Smarter, Not Harder | Practical Steps to Real Intelligence

[Olga]

So, you want to become smarter. In most countries, you’re told that to achieve this, you need 12 years of school, followed by 4 years of university, and then possibly another 6 years of doctoral and postgraduate studies. This is supposedly the path to intelligence, but in reality, it often just leads to more challenges and uncertainty, including potentially ending up jobless. This isn't a joke, but a harsh truth many face.

If you haven’t already figured it out from the title, becoming smart isn’t as complicated as society makes it out to be. Even if you think your genetics make you less intelligent, compared to the rest of the animal kingdom, you’re far ahead. When people like us say we want to become smarter, we’re often aiming for different things. We want to learn useful skills, ideally those that can make us money. We want to solve problems and hope to be compensated for it. We aim for high grades in difficult subjects to earn more money and please others. Lastly, we want to seem smart in conversations—smart enough to earn respect, but not so much that we come across as nerds.

The problem is, most advice on the internet is so vague and philosophical that only exceptional people like Oprah or Socrates can truly follow it. But if you’re looking for concrete advice you can try right now, here’s what you’ll find: eat blueberries because they’re brain food, drink black coffee, exercise, get more sleep, take IQ tests, listen to classical music. All of this sounds good, but at some point, you actually need to learn something. Tips like these are almost useless. For example, in the past, there were geniuses who spent their entire day sitting at a desk, often sleeping only 2 to 4 hours a night. They had no IQ tests, drank little coffee, and knew nothing about the benefits of blueberries.

So, what can you actually do to get smarter? No, it’s not the same six brain hacks you’ve seen on social media or copied-pasted Wikipedia articles with inspirational quotes drawn on a wall in a metro station. The most important thing you need to do is simple: read. What you should read depends on your situation. Fiction helps you read faster and expands your vocabulary, plus reading dialogues can give you a sense that you’re not alone and have friends. However, most people prefer non-fiction and then unethically toss around interesting facts and knowledge in conversations that they’ve picked up from reading.

For example, by just reading a certain book, you can approach anyone with a bit of historical knowledge and have an engaging conversation, as long as you’re not too pushy. It’s amazing how we’ve evolved from chimpanzees, right? Well, evolution isn’t linear, and several human-like species existed on Earth simultaneously, none of which could be considered chimpanzees. But while it’s polite to correct someone in a YouTube comment section, saying “Well, actually…” in real life instantly makes you less attractive. Instead, replace “Well, actually” with “It turns out” and adjust your tone. This can completely change the conversation. 

Let’s redo that dialogue: “It’s amazing how we evolved from chimpanzees, right?” “It’s crazy, isn’t it? You know, I was reading the other day, and it turns out that humans and chimpanzees evolved alongside each other, rather than from one another.” You can be both smart and humble while sounding like you really know what you’re talking about. The key is to share your knowledge without making others feel stupid. This way, people will actually learn from you and start to see you as an intelligent and respected person.

But how do you find the right books? It’s simple. You don’t need to read the same five books everyone recommends. Just think of a topic you’d like to learn about, say cleaning. Now, search Google for books on cleaning. Here’s one that looks good. Usually, such books cost money, but if your finger accidentally slips, you might find yourself on a certain site where you can enter the title of the book you need and find what you’re looking for. Then, you might accidentally click the first link and, oh no, accidentally download a file and open it with an e-book reader. You get the idea. Now you have the book.

As you read, you’ll discover not only interesting tidbits to use in conversations but also practical skills. There are a few things you should know before mastering a skill. First, if you don’t practice a skill, your brain will decide it’s useless and forget it. Second, you only need to master 20% of the knowledge to achieve 80% proficiency in a skill. This is generally enough to move forward. This concept is known as the learning curve, which shows how well you master a skill over time. As you can see, you can make significant progress at the beginning if you apply the skill in practice.

No one ever learned to tie a tie just by watching someone else do it. You’ll only learn to tie a tie when you start practicing while watching the tutorial. The same goes for reading a book—books only make you smarter if you give your brain a reason to remember what’s written in them. So, after reading a chapter on cleaning your bedroom, go and clean your bedroom. And it doesn’t even have to be your bedroom—just clean any room to cement that knowledge in practice, ensuring it never slips your mind again.

But let’s imagine a situation where you can’t immediately apply what you’ve learned. For example, suppose you’re reading a book about cars and come across a diagram showing how to jump-start a car from another vehicle. Ideally, after reading about it, you’d go out and practice, but not everyone has two cars to practice with. However, you can still practice by imagining the process in your mind. Picture a situation where you’ll need to know how to jump-start a car. Put yourself in that situation, find a video, and imagine that it’s your car, visualizing the entire process from start to finish. This way, you’ll convince your brain that you’ve used this information in practice, and now it won’t forget it.

Meanwhile, someone who just looked at the diagram and tried to memorize it still won’t know what to do when they need to jump-start a car. This is how you become smarter: by using everything you learn. And if you can’t, then imagine yourself in a situation where that knowledge will come in handy. Essentially, this is how the entire school system works. You learn information bit by bit, and since it might be 15 years before you actually need it, your teacher creates an imaginary situation where that information will be useful. These are the tests and exams that are based on the material you’ve studied. If you answer them incorrectly, you fail. 

The only problem is that once the test is over, your brain thinks, "I don’t need this anymore," and you promptly forget it. Some people believe that regular repetition, spaced repetition, or mind mapping will help with learning and getting high grades, but in reality, only practice gives you the best results because it reflects real situations where you’ll need to use what you’ve learned. If you don’t have any practical scenarios to apply your knowledge, create your own and convince yourself that the stakes are high. For example, imagine you’re hanging off the edge of a cliff by one hand, and someone needs to pull you up, but only if you can name all the parts of the human body.

Learning information and making it seem valuable to your brain - that’s all you need to do to become smart. That’s why textbooks are an S-tier format for becoming smarter as quickly as possible. They don’t have pictures, hints, or distractions - just pure information and tons of practice questions. If you can’t solve them, you’ll have to flip to a specific page to find the answer. Textbooks aren’t for ordinary people because they’re not as fun as watching a YouTube video and forgetting everything an hour later. But if you ever decide to take this leap, it will be your starting point for radically changing your thinking.

My Final Thoughts
This is a very practical and somewhat unconventional approach to becoming smarter. It challenges the traditional belief that intelligence comes solely from formal education and instead emphasizes the importance of self-directed learning, practical application, and critical thinking. The idea that practice, visualization, and real-world application are essential for retaining knowledge is a powerful message. It encourages active engagement with what you learn rather than passive consumption.

The advice to read extensively, choose your learning resources wisely, and apply or imagine applying what you've learned is sound. It highlights that intelligence is not just about acquiring knowledge but also about being able to use it effectively in real-life situations. The text also touches on the importance of humility and effective communication, suggesting that being smart is not just about what you know, but also about how you share and apply that knowledge with others.

Overall, this approach is refreshing and grounded in practical wisdom. It’s a reminder that becoming smarter is within everyone’s reach if they are willing to actively engage with what they learn and apply it in meaningful ways.

[Alisa]

Balancing knowledge and action is essential for effective learning. It’s about knowing when to deepen your understanding of a subject and when to start putting that knowledge to use.

Imagine you’re learning to cook. You could spend hours reading cookbooks, watching tutorials, and studying recipes. This theoretical knowledge gives you a good foundation, but until you actually start cooking, you won’t truly understand the process. The first time you try a recipe, you might make mistakes—maybe the sauce doesn’t thicken, or the steak isn’t cooked to your liking. These practical experiences teach you more than any book ever could because you’re applying what you’ve learned in a real context.

But here’s the tricky part: how much theory do you need before you start cooking? If you dive in too soon, you might miss out on some key techniques or tips. On the other hand, if you spend too much time studying, you might overthink and hesitate to get started.

The key is to strike a balance. Start by learning the basics—enough to give you the confidence to try. Then, as you practice, you’ll naturally encounter situations where you need more knowledge. That’s when you go back to the theory, learn more, and then apply it again.

This balance works in every field, whether you’re learning a new language, picking up a musical instrument, or starting a new career. The more you apply what you know, the more you’ll see where you need to learn more. And the more you learn, the better your practice will become.

In the end, it’s a cycle: learn, apply, refine, repeat. By finding the right balance between knowledge and action, you’ll not only learn faster but also become more skilled and confident in whatever you’re pursuing.

[Anderson]

when I’m learning something new, I don’t just take everything at face value. I ask myself: Does this really make sense? Are there other perspectives I should consider? How can I apply this in my own life? This approach helps me make smarter decisions and avoid falling into common traps.

We actually wrote a lot about the critical thinking and its involvement in most of the aspects of our life, check out these posts to learn more: