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In my opinion, nothing can make you smarter. Learning rationalist techniques may make you better at thinking through problems, learning memory techniques like M

In my opinion, nothing can make you smarter. Learning rationalist techniques may make you better at thinking through problems, learning memory techniques like Memory Palace may improve your memory, using learning techniques like Spaced Repetition may help you learn and retain large amounts of information with the minimum necessary effort, but nothing can make you smarter.

water8 4y ago
What about adderall? /s
- inetsee 4y ago
  Adderall doesn't make you smarter; it just makes you more alert. It helps you focus longer on whatever intellectual task you're working on, be it problem solving or studying. (Not /s)
  - water8 4y ago
    So being able to work longer and focus harder than what would normally be physically possible is not the definition of “smarter” even if it’s temporary?
haskellandchill 4y ago
I agree you are about as smart as you will ever be. However that does not apply to me thank you very much.
jonathanstrange 4y ago
I'm pretty sure this is wrong. The brain adapts to whatever activity you do and, as far as I know, is way more plastic than researchers thought decades ago. If you're doing dumb things all the time you're making yourself dumber over time and when you're performing difficult tasks repeatedly and daily your brain adapts to them to be able to solve them easier. I realized that a long time ago in a completely different area, in martial arts. When you start it's extremely hard to follow complex movements shown by other people. Beginners struggle with this a lot. Over the years it's getting easier and easier and you can often grasp complicated movements after seeing them once. I suppose it's the same in dancing and ballet. The brain adapts to sports, painting, writing poems, or solving complex math puzzles. It just happens that some of these activities are considered smart and also (partly) measured with traditional IQ tests. You can even train to become better at IQ tests if you desire to acquire a completely useless skill set.
magpi3 4y ago
I think you have to define what "smart" means. I mean if you dropped me into some of my undergrad courses today, especially my CS courses, I would dominate like Wilt Chamberlain and people would think I am a genius. But what does it even mean to be smart anyway? I think in school a lot of the people we deem to be smart simply have more prior experience in the subject or just work very hard.

water8 4y ago

What about adderall? /s

inetsee 4y ago
Adderall doesn't make you smarter; it just makes you more alert. It helps you focus longer on whatever intellectual task you're working on, be it problem solving or studying. (Not /s)
- water8 4y ago
  So being able to work longer and focus harder than what would normally be physically possible is not the definition of “smarter” even if it’s temporary?

haskellandchill 4y ago

I agree you are about as smart as you will ever be. However that does not apply to me thank you very much.

jonathanstrange 4y ago

I'm pretty sure this is wrong. The brain adapts to whatever activity you do and, as far as I know, is way more plastic than researchers thought decades ago. If you're doing dumb things all the time you're making yourself dumber over time and when you're performing difficult tasks repeatedly and daily your brain adapts to them to be able to solve them easier. I realized that a long time ago in a completely different area, in martial arts. When you start it's extremely hard to follow complex movements shown by other people. Beginners struggle with this a lot. Over the years it's getting easier and easier and you can often grasp complicated movements after seeing them once. I suppose it's the same in dancing and ballet. The brain adapts to sports, painting, writing poems, or solving complex math puzzles. It just happens that some of these activities are considered smart and also (partly) measured with traditional IQ tests. You can even train to become better at IQ tests if you desire to acquire a completely useless skill set.

magpi3 4y ago

I think you have to define what "smart" means. I mean if you dropped me into some of my undergrad courses today, especially my CS courses, I would dominate like Wilt Chamberlain and people would think I am a genius. But what does it even mean to be smart anyway? I think in school a lot of the people we deem to be smart simply have more prior experience in the subject or just work very hard.