Is amplifying your capacity to learn. Seems like a catch-22, huh? Learning how to learn? Sounds gnarly. It's actually a very easy process, though, and I'm sure you can do it. I'll be supplying you with a list of different activities, behaviors, and topics. With these you may select the ones that appeal to you and ignore the rest as you see fit. While deciding though, remember that reading all of it will produce the best results.
Best results -> Best learning -> Best information -> Best responses -> Happy
Diet
I cannot stress this too much. The benefits of a good diet are tremendous. It would be nearly impossible to go through all of the different details on how to diet, but there are some very basic measures you should take.
- Avoid drugs and alcohol. This should be obvious
- Drink tons of water. A gallon a day if possible.
- Don't let yourself get hungry. When you're hungry, your body is sending you a panic response.
- Take a multivitamin designed for your profile (age, gender). This will ensure that you get all of the proper vitamins your body and mind needs.
- Invest in some Fish Oil. The Omega-3 fatty acids support development of your brain.
- If you have internet handy ... look up the foods you're eating. Some things may surprise you.
Lifestyle changes are also fundamental aspects of improving your brain, assuming you don't already have amazing lifestyle choices.
- Get enough sleep. I know that if you woke up at 4 in the afternoon on Sunday going to bed at 11 doesn't make much sense. So don't. But don't stay up all the way until six AM like you did the night before when you were out practicing bad habits. (; Go to bed the second to feel tired.
- Exercise. At least do something. This will improve memory, reaction times, catalyze new nerve cell formation, increase neurotrophins, promote nutrient delivery, increase volume of certain neural regions, and inhibit the thinning of your cerebral cortex.
- Keep your mind stimulated. You can do this in a large number of different ways. Like any sorts of puzzles? Maybe you like writing? Do these things when you wake up and your brain will be ready to accept and organize information for the rest of the day.
- Learn new words. The more words you can formulate situations in the more accurate your internal model of representing the world about you will be. Don't do a word of the day system. I've done those. They don't work. Just learn a single word, use it until you master it and move on to the next. I like to take new words I use and apply them to the specific terminology they would be present in.
- Listen to music when not anything else. This is a very simply lifestyle changes that will build intelligence and neurons in otherwise untouched regions.
There are definitely topics that you should learn before learning other topics. In fact, you've probably noticed that there are classes you can only take after you've taken prerequisites. Well, there's a topic that I find to be a prerequisite for all learning, and that topic is Logic.
LOGIC
Logic is a very well defined science. There is very little art to it at all. In fact, top debaters don't even worry about logic anymore because they've mastered it, and the debate becomes entirely about using deception and creative tactics. There are plenty of ways to work on your logic (go chess!), but this is my method:
Facts and Inference: We know what facts are and what opinions are. I think opinion is a term that people use for preferences when they don't know the reason that they have that opinion. I think opinions are stupid. (: Inferences are conclusions that we draw from the facts. Like, (premise, fact) pain hurts, (premise, fact) this person is in pain, (conclusion, inference) this person hurts.
Also, don't just blindly accept your own opinions, always try to rationalize your reasons. My conscious might say I prefer fruit to candy, but I'll have to think further to outline the reasons of that preference. Maybe I do like candy more but I'm stuck in the *shallow conscious* mindset that I like fruit more. It might not be true even though I'm saying it. Though, upon further investigation I can find the reasons like it's healthier, tastes better, promotes a better mood, etc.
Argument: An argument must have all of these to be complete:
- Stated thesis Arguing can go on forever if somebody doesn't know what they're arguing against
- One or more premises Otherwise you're simply stating a conclusion. Make sure your premises are logical or concrete facts, and if necessary have premises for your premises
- Conclusion Your premises need to lead to something. Kinda ridiculous not tell the opposing views _what_ it leads to
- Acknowledgment of opposing views Otherwise you're kinda just stating information
Signification: Not everyone will assume the same mental image or thought to the same words. Environmental development is different for pretty much everyone, so not everyone will be relating in the same exact way. For example, if I say "Soup Bowl", not everyone is going to be able to picture the same soup bowl in their head because not everyone has seen the same soup bowls.
That brings us to
Definition: When you use a term, be sure to define exactly what you mean by it. Not everyone will define the same term the same way unless the person who introduces the term sets exactly what it's supposed to mean for the discussion. Arguing over the definition of a term is also rather ridiculous because the presenter of the term and thus the presenter of related data concerning use of the term is ... well, presenting a term. A set variable that holds information that is being discussed. If you want the term to mean something different, just present a _different_ term.
Logical fallacies. I'm sure everyone has heard at least one person call out a logical fallacy, possibly even in Latin. I do it. If you can simply identify the exact reason why something is wrong, there's no more need to consider it's right. It's not. There's no debate. This is a nice feeling, and leads to a much clearer mental environment. Learn your logical fallacies. There are too many to list so hit up Google and Wikipedia. Eventually it will become second nature, if you're dedicated.
Deduction and Induction: There are two types of logic. Induction is informal, but practical. If everybody said a movie was bad, then it's probably bad, but that's that deductive, ergo, it's not essentially true. Induction is a method of making conclusions based on patterns. Deduction, however, is a method of making conclusions based on cold hard facts.
Assume the following statements are true:
The man has a hat.
Hats are worn on the head.
Then we can deduct that:
The man is wearing a hat on his head.
Boring, but once you get comfortable with it you will be making some very exquisite deductions that will make you the envy of all of your friends ... or something.
OTHER TOPICS
Significantly less important topics that can improve your ability to learn include the following:
- Linguistics
- Mathematics
- Physical Sciences
- English (especially if you don't have a high school understanding of it)
(:
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