/sci/ - Science & Math

>>6323137
i think ALL of us at /sci/ have argued enough to know that clearly environment plasy a WAY bigger roll in intelligence than genetics does. but uh

just train your brain, get a big book of math problems, take some pills you'll be gine

>>6323144
>clearly environment plasy a WAY bigger roll in intelligence than genetics does.
lol

>>6323144
How does the environment affect our intelligence? Don't you think that people with more degrees than Hawking are still considered dumber than him? It's his genetics...

>>6323137
You would be fine by just being motivated enough to sit down and learn or do something productive. Just being genetically 'smart' or good-looking won't do shit for you unless you actually work on something.

>>6323137

you don't need to be "intelligent" to become an expert at something

expert knowledge is what grants you job security. you gotta know something that only you or a handful of other people know how to do or operate. that would make you "intelligent".

intelligence means a lot of things to different people, and not all of these things are necessarily corellated with mental aptitude.

although if you're a potato you might have real problems becoming an expert at anything, but since you can post coherent word and read captchas I think you're more than capable of dedicating yourself to the study of something nobody else wants to touch.

>>6323144

>is functionally retarded
>posts advice on intelligence

>>6323137
>why do I have to suffer in life due to something that I have no control over whatsoever
so are you new to life or something?

>>6323168

>>6323163
But is there no way to actually get "smarter"? Eg: some people are called human calculators; I've heard medfags are great at memorizing and focusing.

>>6323175

you could probably train yourself to a degree, yes. if you start studying and memorizing stuff you might get better at it.

or you could save up your mcdonalds dollars and wait for neural implants.

or you could realize that people who get their lives served on a silver platter are rare exceptions, and that maybe you just need to work hard like everyone else.

>>6323175
there are specific techniques to become better at memorizing, it's not a matter of intelligence.
as for the rest, training is important. You need to build up connections within neurons, so you need to use your intelligence. Solving problems, trying to understand complex texts and so on.

And as for the others have said above it's not intelligence that matters, but expertise.
Maybe you'll take longer than others to learn to do a certain thing, but once you've learned, if it's useful and there's not an overabundance of people who can do the same then you'll be valuable and employed.

>>6323179
>you could probably train yourself to a degree
What does that "training" consist of?
>>6323183
>there are specific techniques to become better at memorizing
What are those techniques?

>>6323196
really?
you can't even find such easy information on your own?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Memorization#Techniques

>>6323196

doing stuff you want to be able to do

like memorizing shit

> "why do I have to suffer due to something that I have no control over whatsoever?"

Welcome to life. Enjoy your stay.

Basically everyone have the same intelligence from the start. There are exceptions of course.

But the people you know that you think are smart aren't inherently smarter than you because of genetics, but because of how much effort they put into their studies and them studying by a technique that suits them.

For example, some people learn easier step by step while others learn better by viewing the whole picture first. IQ isn't set in stone as you can improve it by "brain exercise". IQ in itself isn't even an accurate measure of intelligence.

As you may know, the more neurons and synapses you have, the easier you can handle new information. Positive factors for neurogenesis and synaptogenesis is e.g physical activity and an enriched environment (the more you use your brain the more neurons and synapses you get). Negative factors include prolonged stress. And less synapses does reduce your learning capability as have been observed in e.g the Morris water maze study.

If we want to take it even further, long term depression of e.g the glutamate synapse causes a decreased number of AMPA receptors and/or decreased sensitivity of said receptors while long term potentiation increases the AMPA receptors and/or sensitivity. If you are exposed to environmental toxins e.g Pb2+ your number of NMDA receptors in the glutamate synapse will decrease resulting in a cognitive decline.

tl;dr The majority of people have the same ability to learn from the start. Barely anyone starts off inherently smarter than others. Just use your brain and avoid toxins.

>>6323196
training.
when you learn a new task new links form between neurons.

So just do that.
Solving problems, quizzes reading philosophy books and trying to understand them, all of it, use your brain.

>>6323203
>>6323204
Thanks
>>6323214
Are you a neurologist?
>>6323217
Is cognitivefun.com a good start?

>>6323196
Those are some pretty wild bomb designs. Not much like what I've seen before. I wonder how accurate they are.

I mean, the one labelled "boosted fission" is clearly an H-bomb which has just got the stages nested rather than separate from each other. A boosted fission bomb would normally just have D-T gas inside the plutonium core, and maybe a beryllium reflector around that.

This design looks like it might be more mass-efficient, but it would also be more bulky. The two-stage arrangement makes for a narrower-diameter cone that fits neatly into a compact reentry vehicle for ballistic missile delivery.

>>6323223
Nah, I'm a MSc student in biomedicine. But I aim at a PhD in some CNS field.

>>6323227
I'm 19 and I've been depressed since I'm 7, how long before I go potato? Knowing that my depression is the reason for making me stupid makes me ever more sadder and depressed. How fucked am I?

>>6323235
I suspect you're referring to the long term depression comment. It's not about you being depressed but that the synapses aren't used. The opposite is "long term potentiation", which means a continuous synapse firing between the same neurons. So if you have been stimulating your brain somehow (e.g studies, wikipedia etc.) you shouldn't be bad off.

>>6323235
>How fucked am I?
fucked^1000000000 with that attitude.

>>6323247
Thanks a lot, anymore suggestions please? Any mind exercises or meditation?
>>6323249
Uh, sorry.

>>6323253
First of all, don't neglect the basics: good nutrition, regular exercise, enough time for sleep in suitable circumstances, and frequent opportunities for face-to-face social interaction.

Depression is often a symptom of serious physical illness, so see a doctor, tell him about any physical problems (no matter how embarassing -- digestive problems in particular are often humiliating, but treatable, and are likely to cause symptoms like depression).

Take care of these things before you go looking for exotic gimmicks or consider psychiatric meds.

>>6323201

>>6323253
The thing is that you want to fire the same neurons continuously, which means that the type of smart you want to have is what you have to challenge yourself with. You can work on your memory, reasoning etc. I don't know enough to recommend what you should focus on, but an example is trying to learn more advanced math, learn a language, learn more about physics etc. It's not much different from learning a skill, you learn by doing.

And you should take care of your nutrition. For example, low Ca-influx results in long term depression. Broccoli has a chemical that activates the nrf2 transcription factor which transcribes glutathione. Glutathione is one of our most important antioxidants. Exercise also induces glutathione transcription (exercise leads to more radical formation which leads to mitochondrial damage). Low nrf2 levels have been correlated to aging (which comes with worse memory etc.) and Alzheimer's as well (Alzheimer's I'm fairly certain about).

>>6323144
>>6323137
Hang on

Does /Sci/ really think Intelligence is decided on Genetics and not the environment you're in ?

>>6323290
See>>6323159

>>6323137
cmon op.... don't be a fedora.. handwork and dedication will get you farther than smarts alone. take math, or physics and science and bust your ass til you can school the geniuses in your class. math will increase your problem solving and general iq by broadening understanding, especially pure math, physics is good for this as well.

>>6323137
Psychedelics.

>>6323299
No, thanks
>>6323296
I wanted to be a medfag...

>>6323300
thats great. Im a math major, smartest, most confident guys i know are medfags, no shame in that. good money, hot girls in all your classes. your intelligence will grow on its own by finding easier ways to learn, or better ways to learn, the farther you go in med school. stick with it

>>6323295
I saw it but that means nothing to what I'm talking about !

>>6323253 didn't mean to be sharp (that's a blatant lie)
THIS>>6323271
I was in the same boat just a while back, while not for such a long time granted, but seriously, seriously, depressed. The first two, good nutriton and REGULAR exercise, were really what pulled me out of it. It gave me the initial foothold I needed to climb. Create a routine around your exercise, then build it up from there. If I felt shitty, I ran until I didn't. If I didn't like the way I looked, I ran and worked out until I did, slowly and subtly you'll begin to be able to apply this attitude towards other aspects of your life, but it all begins with this. It's like quitting smoking, you just have to be so disgusted, so fed up with yourself being the way you are that you just make the final decision to change the way you are. Because that's the beauty of life, you can change almost everything about yourself if you don't like it.

>>6323290
Is this a troll or are you one of those social scientists who believe that environment is a cause of everything and that biology and genetics explains nothing about human differences?

Cause while environment plays a part, genetics does too. This is the case for almost anything about a persons personality.

>>6323308
why don't you look up intelligence or the actual people that have changed of course of history. they are geniuses, but they are certainly not the smartest people in the world. this seriously bugs me cause you speak from instinct not logic.. this is /sci/ keep your feelings in your petticoat

>>6323313
You don't have to be a genius to change the course of history, you just have to be influential.

I'm saying that there's definitely an innate ability in humans from birth in how well they're going to be able to absorb information, as well as applying that information. You can see this in cases where children who are adopted will have a strong correlation in IQ of their biological parents, and almost no correlation with their adoptive parents.

IQ, while not a measure of "intelligence", has a positive correlation with longer education and better grades.

>>6323316
Read
>>6323214

>>6323316
I'm really not seeing what that has to do with bashing environment or what that has do to with this thread at all. hard workers get better grades, go farther in education, and come out making more money.
your post is pointless.. read more.
the studies are numerous..look it up

>>6323326
>the studies are numerous..look it up
all studies ive ever seen show a large genetic element to intelligence.

>but why do I have to suffer in life due to something that I have no control over whatsoever

That's a pathetic mentality. I can't refute the fact that a higher IQ makes learning new concepts and absorbing content significantly easier, but motivation is nonetheless a major factor in success.
Stop being lazy and feeling sorry for yourself. Go do something. Men like Feynman were told that they weren't "smart enough", but they've accomplished plenty.

>>6323326
I'm not bashing environment, I'm saying genetics plays a role. The studies are numerous that says there's a higher correlation in IQ and school grades between biological parents than with adoptive parents, and I've never seen a rigorous study that claims environment is the end all, be all factor in intelligence, and that genetics is negligible.

>>6323330
you look dumb.. cambridge put out the most conclusive study
from a stats perspective, beleiving otherwise is risky.. basically i can tell you you are completely wrong

>>6323333
your just talking man.. seriously.. please just fucking look it up.. this is getting a little ridiculous

>>6323336
YOU look dumb. You keep saying people are wrong without even providing an argument.

>>6323326
>>6323333
The expressed phenotype is due to the combined effect of the genotype and the environment

:)

>>6323337
Look up what? Why don't you provide me with the studies that back up your claim?

>>6323336
good god you are retarded.

you must have grown up in an extremely shit environment.

>>6323338
cases that link 'intelligence to parents' you are talking about case studies..
im talking about an accredited study from Cambridge..
Im not trying to get angry but you have to know what accredited means/

>>6323346
im a stats major. i probably am more up to date on studies in public domain are because its my job to study their sample methods. but hipsters are plenty smart. this is not reddit

>>6323349
>im a stats major.
so you just admitted you are retarded. good.

>>6323349
being up to date doesn't change the fact that you cant seem to form a coherent argument.

i dont see what there is to argue about

>>6323137
Work harder, be more persistent, show up on time = top tier

>>6323355
But that's wrong. Eye color is a phenotype but it has nothing to do with enviroment.

OP here, thanks for the motivation, everyone.

>>6323379
If I would gauge out your eyes, then the resulting gaping holes would presumambly not be heritable

>>6323384
That wouldn't change his eyecolor.

when you're about to think, don't. speculation leads to assumptions, assumptions lead to mistakes. testing is where it's at. blind, mindless, mechanical testing. plugging in examples.

i think you can boost your iq by 20 points just by not thinking.

>>6323400
Are you high? If no, please elaborate on what you mean by "stop thinking"

>>6323137
>How do I get smarter, /sci/?

That's the same as asking: how do I get taller. While they can break your legs and grow them by an inch or two, your legs will be forever weak and you'll be in pain for decades.

Same goes with brain: you can take some drugs and gain few IQ points but they have side effects and will kill you in the end.

Best is to come to terms with it and do something you love and can be good at.

>>6323159
as a child growing up in a very good school district but had awful parents at home,

environment matters.

>>6323137
1. Attractiveness is subjective, general style and behaviour influence it greatly;
2. Read Mental Maths from that phd in number theory guy;
3. Memory palace;
4. Focusing... Try to always concentrate on the ultimate goals - if you know that what you do has a purpose [for you personally], you are more likely not to switch to useless stuff. Also create some rules, like "never browse 4chan, until hw is done".
>why do I have to suffer in life due to something that I have no control over whatsoever?
This is how it works. Why is illogical question.

Now go and use this rich knowledge to your best, our young wariors !!!

>>6323137
Read self help books, sometimes it takes the obvious answers to find the root of your problems.

bump