International High IQ Society

The International High IQ Society is an Internet-based high IQ society founded in 2000 by Nathan Haselbauer. Membership in the International High IQ Society is open to persons who have an IQ in the top five percent of the population, with no other qualifications necessary for membership. Members of the society are required to pass one of two IQ Tests offered online, with a score of at least 124 (sd 15).

Background information
The International High IQ Society (IHIQS) was founded in April 2000 in New York City by Nathan Haselbauer, formerly a trader at Morgan Stanley. Originally called the New York High IQ Society, the organization changed its name to the International High IQ Society on 12 July 2000 to reflect its growing international membership base.

By early 2002 the International High IQ Society had supplanted Intertel as the world’s second-largest high IQ society, remaining behind only the current leader, Mensa International, which was created in England in 1946.

In a 2003 Details Magazine interview, founder Nathan Haselbauer mentioned the International High IQ Society was interested in “attracting the everyday geniuses,” and went on to say he created the Society in part because of the cumbersome enrollment processes of the more established high IQ societies.

In December 2005, under pressure from the growing international community, the organization released a much-expanded version of their website that accommodated international-speaking visitors and included admissions tests which allowed multiple language IQ testing for French, Spanish, and German-speaking visitors.

In 2006 they launched a side-project titled Trivia Challenge 2006, which is a free, public-access trivia engine, and does not require International High IQ Society membership to participate.

Discussion Forum
The majority of the activity within the International High IQ Society takes place within the DF or Discussion Forum. The DF provides an informal environment in which members can exchange ideas and perspectives from across cultures. The forum holds sixty three categories for discussion in English, and six language-specific categories, consisting of Portugese, Spanish, French, Italian, Dutch, and Swedish. Current moderators include Laura Warren, Bill Shroka, and Nathan Haselbauer.

Hamilton Institute
The organization created a think-tank similar to Mensa International’s MERF (Mensa Education and Research Foundation) in 2001. Originally called the Hamilton Institute for Policy Research, they shifted in recent years to an online venue for International High IQ Society members to publish and discuss scientific articles. The success of high IQ society research branches remains to be seen, and there has been criticism on both the Hamilton Institute and MERF in recent years due to their limited scope and informal atmosphere. Despite their many critics, both research arms have had minor successes in their short lifespans and continue to be funded by their respective parent organizations, suggesting an ongoing commitment to maintaining them.

On april 11th 2007, Jean-Pierre Levac, a long standing member of the International High IQ Society, was appointed Managing Director of the Hamilton Institute. Since then, the Hamilton Institute has opened up to allow non-members of the International High IQ Society to publish articles on the Institute’s web portal.

Controversy
The issue of intelligence testing has consistently been a controversial topic. There have been reams of material written both defending and vilifying IQ testing, and it stands to reason that with the highly controversial nature of IQ testing, private organizations such as this one that cater to those with select IQ scores are also going to be a lightning rod for controversy and critical discussion. At the core of many critics’ polemics is the use of online admissions tests and their validity in determining a users’ true IQ. Since a membership requires a minimum of $79, there has been some question regarding the sincerity of the website.