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To boost your intelligence, learn how to self-soothe

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Re: To boost your intelligence, learn how to self-soothe

#31

Post by falseprofit »

armatav wrote: post #11

Is everyone an ‘eccentric genius’ with some magical disorder these days? Or just bloggers? And where’s the source for the white matter structural deformity “delaying” signal processing by “a fraction of a second”, I’m very interested in how that works since it makes no sense that a signaling channel in the brain would suffer a large delay like that.

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S221315821...

“Microstructural abnormalities of fibers in primary sensory tracts and/or in tracts connecting multimodal association areas may result in loss of the precise timing of action potential propagation needed to accomplish accurate sensory processing and MSI.”

They’re measuring properties of this microstructure, not the delay it supposedly is responsible for.

But I’d point out that calling “a fraction of a second” “large” is making a big assumption about the fraction.

Re: To boost your intelligence, learn how to self-soothe

#32

Post by theIntuitionist »

cartoonworld wrote: post #24
theIntuitionist wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you view life as a series of problems to be solved, then life will become a bleak series of problems needing to be solved. The approach outlined in the parent comment here would fail to solve any essential human needs beyond a few of the most basic ones. Finding purpose, not burning out, nurturing family, communicating with others- even in professional settings- and so many other parts of being human require us to…

>If you view life as a series of problems to be solved, then life will become a bleak series of problems needing to be solved. I disagree with this, conditionally. It depends on how you perceive "Problems" and "Solve", as pedantic and Clinton-esque as that comes across. Perceiving your "problems" not as barriers that hinder your progress, but identifying winnable opportunities in your own capabilities is a hallmark o…

Any choice we make that is grounded in subjective decision making suffers from this reframing. And, i'd posit that the vast majority of choices are fundamentally subjective. Just take a moment when engaged in "problem solving" and ask yourself "why?", then question that answer again. You get to motivation, identity , "needs" (and not just the basic food and shelter needs) or some other emotion very quickly this way.

Is choosing a life partner a "problem"? What about something as simple as choosing what to wear in the morning or what beer you want from the bar? Even within traditional engineering problems so much of our decision making process can only be evaluated subjectively. Some examples are: naming variables (your compiler doesn't care what you name them), making choices around encapsulation (there are very often many possible ways to do this. we frequently chose the "simplest"- a subjective assessment), choosing a framework or language (a decision which is one part right tool for the job one part joining a likeminded community), etc.

At the root of it, we're emotional beings, not logical ones. Outsource the logical problems to computers, machines, institutions and focus on what makes you human. Otherwise somebody else will make the important choices for you in ways you certainly wouldn't chose for yourself.

Re: To boost your intelligence, learn how to self-soothe

#33

Post by qq4 »

theIntuitionist wrote: post #22
throwaway98797 wrote: post #8

Acknowledge problem. Accept problem. Attempt to solve problem. Accept outcome. Rinse and repeat. Don’t waste cycles on the emotions of having problems. (not saying that emotions don’t matter, often times they distract one from making progress)

If you view life as a series of problems to be solved, then life will become a bleak series of problems needing to be solved. The approach outlined in the parent comment here would fail to solve any essential human needs beyond a few of the most basic ones. Finding purpose, not burning out, nurturing family, communicating with others- even in professional settings- and so many other parts of being human require us to…

What is the rational behind your first sentence? Solving problems is progress, and that is anything but bleak.

> Don’t waste cycles on the emotions of having problems.

I don't think you're reading what the parent comment is actually saying. Finding purpose, not burning out, etc are all categorically problems and the common goal is to solve them. Don't get buried in emotion due to _having_ the problems.

Re: To boost your intelligence, learn how to self-soothe

#34

Post by username90 »

> The single most impactful thing people can do to improve their intelligence is to learn how to soothe the shame and anxiety that comes from confronting the possibility that the world is not how you see it and experience it.

This includes learning from criticism even when it doesn't come in a neatly packaged easy to digest form. Dismissing feedback just because it wasn't what you wanted to hear is the best way to never learn uncomfortable truths, and the more you do it the harder going back and fixing it gets.

Re: To boost your intelligence, learn how to self-soothe

#35

Post by [deleted] »

sensorsbroken wrote: post #16

This describes me well. As a kid, I scored off the charts in math but was decidedly average in verbal. I can read technical literature all day long, but most works of fiction, historical writings, etc, are lost on me completely. I was in G&T throughout grade school, anyway, since I was among the top students in math. My learning disability was unidentified until adulthood, unfortunately. Now, as a middle aged adult,…

[deleted]

Re: To boost your intelligence, learn how to self-soothe

#36

Post by username90 »

armatav wrote: post #11

Is everyone an ‘eccentric genius’ with some magical disorder these days? Or just bloggers? And where’s the source for the white matter structural deformity “delaying” signal processing by “a fraction of a second”, I’m very interested in how that works since it makes no sense that a signaling channel in the brain would suffer a large delay like that.

There are by definition many millions of people in the top 2% of intelligence and that is enough to be called a genius at school.

Re: To boost your intelligence, learn how to self-soothe

#37

Post by Disruptive_Dave »

dwaltrip wrote: post #18
throwaway98797 wrote: post #8

Acknowledge problem. Accept problem. Attempt to solve problem. Accept outcome. Rinse and repeat. Don’t waste cycles on the emotions of having problems. (not saying that emotions don’t matter, often times they distract one from making progress)

My initial reaction to the idea that emotions can distract one from making progress is that there may be unaddressed issues present. Emotions are bodily signals. You could say they are the result of information processing. They don’t come from nowhere. Emotions need to be processed and responded to. Maybe we can find common ground with the idea that some emotional issues take a long time to resolve, and, in the meant…

Not OP, but I would hope the original comment was intended to imply that emotions should be _responded_ to (as you noted) and not _reacted_ to. Responding involves understanding, "naming your enemy," and contextual consideration. Reacting is thoughtless, immediate, animalistic.

Re: To boost your intelligence, learn how to self-soothe

#38

Post by [deleted] »

dang wrote: post #27
king_magic wrote: post #3

The single most impactful thing you can do to boost your intelligence is learn how to effectively self-soothe This sounds like absolutely unscientific, completely unfounded, feel-good-blogspam bullshit. And hey, maybe it isn't - maybe it's legit. But I see no sources, no studies that indicate that "self soothing" does anything for boosting general intelligence. Absent sources that confirm the author's position, this…

" Please don't fulminate. " " Please don't post shallow dismissals, especially of other people's work. A good critical comment teaches us something. " " Have curious conversation; don't cross-examine. " " When disagreeing, please reply to the argument instead of calling names. 'That is idiotic; 1 + 1 is 2, not 3' can be shortened to '1 + 1 is 2, not 3. " https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html If we control…

[deleted]

Re: To boost your intelligence, learn how to self-soothe

#40

Post by elcritch »

jjeaff wrote: post #30
sensorsbroken wrote: post #16

This describes me well. As a kid, I scored off the charts in math but was decidedly average in verbal. I can read technical literature all day long, but most works of fiction, historical writings, etc, are lost on me completely. I was in G&T throughout grade school, anyway, since I was among the top students in math. My learning disability was unidentified until adulthood, unfortunately. Now, as a middle aged adult,…

I hope things get better for you. And while everyone is different, a lot of studies these days are leaning towards neuroplasticity actually continuing pretty strongly even into old age. So don't give up. You may need to find good treatment for any learning disabilities, but you can always learn more.

There’s also data to indicate that SSRI’s working mechanism is actually by stimulating neuro-regeneration meaning they can help restore some neuroplasticity. They can be worth considering.

Or more extreme treatments like ketamine research that appears to promote neuroplasticity.

Both of those require some changes in cognitive behaviors. CBT appears the best technique. The best thing about universities is that they normally offer excellent mental health services for free (or part of tuition).

To the OP: hang in there!

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