Group Interests, 2020

We first did this compilation a year ago, a listing of the interests of Manasota Mensa members. In those areas that we had individually listed with America Mensa, this is the data of the entire group.

Without surprise, we are a broad group with many different interests. However, the interests listed did begin to group into certain categories. And even so, some of the preference listings of only two or three, is still compelling.

All of this works to guide us a bit, as to those things that Leadership might look to for the pleasure of the members. Take a look at the list below (and perhaps the raw data from which it comes), and if you find others sharing interests of yours, we have that provision for you to contact them. Or contact us here, for a broader action.

To the numbers

As I had mentioned as caveat last year, the numbers don’t reveal the person. It, in fact can obscure the picture, especially when you tally it in such a form as below. The mind begins to glaze over, and one begins to think that a category clicked by three people is more significant than two people. Or that somehow it makes the category more (or less) valuable. Not so, as we are a varied group. Even so, there were some insights to be gleaned from the preponderance of numbers.

National’s data presented with one interest and line per person, some 1,400 lines in total. To begin to make sense of it, I grouped it by interest; and even so, it was unwieldy. So I made some arbitrary groups of groups, putting seemingly like categories into a few more encompassing ones: Literature, Music, etc. These were my own compile, and arbitrary, but did help to make sense. And even so, some were particularly challenging to place. Where does one place “Inventions“? Science, Business, Art, Lifestyle? It’s all of these. But I placed that one in Business. So don’t be offended if you think your category grouping is amiss. It was simply a best-effort.

Now, in an attempt to wring more information out if it, I tried to group this from more significant groups to less, trying to assess just how deep the interest was in that arbitrary grouping. (Minutiae warning:) I divided the number of interest-lines, by the total number of expressed interests across that broad category: For instance, Travel had two “interest lines”, Travel and Travel-RVing, with 43 member selections of these two interests. So, 43 divided by 2, yielded a per-category score of 21.5 — the highest of the general categories. By this way, we approximated how deep the interest was in a category.

Data

As I’d mentioned, and as we discovered last year, Travel was the category of arguably greatest interest. Computers were second; and this year, Literature moved into third place. Outdoors remained strong, and Food and Dining edged Outdoors and Health and Fitness. But some of this reveals a weakness in the way this was compiled, as an increase in the number of subcategories: Music, for instance, dropped significantly down the list, even though there was an overall increase of nine people-interests. This was due to a handful of additional new specialty categories: Singing/Choral, Country, and Cajun types. So the below heirarchies are somewhat flawed. Still, each of the line entries are accurate, and there is significant information to be gleaned there.

Conclusions?

Again, as last year, while it’s tempting to look at all the numbers, the significance is really highest in the “double digit” numbers. But clearly, Travel is a great interest — perhaps someone can write an ongoing Travel piece, either in The 4M or as a set of continuing blog entries here at the website.

Music, though overall lower, was deeply selected across several categories. This suggests a possible interest in either planning an Orchestra/Jazz/Opera/Ballet outing; or perhaps simply to listen to these in a home. As a hobby, I have an exquisite music system in my home, and would be happy to host for this latter if there is interest.

Newly increasing in general interest this year was Literature. Not surprising for a Mensa group; perhaps we can form a book reading/discussion group.

Take a look and see what you find. And as always with a post-type page such as this one, we desire your comments below. (See registration.)

Suggestions

• • Travel was far an away a favorite. As discussed above, maybe one (or more) could write about these adventures, near and far.

• • Literature was high on the list. Perhaps a book discussion group might find interest

• • Music remained very popular. One of the things I’d thought about for some time was personally buying a subscription to either the Orchestra, or Ballet, or both. And perhaps to get a double set of tickets, either for my use occasionally or to share with the group for shared purchase. Such a concept could fail financially, and would really take some advance thought and planning. But it may be viable, as the data might support it. If this strikes anyone, please contact me. Moreover, I renewed my (previously discussed) subscription to MasterClass. In the music area alone, I’ve watched Herbie Hancock teach jazz improvisation and composing, Carlos Santana teach the soul of guitar, Christina Aguilera teach singing, and Hans Zimmer teach film scoring. And as an observation, the various Creatives are all beginning to reflect that it’s all about the story, and from the heart; and that inspiration only comes after they start. I would be happy to watch any of these again.

• • Outdoor, and Health & Fitness activities were also popular, though some of this was so segmented as to make it challenging to coordinate things. Even so, this is an area of interest of mine (to do for the group), and may now garner more attention.

• • Food remained popular; besides dining out there were specific interests in:
    • Wine — MasterClass has a module I’m also watching, James Suckling Teaches Wine Appreciation. Fascinating.
    • Cooking and Gourmet Cooking (both) — I’ve watched a number of Gordon Ramsey courses preparing high-end (taste-wise) restaurant food for the home. And my own skills — and meals — have improved significantly.
    • We’ve reinstated P.O.E.T.S (Phooey on Everybody, Tomorrow’s Saturday), and monthly vary the venues looking for a good experience. For those who have come, this has been a fun time.
  • • Others — Space Travel was up by two members this year (no pun intended). As I’d written previously, one of the MasterClass modules is Chris Hadfield Teaches Space Exploration. Fascinating. Chris is an astronaut and former Commander of the International Space Station, spending over a hundred days in space. What he had to share would certainly be of interest to many, not only those four, as he talked about the current space effort, as well as exactly what would be necessary to be able to go to Mars and beyond.
      • Perhaps someone can again write on Investments. There was a great interest in this.
      • And for the one person who indicated interest in Atlantis? Yeah, I put that under Science.

Take a look over the list below, and perhaps the raw data underneath that. And please feel free to add to this discussion by giving your comment thoughts at the very bottom of the page.

–Don