Have you ever taken an IQ test?
Actually I never have, but I
understand it’s meant to give you a number that is said to portray some inborn
capacity.
This gives you the impression
that your level of intelligence, no matter how high or low it might be, is a
fixed quantity.
You can learn, sure, but basically
you’re only as smart as you were born to be, right?
But that’s not what the latest
science actually says, according to Inc.com who
quote author Annie Murphy Paul
who lays out eight ways intelligence is affected by context in which we put it
to use and suggests ways that we can rethink intelligence to get the best out
of the brain we were born with.
So here are 8 ways they suggest you
can make yourself smarter…
Situations can make us smarter
They can be the physical conditions
that learners experience by way of how much stress they’re under and how much
sleep and exercise they get, and the
mental conditions learners create for
themselves by the levels of expertise and attention and motivation they’re able
to achieve.
Situational intelligence, in other
words, is the only kind of intelligence there is.
Beliefs can make us smarter
Stanford psychologist Carol Dweck
distinguishes two types of mindsets: the fixed mindset, or the belief that
ability is fixed and unchanging, and the growth mindset, or the belief that
abilities can be developed through learning and practice.
These beliefs matter because they
influence how think about our own abilities, how we perceive the world around
us, and how we act when faced with a challenge or with adversity.
Expertise can make us smarter
Experts don’t just know more, they
know differently, in ways that allow them to think and act especially
intelligently within their domain of expertise…
Expertise takes a long time to
develop, of course, but it’s never too early–or too late–go deep in a subject
area that interests us.
Attention can make us smarter
There are information-processing
bottlenecks in the brain–everybody’s brain–that prevent us from paying
attention to two things at the same time.
The state of focused attention is a
very important internal situation that we must cultivate in order to fully express
our intelligence.
Emotions can make us smarter
When we’re in a positive mood, for
example, we tend to think more expansively and creatively.
When we feel anxious–for instance,
when we’re about to take a dreaded math test–that anxiety uses up some of the
working memory capacity we need to solve problems, leaving us, literally, with
less intelligence.
Technology can make us smarter
The problem is that our devices so
often make us dumber instead of smarter…
In order for tech to make ourselves
smarter and not dumber, we need understand when to take full advantage of our
devices, and when to put them away.
Our bodies can make us smarter
All the things that make the heart
work better–good nutrition, adequate sleep, regular exercise, moderate
stress–make the brain work better too.
Relationships can make us smarter
If you have a spouse or significant
other: it’s likely that one of you is “in charge” of remembering when the car
needs to go in for inspection, while the other is “in charge” of remembering
relatives’ birthdays.
This is called transactive memory,
and it’s just one of the ways that relationships with others can make us
smarter than we would be on our own… a feeling of belonging is critical to the
full expression of our ability.
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