What is Mensa? It’s the largest and oldest, non-profit, high IQ society in the world. Its membership is offered to those who score at or above the 98th percentile of any standardized IQ test. Basically, it’s a smart people club and you have to be a smart person to get in.
So, how did a four year old from Winchester, England get in to Mensa? Meet Heidi Hankins, the little girl with a big intelligence level. She has an IQ of 159, just one point below Albert Einstein and Stephen Hawking. At just two, Hankins taught herself to read and was able to count to 40.
While she’s young and all, she’s not the youngest person ever to shock Mensa with a high-IQ/low age. When Oscar Wrigley was two and a half years old, he was the youngest child ever to join Mensa with an IQ of 160. Wrigley is also from England. (Maybe it’s something in their water?)
According to British Mensa chief executive John Stevenage, Heidi’s parents “correctly identified that she shows great potential.” Signs of a high-IQ in a child include unusual memory, reading early, awareness of world events, asking lots of questions and an intolerance of other children.
According to Mensa, the average adult has an IQ of 100. So yes, it’s likely that Heidi’s intelligence level puts ours to shame. But we’re content otherwise!