• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

Why was Principal Skinner in the Springfield MENSA chapter?

Deft Beck

Deft Beck

Member
I've never viewed his character as particularly intelligent, yet he was there along with several doctor/professor characters. Was that just an excuse to set up more jokes?

Or is the joke that even unintelligent people can get into a club obstensibly for "smart" people? That would explain why Comic Book Guy was there.

Maybe I'm giving post-S9 Simpsons episodes too much credit.
 
S

sohois

Member
Deft Beck said:
I've never viewed his character as particularly intelligent, yet he was there along with several doctor/professor characters. Was that just an excuse to set up more jokes?

Or is the joke that even unintelligent people can get into a club obstensibly for "smart" people? That would explain why Comic Book Guy was there.

Maybe I'm giving post-S9 Simpsons episodes too much credit.
Click to expand...
Because they needed a couple of characters people recognized. Don't overthink it
 
D

DarkKyo

Member
CarpeDeezNutz said:
I have not watched the Simpsons in ages, who else was there?
Click to expand...

OvOWocZ.jpg

Frink makes sense anyways.
 
O

Oblivion

Fetishing muscular manly men in skintight hosery
Here's a better question.

How did Mr. Burns' sun blocking machine succeed at blocking the sun when the machine was stationary, but...the Sun, you know, moves?
 
D

daviyoung

Banned
Deft Beck said:
Or is the joke that even unintelligent people can get into a club obstensibly for "smart" people? That would explain why Comic Book Guy was there.
Click to expand...

The joke is that these people are geniuses. If they wanted to mock MENSA criteria they would have included Dr Nick, or that clown with the accordian.
 
L

Lonely1

Unconfirmed Member
Skinner is very naive and suffering from psychological issues, but I never saw him as dumb.
Oblivion said:
Here's a better question.

How did Mr. Burns' sun blocking machine succeed at blocking the sun when the machine was stationary, but...the Sun, you know, moves?
Click to expand...

It had a moving arm.
 
M

Mr-Joker

Banned
Oblivion said:
Here's a better question.

How did Mr. Burns' sun blocking machine succeed at blocking the sun when the machine was stationary, but...the Sun, you know, moves?
Click to expand...

You need to go back to school, it's the Earth that obits around the Sun so Mr. Burn could have easily blocked out the sun rays over Springfield.
 
P

Peru

Member
A mensa member wrote a column in an newspaper I regularly read and it was the most insipid stuff imaginable.
 
A

Alavard

Member
Principal Skinner values studying and book-smarts above almost all else. It wasn't that surprising to me that he'd do well on intelligence tests. He just has absolutely no street-smarts.
 
P

Platy

Member
Mensagem means high QI, not high mathematics knowledge or high science knowledge or not being a plane earth truther

Dude just got high scores on a logic test
 
C

CarpeDeezNutz

Member
Oblivion said:
Here's a better question.

How did Mr. Burns' sun blocking machine succeed at blocking the sun when the machine was stationary, but...the Sun, you know, moves?
Click to expand...


Let me ask you a question. Why would a grown man whose shirt says "Genius at Work" spend all of his time watching a children's cartoon show?
 
O

Oblivion

Fetishing muscular manly men in skintight hosery
PaulloDEC said:
Yup:

jc1c.jpg
Click to expand...

I knew somebody would post that, but NOPE. Look at how the one in that model blocks the sun. It blocks it by completely covering the town horizontally. The actual life sized machine is vertical and not nearly big enough to cover the whole town.

edit:

article-1300967207614-0b51086100000578-330784_636x336.jpg
 
E

elrechazado

Banned
Oblivion said:
Fake news. You guys keep saying this, but we've never seen the thing actually rotate or revolve.
Click to expand...
It literally pops out of a mountain on a moving arm that positions it between the light source and the ground. You wouldn't even qualify for Springfield caliber MENSA
 
L

low-G

Member
Deft Beck said:
I've never viewed his character as particularly intelligent, yet he was there along with several doctor/professor characters. Was that just an excuse to set up more jokes?

Or is the joke that even unintelligent people can get into a club obstensibly for "smart" people? That would explain why Comic Book Guy was there.

Maybe I'm giving post-S9 Simpsons episodes too much credit.
Click to expand...

That's pretty much the reality. Mensa's tests aren't too difficult. I couldn't say if they really do require a high IQ. There are apparently much more demanding "intelligence organizations", but Mensa is the place for people who want to feel important, and occasionally the lonely soul. I qualified but did not want in, but I'm also sure I couldn't get in those other orgs. I'm smart but you wouldn't think of me as special unless you went to class with me.
 
G

GeoGonzo

Member
Oblivion said:
I knew somebody would post that, but NOPE. Look at how the one in that model blocks the sun. It blocks it by completely covering the town horizontally. The actual life sized machine is vertical and not nearly big enough to cover the whole town.

edit:

article-1300967207614-0b51086100000578-330784_636x336.jpg
Click to expand...

Actually to cover the sun in the first place the disc MUST be slightly larger than the city.
 
Pagusas

Pagusas

Elden Member
Oblivion said:
I knew somebody would post that, but NOPE. Look at how the one in that model blocks the sun. It blocks it by completely covering the town horizontally. The actual life sized machine is vertical and not nearly big enough to cover the whole town.

edit:

article-1300967207614-0b51086100000578-330784_636x336.jpg
Click to expand...

it moves and changes angle as the sun rises and sets.

pullduchess.gif


You can see the joint and how it would move up, the horizontal, and back down to block the sun all day long (using cartoon logic of course, in reality all it would act like is a small cloud and not stop much at all).
 
J

Joni

Member
He might be intelligent, but he is also pathetic. So he fails at most stuff he does, even if he has the intellects.
It is similar to Comic Book Guy. He is incredibly smart, but he applies it to knowledge about comic books.
 
O

Oblivion

Fetishing muscular manly men in skintight hosery
elrechazado said:
It literally pops out of a mountain on a moving arm that positions it between the light source and the ground. You wouldn't even qualify for Springfield caliber MENSA
Click to expand...

I can't believe we're having this discussion....

Look at this:

Screen%2520Shot%25202013-05-10%2520at%25203.13.55%2520PM.png


Even if the arm is movable, how the hell would it continue following the sun as it travels farther overhead? Do you realize how long the arm would have to be to follow the Sun's path?

Furthermore, in case you decide to pull some crap about the machine being able to extend its arms or something:

pullduchess.gif


It's pretty damn clear the thing is not that big or long, nor does it have the capability to be bigger or longer.
 
Pagusas

Pagusas

Elden Member
Oblivion said:
I can't believe we're having this discussion....

Look at this:

Screen%2520Shot%25202013-05-10%2520at%25203.13.55%2520PM.png


Even if the arm is movable, how the hell would it continue following the sun as it travels farther overhead? Do you realize how long the arm would have to be to follow the Sun's path?

Furthermore, in case you decide to pull some crap about the machine being able to extend its arms or something:

pullduchess.gif


It's pretty damn clear the thing is not that big or long, nor does it have the capability to be bigger or longer.
Click to expand...

Kurita said:
Here's my explanation about the Sun stuff : it's a cartoon
Click to expand...

And we're done.
 
A

ahoyhoy

Unconfirmed Member
Oblivion said:
I can't believe we're having this discussion....

Look at this:

Screen%2520Shot%25202013-05-10%2520at%25203.13.55%2520PM.png


Even if the arm is movable, how the hell would it continue following the sun as it travels farther overhead? Do you realize how long the arm would have to be to follow the Sun's path?

Furthermore, in case you decide to pull some crap about the machine being able to extend its arms or something:

pullduchess.gif


It's pretty damn clear the thing is not that big or long, nor does it have the capability to be bigger or longer.
Click to expand...

Oh man I hope someone got fired for that.
 
Rentahamster

Rentahamster

Rodent Whores
Skinner's smart enough, or at least competent enough to fake it. I think the side joke here is that while MENSA's membership is "smart", there is a certain subset of "smart" people who have nothing better to do than to show up to a MENSA meeting. None of the people in that shot are, strictly speaking, "cool".

Source: I've seen 'em
 
M

mokeyjoe

Member
Well IQ is just a test. Like many tests you'd expect it to correlate with intelligence. But IQ isn't really some deep insight into the 'genius' or otherwise of a person. It just means someone scored high on a test. The reason it's used is because it's standardized, not because it's anything particularly special in itself. For instance, practicing at IQ tests will likely get you a higher score - but it doesn't make you a more intelligent person. Given that Skinner spends his life in a school environment, it would perhaps make sense for him to do well at MENSA's test.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

Fallout - Series Reviews
12 13 14 15 16
754
36K
existensmaximum replied
  • Locked
Metaphor: ReFantazio Details Story, World, Tribes, Characters, English Screenshots
Hype
2
461
Fake replied
Jason Schreier: "Inside the Making of Redfall, Xbox’s Latest Misfire"
News
3
1K
Majima Everywhere System replied
Interview with Shuji Utsumi (SEGA Co-COO) by Japanese media outlet Seizo-Trend
Business Game Dev
1
1K
Unknown? replied
Outcast: A New Beginning | Review Thread + |OT|
|OT| Analysis Review 2
51
3K
Gordon Freeman replied
Top Bottom