It is often said that humans only use a small percentage of our mental capacity, but we can help it. Intelligence can also be trained. For more click here Best vitamins supplements to take for mental focus
It is often said that humans only use a small percentage of our mental capacity, and that seemed to be thinking the New York writer Clive Thompson when he titled his book Smarter than You Think, ie “smarter than you think”. According to this writer, we can all exercise certain brain activities that will help us, in general, to be more ready and capable mentally.
1. Spending significant amounts of time off
Thompson is convinced that it is important not to spend the day connected to the Internet, the proof is that says not check your email during weekends, or social networks. Many agent states cannot do without it, because their bosses or their employment status requires consultation email or social networks every day of the week, but this is not at all beneficial and also is not required. If we have to be attentive to email the weekends, we should get paid for it. For it is the time we spend on check messages, but also not just a “be aware” of having to remember to consult: dissipates our concentration and our mental energy is divided. It’s even bad for work constantly thinking about it: the mind needs oxygen. Must be switched off and let others disconnected.
2. Commit to ‘cognitive diversity’: have different mental activity
Ways of thinking, express themselves and communicate through the Internet are very different from the ways to do offline. Thompson considered a dipping several hours reading, a long walk or a discussion without the constant interruption of technological devices incredibly productive. Because the technologies are not bad per se: in the same way that someone who spends the day writing thank you go outside and take a walk, thanks not mind being continually in “Google way”. For more click here 16 Powerful Ways to Use More of Your Brain.
3. Do not be isolated: learn social thought
Are we fools if we are not surrounded by people? And smarter when we do we are? Thompson believes that the answer to this question is, no doubt, yes. The others act as a sort of scaffolding of the things that we say and think, interaction is greater, can remind us of what we said earlier … are bed rest thought, it is better if it is collective (Thompson league made to the definition of the human condition). The idea that we think or reflect involves sitting alone reading a book; Thompson intends to debunk that myth.
4. Find a passion: memory exercises and creativity
Passion drives memory, and creativity emerges in the most unexpected moments whenever you have a series of deeply integrated knowledge. Thus, besides the moments of disconnection that prevent distracted us, employment in tasks that we like will make us certainly more effective and brilliant.
5. Avoid follow only the elite or the canon of thinkers
Thompson believes that internet has discovered the wide diversity of interests and human passions. We can not only be interested in what happens in our people or region, but we have access to everything and can develop a passion almost anything. Passion remains as a trace on the network, pages, forums and other publications that are on any topic.
So internet makes visible the things that really concern the vast majority of people, so we must not only stay in and dictates cultural or intellectual elite, but should cover all types of interests.
6. Know when to rely on the ‘outsourced intelligence’
We must not delegate all our intellectual activity in a calculator, Internet search engine or machine translators. Nor should we mechanize certain mental processes, but ask and constantly react. Let us avoid being lazy intellectuals, because then we will not be intellectual in any way.
7. Playing video games
For Thompson, this new medium is a wonderful new way to learn. It is useful for acquiring intellectual humility, active mental processes that do not usually run and makes us interested by the computer. It puts in a history values, conflicts and methods that are difficult to acquire through the theory. And besides, it’s hilarious.
8. Adapt thinking strategies
We must be flexible and adapt our ways of thinking, they are not equal when we read Fortunate and Jacinta that when we read a series of tweets, blog or a Facebook message. Nor we read like a book, in a book or on the computer. We must take advantage of all these means.
9. Use technology to expand intelligence
We must use the helpful tools offered by technology, without delegating, as has already been mentioned all our activity in it. Twitter, for example, exercising our capacity for synthesis, according to Thompson.
