Post: #1

While sitting in a hospital waiting room today, I read an article in
Reader's Digest about the ability of humans to significantly improve
their 1Q. Here were some of the suggestions I remember:

- The article stated that improving short-term memory is the fastest
route to increased capability. Even though our brain performs far more
activities than just recall, it involves the same areas of the brain as
many other of these cognitive functions. According to the article, when
memory is improved, the other abilities are also improved by default,
and this is the type of exercise with the most leverage, which you know
we all love here at the Roosh forum.

- Apparently, the activity with the most dramatic influence on increasing
your IQ by far is to learn a new language - no wonder Time Ferriss is so
f'ing productive...It makes sense when you consider how much
memorization takes place in the early stages of language-learning and
also how later on your brain kind of evolves the manner in which you
deal with this task, drawing on other types of thinking and finally
sealing the language into your subconscious. This is great news for the
world travelers here (not to mention that I now don't feel I waste my
time by learning unnecessary languages like Thai).

- Handwriting instead of typing exercises your brain. In my own
experience, I also write better when I use handwriting. I find that the
extra time it takes to hand-scrawl something allows my brain to
formulate the next thoughts while, on the other hand, I type far too
fast for my brain to keep up with my fingers the way I want it too.

- Delayed gratification improves your mind. Teach yourself
self-discipline and patience.

- Martial arts, dance, and other mind-body sports. Even just regular
walking. A healthy body is paramount to a healthy mind.

- Take daily naps. Offers a significant recharge with huge impact on
your mental functioning. Meditation as well. It also has occurred to me
that there are a lot of different ways to exercise the brain with different
types of meditation - visualization, clearing the mind of thought, etc.

- Video games that require strategy and problem-solving.

- Memorizing poetry.

I also have a book I dig around in sometimes called "Wisdom of the
Mystic Masters" that goes into the teachings of the Rosicrucians. A lot
of stuff about telepathy, astral projection, law of attraction, psychic
healing, etc.

I never got too deep into the teachings, but I've found a lot of the stuff
I have applied to prep my mind for the deeper stuff, as directed, had an
amazing effect on my thought processes. It's been a while, but here
are a few I remember:

-Memorize 4 lines of poetry every day (ties in closely with above points
on memory).

-Dump a box of matches out on a table and place them back in the
box, one by one until all the matches are neatly laid back in with the
heads facing the same way. (certainly an exercise in patience)

-Record your dreams every morning (I think this strengthens both your
ties to your subconscious mind as well as your skills of recall).

-Multiply numbers in your head every day, starting with 2 digit numbers
and then moving up to 3 digit numbers.

-Close your eyes after you enter a room for the first time and try to
recall everything you saw and the specific details.

-When walking by people on the street, close your eyes for a second
and try to visualize what their face looked like after just a brief glance.

That's all I remember right now. Obviously since I haven't offered you
any real references here to verify any of this stuff, it's not exactly my
best attempt at offering credible information, so do your own research.
I'm sure there's a ton of material out there.

Another book with some real interesting stuff on the subject is "Evolve
Your Brain," though if I remember correctly it was more about
programming your brain for changes you want to create in your life.

Anyone else have any tips or ideas on strengthening the greatest of
our muscles? Books? Resources?

Beyond All Seas

"The individual has always had to struggle to keep from being overwhelmed by the tribe.
To be your own man is a hard business. If you try it, you'll be lonely often, and sometimes
frightened. But no price is too high to pay for the privilege of owning yourself." - Kipling

Post: #2

I love lumosity

Post: #3

(09-16-2012 08:52 PM)MikeCF Wrote:  I love lumosity

Cool website - thanks for the tip.

Beyond All Seas

"The individual has always had to struggle to keep from being overwhelmed by the tribe.
To be your own man is a hard business. If you try it, you'll be lonely often, and sometimes
frightened. But no price is too high to pay for the privilege of owning yourself." - Kipling

Post: #4

Masturbate 10 times a day.

Post: #5

(09-16-2012 09:36 PM)deathtofatties Wrote:  Masturbate 10 times a day.

I'd probably have to pump out some Kegel workouts for a while to even get to that level.

Beyond All Seas

"The individual has always had to struggle to keep from being overwhelmed by the tribe.
To be your own man is a hard business. If you try it, you'll be lonely often, and sometimes
frightened. But no price is too high to pay for the privilege of owning yourself." - Kipling

Post: #6

Dual N-backing apparently increases your IQ. It is this program that gives you video and audio sequences and you press a button on your keyboard corresponding to either video or audio when the sequences repeats N times back. I don't know how to describe it any better.

I have done it, though not for any length of time. I can feel the strain on my brain, though. It was relatively easy for me to get to N-3, but maintaining that level required some effort on my part.

Here is a a FAQ on the subject.

http://www.gwern.net/DNB%20FAQ

There is free N-backing software out there. I think it is covered in the faq. I used it for a bit, but the save function didn't work that great with my computer.

Post: #7

Nice. I like crossword puzzles.

Post: #8

I did dual N-back to level 5 (3 wasn't bad, 4 was tough, and I had miserable luck with 5). Can't say I noticed much difference with daily life, but it was a fun exercise and my "brain felt tired" afterward. May have helped me sleep a bit better because of that. I may give it another go at some point; it was sorta fun in a strange kind of way.

Post: #9

Nice one. Dual N-back is the only one (that Im aware of) that has studies showing it directly increases working memory and IQ:

http://www.bulletproofexec.com/how-to-ad...-training/

I've found coconut oil to be amazing for mental focus and clarity. Actually, the days I had a couple of tablespoons of it with breakfast, my N-back score was always at least one level higher. Amazing.

In general I think things like diet and exercise are super important. Getting off sugar, wheat and excess carbs, and getting on the veggies and good fats have done alot for my mental focus and also stable energy levels (no hyperactive/sleepy swings, just nice steady energy). Researchers are finding out now that Alzheimers and general cognitive decline can be thought of as a kind of type-3 diabetes. Getting off the carbs and onto healthy fats is huge, if thats the case.

Post: #10

(09-17-2012 12:57 AM)Stitch Wrote:  I did dual N-back to level 5 (3 wasn't bad, 4 was tough, and I had miserable luck with 5). Can't say I noticed much difference with daily life, but it was a fun exercise and my "brain felt tired" afterward. May have helped me sleep a bit better because of that. I may give it another go at some point; it was sorta fun in a strange kind of way.

When you got to that level, did you instinctively know when the signal was repeated, or were you working off of a memorization system? I've read that some people insist things should be done instinctively without active effort to memorize.

Edit:

I used the brain workshop program which I found to be glitchy and I quickly gave up trying to use it after two or three days.

Post: #11

Smoke cigarettes, drink beer, and do lots of gymnastic shit on the daily. Having a lot of kinesthetic awareness will increase your ability to think.

Post: #12

I hate to double post but there's a study somewhere that says regularly dancing (ballroom dancing and trance and shit) is better brain exercise than math.

Post: #13

You have to expand your "Working Memory". It's like adding more RAM to your computer.

Learn to play an instrument like guitar and memorize a few songs.

Post: #14

(09-17-2012 02:02 AM)tarquin Wrote:  When you got to that level, did you instinctively know when the signal was repeated, or were you working off of a memorization system? I've read that some people insist things should be done instinctively without active effort to memorize.

That's what I've heard too. I was "refreshing" my memory by trying to play back the "train" of flashes after each new one, but that really starts to break down at four and was REALLY hard at five. I would occasionally try the "zen" approach and had moderate luck but always worse than with the "refresh strobe" method... but as mentioned that just doesn't scale nicely.

Post: #15

Quote:I hate to double post but there's a study somewhere that says regularly dancing (ballroom dancing and trance and shit) is better brain exercise than math.

http://www.becomingsmarter.com/become-sm...by-dancing

http://socialdance.stanford.edu/syllabi/smarter.htm

Post: #16

I sure as hell got more out of it (as I've said before: learn new skill, have fun, stay active, get used to casually touching women and casually approaching). Of course the ballroom crowd can be a Much Older Demographic, but you're not really there for game most of the time (unless you're a pensioner, and I suppose I did meet a couple younger women that way).

Post: #17

fitbrains.com is excellent.

Post: #18

(09-16-2012 09:36 PM)deathtofatties Wrote:  Masturbate 10 times a day.

So cutting back makes you smarter?

Post: #19

I do mnemonic exercises and rapid mental math regularly. I found this amazing for keeping my brain sharp, plus the feats of memory and rapid calculations impresses the hell out of most folks, legs will open and pussies will flood.

Check out some books by Dominic O'brien, that shit will change your life. I also agree about learning new languages, it shows how plastic our brains really are. I suppose I am kinda lucky, being raised speaking two languages.

Also, a tablespoon of high strength fish oil per day is great for brain health. Watch how well you sleep.

Great thread

Post: #20

GREAT Thread!

I would add practice doing things with your other (unfavoured) hand.
Print & Cursive writing
Using a mouse
Punching in numbers (phone, microwave etc)
Dtf's Masterbation Reduction Target

Post: #21

Playing draughts (Checkers)

I play this everyday and I am probably spending 3 hours per day doing this (I am looking to reduce this, its becoming addictive). It has improved my concentration a lot, it speeds up your thoughts, you learn to think faster and better. It's one of these games that you really have think about your next move or one little mistake can fuck you up if your opponent knows how to play it well.

Great exercise for the brain, trust me.

Post: #22

(09-16-2012 11:17 PM)tarquin Wrote:  Dual N-backing apparently increases your IQ.

I have been using the dual n-back software for a couple of weeks, and irregularly for that matter.

I think its still to soon to comment about IQ, but I have noticed that my short term memory has improved. For example, if I have a number written down I had to double check it just to dial it (just a few digits in my memory), and as of recently I can remember 10 digit numbers long enough to dial it after reading it just once.

Ill report back when my data set is bigger.

Post: #23

I'm reading Ageless Memory by Harry Lorayne. So far it's entertaining and I've used some of the techniques he teaches. He writes about creating absurd mental pictures to remember names and dates. For example, you have a doctor's appointment on March 6th, or 3/6. Picture a footballer who's number is 36. You enter the doctor's office and there's that footballer in a white coat ready to give you your exam. The more absurd the image the easier it is to remember.

If you are already good at remembering famous events in history, say, storming the Bastille in 1789, you can use that date to form absurd mental image to remember the number 89..

http://www.amazon.com/Ageless-Memory-Exp...roduct_top

Post: #24

Improving your intellectual capabilities through different types of exercises is fascinating to me. I've tarted dual-n-back and can say that I noticed my short term memory improve a tiny bit. Also, I think learning spanish has made me smarter and physical activities that require lots of mental calculation are really good for your brain too.

Post: #25

these dont increase IQ. I think the over emphasis on IQ here is strange. these increase cognitive ability (lumosity does, at least). there is a benefit to them, but its not in raising IQ. things like learning languages and such are beneficial in that there.is evidence suggesting they prevent alzheimers. also, learning one language will not actually increase new language acquisition capacity