Earlier quoted context omitted.
Jordan Peterson is impressingly insightful, and a great motivational speaker. I wouldn't call him a philosopher, because philosophy to me must have a timeless element that is necessarily detached from any specific time or society, and Jordan is first of all a clinical psychologist, which makes his experience inherently tied to the current society through his practice with patients. That being said, we are living in t…
> Christianity in itself is extremely toxic life-denying philosophy Hmmm, you lost me there. Are you talking about the politics and practices of current American evangelical right wing Christians? I'd agree with you there. But in light of how Peterson digests Christianity I'd say it's the exact opposite of your claim. "Pick up your damn cross." and "Clean your room." as exemplars of such.
Ask HN: How do you become smarter?
71–79 of 79 posts
Re: Ask HN: How do you become smarter?
#72I did notice I can articulate ideas better and think clearer, but I also noticed the bad parts of my personality traits such as anxiety and obsessiveness increased and I had to develop new mechanisms to keep them in check.
This just proves to me that the old adage of ignorance being a bliss may actually be true.
Re: Ask HN: How do you become smarter?
#73If you go down this path, use your newfound perspective and mood (as you'll probably feel different) to learn more about your personality and work on improving it, so that you are able to deal better with life, and find out in what things your usual self falls short when dealing with others. The comment from austin-cheney seems very good addressing a similar thing.
About diet, check out this talk from Georgia Ede called 'Nutritional and Metabolic Strategies for Optimizing Mental Health': https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UkqZW_sBPTg
Not gonna touch on other good habits, as it seems already covered in general, but just going to add a few mindset related things I found that resonate with my experience:
Becoming smarter shouldn't be a goal in itself, as intelligence is already set. Whenever I spent days reading studies, reviews and guidelines trying to search for an edge or better health in general, it was mostly a form a entertainment. I did learn a lot with those deep dives, and I incorporated a lot of these things in my life, but the gains are very marginal over less detailed advice.
At this age your brain is already wired for specialization. Which is probably why learning from textbooks and other structured ways seems easier now than when you were young and exploring, learning by exposure. You can tell the difference especially with language-learning and music.
This is bad if you are just expecting to absorb a topic intuitively, but it doesn't mean you can't conquer and become an expert on it. Or become a quick responder at it. This is where after you have covered some ground, you continue learning using projects and examples.
Life is more complex also than in your early 20s. There's more to do in general, expectations from others and yourself, which sometimes gets in the way of learning, eventually becoming distracting and energy sucking instead of having everything taken care of, or not being bothered by it. You can optimize this by hiring help or finding ways to living a lower maintenance life, keeping a low maint. household.
I find whenever I take steps to simplify my life and time sinks, and take a little time off out of my usual environment, creativity in problem-solving and learning tasks follow.
Re: Ask HN: How do you become smarter?
#74Yeah, that was pretty long winded and may not even have been entirely what you were asking, but I hope it's still useful to you.
Re: Ask HN: How do you become smarter?
#75TBH, I do not consider myself smart but inquisitive. I always try to create mental models based on the simplest explanations of a concept that is otherwise hard to understand. Taking care of my mental health is another thing I do proactively as I suffer from clinical depression. Will all that being said, I go through small obsessions every month or so and that pushes me to know everything about a certain topic and then summarize it at the end in my head. Being smart isn't always a natural characteristic, and it is definitely something you can work on.
Re: Ask HN: How do you become smarter?
#76Re: Ask HN: How do you become smarter?
#77Re: Ask HN: How do you become smarter?
#78Earlier quoted context omitted.
> Christianity in itself is extremely toxic life-denying philosophy Hmmm, you lost me there. Are you talking about the politics and practices of current American evangelical right wing Christians? I'd agree with you there. But in light of how Peterson digests Christianity I'd say it's the exact opposite of your claim. "Pick up your damn cross." and "Clean your room." as exemplars of such.
Christianity is a philosophy that is founded on guilt. The cardinal sin represents a general disdain of all humanity - everyone is guilty for being alive, for being sons and daughters of women and men. Everything else is a consequence of that disdain.
Furthermore, Christianity offers hope and redemption through faith in Jesus Christ, rather than promoting guilt. Sin refers to actions or thoughts that go against God's will, which can harm individuals and society. However, forgiveness and transformation are possible through faith in Jesus Christ.
Romans 3:23-24
Re: Ask HN: How do you become smarter?
#79Earlier quoted context omitted.
Christianity is a philosophy that is founded on guilt. The cardinal sin represents a general disdain of all humanity - everyone is guilty for being alive, for being sons and daughters of women and men. Everything else is a consequence of that disdain.
While sin plays a crucial role in Christian doctrine, it does not mean that everyone is guilty for being alive or that Christianity promotes disdain for humanity. Christianity recognizes the inherent value and worth of every human being, as created in the image of God. Furthermore, Christianity offers hope and redemption through faith in Jesus Christ, rather than promoting guilt. Sin refers to actions or thoughts tha…
> Christianity offers hope and redemption
Hope and redemption is only necessary if you think all humans are guilty by being alive and therefore hopeless.