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Ways to maximize your cognitive potential

blogs.scientificamerican.com

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Re: Ways to maximize your cognitive potential

#51

Post by savanaly »

singham wrote: post #41
FuNe wrote: post #29

" Efficiency is not your friend when it comes to cognitive growth. In order to keep your brain making new connections and keeping them active, you need to keep moving on to another challenging activity as soon as you reach the point of mastery in the one you are engaging in. You want to be in a constant state of slight discomfort, struggling to barely achieve whatever it is you are trying to do " Then working in IT (…

I didn't know that all these new Javascript frameworks were making me smart.

You joke, but honestly all the web devs that learn a new framework annually will be pretty good at picking up new frameworks after five or ten years. Of course, most of the people who fret about the state of the javascript ecosystem are doing it needlessly from the sidelines and don't themselves ever learn any of the new stuff.

Re: Ways to maximize your cognitive potential

#52

Post by unusximmortalis »

anantzoid wrote: post #46
CuriouslyC wrote: post #9

One of the most consistent ways research has demonstrated to increase connectivity in the brain is to learn new physical skills. Controlling the body in space appears to be particularly good at stimulating the growth of new synapses (and possibly new neurons as well, though the research is not conclusive here outside the hippocampus). Yoga is a good start. Modern dance, breakdancing, capoeira and gymnastics are all e…

I used to do boxing earlier in college, and used to hit the gym religiously till last year, when my elbow fractured and got implants to hold it together. After that I wasn't able to do much activity, even if I wanted, apart from running. Even pushups carry a risk of screwing up the implants in my elbow. What kind of physical activity do you think can be done in this type of scenario?

Swimming (try also cold water not pools). QiGong

Re: Ways to maximize your cognitive potential

#53

Post by Fuxy »

ome6a wrote: post #43

Well, I can tell you this... I did tests long time ago and since the test I got many contacts around since my IQ is extremely high. I don't socialize with people I had only few people with who I have spended some longer time and I have noticed since the begining of our friendship untill now their way of thinking extremely changed. Sometimes I even don't like this... I feel like a battery which is charging others for…

Well at least you have some friends that would take your teachings and run with it I on the other hand had lost contact with all the friends that would do that for various reasons.

Now I'm surrounded by people stuck in their ways that ignore everything that challenges their view and I have to say that is even more frustrating.

Sigh... I need surround myself with more interesting people.

Re: Ways to maximize your cognitive potential

#54

Post by relearn »

FuNe wrote: post #32
dllthomas wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Make use of the 5-9?

Admit it. You don't have kids - right?

Having kids does not exclude you from having a social life. Even one night a week to go to a local meetup would be great for improving one's network.

Re: Ways to maximize your cognitive potential

#55

Post by cableshaft »

anantzoid wrote: post #46
CuriouslyC wrote: post #9

One of the most consistent ways research has demonstrated to increase connectivity in the brain is to learn new physical skills. Controlling the body in space appears to be particularly good at stimulating the growth of new synapses (and possibly new neurons as well, though the research is not conclusive here outside the hippocampus). Yoga is a good start. Modern dance, breakdancing, capoeira and gymnastics are all e…

I used to do boxing earlier in college, and used to hit the gym religiously till last year, when my elbow fractured and got implants to hold it together. After that I wasn't able to do much activity, even if I wanted, apart from running. Even pushups carry a risk of screwing up the implants in my elbow. What kind of physical activity do you think can be done in this type of scenario?

Maybe swimming? Possibly tennis or racquetball if you only use your other arm to hold the racquet. I'm not sure how easy it is to screw it up again, but if you can still handle running it seems like those two might be okay.

Re: Ways to maximize your cognitive potential

#56

Post by cylinder »

jasonellis wrote: post #36

Here is my Cliff's Notes version of the article's list: 5 Ways to Increase Your Cognitive Potential: 1) Seek Novelty. Openness to new activities correlates with IQ, because those individuals are constantly seeking new information, new activities to engage in, new things to learn, and new experiences. 2) Challenge Yourself. Brain games like Sudoku don't work to increase cognitive potential if you keep playing them. Yo…

I already do all these things and can report that none of them are compatible with most corporate jobs. Creative critical thinking and novelty seeking especially disturb management.

Re: Ways to maximize your cognitive potential

#57

Post by cableshaft »

1024core wrote: post #50

My problem is that whenever I encounter something that requires serious brain power, I start feeling sleepy. Anyone else feel this way?

Are you sleeping well? When I don't, things that require brainpower tend to make me feel sleepy. Maybe you have some form of apnea and you don't realize it. Could also be something like Chronic Fatigue Syndrome.

Re: Ways to maximize your cognitive potential

#58

Post by atemerev »

slig wrote: post #15
atemerev wrote: post #11

I can relate to that. I am not super-intelligent, I have ADD, and generally consider myself to be lazy and distraction-prone. However, for some reasons unknown, I have excellent working memory, which allows me to perform feats. Multi-choice exams? Can prepare for anything in few hours. Learn Scala (and another 5-6 programming languages) in a few months? Easy! I don't use password managers, as I remember all my long p…

Have you tried any meds to ADD?

Yes. They make things slightly better, but they don't magically fix everything.

Re: Ways to maximize your cognitive potential

#59

Post by CuriouslyC »

whiteandnerdy wrote: post #19
CuriouslyC wrote: post #9

One of the most consistent ways research has demonstrated to increase connectivity in the brain is to learn new physical skills. Controlling the body in space appears to be particularly good at stimulating the growth of new synapses (and possibly new neurons as well, though the research is not conclusive here outside the hippocampus). Yoga is a good start. Modern dance, breakdancing, capoeira and gymnastics are all e…

To what extent is that connectivity valuable beyond physical exercise? Is there good evidence that this does more than improve coordination and proprioception? (Obviously coordination and proprioception are valuable, but people who value them likely don't need convincing of the merits of exercise!)

I think that _initially_ this new neural growth can be co-opted into general mental flexibility, particularly for things like mathematics and visual reasoning. In a sense, varied movement makes you more aware/perceptive of space. However, I think over time if you don't try to utilize your increased spatial awareness to solve spatial problems, eventually those new neurons will prune their synaptic connections to make the network as efficient as possible. Thus, I believe that pairing novel mental and physical training is the best bet for improving overall intellectual abilities.
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