Is it possible to get smarter?

[Klockan3]

<p>

Hmmm … is it more likely that you will be called upon to answer questions that rely on a fundamental understanding of some things, and inferences from those? How well do you think you would do if instead it was necessary for you to answer questions that would take too long to determine from first principles - it was more likely one would have to use some kind of intuition or insight to solve the problems?

I think you misunderstood a bit, what I meant is that I learn them well enough for them to become a part of my intuition.</p>

<p>Basically it allows me to break down semi complex problems almost instantly and from there it is usually quite trivial to solve it, so I do things really fast actually even if I haven’t practised problems, and derivations goes almost instantly since I don’t do them on the paper but in my head instead, basically I do it so that I know exactly what I do all of the time. And by that I mean that I really know exactly everything that happens since I know every derivation from the fundamentals and up and can keep them all there at once so if something in the machinery is wrong I can usually spot it fast and correct it, since everything needs to fit together for it to be correct its just to redo it till everything fits. </p>

<p>

I didn’t quite understand your phrasing. Do you mean that if you learned something on one day, a few days later, you are not likely to have forgotten it?

No, what I meant is that almost everything that goes into my memory goes into my long term memory, like if I remember it a few days later I can in general also recall it a year later.(Don’t work for repetitive things though since they merge and becomes a continuity instead)

Hmmm … I’ve never taken any physics beyond freshman E&M, so I don’t know much about what the classes are like, but I have taken a fair amount of advanced math. Some of it requires writing essays, in the sense that one is expected to linguistically, as well as logically, argue a point. Have you ever taken classes like that? Do you find those difficult? If so, do you feel you need to do something in order to improve?

No, as I said I have no problems whatsoever in doing things like that, the problem I got is that I am too undisciplined to sit down and do a lot of hand in assignments. I often have more text than numbers when I hand in my tests to explain what I do since I have no real clue how the accepted solving paths are structured so I basically have to do it, and I have gone to courses where everything is based around proving things.</p>

<p>

Hmmm … supposing you were in a situation where short term memory was more critical. How well do you think you would do? What do you think you need to do to improve your short term memory?

The only time I notice this is when I play memory or do memory IQ tests. Or, it could also be that my short time memory is not bad per se but instead I automatically dumps those since its useless knowledge, I can keep quite complex math problems entirely in my head so its not that I don’t got enough working memory.</p>

[ThereseR]

<p>Take fish oil</p>

[KamelAkbar]

<p>Nothing will prepare you for such a program more than simply brushing up on your algebra/precalculus skills. It seems to me that people who struggle in calc II & III are having a hard time with the algebra.</p>

[CORNandTOOTHPICK]

<p>This is a really odd question. Natural means natural, you can’t be change that. You don’t see squirrels solve engineering stuff because they wanted to do. They cant. People cant fly.</p>

[raiders83]

<p>I believe focus, attitude, and health play a much more important role than inate ability ever could. I was always in the top range of “smarts” among my peers, and have never thought that what I could do was a gift. I was very insecure when I was very young, and made it a point to be first and be right in school sort of as a way to validate myself early on. I was constantly pushing myself to beat others, and feel like this helped me learn how to use my brain. It’s like I outworked my peers. That taught me how to focus, and kept me focused and paying attention. Health is needed for the giant chemistry set that is our mind/bodies to function correctly. Ever notice that you can remember the exact date when your’ favorite band is releasing a new album only being told about it once month’s in advance, but you will forget when your’ doctor’s appointment is even though it’s a week away and you have been reminded ten times. Being interested in something gives it importance, and people tend to give more attention to these things. If you can trick your’ brain into being interested in mundane subject matter, learning becomes fun instead of a chore, and much easier. Think about someone who loathes math and them trying to solve a math problem that takes ten steps to solve it. In between every step they have thoughts like, this sucks, this is hard, I wish I was doing something else, and so on. They aren’t really focused on doing the problem so they don’t really absorb it imo. They are kind of resisting the whole way, and blocking it out because it isn’t their first choice of what they want to be doing. Tony Robbins is a motivational speaker who teaches people how to succeed in life and has a very interesting exercise he uses to improve people’s abilities. He has them think of something they love dearly in life and notice the feeling they get from focusing on it. Then he has them think of something that is hard for them and try to feel the “love and interest” they have with the first thing and try to link it with the second thing. They end up associating the the hard thing with the good feeling, and approach something difficult with a passion they didn’t have initially. This creates confidence from reprogramming how you feel about something. It works quite well and he has made millions off of this concept. Your’ brain is a powerful thing, and intelligence is just learning how to use it imo.</p>

[Chucktown]

<p>No. Its all do to fish oil. Its also why I swim so well.</p>