How Can I Improve My Intelligence and Speed of Thought?

[math_owen]

Hi. Ok. I might have some unique advice here. Let me say, in high school, I was proudly the most drugged, f'ed up kid around, and I would have done anything to prove I was stupider than thou.

Why did I say that? Besides it being true, I'm now considered a top student at an excellent U. in math.

When I was in the military, I decided to read philosophy, b/c it was assecible. Now, reading philo won't make you any smarter. IMO we have entire dept. of people who believe this with no promise at all.

Here's what I have learned. There are 3 things. And they apply to all of life too. They're like the fire triangle, if you're missing one, no fire, period. And they're going to sound at first like I took them out of a boot camp quote book.

Discipline, Honesty, and Courage.

Now here's the twist. You don't have to be any of these things for anyone else, except you! Let's start w/ Honesty.

Math is the perfect place for this endeavor too! Let's say, you're reading a proof out of Calculus on Manifolds by Spivak. Ok. There's a really high probability that within the first 10 pages you'll hit a proof you just don't understand all the way. You'll probably understand 75%, enough to get by, and MOST leave it that way.

Here's where the honesty happens. Now you have to be totally honest when you see this happen, and say, "gee I don't get this or that." If you are too afraid to recognize where you're ignorant, then you're doomed. Not admitting you don't know something is a great source of agony for humans. Just look at history.

Step 2, Courage. Yeah, it's going to take balls to open up Hubbard's book, and read through 20 pages so you can understand 1 line. Not in the sense that's a demon, but in the sense you know it's going to hurt and be a mental work out to wade through and learn the extra things to get that information. Not to mention, it's going to take 2 hours for 1 line, and instead you could almost done be BSing your homework by the end of it.

Not too mention also, you might need courage in the first place to recognize that you're ignoring the spots you don't understand.

Step 3, this is where I shine, and where most people fail. I'm no genius. And when I say I can work you to the ground with a 15 hr day everyday, I freaking mean it. And I have a military record that shines, medals, and 100 people who know me to tell you I will. Both physically and mentally. Odds are you'll get it quicker than me, but odds are you'll go home 6 hours before me too, and you'll probably be chatting away while I'm studying.

Discipline. It's what I was totally missing in high school, not to mention the other 2. But it's what I have now. The above paragraph wasn't a brag, it was a clue! There are many sources of discipline, but if you're not proud of what you do, then odds are you doomed from the start.

It's nice to say, "I love (enter this hard science)" But to do it, intensely, the way the greats have, well, that's to be somewhat of a soldier about it. That is, you rise early, you're focused, dedicated, and freaking proud to be doing it, from 7 am till 7pm, all 7 days. Because about 2 hours into any day you're going to be tired. And then, if you're not disciplined, you're going to become BS like most people, and lie to yourself and others that you're doing something. When in reality, it's just smoke.

Recap. Honesty to self. Courage to be honest. And the discipline to REALLY DO something about it. (and not cancel out being honest)

Sorry to sound like a militant, I'm not. But when it comes to myself, I take a lot of pride in working really really hard to understand. I don't care about others either. So I somewhat disagree that you need to be around "smarter people". That's only true if you're outwardly competetive. I'm inwardly, and I don't give a damn who knows it, who cares or doesn't. I do this to know, and you should too. Besides, if you're outwardly competitve, then once you've outsmarted everyone you're done, and what good is that, other than to be the king bull****ter!

So I say, stop looking at others, and take a look at yourself, and see what you can do for yourself. To hell with those smarter than you. They're focused on what they need to learn. Like you should be.

Cheers.

 

[duke_nemmerle]

Hi. Ok. I might have some unique advice here. Let me say, in high school, I was proudly the most drugged, f'ed up kid around, and I would have done anything to prove I was stupider than thou.

Why did I say that? Besides it being true, I'm now considered a top student at an excellent U. in math.

When I was in the military, I decided to read philosophy, b/c it was assecible. Now, reading philo won't make you any smarter. IMO we have entire dept. of people who believe this with no promise at all.

Here's what I have learned. There are 3 things. And they apply to all of life too. They're like the fire triangle, if you're missing one, no fire, period. And they're going to sound at first like I took them out of a boot camp quote book.

Discipline, Honesty, and Courage.

Now here's the twist. You don't have to be any of these things for anyone else, except you! Let's start w/ Honesty.

Math is the perfect place for this endeavor too! Let's say, you're reading a proof out of Calculus on Manifolds by Spivak. Ok. There's a really high probability that within the first 10 pages you'll hit a proof you just don't understand all the way. You'll probably understand 75%, enough to get by, and MOST leave it that way.

Here's where the honesty happens. Now you have to be totally honest when you see this happen, and say, "gee I don't get this or that." If you are too afraid to recognize where you're ignorant, then you're doomed. Not admitting you don't know something is a great source of agony for humans. Just look at history.

Step 2, Courage. Yeah, it's going to take balls to open up Hubbard's book, and read through 20 pages so you can understand 1 line. Not in the sense that's a demon, but in the sense you know it's going to hurt and be a mental work out to wade through and learn the extra things to get that information. Not to mention, it's going to take 2 hours for 1 line, and instead you could almost done be BSing your homework by the end of it.

Not too mention also, you might need courage in the first place to recognize that you're ignoring the spots you don't understand.

Step 3, this is where I shine, and where most people fail. I'm no genius. And when I say I can work you to the ground with a 15 hr day everyday, I freaking mean it. And I have a military record that shines, medals, and 100 people who know me to tell you I will. Both physically and mentally. Odds are you'll get it quicker than me, but odds are you'll go home 6 hours before me too, and you'll probably be chatting away while I'm studying.

Discipline. It's what I was totally missing in high school, not to mention the other 2. But it's what I have now. The above paragraph wasn't a brag, it was a clue! There are many sources of discipline, but if you're not proud of what you do, then odds are you doomed from the start.

It's nice to say, "I love (enter this hard science)" But to do it, intensely, the way the greats have, well, that's to be somewhat of a soldier about it. That is, you rise early, you're focused, dedicated, and freaking proud to be doing it, from 7 am till 7pm, all 7 days. Because about 2 hours into any day you're going to be tired. And then, if you're not disciplined, you're going to become BS like most people, and lie to yourself and others that you're doing something. When in reality, it's just smoke.

Recap. Honesty to self. Courage to be honest. And the discipline to REALLY DO something about it. (and not cancel out being honest)

Sorry to sound like a militant, I'm not. But when it comes to myself, I take a lot of pride in working really really hard to understand. I don't care about others either. So I somewhat disagree that you need to be around "smarter people". That's only true if you're outwardly competetive. I'm inwardly, and I don't give a damn who knows it, who cares or doesn't. I do this to know, and you should too. Besides, if you're outwardly competitve, then once you've outsmarted everyone you're done, and what good is that, other than to be the king bull****ter!

So I say, stop looking at others, and take a look at yourself, and see what you can do for yourself. To hell with those smarter than you. They're focused on what they need to learn. Like you should be.

Cheers.

I like this post; I could do to improve in each of these areas, especially discipline.

 

[CuriousArv]

I am glad I started this thread. I like math owen's post as well. It made me go oh! Yeah I suppose I'm living in the world of excuses a little. But when you are with working in a research organisation where people converse and understand so much faster than you, its really easy to feel smaller. I'm learning to deal with this better now.

I have found another site. www.transhumanism.org.

It deals with looking at ways of making humans greater using technology. There are a lot of ethical debates surrounding it but its a interesting read. If there any initiative that is going to go towards work on a 'smart pill' this movement is probably going to lead the way.

 

[math_owen]

Cool. After I wrote that this morning and went to class I was worried I'd be considered just some stupid *******. I do have your best interest in mind with those words, and anyone else reading along. They are words I have had to face myself more than once from someone else's mouth in a much less polite way. And often in the military it was directly at my face with me in the silent inferior rank.

Transhumanism... Oh boy. What have I stumbled across here? Personally, I'm very pro augmentation. So pro, I wish I could upload my mind today. Of course, I have no qualms with this "soul" idea dying, whatever, upload my mind I say!

If I understand right though, TH is old philosophy now (yeah, like you Pentium 3 type old), and the Kurzweilian Singularitian approach is now favored. Read his book for a great intro, "The Singularity is Near"

But all these arguments are moot, if you're a) religious and believe in a "soul" b) think like Penrose that the mind can't be uploaded. I just assume that those two statements are false, and I am waiting for science to prove them right.

Smart pill? That's really old, old like Arthur C. Clark Sci-fi. Read Charles Stross. Let's try, brain chip. Ahh, that's nice. Look up the company CyberKinetics out of Brown U., and their quadrapaligic Matt Negal with the brain chip BrainGate. Also check out the infamous Kevin Warwick at Reading. He says he'll have the 1st brain to brain communication within 7~8 yrs. I'm just jealous I'll have to wait 10. :-(

 

[J77]

Brain chip?

Would this improve memory - ie. ability to learn through reading books and doing exercises - or, what I consider to be of more importance, some natural ability to understand complicated ideas?

I believe the latter is also linked to having a good imagination

 

[Bbabel]

It was the way I lazied into...

Hello, new member, but not the newest to life.

To my lack of understanding, I know that I know myself best, my main goal is to prove to myself that I'm trying to fill the internal need to better myself in as many ways as I feel I need to.

I stick my head into the books I know I can understand and this is my locale surrounding.

Because there is a place that requires a understanding of it's fundamentals and it's daily operating proceduras, there requires the knowledge of experience in this place. I will choose to fall into the holes of my knowledge, and choose to learn my inherent stupidity.

Adapt (not too much), and try to socialize to atleast put 'the you' in a proper place with your co-workers. Never tell all your secrets :)

Just the coming out's of this self :/

 

[CuriousArv]

sorry I'm having difficulty interpreting your message. bbabel..

anyway I've looked at neuroengineering and it seems to hold a fair amount of prospects. I'm thinking about becoming a technician in one of these labs and work my way up to a researcher. Is anyone out there in this field already? I currently have an electrical engineering undergrad degree, have a basic knowledge of designing electric circuits, filters and can do some Java and C++. I have no idea whatsoever about biology. Is anyone already working in this area? What kind of advice can you provide?

 

[verty]

I've had some new insight lately. I've realized that my education was severely lacking: I never learned how to learn. It sounds odd to me to say that, but learning was never included in the syllabus. Reading was, writing and arithmetic was, science, biology, history, geography was, but not learning.

Perhaps my experience was atypical, but only I have only recently realized how accessible learning is. Anyone can learn to learn better. The great thing about learning to learn is that if you learn anything about it, you can incorporate it into your method.

So it's like you start with your current method of learning, which may be looking for information on Wikipedia for instance. So you look there for info about learning, and you incorporate what you learn there into your method. Then you can learn more about learning because you have a more advanced method.

Or if you want to think critically, you think about what you think critical thinking would be like. What would it take to think critically? If you can identify any trait that thinking critically would entail, then incorporate that into your thinking. Then think again about learning and critical thinking.

By this iterative process, I think anyone can learn to be an excellent thinker and an excellent learner. I don't profess to be excellent at either, but I plan to improve very soon, now that I've realized that I was stumbling in the dark in my attempts to learn and become educated. I see now that I hadn't turned the light on.

 

[person192]

thanks for all your replies.

I take fish oil pills everyday. I do not know if they are making a difference yet. I have read that they can possibly have vaso-dilation effects, more blood supply to brain, and can help with stress relief by affecting dopamine levels. I can't say I'm that much calmer. Because they are no apparent side effects I have read about, I continue to take them and believe they will be helpful...most ppl really in the end understand so much and just believe even if they can claim to understand...

anyway besides that I have just come to accept that I have work twice as hard as others to keep at the same level.

I think its completely unfair that some people through their brains are given
more hope. They put in less effort for same rewards. Then you think about
some of those people in prison and you think wait, many of them might not
deserve what they are getting... because they don't really understand as well... And there's all this talk about equality...it seems a bit disillusioning.

But I have read that some intelligent people become slaves to their own intelligence..hence u see can see some uni professors lost in their own worlds... So is there really some kind of underlying equality? Is that even
thei right question to ask? Perhaps there should be more people with much more powerful minds to assist others with discovering self-awareness for themeselves so that they can find their place that others can't occupy
nearly as well and be 'equal'.

Don't take supplement pills eat oily fish twice a week instead- I think it works better that way. There's other food that should work too- you should google it- I can't be botherd. People who are clever often have lower brain waves- which is why they don't need to put in so much effort into stuff. Listen to Mozart and classical music. Also, if it's slow, it can also help to slow down your brain waves... I think... You could try meditating, that's meant to do it too. Also, I wouldn't agree with the slave to their own intelligence stuff- there are intelligent people who aren't- it probably just depends on the person, maybe it's just university proffessers.

 

[Rocket_guy]

thanks for all your replies.

I take fish oil pills everyday. I do not know if they are making a difference yet. I have read that they can possibly have vaso-dilation effects, more blood supply to brain, and can help with stress relief by affecting dopamine levels. I can't say I'm that much calmer. Because they are no apparent side effects I have read about, I continue to take them and believe they will be helpful...most ppl really in the end understand so much and just believe even if they can claim to understand...

anyway besides that I have just come to accept that I have work twice as hard as others to keep at the same level.

I think its completely unfair that some people through their brains are given
more hope. They put in less effort for same rewards. Then you think about
some of those people in prison and you think wait, many of them might not
deserve what they are getting... because they don't really understand as well... And there's all this talk about equality...it seems a bit disillusioning.

But I have read that some intelligent people become slaves to their own intelligence..hence u see can see some uni professors lost in their own worlds... So is there really some kind of underlying equality? Is that even
thei right question to ask? Perhaps there should be more people with much more powerful minds to assist others with discovering self-awareness for themeselves so that they can find their place that others can't occupy
nearly as well and be 'equal'.

Everyone isn't gifted a fantastic brain! The brain develops rapidly throughout ur childhood and slowly after ur teenage years. So as you grow older, ur belief or way of thinking "solidifies" and and ur brain becomes more or less responsive depending how it was treated during its "major" development days. But everyone isn't gifted to work-hard either.
Look on what u have got best, and how you can use it. I completely agree with "VERTY" as he talked about the three things. It needs a tremendous effort, lots of consistent hard-work, and enough motivation to keep oneself going( I would rather call it a 'dream' .. that one may want to fulfil .. ofcourse Bruce and Michael .. both had it!). Its not easy .. else we would have lots of "Alberts and Newtons". Its neither impossible as well!
I believe , more than those pills, meditation can help you. There are certain exercises that can help you grow ur concentration to some good level.
Ur performance will definitely and obviously depend on how much u try to push ur brain .. but don't develop a tumor ... LOL !

 

[Bbabel]

Reset,

Input,

A focus should be put on what you are trying to teach yourself. Through experience, ego and with it a self image of superiority is always a conflict. Intelligence, instinct, Intuition, who has the greater, not I. General categorization is necessary for a foundational structure to hold onto when your learning.

Why don't we have enough Einsteins,Newton's, why should we, can we,dont we already...

It's the limitation on what the field of understanding provides.

Are they just opportunists? Or something else?
Gatekeepers, providers to what we can't see ourselves, and so we use their discoveries to help us go through a higher elevation of discovery. Whatever that can mean to you.

Break, tweak, I've found out (and maybe not) that my only limiltation was my acceptance to believe in something that I completely didn't understand. But I accepted my limitation's and I went from there.

 

[Rocket_guy]

Reset,

Input,

A focus should be put on what you are trying to teach yourself. Through experience, ego and with it a self image of superiority is always a conflict. Intelligence, instinct, Intuition, who has the greater, not I. General categorization is necessary for a foundational structure to hold onto when your learning.

Why don't we have enough Einsteins,Newton's, why should we, can we,dont we already...

It's the limitation on what the field of understanding provides.

Are they just opportunists? Or something else?
Gatekeepers, providers to what we can't see ourselves, and so we use their discoveries to help us go through a higher elevation of discovery. Whatever that can mean to you.

Break, tweak, I've found out (and maybe not) that my only limiltation was my acceptance to believe in something that I completely didn't understand. But I accepted my limitation's and I went from there.

Limitations exist only in the mind. Its a matter of fact rather than philosophy.
And the reason we don't have enough Einsteins and Newtons is becoz we believe in what Einstein and Newton said or proved. In my entire school days I was always figuring "why" for every phenomenon which most of the times made me embarassed. Why should I believe in what Einstein said until I study the whole thing myself? I asked my teacher once .. "How can u be so sure that Einstein was absolutely right?" and I was clown of the class!
Well .. as far as I reckon, its most probably the "limitations" we set ourselves in our minds .. or most probably set by our teachers in our minds .. which puts our belief in these "masterminds" such as Issac Newton or Rutherford. How could it had been proven that Earth was'nt flat if everyone was to believe in the "mastermind" who first proved that Earth was flat? Or how could have we known that sun was the sentre of the solar system rather than Earth .. if someone didnt stood up and said" How can I believe this guy that Earth is centre of solar system?"
Moreover we always consider these masterminds as somethings with an exceptional brain .. but the reality is all of them had the tendency to unbelieve everything till they did it themselves!

~~thanx~~

 

[leon1127]

There is a saying in chinese. It says that when you have companies, there must be a teacher.
If your colleaque don't think at all but still remain in the same position for many years, then there must be soemthing you should learn about, i.e how to slack off and get paid to mess around.
There is only one thing I am proud of myself and it is speed. There are few reasons that build my speed. First, I grew up in a very fast city. People will push you away if you don't walk fast enough. McDonald over there prices employee who serve the most customers during rush hour. Moreover, there were maths exams in primary school with emphasis on speed (i.e 200 intermediate arithmatic problem in 60 mins). In order to survive, you need to keep up with everyone. Secondly, I have beem working in a fast restaurant (not fast food, but actually doing things fast!) for years, if you are too slow you will slow down the business. At last, I am fast because I KNOW WHAT I CAN DO AND NEED TO DO. Knowing your ability, knowledge, and physical condition is very important to place yourself in front of everyone.
Afterall, I think your speed does not depends heavily on what you study, but it depends on how you live. If you have a chance, try to work in Tokyo, Hong Kong, NY, London, etc. If you survive, you must improve.

 

[FUNKER]

Hi. Ok. I might have some unique advice here. Let me say, in high school, I was proudly the most drugged, f'ed up kid around, and I would have done anything to prove I was stupider than thou.

Why did I say that? Besides it being true, I'm now considered a top student at an excellent U. in math.

When I was in the military, I decided to read philosophy, b/c it was assecible. Now, reading philo won't make you any smarter. IMO we have entire dept. of people who believe this with no promise at all.

Here's what I have learned. There are 3 things. And they apply to all of life too. They're like the fire triangle, if you're missing one, no fire, period. And they're going to sound at first like I took them out of a boot camp quote book.

Discipline, Honesty, and Courage.

Now here's the twist. You don't have to be any of these things for anyone else, except you! Let's start w/ Honesty.

Math is the perfect place for this endeavor too! Let's say, you're reading a proof out of Calculus on Manifolds by Spivak. Ok. There's a really high probability that within the first 10 pages you'll hit a proof you just don't understand all the way. You'll probably understand 75%, enough to get by, and MOST leave it that way.

Here's where the honesty happens. Now you have to be totally honest when you see this happen, and say, "gee I don't get this or that." If you are too afraid to recognize where you're ignorant, then you're doomed. Not admitting you don't know something is a great source of agony for humans. Just look at history.

Step 2, Courage. Yeah, it's going to take balls to open up Hubbard's book, and read through 20 pages so you can understand 1 line. Not in the sense that's a demon, but in the sense you know it's going to hurt and be a mental work out to wade through and learn the extra things to get that information. Not to mention, it's going to take 2 hours for 1 line, and instead you could almost done be BSing your homework by the end of it.

Not too mention also, you might need courage in the first place to recognize that you're ignoring the spots you don't understand.

Step 3, this is where I shine, and where most people fail. I'm no genius. And when I say I can work you to the ground with a 15 hr day everyday, I freaking mean it. And I have a military record that shines, medals, and 100 people who know me to tell you I will. Both physically and mentally. Odds are you'll get it quicker than me, but odds are you'll go home 6 hours before me too, and you'll probably be chatting away while I'm studying.

Discipline. It's what I was totally missing in high school, not to mention the other 2. But it's what I have now. The above paragraph wasn't a brag, it was a clue! There are many sources of discipline, but if you're not proud of what you do, then odds are you doomed from the start.

It's nice to say, "I love (enter this hard science)" But to do it, intensely, the way the greats have, well, that's to be somewhat of a soldier about it. That is, you rise early, you're focused, dedicated, and freaking proud to be doing it, from 7 am till 7pm, all 7 days. Because about 2 hours into any day you're going to be tired. And then, if you're not disciplined, you're going to become BS like most people, and lie to yourself and others that you're doing something. When in reality, it's just smoke.

Recap. Honesty to self. Courage to be honest. And the discipline to REALLY DO something about it. (and not cancel out being honest)

Sorry to sound like a militant, I'm not. But when it comes to myself, I take a lot of pride in working really really hard to understand. I don't care about others either. So I somewhat disagree that you need to be around "smarter people". That's only true if you're outwardly competetive. I'm inwardly, and I don't give a damn who knows it, who cares or doesn't. I do this to know, and you should too. Besides, if you're outwardly competitve, then once you've outsmarted everyone you're done, and what good is that, other than to be the king bull****ter!

So I say, stop looking at others, and take a look at yourself, and see what you can do for yourself. To hell with those smarter than you. They're focused on what they need to learn. Like you should be.

Cheers.

All I can say to that eye opener is HUA

 

[mikedisney]

Hi

Hi,

I'm very much impressed with your message and also agree with it.

Please advice me on some issues which i face even now.

I'm a damm dull guy right from school.At school,I never used to understand what the teachers were teaching.I tried to concentrate but gave up because i don't understand the subject let it be science,maths or social.It coninued all through my schooling (i mean 10 th standard).At eleventh standard i started to work kind of hard to understand my subjects where i faired average scores.while doing my engg i worked hard but its was kind of mugging up concepts because i felt i did not have time to really understand them.I finally passed engg with gardes much better than 10th and 12 th standard but i would say i was dull.Now after a gap of 6 yrs I'm doing my masters in Che Eng and its very difficult for me to think well and do problems.Other students can easily think and come up with ideas but i dont.It takes me 1hrs to understand a kind of tough problem whereas other can understand the problem statement in 15 to 20mins.Why this difference?

Can i improve on my concepts at this age .Is it too late.How many hrs do i need to spend to become atleast an average student.How can i study for long hrs.I get irritated even if i study for few hrs.How can make myself study for long hrs ,which in theory i prefer to do.Please advice me.

regards
Mike

Hi. Ok. I might have some unique advice here. Let me say, in high school, I was proudly the most drugged, f'ed up kid around, and I would have done anything to prove I was stupider than thou.

Why did I say that? Besides it being true, I'm now considered a top student at an excellent U. in math.

When I was in the military, I decided to read philosophy, b/c it was assecible. Now, reading philo won't make you any smarter. IMO we have entire dept. of people who believe this with no promise at all.

Here's what I have learned. There are 3 things. And they apply to all of life too. They're like the fire triangle, if you're missing one, no fire, period. And they're going to sound at first like I took them out of a boot camp quote book.

Discipline, Honesty, and Courage.

Now here's the twist. You don't have to be any of these things for anyone else, except you! Let's start w/ Honesty.

Math is the perfect place for this endeavor too! Let's say, you're reading a proof out of Calculus on Manifolds by Spivak. Ok. There's a really high probability that within the first 10 pages you'll hit a proof you just don't understand all the way. You'll probably understand 75%, enough to get by, and MOST leave it that way.

Here's where the honesty happens. Now you have to be totally honest when you see this happen, and say, "gee I don't get this or that." If you are too afraid to recognize where you're ignorant, then you're doomed. Not admitting you don't know something is a great source of agony for humans. Just look at history.

Step 2, Courage. Yeah, it's going to take balls to open up Hubbard's book, and read through 20 pages so you can understand 1 line. Not in the sense that's a demon, but in the sense you know it's going to hurt and be a mental work out to wade through and learn the extra things to get that information. Not to mention, it's going to take 2 hours for 1 line, and instead you could almost done be BSing your homework by the end of it.

Not too mention also, you might need courage in the first place to recognize that you're ignoring the spots you don't understand.

Step 3, this is where I shine, and where most people fail. I'm no genius. And when I say I can work you to the ground with a 15 hr day everyday, I freaking mean it. And I have a military record that shines, medals, and 100 people who know me to tell you I will. Both physically and mentally. Odds are you'll get it quicker than me, but odds are you'll go home 6 hours before me too, and you'll probably be chatting away while I'm studying.

Discipline. It's what I was totally missing in high school, not to mention the other 2. But it's what I have now. The above paragraph wasn't a brag, it was a clue! There are many sources of discipline, but if you're not proud of what you do, then odds are you doomed from the start.

It's nice to say, "I love (enter this hard science)" But to do it, intensely, the way the greats have, well, that's to be somewhat of a soldier about it. That is, you rise early, you're focused, dedicated, and freaking proud to be doing it, from 7 am till 7pm, all 7 days. Because about 2 hours into any day you're going to be tired. And then, if you're not disciplined, you're going to become BS like most people, and lie to yourself and others that you're doing something. When in reality, it's just smoke.

Recap. Honesty to self. Courage to be honest. And the discipline to REALLY DO something about it. (and not cancel out being honest)

Sorry to sound like a militant, I'm not. But when it comes to myself, I take a lot of pride in working really really hard to understand. I don't care about others either. So I somewhat disagree that you need to be around "smarter people". That's only true if you're outwardly competetive. I'm inwardly, and I don't give a damn who knows it, who cares or doesn't. I do this to know, and you should too. Besides, if you're outwardly competitve, then once you've outsmarted everyone you're done, and what good is that, other than to be the king bull****ter!

So I say, stop looking at others, and take a look at yourself, and see what you can do for yourself. To hell with those smarter than you. They're focused on what they need to learn. Like you should be.

Cheers.

 

[math_owen]

reply to Mike

Let me pass on a few memories of my own to you.

1) I never saw the equation y = mx + b and understood it until I was 24 yrs old. I'm not kidding you. I was excused in high school for a "special" work program. I went and worked in a factory for the first few hours of the day for 10th, 11th, and 12th grade. I'm lucky I still don't work there. I believe I'm the only one in that special program who has gone to college.

2) When I got to college out of the military I told them I wanted to major in math. The advisor almost laughed in my face I sensed. She told me, she couldn't then put me in any lower of a class than college algebra. Which kicked the crap out of me harder than my old Judo sensei in Japan did. Then after that class I got my butt kicked by pre-calculus. And all that before my 2nd yr when I finally saw calculus at 25 yrs old.

3) That first yr, honestly, I couldn't study more than 5 to 10 minutes at a time for math or chemsitry. Honestly. Now, everyday I do run little math marathons. The point is you have to start some where. And you have to be willing to push further. And you have to want to push further.

So now I'll add a note. Obviously, in the military it's all too easy to workout. Let me give you another memory. I started to workout at 21 yrs old. I was 135 pounds soaking wet. I had spent almost 10 yrs on some of the hardest drugs known. I'm about 210 now.

Here's my point. Look at studying and learning like working out. They're completely isomorphic. Honestly, they're the same thing. That brain has to be trained and feed like any of your muscles.

Here's where people go wrong. 1) They fail to realize everyone starts somewhere humble. 2) They fail to do their research and apply what they learn about "learning" to themselves. 3) They give up quickly.

Now, giving up quickly... well... If you do, the hardest question you can ask yourself is "why?" Odds are, you're afraid, or it hurts, or the worst feeling one is, "maybe you're bull****ting yourself, and you're doing the wrong thing." There could be others of course.

Something I keep really close to me, is Einstein's quote "What one fool can do another can do." I keep that very close to my heart. Here are a couple of others I believe, Confuscious, "Find a job you love, and never work another day in your life." And I don't know who, "Genius is 99% hard work, 1% inspiration."

Here's another one to think on. Even those of us with running 3.9 gpas don't know it all. The other day, in class, I got my homework back in "Calculus on Manifolds" and I was told to come see the Prof after class because it was so bad. That hurt, but whatever, chalk it up, move on. I spent 10 hrs plus this weekend redoing my old homework. I'll hand it in with the new one this Thursday.

Someone posted above about the brain's plasticity. Yes, as a kid, obviously, you're brain will adapt and learn quicker. It's really simple. You don't have the social / fear / knowledge structure to inhibit your curiousity.

Now, as an adult. I do believe you can learn radically new things and change. But you have to want to. And while you can teach yourself to "want to". That's going to take time, like years or decades.

What you should ask, "Is what do I REALLY want?" That's a really tough question. It's much easier to prove the chain rule for manifolds, than to truly answer that one.

Here's another idea, not saying you are, but there could be other motives too. Like, fear of rejection, money, lust, the darker sides of humanity. Unfortunately, I think these only exist b/c of the past social structures of humanity, but they exist either way. Maybe what's inhibiting you is something else in life is my point.

Getting irritated at studying might be a sign that it's not for you. But if it's just a frustration of the effort take a 20 minute break and come back.

And lastly, a solid starting point. Next time you study, clock yourself. How long from start to frustration. Write it down. Next time, intentionally study for that long, take a 15 min break, and come back for 1 half hour. And stop. After that leave, do something fun for the next few hours.

You can't possibly squat what Ronnie Colleman can if you look like and are built like a stick figure. TTT, things take time. And really, stop thinking about what others can do, it's pointless and holds you back. Focus on yourself.

Finally, be humble and work hard my friend.

 

[Rocket_guy]

Mikedisney.. There's no age for lerning. Its all about if u really want to?

When u stand in ur class,aside,feeling that everyone is riding the best breed horses on the path to knowledge while you are still stuck with ur mule brain, its probably the frustration that doesn't let you study.
I have went through the same situation in my college as well. In past I have got , at many points, a choice to make .. where I could have crammed up the whole thing in my engineering classes and passed the exams or to stick with "understanding" the concepts. Believe me for instance .. if u just go over the algorithms of mathematical problems .. say Calculus .. u can find many books that simply present the "algorithm" to solve a certain type of problem. Now you can mugup that algorithm and can do ur homework in less than an hour with a sure A grade but it will take you longer than a week if u try to understand what calculus is all about, why was it made? who made it? for what purpose was it made and what inspired these men to make such a thing? How does it work and why it works only this way ... there are plenty of questions, which I bet, your most professors won't have ever thought of and neither ur coulleagues are going to think of it in their lives!


But I am glad for the way I am .. I am not a top scrorer to advice you but can tell u something from my experience. The only solution to ur problem, as far as I know, is "Back to basics!" .. those guys can figure out solutions becoz they know the basics .. even though crammed up .. they know it! Once ur basics are strong .. work up the ladder. Give urself time to put urself at it. Dont ever be moved by emotions of anger or frustations and u need to keep ur spirits up! Getting frustated is a vicious circle ... u get frustated and u won't study .. this will yield poor outcomes and more frustation .. thus this goes on adding exponentially till it destroys u completely! Try to be happy and there's nothing u can't do becoz u are old!

Hey Owen

"Genius is 99% hard work, 1% inspiration."

It was Thomas Elva Edison who said it .. as far as I know, yes! real words look even better so I would like to add them .. "Genius is 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration."

I find myself at a stage wen I have figured myself out properly and have got appropirate resultz but I find I have a lot more to improve at. I can study for one hour ( yes .. that's all! max I ever recorded was 1 and a half! .. though I can bring some serious output in this time .. ) and I always find me cursing my inability to work hard! I really feel that I lack the ability to work hard!

and Edison's quote seems reversed on me .. am all 99% inspiration and 1% hardwork .. sometimes I feel am all smoke .. though I might have the abilities 2 do gud but itz all worthless until I push myself up .. wateva the reasons are .. either being lazy or mis management of time or whatever Holy **** .. I can't figure it out! Can anyone tell me,is there any way so that I could devote meself more into my studies? maybe am all low on batteries over here!
I really need some serious advice ...

 

[verty]

Well as my Learning thread indicates, I think that learning itself has been neglected, at least in my educational history. Of course it is easy to say that one should work smarter sooner than harder, but that is devoid of content unless you think about it.

How should one come to know how to work smarter? Do you need to be smart to work smartly? I don't think so; I think most of us have bad learning habits and I don't mean that good habits are habits that work but that good habits are habits that we have developed mindfully. By developing our learning habits first, we can then go on to learn much better.

An example is from the game Morrowind where paying to be trained is very expensive. However there is a skill called Mercantilism which reduces all the prices one must pay, and as one trains Mercantilism it reduces the price one must pay to train Mercantilism further. It also makes it slightly easier to earn the money to pay for more Mercantilism.

It turns out that to train Mercantilism fully and then to train another skill fully costs less than to train that other skill without Mercantilism, and of course the money is more easily earned the other way.

I think the same is true of learning, because as one learns to learn, one is more able to learn how to learn. It should snowball and have the result that one can learn anything thereafter much more easily.

 

[FUNKER]

Well as my Learning thread indicates, I think that learning itself has been neglected, at least in my educational history. Of course it is easy to say that one should work smarter sooner than harder, but that is devoid of content unless you think about it.

How should one come to know how to work smarter? Do you need to be smart to work smartly? I don't think so; I think most of us have bad learning habits and I don't mean that good habits are habits that work but that good habits are habits that we have developed mindfully. By developing our learning habits first, we can then go on to learn much better.

An example is from the game Morrowind where paying to be trained is very expensive. However there is a skill called Mercantilism which reduces all the prices one must pay, and as one trains Mercantilism it reduces the price one must pay to train Mercantilism further. It also makes it slightly easier to earn the money to pay for more Mercantilism.

It turns out that to train Mercantilism fully and then to train another skill fully costs less than to train that other skill without Mercantilism, and of course the money is more easily earned the other way.

I think the same is true of learning, because as one learns to learn, one is more able to learn how to learn. It should snowball and have the result that one can learn anything thereafter much more easily.

odd Analogy but yes I see what you mean

 

[mikedisney]

Thank you

Hi Owen

Thank you for taking some time in advicing me.It helps.

regards
mike

Let me pass on a few memories of my own to you.

1) I never saw the equation y = mx + b and understood it until I was 24 yrs old. I'm not kidding you. I was excused in high school for a "special" work program. I went and worked in a factory for the first few hours of the day for 10th, 11th, and 12th grade. I'm lucky I still don't work there. I believe I'm the only one in that special program who has gone to college.

2) When I got to college out of the military I told them I wanted to major in math. The advisor almost laughed in my face I sensed. She told me, she couldn't then put me in any lower of a class than college algebra. Which kicked the crap out of me harder than my old Judo sensei in Japan did. Then after that class I got my butt kicked by pre-calculus. And all that before my 2nd yr when I finally saw calculus at 25 yrs old.

3) That first yr, honestly, I couldn't study more than 5 to 10 minutes at a time for math or chemsitry. Honestly. Now, everyday I do run little math marathons. The point is you have to start some where. And you have to be willing to push further. And you have to want to push further.

So now I'll add a note. Obviously, in the military it's all too easy to workout. Let me give you another memory. I started to workout at 21 yrs old. I was 135 pounds soaking wet. I had spent almost 10 yrs on some of the hardest drugs known. I'm about 210 now.

Here's my point. Look at studying and learning like working out. They're completely isomorphic. Honestly, they're the same thing. That brain has to be trained and feed like any of your muscles.

Here's where people go wrong. 1) They fail to realize everyone starts somewhere humble. 2) They fail to do their research and apply what they learn about "learning" to themselves. 3) They give up quickly.

Now, giving up quickly... well... If you do, the hardest question you can ask yourself is "why?" Odds are, you're afraid, or it hurts, or the worst feeling one is, "maybe you're bull****ting yourself, and you're doing the wrong thing." There could be others of course.

Something I keep really close to me, is Einstein's quote "What one fool can do another can do." I keep that very close to my heart. Here are a couple of others I believe, Confuscious, "Find a job you love, and never work another day in your life." And I don't know who, "Genius is 99% hard work, 1% inspiration."

Here's another one to think on. Even those of us with running 3.9 gpas don't know it all. The other day, in class, I got my homework back in "Calculus on Manifolds" and I was told to come see the Prof after class because it was so bad. That hurt, but whatever, chalk it up, move on. I spent 10 hrs plus this weekend redoing my old homework. I'll hand it in with the new one this Thursday.

Someone posted above about the brain's plasticity. Yes, as a kid, obviously, you're brain will adapt and learn quicker. It's really simple. You don't have the social / fear / knowledge structure to inhibit your curiousity.

Now, as an adult. I do believe you can learn radically new things and change. But you have to want to. And while you can teach yourself to "want to". That's going to take time, like years or decades.

What you should ask, "Is what do I REALLY want?" That's a really tough question. It's much easier to prove the chain rule for manifolds, than to truly answer that one.

Here's another idea, not saying you are, but there could be other motives too. Like, fear of rejection, money, lust, the darker sides of humanity. Unfortunately, I think these only exist b/c of the past social structures of humanity, but they exist either way. Maybe what's inhibiting you is something else in life is my point.

Getting irritated at studying might be a sign that it's not for you. But if it's just a frustration of the effort take a 20 minute break and come back.

And lastly, a solid starting point. Next time you study, clock yourself. How long from start to frustration. Write it down. Next time, intentionally study for that long, take a 15 min break, and come back for 1 half hour. And stop. After that leave, do something fun for the next few hours.

You can't possibly squat what Ronnie Colleman can if you look like and are built like a stick figure. TTT, things take time. And really, stop thinking about what others can do, it's pointless and holds you back. Focus on yourself.

Finally, be humble and work hard my friend.

 

[mikedisney]

Time has to be conserved

Hi,

Your right ! I never taken time to learn my basics well.I have read all my
concepts just for the sake of exams and passing in it.But never was i enthusiastic to learn the "real" thing of a subject.Now i suffer.If i would have put some effort in early days it would have been of much use to me now.It would really take me long time now to start with it.If at all it has to be done then i should do it.There are no shortcuts to it too."Time has to be conserved".

Mikedisney.. There's no age for lerning. Its all about if u really want to?

When u stand in ur class,aside,feeling that everyone is riding the best breed horses on the path to knowledge while you are still stuck with ur mule brain, its probably the frustration that doesn't let you study.
I have went through the same situation in my college as well. In past I have got , at many points, a choice to make .. where I could have crammed up the whole thing in my engineering classes and passed the exams or to stick with "understanding" the concepts. Believe me for instance .. if u just go over the algorithms of mathematical problems .. say Calculus .. u can find many books that simply present the "algorithm" to solve a certain type of problem. Now you can mugup that algorithm and can do ur homework in less than an hour with a sure A grade but it will take you longer than a week if u try to understand what calculus is all about, why was it made? who made it? for what purpose was it made and what inspired these men to make such a thing? How does it work and why it works only this way ... there are plenty of questions, which I bet, your most professors won't have ever thought of and neither ur coulleagues are going to think of it in their lives!


But I am glad for the way I am .. I am not a top scrorer to advice you but can tell u something from my experience. The only solution to ur problem, as far as I know, is "Back to basics!" .. those guys can figure out solutions becoz they know the basics .. even though crammed up .. they know it! Once ur basics are strong .. work up the ladder. Give urself time to put urself at it. Dont ever be moved by emotions of anger or frustations and u need to keep ur spirits up! Getting frustated is a vicious circle ... u get frustated and u won't study .. this will yield poor outcomes and more frustation .. thus this goes on adding exponentially till it destroys u completely! Try to be happy and there's nothing u can't do becoz u are old!

Hey Owen

It was Thomas Elva Edison who said it .. as far as I know, yes! real words look even better so I would like to add them .. "Genius is 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration."

I find myself at a stage wen I have figured myself out properly and have got appropirate resultz but I find I have a lot more to improve at. I can study for one hour ( yes .. that's all! max I ever recorded was 1 and a half! .. though I can bring some serious output in this time .. ) and I always find me cursing my inability to work hard! I really feel that I lack the ability to work hard!

and Edison's quote seems reversed on me .. am all 99% inspiration and 1% hardwork .. sometimes I feel am all smoke .. though I might have the abilities 2 do gud but itz all worthless until I push myself up .. wateva the reasons are .. either being lazy or mis management of time or whatever Holy **** .. I can't figure it out! Can anyone tell me,is there any way so that I could devote meself more into my studies? maybe am all low on batteries over here!
I really need some serious advice ...

 

[CuriousArv]

Ok, to understand a simple linear equation at the age of 24 and then to go on to understand manifolds is amazing. You have mastered the art of learning to learn I suppose. Do you have time for life? Are you isolated? do you care?
anyway hats off for your effort..your almost superhuman in that regard.

one of the things I find difficult in an environment of intellgient people which I am surrounded by is that I don't follow their conversations. Its incredibely frustrating. I know I'm making the best effort and but they just seem to get irritated because I just don't follow it fast. Only after they go away and I deconstruct it do I understand and then its too late, they've made their impression of me and i have to continue to work among them! you lose credibility and are a nuiscance. Is there a way of learning to adopt to the same speed of thought verty? I can see a threefold approach so far
1. understand the technical terminology
2. study logic or something abstract and apply it to 1
3. practise 2 until you really fast (which will probably take a long...time)

and start applying to every conservation, every analysis, everything.

Is this the only way?

Can someone recommend some learning to learn books? Are there learning to learn courses in universities? can someone point this to me.

improvehuman.com has served somewhat valuable so far.

 

[CuriousArv]

there is also this idea of cognitive and social bias. Everyone is victim to this regardless of whatever intelligence. I figure traveling and understanding different points of view is the only way to really understand how biased you are and how biased and silly the world is. I have met some highly intelligent people here who are really strange in their opinions...I'm not quite sure if this is becaus of bias or just my lack of understanding of their logic. Sometimes they are obviously wrong and it makes you wonder..with their intellect, why don't they see such a simple thing..but I'm not sure if that's my bias talking.

Anyway as part of learning to learn..there should probably be an emphasis of the effect of bias in making judgements. People should be taught to identify bias. Yeah everyone kind of gets the gist of it but if they were taught the ability of how to objectively assess their own biased condition, it might help overcome impediements to learning and prejudices. I hope this is not a stupid point.

 

[verty]

I don't think it's a stupid point. To me, one must overcome personal bias and the bias of the speaker. In reading a book, we should try to ascertain the author's language, their purpose and their bias. Then we can decipher what they are saying and get to the evidence as they saw it.

Then if we are attentive, we will see that we react to some of what is said, like we will laugh at something or consider it ridiculous or whatever. We must overcome these initial reactions and see the decoded evidence with our thinking caps on.

Then of course we must learn to think in the correct way, which is not as easy as it sounds. Then we should also be aware of environmental concerns, like what qualities of environment are conducive to learning, and especially what qualities of ourselves are conducive to learning. We might find that we don't learn well if tired; then we should avoid being tired, etc. Some of those 'blocks' will be mutable and some will be immutable. Perhaps a change in attitude works in some situations but perhaps in other avoidance is required. One's mind is not a tabula rasa; not everything is mutable.

To learn these things, I think one should try to formalize a method for learning and then use it to learn about learning. As you learn more, incorporate it into your method. If you learn how to decipher what the author is saying, then you will be ready to read those psychological volumes which use quite difficult language about models and what-not.

Anyway, I think one must follow a methodical process to discover a method of learning.

 

[CuriousArv]

I wanted to ask math_owen this.

When I visited improvehuman.com it states this:

"Onward
My studies into this subject have so far sated my belief that improvements in intelligence are indeed possible. Yet I know some people would still argue against this fact. It is possible that they are right.

I would hate to be claiming that certain exercises would improve intelligence if they were actually a waste of your time. But even if the counterargument is somehow proved to be correct, the exercises on this site will have given you great benefits and advantages anyway. You will be able to solve problems easier, think clearer, concentrate more effectively and remember things for longer. You will know this because you will see it happening. If this is shown to be something other than intelligence then so be it; I don’t think it will really matter. "

Do you think you have experienced something akin to this as a result of effort. can you make a claim that you are more intelligent?
Are you able to solve real world problems aside from the ones you encounter in math with greater ease and speed?

 

[f(x)]

Why do people want be so intelligent? A Slower man spends more time over a situation than a more intelligent person...he has better chances of scientific success and deeper reasoning. The thing that makes the difference is - Curiosity

Although for the corporate world the case may be totally opposite...It al depends on your priorities

 

[CuriousArv]

I agree with the point about priorities.

I like research but I became and still am a little confused about this choie. I am concerned because a lot of people in the place I do research atleast are fast and so I feel like a burden despite trying much harder now. So it is difficult to form relationships and work together in teams. So that is why I want to see if it is possible to become more intelligent because i can do my reasoning with more speed and be able to then not become isolated while working. If people like math owen can say that yes it has helped them become faster, then it gives me some hope that I might be better off staying here despite the relative isolation... I know ultimately research and isolation are almost synonomyous but it helps when you discuss things with colleagues without them really not caring to help you because they think you don't know what you are doing.

 

[complexPHILOSOPHY]

Curious,

If the people you want to talk to know more than you, grab some books, papers and essays related to the subjects you want to discuss and read them. A year ago, I, like math owen, didn't know what the equation y=mx+b was, what a nebula was, quantum mechanics, how to factor a polynomial, what GTR meant, philosophy, etc. and I wasn't able to follow a lot of conversations on physicsforums or other intelligent forums. I felt really lost and it felt really awkward.

So, I started teaching myself math, reading books, papers and essays on physics, maths and philosophy and now I am able to engage people in conversation about these subjects and offer constructive perspectives. Just read through things you don't understand slowly and talk yourself through them. One thing that I have noticed about me in the past year, is I do talk to myself a lot more. Not in a crazy way. I just reason things out faster and more logically consistent, if I do it in my head and talk myself through it.

It sounds silly to talk yourself through things you know and to explain to yourself for the 1000000th time why FOIL works, but that's how I learn stuff. I am no more intelligent than you and I suspect Math Owen is of equal intelligence as well.

I think everyone learns using their own subjective methods and that some people might discover their own methods sooner than others. I barely passed high school man, I was a retard.

What subjects are these kids discussing that you can't keep up? You seem like you have no problems on here, my friend. Maybe you are worrying to much?

They might just be douchebags. Whenever I start a new course, the kids look at me like I am just some dumb stoner and give me weird looks. Then the course begins and it becomes apparent who the real retards are.They might just think they are too good for you, for no reason and maybe you are thinking too deeply about it?

EDIT: Also, there are a lot of really intelligent people that can't express themselves very well verbally. I have talked with some people who I know for a fact are much brighter than I but you wouldn't know it from simple conversation.

You seem to have no problems expressing yourself intelligently, through writing, perhaps there is a social anxiety which prohibits you from thinking clearly during converastion?

 

[CuriousArv]

I think I'm trying a bit too hard at this.. Whatever has been said so far should be enough good advice. cheers.

 

[verty]

Don't try harder, try smarter.