Wanted: Partner with high IQ
2008-04-30 07:31
Toronto - Tired of the same old
internet dating sites? If you're an ultra-smart singleton and
good at taking tests, a new website could be the answer.
The social networking site directed towards highly
intelligent people with a knack for deciphering complex visual
patterns, which started in Denmark, has now expanded to Canada
and the United States.
Potential candidates have to pass an online test to prove
they have an IQ of 115 or higher. The score places them in the
top 15% of the population for intelligence, said
Copenhagen-based Trine Jensen, the founder of
IntelligentPeople.com.
"I believe that intelligent people communicate better with
other intelligent people and, of course, love happens more
easily if you communicate well," she said.
"I started it because I thought it was missing from the
dating scene and the social networking scene," the 29-year-old
corporate lawyer explained.
The test to join the site is based on one used by Mensa -
an international society founded in England for people with an
IQ in the top two percent of the population. It is designed to
be "culture fair", so it tests intelligence while minimising cultural and educational biases, Jensen said.
People can take the test twice, Jensen added, admitting
that in some ways it could be viewed as discriminatory.
"But there are other sites that discriminate on the basis
of other criteria," she said.
The new site, which has about 700 members, has attracted
engineers, lawyers, students, web developers and teachers,
Jensen said, adding that it's too early to say how successful
the site has been at "hooking people up".