Only a schoolboy is afraid of being considered too smart (what if they start teasing him as a nerd?). Adults understand: there is no such thing as too much intelligence.
If there was a magic wand that could instantly improve your thinking and boost your erudition, it would instantly become a bestseller.
Is it possible to develop intelligence as an adult?
There is an opinion that one needs to “get smart” in one’s youth: they say, in one’s third decade, a person reaches his ceiling; Then there is only one task left - to stay in occupied positions.
Even scientists shared this idea in the recent past.
Previously, theorists and researchers had argued that intellectual ability peaked around age 20, but it is now clear that this conclusion was based on an incorrect interpretation of the limited research data available at that time.
Observations that were carried out in the 20th century using the longitudinal method (that is, long-term experiments) showed that after graduating from university a person has more than a real chance of increasing his own intellectual level.
“But what about the physiological changes?” readers will ask. Psychomotor reactions in a young guy will most likely proceed much faster than those of his grandfather.
The point is that the efficiency of the mind not limited to biological potential nervous system.
R. Cattell and D. Horn identified two types of intelligence - “fluid” and “crystallized”. Fluid is the basic abilities that allow you to learn new things (memorization, perception of connections between objects, etc.). It tends to weaken with age. Crystallized intelligence - the accumulated amount of knowledge and experience - grows over the years and compensates for the decreasing speed of thinking.
With speed, fortunately, everything is also not so primitive.
A person who constantly practices intellectual skills, processing multifaceted information using different methods, does not become less learnable. He simultaneously manages to maintain clarity of thought and operate with the accumulated baggage of ready-made data.
Great discoveries - especially in the humanities - were made not by 20-year-olds, but by 40-50 or even 70-year-old scientists.
An inspiring example. The famous physiologist I.P. Pavlov died at 86 years old. A year before his death (!), he mentioned in a letter to I.M. Maikov: “Until now, I do not allow changes in the distribution and size of my activities.” Even in the last hours of his life, the academician managed to surprise his colleagues. Already forgetting the words, he excitedly repeated: “Excuse me, but this is the bark, this is the bark, this is swelling of the bark!” As it turned out later, the diagnosis was absolutely correct.
Some people think they support their intellect by working. However, many types of mental work are associated with the performance of the same type of operations, which, moreover, is gradually brought to automation.
To develop the mind, it is necessary to use intellectual capabilities to the maximum - for example, by engaging in self-study.
"Intellectual" exercises
I don’t want to disappoint readers who opened the page looking for special exercises to develop intelligence. Such problems exist; they are published in whole books.
Here are examples from a popular book Tom Wujek's "Mind Training"(published 2011).
In the chapter about training with words Wujek recommends reading:
- phrases in which the letters are written in reverse order;
- statements written without spaces;
- sentences from a literary text - and then, without looking, repeat them in order from the last word to the first;
- printed text on an upside down sheet.
- “Alphabetical order”: temporarily write down as many words as possible in which the letters coincide with the alphabetical “direction” (ray - “l” comes before “y”, and “y” comes before “h”);
- “Through letter”: name the letter and figure out which one it should be; quickly remember the maximum number of suitable words (“sh”, the third from the beginning: cat, cup, tails, etc.);
- “Duplets”: take two words with the same number of letters and build a chain from one to the other, replacing one of the letters in each link and using only nouns in the nominative case, singular (turn “goat” into “cake”: goat - bark - court - cake; try to catch a “fish” in a “net” or turn a “pen” into “ink”);
- “Anagrams”: create words only by rearranging letters (it’s better to play with ready-made sources - murmur, bug, mouse, carriage, ash, herd).
To develop mathematical abilities, Wujek suggests doing exercises with numbers- pronounce number sequences:
- from 1 to 100 and from 100 to 1;
- with increasing or decreasing by 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9;
- with increasing and decreasing alternately - for example, by 2: 2 - 100, 4 - 98, 6 - 96, 8 - 94, etc.
I advise you to look for more games in the book “Develop your intellect: exercises for development, memory, intelligence and intelligence” (K. Philip, Moscow, "Astrel", 2003). It is inconvenient to retell fragments from it, since many tasks will be incomprehensible without illustrations.
This is all very exciting and great, but to be honest, I doubt that you will become a giant of thought just through such exercises. More serious loads are also needed - for example, self-study.
Study, study and study
Take an online math course or simply work your way through a high school math textbook, and you'll improve your thinking in a much more significant way than counting from one to a hundred and back. Likewise with other areas of knowledge that matter to you. The materials will be found (see), if only you have the right attitude.
If you want to become more intelligent and improve your memory, learn a language on your own; this really helps. Scottish scientist Thomas Buck conducted a study using the same longitudinal method that I mentioned at the beginning of the article. Dr. Buck determined the IQ level of a group of people, first in 1947 (the experiment participants were 11 years old), then in 2008-2010 (“Learning a second language in adulthood can slow brain aging”, “The Telegraph”, 06/2/2014).
It turned out that by the age of seventy, people who studied a foreign language usually remained in good intellectual shape. One caveat: the effect was noted when knowledge was acquired not for the sake of knowledge, but for active application, and did not lie in memory as a dead weight.
Give preference to the language in which you intend to at least sometimes communicate, read, listen to programs, watch films.
Here you will find practical tips for self-teaching English:
Don't have the energy to exercise regularly? Okay, play doublets and anagrams in the evenings, and What? Where? When?" or "Reasonable People". In “Reasonable People” and “ChGK”, what leads to success is not so much rich erudition as flexibility of thinking.
Physical education for the mind
Physical activity turns out to be very beneficial to intellectual activity.
A.F. Akhmetshina, N.P. Gerasimov (Kazan National Research Technical University named after A.N. Tupolev, Naberezhnye Chelny branch, article “The connection between physical education and sports and the development of intelligence”, materials of the conference “Modern problems of physical culture and sports: retrospective, reality and future”) write, What exercise has an effect for development:
- attention;
- observation;
- speed of consideration, etc.
Improvement of cognitive skills is facilitated by good health (problems with blood supply to the brain, which occur in many diseases, greatly complicate thought processes). This time.
Intense movement requires both muscle tension and mental effort. That's two.
And what, the more you train, the better? No.
In the article “The influence of physical exercise on the body and intellectual abilities of a person” (E.N. Kurganova, I.V. Panina, Oryol State University named after I.S. Turgenev, materials “Science-2020”) we read:
An interesting fact has been proven that a connection is established only between intelligence and the general indicator of a person’s physical fitness. This has nothing to do with sports achievements, exhausting training leading to overwork. Mental and cognitive abilities are more developed in a person who regularly engages in physical exercise, but does not set himself the goal of achieving high athletic results.
The body's resources are limited. Too intense training does not tone you up, but exhausts you.
How to increase erudition?
Since you have decided to increase your level of intelligence, think at the same time about how to develop your horizons. An adult is constantly bothered by things to do, but if he wants, he can set aside half an hour a day for educational rest.
Read popular science books and science news. Watch documentaries - they make it easy to absorb information due to a combination of visual and auditory perception. Don’t get hung up on the hunt for purely factual information: fresh emotions also teach a person to think more broadly - for example, those provided by classical music (see?)
But - important advice - grow in areas that are for you interesting and/or useful.
There is no point in grasping at everything at once: to become a real polymath in the 21st century, you will have to literally live in books twenty-four hours a day. And in the end it turns out that Yandex and Google are still an order of magnitude smarter than you.
We all admire erudite people. How to become the same? The answer is simple - read more!
But you won’t be able to stay within your favorite genre. If you want to become erudite, you need to force yourself to explore the unknown shelves of bookstores.
Here are 14 timeless books covering a wide range of topics: politics, science, history, culture and more.
1. Classic: George Orwell, "1984"
George Orwell wrote this anti-communist novel in 1948, describing life in London 36 years later. He predicted a totalitarian state where the government, "Big Brother", is always watching everyone and dictating to a person what to say and what to think.
Some of his predictions have come true - for example, there are cameras everywhere in our cities, and we are searched from time to time to make sure that we do not have weapons on us.
This book is a must read - it talks about the consequences of giving the government too much control over citizens and their lives.
2. Pop culture: JK Rowling, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone
If you haven't read this or the next six books in the Harry Potter series, run to the bookstore.
The novel is about a boy who discovers on his 11th birthday that he is a wizard and goes to study at Hogwarts School of Wizardry.
3. Pop Culture: John Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings
4. History: Anne Frank, “Refuge. Diary in letters"
5. Science: Charles Darwin, "The Origin of Species"
The work on the theory of evolution revolutionized science and became the cornerstone of modern biology.
Even if you do not agree with Darwin's theory, you still need to read the book - just for self-education.
And if the evolutionary view is close to you, it is even more worth reading “The Origin of Species” to better understand the theory.
6. Science: Stephen Hawking, A Brief History of Time
This book by the famous theoretical physicist and cosmologist was published in 1988.
In it, Hawking offers clear explanations of modern scientific concepts - time travel, general relativity and the history of the creation of the universe.
7. Science: Bill Bryson, A Brief History of Almost Everything
Interestingly, the author is not a scientist. He was just very curious and decided that he wanted to understand science, and then he wrote this book to make the path easier for his followers.
8. Philosophy: Sun Tzu, “The Art of War”
"The Art of War" was written in the 5th century BC. e., but remains relevant today.
The author is the military strategist Sun Tzu, and his work was a textbook on military affairs. But over time, people have discovered that the techniques described in the book are useful in times of peace, and the recommendations to “know yourself” and “know your enemy” help to achieve success in a variety of situations.
The book contains 13 chapters describing various aspects of military affairs, and sports coaches, lawyers and entire corporations use the valuable advice of the ancient commander today.
9. Philosophy: Robert Pirsig, “Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance”
This book helps you understand and use philosophical concepts in real life. It tells the story of a father and son who travel through the American northwest on a motorcycle.
There's a ton of timeless advice here to help you live a more fulfilling and happy life.
10. Art: William Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet
The plot of this play revolves around two young lovers whose families are at odds with each other. The story of forbidden love has become a vital part of world culture.
11. Technology: Walter Isaacson, "Steve Jobs"
This fascinating biography is based on years of work, personal interviews with Steve Jobs and more than a hundred of his acquaintances: family members, friends and colleagues.
The book, written by Isaacson at Jobs's request, explains why the Apple co-founder had such a simultaneously magnetic and intimidating nature, and tells the story of how Apple and Pixar were built and how they became the huge companies we know today.
This is a look at the technical industry from the inside, and a source of inspiration that can help you rethink a lot, and a fascinating story about the life of an interesting person.
12. Psychology: David McRaney, "You're Not That Smart"
This book shows that, without realizing it, we are always under the influence of certain psychological attitudes, and it is impossible to get rid of this influence, no matter how hard you try.
His investment philosophy teaches you to make informed decisions that can bring significant profits in the long term.
It is impossible to become smarter overnight. Being smart is a way of life, a constant search and overcoming oneself. This is a rather difficult, but at the same time pleasant path. And you can choose how to start it.
1. Exercise regularly
This improves blood flow and oxygenates the brain, and good physical condition contributes to good mental health. Choose a program that is comfortable for your age and physical abilities. The main thing here is regularity.
2. Make sure you get enough sleep
Numerous studies have shown that lack of sleep reduces concentration, short-term and long-term memory, problem-solving speed, visual and hearing acuity, and slows down reactions. Especially for maintaining good mental health, the right combination of deep and REM sleep is important. Here again, physical exercises from Lifehacker will help you.
3. Eat a healthy, balanced diet
Your brain needs a certain amount of nutrients to function optimally. Diversify your usual menu to get enough vitamins, amino acids and carbohydrates. You don't have to buy nutritional supplements for this! We wrote earlier.
4. If you smoke, stop!
5. Reduce your alcohol intake
Drinking alcohol in small quantities, especially when combined with socializing, may be beneficial for some brain functions. But excessive consumption can lead to acute and chronic impairment of its activity and cause irreversible cognitive impairment.
6. Learn new things regularly
Learn something new, for example foreign languages, playing musical instruments. Learn something you've always wanted to try! This promotes brain plasticity and flexibility. Studying mathematics is an excellent exercise in logic and abstract thinking, and also improves concentration, mental endurance and is guaranteed to raise your IQ several points. Use to learn something new.
7. Maintain friendships with smart and educated people
Make regular meetings with them and discuss a wide range of issues - complex intellectual discussions will give you new ideas and perspectives. You will understand how smart people think and express themselves and what you might need to change about yourself.
If you are the smartest person in the room, then you are in the wrong room.
Alexander Zhurba, businessman and venture investor
8. Read at least one serious book a week and diversify your reading
This will improve your vocabulary and verbal intelligence, as well as enhance your knowledge and speaking repertoire. There must be reading!
9. Play challenging computer games
Shooters and racing games, at best, develop reaction speed, but do not provide you with mental stimulation. Choose a game that involves complex rules, strategy, and requires certain mental skills. Such are, for example, the puzzle games Braid and Portal.
In multiplayer online games, perhaps Eve-online has the highest barrier to entry.
10. Let go of limiting beliefs about your own intelligence.
Many truly qualified people tend to underestimate their abilities and suffer from a lack of self-confidence. Often the opinions of parents, overly critical (or even incompetent) teachers matter more than the stubborn facts of your success. Believe in yourself and start living a full life!
About techniques that not only transfer knowledge, but do it in a lively playful form
All parents want to be proud of their child, to see him as a successful and interesting person. In the modern world, this is impossible without developed erudition: you need to have a large amount of knowledge in a variety of fields. But how to raise a child to be truly smart and at the same time sociable, comprehensively developed, without having him sit in front of textbooks around the clock? We addressed this question to the head of the Eureka school for developing erudition in children, Rustam Nazipov.
Nazipov Rustam Salavatovich - head of the School for the Development of Erudition in Children "Eureka"
“MAGIC” WAYS TO REMEMBER 30 COUNTRIES IN ONE LESSON
— Rustam Salavatovich, what does erudition give to modern children?
— We must understand that erudition is not just the amount of knowledge in memory. It is the basis for communication skills, leadership skills and strategic thinking. Firstly, it is easier for an erudite child to find friends: it is always pleasant to communicate with an interesting person who can carry on a conversation on any topic. It is easier for an erudite child to study at school and university: he stands out positively from other children, and teachers notice him. In the future, it will be easier for him to work and conduct business: knowing more, he can be significantly ahead of his competitors. Imagine that your child knows the countries, capitals, flags of all states, guesses the works of classics by the first notes, is familiar with the works of famous artists, understands how various interesting things work - from a hoverboard to a spaceship - and also knows all the historical figures of different countries world, main events, dates and so on. Do you think this will help the child in the future?
— WITHWhat difficulties can you encounter when increasing a child’s level of erudition?
— The most important thing is not to turn your child into a nerd and a nerd. To do this, you need to use techniques that not only transfer knowledge, but do it in a lively playful form. This is precisely the task I set for the staff of my research institute when developing programs for the School of Erudition Development. And we succeeded: the children don’t get bored with the classes—on the contrary, they really like them. The guys are maximally involved in the process, do not get tired at all and periodically notice that in some “magical” way, without straining, they memorized, for example, the capitals of 30 countries in one lesson. And all this thanks to effective teaching techniques.
FULL SCHOOL FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF ERUDITION
— You said that the development was carried out by a research institute. What kind of institute is this?
— Among other things, I am the head of the Eureka Research Institute, which has been developing effective teaching methods for almost two years. Initially, we created methods for developing memory, attention, logic and other skills, prepared and published more than 30 books for independent work. A little later, based on requests from readers, we decided to open a full-fledged school for the development of erudition, which works precisely according to these methods.
— Tell us in more detail how classes are held at school.
— Before signing up for a lesson, the child goes through an interview with his mother or father, grandmother or grandfather. The methodologist determines the child’s current level, motivation, and goals. Based on this information, the teacher decides whether our training is truly suitable for the child. If yes, then we select a group for him according to age and level, as well as a convenient schedule. Classes are held twice a week, each dedicated to a specific topic. In addition to the main classes, we periodically conduct intellectual games between groups. This allows children to gain self-confidence and make new friends.
adminTo increase your erudition, you need to apply titanic efforts and spend time. It is necessary to develop simultaneously in several areas. It is necessary to acquire deep knowledge in order to increase erudition.
How to increase erudition and how does this manifest itself in a person’s life? The term translated from Latin means “broad knowledge, comprehensive awareness.” It is often confused with education.
These words are synonyms, but the erudite is well educated, and the educated is not always erudite.
To develop erudition, you should constantly expand your own knowledge by drawing information from sources.
Why is erudition needed?
This question arouses discussion, discussions and debates take place around it. Some argue that polymaths are eccentric people who waste time on unnecessary hobbies. Those who want to know everything absorb books that come their way and get carried away by unnecessary knowledge.
They are like collectors who enthusiastically chase after old stamps, badges or works of art. In the same way, scholars increase their knowledge by looking for new roads for this.
Reasoning this way, representatives of the first group answer the question negatively: is it necessary to increase erudition? In ideas, erudition is an accumulation of knowledge, and not the ability to make discoveries and guarantee breakthroughs in the field of technology.
The second part of people responds to such judgments with the phrase: he who is not educated is ignorant. To support this statement, they give examples where ignorance is costly for others:
a lawyer who does not understand legislative terms and rules;
a doctor who makes a diagnosis over the phone or misses signs and does not identify problems in time;
a psychologist who has superficial knowledge and gives advice without delving into the question;
a teacher of Russian, history, or another subject who has knowledge that is gleaned only from school literature.
Each of these cases is based on a lack of professional knowledge and a low level of education. These problems together lead to the inability of the specialist to assess the situation in the critical spectrum. As a result, it is impossible to find correct solutions.
Erudition is the ability to think beyond primitive explanations of the existence of the world. It leads to the development of a special mental makeup.
Erudition - critical view
Knowing how to increase your erudition is useful for every person. An increase in erudition simultaneously entails an expansion of knowledge in various fields.
But that's not the main thing. By collecting knowledge from primary sources, a person can compare, draw analogies and evaluate from a critical point of view. In modern reality, such an approach is very useful, since a large amount of information comes from outside. It is important to understand what is false and what is true. Erudite individuals compare information, evaluate, check for contradictions and discard what has no scientific or historical basis.
Looking at one problem from all sides
The symbol of the Bonn science center is a sculpture representing an elephant and four blind men who are being touched on four sides. One feels the leg, the second the tail, the third the torso, the fourth the trunk. And everyone imagines only what they touched.
Only a collective image allows us to determine that it is an elephant. This confirms the polymath. He knows how to look at a problem as a whole and evaluate it from different angles, applying knowledge.
What are the ways to increase erudition?
To increase your intelligence, you should be interested in issues in different areas and in different ways.
Learn new words and their meaning.
During school years, at college, at university, you have to learn new terms, recognize concepts, evaluate them in a certain technology. After graduating and receiving a diploma, this flow stops.
If you are not looking for new surroundings, new sources of information, your brain falls into a semiotic state. The creation of new neuron connections in the brain stops, and at the same time the development of intelligence stops.
It should be understood that by learning new words you cannot become erudite. But, considering the meaning, recognizing the chain of subsequent connections, ideas about the world undergo changes. The more connections are revealed, the broader the horizons become. Therefore, follow simple rules.
Memorize 3 new words every seven days. Simple memorization is not enough. They should be used in conversation and in writing.
Learn new synonyms that denote actions in different areas. For example, building restoration, event restoration. Did you see an unfamiliar word? use your intuition and try to determine the meaning yourself. Build the concept of the word and only after that check yourself in the dictionary.
Enlarge the thesaurus.
Increase your own by using synonyms in colloquial speech. These are different sounding words that mean the same term. Moreover, for the “uninitiated person” there is no difference between the designations of synonyms.
Only a trained person is able to recognize and clearly explain the differences between typhoons and tsunamis, rocks and mountains. It is clear to him what meaning is and what meaning is.
Critical and analytical reviews can help.
Studying the opinions of competent journalists, politicians and other specialists allows you to compare your own judgment and draw conclusions about the correctness.
If you initially study the issue yourself, 3 opinions will immediately become available:
primary source;
a competent specialist;
own.
Search the Internet for sites
There are resources on the Internet designed for professionals. They allow:
open the mind;
build an objective picture of the universe;
think critically;
make comparisons.
Write more
Spend time writing, and take only certain topics: philosophical, artistic, scientific.
By expressing thoughts on paper, a person structures sentences and builds logical chains. Through writing, you will determine what your strengths are and where you need to improve your knowledge.
Spend a lot of time reading
Choose books with exciting stories to spark interest. Choose books that describe scientific experiments and present the thoughts of philosophers on topical topics. Works of art are suitable for raising erudition. Choose educational publications with logical tasks. Memorize poetry and prose quotes.
The degree of erudition is directly related to the degree of intellectual development. Learn to perceive information, remember it for a long time and use it in your own life.
23 January 2014, 14:58
