Keith Raniere is indubitably the smartest prisoners in Tucson and a source has told FR that he is out of the SHU. We are trying to confirm it. But if he, is it just shows how damn smart he is.
Now a few more words on his genius.
‘My Two Cents’ asked about the Mega Test that catapulted Keith Raniere to an obscure little genius to the Guinness Book of Records Australian edition in 1989.
My question was more to do with these puzzles. Some don’t look too hard, but others do and some appear like they possibly involve some kind of advanced math (the cheese and the butter problems, especially).
I guess I was just wondering … whether 10 hours would be enough time to work through all the problems? I mean, it would be an average of 13 minutes per question which doesn’t seem like enough time to even put pencil to paper unless you already had a clue greater than what the question was suggesting.
Anyway, I did a little more research and learned that I’m probably right! Here’s the title of a great post from a redditor that explains:
The Mega Test and bullshit–Christopher Langan, Marilyn Vos Savant, and the Mega Society.
I also learned that the biggest weakness, even admitted by Ronald Hoeflin himself, was that people cheated. A lot. Using pseudonyms to make multiple entries and teams of multiple people to compete.
Hoeflin claims he was able to detect many of these by similarity in the quality of responses. The biggest killer, though? Was the introduction of the internet in 1990’s. People were apparently using search engines and sharing answers on chat boards. This is why these tests are now considered to be corrupted.
At any rate, I also found an article in which some longstanding members of the mega society discuss Keith Raniere. Interestingly? They don’t seem to criticize his reported score. But? They also sure don’t seem to think too highly of him!
https://in-sightpublishing.com/2022/04/01/debunking-2/
I don’t know why I find this topic so interesting, except that I’ve always wondered why Keith was never a member of Mensa and only accepted to Mega?
Shouldn’t Mega require you to be a card carrying member of Mensa as a prerequisite?
Something like this should make sense to everyone. Why are prior scores just self reported, Mega?
Kinda makes me feel bad for Keith.
So many people enabled that guy in his delusions of grandeur. Claiming to love, revere and adore him. And just look what happened? I’m not sure that guy has ever had a real friend in his entire life. It’s pretty sad.
Also telling that he wasn’t able to heal Toni Fly. Was the NXIVM tech really that good? Or was he just surrounded by a bunch of irresponsible people?
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To give readers some perspective on what it means to be a genius, here is an article from the Times Union in 1988, before the big guy got named in Guinness.
FR added a few photos to liven up an already lively story….
TROY MAN HAS A LOT ON HIS MIND IQ TEST PROVES WHAT MANY SUSPECTED: HE’S ONE IN 10 MILLION
Irene Gardner Keeney Staff writer Section: LIVING TODAY, Page: G1
Date: Sunday, June 26, 1988
You might say that Keith Raniere is one in a million.
He’s a member of Mega, a high-IQ society with a minimum requirement at the one-in-a-million level. Actually, the 27-year-old Troy resident is in an even more exclusive category. By answering correctly all but two questions on a 48-question, self- administered test, Raniere moved up to the rarefied one-in-10-million level. To qualify for membership in the Mega Society, aspirants must answer correctly at least 45 questions. According to the society, that corresponds to an IQ of 176 or more. People of average intelligence, by contrast, have IQs that cluster around a score of 100.
A number of IQ societies go beyond Mensa, the well-known organization limited to the top 2 percent of the population, or those who score higher than 132 on a standard Stanford-Binet intelligence test. Each of these little-publicized societies is more selective than the next.
The mastermind behind many of them is Ronald K. Hoeflin, philosopher and librarian, who has made an avocation of forming increasingly more elite clubs for geniuses such as himself (he has an IQ of 150).
Hoeflin says curiosity about his own IQ led him in 1969 to join the Mensa Society. Six years ago the New York City resident founded Mega. After it grew to include 26 members – and lost some of its exclusivity – he restructured it to include only two persons, Eric Hart of Long Island and Marilyn vos Savant of Missouri. Raniere is the most recent member. All three will be listed in the next issue of the Guinness Book of World Records.
(vos Savant, who writes the “Ask Marilyn” column for Parade Magazine, is listed in the record book as the woman with the highest IQ. Last August, Savant, whose surname means “learned person,” married Dr. Robert Jarvik, inventor of the Jarvik 7 artificial heart.)
Geniuses, apparently, are born, not made. Raniere says he was identified early as a bright child. By age 2 he could spell the word “homogenized” from seeing it on the milk carton. He was precocious in math development and says he had an understanding of subjects such as quantum physics and computers by age 4.
Keith Raniere claims that at age four [1964] he understood computers,
He said by age 13, [1973] he became a computer programmer….
By the time he was 16, the Brooklyn-born genius says he had exhausted the curriculum at his high school. He dropped out of school and entered RPI where he simultaneously earned undergraduate degrees in math, physics and biology.
To do that he had to take 60 credits in addition to the 124 credits required for a single major. RPI spokesman Matt McGuire termed Raniere’s three degrees “an extremely rare accomplishment.”
At present, Raniere works for the state and is an independent educational consultant.
He’s not your stereotypical genius. Watchful blue eyes look out from behind aviator glasses. His brown hair is parted stylishly in the middle. He has the physique of an athlete, which he is.
He was East Coast Judo champion at age 12, tied with the state record for the 100 yard-dash, is an avid skier, swimmer and wind surfer. He says he plays seven musical instruments and also sings “high tenor” in local musical productions.
![Keith Raniere [left] said he won the East Coast Judo Championship when he was 11.](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Fmedia.frpbn.com%2Fmedia%2F2016_02_east-coast-judo-champ-600x491.jpg%3Ft%3D2026-04-11T02%253A06%253A14.472Z&w=3840&q=75)
Keith Raniere was a judo champion at age 11.
Keith Raniere said he tied for New York State record for the 100 yard dash….
He also rides a unicycle and likes to juggle – not necessarily at the same time – but one gets the impression that this amazing young man, who requires only two to four hours of sleep, could do both – if he put his mind to it.
He plays seven musical instruments, but his favorite is the lyre.
The questions aspiring members of the Mega Society have to answer are real brain busters. Raniere says they took him two weeks.
“There’s no enforceable time limit. Some people take up to a year to answer the questions. It’s suggested you limit yourself to no more than one month,” he explains.
Unlike with some tests, applicants are encouraged to use such reference aids as dictionaries, thesauri and pocket calculators, he says. Guessing is permitted. There is no penalty for wrong answers or guesses so guessing is advantageous.
Assistance from others, however, is prohibited. “But,” says the young genius, “who could give you assistance?”
Who, indeed.