Calling All Intelligent People

[milly143]

There are a lot of people on here who appear extremely intelligent and not just knowledged up on one particular subject but people who have a huge amount of factual information on many different, that they clearly haven't just copied and pasted from Google. So, how do you become to be so intelligent?

[dotty.]

Just naturally blessed i suppose.

[Old_Geezer]

There is a difference between intelligence and knowledge.

[NazNomad]

Books ... REAL books.

[dotty.]

I listened in class too, except maths, I listened to radio 1 in maths

[wolf63]

I am a Googler and I forget the information as soon as I have used it - maybe remembering some facts but nothing relevant.

My little brother (little - he's 42) has a degree in History and Politics and seems to have remembered everything that he was taught at university. He is some type of computer programmer and has fitted his own kitchen and bathroom. He has three young kids and is good with them. He is a grumpy git but he is a fountain of knowledge.

I know about cats and ??

[yogi-bear]

I learnt everything i knew, milly, from the book 'The World and Wisdom According to Mahatma Prendy'.....it was complete tosh, so self taught now. :0)

[chrissa1]

A decent old fashioned education that covered All areas and not just what the "pc" brigade thinks should be taught.

[nightmare]

Age also has a lot to do with it.
The longer you have been around, the more you will have learnt through life.
Experience does still count for quite a lot.

[LoftyLottie]

Having a thirst for knowledge and learning throughout your life, reading, talking to people, travelling. It all builds up. School and college is just the beginning. A lot of it also comes from parental influence and the way we are brought up.

I am not saying I am intelligent though!

[MarkRae]

Old_Geezer is correct. I know lots of people from the quizzing fraternity who, at first glance, appear to be unbelievably intelligent. However, that assumes that your definition of intelligence is the ability to learn inconsequential lists and minutiae that provide no useful function in their daily lives, other than to be good at quizzing.

The easiest way to gain knowledge is to do just that - sit down with a book of facts that you can buy from any branch of W H Smith, and learn it parrot-fashion.

But, if you want to gain real intelligence, then you need to learn from other intelligent people. So start with the great works of literature and immerse yourself in them.

[jackthehat]

Whilst many of my friends spent their time being interest-ing I preferred to spend mine being interest-ed...

[LoftyLottie]

And what nightmare says ^

[ChuckFickens]

Books, the internet and an upbringing of being told by my father that I can do anything if I put my mind to it.

[McMouse]

When at school many years ago I was taught not just to know things but to understand them.

[LoftyLottie]

It's amazing what information brains hold!!

[rowanwitch]

the basic gift was there....then..like Lottie...never missed an opportunity to learn... and I was lucky to have really good recall so I could remember what I learned.
Not academic though...but know a lot of stuff on a wide range of subjects. Still learning....and hopefully will learn something new every day til I die

[jd_1984]

Life experience with a solid education as a base.
But I honestly think wisdom comes with age, I am still learning what the world is all about at the moment. I also think you have to make a few mistakes to be able to appreciate/learn what life is all about.

[milly143]

So do you think some people are born with the ability (and desire maybe) to intake and store all the information that makes them clever/intelligent.

For me, I was pretty hopeless academically (I had to spell check that) and my brain is like a seive. It's not that I don't have the desire to learn, it just seems as if my brain won't let me. In fact, I know that sometimes people ask me questions that others would find simple to answer, just because they know I don't know what the answer is.

[LoftyLottie]

Dead right jd.

Also the brain needs to be stimulated, right until the end of your life.

Look at the amount of people in the80's and 90's now who are using the internet on a daily basis and still learning new skills and picking up new information.

[nightmare]

Also, maintaining the curiosity of a child into adulthood - never losing the ability to question and find out.
That certainly worked for Einstein.