How can you make yourself more intelligent?

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Is it just a case of reading more in general & learning overall, or are there specific things you should be concentrating on? Can it be done? If you know alot about a specific subject, does that mean you are more intelligent than somebody that doesn't?

― Pinkpanther (Pinkpanther), Tuesday, 19 August 2003 08:15 (twenty-two years ago)

why bother?

― nnnh oh oh nnnh nnnh oh (James Blount), Tuesday, 19 August 2003 08:18 (twenty-two years ago)

Hmmm... I'm tempted to say "never mind intelligence", try and stretch your perception and wisdom by consciously seeking out new things and stuff. That's what I'm bothered about more than being intelligent, widening perception and understanding so that I can live my life better. And avoiding ornaments.

― Nick Southall (Nick Southall), Tuesday, 19 August 2003 08:20 (twenty-two years ago)

*throws ornament at Nick*

― oops (Oops), Tuesday, 19 August 2003 08:25 (twenty-two years ago)

*avoids ornament with deft skill*

― Nick Southall (Nick Southall), Tuesday, 19 August 2003 08:25 (twenty-two years ago)

You can't make yourself more intelligent; that's inherited. But you can 'exercise' your brain and improve memory etc. Plus what Nick said. And you can become more well-read/learned by... reading and learning.

― Archel (Archel), Tuesday, 19 August 2003 08:27 (twenty-two years ago)

You can't make yourself more intelligent; that's inherited

That's a pretty strong statement.

― Ricardo (RickyT), Tuesday, 19 August 2003 08:29 (twenty-two years ago)

but surely if you are more learned about certain things, people will then perceive you as intelligent?

― Pinkpanther (Pinkpanther), Tuesday, 19 August 2003 08:29 (twenty-two years ago)

*shakes fist* You've won this round, Mr. Southall, but your deft skill can't save you forever.

More intelligent? I tend to think of that as a fairly fixed thing, esp once you're an adult. More knowledgeable? Talk to people--ALL people, not just ones you think you can learn something from--and read books.

― oops (Oops), Tuesday, 19 August 2003 08:29 (twenty-two years ago)

Also, your statement suggests that if you are intelligent then you will never have to strive for things like exams. Are you born with a certain level of intelligence that no matter how hard you work, you will never improve on this?

― Pinkpanther (Pinkpanther), Tuesday, 19 August 2003 08:31 (twenty-two years ago)

I meant that towards Archel's statement.

― Pinkpanther (Pinkpanther), Tuesday, 19 August 2003 08:31 (twenty-two years ago)

focus on the body, the mind is useless

― nnnh oh oh nnnh nnnh oh (James Blount), Tuesday, 19 August 2003 08:31 (twenty-two years ago)

that sounds like a diddy line

― Ronan (Ronan), Tuesday, 19 August 2003 08:33 (twenty-two years ago)

Down with the mind/body division! All is mind! All is body!

― Nick Southall (Nick Southall), Tuesday, 19 August 2003 08:33 (twenty-two years ago)

The best ways to get maximum use out of your brain:

- do new things (like Nick says)
- think about those things
- practise articulating what you think (talking, writing, whatever)
- practise either defending what you think or modifying it based on other people's responses
- repeat with next new thing

At its best, formal education is simply a case of getting people into the habit of doing this. Unfortunately formal education also tends to limit stage 2 by inferring or outright stating that some responses are right and some are wrong, rather than letting responses be 'peer-reviewed', which I reckon is the ideal.

(xpost) A lot of exams is about memory and recall and fluency, which are part of intelligence but not all. I never had to work very hard for exams because I have (had!) a good memory and could write quickly. But I wasn't more intelligent than someone who found the whole process a nightmare.

― Tom (Groke), Tuesday, 19 August 2003 08:33 (twenty-two years ago)

Sorry, I should have said: there is a basic general measure of intelligence which is heritable.

― Archel (Archel), Tuesday, 19 August 2003 08:34 (twenty-two years ago)

I'm constantly becoming more convinced that IQ is an almost worthless measure. And I don't think a cohesive measure of all-around intelligence (like Spearman's "G factor") can be observed; it's too hopelessly multifaceted.

― Dan I., Tuesday, 19 August 2003 08:36 (twenty-two years ago)

So yeah, whatever it is you're wanting to improve at, writing, puzzle-solving, mental math, whatever, practice that task and you'll improve. But you probably won't be any smarter.

― Dan I., Tuesday, 19 August 2003 08:38 (twenty-two years ago)

befriend posh spice

― james (james), Tuesday, 19 August 2003 08:41 (twenty-two years ago)

But surely the more you know the more intelligent you will appear?

― Pinkpanther (Pinkpanther), Tuesday, 19 August 2003 08:42 (twenty-two years ago)

intelligence is complex because its definition is only valid in the context it is used in - you may be able to resite all of shakespeare but it wont help you survive in a wilderness situation (you need ray meyers for that), and you may be able to gut a fish removing all the bones but it wont help bring up babies (unless they love bone free fish).

― james (james), Tuesday, 19 August 2003 08:49 (twenty-two years ago)

I image-googled the phrase "expand your brain" and it came up with this;
http://images-eu.amazon.com/images/P/B000025EKW.02.LZZZZZZZ.jpg
Which is correct on so many levels.

― Nick Southall (Nick Southall), Tuesday, 19 August 2003 08:51 (twenty-two years ago)

and read books
but what books?

― Pinkpanther (Pinkpanther), Tuesday, 19 August 2003 10:04 (twenty-two years ago)

Richard Brautigan, of course.

― Mikey G (Mikey G), Tuesday, 19 August 2003 10:27 (twenty-two years ago)

ts: ray meyers vs ray guns

a reliable indication of the absolute absence of intelligence is unqualified use of the phrase "dumbing down"

― mark s (mark s), Tuesday, 19 August 2003 10:27 (twenty-two years ago)

Supplement your diet with creatine and start smoking tobacco. Both of these have been shown to increase your concentration and short-term memory by quite a bit, and I can personally testify that this is the case (though neither effect is permanent obv)

― Millar (Millar), Tuesday, 19 August 2003 10:30 (twenty-two years ago)

As things so very often are,
intelligence won't get you far.
So be glad you've got more sense
than you have intelligence.

― Douglas (Douglas), Tuesday, 19 August 2003 12:07 (twenty-two years ago)

:) if I were to write a guide on seeming intelligent:

Don't ever point out, in an obvious way, that you don't know something. Ask questions in a way that doesn't put the emphasis on what you don't know. (i.e. prefacing w/ "How does.." "How is it that.." rather than "I don't understand how.."). Seriously, I think projecting confidence, being decisive, and learning not to cut yrself down are key as far as being regarded as intelligent - meaning to have a practical sort of intelligence, not to be an absent-minded professor type. Absent-minded professor types are exasperating.

Other tactics such as listening & nodding like you understand, not running your mouth constantly, and having skills that many people in your field don't have can be useful.. As in, somebody who knows next to nothing about computers is really going to think you're smart if you get their PC back up and running by hitting control-alt-delete twice.

― daria g (daria g), Tuesday, 19 August 2003 19:32 (twenty-two years ago)

give up ilx

― Andrew L (Andrew L), Tuesday, 19 August 2003 19:34 (twenty-two years ago)

put the doobie down

― nickalicious (nickalicious), Tuesday, 19 August 2003 19:38 (twenty-two years ago)

So should the thread title have been: How can you make yourself APPEAR more intelligent?

― oops (Oops), Tuesday, 19 August 2003 19:41 (twenty-two years ago)

i was just about to start a thread called that.

― phil-two (phil-two), Tuesday, 19 August 2003 19:42 (twenty-two years ago)

thick-rimmed glasses, a smoking jacket, a book tucked under my arm, and a pipe do the trick for me.

― oops (Oops), Tuesday, 19 August 2003 19:44 (twenty-two years ago)

Taking the panty off my head will do the trick for me.

― nickalicious (nickalicious), Tuesday, 19 August 2003 19:54 (twenty-two years ago)

I've just remembered a good way to appear clever: work in an university and proofread dissertations for non-native English speakers. You pick up handy facts on totally random topics AND they pay you! In the last few months I have learned about the Kmer Rouge, Rwanda, Joseph Conrad, and education policy in Bangladesh.

I'm not sure about daria's advice. I used to be afraid of admitting ignorance and invariably got tangled up in mortifying errors. Now if there's a gap in my knowledge I just say so. I'd rather get the facts from someone who does know (and usually people like to explain stuff as it makes them feel important) than stay a bluffer all my life. Noone can know everything, and one day I might be able to fill someone else's knowledge gap too.

― Archel (Archel), Wednesday, 20 August 2003 09:40 (twenty-two years ago)

two years pass...

I feel so crushingly unintelligent tonight. I don't want to be intelligent for the sake of showing off to people or making myself attractive or winning arguments. I just want to understand all the things I don't understand. Do you ever feel like this, ILX?

― Cathy (Cathy), Saturday, 11 March 2006 02:03 (twenty years ago)

How to be more intelligent:

- Look at situations with curiosity as often as you can.
- Find failure as interesting as success.
- Read widely and questioningly.
- Think about what you say before you say it.
- Identify your ignorance as clearly as you identify what you know.
- Listen actively.

― Aimless (Aimless), Saturday, 11 March 2006 02:12 (twenty years ago)

When I want to feel more intelligent I drink.

― Bryan (Bryan), Saturday, 11 March 2006 02:13 (twenty years ago)

Li Po to thread!

― Aimless (Aimless), Saturday, 11 March 2006 02:16 (twenty years ago)

"We do not know today whether we are busy or idle. In times when we thought ourselves indolent, we have afterwards discovered, that much was accomplished, and much was begun in us."

—Ralph Waldo Emerson

― fields of salmon (fieldsofsalmon), Saturday, 11 March 2006 02:23 (twenty years ago)

flex your head!

― latebloomer (latebloomer), Saturday, 11 March 2006 03:04 (twenty years ago)

ha, this was a question that was on my mind only a little while ago. i think starting this thread really helped and i thank many ilxors (particularly nick southall) for helping me to get out of a mental rut.

If you stop using your brain, do you go stupid?

― dog latin (dog latin), Saturday, 11 March 2006 03:47 (twenty years ago)

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