The Language of Intelligence

by Alan Pritt

When I first approached the subject of intelligence improvement, I was paralysed by all the information on offer. There were so many things you could do to improve, so much to think about, and so much that was still not understood. As I explored the subject matter in greater detail I found myself drowning in even more information.

There were so many problem solving techniques, creative strategies, memory systems and even health advice that I didn't think I could ever realistically use it all. In an everyday situation how would I know which strategies to use and which ones to discard?

I began my search for the best strategy - or at least a select few. There must be a technique that encompasses all the others, I thought. Or one product that pulls everything together. A few select techniques would be something I could focus on and I wouldn't be confused about what to use where.

I wasted a lot of time looking for it.

Eventually I gave up. I presumed the all-encompassing-perfect-technique didn't yet exist. So I began to make use of the techniques that did exist.

And I began to see benefits. I was getting my work done quicker, my memory was improving and I was gradually improving my grades.

But I was still disappointed, because none of the techniques had a huge impact. The miracle of brain science didn't seem to be providing any major breakthroughs for me. But the benefits were still coming so I continued to work on the smaller techniques.

As I learnt more and more techniques, what I feared would happen never did.

I didn't get confused.

I didn't get overwhelmed.

And I didn't have to really think about what strategies to use where.

I just used them.

The Language

When I first began to learn German I had the same feelings.

I wasn't worried about the vocabulary. I knew there were a lot of words, but I never really considered I'd have a problem using them once I learnt them all. It was the grammar that I was worried about.

There were so many rules. Rules that were completely different to English rules.

Suddenly every noun had one of 3 genders. Every verb had an assortment of different endings. The order of sentences changed the spelling of other words. And that was just the beginning.

I couldn't keep up. I could keep my focus on one rule without much problem. I had to think hard about it, sure, but I could keep up. But in every sentence I had to somehow keep track of all the rules of grammar.

But I knew I must be able to do it because I was already fluent in English. I just had to learn a similar skill for German. So I ploughed on.

Gradually I became more and more comfortable with the sentence structures, and I found I could keep track more easily. Somehow I just knew which rules to use where and when, and I could do it on the fly. I was still making mistakes, but at least things were getting easier.

I was slowly heading down the road to fluency.

Becoming intellectually fluent

Learning intelligence building techniques runs on the same principle. When we begin to learn a technique we don't really know when and how to use it; it feels unnatural. But as we use it, experiment with it and try it in an assortment of different situations, it becomes more ingrained in our brains. We begin to develop an intuitive understanding of when to use it and when not to. Finally, it starts to become useful.

With intelligence we gradually build it up like any language. Piece by piece we add new vocabulary and grammar to our intelligence, and so piece by piece our strategies for learning and thinking become more advanced.

There is not one technique, just like there is no one word or rule of vocabulary that is more important than all the others. Some sections are more important than others, but there is not one area which is the most important. All the different techniques, team up with your existing brain processes to create a system which is far beyond anything a single technique could produce.

Everything becomes fluent and effortless

Until we proceed to the next level...

|