Ways to develop intelligence on your own. How to develop a child's brain so that he becomes smart and successful

It was dedicated to intelligence as one of the most important skills for any copywriter. And today’s material will be its logical continuation. Obviously, intelligence is important, but even more important is the answer to the question “ How to develop intelligence?“Our brain is a unique and little-studied organ, but scientists have already identified enough patterns that you and I can use to develop our own capabilities. This is exactly what will be our topic today.

Brain activity is a collection of electrical impulses. The cells that carry them out are called neurons. Neurons are connected to each other, and the result of their interaction determines our capabilities. By developing our brain, you and I contribute to the emergence of not only new neurons, but also new connections between them, and, therefore, expand the range of our capabilities.

How to develop intelligence: ways

Let's move from theory to practice. Intelligence is the ability to think, analyze, remember and perceive. Therefore, it is a complex concept that involves different parts of the brain and requires an integrated approach. Below are presented both the methods of developing intelligence and explanations of the effect they have on the brain.

Way to develop intelligence No. 1: Recording

The simplest way to train intelligence, although not the most obvious. Suppose a brilliant idea has matured in your head. You have two options: keep it in your head and silently implement it, or put it on paper and implement it, recording every step. In the second case, processes will take place in your brain that are very different from the first case, despite the fact that the implementation of your idea may ultimately be the same.

This is due to the fact that when you write down, you visually perceive information, and, therefore, use the parts of the brain responsible for vision and more parts of RAM (there is no mistake here: the concept of “operative (short-term) memory” has the same relation to people as well as to computers).

Additionally, when you write down, you analyze the information more deeply, triggering more complex thought processes in your brain. As a result, your intelligence develops.

Way to develop intelligence No. 2: Games

There are a huge variety of games that allow you to develop your intelligence. The most effective games are those that require you to plan and calculate. One of the most popular (and my favorite) is chess.

Chess develops logic and vision. To achieve success, you need to be able not only to count and foresee, but also to keep in mind many possible options for the development of events. As a result, many brain centers are involved: from vision to memory.

Way to develop intelligence No. 3: Puzzles

Puzzles are another great way to develop not only logical, but also spatial thinking. There are a lot of puzzles, both online and offline. My personal favorites are the Rubik's Cube and spatial wire puzzles. They are inexpensive, but occupy your mind for many hours and give you a feeling of total moral satisfaction when a solution is found.

Way to develop intelligence No. 4: Breaking the pattern

Many people repeat the same actions every day, such as going to the store, driving to work, eating, hygiene procedures, etc. We do all this according to a template. We don’t even think about how we do this, and all these daily rituals have become automatic. It's like a well-trodden path that doesn't strain your brain at all.

At the same time, if the pattern is broken, the brain is simply forced to engage in more active work. For example, try opening a door with a key with your eyes closed. The action is the same, but it will not be carried out according to a template and will require the brain to activate new parts to complete the task. As a result, new connections between neurons will appear.

There are a lot of ways to break the pattern, and you can use them in everyday life with a bang. Just add something uncharacteristic for you to your activity, something that is not in your habit, and very soon you will see the result.

Way to develop intelligence No. 5: Ballroom dancing

I anticipate that when you read these lines now, you will think with indignation how ballroom dancing can influence the intellect, when it can be entirely attributed to sports.

In fact, sport itself is also a good way to train the intellect, but ballroom dancing is superior to other types in this regard. Their secret is that while dancing you need to constantly think. Think about every movement, about your partner, about posture, about the frame, about the music, about what you will do in a moment and about so many other things. I was engaged in sports ballroom dancing for several years, and by the end of each training I was very exhausted, both physically and mentally, because the load was simply colossal.

It's funny: I tried different types of dances, but compared to sports ballroom dances, the effect was much weaker.

Way to develop intelligence No. 6: Fine arts

When you draw, your brain activates many parts to complete the task. Of course, we are not talking about making Rubens or Titian out of you. You can draw anything: for example, faces at lectures or caricatures of speakers speaking from the podium at conferences.

Way to develop intelligence No. 7: Training

Another unique way to increase your intellectual potential. Start absorbing new information and converting what you learn into skills. A foreign language or a new Adobe package, web design or a new website engine - you can study anything, and all this will have a beneficial effect on the development of your intellect.

Way to develop intelligence No. 8: Copywriting

The time has finally come to close this vicious circle. We develop intelligence in order to succeed in copywriting, but it should be noted that, in itself, copywriting significantly contributes to the development of intelligence, since it includes a lot of thought processes:

Analysis
Synthesis
Problem solving
Finding an approach
Choosing the best option
Filtering unnecessary data
Memorization

Look at most successful copywriters and you will see that they are all intellectuals.

Way to develop intelligence No. 9: Physical activity

Physical activity, such as lifting weights, running, doing pull-ups or push-ups, of course, does not directly affect intelligence. However, they even influence indirectly. The fact is that during physical activity, the so-called neurotropic factor of the brain is produced. This is a protein that is responsible for the development of neurons, the very cells that are key in our brain.

So it turns out: the load on the muscles contributes to the development of intelligence. However, it is worth noting that since this method is indirect, it is ineffective in itself, but it can significantly increase the effectiveness of all other methods.

Way to develop intelligence No. 10: Rest

As in any matter, in the development of intelligence it is important to know when to stop. That is why rest is taken out as a separate method. Not to be confused with, which carefully disguises itself as relaxation, but in fact has the opposite effect.

Conclusions: as you can see, none of the above methods can make you a professional copywriter, say, in a month. However, these methods will allow you to raise the level of your thinking to a whole new level and open up many more ways for you to achieve success in many areas, including copywriting. In addition, they do not require Herculean efforts, and the return from them will pay off handsomely.

Every person strives to be successful, and for this you need to have a broad outlook: how to develop intelligence if you are dissatisfied with the level of your knowledge and skills? How to be an active and wise person in old age?

What knowledge is needed for parents who want to raise a smart child with a wide range of knowledge, an inquisitive mind, and the ability to apply their skills in practice? You can develop intellectual abilities throughout your life; this process never ends.

10 habits for developing intelligence in an adult

We all admire the experts of the “What? Where? When?". We are amazed by the volume of their knowledge, breadth of outlook, and ability to find answers to a wide variety of complex questions. Don’t be sad or upset that you will never reach this level. Intelligence is possible at any age.

Previously, it was believed that such development was possible only during the period of growing up - in childhood and adolescence, after which all these processes are inhibited, and progress is no longer possible.

But now scientists have proven that new cells in the brain are constantly being formed and its plasticity, that is, the ability to develop under the influence of experience, changes - the richer your experience, the more flexible and developed your mind.

RULE	INSTRUCTIONS FOR ACTION
	Play logic and intellectual games- chess, backgammon, puzzles train the mind, memory and attention, logical and spatial thinking
	Read every day and everything that interests you- artistic, educational books will make the brain work constantly, besides, being well-read has never hurt anyone
	Write down, sketch everything you want to remember, your ideas, ideas- when writing, several areas of the brain are activated, which helps to better assimilate information
	Do math - it trains several mental abilities at once: abstract, analytical, critical and logical thinking, their speed, as well as memory and attention
	Do math - this trains several mental abilities at once: abstract, analytical, critical and logical thinking, their speed, as well as memory and attention
	Change your habits, what you do automatically every day- walk a different route to work, brush your teeth with a different hand, etc.
	Play sports- physical activity accelerates the blood, the brain is enriched with oxygen, and protein is produced that helps form neurons
	Eat properly and fully - By receiving the required amount of vitamins and minerals, your brain will work at full strength.
	Don't get depressed perceive all failures and obstacles as a chance for improvement and development
	Be sure to give yourself proper rest, preferably in silence and without TV

What is intelligence

If the brain is loaded with a solution, then new synapses will be formed - connections between neurons, otherwise these connections will die off as unnecessary.

What is intelligence? This is a quality of the human psyche. It unites thinking, imagination, perception. This is knowledge, understanding, the ability to analyze information, reason, draw conclusions, the ability to highlight the main thing, see patterns, generalize experience, and think critically.

An intellectual always strives to learn and understand what he did not know before. A person must control the work of his mind, and not vice versa.

Moreover, we can direct brain development in the right direction by persistently acquiring new skills or improving those we already have.

Advice: read Svetlana Pristalova’s book “How to Develop Super Memory, Intelligence and Attention.” In it you will find many exercises to help pump up your mind.

Formation of intelligence

According to scientists, intelligence begins to form in the womb, so when asked how to develop intelligence in a child during pregnancy, you can hear various recommendations.

Don’t be nervous, spend more time in nature and admire it. It is also important to eat properly and nutritiously so that the child can develop normally.

Much, of course, depends on genetics, but if the child was born without pathologies, then problems with intellectual abilities could arise during the period of intrauterine development.

If the baby does not begin to speak or walk when his peers have already mastered these skills, you need to find out if one of the parents was also a little late with this, in which case there is no need to panic.

No one can do absolutely everything better than others. Every person has some innate inclinations and talents, something that he likes to do. The task of parents is to notice and develop these features in time. But here it is important not to overdo it.

There is no need to try to teach a child something for which he has not yet matured physiologically - this can provoke big problems in the future.

For normal development, it is necessary to combine intelligence training with physical activity, normal nutrition, walks and avoid overwork.

Children develop in communication with adults. Psychologists have long noticed that in socially prosperous families, with parents with a high level of education, children have a higher level of intelligence.

Every person is endowed with some abilities from birth.

Still just a baby, the child enthusiastically looks at bright objects, tries to reach them and taste them. This is how intelligence begins to develop.

In this, kids resemble scientists who are passionate about their work - they try to learn everything about what interests them, explore from all sides and in all the same ways, while simultaneously improving their skills and rejoicing in their successes.

How to develop intelligence in a child?

First of all, you need to communicate with the child, even when he is very small. Talk to your baby and you will notice how attentively he listens to you.

Don't stop his curiosity, but also watch out for safety. Play together, show and explain everything - children will learn from their parents how to act correctly.

Just don’t rush to get ahead of development standards, even if the baby is very talented. Many of us try to realize our ambitions by “sculpting” a child into a child prodigy.

Our task is to provide children with normal life. Don't limit it to narrow boundaries.

The curiosity inherent in nature will certainly bear fruit, and the child will master all intellectual skills - distinguish objects by characteristics, generalize and highlight, see logical connections, retell fairy tales, build analogies.

Fundamentals of intelligence according to Doman

Many modern parents are familiar with Glen Doman's early development methods. He developed it for many years, researching and observing healthy and sick children.

Here are the basic principles of the technique:

The brain grows and develops under constant stress
By intensively developing a child’s intelligence from birth to the age of three, you can achieve the best results
Physical development helps shape the brain and motor intelligence
The active growth phase lasts up to five years. At this time, training does not require additional motivation

You need to start from the age of three months, showing the child cards with images of various objects and naming them. This develops speech, attention, logic, memory.

They begin to work with the baby at the age of three months.

Whether you adhere to this method or not, in any case, work with your child, develop his creative and intellectual abilities, teach him to draw, write, invent and tell fairy tales.

A child at any age is interested in exploring something new, imagining and learning. And when everything works out, my parents praise me, I want to know even more.

How to develop intellectual abilities?

By constantly training your brain with special exercises, you can develop both intelligence, memory and attention at any age.

For example, you can use any object to train attention and memory - pick it up, very carefully study all the smallest details - color, shape, weight, roughness, abrasions, remember your tactile sensations.

After this, you need to close your eyes and imagine the object as accurately as possible.

You may not be able to do this right away, but regular training will help improve your memory. You can remember and compare sounds - how are they similar, is it possible to replace one sound with another, as they do when scoring films.

Develop manual dexterity, because fine motor skills are known to have a positive effect on the brain. Always strive to learn and learn something new - this is how new synapses are formed and your intellectual abilities will improve.

Develop your child’s abilities, but don’t try to force him to become a child prodigy

All these methods are suitable not only for adults, but also for children. Intelligence must be developed comprehensively, not limited to one way.

There are many activities that help develop intelligence, they are especially important for people in adulthood - they help to relax and learn to concentrate.

Dancing, which uses different areas of the brain to remember movements; martial arts that develop concentration and a sense of balance; gardening, which significantly reduces the risk of dementia.

Knitting, which is calming and develops fine motor skills, as is playing a musical instrument; Keeping a diary relieves stress and helps with decision making.

You can choose any of them or even several, and be sure to devote an hour or two a day to them.

Emotional intellect

How many of us understand ourselves and our feelings? As we age, we push them inside ourselves and don’t let them spill out.

What can we say about accepting and understanding other people’s feelings and patterns of communication! We often lack emotional and social intelligence.

Physical activity is necessary for harmonious development at any age.

Emotional intelligence is the awareness of emotions, understanding and managing them, the ability to communicate effectively with people, understand and empathize.

If you are prone to making impulsive decisions that you later regret, then you need to develop emotional intelligence.

How to do it?

Track your emotions reactions to events happening to you and around you, try to understand your attitude towards this.
Learn to feel the connection between body reactions and feelings. By learning to understand body language, you will better understand the experiences and feelings of other people.
Record your emotions and subsequent actions in a journal. Don't ignore any feelings. Face the truth, no matter how unpleasant it may be. By calming down and re-reading the notes, you will be able to look at yourself from the outside. This helps you understand if you did the right thing. If you lost your temper because of nonsense, then next time try to behave more restrained.
Understanding the causes of unconscious reactions, you will learn to manage them.
Learn to see and hear- small nuances, such as movements during a conversation, the tone in which it is said, can tell a lot about a person and the feelings that he experiences. This way you can learn to recognize whether a person is being cunning or whether he is being honest with you.
Be open, friendly and honest in all relationships

Developed emotional intelligence helps a person to be less susceptible to stress and to communicate calmly and effectively with any people.

Understand their feelings and be truthful in your emotions and reactions, without hiding them under the guise of equanimity. Use any of the above methods - all together or some separately.

Take care of your mental health. Choose how to develop your intelligence, and remember that it is important to learn, and laughter is called active meditation, helping to avoid stress and relax.

To achieve the desired result, you need to make a lot of effort, because modern man is lazy. Overcome laziness and make your life brighter and happier.

It is impossible to become smarter overnight. Being smart is a way of life, a constant search and overcoming oneself. This is a rather difficult, but at the same time pleasant path. And you can choose how to start it.

1. Exercise regularly

This improves blood flow and oxygenates the brain, and good physical condition contributes to good mental health. Choose a program that is comfortable for your age and physical abilities. The main thing here is regularity.

2. Make sure you get enough sleep

Numerous studies have shown that lack of sleep reduces concentration, short-term and long-term memory, problem-solving speed, visual and hearing acuity, and slows down reactions. Especially for maintaining good mental health, the right combination of deep and REM sleep is important. Here again, physical exercises from Lifehacker will help you.

3. Eat a healthy, balanced diet

Your brain needs a certain amount of nutrients to function optimally. Diversify your usual menu to get enough vitamins, amino acids and carbohydrates. You don't have to buy nutritional supplements for this! We wrote earlier.

4. If you smoke, stop!

5. Reduce your alcohol intake

Drinking alcohol in small quantities, especially when combined with socializing, may be beneficial for some brain functions. But excessive consumption can lead to acute and chronic impairment of its activity and cause irreversible cognitive impairment.

6. Learn new things regularly

Learn something new, for example foreign languages, playing musical instruments. Learn something you've been wanting to try for a long time! This promotes brain plasticity and flexibility. Studying math is an excellent exercise in logic and abstract thinking, and also improves concentration, mental stamina and is guaranteed to raise your IQ by several points. Use to learn something new.

7. Maintain friendships with smart and educated people

Make regular meetings with them and discuss a wide range of issues - complex intellectual discussions will give you new ideas and perspectives. You will understand how smart people think and express themselves and what you might need to change about yourself.

If you are the smartest person in the room, then you are in the wrong room.
Alexander Zhurba, businessman and venture investor

8. Read at least one serious book a week and diversify your reading

This will improve your vocabulary and verbal intelligence, as well as enhance your knowledge and speaking repertoire. There must be reading!

9. Play challenging computer games

Shooters and racing games, at best, develop reaction speed, but do not provide you with mental stimulation. Choose a game that involves complex rules, strategy, and requires certain mental skills. Such are, for example, the puzzle games Braid and Portal.

In multiplayer online games, perhaps Eve-online has the highest barrier to entry.

10. Let go of limiting beliefs about your own intelligence.

Many truly qualified people tend to underestimate their abilities and suffer from a lack of self-confidence. Often the opinions of parents, overly critical (or even incompetent) teachers matter more than the stubborn facts of your success. Believe in yourself and start living a full life!

Who among us has not dreamed of having a high level of erudition and showing off our intelligence? And in various life situations, most of us, oh, how it would help to have additional knowledge that would allow us to get away with it, help a colleague, a friend, do the right thing, make the right choice, etc. In all areas of our lives, it is important to be a person not just smart, but also wise. Therefore, it is very important to know how to develop your intelligence and learn the best exercises and advice from experienced psychologists.

Is it possible to develop your intelligence?

Some people mistakenly believe that intelligence is an innate component of a person. And it is impossible to develop it. This is not entirely true. Yes, there are people who simply have a certain mental development barrier and simply cannot jump above it. But these include those who have a congenital brain defect, mental retardation, dementia and other diseases associated with intelligence. In the case of innate intelligence, it can be developed using various mathematical puzzles, puzzles and other techniques.

Sometimes, it is not necessary to do anything at all, since genius itself finds ways to manifest itself. Let us at least remember the great physicists - Einstein, Curie, Ioffe and others. It cannot be said that in those years the physical and mathematical sciences were widespread. But it’s worth noting right away that these are isolated cases that you shouldn’t rely on too much. That is, based on the above, one can understand that innateness is not always the main way to achieve high intelligence.

Myths about intelligence

There is an opinion that if you have innate intelligence, there is no point in doing anything else for its growth and development. As we already know, there have been and are cases of genius, but they are very rare. Therefore, you cannot rely only on a natural gift; it is important to work on your mental abilities and train them. But even in cases with geniuses, one cannot completely discard the factor of upbringing, development in a certain environment, conditions that developed in a unique tandem with the human genome and became the reason for his genius in the future. But that's not all.

We hasten to dispel the myths that it is impossible to increase the level of intelligence in a mature person if you did not work on his abilities in childhood and adolescence. We categorically object, because in this life everything is possible! Each of us, including our dear readers, can grow to the level of, if not a genius, then an intelligent and erudite person, no matter in what environment he was previously brought up.

Remember Bernard Shaw's "My Fair Lady". Young Miss Eliza Doolittle was an ordinary flower seller in a poor neighborhood, and accordingly, she behaved like her surroundings. She spoke rudely, swore, and was unkempt. In short, a banal lumpen.

The brilliant language specialist Henry Higgins, when he met her, was simply dumbfounded. And he argued with his friend that he could turn a slob and rude woman into a high-society lady with all the appropriate manners in a few weeks. And guess what, he succeeded. He simply created all the conditions for the girl’s inner potential to find a way out and manifest itself in all its glory.

We can all achieve success in any field. To do this, you need to work, communicate with those who stimulate mental development, show your own willpower, and scrupulousness.

The next misconception is that being a genius does not mean being smart in everything. That is, unlike those who must educate and develop their abilities, there is a type of people who are already confident in their mental perfection. They believe that if they have achieved success, for example, in mathematics, physics, then there is no need to improve other branches of science and there is no need to even gain wisdom when communicating with people.

This is the danger that few “smart people” know about. Here's a simple example: a person who has an excellent understanding of mathematical theories. Able to mentally calculate division or multiplication of multi-digit numbers. But he may become confused when meeting a new person, with difficulty assessing his actions.

Or, on the contrary, an excellent philologist, a philosopher capable of giving wise advice on various cases. May get confused when counting change in a store. All these are extremes that interfere with the quality of life. Agree, it is much better to be harmonious, develop abilities in all areas and do not forget to gain new knowledge in terms of general development.

What does unbalanced intelligence look like? The process can be easily considered using the example of pumping muscles. If a bodybuilder pays attention to some and does not pay attention to others, then his figure will turn into something ridiculous. Therefore, to achieve a beautiful body contour, you need to work out all muscle groups, regularly, without stopping. And our intelligence also needs to be developed constantly, without taking breaks. An inquisitive mind cannot “live” without another dose of interesting, fascinating information.

Revealing the secrets of developing intelligence

We often come across books and online articles about how to quickly become a genius and, having completed a “unique” course, we understand that nothing comes of this idea. That is, someone’s advertised work simply turned out to be empty. Why are we surprised? All those who are looking for easy ways will get nothing. In order to achieve something, you need to make an effort, will, try, and concentrate your attention on it. After all, we don’t believe in the power of one pill that can cure all ailments at once.

If you want to develop the activity of your brain, work on it constantly. Load him with mental tasks, and they should be complex and versatile. It's like a health issue. If you want to have it, play sports, load your body with active activities. And what usually prevents us from getting rid of bad habits and playing sports?

Yes, it is directly related to our thinking process. We are lazy to think, read, study, watch. It is easier for us to feel in the body of a single-celled ciliate, which simply grinds everything that gets into it. But she doesn't get any benefit from it. So we too - if we do not continually replenish our knowledge, we will stop at the level of a primitive person, a first-grader with an insignificant amount of knowledge.

When we make an effort, use our will to regularly search for interesting information, read, watch, study, then we strengthen our character and cultivate a sense of discipline.

What types of intelligence are there?

On the issue of mental abilities, it should be noted that everyone has their own intelligence, since there are a number of its varieties. By the way, they can be identified from childhood by the manner of communication, the interests of the child, his hobbies, thoughts, and reasoning.

Analytical. The ability to analyze, compare, compare information, divide it into logical blocks, and identify relationships.
Logical. A person is capable of reasoning, thinking and analysis without violating formal logic. This type has the ability to make logical, correct conclusions in the appropriate sequence.
Critical. Receiving information, a person criticizes it, evaluates it, and easily weeds out everything superfluous, unnecessary, and incorrect. This is how a natural, pure opinion develops.
Deductive. A person extracts individual, necessary information from the general volume, flow, and can formulate it perfectly. This type is able to generalize, find patterns in the interconnection of different information and group it into one single thing.
Prognostic. The talent to plan, prevent, formulate future events in thoughts and at the same time keep in mind various options for solving a particular problem.
Abstract thinking. A person can delve into the most complex abstract processes, most often this concerns mathematical and philosophical problems. These are brilliant individuals who are able to hold the most complex mathematical formulas and processes in their heads. They can quickly count addition, multiplication, and division of billions in seconds.
Creative thinking. A person knows how to compare things of different importance from different sciences and quickly bring them to a common denominator. People are able to create, formulate various kinds of metaphors, decipher complex ideas and reduce them to a simplified level for easier understanding.
Ability to concentrate. This point most likely applies to those who have great will and discipline, although without intelligence this would hardly be possible.

The human mind also has certain properties:

Logic of architecture: everyone has a different degree of orderliness in their thinking. Someone thinks soberly, all thoughts are in “order,” while others have a chaotic, incoherent, chaotic mind.
The breadth, depth of the human mind: the level of “smartness” of a person depends on this moment. If he is able to grasp a question, task, or object of thought more broadly and deeply, then he is smarter.
Speed of performing mental operations. Here, perhaps, everything is clear. The faster a person thinks, the higher his thinking speed.
Autonomy of thinking. Some people can think perfectly, regardless of the influence of external interference and factors. They are always calm, especially at the moment when they need to make the right decision, create an idea and bring it to life.
Great RAM: It's about our memory. The better it is, the more information we can keep in our heads and use it at the right time. People with a good memory can recite poems by heart, retell books, multiply billions in their heads, divide them, formulate formulas.

So, we have studied the main components of the human mind that can be developed and increased. There are a lot of techniques for this, among which are the most common ones in accordance with their effectiveness.

The best methods for developing intelligence at any age

We all understand that intelligence is a very important quality for the quality life of every person. Without it, it is impossible to graduate from school or university, get a profitable job and climb the career ladder. If you have intellectual problems, come to your senses. Increase your level using the methods we offer.

Start playing chess

Many people consider this sport (generally recognized) to be a boring pastime, but this is a big mistake. You try it first, and then it will talk. The fact is that initially, until a person has the skills, the process is indeed monotonous and boring. But once the skills develop, it will be impossible to tear yourself away from the chessboard by the ears.

The game develops all the qualities of the human mind:

logic;
ability to predict;
abstract;
give an assessment;
analyze every move;
think deductively, figuratively.

During rounds, players fully analyze and evaluate the actions of their opponent, think pointwise and generally. In short, all aspects of our thinking are involved in the process.

If you don't know how to compete in chess, it doesn't matter. Unlike previous years, when only boring textbooks and books were available as aids, now you can use chess simulators, video courses, and online games on various platforms. This will not only be educational, but also exciting and interesting.

Over time, you will have to get involved in the game and create combinations and build moves. The moment will come when, having learned to play with a robot, you can easily cope with a friend who considered himself a chess ace. And of course, your logic, autonomy of thinking, ability to abstract and other points will help in other areas of life.

Poker – a mathematical card game

We look down on those who indulge in online poker. But don't rush to conclusions. The card game of poker is a chain of logical reasoning, the construction of moves, the ability to predict the opponent’s move and other nuances that stimulate the development of human intelligence.

Moreover, rounds force a person to “pull himself together” and not show his nervousness and self-doubt. It is necessary to judge soberly, with restraint and learn to wait, not act on impulse, and not show your emotions.

Puzzles, rebuses, crosswords

We often spend our leisure time in various kinds of decryptions, puzzles, guessing words in crosswords, and enjoy reading puzzles and other entertaining tasks. All this is work for our mind.

Firstly, we improve our memory by guessing words in crossword puzzles. Secondly, deciphering puzzles develops our logic, the ability to think abstractly and autonomously, and learn to predict. There are a huge number of portals on the Internet, where there are millions of rebuses, puzzles and other educational tasks to choose from.

Breaking the mold

The life of almost all of us consists of the same actions. We get up at the same time, wash ourselves, drink coffee and set off along the same road to work and school. This way our brain stops working, we don’t need to think about how to find the way to the office, which tram to take. Everything has been brought to the point of automatic execution of actions. And as we know, if you don’t use something for a long time, then this thing deteriorates, and a moment of stagnation arises.

It's the same with our mental abilities. They must constantly “work”, otherwise we risk degrading prematurely. And if we break these patterns, our brain immediately joins the active process. New strong connections appear between neurons, on which our intelligence depends.

How to fix this - add something new to your usual routine and actions during the day. For example, do not go to work on a proven path. Change the route, go around through other courtyards. Or, instead of starting your workday with your usual cup of coffee, buy juice. For lunch, instead of sausages, eat steamed vegetables. In the morning, instead of lounging in bed longer, go for a run. You will not have time to capture the moment when your mental abilities begin to manifest themselves again.

You shouldn’t immediately be indignant and believe that nothing depends on dancing. You are not right. Brain function directly depends on the degree of blood circulation. If it is low, then oxygen starvation occurs, not only cells die, but also neurons, their ligaments atrophy.

If you don’t want to just run, jump, or jog boringly, sign up for a dance course. Latin American styles are especially suitable: tango, baccarat, cha-cha-cha and others. Some experts, on the contrary, recommend practicing dance sports. In any case, everything is useful.

Movements will allow the body to receive a colossal amount of energy, and mental abilities will grow and grow due to the excellent supply of oxygen to the brain tissue. But that's not all. Active dance movements, whether we like it or not, make us constantly think. This means that the brain is in an active state and intelligence develops.

Draw

Creative activities will definitely “shake up” your brain and your intellect will be replenished with new knowledge. While drawing, the most distant areas are activated, they are involved in the process of thinking, and if you continue studying and don’t stop, the degree of intelligence will increase. Of course, no one says that you need to create like Bryullov or Savrasov. But, as you know, almost everyone loves to draw, but most are embarrassed by their “doodles”. And this is in vain! Draw for your own health and don’t be afraid of criticism.

Learn

This is one of the best methods for developing your own intelligence - learning new things, not stopping there. You graduated from school or university, but this does not mean that you can relax. Absorb information every day. Open sites with interesting publications, news, take an interest in the lives of famous people, new types of hobbies, and books. Read before bed. Even if you are tired and want to quickly fall asleep with a well-deserved sleep, a couple of pages of a book before bed will increase your intelligence and relax your nervous system.

There is a great way to “kill” two birds with one stone - to develop intellectual abilities and at the same time make good money. It's called copyright, rewriting. Remote work, allowing you to build a schedule at your own discretion, no management. What could be better for those who do not have the opportunity to devote more time to new knowledge?

Work on the largest exchanges and select topics that will help you learn new things. Working with texts requires a number of things to ensure that your mind never relaxes. Reading, analyzing the proposed topic, searching for information, working, re-reading, choosing the best option, removing unnecessary things and fixing.

Copywriting and rewriting must be done in such a way that there is no identical text on the Internet, that is, uniqueness is important. But you shouldn’t be afraid of it, it will happen if you write the work with interest and desire. At the same time, this is a great way to improve your literacy, because all text programs indicate grammatical, punctuation and other types of errors.

Play sports, move

It cannot be said that physical activity directly affects our intellectual abilities. But with active movements, pull-ups, push-ups, the production of neutrotropes occurs in our brain - proteins responsible for the growth and development of neurons of key cells in the human brain. Classes should be carried out as an additional method of improving your intelligence.

Have a rest

Everyone needs rest, our brain is no exception. Take a break from unnecessary information, because moderation is needed in absorbing it. We're not talking about being lazy - that's completely different. Just don't think about anything sometimes. Listen to music, look at the sunset, waves, fire and clear your thoughts of all negativity.

Yoga

Engage in eastern practices; yoga especially helps to cleanse your spirit and body of all unnecessary things and gain new knowledge. The complex contains exercises for cleansing blood vessels. This is a special breathing technique, thanks to which all corners of our body will be freed from toxins and waste. During this time, our body receives a lot of positive emotions, complete relaxation and knowledge.

The classes consist of 7 chakras, each of which is intended for a specific part of the body. In addition to the fact that the philosophy of yoga is an amazing complex that allows you to become the center of the Universe, be wiser and more restrained, your health also improves.

So, we have studied a number of ways to increase the level of our intelligence. As you can see, there is nothing complicated about this. We need only one thing - the desire to be wise, intellectually developed and healthy. And as we understand, these three components are not able to manifest themselves in a person without each other. Everything works together. So learn, improve and be healthy!

Bye everyone.
Best regards, Vyacheslav.

What is "Intelligence"?

First of all, let me explain what I mean when I say the word intelligence. To be clear, I'm not just talking about increasing the amount of facts or bits of knowledge you can accumulate, or what is called crystallized intelligence - this is not fluency or memorization training - in fact, it's almost the opposite. I'm talking about improving your fluid intelligence, or your ability to remember new information, retain it, then use that new knowledge as the basis for solving the next problem or learning another new skill, and so on.

Now, while short-term memory is not synonymous with intelligence, it is very related to intelligence. To successfully make intellectual inferences, it is quite important to have a good short-term memory. So, to make the most of your intelligence, it's worth significantly improving your short-term memory - like using the best and most modern parts to help a machine perform at its highest level.

What can you learn from this? This study is significant because it found:

Hypothetical intelligence can be trained.
Training and subsequent success are dependent on dosage; the more you train, the more benefits you gain.
Every person can develop their cognitive abilities, regardless of their starting level.
Progress can be achieved by practicing on tasks that do not resemble questions on a test.

How can we put this research into practice and benefit from it?

There is a reason why the n-back task has been so successful in increasing cognitive abilities. This training involves dividing attention between competing stimuli, that is, multimodality (one visual stimulus, one auditory stimulus). This involves focusing on specific details while ignoring irrelevant information, and this helps improve short-term memory over time, gradually increasing the ability to process information effectively in multiple directions. In addition, the stimulus was constantly switched, in such a way that the phenomenon of “practicing test questions” never occurred - there was something new every time. If you've never taken the n-back test, let me tell you about it: it's very difficult. It is not surprising that such an activity has so many benefits for cognitive abilities.

But let's think from a practical point of view.
Eventually, the cards in the deck or the sounds in the piece will run out (the experiment lasted 2 weeks), so it is not practical to think that if you want to continuously increase your intellectual abilities throughout your life, then one n-back will be enough. Besides, you will get tired of it and stop doing it. I'm sure I would do that. Not to mention the time you'll spend learning this way - we're all very busy all the time! So we need to think about how to model the same types of super-effective multimodal brain stimulation techniques that can be used in normal life and still get the maximum benefit in cognitive growth.

So, taking all this into account, I have developed five basic elements that will help in the development of fluid intelligence, or cognitive ability. As I noted, it is impractical to consistently perform the n-back task or variations of it every day for the rest of your life to reap cognitive benefits. But the practical thing is to make lifestyle changes that will provide the same—and even greater—benefit to cognitive abilities. This can be done every day to reap the benefits of intense whole-brain training, and should also translate into benefits for overall cognitive functioning.

These five basic principles are:

Look for innovation
Challenge yourself
Think creatively
Don't take the easy way out
Stay online

Each of these points is a great thing in itself, but if you really want to function at the highest cognitive level possible, it is better to do all five points, and as often as possible. In fact, I live by these five principles. If you accept these as fundamental guiding principles, then I guarantee that you will make the most of your abilities, beyond even what you thought you were capable of - all without artificial enhancement. Great information: Science backs these principles up with data!

1. Look for innovation

It is not a coincidence that geniuses like Einstein were knowledgeable in many fields, or polymaths as we call them. Geniuses are constantly looking for new things to do, exploring new areas. This is their individuality.

There is only one "Big Five" trait from the Five Factor Model of Personality (Acronym: ODEPR, or Openness, Conscientiousness, Extroversion, Agreeableness, and Irritability) that is associated with IQ, and that is the trait Openness to Experience. People who have a high level of Openness are constantly looking for new information, new activities, new things to learn - new experiences, in general.

When you are looking for innovation, several things happen. First of all, you create new synaptic connections with every new activity in which you participate. These connections build on each other, increasing the activity of the nervous system, creating more connections so that new connections are created on their basis - thus learning occurs.

An area of interest in recent research is neural plasticity as a factor in individual differences in intelligence. Plasticity refers to the number of connections made between neurons, how this affects subsequent connections, and how long lasting those connections are. This basically means how much new information you are able to take in, and whether you are able to retain it, making permanent changes in the brain. Constantly exposing yourself directly to new things helps put the brain in a prime state for learning.

Novelty also triggers the release of dopamine (I've mentioned this before in other posts), which is not only highly motivating, but also stimulates neurogenesis - the creation of new neurons - and prepares the brain for learning. All you have to do is satisfy your hunger.

Excellent condition for learning = New activity -> dopamine production -> promotes a more motivated state -> which promotes neuronal recruitment and creation -> neurogenesis can occur + increased synaptic plasticity (increased number of new neural connections, or learning).

As a follow-up to Jaeggi's study, researchers in Sweden found that after 14 hours of short-term memory training for 5 weeks, there was an increase in the amount of binding dopamine D1 potential in the prefrontal and parietal regions of the brain. This particular dopamine receptor, type D1, is associated with nerve cell growth and development, among other things. This increase in plasticity, by promoting greater consolidation of this receptor, is very beneficial in order to maximize cognitive functioning.

Follow the point at home: Be “Einstein.” Always look for new mental activities - expand your cognitive horizons. Learn the tool. Take a painting course. Go to a museum. Read about a new field of science. Be dependent on knowledge.

2. Challenge yourself

There is a huge amount of terrible work written and distributed about how to “train your brain” and “become smarter”. When I talk about "brain training games", I mean memory and speed games, the purpose of which is to increase the speed of information processing, etc.; This includes games such as Sudoku, which are recommended to be played in “free time” (complete the oxymoron, taking into account the development of cognitive abilities). I'm going to debunk some of the stuff you've previously heard about brain training games. I'll tell you what: They don't work. Personalized learning games don't make you smarter - they make you more proficient at learning brain games.

So, they do have a goal, but the results won't last long. To gain anything from these types of cognitive activities, one must appeal to the first principle of seeking innovation. Once you master one of these cognitive activities in the brain training game, you must move on to the next stimulating activity. Do you understand how to play Sudoku? Great! Now move on to the next type of stimulating games. There has been research that supports this logic.

Several years ago, scientist Richard Haier wanted to know whether it was possible to significantly increase cognitive ability through intense training in new types of mental activity over a few weeks. They used the video game Tetris as a novel activity, and used people who had never played the game before as research subjects (I know, I know - can you believe people like that exist?!). They found that after training for several weeks on the Tetris game, study subjects experienced an increase in cortical thickness, as well as an increase in cortical activity, as evidenced by an increase in the amount of glucose used in that area of the brain. Basically, the brain used more energy during that training period, and became thicker—meaning more nerve connections, or new experiences learned—after such intense training. And they became experts in Tetris. Cool, yeah?

Here's the thing: After an initial dramatic cognitive boost, they noticed a decrease in both cortical thickness and the amount of glucose used during the task. However, they were still good at Tetris; their skill did not deteriorate. Brain scans showed less brain activity during the game, instead of an increase as in previous days. Why the decline? Their brains became more efficient. Once their brain figured out how to play Tetris and really started to get the hang of it, it became too lazy to do anything. He didn't have to work as hard to play the game well, so the cognitive energy and glucose went in a different direction.

Efficiency is not your friend when it comes to cognitive growth. In order for the brain to continue making new connections and keeping them active, you must continue to move on to other stimulating activities once you reach the peak of mastery in a particular activity. You want to be in a constant state of slight difficulty, struggling to achieve something, no matter what it is, as Einstein noted in his saying. This keeps the brain in limbo, so to speak. We will return to this issue later.

3. Think creatively

When I say that thinking creatively will help you improve your nervous system, I don't mean painting a picture, or doing something fancy, like in the first point, “Seek innovation.” When I talk about creative thinking, I mean direct creative cognition, and what it means while the process continues in the brain.

Contrary to popular belief, creative thinking is not “right-brain thinking.” Both sides of the brain are involved here, not just the right. Creative cognition includes divergent thinking (a wide range of topics/subjects), the ability to make distant associations with ideas, switch between traditional and non-traditional perspectives (cognitive flexibility), and generating original, fresh ideas that are also relevant to the activity in which you are engaged. To do everything correctly, you need the right and left hemispheres to work simultaneously and together.

Several years ago, Dr. Robert Sternberg, former Dean of Tufts University, opened the PACE (Psychology of Ability, Competence and Excellence) Center in Boston. Sternberg tried not only to define the basic concept of intelligence, but also to find ways in which any person can maximize his intelligence through training, and especially through education in schools.

Here Sternberg describes the goals of the PACE Center, which was founded at Yale University:
“The core concept of the center is that abilities are not fixed, they are flexible, they can be changed, each person can transform his abilities into his competence, and his competence into mastery,” explains Sternberg. “Our focus is on how we can help people change their abilities so that they can more easily solve problems and cope with the situations they will encounter in life.”

Through his research, Project Rainbow, he developed not only innovative creative teaching methods in the classroom, but produced assessments that tested students in ways that required them to approach problems creatively and practically, as well as analytically, rather than simply memorizing facts .

Sternberg explains:
“In Project Rainbow we assessed creative, practical, as well as analytical abilities. A creative test could be, for example, like this: ‘Here is a cartoon. Give it a title.’ A practical assignment could be a film about a student who comes to a party, looks around, doesn’t know anyone, and obviously feels awkward. What should a student do?"

He wanted to see if teaching students to think creatively about assignments could make them learn more about a topic, enjoy learning more, and transfer what they learned to other areas of research. He wanted to see if, by changing teaching and assessment methods, he could prevent “teaching to pass” and get students to learn more in general. He collected information on this topic and still got good results.

Briefly? On average, students in the test group (those taught using creative methods) received higher final college course scores than the control group (those taught using traditional methods and assessment systems). But to make things fair, he gave the test group the same analytical type exam as the regular students (multiple choice test) and they also scored higher on that test. This means they were able to transfer the knowledge they learned using creative, multimodal learning methods and score higher on a completely different cognitive test on the same material. Does this remind you of anything?

4. Don't take the easy way out

I mentioned earlier that efficiency is not your friend if you are trying to increase your intelligence level. Unfortunately, many things in life are designed to increase efficiency. Thus, we do more with less time, physical and mental effort. However, this does not have a beneficial effect on your brain.

Consider one modern convenience, GPS. GPS is an amazing invention. I am one of those people for whom GPS was invented. I'm terribly bad at navigating the terrain. I get lost all the time. Therefore, I thanked fate for the advent of GPS. But you know what? After using the GPS for a short time, I found that my sense of orientation became even worse. When I didn't have it at hand, I felt even more lost than before. So when I moved to Boston - the city where horror movies about lost people originate - I stopped using GPS.

I won’t lie – my suffering knew no bounds. My new job meant traveling all over the outskirts of Boston, and I was lost every day for at least 4 weeks. I was so often lost and wandering for who knows how long that I thought I would lose my job due to chronic tardiness (I was even complained about in writing). But over time, I began to find the right path thanks to the vast navigational experience that I acquired with only my brain and a map. I really began to sense where and what was in Boston thanks solely to logic and memory, and not GPS. I still remember how proud I was that I found the hotel in the city center where my friend was staying, based only on the name and description of the area - even without an address! I felt like I had graduated from a school of navigational education.

Technology makes our lives easier, faster, more efficient in many ways, but sometimes our cognitive abilities can suffer as a result of these kinds of simplifications and harm us in the future. Before everyone starts screaming and emailing my transhumanist friends about how I'm sinning against technology, I should warn you that that's not what I'm doing.

Look at it this way: when you go to work by car, it takes less physical effort, time, and is a more convenient and enjoyable way than walking. Everything seems to be fine. But if you only drive or spend your whole life on a Segway, even not for short distances, then you will not waste energy. Over time, your muscles will atrophy, your fitness will weaken, and you will likely gain extra weight. As a result, your general condition will worsen.

Your brain needs exercise too. If you stop using your problem-solving skills, your logical, cognitive abilities, then how will your brain always be in better shape, let alone improve your mental abilities? Consider that if you constantly rely only on useful modern conveniences, your skills in a particular area may suffer. For example, translator programs: wonderful, but my knowledge of languages noticeably deteriorated as soon as I started using them. Now I force myself to think about a translation before I know the right one. The same applies to spell checking and automatic correction. In truth, automatic correction is the worst thing ever invented to improve your thinking process. You know that the computer will find and correct your mistakes, so you continue typing without even thinking about it. How to spell this or that word correctly. As a result, after a few years of stable autocorrect and automatic spell checking, are we the world's most illiterate nation? (I wish someone would do some research on this.)

There are times when the use of technology is justified and necessary. But there are times when it's better to say no to shortcuts and use your brain while you have the luxury of time and energy. To keep yourself in good physical shape, it is recommended to walk to work as often as possible or take the stairs instead of the elevator several times a week. Don't you want to keep your brain fit too? Put your GPS aside every now and then and do your navigation and problem-solving skills a favor. Keep it handy, but try to find everything yourself first. Your brain will thank you for this.

5. Be online

And now we come to the last element on the path to increasing your cognitive potential: a computer network. What's great about this last setup is that if you're doing the previous four things, you're probably already doing this one. If not, then start. Immediately.

By interacting with other people, either through social networks such as Facebook or Twitter, or face-to-face, you expose yourself to situations that will make it much easier for you to achieve goals 1-4. By encountering new people, ideas, and new environments, you open yourself up to new opportunities for mental growth. Being around people who may not be in your field can help you see problems from a new perspective or discover new solutions you've never thought of before. Connecting with other people online is a great way to learn how to open yourself up to new things and absorb unique and meaningful information. I won't even get into the social benefits and emotional well-being that a computer network brings, but it's just an added benefit.

Steven Johnson, who wrote How Good Ideas Are Made, discusses the importance of groups and networks in promoting ideas. If you are looking for new situations, ideas, environments and perspectives, then the network is the answer for you. It would be quite difficult to implement the smarter concept without making the network a core component. The great thing about computer networks: It benefits everyone involved. Collective intelligence for victory!

There's one more thing I need to mention...
Remember at the beginning of this article I told a story about my clients with autism spectrum disorders? Let's think for a moment about how to increase the level of flexibility in your intelligence in light of everything we've already talked about. What can these kids achieve at such a high level? This is not a coincidence or a miracle - it is because we took into account all these training principles in their therapy program. While most other therapy providers are stuck with the Errorless Learning paradigm and slightly modified Lovaas Methods of Applied Behavior Analysis, we have embraced and fully embraced a multimodal approach to training. We pushed the kids to try their best to learn, we used the most creative methods we could think of, and we dared to set the bar seemingly well above their abilities. But you know what? They transcended time frames and made me truly believe that amazing things are possible if you have enough will, courage and persistence to set yourself on that path and stick with it. If these children with disabilities can live while continually improving their cognitive abilities, so can you.

My parting question is this: If we have all this supporting data showing that these teaching methods and approaches to learning can have such profound positive effects on cognitive growth, why don't therapy programs or school systems take advantage of some of these methods? I would like to see them as the standard in training rather than the exception. Let's try something new and shake up the education system a little? We would raise our collective IQ significantly.

Intelligence is not just how many levels of math you have completed, how quickly you can solve an algorithm, or how many new words with more than 6 characters you know. It's about approaching a new problem, recognizing its important components, and solving it. Then take what you have learned and apply it to solve the next, more complex problem. It's about innovation and imagination and being able to use it to make the world a better place. It is this type of intelligence that is valuable, and it is this type of intelligence that we should strive for and encourage.

About the author: Andrea Kuszewski is a behavioral therapist for children with autism based in Florida; specialist in Asperger's syndrome, or high-functioning autism. She teaches the basics of behavior in society, communication, as well as the impact of behavior on the home and society, training children and parents in therapy methods. Andrea's work as a researcher with , the US branch of the Social Science Research Group METODO Transdisciplinary, Bogota, Colombia, explores the influence of neuro-cognitive factors in human behavior - this includes aspects such as creativity, intelligence, illegal behavior, and diffuse confusion disorders such as schizophrenia and autism. Also a creativity researcher, she is a painter herself and has studied various types of visual communication, ranging from traditional drawing to digital painting, graphic design, and 3D modeling, animation, health sciences and behavioral science. She blogs at The Rogue Neuron and on Twitter