Can you make yourself smarter? • Hacker News Board

Re: Can you make yourself smarter?

#51

Post by hackinthebochs » Thu, Apr 19, 2012, 6:13 PM UTC

gala8y wrote: post #45

hackinthebochs wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Seems very true in my opinion. I've always excelled at math, essentially have a bachelors in mathematics, etc etc. My weakness has always been getting the details of the "basic" math correct. Higher math is about logic, abstractions and applying them to solve problems. Basic math is about holding bits of information in your head and manipulating them accurately. I absolutely believe that basic math taxes your working…

I just skimmed Outliers book by Malcom Gladwell. One of the things author discusses are differences in number systems in different cultures. He argues (in fact quoting Stanislas Dehaene [1]), that in eastern languages number words are shorter and faster to pronounce. Thus, you can hold more of them at a time in memory (short term memory is very time sensitive). You could say that you dont really need to 'pronounce' s…

Sounds very true in my experience. This is one of the reasons why naming (in programming and everything else) is so crucial: good naming directly influences how easily one can mentally manipulate the objects in question. This is another reason why mathematicians work so hard to create concise abstractions.

I'll have to take a look at that book, sounds fascinating. Thanks.

Re: Can you make yourself smarter?

#52

Post by gwern » Thu, Apr 19, 2012, 9:10 PM UTC

mhartl wrote: post #39

moldbug wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's a brutal critique which comes close to a charge of scientific fraud. I'd be curious to see a response. If there isn't one, I know what to think.

Wikipedia ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/N-back ) links to a semi-rebuttal: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0160289610... Naturally, the full article is behind a paywall.

Jaeggi 2010 http://www.gwern.net/DNB%20FAQ#jaeggi-2010 did not address the main criticism of Moody, and administered the tests speeded as in Jaeggi 2008.

Re: Can you make yourself smarter?

#53

Post by gwern » Thu, Apr 19, 2012, 9:13 PM UTC

sente wrote: post #47

I'm probably just being overly critical here but his example of "deciding if a number is odd or even in a matter of seconds" seems odd, I think 2nd graders and up can tell you in half a second or less whether or not a number's even or odd. He says: "In addition to working memory, researchers are seeking to improve fluid intelligence by training other basic mental skills — perceptual speed (deciding, in a matter of se…

> can tell you in half a second or less whether or not a number's even or odd.

Sure, but just because it takes half a second or less doesn't mean it's not reflecting mental performance. For example, testing reflexes takes even less time, down to tenths of a second, but yet, reflex time still correlates with IQ.

Re: Can you make yourself smarter?

#54

Post by gwern » Thu, Apr 19, 2012, 9:14 PM UTC

6841iam wrote: post #35

Can anyone recommend games on the android that do "N-back testing"?

http://www.gwern.net/DNB%20FAQ#android

Re: Can you make yourself smarter?

#55

Post by invalidOrTaken » Fri, Apr 20, 2012, 10:48 PM UTC

bostonvaulter2 wrote: post #28

invalidOrTaken wrote: post #9

Wow, the timing here seems auspicious. Lately I've been thinking about the limitations that being human puts on a programmer. We work very hard (and should) to reduce cognitive load on ourselves through good development tools that act as crutches for memory---REPL's and good debuggers allow us to try something and see what happens, as opposed to simulating a multivariate operation in our heads. Intellisense and easil…

How are you using Anki with emacs? Or are you using Anki to learn Emacs?

Anki to learn emacs. Should have been more clear.

One thing I've noticed about Anki is that the pain of memorizing and retaining stuff has been significantly reduced. As such, I tend to be much more willing to "just memorize the whole thing" in a lot of cases. I guess a good analogy is the impact faster CPU's/more memory has had on programming---when they stop being the limiting factor, we start using languages adapted to us, rather than them. Similarly, as memorization has become "cheaper" to me, I find myself making choices that involve more memorization. A few days ago I made a deck specifically for all the gmail keyboard shortcuts. It would not normally be worth my time to commit those to memory, but because the cost has fallen so much, it didn't seem like a bad idea.