A professional basketball player earns entry to a guild of high ability players after a lifetime of competing against their peers. Since they must continually p

A professional basketball player earns entry to a guild of high ability players after a lifetime of competing against their peers. Since they must continually prove their worth in a public arena, and they are competing against such a high percentage of the population (everybody who wants to be a pro), their status is validated. If Mensa was set up as an open competition which everybody (or at least a majority) participated in, then it would have more credibility. At the moment most people are fine with the idea of Mensa as a club, but not as a guild of "special people".