[str551 (OP)]

I've been listening to the podcasts to, from & in work and really enjoy them, however there is one question that I haven't been able to find out myself for -- that is:

Is one able to increase ones intelligence and/or memory performance by any particular methods such as this one; [link flagged as possible scam or spam risk, please contact mods if not so] whereby the author purports that a regular activity of holding ones breathe under water in a swimming pool is, according to the author, a way to increase it.

Of course there are other normal methods which are suggested from which I know, mainly - exercising, reading and a good regular circadian rhythm.


Thanks.

[Joe L. Ogan]

Since they do not have a really accurate measure for intelligence, you can fudge it by increasing your knowledge.  Thanks for comments.  Joe L. Ogan

[Peteuplink]

I think a good question to ask is, what is intelligence? Is intelligence how smart you are and what score you can get in a Mensa test? Or is intelligence more about how much you've learned in your life? Or is it all down to common sense?

I'll give an example of what I mean. I used to know a man called Barry (I forget his surname, we did a computing course together back in the 90's), he was a physicist and a very, very intelligent man. By intelligent, I mean he could solve logic puzzles and had a pretty good IQ rating (much better than mine anyway). He was also a repository of amazing amounts of general knowledge.

I visited his home one day to work on a project together, went into the living room to find that he'd taken his cylinder vacuum cleaner to bits. When I asked him what he was doing with it, he told me that it'd stopped sucking, and he'd emptied the bag, so he thought there was something wrong with the motor. I asked if I could have a look, and the first thing I thought of was having a look in the pipe to make sure it wasn't blocked. So I pulled the three parts of the pipe apart and found that the middle one was blocked by a big ball of dog hair. We put it back together and it was working fine.

So what is intelligence? Barry (most people would say, including myself) was a lot smarter than me, but it never occurred to him that the vacuum cleaner pipe might be blocked. Is common sense also a good indication of intelligence?

[tommya300]

I think a good question to ask is, what is intelligence? Is intelligence how smart you are and what score you can get in a Mensa test? Or is intelligence more about how much you've learned in your life? Or is it all down to common sense?

I'll give an example of what I mean. I used to know a man called Barry (I forget his surname, we did a computing course together back in the 90's), he was a physicist and a very, very intelligent man. By intelligent, I mean he could solve logic puzzles and had a pretty good IQ rating (much better than mine anyway). He was also a repository of amazing amounts of general knowledge.

I visited his home one day to work on a project together, went into the living room to find that he'd taken his cylinder vacuum cleaner to bits. When I asked him what he was doing with it, he told me that it'd stopped sucking, and he'd emptied the bag, so he thought there was something wrong with the motor. I asked if I could have a look, and the first thing I thought of was having a look in the pipe to make sure it wasn't blocked. So I pulled the three parts of the pipe apart and found that the middle one was blocked by a big ball of dog hair. We put it back together and it was working fine.

So what is intelligence? Barry (most people would say, including myself) was a lot smarter than me, but it never occurred to him that the vacuum cleaner pipe might be blocked. Is common sense also a good indication of intelligence?

http://www.thenakedscientists.com/forum/index.php?topic=34336.msg325665#msg325665

[Peteuplink]

Thanks for the link Tommy. I hadn't realised there was another conversation on the subject.

I think the discussion of intelligence does raise some interesting points when looking at different people. Some autistic people do indeed have incredible mental abilities as mentioned by Myriam in the tread you linked. But without going too far off the topic of this thread, can intelligence be taught?

Intelligence is obviously more than just knowledge. Knowledge can be taught (for instance I learn things from this website every day that I didn't know before), but can intelligence?

Take myself and my brother. We both come from the same parents, but in terms of common sense and intelligence, we're completely different. My brother hardly ever went to school, and he tends to jump feet first into things without weighing up the pros and cons. Whenever I try to explain something about astronomy to him (he does like to take an interest in what I do), I have to do it in very simple terms. I know how to use computers, but he doesn't even know how to save a word document or download programs. Put us side by side and people would say that I'm more intelligent than him. But sometimes he surprises me with what he can do and he says and occasionally he'll find a solution to something that I've not even considered. So who's the most intelligent then?

[tommya300]

Peteuplink  measuring common sense with intelligence in the same sentence is not uncommon but is it accurate?

I think society as mistakenly staked a claim on intelligence relating to level of communication, expression, and impression.

I had to be spoon fed information and when it clicked so did the terminology and then the learning through association began, certain things as easier to understand...

I said it before and I will say it again that sometimes "having to too many irons in the fire"
can be a distraction.  

Maybe intelligence can be associated with the thirst to learn and self awareness coupled with survival instints? Maybe we can leave out the thirst to learn, replace it with the capability to be trained.

Can deductive reasoning also play a part or out witting the other guy be a measurement?

[str551 (OP)]

I shouldn't have said intelligence, my apologies.

The reasoning for posting was ~ did the author of the website link have a point or any logical reasoning for his claims? It's not about intelligence, my mistake - I meant ones ability to remember things, learning faster, reacting quicker and so on.

[str551 (OP)]

I understand the link could be a scam but it's a bit mean for members to presume that they are so illknowledged that they won't be able to judge for theirselves.

Here's where to find it on google:
Two GUARANTEED Ways to Profoundly Improve Your Intelligence
by Win Wenger

I hate scams as much as the next man which is why i posted the information here - to see if other members could debate intelligently among theirselves to see if it's just a load of rubbish or has some bearing.

However, censorship on such a small scale debate is ludacris and I hope whatever mod took dien the original link thinks before he/she acts out a knee jerk reaction to this.

[Ophiolite]

You are being rather silly str551.

I hate scams as much as the next man which is why i posted the information here - to see if other members could debate intelligently among theirselves to see if it's just a load of rubbish or has some bearing.

Excellent idea, but you did not explain that in anyway. You plopped the link down and the only hint I had that you did not consider it to be solid science was the use of the word 'purports'.

However, censorship on such a small scale debate is ludacris and I hope whatever mod took dien the original link thinks before he/she acts out a knee jerk reaction to this.

The knee jerk reaction here is from you. The link had all the appearance of spam. The mods were quite right to remove it. But notice that the removal was provisional. All you had to do was contact the mods and explain what you were trying to achieve. They invited you to do this:

[link flagged as possible scam or spam risk, please contact mods if not so]

Of course it you had explained your intention at the outset even that may not have been necessary. The mods have a tough job to do, which they carry out for no material benefit. It behoves us to support them in their efforts, not make matters worse.

[str551 (OP)]

I don't have time to bicker, I'd rather actually discuss the topic in question. You should have sent an email to me about that.

[str551 (OP)]

The link in question is actually far more interesting than what I should or shouldn't have done.

Part of why it's so interesting is that he mentions breathing excercises. I don't see why any mod would have removed the link.

[BenV]

I'm sure you can understand that it looks a lot like spam, but a good way around this would be to quote key passages that you think are worthy of discussion here. What does it say about breathing?

[peppercorn]

I don't have time to bicker, I'd rather actually discuss the topic in question. You should have sent an email to me about that.

Str, I apologise if my moderating reaction was 'knee-jerk'.  Sometimes it is necessary to act quickly to stop similar follow-up spam, as well as protecting the less careful members of the forum from the many website threats.  -If I was blessed with more time last night I would have sent a PM as well-
As Ophiolite said it is better to quote the relevant information from a 3rd party page (especially for members with low post counts) - then a link can be given contextually.
We do not want to alienate new contributors, so again I am sorry if you felt I was overly officious.
-Peppercorn