Triple Nine Society Explained

Triple Nine Society
Formation:	1978
Type:	High IQ society
Membership:	≈ 1,900^[1]
Language:	English
Leader Title:	Regent
Leader Name:	Steve Condie
Tax Id:	27-5473103^[2]

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., TNS reports a member base of over 1,900 adults in 50 countries.

Organization

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

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

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

• 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

• Mensa, high-IQ society
• Intertel, high-IQ society

Notes and References

1. Web site: What is TNS? . . 2023 . Triple Nine Society . February 18, 2024.
2. "Triple Nine Society". Tax Exempt Organization Search. Internal Revenue Service. Retrieved July 7, 2024.
3. Groeger . Lena . January 2015 . When High IQs Hang Out . . September 8, 2022.
4. News: Cox . Jack . June 20, 2005 . Smarter than 99.9% of the rest of us . The Denver Post . September 8, 2022.
5. Collins . Terry . December 12, 2014 . Luke Millanta has become a member of the world's IQ elite after joining Mensa . . September 8, 2022.
6. Web site: Test Scores. . 2017 . Triple Nine Society. September 8, 2022.
7. "Triple Nine Society". Clerk's Information System. Virginia State Corporation Commission. Retrieved July 7, 2024.
8. Web site: Constitution of the Triple Nine Society . . February 18, 2024. Triple Nine Society . February 18, 2024.
9. Web site: Triple Nine Society Foundation . . February 18, 2024. Triple Nine Society . February 18, 2024.
10. Web site: Vidya . . 2024. Triple Nine Society . February 18, 2024.
11. Web site: ggg999 – The annual gathering of the Triple Nine Society . Triple Nine Society . February 18, 2024.
12. Book: Hunt, Earl . Human Intelligence . Cambridge University Press . Cambridge . 978-0-521-70781-7 . 900268273 . 2011 . 8.
13. Web site: Robert Forster Dies. Deadline Hollywood. Bruce. Haring. 12 October 2019. February 18, 2024.
14. News: Cavna. Michael. THE PULITZERS: Denver’s Mike Keefe wins for Editorial Cartooning. The Washington Post Company. February 2, 2013. April 18, 2011.
15. Nair, R B (2013) 'ANDREW R KOENIG | LBS kuttipedia'. https://lbsitbytes2010.wordpress.com/2013/04/07/andrew-r-koenig/
16. Web site: What's In a Class? — The Interface Principle. Sutter. Herb. Herb Sutter. March 1998. C++ Report. 21 February 2010.
17. Web site: 11 Famous Mensa Members . . n.d. . iq-tests.org . 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 . Andrew York (guitarist) . December 2016 . Bowling Balls and Binary Switches . Vidya . Triple Nine Society . February 18, 2024.