How can you boost your IQ

Post Reply New Topic

I think it's possible to become more intelligent by doing a college course, but a lot depends on the specific course and the quality of the mentoring. If the student is interested and the college is helpful, I think it can work, rather like doing mental puzzles to stave off Alzheimer's. Though in my case, I wasn't interested (I was only there because my employer made me go) and the college wasn't very helpful, so all I got was brain-cramp from attending lectures I couldn't follow. One big danger of college is that they might teach in a very Aspie-unfriendly way, and fail to make adjustments for the condition. If you end up flunking the course, you could end up with reduced "intellectual self-confidence" which would further hamper your brain from achieving its full potential, because you'll be less likely to use it.

There are lots of articles on the Web that suggest IQ isn't a fixed, absolute thing, e.g.:

https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/be ... ixed-birth

http://www.businessinsider.com/actually ... gh-2011-11

Use your brain to do more challenging intellectual tasks and you may become better at thinking regardless of your IQ score.

Where i work people with PHD degrees are regarded as "over thinkers" and likely not able to work quickly enough to make it.

Their brains likely want to fully think, and examine things, and the employer doesn't want to pay for that.

Many supervisors tell horror stories of hiring a PHD person.

So, high IQ can be a hindrance.

LOL!
Especially reality shows!

You could try Lumosity.com I tried it but I got a headache & frustrated trying to do the best I could with everything.

I just found this projection.

Tough Diamond, I don´t believe, that we can get MORE intelligent by training.
We can learn to use our capacity better. We can stimulate our brains and there are LOTS to gain, as we use very little of our capacity. Someone said, that the more we learn, the more new, we can take in. The more, you are able to learn, the higher IQ = Horsepower.
Much of it is technique. You can even buy books on how to train for the Mensa test.

Btw.
I saw an english program about a mind training, that made wonderkids out of ordinary middle-bright kids. A special teacher in an underpriviledged neighbourhood thought, "Why not use it to make slow kids normal?" - and so he did. It worked. They didn´t become geniuses, but they got into normal range.
The thing is, that the slow kids had the lousiest self esteem and the heaviest defeats in their bags. Many of them probably weren´t born slow.

I guess for me it depends on what is meant by "intelligent." There is presumably some ceiling of mental horsepower, but as you say, many of us use little of our full capacity, and we can often increase that. Motivation also plays a big part. There are some parts of the standard IQ test that I just can't be bothered to do my best at. And then there's speed, how do they decide on the relative value of response time and final result? Personally I feel I can solve most puzzles, given enough time and motivation, but the time could be immense and motivation is in my case very dependent on the Aspie thing of being either fascinated or totally bored by things.


Yes intellectual self-esteem - and general self-esteem - very likely have a big effect. Your anecdote reminds me of Tony Buzan who achieved some near-miracles in a class of apparent dummies.

???

You can appear to have a higher IQ by studying yourself and figuring out where you have natural talent--and then working on using that natural ability. But, where you have talent and what you might have interest in can be two entirely different things! You might also have to work at it to uncover your talents--you can expect to be awkward at nearly everything when you first start out. So, you also have to give it some time and effort.

To be totally honest, I'm not sure what IQ is good for.
I have a "good" IQ, but so far in my life I haven't seen any real benefits.

Well, if I remember right, that's roughly what he appeared to do in a documentary. I was typing in a hurry so my description was rather unprecise - it wasn't a class of dummies, it was 6 largely unteachable children, and I should have added the word "apparently," as the whole thing could be a hoax for all I know.
I found a few links to bits of the programme. Sadly the clips are all over the place with regard to proper continuity, and some of it is probably missing / repeated - in my view somebody should be shot for making such a mess of them, but there should be enough there to give an idea of what he seems to have been doing:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wz_2undwiqY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DboaiRmICMc
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R4t62yTCofc

It may be a parlour trick , and personally I've never been able to use "mind maps" for some reason, but I do get the impression that they reflect the way the mind thinks, and some of his remarks seem to pose healthy challenges to the notion of intelligence as a fixed attribute that defines the mental abilities of the individual. What do you think?

Read books from the library, lots of them, non-fiction, and watch a variety of documentaries, too.

I would say that this documentary is a good one to start with... also need to quote a comment...

Then there is the effect of expressed expectations - The Rosenberg - effect (I think it is "Rosenberg"). If you expect students to exell, you will be giving them more positive feedback, verbally as well as non verbally. Most of us have been subjected to both and have probably felt, what it did to us.
Rosenberg arranged an experiment: Teachers were told, that a certain part of a class were "dummies" from whom they shouldn´t expect too much and that a certain part were very bright. In fact it was an ordinary, ok class with generally bright pupils.
It didn´t fail: Those, who were expected to exell got brighter, blossomed, got eager and raised their IQ´s.
The other part went down in every respect.

So much for IQ as a constant.

I think, that IQ can be a constant within a rough grouping, like a person with an IQ of 85 cannot train up to 130, but it can certainly vary more than 10 points according to what infuences the person is subjected to through life.

I think it's better to learn to use your abilities in an area that interests and supports you instead of trying to get IQ above a certain number.

...unless you use it as a sport