Grey matter, how to stop it becoming slush

waspy88

waspy88

waspy88

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I have had a niggling thought in my head and I need to share it with you. 2004, I was good student working nights and going to uni during the day time. Handed in quality well researched papers in getting high marks on a majority of them. I was such a busy person I had maybe 4 days in a month where I could truly relax. I loved the rush and thrill of it all.

Fast forward to 2009, I am in a full time job that pays okay, and I get to do analytical and semi-intelligent things. But mostly I do not have a social life after that. I do not study or learn anything new. I have a 1 year old daughter who takes up a lot of my free time. Other than that I get at least a weekend and a good annual holidays. But.. I have never felt dumber in my whole life. I am so out of touch with the world its unbelievable.

I studied politics and law, and was aware of most events around the world. I love reading; going through a couple of non-fiction books and churning through broadsheets and quality magazines too. Now.. I feel utterly useless. I do not have any fresh new ideas in my head. All my news comes from bbc.co.uk and digg.

I took an IQ test and got a horrendous 116pts compared to my 138 in 2004. Does coming out of academia really make you this dumb? Please advise if you have any methods of maintaining your mind. My late father at 79 was a brilliant man forming well organized arguments and generally well read before his demise. Comparatively I am in my twenties and feel like a plank. How can I stop this decline into idiocaracy?

Is the brain a muscle like anything else? If so what tasks make it faster / better. I am stuck.
 
Braintraining on Nintendo DS.

You sound obsessed with 'performing well at everything'. Calm down and start facing you are growing up in my opinion. :)

Your brain is a muscle and sometimes in daily life, you never touch the topics you learnt when you were younger. But you also touch 'new topics' and tasks such as raising your daughter. :)
 
Keeping your mind active is the best policy, even RTS games, chess, learning new things and the like. Also I believe certain foods apparently increase your brain "power" and certain life styles / will damage it.

If you are worried though there is some medical problem then the doctors would be the best place to ask... in fact I believe they can even give suggestions of how to keep your mind active even if there is nothing medically wrong.

I will leave you with this thought, the most important thing you have is your mind, don't let it down :)
 
You will become more agile mentally if you read more. Pick up Scientific American, New Scientist etc and stay informed. Reading books that of interest will work too.
 
What do you want from life?



From where you are now, what would maintain the status quo but give you a "boost" ?


Fight the apathy and dream .....


kind regards,

singists
 
waspy88 said:
Is the brain a muscle like anything else? If so what tasks make it faster / better. I am stuck.
Click to expand...

It may not be a muscle but keeping it active is as essential as a muscle.

Brain training isn't much good from what I've read - students doing pen and paper exercises showed a marked improvement, where as 'brain training' students showed marginal improvement or none - some even performing worse than before!

With that in mind I'd suggest you take up sketching scenes and some reasonable crosswords.

That and stop reading forums and start reading something interesting - random pages on wikipedia would be better :)
 
Do you enjoy theatre? I find that mentally rewarding. I'm going to see 'Waiting for Godot' next month which will definitely stimulate the brain. :)
 
Are you happy working for someone else? Would starting your own business offer up opportunities and intellectual stimulation you require? It's a gamble, but with intelligence you can almost turn it into a measured risk.
 
Check out the Lee Child Audio books. Awesome

His books in general are, but I love the audio books.

Also, Maybe try learning to program in java\C, Very grey matter stirring at times
 
I would suggest that you need to push yourself. Maybe your job isn't demanding enough for you, or rather it doesn't give you the stimulation you require.

I suppose when i say job I actually mean 'path', but no doubt your job does take up most of your time, so you know, find a fulfilling job :).
 
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