| Are you feeling the stress in a world that | | | | ability and to use your mind more successfully. |
| continually changes? With the world around us in a | | | | Most people in the past have conceived of |
| constant state of change, how do you cope? | | | | intelligence as being equivalent to what you may |
| Many routes are open to you, from buying a | | | | call mental power. |
| more powerful computer to studying economics. | | | | Until recently almost everyone in our society, |
| For most people, one place to start is to | | | | professional psychologists and the layman alike, |
| concentrate on your own mind and to develop | | | | considered you to be very intelligent if you had a |
| the capacities that new circumstances will reward. | | | | powerful mind, regardless of whether or not you |
| In other words, develop and expand your own | | | | were particularly adaptable. A smart person was |
| intelligence. | | | | someone who could use his or her mind to do |
| Is it actually possible to increase your own | | | | something that seemed difficult and complicated. |
| intelligence? Many people still see intelligence as a | | | | You could appear intelligent if you were skillful at |
| fixed resource measured by IQ tests. | | | | games that seem to require mental power, such |
| Interestingly, psychologists have increasingly come | | | | as chess, or if you could intimidate people with |
| to reject this view. In 1995 psychologist David | | | | your talent at winning arguments. On the other |
| Perkins, a professor at the Harvard Graduate | | | | hand, if you were adaptable, most people would |
| School of Education, published Outsmarting IQ: | | | | probably never have noticed. |
| The Emerging Science of Learnable Intelligence. In | | | | One of the main problems with a power-oriented |
| this book, Perkins spoke for a growing number of | | | | view of intelligence was that power intelligence |
| psychologists who reject the notion that | | | | often proved rigid and inflexible. It is the dinosaur |
| intelligence cannot change. | | | | of the intelligence world. And like the dinosaur in |
| What has caused this revolution in thinking among | | | | prehistoric times, people with power intelligence did |
| psychologists? Perkins and other psychologists | | | | indeed reign supreme, as long s conditions in the |
| came to realize that intellectual abilities are in | | | | outside world were essentially stable. But when |
| essence no different from other kinds of | | | | change replaced stability as the norm, these |
| know-how. Acquiring the knowledge that IQ tests | | | | people quickly became lost. They were no longer |
| measure is essentially no different from | | | | in their element. And their old way of looking at |
| developing any other ability, such as drawing or | | | | the world, which they had built up over many, |
| bike riding. | | | | many years, was suddenly obsolete. They |
| Virtually everybody can draw. Give children | | | | became vulnerable. |
| crayons or pencils and they will draw. Even | | | | A second problem was that power intelligence |
| crippled or mentally subnormal children usually | | | | often did not turn out to be useful, regardless of |
| enjoy drawing. Nevertheless, except for a gifted | | | | how much it could impress. Being good at winning |
| minority, most people do not draw especially well. | | | | arguments or chess matches can certainly |
| They can learn to draw well, of course, but only | | | | impress people. But it does not necessarily help in |
| by study and practice. They can improve their skill | | | | earning a living. The world is full of people who can |
| even further by reading books or taking courses | | | | impress us with how much they know, but all |
| that present advanced drawing techniques and art | | | | their knowledge does not necessarily do them a |
| theory. Drawing is a learnable skill. The proof lies in | | | | lot of good in the real world. Think of all the |
| the number of people who have learned to draw. | | | | people with PhD's who end up earning a living as |
| Bicycle riding is another learnable skill. If you are | | | | cab drivers? |
| starting out learning to ride a bicycle, you need | | | | In times of rapid change, you will often do better |
| considerable practice and maybe a few falls. But | | | | to have a simpler, more schematic view of |
| eventually, you will succeed and will probably | | | | reality, one that captures the essence of things |
| remember the skill for the rest of your life. | | | | even if it misses some of the details. For starters, |
| Here then is the critical question. Aren't intelligence | | | | changing your mind becomes easier. It costs less |
| and thinking just as learnable as drawing and | | | | in time and energy because you do not have to |
| bicycle riding? Like drawing and bicycle riding, | | | | re-examine as many beliefs or re-evaluate as |
| exercising your mind is something that you do | | | | many commitments. In a word it makes you |
| naturally. You can learn how to develop good | | | | more adaptable. |
| memory skills to improve your memory, by | | | | In the future, adaptability is likely to prove more |
| training your memory. In addition, you can acquire | | | | important than power. You will do better to have |
| mental skills that allow you to accelerate your | | | | a simpler, sleeker, and more elegant mind that |
| learning, develop quicker thinking and accelerate | | | | can reinterpret and revise what you already know |
| your learning. Nevertheless, without practice, your | | | | in response to new information. You need new |
| skill as a thinker can remain rudimentary. How can | | | | memory and learning skills to stay adaptable. |
| you strengthen your mind? There are tools and | | | | People who immerse themselves in complexity |
| techniques that offer methods, tools and | | | | might find themselves so weighed down by details |
| information that can help you improve your recall | | | | that they feel unable to respond. |