How to Be Intelligent

Do you wish you were smarter? Do you wish other people believed you were smarter? The latter may be simpler than the former, but whether you genuinely want to increase your intellectual capacity, or just want to reap the benefits of appearing more intellectual, there are some concrete steps you can take to achieve you goal.

EditSteps

EditDeepening Your Intellect in a Meaningful Way

Dedicate yourself to becoming a lifelong learner. People used to believe intelligence was fixed, and could not be improved through effort. Contemporary evidence, however, suggests this may not be the case; while an unintelligent person may never become a genius, it seems increasingly possible that anyone has the ability to strengthen her intellect to some degree.^[1] The process is not as simple as just learning some new vocabulary words, though. It takes time and effort to learn how to engage more deeply and critically with the world around you.
Follow your passions. People learn most effectively when they are passionate about their subject matter.^[2] If you are passionate about something, you are bound to want to understand it more deeply; it is this kind of focused, sustained investigation that leads to increased intellect. True intelligence involves deep mastery of a few subjects, rather than a shallow understanding of a broad range of them.^[3] Was Albert Einstein equally gifted in physics, anthropology, linguistics, geology, animal behavior, and literary criticism? Of course not. To be a proverbial jack-of-all-trades is to be a master of none; if you try to learn a little bit of everything, you may wind up understanding a whole lot of nothing.
Challenge yourself. If you’re not struggling, you’re not pushing yourself. Learning shouldn’t be torture. It should be rewarding, though, and it probably won’t be if it doesn’t require much effort. Push yourself to master new ideas and enter unfamiliar intellectual territory.^[4]
Think about how you think. This is called “metacognition,” and it is something intelligent people excel at. Metacognition allows you to understand how you learn, and to apply those strategies from one context to another. If you realize you learn most effectively when you study on your own, for example, you will know not to join a study group in preparation for a final exam.^[5]
Take care of your body. People sometimes forget that the brain is a physical organ like any other. Just as you skin is healthier if you bathe and your lungs are healthier if you don’t smoke, a physically well-cared-for brain functions at a higher level than a neglected one. It may surprise you how much more effectively you process information if you get enough sleep and exercise, and eat plenty of fruits and vegetables.^[6]
Learn a language. This will force your brain to negotiate new ways of constructing meaning, and increase your intuitive and conscious understanding of language systems. Thinking more about language also has the added benefit of improving your facility with your first language, and learning all those new words will help improve your memory.^[7]
Learn to play a musical instrument. This exercises parts of your brain used for many kinds of cognitive processing, and introduces you to new ways of receiving and communicating information. It also helps improve your memory, and reduces stress, which can play a major factor in inhibiting intellectual growth.^[8]
Read the news. While keeping up with current events may not exactly increase your intellectual capacity, a truly intelligent, curious person should want to engage with the world she lives in. Having new ideas often involves building on existing ones, so it is always wise to understand as much as you can about the problems the world faces, and the ways people are trying to solve them. Remember, all news sources have a bias of some sort; make sure you get your news from a variety of sources, and never accept something as absolute truth just because it is in the newspaper.
Rely less on technology. The ease with which we can obtain information today makes our lives much more convenient, but it can also make us stupider. The neural pathways involved in reading maps, for example, are probably much weaker in Millennials’ brains than in the brains of their parents. This is because most Millennials rely heavily on GPS navigation to help them find their way, while older generations had to get out an atlas if they got lost. In the same vein, if they can’t remember what a word means, many people are more likely to quickly Google it than they are to sit down and focus on trying to remember. Instead of strengthening their ability to recall information, they can effortlessly obtain the information with almost no thought. Try to rely on your phone less, and your brain more.^[9]
Be open-minded. Don’t write off new ideas because they are scary, confusing, or threaten the way you are used to thinking about the world. Be open to having your perspective changed. The ability to admit when you have been wrong is a hallmark of a great mind.
Be okay with looking stupid. Curiosity is not the same as ignorance; truly intelligent people are constantly asking questions. This is because a wise woman knows that she does not know everything. When you start learning a new skill, you will not be very good at it. That’s natural. If you do something you’re bad at enough times, however, you’ll eventually start to be good at it. Embrace the gaps in your knowledge as portals to discovery and growth.

EditAppearing More Intelligent

Use big words. It doesn’t take a genius to pick up some new vocabulary, but a few impressive words and some grammatical flourishes might give you the appearance of being an intellectual. Download a word-a-day app, or simply make some flashcards. Identify some common grammatical errors in your speech and correct them. You could even look up a few brainy-sounding literary quotations to pepper into your conversations. Remember, using impressive words is only impressive if you use them correctly--saying "juxtaposition" won't earn you any points if you don't understand what it means or how it's pronounced.
Be modest and reticent. The same way everyone kind of starts to suspect that the guy who keeps insisting he’s not racist might be kind of racist, if you constantly try to impress everyone with how smart you are, people may start to wonder. If you are taciturn and humble instead, people may infer that you are consumed with deep thoughts. One good opportunity to put this into action is if someone else makes a stupid comment in a group conversation. If you leap in to correct or mock them, you run the risk of seeming mean rather than intelligent. Instead, let them do the work for you--simply stay silent for a moment, letting their remark sink in, and just when it starts to feel awkward, move the conversation along. It will give the impression that you simply couldn't find a way to respond to such a ridiculous comment, and decided to move past it to spare that person further embarrassment.
Present yourself well. People tend to naturally assume that well-dressed, well-spoken individuals are more intelligent than sloppy ones who mumble all the time. You may also want to consider starting to wear glasses. It sounds silly, but when it comes to making people think you are intelligent, four eyes are better than two.^[10]
Use your middle initial. Again, it sounds silly, and frankly, it is, but nonetheless, there is actual evidence to suggest that calling yourself Frank R. Miller instead of Frank Reginald Miller will make you seem smarter to other people.^[11] If you want to capitalize on this effect, just add another letter, because yes, apparently it works like that.^[12]