The Triple Nine Society (TNS) is an international high-IQ society for adults whose score on a standardized test demonstrates an IQ at or above the 99.9th percentile of the human population.[3][4][5] The society recognizes scores from over 20 intelligence and academic aptitude tests.[6] TNS was founded in 1978. Since 2010, it has been a non-profit 501(c)(7) organization incorporated in Virginia, USA.[7] It is the second-largest high-IQ society after Mensa. As of February 2024, TNS reports a member base of over 1,900 adults in 50 countries.[2]

Triple Nine Society
Formation1978
TypeHigh IQ society
27-5473103[1]
Membership
≈ 1,900[2]
Official language
English
Regent
Steve Condie
Websitetriplenine.org

Organization

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TNS is a deliberately non-hierarchical society in which the membership is both the main source of authority and the main driver of activity. It is served by an Executive Committee of nine officers; six are elected for two-year terms, and three are appointed.[8]

In 2015, TNS established a 501(c)(3) subsidiary charitable organization, the Triple Nine Society Foundation, to provide scholarships to intellectually gifted students pursuing higher-education goals and for other charitable work.[9]

Communication

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TNS publishes a bimonthly journal, Vidya, which contains articles, poetry, puzzles, and other creative content contributed by members conversant with a variety of subjects, as well as officer reports and other official business of the Society.[10]

TNS members mostly communicate online on the official TNS Discourse forum, official TNS Facebook group, and a variety of unofficial venues ranging from Discord to Telegram and special groups like TNS Youth and TNS LGBTQ+.

Every autumn, the society organizes an annual meeting in the United States called ggg999,[11] with "ggg" referring to "Global General Gathering". A privately organized European gathering, egg, usually takes place in late spring.

Qualifying test scores

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To qualify for membership, an applicant must submit a qualifying score earned on any of the standardized tests recognized by the society; these include IQ tests as well as various college admission exams and military classification tests.

For IQ tests, a qualifying score corresponds to an IQ of at least 146 for tests with standard deviation of 15 (e.g., WAIS, Stanford–Binet 5), at least 149 for tests with a standard deviation of 16 (e.g., Stanford–Binet IV and CTMM), or at least 173 for tests with a standard deviation of 24 (e.g., Cattell III-B).[12]

TNS also accepts standardized test scores that have a well-established psychometric correlation with IQ, including SAT, GRE, LSAT, ACT, and the Miller Analogies Test.[6] Required score will differ depending on the year those tests were taken.

Notable members

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  • Robert Forster (1941–2019) — actor in Jackie Brown and Breaking Bad[13]
  • Ronald K. Hoeflin (b. February 23, 1944) — American philosopher whose main area of research is human intelligence
  • Mike Keefe (born November 6 1946, in Santa Rosa, California) — American editorial cartoonist best known for his work at The Denver Post, for which he drew cartoons from 1975 to 2011; won the 2011 Pulitzer Prize for Editorial Cartooning[14]
  • Andrew Koenig (programmer) (born June 1952) — former AT&T and Bell Labs researcher and programmer,[15] his name is associated with argument-dependent name lookup, also known as "Koenig lookup"[16]
  • Henry "Hammerin' Hank" Milligan (b.1958) — American retired professional boxer[17]
  • Jack Schaeffer (born March 19, 1946, Los Angeles, California) — American musician, recording artist, record producer and arranger
  • Andrew York (b.1958) — American classical guitarist and composer[18]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Triple Nine Society". Tax Exempt Organization Search. Internal Revenue Service. Retrieved July 7, 2024.
  2. ^ a b "What is TNS?". Triple Nine Society. 2023. Retrieved February 18, 2024.
  3. ^ Groeger, Lena (January 2015). "When High IQs Hang Out". Scientific American. Retrieved September 8, 2022.
  4. ^ Cox, Jack (June 20, 2005). "Smarter than 99.9% of the rest of us". The Denver Post. Retrieved September 8, 2022.
  5. ^ Collins, Terry (December 12, 2014). "Luke Millanta has become a member of the world's IQ elite after joining Mensa". The Daily Telegraph (Sydney). Retrieved September 8, 2022.
  6. ^ a b "Test Scores". Triple Nine Society. 2017. Retrieved September 8, 2022.
  7. ^ "Triple Nine Society". Clerk's Information System. Virginia State Corporation Commission. Retrieved July 7, 2024.
  8. ^ "Constitution of the Triple Nine Society". Triple Nine Society. February 18, 2024. Retrieved February 18, 2024.
  9. ^ "Triple Nine Society Foundation". Triple Nine Society. February 18, 2024. Retrieved February 18, 2024.
  10. ^ "Vidya". Triple Nine Society. 2024. Retrieved February 18, 2024.
  11. ^ "ggg999 – The annual gathering of the Triple Nine Society". Triple Nine Society. Retrieved February 18, 2024.
  12. ^ Hunt, Earl (2011). Human Intelligence. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p. 8. ISBN 978-0-521-70781-7. OCLC 900268273.
  13. ^ Haring, Bruce (12 October 2019). "Robert Forster Dies". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved February 18, 2024.
  14. ^ Cavna, Michael (April 18, 2011). "THE PULITZERS: Denver's Mike Keefe wins for Editorial Cartooning". The Washington Post Company. Retrieved February 2, 2013.
  15. ^ Nair, R B (2013) 'ANDREW R KOENIG | LBS kuttipedia'. https://lbsitbytes2010.wordpress.com/2013/04/07/andrew-r-koenig/
  16. ^ Sutter, Herb (March 1998). "What's In a Class? — The Interface Principle". C++ Report. Retrieved 21 February 2010.
  17. ^ "11 Famous Mensa Members". iq-tests.org. n.d. Retrieved February 18, 2024. Better known as Hammerin' Hank, Henry Milligan was a professional boxer.…You'd never suspect that he was a member of both Mensa and the Triple Nine Society.
  18. ^ York, Andrew (December 2016). "Bowling Balls and Binary Switches" (PDF). Vidya. Triple Nine Society. Retrieved February 18, 2024.
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