Civiq Society

CIVIQ society is an international high IQ Society for people having achieved a very high intelligence quotient (IQ) at or above the third standard deviation above the arithmetic mean of the general, unselected population, i.e.:
 * IQ 145 (s.d. 15, Wechsler scale), or
 * IQ 148 (s.d. 16, Stanford-Binet scale), or
 * IQ 172 (s.d. 24, Cattell Culture Fair III scale).

The society accepts only candidates having performed on standardized IQ tests, and the results are analyzed by psychometricians with experience and knowledge about the latest researches in high IQ testing.

Background
Founded in 2001, CIVIQ has currently (2007) 110 members, with a large spectrum of nationalities (all over the world) and ages (from 18 to 79). CIVIQ is an independent high IQ society but affiliated with World Intelligence Network (WIN).

Goals
Why such a society?

This question is often posed by people who have little knowledge of the issues which gifted people must sometimes confront. Some might suppose that high IQ societies are pretentious and that people join them solely for the sake of validation. Although such members may exist, the CIVIQ Society was created because highly intelligent people:
 * often share common needs which cannot always be satisfied in everyday life, e.g., many interests regarding knowledge in general or a wish to have detailed and abstract discussions
 * may have experienced similar phases during life, e.g., inadaptability (social, educational, professional)

That high intelligence is a gift with only positive implications is a common misconception: it brings up facilities (talents, strengths and interests) on one hand, but often also specific difficulties and needs on the other. Thinking on it, the society provides a structure which facilitates contact between members: forums, chat, email and even face to face meetings. They can also participate in a magazine. By exchanging, they can learn a lot from each other.