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Added benefit from studying math is that its a foundation for a whole bunch of other cool stuff.
Some of the smartest people I know don't actively seek out to improve their thinking skills. Its simply a by-product of thinking more about anything and everything. When it comes to thinking, depth first is the way to go. Start asking questions about everything you see (why is Louis Vuitton always on the first floor in a shopping mall? If I spilled my drink, how long does it take before it gets cleaned up?)
Perhaps the best way to improve abstract thinking skills is to increase your mental endurance and start thinking about things more. Eventually, you are going to start connecting things and the abstraction will start to happen.
Also, perhaps increasing your creativity might also help. Every morning I shuffle a deck of cards and I memorize the order (timed. I started this year at 15 mins, now it takes about 1min 30s). To memorize a deck of cards, you must create a story out of your ass and it helps with your creativity.
Eno and Schmidt’s Oblique Strategies is a classic. It’s based on the idea that creativity is based on constraints, so artificially adding new boundaries to a problem helps the mind find new solutions. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oblique_Strategies Read up on “lateral thinking,” it’s sort of the gospel of graphic design. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lateral_thinking
This is not quite related, but I learned something yesterday. My wife tells me that she wants to be smarter so while we were walking I was trying to teach her mental chess so we can play chess while we walk. And she didn't want to because she was mentally exhausted (perhaps from all my talking, which is totally okay). Some of the smartest people I know don't actively seek out to improve their thinking skills. Its sim…
This is not quite related, but I learned something yesterday. My wife tells me that she wants to be smarter so while we were walking I was trying to teach her mental chess so we can play chess while we walk. And she didn't want to because she was mentally exhausted (perhaps from all my talking, which is totally okay). Some of the smartest people I know don't actively seek out to improve their thinking skills. Its sim…
You memorize the order of an entire deck of cards every day?
Something which served me well a long time was a mental game of following logic to extreme conclusions and then asking myself "what if this is true, and my premise was wrong?"
One of the most powerful methods I use now when approaching a new subject is to create my own narrative to the best of my understanding. Then as needed I can refine my narrative. - Apparently a lot of people have a thing where they become deeply and personally invested in the first narrative they discover, and it does not serve them well. - Don't be dogmatic.
Coming up with counter-examples gives you great analytical abilities. It can also earn you enemies, so don't be too hard on the friends you have chosen.
When you encounter something seemingly paradoxical, you have an opportunity to find a new perspective which resolves the paradox. - Here you have further opportunities to observe yourself as you are making observations. Once you are able to do this, you should be self-sufficient in improving your intelligence.
Don't spend all your time pondering! All this work lets you see and experience life more deeply, so it is a waste if you don't choose to have a good time.
Study higher level math! Category theory is a brainfuck that exercises that skill well. This book https://mitpress.mit.edu/books/category-theory-sciences doesn't have any real mathy prereqs but is fun. Added benefit from studying math is that its a foundation for a whole bunch of other cool stuff.