What you need to know to be an erudite person. How to be well-read. Is it possible to develop your mind

Set goals for yourself. How will this help the cause? Well, are you happy when you reach your goal? Start small - say, read a book a month. Then - 2 books a month. When you get into the process, you can read a book a week or even faster! Make yourself a list of books, stick to the plan, and you will succeed.

Set goals so you can spend your time productively. If, for example, you want to finish reading Ulysses this week, then you will not be distracted by the new season of the soap opera!

Read the Top 100 lists. Almost every self-respecting magazine has already published its own version of hundreds of books "that everyone should read." Why not, read them too! You will become very well-read if you master everything. In other words, look for lists and read. For example, you can read works from the lists:

Listen to audio books. Find an audio book, it is in no way inferior to a regular one! If you are too tired to read with your eyes, then listening with your ears, in general, will also pass for reading. This way you can become very, very well-read! This option is especially good for those who spend a lot of time on the road. Make good use of your time!

Before buying a book, it would be very appropriate to listen to a sample and make sure you like the voice of the reader. If you don't like the voice, the book will read very slowly...

Get a Kindle reader. Yes, it’s not cheap, but it’s convenient, and you’ll also be able to save on books later! Classical works can be bought for almost a penny, and modern ones - with a decent discount! In addition, with Kindle, you can download the purchased book in a second, rather than waiting for it to be delivered to your bookstores.

If you have a Kindle, you can read an excerpt from the book before you buy.

Read funny books. Being well-read is important. Having fun and having fun is also important. Reward yourself for every classic you read - let's say a book in your favorite genre!

Join a book club. Or organize one yourself. So you will not only make friends with other well-read people, but also discover many new books. Plus, you will have specific deadlines to finish reading a particular book, which is also useful. And in book clubs, you can always discuss your favorite work! This, you know, is very useful, otherwise there is a risk of slipping into thoughtless and meaningless reading.

Sign up for an account on Goodsread or another similar service. These services allow you to make a list of books you want to read, leave reviews for them, and connect with other book lovers. Such services are usually free, and there are simply a lot of benefits from them. In addition, they themselves are also quite motivating to read, so sign up!

Do book reviews on Amazon. Create an account there and start leaving reviews for the books you read. When you read a lot of books and write a lot of interesting and useful reviews, you will get the status of “best reader”. If you think that this is nonsense, then you should not think so - this status makes it possible to buy books at a discount, and sometimes even get access to them before the official start of sales!

Even if you don't get this status, don't worry - writing reviews will help you better understand the book.

Connect with other well-read people. Communicating with them will open before you many new thoughts, ideas, books and names. There's no point in being well-read if you can't use your knowledge and talk to people about what's new in the book world!

Listen to podcasts. If you can download free podcasts of writers, that's a very good thing. From podcasts, you can learn a lot of new things, discover things that you didn’t know about before. For those who want to become well-read “by ear”, we can recommend the following podcasts (they are in English, you will have to search separately in your native language):

The New Yorker Fiction podcast
KCRW's Bookworm
PRI's Selected Shorts
WBEZ Chicago's This American Life
PRI's America Abroad
LearnOutLoud's Great Speeches in History Podcast
New York Times Book Review podcast

Children learn a foreign language playfully, in parallel with the general development. Scientists attribute this to the peculiarities of memory and the psyche.

For an adult, learning a foreign language is always a challenge. And always a huge benefit. This is an excellent training for the brain and the prevention of memory deterioration in old age. And you can also communicate with people from different countries and expand your horizons.

Method 2. Read more

When our parents needed new information, they opened the book. Generations Y and Z draw new knowledge on the Internet. The volume of reading may not have been reduced, but the quality often suffers. After all, books are read thoughtfully and consistently, and articles usually just scroll with their eyes.

Subordinate reading to the plan: make a list of books, distribute them according to areas of knowledge and genres. Services like or Livelib will help to compile such a list. Then methodically read the books one by one. Just do it right - use .

Method 3. Turn to art

Art is not only contemplation. With it, you can develop perception and thinking.

Choose for yourself some area of the cultural activity of mankind and try to understand it. For example, fine arts. Visit exhibitions, watch documentaries, read artist biographies. Gradually, you will begin to understand painting, and at the same time you will learn a lot and take a fresh look at social processes.

Method 4. Watch video lectures

Method 5. Watch smart TV shows

For users of the World Wide Web, television is often associated with evil. Today it’s even fashionable to brag: “We don’t have a TV at home!”.

Indeed, the quality of content on many channels leaves much to be desired, but there are alternatives. For example, Discovery. This TV channel produces very high-quality popular science programs that cannot be legally downloaded on the Web.

Watch scientific programs in the studied foreign language - this is a double brain training.

Method 6. Play video games

Contrary to popular beliefs about harm, computer games develop reaction, fantasy and logical thinking. Scientific studies have shown that children who play video games score higher than their peers.

Playing difficult quests is like solving puzzles. The player has to make difficult decisions in a short time, choosing the lines of the plot development. And it is a powerful brain exercise.

Method 7. Solve puzzles

If you still don't like video games, buy a good old Rubik's cube, tangram or puzzle. Alternatively, download the .

Puzzles "rejuvenate" the brain, develop memory, thinking and perseverance. And they are also excellent time-killers: if you get carried away, you can spend more than one hour solving the puzzle. What else do you need on a train or plane?

Method 8. Make new acquaintances

Networking not only helps build a career, but also develops memory for names and faces.

In addition, a new person is always a source of new knowledge. Communication with a smart interlocutor, even virtual, enriches you spiritually and intellectually.

Method 9. Get enough sleep

The vast majority of studies have proven that a healthy adult needs 8 hours of sleep. And in the dark, comfort and without extraneous noise. These factors affect the quality of sleep.

The connection between good sleep and similar mental activity has also been proven. Read to dispel the last doubts.

Sleep deprivation is detrimental to the brain.

Due to the inhibition of neural processes in the parietal lobe, problems arise with the speed of reaction, and when the work of the prefrontal cortex slows down, problems with vision and the formulation of thoughts begin.

Method 10. Switch to a healthy diet

Avocado, salmon, blueberries, oatmeal - there are many that prevent memory deterioration.

Enrich your diet with fruits, vegetables, herbs, cereals and seafood, give up cholesterol sweets, and you will feel that your brain is reaching new capacities.

Intellectual front workers are advised to drink more fluids throughout the day. And it is better to alternate coffee with green tea and mineral water.

In the age of high technology, the mental abilities of a person are the basic foundation for success in life. The ability to quickly memorize and reproduce information, erudition, competence - all these features relate to the concept of "intelligence". Let's see what is meant by this term, and also learn how to develop intelligence.

The essence of the concept

For the first time, intelligence and its components were described by the German scientist Wilhelm Stern at the beginning of the 20th century. Then a lot of scales and methods for diagnosing mental abilities appeared, including the famous IQ test.

Intelligence is defined as a stable set of human mental abilities that allow him to adapt to the environment, learn and change it.

It is impossible to equate this concept with cognitive, mental abilities. They are only a working tool of the intellect.

The most detailed model for this term was proposed by the American psychologist Joy Paul Gilford. According to him, intelligence includes 120 factors.

All of them can be classified according to three indicators:

content (mental work of a person);
operations (method of information processing);
result.

The development of intelligence is possible if work is carried out on all these points. However, in ordinary life, a person can have many ideas that he analyzes in every possible way, but cannot put into practice. He just doesn't have the skill to do it. It is very important to know how to increase your intellectual level in all areas. But more on that later.

Charging for the mind

Let's consider in more detail how to develop intelligence with the help of special actions. Before moving on to specific examples, it should be noted that the development of intelligence is impossible without the ability to fully relax.

The human brain must be active, process a large amount of information. This is impossible without good sleep. Normally, 8 hours is enough for a person, but it all depends on individual characteristics. The main thing is that the individual feels rested and full of vital energy to improve his intellect and develop creativity.

In addition, active rest is also important. Hiking, running, cycling, swimming are ideal for this. At the same time, the head has the ability to temporarily disconnect from solving global problems.

And now let's go directly to the exercises and ways to develop the intellect:

Board games

This is the most famous and ancient way to improve the mental abilities of a person. Playing chess, checkers and backgammon allows, involves intelligence and creativity. Thinking, memory, will, emotions are actively working here. The player logically plans his moves, trying to predict the opponent's response.

In addition to well-known games, intelligence and psychological board actions increase well. These include the games "Mafia", "Evolution", "Dixit" and others. In such games, not only knowledge is important, but to a greater extent communicative competence in order to convey one's point of view to others, to feel the players.

Puzzle

The name itself suggests that the brain will have to work. Puzzles include the Rubik's Cube, puzzles, solving crosswords and scanwords, mathematical and other riddles.

Thanks to this, it is possible to competently organize intellectual leisure for both adults and children. After all, it is very important to introduce the child to mental operations from childhood. When solving puzzles, the work of fine motor skills is also included, due to which the ratio of visual analysis, thought and action develops.

Here, the relationship between intelligence and visual creativity is most clearly seen. While a person is engaged in creativity, the brain is actively working and can find solutions for very important tasks. This is also called insight or insight.

The fact is that when drawing and sculpting, an individual falls into a light trance state, renounces everyday life. This helps to activate the unconscious impulses that are responsible for brilliant ideas.

The ability to draw and sculpt in this sense does not matter. The main thing is to surrender to the creative process. You can simply draw spots and lines, paint a picture to a pleasant melody.

Foreign languages

How to develop intelligence through the study of foreign languages is clear to everyone. The more knowledge, the wider the field for their application. It's not the quantity that matters, but the quality.

A person should be interested in the language being studied and the very culture of a given country, find the consonance of words, compose poems, songs in this language. This is what involves a bunch of "intelligence and creativity."

Reading

Books for the development of intelligence are an indispensable assistant. Through reading, a person not only learns new things, but also plunges into unusual worlds, gets acquainted with the secrets of science, comprehends new cultures. How to develop intelligence in the process of reading, because this is a common human occupation?

The right choice of books is important here. As already described above, it is necessary to read thoughtfully and with pleasure. If the book is not interesting, do not force yourself. Such reading will not bring joy, which means it will go to waste.

Template break

A person whose life is subject to a clear routine often acts by inertia. Work and existence on the machine do not even allow the individual to think about how to increase intelligence, and whether it should be done at all. Unfortunately, this is how most people live.

It is important to find the strength in yourself to break this vicious circle. You usually have to start small. For example, change the route to work. Walk in the park for an hour in the evening. On the weekends, do something you haven't done before. Instead of household chores, go to an orphanage or to a neighboring city. Breaking the template allows you to look at the world differently, actualizes mental activity.

This article gives only some of the ways to increase intelligence. In this process, the most important thing is to understand how life will change when the intellectual level becomes higher. What will then happen to the inner world, the family, how will prosperity, relationships with others change? If the picture is positive, then this is the right path of development.

The connection of intelligence with mental processes

The human psyche is a complex structure, therefore all processes in it are interconnected and interdependent.

In particular, intelligence is more influenced by the following internal realities:

Thinking

Some scientists even considered these concepts synonymous. But this is fundamentally wrong. Thinking is the process of learning and processing information, and intelligence is the ability to correctly apply knowledge at the right time. Without mental operations, the intellectual level of a person would be very low.

Volitional efforts are needed precisely in order to master new material, study important books, and bring thoughts to the final result.

Memory

The ability to save, store and reproduce information is an integral part of intelligence.

Attention

Intelligent people are distinguished by an attentive attitude to the world around them. They are able to notice the smallest details, analyze and study them. The development of intelligence is closely related to the improvement of human attention.

Creativity

About this sweet couple: intelligence and creativity, Guilford wrote. This term refers to the ability of a person to think creatively, that is, outside the box, to synthesize original ideas.

Key indicators of intelligence

Psychologists have identified four key characteristics of intelligence:

The depth of the mind is the ability to get to the bottom of phenomena and events.
Inquisitiveness - curiosity, the desire to learn new things.
Flexibility and mobility - the ability to act outside the box, bypass barriers, overcome difficulties.
Logic - the ability to justify one's point of view, to correctly present the material.

Erudition and intelligence

The development of intelligence is closely related to such a concept as erudition. Let's figure out what it is?

Erudition is a set of deep knowledge in any field of science or life.

Erudites have an inquisitive mind, they are always looking for new information on a topic of interest to them. An intelligent person does not stop at one area, he develops in all possible directions. The line between these concepts is rather shaky. An erudite may also be interested in several areas at once, but, for example, be a layman in communication.

It is important to learn the following: in order to increase your intellectual level, you need to strive to become an erudite person in any field.

How to increase the erudition of an ordinary person? The best way is to read themed books. Moreover, the quality of reading is extremely important. It should be thoughtful, meaningful. A person should write down or mark favorite or controversial phrases, questions, look for an answer to them.

After reading the book, you can discuss it on a special forum so that knowledge works, and does not lie in memory as a dead weight. In the special psychological and pedagogical literature, you can also find out the opinions of scientists on how to develop intelligence.

We all want to be smart, to shine with ingenuity, wit and intellect, but only a select few like Nikolai Baskov and Gennady Onishchenko succeed in this. Read this article - and the world in your head will sparkle with new convolutions.

Alexander Kanygin

1. Read more

The more complex and unusual the books, the better. Complex constructions, long, detailed sentences, rare words, abstruse articles from our magazine, and especially poetry - a real "Rastishka" for your brain.

2. Drum on the table

Better yet, make it a rule to accompany the music you hear: on your knee, on the tabletop or on a freshly bought tom-tom - it doesn't matter. Palms or chopsticks. Neuroscientist Anirud Patel from San Diego believes that the sense of rhythm plays an important role in learning. After all, the basal ganglia are responsible for it - the parts of the brain involved in motor functions.

3. Listen to classical music

Especially Mozart. In 1995, psychologist Frances Rauscher tricked thirty rats into a room. For two months, the Sonata for two pianos in C major was periodically performed there. After the experiment, it turned out that the animals began not only to dance better, but also to run the maze faster and with fewer errors than the other group of rats who lived these two months in silence.

4. Train your memory

London taxi drivers, for example, have an enlarged hippocampus, the part of the brain responsible for emotions and memory. What are you worse?

■ Bookmark brainscale.ru. There you will find one of the variants of the "N back" task, developed in 1958 to explore and stimulate the activity of certain areas of the brain, the development of working memory, logical thinking and the ability to concentrate. Try to take the test every day, set aside a few minutes for this at the beginning of the day and the same amount at the end. According to a 2008 study by Suzanne Yeggi, regular training in this task can significantly improve fluid intelligence, enhance a person's working memory, improve logical thinking and the ability to concentrate.

■ After making a list of products that you need to buy, reread it several times and try to remember not their names, but your future path through different departments in the store. Having collected everything in a cart and standing in line, try to calculate the total amount in your mind. If she later turns out to be true, you can buy yourself a bush of spinach as a reward: it is good for memory.

■ Set aside half an hour each day to memorize poetry. The last time you did this was in kindergarten, but all the words flew out of your head at the moment when the official part of the holiday ended and the coffin was lowered into the ground. The content of the poems does not matter.

5. Drink coffee

Caffeine stimulates the release of the neurotransmitters dopamine and norepinephrine, which help you stay energized and focused longer. It is important not to overdo it: from a very large dose of caffeine, you will get overexcited and will not be able to think rationally. Caffeine in doses of more than 300 mg (four cups of natural coffee) per day will cause anxiety, headache, tremor, arrhythmia.

6. Albert Einstein

Theoretical physicist, Nobel laureate:
“Intellectual growth should begin at birth and stop only at death. Knowing where to find information and how to use it is the secret to success. The mind, once expanded its boundaries, will never return to the former. Outstanding personalities are formed not through beautiful speeches, but by their own work and its results.

7. Mark Porcius Cato

Senior statesman, writer:
"A wise man learns more from fools than fools from a wise man."

8. Play chess, checkers and poker

These games can not only make you richer, but also perfectly develop your thinking. If you think you're too good at chess, try playing against the clock as well, so that it doesn't take more than a minute to make a decision.

9. Develop your numerical sense

Yes, you already have it. Take a handful of small change out of your pocket, take a quick look at it and try to calculate the total amount from memory. Véronique Izgård, a cognitive psychologist at Harvard, has found that ancient brain structures, something like a quasi-lion years old (is there such a number? We are bad at it), are responsible for expense, but they can develop throughout a lifetime. To check how your HH is developed at the moment, take a short test or a large-scale test, the results of which will even be preserved in the annals of an American university and help advance science. Well, then - develop the CH. The easiest way is to pack things in a bag. When you figure out how best to cram them in, your brain solves the most difficult tasks and trains.

10. Feed your brain right!

Especially if you still cannot fully tell a single poem from the school curriculum, and Facebook reminds you of the birthdays of your friends.

■ Walnuts. Almost the main food for an erudite! They even look like a brain. Five nuts a day - and you will be provided with lecithin, which improves brain function and activates memory. Nuts are also useful if you suddenly live in conditions of high radiation.

■ Fish. Laconic and cold, it is rich in iodine, its meat contains omega-3 fatty acids, which provide a quick influx of energy necessary for the transmission of impulses in brain cells. They also regulate the level of cholesterol in the blood and improve the functioning of blood vessels. If you eat at least 100 grams of fish a day, you will increase the reaction rate and you will reduce the risk of developing Alzheimer's disease.

■ Pumpkin seeds. Pour half a glass into your jacket pocket and during office scandals improve your memory and make your brain think faster. All thanks to zinc.

■ Spinach. Add it to your morning omelette two to three times a week. The lutein contained in spinach will protect brain cells from premature aging.

■ Sage. Johns Hopkins University found that sage inhibits the action of amino acids responsible for memory impairment. Now they drink tea with sage every day and everyone remembers everyone.

11. Try to guess the next phrase of the interlocutor

Rebecca Sykes from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology is sure that with proper training, people will be able to understand others without words at all - by facial expression, look and other similar signs. The section of the brain that is located behind the right ear and is responsible for intuition is responsible for this.

12. Start a blog

Telling about the events of the day in it, you will not only learn to articulate thoughts clearly, but you will also constantly think about new topics and sharp answers to questions from loyal readers.

13. Koichi Tohei

Writer, Aikido Master, 10th Dan, Founder of the Ki-Aikido Style Kii Society “Reading is the cornerstone of intelligence. Fill your free time with reading all kinds of books. Read novels, non-fiction, biographies. First, skim through the book quickly to get a general idea of it. If you think it makes sense, read it again. As a result, your brain’s ability to adapt to different circumstances and organize a wide variety of data will increase.”

14. Solve crosswords

Surprisingly, it works: the work of the brain is greatly spurred on by serious crossword puzzles.

15. Konstantin Sheremetiev

Researcher, author of the "Intelligence" project (), author of the books "Perfect Brain: How to control the subconscious" and "How to become smarter":
“Someone thinks that if at school he was good at solving problems in mathematics or something like that, then he is smart and will remain so forever. This is utter nonsense. If you pump up your muscles at the age of 18, and then lie down on the sofa and forget about them, then very soon they will atrophy. And the same thing happens with the efficiency of the brain.”

To the answer!

Konstantin Sheremetyev cleverly answers our stupid questions.

Who can be considered smart?
A person who uses his brain to solve everyday problems. The main mental activity takes place in the subconscious. They don’t teach him how to handle it at school, so the brain of most people is idle. He doesn't help them in any way. And the main purpose of intelligence is to ensure survival. Therefore, in order to evaluate the mind of a person, remember the rule: the result of the work of the intellect is a change in the material world. Survival? Then who is smarter - an office worker or a hunter in the wild?
Oddly enough, the brain does not distinguish between these types of activity. Both need to explore what surrounds them and learn how to act effectively in this environment. How many minutes or hours per day should be devoted to brain training?
The brain works around the clock. The only question is how much load you give him. If you look at life critically, look for what you want to do, realize yourself, then the brain starts to work to its fullest. If there is no mental load, he will atrophy and is only capable of thinking according to a pattern. You developed an emergency response program for astronauts. Are they smarter than those who have not been in space?
I entered knowledge in various fields into the artificial intelligence system so that in a dangerous situation it would suggest the right decision. But you can save useful tips for all occasions in your phone. Then, for example, in the event of an accident, you will know exactly what to do.

16. Learn a foreign language

Andrea Macelli, PhD in neurology from the University of London, proves that people who know several foreign languages find it easier to switch between different mental tasks. An additional boost in the development of your brain will give a new way of learning incomprehensible foreign words.

■ Let's say learning a language through parallel translations. On getparalleltranslations.com you will find books with both English and Russian texts on their pages. In fact, these are the same titles with which you love to watch the latest TV shows so much.

■ Vojtek Rinik, a Slovak web developer, believes that words should be learned before they appear in a book. Surprised by his advice, you should feed the unfamiliar text to the wordsfromtext.com service, in response, it will generate a list of the most used words and prompt you to mark unfamiliar ones in it. If desired, they can be printed out with a translation, memorized and already fully armed pounce on unsuspecting literature.

17. Get yourself a smart app

Feeling an unpleasant throb in our too-fast-growing brains, we turned our heads to our mobile phone screens, hoping to find salvation in some mind-numbing game. But what is it? And on mobile devices, do not step a step away from the dominance of developing programs!

Memory trainer. Consistently remember pressing multi-colored buttons and repeat them. In fact, this is still the same "N back" task, disguised as a game.
Einstein. Mind training. HD-collection of 30 exercises for the development of logic, memory, counting and attention.
Brain of Genius. A variation on the well-known logical problem, created, according to legend, by Einstein from his reluctance to go to kindergarten.

18. Don't waste time

If you have a free minute at work and you want to look at a couple of meters of funny pictures, it’s better to open Wikipedia and read a “random” article.

19. Walk

It is enough to defile around the house three times a week for half an hour in order to concentrate, learn and think abstractly by 15% better. And it's not just about the flow of oxygen to your neurons withered in the stuffiness of the office: scientists from the Salk Institute have proven that moderate exercise in the fresh air causes the brain to grow new cells.

20. Give your brain a rest

No matter how busy you are, in the process of mental activity, you must definitely rest every hour and a half. For example, doing simple physical exercises or just walking down the hallway and having a cup of coffee. Consider it a necessity. So the analytical centers of the brain better digest the accumulated information and no, no, yes, and come to some unexpected conclusion.

21. Boost your brain

If you ignored all our advice, and tomorrow is the final of the championship “What? Where? When?" League of classmates, there is another way to shake the fat on the cerebral convolutions.

■ Neurometabolic stimulants, they are also nootropics, will help to urgently increase IQ, - agents that have an activating effect on memory and mental activity. Note: completely legal. Words for searching in a pharmacy are: phenotropil, allertec, deprenyl. You can still try Phenibut, but, unlike previous drugs, it is drunk in a course of 2-3 weeks, a single use will not give the proper result. And it should be like this: lack of desire to quit everything and go to sleep, increased reaction speed, slight irritability and the feeling that you are smarter than everyone around. There is, however, a small problem. “The effect of nootropics on the brain has not yet been fully studied,” says Konstantin Anokhin, head of the memory neurobiology laboratory at the Institute of Normal Physiology of the Russian Academy of Medical Sciences. And one more thing: do not confuse nootropics with dietary supplements. These will also make you smarter for a while, but they act differently and have a weaker effect. These are, say, ginkgo biloba, guarana, eleutherococcus and ginseng root.

22. Play Tetris

A study by American scientists has shown that this classic puzzle can have a positive effect on the development of the human brain. Testing has confirmed that regular practice of playing Tetris can increase the amount of gray matter in the player's brain and improve their thinking abilities. The brains of people who played this puzzle for half an hour a day during the experiment for three months underwent changes in areas related to movement, critical thinking, reasoning, language and information processing.

23. Leonardo da Vinci

Artist, inventor, scientist, writer:
“Iron rusts when it has no use, stagnant water rots or freezes in the cold, and the human mind languishes.”

24. Anatoly Wasserman

Journalist, political consultant:
“Read and watch more, try to find connections and analogies between different knowledge - and pretty soon you will feel what other gaps should be filled in order to understand more. Without intelligence, everything else is simply useless. Being smart is not only fashionable, but also very pleasant. In my experience, it is better to remember what interests you. Be inquisitive - and without much effort remember everything that turns out to be curious. But in order to preserve the memory, you need to work actively, have diverse interests. Then much will be remembered, and memory will be a reliable support.

25. Get good sleep

It is during sleep that the brain processes the information collected during the day and forms memories. As calculated by the staff of the University of California at Berkeley, usually an adult needs from 6 to 8 hours of sleep.

26. Read in new ways

You, of course, have already skimmed through this advice and moved on to the next one. Try to go back and do this.

■ Take a pencil and, leading it under the line, read the text. The eye, having caught the movement, will run after the pointer, while reading everything that you slipped into it. Each time you move the pencil faster - this way your eyes will get used to the increased load, the reading speed will increase, and you will be able to absorb information faster.

■ 80% of people mentally pronounce words while reading. You acquired this bad habit while learning to read: you spelled out the text letter by letter, then by syllables, then put them into words. But this is not necessary for understanding. To combat the inner voice, learn to read the text while simultaneously counting to thirty or singing (you can without words) a song. For a week or two you will not understand the content of the text, but gradually everything will return to normal.

■ According to physiologists, in a person who sees something exciting, the pupils expand reflexively. When you reach an interesting place in the text, the same thing is observed: the pupil expands, more light enters the eye, which means that it can catch more information. The only problem is how to make yourself believe that the investigation protocol before you is as interesting as an interview with a cover girl. From a neurophysiological point of view, interest arises when the brain compares new information with what is already in memory. So just guess what exactly can be written in the text. The brain will be forced to compare the information with the real and, willy-nilly, show interest.

27. Get yourself an unusual hobby

(ideas will be thrown to you by our heading "Idea!").
New activities, according to the Salk Institute for Biological Research in the suburbs of San Diego, firstly, help to escape from the routine, and secondly, they will force your brain to adapt to activities unfamiliar to it and, as a result, to train.

28. Alan Weiss

President of the NCH Health Alliance:
“When you are completely immersed in the world of the game, your brain focuses on solving actual problems. He is looking for unusual solutions and ways out of unusual situations in everyday life. Later, these same ideas can be useful to you in real life, at work or in communication.

29. Try new ways to get information

Are you prevented from reading books at a rock concert? Check out audiobooks and audiopodcasts. And on the Internet, sign up for free courses at knowledgestream.ru (coursera.org for English speakers).

30. Stop watching TV

The contemplation of flickering pictures, supposedly designed to give rest to the brain, which has been strained during the day, loads it in the same way as reading or proving theorems. But at the same time it does not develop at all. Conclusion? Throw the TV out the window and put a pot of sage in its place.

Do we need erudition? Around the answer to this question, disputes and discussions do not subside today.

One side of the participants is sure that erudition is something like an eccentric hobby, which can be conditionally called “I want to know everything!”. Those who have fallen into the arms of this hobby strive to constantly expand the horizons of their knowledge and, like true bibliophages, indiscriminately “devour” all the books that come to their hand. Someone collects badges or stamps, while erudite hunt for new knowledge and are endlessly looking for new ways to increase erudition.

So, the answer of the first group to the question of whether erudition is needed is rather negative. They consider erudite people to be just carriers of redundant knowledge, and not at all smart people capable of generating new things, making scientific discoveries and providing technological breakthroughs.

The second group responds to their opponents with the well-known phrase " If you don't like education, then try ignorance!". And they give a lot of examples when ignorance really costs prohibitively:

a doctor who failed to make the necessary diagnosis in a timely manner,
a history or literature teacher whose knowledge is limited to a school textbook,
a lawyer with little knowledge of the law,
psychologist making diagnoses “over the phone”…

Behind each such case is often not only a lack of professionalism, but also a low level of general education, leading to an inability to critically assess the situation and select adequate tools for analysis and correction.

Actually, erudition in the original sense of the word meant " beyond ignorance or rudeness» (ex-ruide). In other words, the possession of such a breadth of knowledge that does not allow primitive and naive explanations of the structure of the world. So, it contributes to the development of a special mindset!

An erudite has a critical view of the world

Increasing erudition leads to the expansion of knowledge in a variety of areas and scientific disciplines, which in itself is already useful for any person focused on mental development and personal growth. But there is another unique consequence of developed erudition: the collection of knowledge from different sources allows them to be compared with each other, compared and critically evaluated.

Today, such a critical view of the world is more useful than ever. The flurry of information that falls upon us every day gradually makes us indulgent to its deceit. We do not have time to check it and "swallow", suppressing doubts about its reliability.

Erudite individuals evaluate information quite differently. For example, comparing how the same fact (for example, a historical event) is described in different sources, they easily detect inconsistencies and contradictions. So their "excessive" knowledge of history helps them to discard in a timely manner the information that is written with insufficient scientific conscientiousness.

Scholars look at the elephant from different angles

In the science center of Bonn, inside the park area, there is a sculpture symbolizing scientific objectivity - an elephant, which is being felt from different sides by 4 blind men. One touches the elephant's leg, the second touches the trunk, the third touches the tail, and the fourth runs his hand over the elephant's body. This sculpture is an illustration of the famous parable about the argument of four blind men about what an elephant looks like, where each of them repeated about what he touched:

« The elephant is a wide pole!»

"WITH lon is a thick flexible hose!»

« The elephant is a little rope!»

« The elephant is a rough wall!»

And only if you put all four images together, you can understand what an elephant is. And it is the erudites who do it better than others.

Or another example. How do you answer the question about consciousness. If you do not use this term as a professional, then most likely you will simply say that this is a difference between a person and an animal. You may be using words like " thinking», « understanding" and " awareness”, as close in meaning or even synonyms.

But professionals will answer the same question in different ways. The philosopher will note that consciousness can be public and private. The doctor will say that you can lose consciousness or be in an unconscious state. The lawyer will point out that it is important to consider whether the suspect has reached the age of consciousness. The psychologist will connect the conscious and the unconscious.

An erudite, as a rule, is able to consider the category of consciousness from all these points of view..

With Wikium you can increase your erudition online"

How to increase general erudition

So, if you set yourself such a goal, then take into account the following recommendations.

Learn and learn new words

At school and college, almost every day you learned new terms, got acquainted with scientific concepts and categories, considered them in the context of a specific theory or technology. Along with the end of the training, the flow of new word-symbols into your consciousness also stopped. You stay in the same semiotic space all the time, without giving your brain a reason to form new neural connections, and therefore to develop your intellect.

By themselves, learned new words do not automatically make a person an erudite, but after all, a whole chain of their family ties stretches behind the new concept. These connections restructure your ideas about the world. The more such connections, the more actively the cognitive simplicity of thinking is replaced by cognitive complexity.

What specific actions are behind this advice:

Set yourself the task of learning and memorizing 3 new words every week.. And not just memorize, but use them in your oral and written speech.
Look for and assimilate words that mean different actions in different areas of knowledge such as building renovation and event renovation. When you come across an unfamiliar word, take your time to look up its meaning in the dictionary. First, try to understand for yourself what it means, and only then check the correctness of your reasoning or guesses.
Read technical and scientific literature and strive not only to understand what this or that new term means, but also what other concepts and categories it is associated with.

Expand your thesaurus

Thesaurus is your individual vocabulary. It can be increased through the practice of using synonyms in your speech. Synonyms are called words that are different in sound, but the same in meaning (examples: discover and find, explore and study). Using synonyms, you can diversify your speech.

In addition, synonyms often mean the same thing only for an unprepared person, and an erudite will easily explain the difference to you, for example, between:

rock and mountain
typhoon and tsunami
meaning and meaning.

Read analytical articles and critical reviews

Such a reading will allow you to compare your idea of an issue with the comments of competent specialists.

As a result, you will get three points of view:

stated in the original
an expert in this field,
your own.

Critical reviews are especially useful, which will help you see the vulnerabilities in the logic of the author of the analyzed work, and compare the two points of view yourself. Such an activity turns reading from passive consumption of information into mental work, which is called comparative analysis.

Visit special sites to increase erudition

Of course, we are talking about sites designed for pros. There you will not only be able to expand your knowledge, but also train in order to develop the intellectual skills of an erudite:

building an objective picture of the world,
critical thinking,
comparative analysis.

Write more than ordinary people

Start writing texts on a specific topic. But not everyday or popular, but scientific or philosophical and artistic. Written speech allows you to structure thoughts, puts them in a certain logic.

The written text is a reflection of your consciousness, so it will be easier for you to determine what you are strong enough and well versed in, and what is still your area of proximal development.

Read as much as possible!

And let it be not just books with entertaining stories. Read descriptions of scientific experiments, philosophical reasoning, serious fiction.

No matter how various merry fellows make fun of erudite people, and no matter how snobs speak of them with disdain, erudite people always remain in demand both in a working environment and at moments of rest.

It is not for nothing that one of the most important roles in a management team or a project team is called an “expert” - a carrier of versatile knowledge, well-versed in a variety of areas and therefore able to suggest exactly where to look for answers to complex questions that stand in the way of a team goal.

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