Ask HN: How can I improve my intelligence? | Hacker News Reader

Ask HN: How can I improve my intelligence?

79 pointsmpva65 comments

As I get older, I am realising there are tons of things I do not know. I am constantly meeting people younger than me that just blow me away with their smarts.

What, is anything can I do to improve memory, intellect, acuity etc..

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1) Exercize

2) Healthy diet (low weight, appropriate vitamins preferably from foods, etc.)

3) Sleep well - 6.30 hours seem to be the sweet spot, some need a little more (the recent "8 hours or bust" is mostly bogus pseudo-science, which even if peddled by an actual scientist, is not backed up properly, since the data show otherwise).

- All three of the above boost congnitive skills, alertness, memory, etc, more than anything else. If you have some medical issues affecting the above (e.g. some condition), seek help, and treat them as well. E.g. you might need pills to focus. But take care of the above big 3 as a priority.

4) Read a lot. Mostly books.

On fields outside technical/science (where newer is better), try to read a healthy chunk of old ones too.

On scientific fields, read newer stuff, but also some of the classics (e.g. for IT, something like "The Mythical Man-Month").

For the fields you're interested in, don't go for summaries and lazy recaps, go to the sources. Cliff Notes helps you repeat the same talking points as anybody else. Reading the original material helps you form your own perspective (and, if the material is art, it's also a totally deeper experience). Shed the common tech/nerd prejudice that History, Literature, or Philosophy "don't matter".

5) Talk to people. All kinds of people. You don't only learn and get insights from Feynman or Buffet types, but also from a retired pilot, a plumber, a cook, a single mother of two, whatever. Some wont be insights about technical developments or scientific techniques, but will nonetheless be insights into human society, feelings, how the other half lives, and so on.

6) Don't try to master everything. Focus on 1-2 things, and try to get a general knowledge of others. Get personal experience with things you care about, not just theoritical.

7) Stress less. Excess stress (over things one should not stress about, rather than actual heavy problems of the moment) can kill cognitive ability.

8) Don't trust random eight point lists from random idiots on the internet. They could be right, but how would you know?

Thanks

Number eight is my fav :-p

9) Get out of your comfort zone frequently. Usually when you do something that really hurts in your brain and you just cannot grasp it, continue and do not give up! These are the times when you learn the most!

-> No pain, no gain

That's a good list but I have to strongly disagree with the idea that 6 hours might be enough for most people. Sleep is so important that you really should be aiming to get as much as you can. We have models for the mechanism by which lack of sleep may contribute to stuff like dementia, along with animal autopsies, coupled with the fact that people who only get 6.30h sleep per night have a higher chance of getting dementia than someone getting 8h.(there may be some negative loop stuff there, but it is a negative loop). There may be some people that can function fine on 6.30h sleep at night, but that says nothing about it being healthy. Maybe every book, and sleep scientist I've herd is peddling this pseudo science about how you should aim for 8h plus, but I doubt it. I'm sure you have some random article supporting your position but what about any actual studies showing that people getting 6h sleep is safe both in theory and practise... in any case my tip for people is to throw away your alarm clock and wake up naturally once you've had enough sleep. If you are relying on your alarm clock to wake you up then almost by definition you aren't getting enough sleep.

There was a recent post here [1] with graphs showing that anything more than 6.5-7 hours increases all cause mortality about the same, if not more, as sleeping less.

Here's the discussion part on long sleep:

> Proposed mechanisms for mortality associated with long sleep include: (I) long sleep is linked to increased sleep fragmentation that is associated with a number of negative health outcomes; (II) long sleep is associated with feelings of fatigue and lethargy that may decrease resistance to stress and disease; (III) changes in cytokine levels associated with long sleep increase mortality risk; (IV) long sleepers experience a shorter photoperiod that could increase the risk of death in mammalian species; (V) a lack of physiological challenge with long sleep decrease longevity; (VI) underlying disease processes mediate the relationship between long sleep and mortality.

[1] https://www.nature.com/articles/srep21480

This thread is about cognitive ability not mortality though. I definitely know people who function fine on 6 hours sleep, but I will become a zombie if I only get this much sleep over a period of say a couple of weeks (at least if I'm doing mental work, if I'm mostly doing physical things with my day this can different).

I need at least 8 and preferably 10 hours of sleep (as an average).

>This thread is about cognitive ability not mortality though.

I'd expect the optimum for mortality and congnitide ability in this case would be about the same. Else we'd have the case of something worsening your health but making you smarter (whereas for food, exercize, etc. it's the inverse).

>I need at least 8 and preferably 10 hours of sleep (as an average).

While there is more or less sleep required by different people, note that what an individual "needs" might not be the optimum for them under all conditions, but be such because e.g. they are stressed, overworked, sleep badly, etc.

E.g. someone with apnea (e.g. due to weight) might need 10 hours of sleep to feel well, but that is because they have low quality sleep, and need the extra time to conpensate - not because their organism, if cured of its apnea, actually needs that amount of time optimally.

I think you are right that you'd expect them to be correlated. But I think we need to look deeper at mortality rates and the amount of sleep.

Its probably due to reverse causation. If you are ill then the best thing you can do is sleep, so ill people sleep more. Its not that sleep is bad. If those people only slept say 8h then their health outcomes would be much worse. Basically if you are sleeping 11h then you should be worried about an underlying medical condition, not from the actual amount of sleep itself

Thats usually due to reverse causation. If you are ill then the best thing you can do is sleep, so ill people sleep more. Its not that sleep is bad. If those people only slept say 8h then their health outcomes would be much worse. Basically if you are sleeping 11h then you should be worried about an underlying medical condition, not from the actual amount of sleep itself

Worth noting 1,2,7 really helps 3.

Can you back up your statement in 3) with some citations? It contradicts what I read in "Matthew Walker - Why We Sleep" book.

Alexey Gusey had a fair criticism of Matthew Walker's 'Why We Sleep':

https://guzey.com/books/why-we-sleep/

He sort goes a bit ad hominem on some parts but he has a lot of fair points.

Too bad, thanks :( When I read that book it has a profound impact on me and changed several habits I had. There are always two sides of the coin eh...

Well I am not sure there is anything substantially wrong in the lifestyle changes that Walker proposes.

The only thing that is wrong is the fatalism with which he presents it. It's the 'do this or die soon' fear mongering which is uncalled for.

Life is complicated do what you can and what works for you.

I'm really impressed with that work

Acuity can be improved with more work on focus.

Memory can be improved with exercise and various aids, some of which help you pack more into working memory, while others get your data to be close at hand.

I submit your intelligence is what it is.

What this all comes down to is work. While there may be a ceiling for all of us, defined by inability to grok no matter how much work is done, the fact is below that point work has real, tangible benefits.

You can improve your wisdom dramatically too. Processing either your own experience, or that which others share, can give you seriously potent mental tools, rules of thumb, contexts to reason with.

Think of wisdom like you do tools. It is a labor output multiplier. In our youth, we are rarely wise, but we also are white hot nimble. When we are old, we have a body of experience to draw on.

Wise people make more with fewer moves, generally see lower risks and costs and can often gain the benefit of time. That is time for the work needed to be relevant, vital.

All these things combined can really add up. I have changed careers a few times and take these things very seriously each time.

It pays off.

Whatever intelligence we have is likely to be enough, unless our goals are severely misaligned with our basic nature. In my experience, this is rare given one gets to hard work and sets clear priorities.

And that is the last thing. We lose a little of that youthful nimble mind as we age. It does not go away, but it does require priority to manifest and serve the function you need it for.

When you perform these works, make them count. Be present and give yourself time to play, explore, shake off inhibition.

Trust you will get there.

Thanks for this +1

To also add,, I have been told meditation can help and I would also like to start that.

I find that I lack focus, memory and interest. My curiosity and desire to learn has been replaced with "CBA" for want of a better phrase.

I want to be better, smarter and able to understand situations better.

It has helped me in the past, particularly with focus.

Of all that I said, being present, as in seriously lucid, is the biggest bang for the buck in all this work as you transition through age. Lucidity is much duller, not as potent of a state when one has a noisy mind.

It can bring you those young eyes and help you internalize wisdom.

Those fast, smart people will see that and value it. Hell, I did and have had wise mentors over the years too.

I cannot overstate the value in all of that. Nailing hard tasks beats quick convo over coffee almost everytime.

There is a big difference between being able to trade in smart things and wise people who can focus well and drill down to vital insights, and or see the golden ones amidst a pile of brassy, attractive things.

That's all I got really. Good luck!

What do you mean by: Nailing hard tasks beats quick convo over coffee almost everytime. ?

Sorry I'm late to see this.

It's a reference to focus. Sometimes those quick coffee conversations are part of the focus and make a lot of sense and are big help. Sometimes a fresh mind can really do wonders.

They also can be a major league distraction, and or a source of anti Focus. I wasn't really clear on that and should have been. Hopefully this helps.

> While there may be a ceiling for all of us, defined by inability to grok no matter how much work is done, the fact is below that point work has real, tangible benefits.

I’m a bit on edge, because as of right now I have no idea what that is. I’ve come up with a few medium-long to long term plans that will be an huge time investment and likely in some way a moderate monetary investment, but am not sure if I have the intelligence to complete them. Worse even, I figure I would unlikely find out until I’m significantly invested in them. Due to a mix of things like laziness and poor focus (the latter of which you note can be improved) that I believe in part has held me back in that past, but I also feel that certain failures could be due to intelligence, but as of right now, I’m unable to differentiate.

Who can? Seriously.

Either:

trust you are smart enough, and we almost always are, and commit to hard work

, or

abandon it and move on something lower risk, lower cost, but with a respectable or worthy reward

, or

seek help.

Rough place to be in, frankly. I do not envy you. :(

And what of the rewards?

You might try valuing them this way:

Actual value = (predicted value * risk) - (cost * time)

> Processing either your own experience, or that which others share, can give you seriously potent mental tools, rules of thumb, contexts to reason with.

Could you please expand on this?

I'm late to answer respond on this one too. Just happened to scroll back through my comments.

First and foremost, being really present, lucid for new experiences, or as an observer to others new experiences, captures a lot of information in the moment that has high value.

Taking a while after something like that to think through it internalized it, what rules may apply, what dynamics were present, and details and importance is a very good exercise. What this does is kind of solidify and amplify the memory of the experience.

Secondly, a great many things are connected. As we have time, making those connections can yield perspective and commonality that can save us a lot of time in the future by recognizing when those things are in play. And what I mean by that is you may actually have a skill or an understanding that that's workable already known to you, but you don't know it because you have never matched up the task at hand with the full set of tools you possess.

This is going to seem like a silly example, but when I was working in the shop, I found a lot of similarities between how I staged the material I was handling, optimize the process I was executing, and programs how data moves, what's efficient what's not, that sort of thing.

Once I had that realization, I broke every production record in the building regularly, with very little negative impact, and a lot of positive impact.

I spent a lot of time in manufacturing, as and being a prototype mechanic, making things directly with my hands and the tools. I also spent a fair amount of time upfront engineering, putting in systems for automation, doing layout design reviews and that sort of thing.

I worked with a lot of people, from older workers who'd been doing this their whole lives to young people just getting started.

Take production. More fit, younger people do well, given they have discipline.

Now, protos, or improving production works very differently. Sometimes the goal is to make one or two of something hard.

Here, the people who have had experiences, who know how to think, who can qualify and quantify risks, who have an internal sense of the dynamics, scale, etc... who can feel its good, rock!

Normally it takes many years to perform that role. I was the youngest by a couple decades. And I performed well.

And that all happened because I understood the phrase you asked me more about.

Working with those guys, who learned their craft in all analog means, no computers was amazing!

Wisdom is to how we think and how productive those thoughts are like tools are to labor.

Here is the secret:

You watch with eyes and mind wide open. Try to remember that state when you were a little kid, no preconceptions and excitement, openness to a new thing and just be ultra lucid, present.

Then, afterword, think about it, connect things together, and then share with others to firm it up, get clarity and filter out noise, error.

Many people become good at repeating what they have seen or done. Does not matter physical, virtual, whatever. It is monkey see, monkey do.

And that's great! It is a skill I value highly, makes me a great technician.

But, the second order on all that is to know why, be able to derive that from basics and compare to other "whys" already known.

The third order comes with time, and that is perspective, scale, expectations, being able to plan well in advance, and execute with confidence, despite large portions of the task at hand being novel.

Truth is far less is truly novel, and we do not realize and benefit from that because we do not take the time to really see what our experiences, or those shared with us mean.

Eat well, sleep well, stay or become physically active, and try something new every day.

Don't compare yourself to others. Rather, set goals for yourself that work best for you.

But do keep learning and drawing inspiration from others. We are not meant to be islands unto ourselves.

Challenge your mind with books and articles that may run counter to your ingrained beliefs. Sit down and have a game of chess with someone who is the opposite of you on issues of the day.

Get out in nature, take regular walks through the local park, cemetery, etc. There's evidence that this has therapeutic effects on the brain and body.

Grow a garden, get your fingers in the dirt, eat your own homegrown produce.

Shake it up and do something totally new and different: African drumming, Asian cooking, 3D printing (my new hobby).

> people younger than me that just blow me away with their smarts

(sidenote: are you sure it's really "smarts"? Many people (younger and older) just have a combination of superficial knowledge with good salesperson skills. It creates the illusion of an expert)

Personally, I think it comes down to an ability to focus. I don't think there's a problem so impenetrable that time and focus can't crack.

The problem is (again, IMO) that today's society rewards quick feedback. I find myself in a disadvantage as I need quite a lot of time to sit down, break the problem down and reflect on it. I'll give an example on how this is unfair: school system exams. Everyone gets the same time, even though some will get there eventually if only given more time.

So perhaps the problem is not you, and your natural thinking rhythm.

Personally, I think "intelligence" means different things to different people. Some people are intelligent in their specific domain because they spend a lot of time working in that domain. Others are generalists, they know a little bit about a lot of things. To me, both are intelligent in their own right.

This article had a huge impact on me: The T-Shaped Information Diet - https://junglegym.substack.com/p/the-t-shaped-information-di....

Here's the basic idea:

> The T-shaped talent model suggests that the best way to grow your abilities is to build a shallow understanding across a breadth of domains and a depth of expertise in whichever domain is most relevant to your profession.

> Some people are intelligent in their specific domain because they spend a lot of time working in that domain

But most people spending a lot of time working in a domain are still mediocre at it.

1) Realizing how little you know is the beginning of wisdom.

2) Surround yourself with those smarter than yourself.

You're doing fine!

Human-level intelligence, so far, is something miraculous. Your specific "intelligence" is fixed, but without the fundamentals (sleep, diet, exercise etc), you cannot know how much that is... Your learning, practice, experience, curiosity, playfulness, discovery and invention compounds day by day, building on itself, increasing your "apparent intelligence".

Follow your interest (you may need to push yourself at first), and you can become expert in something, and impress others as they have impressed you. Even better, you can guide them as they have guided you. OTOH

  If you compare yourself with others, you may become vain or bitter, for always there will be smarter and dumber persons than yourself.

I can relate to your position, especially now due to illness it is becoming harder for me to even get to a normal level of thinking. My observations with this struggle;

I think what you should focus on is making progress for your own sake; * overall it's about consciously (re)exposing yourself to intellectual inspiration, and making to effort to ingrain it. (meaning, next time around you have more tools to reason and express) *

1) throw out absolutism, completism, perfectionism, focus on 'good enough model / summary' that you repeat or relate to others

2) apply models of repetition as explained in things like 'learning how to learn', and 'the power of habits' (etc) to your reading, processing and decision making. Include reasoning, wisdom, and not just knowledge.

3) takeaways from any source can be on topic, form, style etc. You can learn a way of phrasing from one context that helps you convey your argument in another. (have fun with it)

4) reflect on experiences where you were in peak form. Your goal is to get to this more often, en recognize the path.

5) Try to make a manifesto or main collection of powerful ideas that should guide you. you can alter it along the way, strengthen it with references etc. just make sure you do the work of revisiting and culling. This is your externalized intellectual memory.

- bonus: take your pick of philosophical, spiritual, psychological texts and find some golden nuggets about how to appreciate yourself and deal with our sometimes negative instincts.

I'm not sure if you're looking for more intelligence here, but more learning ... a different thing. That can be fed by opening-wide your curiosity, and constantly feeding it with new things. Youtube is great for that, so are books that genuinely interest you and motivate you to learn more. Always take time to recall what you've experienced and remember the details.

But supposing you do mean intelligence, then: First you need to take good care of your 'machine'. Enough rest, good diet, enough exercise, avoid aggravating things and people. There will be days it's not working; learn to recognize them; don't struggle, get some chores done.

After that: there are many kinds of intelligence. Get that list, pick the one you want to work on.

One example: creative intelligence. The kind authors, artists, composers, (even programmers!) may have. (Or not.) First they have to learn how to take great dictation (writing words, or painting, or writing musical notes down) ... to 'get ready'. Then they need to learn to get their 'brain intelligence' out of the way to get the flow going. Many will use some kind of mind-altering substance substance to get there. (Be careful you don't get owned.) Einstein got his top ideas by imagining. Music players get their chops solid, and then 'go nuts' (or artistic, depending on the genre). If you're lucky, 'The Source' will then start pouring. (Doesn't have to be 'artistic', just something where 'new' is an advantage... you have to be open to it.)

I would add (cherry picked):

(1) try examining and playing with your beliefs. I highly recommend Sleight of Mouth, a book by Robert Dilts [0], in this area - it's 'content free' framework.

(2) ...also within the realm of mind/language, get to know 'meta model' from NLP patterning - this will work in the same direction as (1). Fifth chapter in [2] will show you the way. It's also 'content free' knowledge - meta knowledge.

(3) last, but not least... another big framework for a complete make over is to get to know a Voice Dialogue perspective. Embracing Our Selves [3] is a great and complete resource (I know, I repeat myself with this one a lot).

The changes you introduce using these perspectives will make a big, slow ripples throughout your mind. Voice Dialogue can blow your mind in an instant. All of this will help you release limitations of your mind which your mind places on itself. The path does not end and the journey is fascinating.

[1] https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/667096.Sleight_of_Mouth

[2] https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/61610.Introducing_Neuro_...

[3] https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/419437.Embracing_Ourselv...

Isn't NLP pseudoscience, more like a cult?

Interesting, as I'm getting older I realize just how much noise is out there and that I actually should be doing and knowing less, not more. A free and ready mind is an awesome resource. All the cool stuff people know? Often (not always) not that important, except as a knowledge discipline in itself / art. But I'm only in my early 30s.

    Without stirring abroad
    One can know the whole world;
    Without looking out the window
    One can see the way of heaven.
    The further one goes
    The less one knows.

    Therefore the sage knows without having to stir,
    Identifies without having to see,
    Accomplishes without having to act.

(Tao Te Ching, chapter 47, D.C. Lau translation.)

This is so on point!

In case anyone thinks this is about "an old grandpa that sits on his porch and just enjoys life" or something like that - it's not. The last three lines are exactly what good leadership is.

I think such a man on his porch would have a wonderfully free and ready mind.

Ursula Le Guin's rendition is maybe more impactful to the modern reader:

    So the wise soul
    doesn't go, but knows;
    doesn't look, but sees;
    doesn't do, but gets it done.

Yes. Let me correct: it's not only about that grandpa.

Gain mastery over some field and start chunking. This idea of chunking is something that was discovered when measuring the intelligence and memory of chess grand masters. It was found that they did not have higher intelligent or better memories. Instead what was happening was that they had started chunking their knowledge and thus could process the data (chess board) much faster and efficiently and this allowed their minds to work on doing something new, since all the obvious moves where already intuitive for them.

Two recommendations:

1/ The Bioneer - Current research on improving intelligence/working memory - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KsGFCg72zoA&list=PLZo07XrNsS...

2/ Huberman Lab podcast - A deep dive into the mechanisms of our brain and body - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/how-to-focus-to-change...

Take time off, hike in the woods with no stress, eat very healthy, have sex, etc. Basically just be really healthy. Brain training exercises dont work. You can try to do new things, like learn to paint with your non dominant hand.

Learn how to breath. Learn how to listen to your body. Exercise walking and anything that requires great flexibility and control,yoga,dance,roofing on a 12/12 pitch roof. Learn hard new things outside your field to the point of marketable functionality. Finish or be done with the things lurking in the background. Realise that many people who come accross as intelligent are just cunning,oportunists,who have memorised much but know very little. Take risks.

Interesting read. I'm 62 but hang out with a lot of people in their 20s and 30s. I enjoy learning new things and fiddling with technology. Age is just a number. My long term gosl is to be the oldest person to through hike the AT. I also plan to have a work+free income of no less than $100K per year by age 70. These goals keep me interested, active, and learning.

Learn about mental models (tools to understand and predict things about the world) then practice using them.

For learning, check out fs.blog: https://fs.blog/mental-models/

For practice, check out Decision School: http://decisionschool.org/

Question everything. Not just the obvious things like "how does crypto work", but also mundane things you encounter in everyday life: Why did they react that way? Could I have handled that better? Why was ___ placed in that location? Why isn't there a ___ here? Why is ___ more expensive than ___? What are they trying to achieve with ___? Why do I want ___? Etc.

Half the battle is knowing what you don’t know, go learn it !

If you are meeting smart people, talk to them and learn from them.

Otherwise, read more, think more, rest, relax, and have fun in between.

Lower your stress level. Secure your finances, relationships.

Intelligence is a non goal. Goal is to satisfy your curiosity, or accomplish some goals, or learn something interesting.

I haven’t seen this mentioned yet: Spaced Repetition. There is no better way to learn and retain information. Personally, I use Anki.

Exercise, enough sleep, a healthy diet, and staying hydrated can make your brain work better.

I have an intuitive sense that you have the intelligence to meet your goals, so the keys will end up being focus, drive, the ability to stay with it when the going gets really rough, and the humility to ask for help when you need it.

if you aren't challenging yourself (mentally) there is not much you can do to improve.

I recommend diving deep into problems that interest you, noodle on them until you fully understand the problem or start coming up with solutions. This also improves your intuition.

Personally, my memory (especially working memory) improves drastically after long hours and days of thinking. Memory improves as you build your cognitive knowledge map and the puzzle pieces start to connect and the picture becomes clearer.

Pick a problem that means something to you and start from there. It's sometimes hard to find such problems especially if you aren't into a particular domain. In such cases, start by understanding a domain you love and the problems will start popping.

https://www.quora.com/What-can-I-do-to-become-smarter

this link may be helpful.

//I am constantly meeting people younger than me that just blow me away with their smarts//

How old are you? How old they? Can you give some example of "blew away smartness"?

Play Dual-N-Back everyday. I felt the difference personally. Feels hard in the beginning, but keep going. You can feel the difference in a month. All the best.

https://roselandj.medium.com/evidence-iq-training-apps-cd3e5... is interesting on this.

youtube has great content for science, from popularising to courses and conferences. E.g. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCWvq4kcdNI1r1jZKFw9TiUA

Never stop learning. Try to learn something new every day. Document the process.

Read this book: The Brain That Changes Itself. You'll thank me later.

Why? Even Wikipedia has no summary of its teachings so what's in it?

I would say don't. It seems you realize more suffering that way.

Read hard stuff (in math).

Find first priciples always.

use simple but powerful tool, like math.

for programming language, the more math-like, the better.

You cannot alter your IQ. It simply cannot be done.

You can ensure you are optimally utilising your brain by giving it ideal conditions, including highly regimented consistent sleep, micro and macronutrients.

IQ tests are a pseudo-science. The only place where they're even remotely relevant is whether a child should skip a class or not.

"Altering" your IQ is easy and same as any other test. Did you get a good sleep last night? Are you hungry? Which time of the day do you take a test in? Is there something in the back of your mind that makes it more difficult for you to focus? Are the questions designed with a different demographic in mind (for example, you're used to right-to-left text while the test is written left-to-right)? Do you like puzzles or do you consider them a hassle? Etc etc.

You're also definitely not as intelligent as a child as you are in old age, meaning that your intelligence absolutely changes during the course of your life. Hence, the decisions you're making today can and do impact your intelligence later in life.

The IQ tests and their subtests can also be relevant for indicating possible cognitive conditions like NVLD and autism. For example a person that scores less than 75 on non verbal subtests and over 130 on verbal subtests likely has some condition affecting performance.

Your IQ does change over the course of your life (your crystalline IQ falls off past a certain age) but you cannot change it.

Dismissing it as pseudoscience is unhelpful. Its the most accurate measure we have, its also wholly reliable for what it is used for. Yes, people who have access to IQ tests can eventually game them, so that always needs to be considered.

For any defintion of intelligence, you can improve at it. Whether that's your ability to solve problems or your ability to score well on puzzles.

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