7 replies to this topic

[Foot]

"Everything is possible if you work hard enough" For eq. if you wanted to be a psychicist or mathematician, is such a thing even possible? If you don't count the luck, your socioeconomic status etc. Or are we just a narcissistic society, as a consequence of Lady GaGa and Katy Perry telling us we can achieve anything in Capitalism? Can you actually increase intelligence?

[golden1]

I think it is true if you have the intelligence to understand the concepts behind whatever field it is, and/or simply the endurance/determination(for physical activities/jobs). Of course you also need to be able to force yourself to work hard at it and if it is something that you don't enjoy then you may have a rather hard time, but I don't consider it impossible.

I don't think it applies to everyone, since some/many people would never be able to force upon them that level of determination and some are sadly just not intelligent enough to learn the concepts(although I am talking more so about extremes of lower intelligence.. I don't know how to say it "right" or "politically correct" in this context hahah. Of course the same applies for physical goals.

So, with that, on to the next part, I think if you can increase your intelligence and that people already possessing "high" intelligence(of what measure I don't know, the amount of ability to learn and excel at wide ranges of things maybe is a good measure?) are more likely to end up increasing their intelligence since they are more likely to be ... um.. using their brains for higher level thinking and interested in learning.

So the answer to all of it I guess is that, if you happen to be the type of person who can dedicate themselves to working hard at something then yes you can probably do anything(of course within reason), however I'm not sure how much of that is actually up to the individual... so the quote "Everything is possible if you work hard enough" may be true, but not everyone will have the dedication or even the ability to be so dedicated. Kind of an arguement against free will in that you are who you are and you will act accordingly..of course I suppose that is changeable with... dedication.. which further confuses things hahah so.. kind of an interesting situation.

Personally I think I am intelligent to do most anything(and I'm not bragging but I have a wide array of polished talents(programming[c++,c,c#,php,javascript, java, css,html], visual design, music creation, jumping very high... lol all sorts of things I've enjoyed and mastered hahah), yet I failed out of college due to lack of dedication, which is something I find very hard if the thing doesn't interest me, such as the various college courses I had to take and had no interest at all in.

I suppose the quote itself in a way explains this, "Everything is possible if you work hard enough."(not a simple or realistically possible task for me when considering it could be anything I have to work on, even something I don't want to do at all).

Hope you enjoyed my rambles

[platypus]

I think that's a stupid and incorrect thought, but of course it has its uses.

[Batou]

It's interesting. I believe everyone has some biological limit to what they're capable of achieving. I know that no matter how hard I work I'm not going to become a physicist, at least not a very good one. Advance maths is just too difficult for me.

We don't choose our intelligence, it's mainly dictated by genetics and other factors that are outside of our control. I hope though that one day with future technologies we will be able to increase our intelligences significantly.

[Divien]

How to become a pure mathematician (or statistician): http://hbpms.blogspot.com/
How to become a good theoretical physicist: http://www.staff.sci...1/theorist.html

[abelard lindsay]

Foot, on 09 July 2012 - 07:03 PM, said:

"Everything is possible if you work hard enough" For eq. if you wanted to be a psychicist or mathematician, is such a thing even possible? If you don't count the luck, your socioeconomic status etc. Or are we just a narcissistic society, as a consequence of Lady GaGa and Katy Perry telling us we can achieve anything in Capitalism? Can you actually increase intelligence?

I think people have different talents.  The key is discovering the one you're good at and exploiting it to the fullest.  There are different types of memory, different types of physical abilities, etc.  

IMHO, the "anybody can do anything" slogan is political newspeak for a political ideology whereby the poor get what they deserve because, since hypothetically anything can do anything, the poor just aren't trying hard enough.

Edited by abelard lindsay, 10 July 2012 - 01:27 AM.

[1thoughtMaze1]

Foot, on 09 July 2012 - 07:03 PM, said:

"Everything is possible if you work hard enough" For eq. if you wanted to be a psychicist or mathematician, is such a thing even possible? If you don't count the luck, your socioeconomic status etc. Or are we just a narcissistic society, as a consequence of Lady GaGa and Katy Perry telling us we can achieve anything in Capitalism? Can you actually increase intelligence?

Na man, that saying " if you work hard you can accomplish anything" is a joke. You cant work hard to be blessed with superior genes. Hard work CAN accomplish many things, but some people just dont have what it takes to be a jet pilot, for example.

Lind made a very good point as well

[MrHappy]

I think the most potential intelligence gains will be made during the foetal or postnatal stage.. and mostly by micronutrition + environmental factors - of the mother early on. Breastfeeding may have a natural advantage here, not just for the immune system. There is a plentiful supply of vitamins, minerals, amino acids, uridine and stem cells from it.

Later in life seems to require a similar diet and an educational / mentally nurturing environment.

Recreating the baby-brain seems to be the major goal. Ampakines and other useful substances are quite helpful in assisting the process.