The genius of Ireland.

A news article, on the Irish Abroad website, was today brought to my attention by one of my readers, “Ajax”. The article is short but striking.

As everyone knows, it is not difficult to find a talkative or a friendly Irishman. But how difficult is it to find a highly intelligent one? The article suggests that that isn’t particularly difficult either. According to David Schulman, the International Honorary President of Mensa, the Irish are the most intelligent people in the world. He says this because Ireland has more members of Mensa than any other country in the world, per head of population. To put it somewhat ironically, it has a greater density of Mensa members, than anywhere else.

Now, of course, this could mean many things. It could mean that it is fashionable in Ireland to be a member of Mensa. However, his further evidence indicates that this is not so. When invited to appear on a quiz show, Mensa was unable to rustle up even two volunteers from Mensa to form a team. So, they are a shy, retiring lot and not particularly willing to come forward, or even be known as Mensa members. This does suggest there is no great social impetus to join up therefore...certainly no more than anywhere else and perhaps less so.

It should not be overlooked that joining Mensa requires the same steps everywhere and that everyone in every country has an equal opportunity to put themselves forward and be selected. The only difference between countries, potentially, is the percentage of people who cross the acceptance threshold of an IQ of 148 (according to the article...though I note the standard deviation of the test is not mentioned). Given this it does seem possible that, in Ireland, more people are above that threshold than elsewhere, though further research would be helpful to clarify this. There are two ways to achieve this: a high average and a typical standard deviation for IQ – or a more average average, as it were, and a greater standard deviation for IQ. Contemporary research would be needed to ascertain which it was, if it were either.

Whatever is the case, this statement by David Schulman, President of Mensa, does support the impressions and experiences I have of Irish people. They are a varied lot...but idiosyncrasy and “genius” are certainly to be found among them. It isn’t difficult to find a sharp Irishman (or woman) if you take a careful look.

The funny thing about this is that the Jews have the world’s greatest reputation for genius...but it could be that there is a little pocket of genius lurking in the western reaches of Europe, largely overlooked? I note that Israel was not top of the Mensa list.

Perhaps the Irish deserve a more complex reputation than that of heavy drinkers and brawlers. After all, as I noted before in another post, it wasn’t the Irish who rioted in the UK. It was the English. Who are the brawlers, then, I wonder?

For a small nation, of few people, Ireland has an interesting intellectual history, which also supports the observation of David Schulman. Perhaps I will highlight some examples in future posts.

Anyway, I am just going to get a cup of tea (note non-alcholic drink for an Irishman), to raise a toast to the genius of Ireland!

The article that references David Schulman, President of Mensa, is here:

http://www.irishabroad.com/news/irishpost/news/irelandtopsmensaleague.asp

As a final point, I note that this pre-eminence of Ireland in the Mensa membership per head of population is particularly surprising when the history of Ireland is examined. Ireland is a country with a pronounced brain drain over centuries. People left, because there wasn't the means to support them in Ireland...and so they emigrated all over the world. Typically, it is often the brightest who leave a country in disproportionate numbers, since they are the ones more likely to be able to find opportunities elsewhere. Thus, one would expect to find most of Ireland's intellectuals outside of Ireland...for their ancestors would have left long ago. Yet, enough remain, in Ireland, for Ireland to be top of the global Mensa league tables. That is particularly telling and is suggestive that there might be many more potential Irish descent Mensa members overseas. I wonder if the global records of Mensa might be scanned for Irish heritage in its global membership?

The country with a most obvious Irish influence is the United States, where about 41 million people claim Irish descent. They are particularly common in positions of influence over people, such as politics (think the Kennedys) and Hollywood (much of the "talent" seems to have Irish blood) and literary pursuits.

I shall write further, in future, on interesting Irish people of genius, in some way or other. In some cases, perhaps, their Irish ancestry has been overlooked, or is not widely known. This should be rectified, I feel. If there is genius, in someone, it should, at least, be credited to their ancestral gene pool - and that origin should be known, for it raises a whole people, thereby.

Declaration: I am Irish, by blood, on both my maternal and paternal sides. However, I haven't decided to join Mensa (though I could certainly do so, if I wished).

Posted by Valentine Cawley

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In search of freedom.

A couple of days ago, I learnt that someone I knew was leaving Singapore, quite suddenly.

Now, I had thought him well-established here. He is an American and his wife is from South America. He is a teacher. She is a singer/musician. They both had jobs. Between them, their income was very good, surprisingly good, in fact. You see his singer wife is in demand and is very well paid for the corporate gigs that she has been doing. In addition she has been singing for "good money", 3 hours a night in clubs in Singapore. So, financially speaking, they were content here. Yet, something was not right, here. In Singapore, they did not feel free to be themselves.

My American friend's wife was the one most unhappy with it all. The problem was that, in Singapore, she felt that she was living in a kind of straitjacket. She is a creative person, but here she was not allowed to create. Every night she sang and some days, too...but whenever she did, she was never allowed to do her own material, never allowed to improvise, explore or create. All that she was ever allowed to do was "cover versions" of other people's songs. She found the musicians she worked with highly skilled in a technical sense - but none of them showed any creativity - or did not, at least, show any evidence of it, in her presence. They were consumed with the desire to replicate the work of others as faithfully as possible. She found this tiresome. Where she came from, true musicians were always experimenting, exploring and growing. Here, she was not allowed to grow or become or create - she was enforced to imitate.

Now, it is not her fellow musicians, alone, that are the problem. The other problem is that the audience actually seem to crave well-performed cover versions. They enjoy hearing replication at work. They also seem to dislike anything new or experimental. So, even if a musician is creative here, they might find their creativity unwelcome.

They felt the straitjacket in other aspects of life, here, too. There is not much creativity in Singapore...it is a place that excels in conformity. This fact made them uncomfortable. They felt that they couldn't truly be free to be themselves in a place that so expected a uniformity of behaviour from everyone. At least, that is the way it seems to them. They felt, in short, oppressed by the essence of the place. They felt that here, they would never be allowed to be themselves.

So, one day, they both decided to jack in their jobs and leave. They have already bought tickets and have a destination in mind - and even jobs lined up.

The question is: how many creative people is Singapore losing - or never gaining in the first place - because creative people might feel too restricted here? Does this loss of creative individuals not harm Singapore? Does it not reduce the likelihood that anything new or special will come out of this small city state?

I am left to wonder how pervasive the need to conform is, here, when even music is not allowed to live - when even something as inoffensive as the sound that comes to one's ears, must conform, absolutely, to expectation, with no surprises. Surely, creativity should be welcomed...and not pushed away, as they have been?

The funny thing is, this decision of theirs to leave was prompted by a holiday in Bali. To them, the place felt so much more alive and authentic and free...so that is where they are going, now. So who has it right: the self-adoring No.1 nation in the world...or its poorer, but apparently freer, neighbour? Bali may be poor - but a creative couple felt more welcome there.

I think there is a lesson in this tale for ambitious Singapore. It can still learn from its "poorer" neighbours.

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