International Society for Philosophical Inquiry

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International Society for Philosophical Inquiry
(ISPE)
logo
legal form organization
founding 1974
founder Christopher Harding
Seat United States
motto Quaere Verum
("Search the Truth")
main emphasis Highly gifted (IQ 146+)
Action space Global
Members 440 (as of 2015)
Website www.thethousand.com

The International Society for Philosophical Inquiry (ISPE) is an international, philosophically and scientifically oriented association of gifted students .

It was founded in 1974 by Christopher Harding in Queensland ( Australia ). It is the third oldest IQ society after Mensa International (1946) and Intertel (1966) - however, compared to these, it is significantly more selective.

The society is organized by elected and appointed officials and other volunteers in accordance with its statute. The aim is to use the intellect to improve society and to provide a forum for the exchange of ideas in order to promote the intellectual development of the members. The organization is politically neutral.

The company's magazine is called Telicom, a suitcase word from telic (“towards a goal”) and the abbreviation for communication . Telicom publishes essays, art, and controversial articles; it appears four times a year. Although the journal can only be obtained through ISPE membership, more recent articles have been made publicly available.

In allusion to the admission criterion, the ISPE also operates as "The Thousand".

Conditions of joining

For admission, an intelligence quotient must be demonstrated that is above that of 99.9% of the population in one of the tests accepted by society (3.09 standard deviations above the mean value of a normal distribution ). This equates to an IQ of 146 for tests using a standard deviation of 15, such as the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (or 149 for a test such as Stanford-Binet with a standard deviation of 16).

Membership structure and statistics

According to Ida Fleiß, the members of the International Society for Philosophical Inquiry are mostly "high-ranking scientists", "people who received their doctorate with summa cum laude , or successful entrepreneurs".

The members should have an average vocabulary of around 36,000 words - in comparison, that of university graduates is 20,000, Shakespeare used 33,000 in his dramas.

The mean IQ of the ISPE members is said to be 151, compared to that of Nobel Prize winners in the sciences is said to be 155, but reliable measurements in this area are difficult to achieve.

In 1981 the ISPE had 239 members.

In 2000 the ISPE had 450 members.

In 2015, the ISPE said it had 440 members in 32 countries.

Hierarchy and criticism

The members are hierarchized in 7 levels:

  1. Associate Member (61%)
  2. Member (17%)
  3. Fellow (9%)
  4. Senior Fellow (2.5%)
  5. Senior Research Fellow (5%)
  6. Diplomates (5%)
  7. Philosopher (0.5%)
and about 1% external mentors

New members are regarded as merely associated and have no right to vote. This should be an incentive to be active in the interests of society. In order to be promoted to a full member , merits must be obtained, for example through publications or the acquisition of academic degrees.

Above all, there is criticism of the pronounced hierarchical structure of society. Kevin Langdon described the ISPE as "the most pretentious and least democratic" of all the gifted associations. The dispute over internal democracy led to a split in 1979. Five former ISPE members (Kevin Langdon, Ronald K. Hoeflin et al.) Founded the Triple Nine Society (TNS). This also has a 99.9% acceptance criterion and is now more than three times the number of members.

aims

The statute of the ISPE lists nine objectives:

  • Encourage written communication between members with similar interests and skills to share thoughts, ideas and insights. To nourish the innate thirst for knowledge of all members through well-thought-out research and feedback and at the same time to broaden their horizons.
  • To encourage members to develop their potential in the service of society and humanity on a broader basis.
  • Provide a channel for individual initiatives and give members the opportunity to advance in society and serve in executive or leadership positions, which also allows them to expand their own experience.
  • To offer members in positions of responsibility outside of society the opportunity to help other members develop their potential.
  • Consistently expanding membership and encouraging members to seek and propose qualified candidates who, after appropriate testing, can be accepted into the society.
  • Build natural reserves of talent and skills and help members achieve the success and recognition they are qualified to deserve.
  • Provide a correspondence-like advisory service for members to turn to in their education, profession and life's work. To offer the guidance and advice of more knowledgeable members to other members who may benefit from their knowledge.
  • Bringing all members together and cementing their bond through Telicom, the Society's magazine. Through Telicom the members are informed about the activities of the society and have the opportunity to share their experiences with other members. (Auto) Biographical outlines and other contributions are welcome and should be published for intellectual stimulation and provide food for thought.
  • Expand the potential of all members through health and longevity.

Awards

The society awards the "The Whiting Memorial Award":

  • 2017: Aaron Gitler ( ALS geneticist)
  • 2016: Vernon Neppe and Edward Close (for "Expanding the Boundaries of Scientific Understanding")
  • 2012: Reverend Michael C. Kirwen (Maryknoll Institute of African Studies)
  • 2008: John J. Barnes
  • 2007: Stuart Allen (visual artist)
  • 2006: Thomas PM Barnett (military strategist)
  • 2003: Colonel David Pittman Johnson
  • 2002: Dee Breger (photomicrographer)
  • 2001: "Friends of William Stafford "
  • 1997: Alexandra York (ART Foundation New York)

literature

The ISPE is mentioned in the following publications:

  • Philip J. Carter, Christopher P. Harding and Marcel Feenstra: The Ultimate IQ Challenge . Ward Lock Limited, 1994, ISBN 0-7063-7232-8 . (The book contains the ISPE's "A" vocabulary test, complete with answers and percentiles .)
  • Lorraine M. Dahlstrom: Writing Down the Days. 365 Creative Journaling Ideas for Young People . Free Spirit Publishing, 1990, p. 112, ISBN 0-915793-19-9 .
  • Robert Famighetti: The World Almanac and Book of Facts 2000. Millennium Collector's Edition . St. Martin's Press, 2000, p. 289, ISBN 0-88687-847-0 . (The ISPE is listed here under “Associations and Societies”.)
  • Marcel Feenstra, Philip J. Carter, and Christopher P. Harding: The Ultimate IQ Book . Ward Lock Limited, 1993, ISBN 0-7063-7148-8 . (The book contains the ISPE's "B" vocabulary test, complete with answers and percentiles.)
  • Richard A. Kapnick and Aidan A. Kelly (Eds.): Thinking on the Edge. Essays by Members of the International Society for Philosophical Inquiry . Agamemnon Press, 1993, ISBN 1-883322-00-6 .
  • JC Oleson: Sipping Coffee with a Serial Killer. On Conducting Life History Interviews with a Criminal Genius . In: The Qualitative Report . Volume 9, No. 2, June 2004, pp. 192-215, ISSN  1052-0147 . (For this study, some ISPE members completed a questionnaire as a control group.)
  • Warren Oskey: Spiritual Awareness. Pathway to Enlightenment . Xlibris Corporation, 2000, p. 377, ISBN 0-7388-1263-3 .
  • Daniel Price: Slick. A novel . Villard, 2004, ISBN 1-4000-6234-9 . (The ISPE is mentioned here in Chapter 7.)

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ A b Ida Fleiß: Gifted and Gifted - With reports from those affected. Tectum Verlag, 2003, pp. 42-43, ISBN 3828884520 . limited preview in Google Book search
  2. ↑ Exemplary: Table of contents of the ISPE journal Telicom from March 2007: [1] ; eight essays from the 1990s: [2]
  3. ↑ Telicom Preview. In: International Society for Philosophical Inquiry ISPE. Retrieved November 13, 2018 .
  4. ↑ Prudent Injeeli: Mind Your Words - Master the Art of Learning and Teaching Vocabulary . Trafford, Singapore 2013, ISBN 978-1-4669-9131-6 , pp. 5 (English, limited preview in Google Book Search).
  5. ↑ Medd Guinness: The Guinness Book of Records . tape 1993 . Guinness World Records Limited, 1992, ISBN 978-0-85112-978-5 , pp. 151 (English, limited preview in Google Book search).
  6. ↑ Hindemburg Melão, Jr. en : What is the true cut-off in the high IQ societies? (DOC; 63 KB, 4 pages) (No longer available online.) Sigma Society, September 2003, archived from the original on April 12, 2016 ; Retrieved on May 11, 2017 (Hindemburg is the founder of the Sigma Society, which works with SD 16, so the information has been converted to SD 15).
  7. ↑ Norris McWhirter (Ed.): Guinness Book of World Records . 1981 edition. Sterling Publishing Company, 1980, ISBN 978-0-8069-0196-1 , pp.  35 (English, limited preview in Google Book Search).
  8. ↑ Darryl Miyaguchi. In: Commensal Issue 100 , The Newsletter of the Philosophical Discussion Group Of British Mensa, No. 100, March 2000, accessed January 15, 2015.
  9. ↑ About - Overview and Historical Background. In: www.thethousand.com. ISPE, accessed January 15, 2015 .
  10. ↑ ISPE - Members. In: www.thethousand.com. ISPE, accessed on January 15, 2015 (the frequencies given as examples correspond to the published status between 2012 and 2016).
  11. ↑ Kevin Langdon: High-IQ Societies and the Tests They Accept for Admission Purposes, Kevin Langdon. Retrieved May 15, 2017 .
  12. ↑ ISPE Goals. In: www.thethousand.com. ISPE, 1992, accessed May 2017 .
  13. ↑ Awards 1997–2017
  14. ↑ The Whiting Memorial Award for 2016: Dr. Vernon Neppe and Dr. Edward Close. In: www.thethousand.com. ISPE, accessed May 11, 2017 .
  15. ^ FWS receives Whiting Memorial Award. (PDF; 421 KB, 8 pages) (No longer available online.) In: williamstafford.org. July 2001, archived from the original on May 3, 2016 ; accessed on May 15, 2017 .