Many who join Mensa are/were developmentally gifted children/adults. For many such folks, finding a peer group with similar experiences (owing to them being pre

Many who join Mensa are/were developmentally gifted children/adults. For many such folks, finding a peer group with similar experiences (owing to them being precocious, not fitting in, not often meeting people with similar interests -- especially before the advent of the Internet) was/is generally harder (or at least low probability). Mensa was one avenue where they could bond over those shared experiences with people of like-mind. It certainly wasn't perfect -- gifted children often struggle with loneliness and isolation, and don't have the easiest time with social interactions, hence the manifested social dysfunction in certain local chapters -- but sometimes it works out and they find a community of diverse individuals with whom they relate (as was my case).