Slashdot Mirror
Entertaining Your Brain?
Spencer Wilson asks: "I'm constantly told that I have an extremely high intelligence. I always feel like I should know so much more, though. Do you, the Slashdot readers, know of any ways to improve ones brain power? Perhaps books, Web sites, etc., that provide questions that involve ways to increase memory, creativity, mental agility, logic reasoning, intelligence, etc. Are there any diets/exercises that really help?"
Drinking, lots of drinking.
SuDZ
Just engage in any sort of activity that requires your brain to be active, rather than passive. Read. Code. Race down hills. Whatever.
...is to hang out on Slashdot, of course. Especially at the -1 filter level. My goodness, this place positively drips with intelligence. All the smart kids hang out here.
[rolls eyes]
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Well, here's one someone posted here on /. a while back:
http://theory.cs.iitm.ernet.in/~arvindn/pi/
I've tried it, and it probably would increase memorization ability, but I'm actually too lazy and busy to keep it up.
In several different dialects.
-"Food is disgusting, it's what they make shit from."-
'm constantly told that I have an extremely high intelligence
Quit hanging out with your mom.
For every annoying gentoo user, are three even more annoying anti-gentoo crybabies. Take Yosh from #Gimp for example.
I'm afraid I'm not sure of too many shortcuts for intelligence. If you want to be quicker at math functions, for instance, you're going to have to do a lot of math. Like another poster said, just don't sit idle.
was obviously wrong. If you had extremely high intelligence, you wouldn't post a story on Slashdot - under what seems to be your real name, for gods' sake - starting "I'm constantly told I have extremely high intelligence . . . "
Seriously, speaking as someone with an IQ in the high genius range: the first thing you have to learn is how NOT to walk around telling everyone how frelling smart you are. They'll figure it out quickly enough on their own, believe me: most geniuses are obvious within a few minutes of meeting them, just from the way they interact with other people.
Other things not to do: DON'T join Mensa. Mensa is a club for losers who have a high IQ and nothing to show for it. Not for no reason is a former Mensa national president an advice columnist for Parade. DON'T talk about chess all the time. It's all right if you're good at it (or Go), but talking about it to everyone you meet will make you look like an A-1 geek, and your chances of spreading those high-intelligence genes around some will drop precipitously.
Grow up. Study. Find something you love and put your whole heart into it. If you really have the brains, you'll exercise them on your own without having to trick things out.
Someone with a lot of brainpower would always be itching to put it to use. Neither Linus nor Alan Cox would worry about how to kill time. Richard Feynman probably had to find ways to get his head off Physics to get it some rest, same with Einstein.
If youre wondering how to improve brain power or kill time, somethings wrong. Find a cause, like making so much GPL software, Microsoft gets broke, or start some world domination plans.
Thats all you have to do.
"Give orange me give eat orange me eat orange give me eat orange give me you." -Nim Chimpsky
"I'm constantly told that I have an extremely high intelligence.
Yeah, I only hang around with dumb people that make me look smart too.
SuDZ
I always feel like I should know so much more, though. Do you, the Slashdot readers, know of any ways to improve ones brain power?
You're confusing intelligence and knowledge. Intelligence is pure processing power. Knowledge is how much data you've got stored on your hard drive. If you need to know more, read a book.
Wikipedia is always in need of good contributors. Give it a try.
When in doubt, go to the library. - Ron Weasley in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
anyone else think the submitter could have written the question slightly less obnoxiously? Would asking "What are brain stimulating excercises?" (without "I am super intelligent") have produced much different answers?
Set your home page to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Randompage instead of Slashdot.
Sign up for classes. Any classes. Cooking, SCUBA, basket weaving, learn a language, learn a new subject, join a choir.
Now is the time. Carpe Diem.
The mind's just like the body. It gets stronger when you exercise it. Doing math, learning new things, studying philosophy, whatever you want. If you don't code, learn to code. If you do code, learn more languages. Anything like that gets you marketable skills and exercises your mind at the same time is good too. Don't neglect the body though. Eat healthy and exercise your body, as boring as it may seem, and your overall health will be good. A healthy body means a strong mind. Also, remember to get enough sleep. We're all idiots when we're tired enough.
In Repressive Burma, it's not just your connection that dies. slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=314547&cid=20819199
Like the subject says -- Meditation.
/. poster if I didn't be a know-it-all and give my advice: You goal should be an hour a day, but It's really difficult to just sit down the first tim and do one hour straight. So start at 5 minutes, and when you can sit still for the whole time, increase by 5 minutes the next day.
There are plenty of resources online, but I wouldn't be a
As for what to do with that hour, that's up for debate. I'm a Buddhist, and many of us believe in meditating on something rather than nothing.
_______
2B1ASK1
It's a bit of a tangent, but I think that far more importantly than what you have, is how you use it.
;)
I think that my most important gifts are faith, honesty and transparency, and not ever giving up. I can quit or walk away from an attempt, but I don't give up on the principle. The intelligence backs those things up in terms of analyzing the structure, patterns, and deep relationships. Of broadening and supporting the interconnecting and overlaying latticeworks. Of eventually finding the big-picture paybacks of faith, reinvesting in it.
I use my intelligence at increasingly abstract levels, not always to solve things but to improve my methodologies and to find problem-solving resources. That's really really hard and can be truly lonely, but see Exhibit A, "not ever giving up". Start at age 3 or 4! Also see the practice of neurolinguistic programming, aka NLP, aka "the study of the structure of human experience". Become the change you want to see. It gets way easier from there, and it'll eventually pay off!
Someday. Maybe it already has, just not the way I expected.
The side effect of this principled and deliberate self architecture/rearchitecture is to live in a state of wonder and potentially of joy. To know that no matter what you think you know, the unknown is still a wonderfully deafening roar like the peak of a waterfall. To know, even on principle, that you're not alone. To have respect for self and for all life. To know that if you can imagine a question, someone else, somewhere, sometime, has found an answer.
Yes Spencer, I do know of ways to improve "brain power". (You did ask a yes or no question didn't you?)
Thank you for your question, which I assume was actually just a vehicle to let us all know how extremely high you feel your intelligence is (based on what people tell you).
Mod this as flamebait. Thank you.
Michael.
Linux : Mac
Some years back, I actually did some digging around about all of the 'smart supplements' and such.
The upshot is that a lot of them DO work...but in inverse proportion to how much you NEED them. That is, they don't do much of anything for people who are already reasonably smart, but they are a noticeable help for people with mental deficiencies.
Personally, I think the best way to get intellectual stimulation is to try to get as many varied experiences as possible. I like travel, myself. Dig out a map, find somewhere a few hours away you've never been to, and go for a drive. Bring the map in case anything looks interesting along the way and you decide to change your itinerary...
Hacker Public Radio is our Friend
I'm going to assume you're not stupid. Probably a safe assumption, since you're obviously smart enough to see that you don't know as much as you should. So that leaves ignorant. So why are you ignorant.
Steve Allen tells this story about a young, smart assistant he had who was dismally ignorant. He had to explain to her that her boyfriend was not a kind of Protestant (the guy was a Catholic!) and that the U.N. wasn't in Los Angeles (small schedule issue!). He blamed her ignorance on a sloppy education. But I have to ask, How do you grow up without learning where the U.N. HQ is? Answer, lack of curiousity.
There's more to knowing stuff than memorizing lots of facts. It's an active thing. You read lots of books, journals, and newspapers. And you think about what you've read. Which means talking about it with others, writing about it, finding a place for it in your mental landscape.
So, short answer to your question: there's no one book that will make you more knowledgable. What you should do is go to a library or a bookstore. Avoid the aisles with the recreational reading you normally go for. Than browse around until you find a book that looks interesting. Try to get into it. If you can't, put it back on the shelf and look for another book. If you can, read it, think about it, discuss it with other people who've read it.
Repeat until you feel sufficiently smart. Which, if you're really smart is never.
Let me guess --- you are not constantly told how humble you are.
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Did you ever notice that *nix doesn't even cover Linux?
Hey, who are you to challenge the submitter? He is constantly being told that has an extremely high IQ. How many times have *you* been told that?
I am often in the same situation. People tell me that I think totally differently from most people and am really smart and all that stuff. It's very hard to understand what they mean, because I just think the way I always have. I came to the conclusion that there are different types of intelligence, and people in various types view the other types as the intelligent ones.
I really think that intelligence just boils down to the equivilent of system registers in the brain. Being able to hold more of an understanding of what's going on than those around you makes you more intelligence. This can be applied as social intelligence, mathematical intelligence (understanding the systems behind the numbers), scientific intelligence (understanding larger portions or more detail in the natural world than most), etc. Its a curiosity.
I tend to have a social intelligence. I just think of it as common sense, but apparently others see it as something nice. Which helps, I guess.. but is weird. I look at a mathematically intelligent person and get intimidated. Or I look at the linguistically intelligent people who appear to be flaunting their intelligence by using ridiculously arcane words in common speech. It's more than likely they just know the words and use them without thinking.. but to people who don't it seems intelligent.
So I guess to answer your question, Intelligence isn't about what you know. It's about what you CAN know, and what you can process successfully.
Now, if you are looking for wisdom, you may want to make with the learning.
If you want to be smarter do what I do. Try to learn stuff. Don't just volger around the internet reading shit like slashdot and playing stupid games. Spend that time learning something or spend it somewhere besides the computer/tv/videogames/dvd/etc.
Here are some examples from my life.
Example 1: I heard the words fast fourier transform many times. I realized, hey I don't know what the fuck that is, and I probably should. I searched on google and researched it. Now I know it as well as if I would have taken a college course on it. You know you know something when you can write a program that does it.
Example 2: Hey, this python programming language seems to fit my style. Buy Nutshell book, learn python in a couple weeks.
Example 3: hey, I have a project to do for class. I think I'll use the GTK+ library. Proceed to teach self everything about GTK from the GTK website.
Example 4: Argument about gas prices. I thought the markup was a lot, my roomate correctly knew it was only a few cents markup at the gas station. We went out on the net and not only determined who was right, but learned all about fuel prices.
Example 5: Hey, this Initial D anime is pretty cool, but no way is that drift driving realistic. Proceed to use internet to learn all about cars, drifting, etc. I now also am very fond of F1 racing. Just last week I read the entire rules at formula1.com and simultaneously learned a great deal about how they make the best cars in the world.
Pretty much, if you want to learn just try to. The information is free. Just go out and read what you want to know, and if you're serious about it you'll learn it. Things that you are genuinely interested in knowing are easy to learn because you will pay attention and actually try. If you are having a hard time learning something its probably because you don't actually want to know it, but instead are being forced to learn it. Or you could have a "learning disability".
Read.
The GeekNights podcast is going strong. Listen!
Do listen to everything your told though.
I always feel like I should know so much more, though. Do you, the Slashdot readers, know of any ways to improve ones brain power?
Perhaps books, Web sites, etc., that provide questions that involve ways to increase memory, creativity, mental agility, logic reasoning, intelligence, etc.
Are there any diets/exercises that really help?
I think there are some studies somewhere that link balance to improving thinking abilities. Take some Tai Chi or something.
Meditation seems like it could be a good thing to do. You just have to try to figure out which kind of meditation you should do. I like zazen.
If you haven't done drugs maybe you could try that. Don't get addicted or anything, but try 'em out. I would include alcohol, caffeine, and nicotine along with all the others in this experiment. I think this can bring a certain sense of perspective. I don't recommend doing ANY drugs (including alcohol, nicotine or caffeine) to someone who has pre-existing mental instability. In that case the brain is producing it's own novelty, it would be a shame to mess with it.
Readd books that you don't agree with and try to make yourself agree with them. Or you can do the same thing with political talk shows. I do this with Rush Limbaugh, but if you are conservative you could maybe read Al Franken or something. Good for developing flexibility.
Try fasting for a couple of days. It can bring about a change of viewpoint on your normal daily state.
Doing things you don't ordinarily do can impact your brain. Like driving a different way home from work. Or going for a walk. Once I went around trying to do everything backwards as accurately as possible. It amazed me how difficult this was. A complete reverse order is wasn't my first intuition of doing something backwards. Doing something as simple as opening a door in reverse has some hidden steps that you don't really think about.
Kind of cliche, but you could try "Undoing Yourself with Energized Meditation" by Christopher Hyatt (I think) It has some interesting exercises you can do to limber your brain up. I wouldn't buy it unless you are actually going to do the exercises though. It's kind of long-winded and new-agey at points, though
Whether or not you take my advice, I wouldn't let the Slashdotters who are giving you a hard time get you down. A good number of the people who hang out on here are cynical asshats.
Intelligence is a pretty cloudy concept. It's one of those words that's a reverse signifier. The way in which it is used by someone inform us more about the person using the word than about the things being classified on a scale of "intelligence."
Current critical theory in the communications and philosophy fields would probably argue that "intelligence" is constructed by those with social privilege to justify their privilege through the illusion of naturalistic necessity.
The only reason I caution with the above is because I'm highly sympathetic to it.
Another strain of thought I'm highly sympathetic to, but which is incompatible with the above is the biological machine theory of intelligence. The metaphor is almost self-explanatory. Your brain is a machine and will funciton optimally when certain pre-conditions are met.
There truly is a lot to be said for proper diet and exercise in sustaining intelligence. There has been much research done of late that links regular exercise with forstalling age related memory loss. Another recent study found that exercise dramatically improved cognitive skills across the board when sedetary persons were forced to do mild arobic exercise 3 times a week.
The second part of my suggestion is a class of substances broadly called nootropics. (new-oH-trOH-pix) The brain is dependent upon a diverse quantity of chemicals. Many persons are deficient and this has very real impacts for the brain performance.
A lot of persons are intersted in improving their cognitive power through supplements/drugs. Many are safe and proven. I've personally achieved remarkable success. My memory is better than it has ever been. Obscure vocabuary words flow off my tongue. Mathematical proofs take a shorter amount of time to absorb. Latin is my university foreign language. Pre-nootropics I spent 4 hours a week memorizing Latin vocabuary for my classes. The following semester, with a similar workload, I spent 2 hours a week max.
The cheapest/most popular nootropic is called DMAE. Easily one of the reasons why it is popular is that it combats brain damage caused by alcohol use through replacing acetylcholine. A lot of people drink, so a lot benefit from DMAE. But DMAE does more than combat alcohol damage, so it should be considered even if you don't drink.
If you want a site with just un-hyped, straight-up studies, check out [url]http://www.smart-nutrition.net[/url]. I am not associated with them, but after checking out all the science behind the Get-Smart pills I purchased some two years ago and continue to purchase some to this day.
Today I regularly consume the Get-Smart pills, L-Tyrosine (for semantic recall), phosphatydl-Serine (misspelled I know, it's for alertness), and a B-vitamin.
My memory and general acuteness are at all time high levels. Mental clarity is its own reward. If you're curious at all, I highly encourage you to do some reading.
> I'm constantly told that I have an extremely high intelligence.
> I always feel like I should know so much more, though.
Intelligence and knowledge are different things. You gradually lose a lot of your intelligence as you age, but you gain knowledge and understanding and so are able to compensate. You can also gain thinking skills.
> Do you, the Slashdot readers, know of any ways to improve ones brain power?
Brain power? No, not as such. The brain (the physical organ between your ears) is mostly affected by your body chemistry, so apart from the usual medical advice (eat a ballanced diet, get enough sleep, don't do crack, ...) there's not a great
deal you can do.
However, you can exercise your *mind*. Read books that are at or above your reading level, books that make you think. (Specific examples? If you haven't read Godel, Escher, Bach yet, I can recommend that. The Bible is good for a number of readings. Knuth's book on surreal number theory is good. Read some Interactive Fiction, too. Curses, for example, and (if you really want to stretch) Spider and Web.)
Memorization is a learned skill. I don't know how many times people have told me, "I can't memorize". What they mean is, "I've never memorized." Very few people are blessed with a photographic memory; everyone else has to learn to memorize. Pick out a nice five-page passage you like from a good book, and make yourself learn it word-for-word until you can recite it verbatim with no errors. You start out with just the first sentence and work your way up. Oh, and you have to periodically review what you already know (just say it through once each time; if you don't have any trouble, you can double the time until the next review of that materiel).
Memorization gets easier with practice, and continues to get easier with practice the more you practice it. It's possible to get to the point where you can memorize a medium-density page of information in fifteen minutes flat, and this is a *really* useful skill to have. It's also possible to store entire books in your mind. No, your brain doesn't get full and start forgetting stuff. (Short-term memory works that way, but long-term memory doesn't.) There's a girl in my church who can quote all of John, Ephesians, I & II Timothy, Titus, Jonah, and six chapters of Daniel, and she's not even particularly bright (in fact, she's probably LD); she just took the trouble to learn how to memorize and then spent some time doing a bit of it.
Of course, there are other useful thinking skills besides (and, some would say, now that we have computers, more useful than) memorization. Practice analysis and discernment. Learn to pick apart everything you read, including fiction, and evaluate it in terms of the quality of the writing, stylistic issues, the author's sociopolitical worldview and how that influences the writing (especially with nonfiction, but yes, even with fiction), the originality (or not) of the plot, the quality of the character development, and so on and so forth. Write in-depth reviews.
Speaking of which... write. I don't mean (necessarily) professionally, but write. Not just "creative" writing, either; write essays. For fun. Make yourself put together and write from an outline, and then make yourself revise your writing repeatedly until the original draft looks like poor writing by comparison. This is good exercise, and it develops another useful skill.
Languages are a great way to go too. Learn computer languages, foreign languages, dead languages, ... Learn ones that are
significantly different from your native language. The (somewhat
old now) book,
How to Learn Any Language (Barry Farber) is one I would recommend -- but don't
just read the book; learn some la
Cut that out, or I will ship you to Norilsk in a box.
Do I get points because my sig was used as the title of an article? Is that why I have been moderating for more than 2 weeks? (I did manage to use up the points twice, but every day I have 5 again.)
I'm constantly told that I have an extremely high intelligence.
This gets annoying before finishing elementary school. Learn to change the subject. Discover what is interesting to the other person. Find subjects where there is a good chance the other person will give information you did not know.
[This does not always work. A new girlfriend introduced me to one of her friends, who had just bought a house. I was ASKING questions about how he was remodelling the kitchen when he blurted, "You are a genius, aren't you?"]
You will still get comments like "We have never talked about X, but you seem to know everything, so what do I do about X?" If you can lie [I cannot], tell them you have never heard of X, and then ask questions. Otherwise, quickly give them the solution, and move the conversation so you have a dialogue instead of a lesson.
I always feel like I should know so much more, though.
As long as you are always learning, do not worry about what you do not know. When something enters your interest, learn the basics quickly to know if it is worth researching. I prefer to work on creating new things rather than trying to keep up with the combined progress of all humanity.
Do you, the Slashdot readers, know of any ways to improve ones brain power?
[Learn to use apostrophes. It should be "one's".]
The only exercise to help you think better is thinking.
Perhaps books, Web sites, etc., that provide questions that involve ways to increase memory, creativity, mental agility, logic reasoning, intelligence, etc.
[Learn to construct sentences. Every sentence should have a subject and a verb.]
[Avoid the word "that". You used it 3 times. The first was unnecessary; the other two could have been avoided by changing the tense of the verbs.]
Most geniuses read constantly. The material does not matter. Think about any new ideas. Think about what prompted it to be written. For fiction, think of alternate plots. Keep thinking. If you want to be more creative, you need to create. If you want to be better at logical reasoning, devise proofs. If you want to be more mentally agile, question every assumption, both your own and other people's: why is it an assumption, and what are the alternatives?
Are there any diets/exercises that really help?
I eat steak. It does not seem to make me any smarter, but it tastes good. I avoid anything that seems popular with the masses: potatoes, bread, rice, broccoli. (I would include pasta, but my Italian blood refuses to recommend against it.)
Any exercise will help the blood to flow better. Do what you like, or do the same exercise as your friends. I bowl because a variety of interesting people practice with the bowlers I know. I kick around a soccer ball with several techies. I run just to enjoy the sun. I swim because I love swimming. Exercise helps, but do it because you enjoy it, and see if you can combine it with your desire for knowledge.
I spend my life entertaining my brain.
...and yet another way to give your brain a workout - try to teach something that you know to an absolute beginner. It is the only way to expose the holes in your knowledge. Just be prepared to learn how little you really know...
So, what are you interested in? And remember, there are so many kinds of intelligence that its hard to say that one is better than the others. There is "generic/old fashioned" problem solving intelligence. If you think you've got that, then see how you like inventing - as for what, well, see the thing above on what you're interested in.
But also don't be afraid to try new things - see how you like the arts, from theatre to literature to photography to drawing. As for me, I have no drawing ability, but have found that with a good book on photography and some money for equipment, that I can be decent at it - and the sheer possibilities for capturing light around me, and coming up with interesting subjects, can provide hours of amusement... and don't tell me it doesn't work my brain.
I guess that's the trick to using your intelligence - you can't be afraid of dipping your feet into something new. You don't need to start off an expert - in fact, some humility and a few honest, dumb questions can help build friendships and advice to people that will make your life more vibrant.
And, seeing as this is slashdot... yes, the Internet is your friend. the trick is to not go to the same sites over and over again... to think of something random, like I did with photography, or maybe think of say, some form of art or some weird aspect of science that you don't understand, and searching.
At the same time, especially with more difficult (and i believe, more rewarding) topics which can't be described in a few lines of hypertext, like (advanced/interesting?) science/engineering topics, or things like photography, its important to use your library. And your librarians, as well, as they do have a tremendous breath of knowledge, even if they lack depth - they can show you how to get a toehold on almost any topic, and once you've got that, the possibilities are limited almost only by your determination. So don't be afraid, and remember that the world is out there to experience, but you may need to drive yourself to experience it fully. Tim
I often ask myself the same question (and not because people tell me I am brilliant).
This is because now that I work I am not learning much. Back in school, I didn't have this problem, as my brain was always crunching something.
There's a library near my job. I go there sometime and walk by shelves, and when I see a book that does not sound totally boring while being on a subject I have no idea about, I grab it. In fact, I grab a few of them.
To be honest I rarely finish any of these books, but it constantly gives me more and more data in my head, as I at least become aware of the subjects.
In particular, there's a great book called something like Century of Mind, or something like that, about all the great thinkers of the 20th century, from Picasso and Freud, and Wright Brothers to.. well, I didn't finish the book but you get the point... it was great to get into the heads and the environment during which these great thinkers did their thinking.
Oh, and I didn't finish it because someone put it on reserve when I came to renew it and they took it from me.
Ecce Europa - Web Design for Business
Being smart doesn't mean shit if you can't get stuff done. Work hard, finish what you start, and be humble (as in, don't try to "genius" your projects. Keep them straightforward and manageable). Do those things and the "having an extremely high intelligence" will take care of itself. Don't do those things and you will be wondering why less intelligent people keep outperforming you.
When you go through your day, constantly ask yourself "what is this doing for me?" Weight the ups and downs. Television, for example. The ups? Well ...you can entertain yourself. The downs? Don't even get me started.
Then evaluate other things you might be doing in terms of how this will get you closer to the things that matter to you. Mine might be working on my business or listening to some audio tapes/spoken word, but what is right for me is not necessarily right for you.
If you start weighting activities like they've got a price sticker attached to them -- which they do, really -- then you can start "comparison shopping." And then you can use your head to it's best potential. I think the "what" will flow naturally at that point. If learning Chemistry is important to you, then make the time and learn it.
I know this isn't quite what you're asking. I hate it when people answer my "How do you do A?" with "Why don't you do B?" just as much as the next guy, trust me. I just think you might be approaching it from "what?" when it might behove you to simply free up the "when?" and "how?" and then "what?" will become obvious to you. Because you're the only person who can answer that.
My
Limekiller
My advice is to study math and the sciences.
Intelligence is predictability
"Not many people understand how rare it is to really, really know something."
-Richard Feynman
If I could ACCURATELY predict the stock market, weather patterns, or the lottery -- would you call that intelligence? If I could quickly tell you the final result of any given set of initial conditions -- would you call that intelligence?
Intelligence is predicatability. People may be impressed by philosophers and musicians, however when it comes to raw brainpower, never look past mathematics and the hard sciences. Predicitability is key. Anyone can collect stamps. Anyone can observe. Most people can describe. However ask for an uncanny and accurate prediction and the room becomes silent.
I've found that studying mathematics and science has improved my ability to understand history, the humanities, and art. You learn to quantify things in science. When you study physics you learn what really knowing something means. You learn about the limits of knowing what you can know. You can only quantify so much. The question is how much can we actually quantify?
"Everything should be made as simple as possible, but no simpler."
-Albert Einstein
Reasoning is basic symbolic manipulation
Mathematics takes us into the region of absolute necessity, to which not only the actual word, but every possible word, must conform.
-Bertrand Russell
Reasoning is basic symbolic manipulation. Even Aristotle believed this. Look at the syllogistic form. A tautology is a valid line of reasoning. Admittedly, any attempt to formalize inductive reasoning is as weak as formalizing probability itself.
Intelligence is about encoding mechanisms. When you make a mapping from the real world to a rigourous set of rules or you merely compare sets of rules, you are finding a way to encode one system in terms of another. Thus the application of analytical geometry to our (observed) real space, is an encoding of real world geometry into algebraic equations. Any description in one has a signifigant result in the other.
Teach yourself
You've got to teach yourself. Frankly, even Havard won't make the dumb smart, it will only make them educated. Just having the ability to break down information and understand it on your own is a skill. You've get to be able to solve problems on you're own. Don't just stare at the problem. Play with it. Do something. Even if it's tedious. You'd be suprised at how just hacking away at a piece of it can help you solve a problem. Heck, I'm probably preaching to the choir here.
"Don't let school get in the way of your education."
-Mark Twain (or Ben Franklin or somebody else...)
Give me a man who is mathematically mature and physcially intuitive and I will give you a genius. Genius is merely a social measurement of intelligence. Whose to say if Einstein was smarter than Hilbert. Was Godel smarter than Russell? Frankly, most of these parlor discussions are nothing more than pure bovine fecal matter. Don't obsess about how intelligent other people think you are. Frankly, if you're really smart, you will get two responses, comraderie or fear. Intelligent people will seek your company. Insecure people will tell you that you are foolish or ignorant only because they fear you actually know more. Intelligence is part performance and part stubborn confidence that you can figure something out by shear intellectual will. Of course, proving that you are a genius or even a genius in a world of geniuses is tough. However, I will leave that exercise to the reader.
What do you mean my sig is repetitive? What do you mean my sig is repetitive? What do you mean....
Read. Learn. Write. Write. Write. Share what you learn. Formulate new ideas. Discuss them with other people. Prepare to feel stupid. Do the whole process again.
I hate to say it, but people have book smart and they have monkey smart. You may have the former, but it doesn't sound like you have the latter. You may now feel free to exact monkey justice.
The middle mind speaks!
Then may i ask what brings you here?
The lunatic is in my head
This article talks about Rajan Mahadevan who memorized some 31,000+ digits of pi for the (then) world record. Another interesting article on Mahadevan if you're into that.
The first article, however, discusses what it takes to become considered "best" in your area of study. Read through it for a fascinating look at performance and intelligence and how it relates to the amount of practice. The short version, for those who are allergic to reading, is that you can reach a level considered "best" after about 10,000 hours of practice regardless of whether you start out slow or whether you're a quick study.
Want to become a killer programmer? Put in 10 solid hours a day coding (and related research activities) for 3 years (ie: 1000 days). After 18 months, you'll be at a stage where you're qualified to teach. After 2 years you'll be considered very good. And after 3 years, you'll get a call from Carmack. (Okay, maybe I made that last one up.)
Want to improve your Karma? Instead of "Post Anonymously", try the "Post Humously" option.
-- Gallagher
Found in the Linux Fortunes DB ;-)
I love when I can flex some of my neurons, and here is a puzzle that I loved hearing. It made the rounds in the Physics circles a couple of years ago, I believe. I'll try to check back soon with the solution.
Also, feel free to put any other really good puzzles in this thread!
------------Begin Story------------------
There are 100 prisoners being held captive. One day they are told that some of them will die the next day in a trial. They are told to plan tonight for the following:
The prisoners will be lined up, one behind the other, so that each prisoner can see all of the people in front of him. A red, green, or blue dot will be placed on the back of each prisoner's head, but the prisoner will not know the color on the back of their own head (or, of course, the colors on the heads of the prisoners behind him). Then the captors will start at the back of the line and ask the question "What is the color on the back of your head?". The prisoner must answer with one of the colors, and any other answer, or answering out of turn, will result in everyone being executed. Everyone can hear the answers of the people to come before them. After the question has been asked of every prisoner, the prisoners who answered incorrectly will be executed.
Question: What is the most effective plan that the prisoners can come up with, and how many people will die with this plan?
Extra credit: Expand the plan to include an arbitrary number of prisoners and colors. Now how many people will die?
I started playing the banjo about a year ago, and after about 2 months of I noticed major improvements with my memory and general fuzziness gone out of my head. Also it helps out alot with your had eye coordination. I still notice my memory and other brain functions getting better all the time as my praticing progresses.
The phone is ringing, I cannot linger, watch out butt here comes my finger.
Many of us have great potential, be it intellectual or otherwise, but the issue is whether we actualize it or not. Most of us don't, and we either get by on our natural inclinations - OR we remain limited by our own inability to get beyond those same inclinations.
I have studied with, and now work for, a human potential program that is great for intelligent people - it gives you the ability to really explore what you know on a deeper level and learn how to critically think - what they DON'T teach you in school....
It's increased my brain capacity greatly, and helped me become more successful in my intellectual endeavors.
I think it's the next logical step in a person's mental evolution. You can keep gathering data and information and increase what you know, but it won't really impact you until you can increase your ability to THINK.
If you want to know more about it, email me or read the websites:
nxivm.com
espian.net