How do I make myself smarter?

Submitted ⁨⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩ by ⁨cameron_vale@lemm.ee⁩ to ⁨nostupidquestions@lemmy.world⁩

Not gain knowledge or gain the right knowledge or even think better, because those are constrained to certain assumptions. I want to escape illusions. How do I do that and get better at that?

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bloopernova@programming.dev ⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
Read more. Go to the local library and read.

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- TheOneWithTheHair@lemmy.world ⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  Especially books with topics you don’t agree with. And think about what you’re reading. You’ll either change your mind, become unsure but not committed to that side, or you decide that position has its flaws and you were right. In the end, you can discuss that position and sound more intelligent because you have the arguments to back up your position.
  
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- cameron_vale@lemm.ee ⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  This assumes that ideas have a central significance. I suspect that this is an illusion of perspective.
  
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  - kakes@sh.itjust.works ⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
    Step two: Try not to be so pretentious and closed-minded.
    
    Being “smart” comes from the ability to see the world from other perspectives. Perspective is the gift books give us, and the reason you’ll get “smarter” from reading them. You gain nothing from taking the easy route and writing these sorts of things off as “beneath you.”
    
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  - actionjbone@sh.itjust.works ⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
    If perspective is illusory, then learning more subjective perspectives will help you see commonalities and find additional ways to address them.
    
    You may not believe that the writer has valid perspectives, but you will learn more about how perspectives are presented.
    
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Ragdoll_X@lemmy.world ⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
By “escape illusions” do you mean not falling for and being able to overcome false beliefs?

I’d say you should familiarize yourself with logical fallacies and cognitive biases, and to become accustomed with admitting the limits of your knowledge.

Open-mindedness, intellectual curiosity, rigorousness and humility can help you not fall for false beliefs and keep an open mind to new facts that might contradict what you previously believed.

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- cameron_vale@lemm.ee ⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  I think that the #1 source of illusions is illusions of perspective, not incorrect thinking.
  
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smotherlove@sh.itjust.works ⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
Spread misinformation rampantly to lower the average IQ, thus making you smarter by comparison.

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- cameron_vale@lemm.ee ⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  Interesting angle. Create an idiiocracy type situation.
  
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smuuthbrane@sh.itjust.works ⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
Learn some critical thinking to start. If it’s illusions you’re trying to escape, learn what aspects of human nature those illusions are preying on to sustain them.

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- Zippy@lemmy.world ⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  Critical thinking is the new term for common sense but it does apply.
  
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someguy3@lemmy.ca ⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
By illusions you mean misinformation or bad arguments? Learn the logical fallacies and look for them. It’s astounding how people use them knowingly or unknowingly.

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- cameron_vale@lemm.ee ⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  
  By illusions you mean misinformation or bad arguments?
  
  The main source of illusions that I can think of is errors of perspective.
  
  For example if you stare at a beige wall all the time you might conclude that the universe is beige, and the evidence would support that conclusion, but of course you are wrong.
  
  Another is the illusion of scale. Where, when something is close it looks large, but when it is distant it looks small. This works for everything, sights, sounds, thoughts…
  
  And of course one’s thinking is built upon this shaky foundation.
  
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  - someguy3@lemmy.ca ⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
    Learning new perspectives means you just need to learn more, get out of your comfort zone, entertain new ideas, do a lot of thought experiments. BUT you have to be aware of propaganda and misinformation techniques, so my original thoughts still work.
    
    There’s a saying that the mark of intelligence is entertaining an idea without accepting it. Entertain ideas, learn how to analyze them, watch out for fallacies from them and from yourself.
    
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Hank@kbin.social ⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
Have you tried watching Rick and Morty yet?

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- cameron_vale@lemm.ee ⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  Of course. Greatest cartoon ever. First 2 seasons anyway.
  
  And speaking of high quality animation, have you seen Scavengers Reign?
  
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Bitswap@lemmy.world ⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
Your replies show you are too deeply involved in illusions to ever escape and make yourself smarter…

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- cameron_vale@lemm.ee ⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  Well that simplifies your end of the conversation.
  
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GentlemanLoser@ttrpg.network ⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
Read read read

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- cameron_vale@lemm.ee ⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  reading is overrated.
  
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TheLurker@lemmy.world ⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
Learn the concepts behind Propositional Logic and First Order Logic. Then how to apply them to critical thinking.

You will be surprised how much bullshit you can instantly see through by checking against a simple set of propositional statements and their conclusions to see if they are mutually exclusive.

As an example of Propositional Logic… It is raining today but there not a cloud in the sky.

Proposition 1 = It is raining today Proposition 2 = There are no clouds todays

Both Propositions 1 & 2 are mutually exclusive therefore the statement as a whole is false.

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- cameron_vale@lemm.ee ⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  Peruse the thread. My opinion of thinking is not as high as yours.
  
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gonzozilla@lemmy.world ⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
I found these websites good for learning about identifying faults in my thinking yourlogicalfallacyis.com/strawman

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- cameron_vale@lemm.ee ⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  
  I think that the #1 source of illusions is errors of perspective, not incorrect thinking.
  
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  - Jaytreeman@kbin.social ⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
    What's the difference?
    I'm intrigued by what you're saying, but I'm not sure I understand.
    
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solidgrue@lemmy.world ⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
[deleted]
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- cameron_vale@lemm.ee ⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  Or so the dogma of the hour goes. Tomorrow all the smart guys will be thinking tiny dwarves and elves parasailing down your energy channels.
  
  But there is infinitely more to the world that the shadowland of thought.
  
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guyrocket@kbin.social ⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
Your question is vauge, however:

I just borrowed this from my local library.

Here are more similar courses from the same series.

There is no magic pill, but these are probably steps in the right direction.

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- cameron_vale@lemm.ee ⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  Can you think of a less intellectual approach? I think that the intellect might be a dead end.
  
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BigBlackCockroach@lemmy.world ⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
Philosophy, read maybe plato the republic, maybe kant critique of pure reason and go from there.

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- cameron_vale@lemm.ee ⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  I think I addressed that. I don’t want the kind of smarter where I’m better at reasoning or have higher quality knowledge with which to reason. I want the kind of smarter where I’m better at escaping illusions. Self-made, cultural or otherwise.
  
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  - kakes@sh.itjust.works ⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
    Dude,I don’t mean to be rude, but you might legitimately need to see a therapist. This sounds worryingly like schizophrenia to me.
    
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  - BassTurd@lemmy.world ⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
    In order to escape these illusions, you need to be able to think critically and reason what are facts and what are illusions. You have to be able to read about a topic and understand meanings and context, then from there you can get a deeper understanding. Knowledge isn’t just knowing facts, but understanding what makes them facts.
    
    Referencing your words in a different comment, to find out the the world isn’t all beige, you need to go out and experience the world. Take a step back on things you think you know, and try to see them from a different perspective. Read counterpoints to your opinions and study the basis behind them. The more you branch, the more new information you will discover, which will open the door to more knowledge and can help break these illusions.
    
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  - HeartyBeast@kbin.social ⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
    
    I want the kind of smarter where I’m better at escaping illusions. Self-made, cultural or otherwise.
    
    Despite your claim that you aren’t interested in better reasoning - that’s absolutely one aspect of what you are after.
    
    Don’t reject methods of reasoning as tools to escape illusions, to the extent that that is possible for any of us.
    
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HubertManne@kbin.social ⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
read in general, play mental games like suduko and doing crosswords (mix up from different authors as if you do the same author every day you learn more their preferences). in your reading do some for pleasure like fiction you like but read philosophy and if you have not learned it work on elementary logic.

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- cameron_vale@lemm.ee ⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  I think that mental stuff is useful but, in the big picture, just a toy.
  
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  - HubertManne@kbin.social ⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
    yeah rereading your post I gave you the opposite of what you wanted. Your title and posting sorta contradict each other. If you just want to get spiritual I would say breathing and meditation but it won't necessarily make you smarter in the common usage of the word.
    
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____@infosec.pub ⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
Hang out with folks who are at least nominally more intelligent than you. Never be the most ignorant person in the room, nor the most intelligent / expressive.

That holds pretty true no matter your industry - and if you can identify the actual thought leaders in adjacent biz areas, so much the better.

Read. As much as possible. And then think about it, find the takeaways. The takeaways will be crap at first, but will improve rapidly.

Know your limits, but also know your cheat codes. Use the latter to gain admission to progressively more challenging circles.

There is no one on earth, and no series of events, from whom/which you cannot learn something. It might not be life changing, but it’s still worth searching for the worthwhile content.

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- cameron_vale@lemm.ee ⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  That’s a good idea. People absorb each other. I heard once that you are the average of the 5 people you hang out with most.
  
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surewhynotlem@lemmy.world ⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
Read this: hpmor.com

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- cameron_vale@lemm.ee ⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  I have read that it is is darn fine. Thank you very much.
  
  Speaking of high quality, free, online scifi that refers to self-optimization a bit, have you read : www.fimfiction.net/story/…/friendship-is-optimal
  
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  - surewhynotlem@lemmy.world ⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
    I will now! Thank you.
    
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