Intelligence - Use It Or Lose It

 You Might Be Smart Now

But that doesn't mean you'll stay that way.

Okay, so chances are, you won't experience a "Flowers For Algernon" style fluctuation or decline, but that doesn't mean the brain you have won't change for the worse.

You might be the smartest person on the planet, but without constant mental stimulation, you certainly may not stay perched on that throne.

The brain changes according to use, so resting on one's laurels simply won't keep one at the top of their game.

Flex Your Mental Muscle

Back in the piece I wrote on getting smarter and increasing your intelligence, I touch on the subject of neuroplasticity.

The basic premise is that the brain adapts to use. If you learn something, the brain wires itself to use that information in a certain way, if you use that information often, the brain further wires itself to use that information more efficiently, relative to other stored data.

If you learn, you get smarter, if you stop using your mind as effectively, it stops working effectively.

Your Intelligence Can Slip

For every action, there's an equal and opposite reaction. You may have learned Newton's law of motion in science class as a child and while it's more of a metaphor in this case than a direct description, it serves a purpose.

Your mind atrophies when not in use and hypertrophies when in the glorious, full force of constant usage.

In a way, it's beautiful how it reflects the way your muscles in your body work. I could go as far as to apply it to many things as a universal constant, like relationships and work, but for now, I merely want to show how important it is to recognize the undulating state of the human brain.

What Can Be Done?

USE IT

Find ways in which to stimulate your mind that you enjoy. Make cerebral pursuits part of your downtime.

Centering more of your life around erudite living will undoubtedly help. Each step you take is a small restructuring of your neural pathways that will increase your intelligence, just as each four-hour block of television does the opposite.

The Percipient Awakes

Over a period of time in which the accumulation of knowledge takes place, a person may experience a kind of enlightened apperception. Learning may become easier, in fact, everything intellectual may become simpler to perceive.

Sometimes it can be like a perspicacious genesis.



The Mind Wire - Is This For Real?

It's amazing how the brain wires itself more effectively to match our activities and learning.  What's perhaps more interesting is how a wired mind may behave differently to one that has different input parameters.


Action Reaction  - Intelligence Explosion

So, what happens when we deliberately are cognizant of the way our minds work and our actions pertaining to thusly?  Can we in some small way, actively seek to wire our brains with our own actions, with a result in mind?

Yes.

To a degree, habitual behavior begets neural pathway programming that matches said habit.  When this occurs, most people's behavior changes.

Now the interesting part...


What Happens Next?

Does the newly patterned mind, control your behavior and if so, is the result unexpected, or predictable, also in addition to these questions, if you plan your newly wired mind, will other choices, tastes, and personal preferences now be adversely affected?


How much autonomy do we really have?


If Doing Things Changes Your Brain, Are You Still YOU?

That's a heavy question.

If I learn a whole of new skills and that changes the wiring of my brain, does that, in turn, mean that my outlook on life changes too?

If so, do I stay the same person?


Without heading into philosophy, who we are in the most scientific sense are our biological being and our beliefs and personality.

The reason I bring this up is, our personalities can change, therefore; doesn't that mean we change who we are consistent?

I think it must.


Who Are You Then And Who Will You Be?

If knowing that learning new things and doing new tasks, creates a different brain pattern, maybe that means we can actively change our personalities towards who we want to be.

Perhaps there is a scientific breakthrough yet to be made that can show us an exact path towards talent.  Maybe talent at sport, skills or performing is little more than a chain of events and actions one must experience and if that is the case, maybe talent will not be as revered if there is a clear formula for it.


It Boggles The Mind

Investigate Critical Thinking 

Thinking Critically

Critical thinking really is purposeful, guided thought.

Thinking critically is oftentimes known as directed thinking because it focuses on a desired final result.  It is the use of cognitive skills or strategies that enhance the likelihood of a suitable end result.


Thinking critically is having a questioning attitude and the skills to know which questions to ask.

Critical thinking can be made into a fun learning process given the right attitude and determination to really learn.

Critical thinking is a careful and strategic conviction of whether to acknowledge, reject, or suspend a verdict.  It is purposeful, directed thought.

Thinking Critically is the advancement of natural and rational thinking habits.  It can be considered as a form of reasoning.  It is letting go of past assumptions and embracing new ideas through a process of inquiring and reasoning.


Thinking Critically is a learned behavior that is underpinned by education.  Critical thinking helps the strategic leader master the challenges of the strategic environment by the formation of logical inferences.

Keeping Your Memory For As Long As Possible.

It's great to have full use of your faculties, but for just a second, lend your mind to the plight of the elderly who reach the later stages of their lives and don't have that wonderful full control that we (well, most of us) take for granted.

It's not the nicest way to finish up your life, but it's almost accepted as the way it is. I say no more!

There is a way to delay the onset of age-related memory loss - By keeping your mind sharp and active.

The End Of The Line

At some stage, we will lose some portion of our mental capacity, ability, and aptitude. It's going to happen and we stop that, but what I say no more to is accepting that we have to start losing our better minds so early.

If you see people who are 70 years of age and they still seem young it's probably because they have kept their mind and body active. It seems that the more physical you are the longer you keep the ability to walk and all the ensuing dexterity.

It also seems that keeping your mind fresh and active can lead to longer use of your mental function.

Keep It Fresh

Just like a child doesn't worry about superannuation, middle-age adults care not for their memory simply because they think they will have it forever, but the dark truth is you may only be a decade away from the start of the deterioration.

Don't let it set in.

I believe that protecting your memory and building your intelligence is one of the most productive and fun things you can do.

All you need is the thirst for knowledge and you can go about getting some really good brain teasers and stretching that mind laterally and really work that gray matter into a sharpened tool.

The Power Of The Mind

Has anyone ever thought how funny it is that our own mind can make the conscious effort to make itself stronger? That's some seriously deep and philosophical stuff if you really think about it.

The mind is so powerful and can beget so many great things that it kind of stands to reason that we should develop our mind to its full potential in order to make the most out of our brain.

They say that ignorance is the enemy of education, so imagine if everyone furthered their education? There would be so much less ignorance-based hate crimes and prejudice-based violence.

That's the world I want to live in

How About You?

New Information About The Brains Capacity

There is new research to suggest that what we thought about the brain's overall usage may be incorrect.

Some researchers are reinvestigating what was thought to be a canard that humans only use 10% of their brains.   Often the talk of parties led by people who simply didn't know better, smarter people have had the smug satisfaction of shutting these myths down... But is it a myth?

The truth is, like a lot of scientific research, when a few studies conflict it can be harder to make value deductions.

We will write more on this as better information as it becomes a little clearer and the studies are more accessible.

Keeping On Your Toes And Mentally Aware

Mental Awareness - Don't let it wane.

Too much brain dead activity can really take your mind off track and that's not a particularly good thing.  It's great to have some relaxation, but your mind needs work and action to make it sharp.


TV Won't Make You Dumb

TV is not as bad as you may think, in fact, a couple of hours watching Discovery Science will more than likely teach you some wonderful things.


IQ Is Relevant

There are a lot of things that can lead to stagnant intelligence and remember, IQs increase every decade, so stagnant intelligence is one that slips backward. Keeping cerebral and in tune with intellectual pursuits can help.


Read It

Book reading is great, video games, not so much.  Though some games help with hand-eye coordination, many simply don't stimulate the brain in enough areas to be of intellectual use, that isn't to say some of the things you solve in games aren't good for your brain.


Puzzle Time

Lumosity is a pretty good site full of puzzles and brain exercises.  The puzzle site is full of brain teasers and twisters to keep you sharp.

The problem site has some problems to solve for your intellectual growth too.

These may really help.

Old Notions Of Intelligence Challenged

Stagnant Intelligence.

For decades in the past the idea that a person's intelligence was immovable and deadlocked.  It was thought that the formation of the brain's cortical organization during formative years, were set in stone and unable to be changed.

Weak minds leave themselves open to possible fooling and higher levels of cognitive bias.


Old Notions Revisited.

This notion that your IQ will be stagnant in adulthood could be anti motivational and may well result in disesteem for anyone wanting to get smarter and increase their intelligence.

Neuroplasticity.

Neuroplasticity is the changing state of the neural wiring of the brain.  This dynamic state of the brain's cortical mapping augurs the possibility of rewiring your mind towards a more intelligent state.

What this means for you?

You can get more intelligent and raise your IQ.
That isn't to say it's a free ride to genius, no, you'd have to hunker down and work hard, but considering you may have thought doing that would not elicit further increases to the intelligence, it's nice to know that's not the case.

Hard work + Curiosity + Diligence = Intelligence.

Don't give up on cerebral pursuits.   There are some great benefits to reading and even doing a daily crossword puzzle such as preventing dementia.

To Conclude

Now you know, there are no excuses. What will you do?

Nobody wants to lose intelligence, but many take their own for granted.

As I hope I have displayed, if you don't use it, you might lose it.

Prestidigitation - Mental Sleight Of Hand

I love magic, I love the way it distracts the mind, but for me, it also speaks loud as a metaphor.

The sleight of hand that is prestidigitation, the set up of the prestige, highlights just how convinced the human brain can be of what it sees being real when in fact that reality is anything but true.

We trust our instincts, or to be more accurate, our senses.  We rely on them to guide us through the world and to help shine a light on that which would harm us, trick us or use us.

Magic circumvents this.

Your brain is wired in a way in which you almost instinctively think that you are correct in your analysis.  This cognitive bias is a throwback to when we needed that mental stead.

Now in the information age, we need to filter our biases so that we might make the correct assumptions.

It's in everyone else's best interest to convince you that their self-serving opinions are correct.  Politics, religion, it really doesn't matter, people want you to have their mindset, they want you to be part of the group they are.

This obviously creates a problem.

How can we trust the integrity of people who won't check their biases?  How do we know that what they think is best, when they in all likelihood have not run it through a critical thinking filter?

We can't.

All areas of life are open to a lack of academic rigor and that's a serious problem.  It can creep into the sciences where intelligent people can follow their bias until they find a conclusion that fits their narrative.

It happens.

No one is immune to self-delusion or the mental prestidigitation that is convincing oneself.

Do You Respect The Mind

What, do you have a problem with smart people?

The human mind is one of the things on this earth that have changed the world more than any.  The ability of person to act on a thought and change the world has for Millennia meant we see amazement in our structured lives.  Smart people have done so much for the advancement of society.


Show some repect man!

The respect for the mind is shown by the reverence we have for those in the past, the likes of Einstein, Madame Currie, Gallileo, Tesla and Socrates.

We celebrate the achievements of the great, because we are what we are today because of their successes in molding the minds of the rest of the world.  Teachers, while not paid huge some of money, are often respected for their role in the shaping of the minds of the future.

Brain Is Good Me Not Dum Dum

The amazing capabilities of your average human being to make millions of calculations everyday without really having to do a thing might even become lost in a fog of external recognitions, but if you stop and think about the level of output all centered in and from our minds in our brains, you'd be hard pressed to not be really flabberagasted.

But how would you fare, if you didn't have the brain power you already possess?

How would you go with your IQ halved?

Intelligent = Live longer

Smart people live longer.

Maybe it has something to do with better choices or more intelligent risk assessment, but the smarter you are, the more likely you are to live longer.

Did you know that low intelligence is also linked to depression as well.

Now do you respect the mind?

Cognitive Neuroscience - Winning

It's hard to believe there was a time when cognitive neuroscience was frowned upon by some intellectual snobs.

As a fully functional academic field, it has proven itself worthy time and time again, not that it had to.

Examining the fundamentals of cognition by taking a deep look at neural substrates, has let this branch of neuroscience make leaps and bounds towards a greater understanding of the brain.

As it is only around 40 years old, it is still in its infancy, yet the remarkable increases in brain mapping technology has left it at the forefront of winning science.

Now, we can study specialized regions of the brain with more specificity and fascinating results.

The Hippocampus

Whilst it sounds a lot like a frat party for African Hippopotami, it's actually an integral part of the human limbic system located in the brain.

Its primary function is used in both long and short term memory as well and spatial conception.

Both hemispheres of the human brain have a hippocampus present, shaped similar to a small hose or banana it occupies a tiny area inside the medial temporal lobe.


Kind of interesting really.


Everything for a reason eh!


Who would've thought - From a hippopotamus.

Psychophysics

Psychophysics helps us understand the relationship between the capacity of one's potential discernment relative to the sets of stimuli involved.

Modern Psychophysics works to measure how a respondent behaves in relation to the different sensory stimuli in question.

By understanding this powerful consanguinity, researchers learn more about human senses and capabilities.

The tests are quite objective as sound, touch, brightness, taste, and smell can be accurately measured.

Now to run some psychophysics on me using chocolate.


I'm quite happy to be the guinea pig in this little experiment, although, I know what the outcome is most likely to be.

Me + Chocolate = Happy

Reasoning - The three modes of inference

Fascinating is the knowledge that we learn so much every decade and re-evaluate different positions.

Logic will always be exactly that, logic.  How we reach logical conclusions depends very much on our ability to reason using the skill set we have at our disposal. Those versed well in the application of logic, critical thinking and deductive reasoning have a better likelihood of formulating a logical outcome than those absent in said skills.

A long time ago, a man named Charles. S. Peirce introduced the three modes of inference, which were in his view the cornerstones of applicable reasoning.

The first is deduction, the drawing of a conclusion by reasoning; the act of deducing.

The second is induction, which is the means to apply further knowledge to extract the most correct result, more of a supplementary and complementary inference than deduction.

The third is abduction, the process of reasoning to the best explanations maybe correct most of the time, but maybe subject to a fallacy, due to lack of input factors.


Using these three modes of inference, a conclusion can be reached that is more logical in its entirety.

No matter what, still a reasonable hypothesis and groundbreaking at the time


Brilliant stuff.