People who consciously refuse to read.
Figuring out what makes us happy, not for just a moment in time, but longer-lasting intervals of pure joy, has been discussed, debated, analyzed, and studied for centuries…it’s the topic of numerous self-help books, tapes, videos, and such, and many people have simply abandoned the arduous task as a never-ending, unfulfilling quest, but the trick to finding happiness is actually more simple than one might think…and now it’s my turn to lend my voice to this topic.
First off, our minds need direction, avenues to peruse, well-shaped and defined ideas of what to let in, and what to exclude: Feeding general knowledge, logic, and problem-solving skills to your mind daily will ultimately enhance each hour, each minute, each second of your life.
It's snack time...and your mind is ALWAYS starving!
In order to discover what makes you happy, you must be able to think: "What?" you spout, "I know how to think, jerk!" And, of course, you do, but just like an athlete practices and practices a certain skill, you must hone your thinking to reach its full output...and the ironic part...without even thinking about it!
Two year olds throw tantrums...the number one cause for these tantrums? Lack of vocabulary--they can't communicate their needs, wants, or emotions so well...So just imagine how simple your two year old life was...now realize how complicated your life is now...it's obvious a whole plethora of words are needed to express yourself now more than at two, right? Most of our adult frustrations, stresses, and anxieties stem from not being able to formulate exactly how we feel about something, to express these feelings to someone else, and to pinpoint long-term solutions to these feelings. Words help us think. Words help us express ourselves. Words help us solve problems.
Once we realize this about our vocabulary, then we can realize why it was important for us to go to grade school and high school, most of the time reviewing and rehashing the same material over and over...but it wasn't the material that was important...it was the practice with words and thinking! However, what most adults do, whether or not they attend college (because college is only more practice with words and thinking and is needed by society to enter most career-oriented jobs) is STOP practicing with words and thinking when they leave formal education. You can't do this to find happiness! You need to keep practicing daily, whether by reading or writing on a daily basis…reading and writing anything…anything.
Intelligence is the ability to find knowledge or obtain a skill, retain this knowledge or skill for an extended period of time, use this knowledge and skill well as it is originally intended, and then--and this is the most important aspect of the definition--to apply this knowledge and skill to something it WASN'T intended.
EXAMPLE: A car mechanic knows how to build an engine; this mechanic should be able to transfer the knowledge and skill of building an engine to learning how to build a DVD player; this mechanic might not be able to build a DVD player on the first attempt, but the process of building a DVD player should be much easier for this mechanic than for someone who has never built an engine.
How do you build your intelligence? Practice. Practice. Practice. My belief is that the number one way you build intelligence is to first build vocabulary, by reading, reading, reading! Reading is the best way to soak in words--the tools used to think--and to soak them in quickly. Reading also lets you gain experiences you wouldn't normally gain. Experience is actually the number one way to grow intellectually and emotionally, but it is impossible to gain all of the experiences life has to offer in order to be happy. Reading does this for us....
GENERAL KNOWLEDGE: You can stare at a delectable picture of an apple pie, but the picture will never tell you how to make one yourself…you need to read the recipe to gain the knowledge of how to do so.
If you've never been to Italy, reading a story dealing with their culture helps you understand it more, might help you understand some people in your life better, enhancing your relationships.
LOGIC: If you read enough, and I mean daily, you’ll soon begin to recognize correlations to character behaviors and consequences, story structures and possible outcomes, and presented solutions and ways to obtain them throughout your own daily life…because where do you think authors find things to write about? From their lives, their problems, their solutions…writers are the masters of human nature, human relationships, and societal perspectives.
PROBLEM-SOLVING: What if you’ve never had a crappy boss? Could you relate to someone who complains to you about their tumultuous office-leader? What if you go to work one day and you find yourself dealing with a new boss, a boss you find yourself liking less and less as the days, weeks, and months trudge on? If you’d have read a novel dealing with this problem, you just might have more tools or ideas to help yourself cope with the situation before you go and say or do something at work that gets you fired.
Exposure, similar to memorization but not exactly, is one of the simplest ways to learn…and probably the easiest, because exposure heightens comfortability and willingness to explore.
But sure, you could try to bake that apple pie from scratch…how hard could throwing flour and eggs together be? Or you could go to Italy and live a year or two in their culture, but who has that time? You could spend your time watching social interactions, surveying people, and recording solutions to their problems but I think stalking is against the law. You could also quit your present job, actively search out employment where you know you’ll hate your boss and work there for a year or so to gain the experience of working for someone difficult, but who has the money to take that risk?
Reading brings the world and its complex interactions right to your hands. So continue to refuse to read…and continue to complain that you’re not happy…because reading has taught me no one can be happy every second of the day; happiness comes in spurts…but if you don’t read, you won’t gain this wisdom until you are too old to enjoy it.
In order to discover what makes you happy, you must be able to think: "What?" you spout, "I know how to think, jerk!" And, of course, you do, but just like an athlete practices and practices a certain skill, you must hone your thinking to reach its full output...and the ironic part...without even thinking about it!
Two year olds throw tantrums...the number one cause for these tantrums? Lack of vocabulary--they can't communicate their needs, wants, or emotions so well...So just imagine how simple your two year old life was...now realize how complicated your life is now...it's obvious a whole plethora of words are needed to express yourself now more than at two, right? Most of our adult frustrations, stresses, and anxieties stem from not being able to formulate exactly how we feel about something, to express these feelings to someone else, and to pinpoint long-term solutions to these feelings. Words help us think. Words help us express ourselves. Words help us solve problems.
Once we realize this about our vocabulary, then we can realize why it was important for us to go to grade school and high school, most of the time reviewing and rehashing the same material over and over...but it wasn't the material that was important...it was the practice with words and thinking! However, what most adults do, whether or not they attend college (because college is only more practice with words and thinking and is needed by society to enter most career-oriented jobs) is STOP practicing with words and thinking when they leave formal education. You can't do this to find happiness! You need to keep practicing daily, whether by reading or writing on a daily basis…reading and writing anything…anything.
Intelligence is the ability to find knowledge or obtain a skill, retain this knowledge or skill for an extended period of time, use this knowledge and skill well as it is originally intended, and then--and this is the most important aspect of the definition--to apply this knowledge and skill to something it WASN'T intended.
EXAMPLE: A car mechanic knows how to build an engine; this mechanic should be able to transfer the knowledge and skill of building an engine to learning how to build a DVD player; this mechanic might not be able to build a DVD player on the first attempt, but the process of building a DVD player should be much easier for this mechanic than for someone who has never built an engine.
How do you build your intelligence? Practice. Practice. Practice. My belief is that the number one way you build intelligence is to first build vocabulary, by reading, reading, reading! Reading is the best way to soak in words--the tools used to think--and to soak them in quickly. Reading also lets you gain experiences you wouldn't normally gain. Experience is actually the number one way to grow intellectually and emotionally, but it is impossible to gain all of the experiences life has to offer in order to be happy. Reading does this for us....
GENERAL KNOWLEDGE: You can stare at a delectable picture of an apple pie, but the picture will never tell you how to make one yourself…you need to read the recipe to gain the knowledge of how to do so.
If you've never been to Italy, reading a story dealing with their culture helps you understand it more, might help you understand some people in your life better, enhancing your relationships.
LOGIC: If you read enough, and I mean daily, you’ll soon begin to recognize correlations to character behaviors and consequences, story structures and possible outcomes, and presented solutions and ways to obtain them throughout your own daily life…because where do you think authors find things to write about? From their lives, their problems, their solutions…writers are the masters of human nature, human relationships, and societal perspectives.
PROBLEM-SOLVING: What if you’ve never had a crappy boss? Could you relate to someone who complains to you about their tumultuous office-leader? What if you go to work one day and you find yourself dealing with a new boss, a boss you find yourself liking less and less as the days, weeks, and months trudge on? If you’d have read a novel dealing with this problem, you just might have more tools or ideas to help yourself cope with the situation before you go and say or do something at work that gets you fired.
Exposure, similar to memorization but not exactly, is one of the simplest ways to learn…and probably the easiest, because exposure heightens comfortability and willingness to explore.
But sure, you could try to bake that apple pie from scratch…how hard could throwing flour and eggs together be? Or you could go to Italy and live a year or two in their culture, but who has that time? You could spend your time watching social interactions, surveying people, and recording solutions to their problems but I think stalking is against the law. You could also quit your present job, actively search out employment where you know you’ll hate your boss and work there for a year or so to gain the experience of working for someone difficult, but who has the money to take that risk?
Reading brings the world and its complex interactions right to your hands. So continue to refuse to read…and continue to complain that you’re not happy…because reading has taught me no one can be happy every second of the day; happiness comes in spurts…but if you don’t read, you won’t gain this wisdom until you are too old to enjoy it.
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