examinations. The intellectually gifted people band together on a special wavelength, which is noticeable through their ability to quickly grasp concepts and think outside the box.
'Although intelligence doesn't necessarily have to do with knowledge,' said Megan, who twice had to repeat a class in school.
'It is the fate of a lot of highly intelligent people that they have difficulty in school,' said Udo Schultz. They typically feel underchallenged and bored. In the opinion of the 66-year-old, Mensa members stand out as curious, tolerant and open to the world.
One benefit of Mensa membership is free accommodation at other Mensa members' homes. The Schultz family has hosted guests from all over the world for weeks at a time. The atmosphere between Mensa members is always the same 'no matter if they are meeting at a pub in Kiel or a conference in Malaysia,' Schultz said. As president of Mensa worldwide he travelled extensively, always with the mandate of discovering and encouraging intelligent people.
Every few weeks in Kiel, Schultz conducts the Mensa screening test, which costs 49 euros. Interested people can have their ability to decode series of numbers tested and have their memory and their language competence checked. The tests are evaluated at a central location in Germany. Those who reach the 130 IQ level receive an invitation from Mensa.
A few weeks ago, a 2-year-old British girl with an IQ of 156 on Britain's common scale became the youngest Mensa member. Elise of London can name 35 capital cities, recite the alphabet and count to 10 in Spanish. Germany's youngest Mensa member is a 4-year-old girl.
But an entire family belonging to the organization, like the Schultzes, is very unusual. Schultz said he knows of only four other families that could make the claim.
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