How to get smarter?

Question

What would you recommend I do to increase my IQ? That is, what sort of mental excercises would you recommend I take up. Or, would I have to adjust my food intake, or both?

Answer 1

You wish to increase your I.Q.? The junk about only reading this and that, throwing away the television etc. is all about increasing how smart people percieve you. If you want to increase how much information and how readily you can understand something, there is a regimen of activities you can do.

Start with figuring out your learning style. For myself, I like to know the "Why?" of things and then extrapolate. Yours might be needing to understand a "relation" or "balance." Perhaps, if you're a visual learner, practice visualizing everything you see written or hear spoke in your mind until you understand it.

Knowing something and understanding are different things. The I.Q. test attempts to quantify how much you understand.

After you know how you learn, practice turning any learning experience into one that matches your needs. Go to Wikipedia and look at something you've always kind of wanted to know. I highly recommend the philosophical studies. Then take the words written and work on understanding it through your learning style.

Eventually you will see something, convert it to your learning style automatically and then once you have learned and understood it, you can take the problems, question etc before you and find a solution in understanding what the problem is. It gets easier and faster the more you practice until the process is intuitive and a true increase to your I.Q.

There is also one more thing you might try doing in tandem with this. There are strategies to test taking that you might look up, these can fool most I.Q. tests into thinking you're smarter than you are. Being able to regurgitate a classical novel may also make you seem smarter but if you're truely wanting to learn and be able to learn, you have the hardest part of learning: the desire. All you need afterwards is the skills to learn.

Answer 2

Well, always eat well. People say eating fish helps but I don't know for sure. Always try and keep your mind sharp. I like to do crossword puzzles or logic puzzles whenever I am bored. Take a course that you find challenging. Reasearch also shows that playing or learning to play a musical instrument helps. Also, take up a second language. or a third language..whatever is the case. I really dont think that there is a magic pill or a drink that you can take for this. Genetics have a lot to do with I.Q. so there is at least some part if it you have no control over.

Answer 3

Throw away your TV and all of your DVDs (unless they are educational DVDs).
Read only non-fiction, but read it constantly. Don't read any novels unless they are classic literature. There are no novels written in the last 30 years that are worth the paper they are written on.
I would suggest reading about science, math, economics, business, and also study a foreign language on your own too.
Spend some time on current events, but not celebrities or gossip junk.

Answer 4

You can always drink coffee which makes you think fast, but look out not to get addicted to it.
Physical exercise is good. I don't say this, to go to the gym, you can always do a little at home.

Answer 5

Read, read, read. Dictionaries, Encyclopedias, news magazines, anything and everything. Eat more fish. Omega 3's (fish oil) are good for the brain.

Answer 6

food does help if you eat healthy, you will be more clear, and have more energy, I recomened reading the way of the peacefull warrior, the more open your mind is the more wise you can become.

Answer 7

Go to school

Answer 8

Read, read, and read. And try to remember most of what you read.

Answer 9

read more and review what you already know.