Are you intelligent?
The theory of intelligence basically states the ability of a person to be able to understand, analyze and solve a problem at hand. It could be a mechanical, physical, electronic, relationship or learning by itself. The lack of the ability creates the degrees of intelligence in an individual.
The one aspect the helps us differentiate from other animals is the ability to innovate and create new ideas to form our environment. From the creation of fire to the wheel to the computer and many more such devices that have enabled us to live the life that we are currently enjoying.
How did Intelligence develop?
This took 1000+ years to make but in the last 100 years, we have progressed in leaps and bounds thus shortening the cycle of the development of intelligence. The growth of the synapses in the brain have increased more than the previous generations combined before these 100 years or that is what we thought to be.
There is evidence that the civilizations of the Mayan, Greek, Mesopotamia and Indus valley had intelligence of the cells and universe much before technology was introduced to the world. With technology, we are just beginning to understand theories that were already written 2000 years ago. The form of intelligence was not with external devices but their own mind.
The one aspect which we are subduing for intelligence to further develop is pain and struggle. The historic evidence shows that people who endured pain, challenges and did it the hard way, were able to develop cognitive and intuitive skills that made them far superior that the individuals of today. While we boast of technology that gives us the ability to solve our daily problems, it is making the brain redundant.
Is technology a boon or a bane?
Technology and electronic devices are helping us manage our daily lives with much ease and comfort. While it is a welcome to our lives, it is not allowing the brain to increase it’s functionality but instead decrease it. The ability of spatial understanding, reasoning, problem solving are reducing with the new generation as they have taken their existence for granted and are not able to create new thinking against the theories that have already been thought of in the past. There are exceptions to this, and they are the ones who are gaining the maximum power around us.
Technology in the end is creating a function less brain. It is diminishing the need to use our innate skills and abilities, instead, we are dependent on support from these devices. A simple mathematic calculation involving addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division cannot be done mentally, we instead look at a calculator to do the process and wait for the answer. While in the times before the calculator, the brain was the best device used for the computation of all the complex math problems.
Intelligence a development!
There are methods and processes to develop intelligence and research has shown that while we may not be born with high IQs, there are ways and means to develop it. The development is the highest as a child and it slows down as we grow. We can see it in the elders above 65 years of age, where their intelligence diminishes and they resort to behaving like a child; arrogant and refusing to learn new things. Their intelligence diminishes with their need to relax and be comfortable. Whereas in teenagers and young adults the ability to learn and achieve tasks is high. They are also able to make amends in their personality and mend the wrong behaviors or create new behavior in their personality, some with ease and others with difficulty.
We need to start teaching children at a young age the ability to learn new things, understand concepts and implement them in their daily lives. Our education system needs to change from teaching rote-based learning to innovative and creative methods which force the child to think creatively into managing their learning, understand, reasoning, and problem-solving abilities. The higher the bar of performance the better they stand to achieve intelligence beyond their expectations.
How can we increase our intelligence?
The internet has articles and research papers that showcase intelligence in the form of process and diet to have higher forms of recall and memory. The analytical and solving methods are but a few in the information available online. The ways to increase our intelligence are simple in theory but difficult for many in practice. The reason for this is because the mind has been conditioned to be in its comfort zone and we are myopic in our outlook for financial profit in all the activities we do.
Intelligence can be increased by the following practices at different stages in your life. Although, earlier the better:
Being open to change
We have been told what to do since childhood, most of us have never been given the opportunity to think of a solution. In kindergarten, we are tutored to sit quietly and discipline our lives from the time we open our eyes till we sleep. We are conditioned to follow a process and maintain that process for the first 20 years of our lives.
Thereafter, we are groomed to marry, have children and perform a task from 9-6 either 5 or 6 days a week and that is the routine till we say goodbye to the world. The challenge here is to get marks, high pay, and showcase the society of your financial success.
But when we allow the child to make conscious choices, mistakes and then learn from them; innovation and creativity form the basis of their knowledge and they are open to new ideas being created to solve daily problems.
Get out of your comfort zone
We love to relax and unwind, sit on a beach or in the mountains, and look at nature. But do we really struggle with our daily routines? The best example is of people who want to reduce their weight and go to the gym. They take yearly memberships but are barely able to make it past the 1st month. Laziness, fatigue, the need to be relaxed and unwind are the causes of obesity in the first place. Their mind and body cannot endure the pain, the challenge and make excuses where they are not challenged for the day’s tasks.
Routine is good, but discipline reduces the ability to be creative. With routine, you can schedule yourself for better opportunities and manage your time well, but with chaos, you are able to solve problems at a quicker pace and move to the next. The constant change in life, allows the mind to think of possibilities of solutions that were never thought of before.
Being dependent on devices
With the advent of the computer and smartphones, our dependency on our abilities is reducing by the day. We tend to turn towards the devices around us for answers. If there is a doubt, we address it to a search engine and browse through for the answers. It could be a song or a name of a person or the directions to an address or just simple accounting calculations. The mind is not challenged to think, reason, understand, analyze and solve.
Start doing tasks on your own, it may be difficult at the start but eventually, over a period of time, you would be able to do mental math, recall names of people and information, analyze and solve daily life issues and problems with ease. There would be less stress over a long period when you are constantly challenging your mind.
Change your learning
Most of the time we spend our childhood and early adulthood learning as a process and then stick to the same process for the rest of our lives. This limits the expansion of our ability to learn and we get into a comfort zone. Your processes in repeated continuity limits the ability for you to increase your cerebral activity and thereby limits the intelligence in yourself.
If you get good at an activity, look at another activity to improve your intelligence and challenge it further. For example, if you are good at learning, then take up physical activities that challenge your body to fitness, thereafter take up learning a new skill till you master it and keep learning new skills to master. This form of eclectic learning enables greater intelligence and improvement in your abilities in a continuous form.
Do it the hard way
We have already discussed the need to get out of our comfort zone, but the need to be in the constant challenge and do it the hard way enables the intelligence to a different form. By always taking the shortcut or easy solution you really do not allow your brain to develop a new skill or learning. The best example is of learning an instrument, in the beginning, it is difficult to understand the notes and music but as the practice increases by the day. The hand, eye, and thought coordination increases thereby allowing the individual to try harder notes and scales that were previously not possible.
The challenge is to do things the hard way, when you can ride to your destination, try walking or running. Instead of taking the elevator or escalator, you can walk it out. Instead of using a calculator for calculations, try to mentally calculate the solution in your mind. These would be difficult or challenge in the start, but as you progress try to increase the difficulty and challenging your mind to think further. These are simple methods to help you increase your intelligence.
Intelligence is an innate characteristic that we are born with
It does not mean we cannot develop it further. With proper guidance and tutoring, research has proven that the IQ of a below average student can be increased to above average over a period of time. Autistic children who were tested with an IQ of 80 or lower, were able to attain IQ of above 100 after tutoring on different abilities in an eclectic model of teaching. If they can be tutored for an increase in intelligence, then we can incorporate the same process in our education system to have a generation of creative and innovative thinkers!
~Written by Roshan Dsouza, Life Consultant and Counselling Psychologist
Roshan terms himself as a life consultant because he has the experience of being an employee, running a business and counselling. Using the statistical ability and the mental prowess of a leader he helps guide business houses into profit-making decisions by harnessing their instincts with the right data. This gives them an edge into calling a bluff or making the best deal.
Also, a counselor works with clients with disorders and helps them find their purpose, thereby solving the problem. An avid body language study, he specializes in peoples reactions without the need for them to speak, still working on reading poker players