"If only I had learned English 3 years ago..." If only, if only...

We all have things we want to learn and put off. The availability of online learning is growing, but the number of skills needed is growing just as fast. We do not have enough time to master them.

Studying time - important parameter which we still have little control over.

Acceleration of learning is a topic that has been studied for many years. In this article, I will give the basic principles of accelerating learning. They can be applied to any skill, reducing the learning time by several times: general intellectual development, learning languages, business education, learning to play musical instruments- almost everything.

If you want to live outstanding life, then the main skill that you should develop every day is the ability to learn quickly.

So here are the principles.

1. Don't reinvent the wheel

Why invent something that already exists? Main mistake when learning something new, trying to learn alone and underestimating the amount of time and effort that can be saved by getting help from someone who already knows how to do it.

Think back to a time when you were learning a new skill. Most likely, it was difficult for you at the beginning, but after several years or months of experimentation, you could already give advice to your friend on how to avoid the mistakes that you made in the learning process.

To speed up mastery, your first step should be to consult with the best masters of the craft you wish to learn and model the path they have already traveled and blazed for you.

Many great leaders have proven that the fastest way to learn any skill is to follow those who are far ahead along the way. Find someone who already got the result you want, and repeat their actions. This will greatly increase your chances.

As psychologist and coach Tony Robbins says, “It doesn’t matter how old you are, what gender you are, what your background is. Modeling will enable you to achieve more in much less time. Now you can find almost any kind of ready-made experience in the form of books, blogs, videos, consultations, connections with professionals and many other forms. No need to start from scratch, as if there is no ready-made knowledge base!

Surely you know what another person, whom many consider great, Pablo Picasso, said about this: “Good artists copy, great ones steal!” ("Good artists copy. Great artists steal.")

2. Skill decomposition

The next step in learning curve hacking is decomposition, or decomposing the desired skill into components. Do reverse engineering and find the most important pieces - the ones worth practicing first. Remember Pareto's law: 20% of efforts give 80% of results. You need to find those 20%.

In practice, this principle applies to anything in life, for example:

• Business (80% of purchases are made by 20% of buyers)
• Employee efficiency (80% of results are generated by 20% of employees)
• Happiness (80% of happiness comes from 20% of relationships)

If you look at it, it becomes clear that very few things in every aspect of our lives (including learning) are actually decisive. And in order to speed up learning, it is extremely important to highlight these valuable 20%, which will give us 80% of the result.

It turns out that experts in rapid learning use exactly this approach: highlighting the main thing. For example, in his TED talk "The First 20 Hours of Learning" Josh Kaufman says that it doesn't take 10,000 hours to acquire a skill, as is commonly believed. On the contrary, the key to success is to learn the most important details in the first 20 hours.

Numerous studies on motor and cognitive skill acquisition have shown that the first few hours of practice produce the greatest progress in learning. (Remember Parkinson's law: the work fills the entire period allotted for its implementation).

3. Drop multitasking

Multitasking is the forbidden fruit we've become addicted to in the age of instant notifications and mobile applications. This is the most a big problem getting in the way of accelerating learning. Yes, yes, all those email checks every 10 minutes, Instagram feed views, 5-minute breaks with colleagues.

Consider your computer. When you have 20+ tabs open in your browser, it starts to slow down, and each action takes longer. Studies have shown that after a person is distracted, it takes him 25 minutes to re-focus on the interrupted task.

According to scientific research Gloria Mark, a professor of computer science at the University of California who has studied the issue of digital attentional interruptions, modern humans do their job for only 11 minutes before being distracted (or being distracted themselves). For office workers the frequency of interruptions can reach up to once every 3 minutes.

The same problem arises when mastering skills that require long distances. Many find it difficult to allocate the 6-12 months it takes to learn a new skill because of the endless new ideas, projects, or hobbies that get in the way. It is worth being distracted - and returning back to the skill being studied is already very difficult.

Once you've broken down a desired skill into sub-skills and the top 20%, you need to focus entirely on progressing in those sub-skills and not move on to learning other things until you've mastered them.

4. Repeat, repeat, repeat

This is the point that most of us have the most trouble with. Many do not even want to hear that for fast learning It takes practice - the more the better. Learning requires consistency and perseverance in repeating the same skill over and over again until you can subconsciously perform it without even thinking about it.

The world's best masters of any craft know this "secret" to help you learn faster and become better, but rarely talk about its importance because it sounds unattractive.

The expert level is mainly the result of an expert body of practice, and not some hidden talents. Anders Ericsson of the University of Florida says in his scientific work: “Because of the qualitative differences between average and skill, people think that an expert should be endowed with characteristics that qualitatively distinguish him from other people.”

5. Seek instant feedback

In 1960, the Beatles, at that time still no one unknown group, went to Hamburg (Germany) to play in local clubs. They were underpaid. The acoustics were terrible. The audience is ungrateful.

But what did the Beatles take away from the experience in Hamburg? Hours of non-stop play, practice and instant response that made them grow and learn. This is the advantage that helped the Beatles rise to the very top - straight from Malcolm Gladwell's Outliers.

This band didn't just rehearse in a garage for the sake of rehearsals - they aspired to perform in front of a live audience that was instantly critical and constructive.

As the Beatles grew in prowess, the audience demanded more and more performances, giving them the opportunity to practice more often. By 1962 they were playing 8 hours a night, 7 nights a week.

By 1964, in which they appeared on international arena The Beatles have already played over 1,200 shows together.

Majority contemporary bands does not play so many concerts even in the entire history of its existence.

6. Tune in for a long distance

Unfortunately, many of us give up even before that recession period, which Seth Godin calls "The Dip".

Godin says that while it's important to know when to stop and when to push, many would-be winners don't succeed just because they give up before the pit. He gives 5 reasons that prevent you from becoming the best:

1. Your time is up (and you stopped)
2. You ran out of money (and you stopped)
3. You got scared (and stopped)
4. You are not serious about the matter (and stopped)
5. You lost interest (and stopped)

In psychology, this is called a "transitional cycle". Experiencing new events, such as tragedy, success, or learning new things, we go through a certain cycle.

At the beginning of something new, people experience euphoria. This is why we get so addicted to social and email notifications: every time we see a new notification, we get dopamine released.

As soon as the honeymoon phase ends, we begin to experience that same Seth Godin pit, and the curve of our progress becomes horizontal or goes down. It is at this point that most of us exit the game (stop developing).

Why is it important to know? Because knowing this sequence of events in advance, you can predict the beginning of the pit in your learning, and it will be easier for you to get through this period.

It is important to remember that after the pit, those who are persistent enough to get through difficult period, will be able to ride the rising wave as a reward.

Conclusion

Let's summarize and write short plan haka learning curve:

1. Model the path of the master of the craft you are learning
2. Highlight the 20% sub-skills that give the most results
3. Drop multitasking and don't get interrupted
4. Repeat, repeat, repeat!
5. Get instant feedback
6. Go all the way to the end without swerving

Do you know other ways to speed up learning? Share them with us in the comments!

In a popular book called The Four Hour Chef, author Tim Ferris explains how to learn how to cook. However, this book is not only useful for this. Ferris shares how to quickly master any skill, whether it's an exotic language, juggling, or memorizing cards in a limited amount of time.

1. Basic system, consisting of 4 principles that apply to absolutely any skill:

• Analysis is the first principle, which consists in finding the minimum studied volumes of information from which it is worth starting the process of acquiring knowledge or skills. On the this stage it is very important to find exactly those “Lego bricks” that will become the basis.
• Selection, which consists in finding 20% ​​of cases that are worth concentrating on to get 80% of the result (always keep in mind the Pareto law, this is important in any endeavor, including in order to quickly learn anything).
• A step sequence is the order to follow when learning.
• Motivation for the future is the definition of real incentives that will make you move towards ultimate goal. So how to learn fast something is not always possible, you should be patient and kindle a desire in yourself to achieve the final result.

2. Analyze the task

Many people refuse to perform a task because they need to process a huge amount of information for this. First of all, you should understand what you need to focus on, and then break the main task into small components.

3. Start with methods that can be applied fairly quickly.

It is very boring and uninteresting to get a skill that allows you to conjugate verbs. A pronounced result in a short period of time is not possible here. However, if you remember and learn such auxiliary verbs as “want”, “have” and “be”, you will quickly acquire this skill and master very functional part language.

Useful micro-victories will help you keep up the "fighting spirit" and make the learning process faster and more efficient.

4. Search for the most simple constituent parts make progress fast

As an example, Tim Ferris cites the process of learning Japanese, which includes 1945 characters, a huge part of which consists of fifteen dashes. Today, the Japanese use only two hundred and fourteen keys, which are much easier to deal with. Moreover, their study opens a clear path for further improvement of one's knowledge.

5. Find a person who uses certain skill or share it with other people for many years

You don't have to look for yourself best expert. It is enough to get in touch with those who are close to the topic you are studying. You will have to find a weighty argument in order to talk with him. Ask an expert how he would teach a particular skill to people without special abilities. It will not be superfluous to learn about little-known good masters your business. You can also ask how this person sees two-month courses on specific subject for those who would be willing to shell out a seven-figure sum for it.

6. Move on the path of development according to the principle of the "minimum effective dose"

Small steps make it easier to get into a habit format (remember the 20 minute rule). So you increase your chances of not abandoning what you started.

Many who seek to do everything at once abandon the original idea. If you take on big project, your fuse instantly disappears. Small qualitative steps do not require much effort, while allowing you to increase the productivity of the learning process over a long time distance.

When studying of English language choose the most popular words. Study them daily for a few words. In the process of studying culinary arts it is better to concentrate on the most common cooking techniques.

7. Don’t Clog Short Term Memory with Too Big One-Time Tasks

Limit short term memory- one of the main barriers to the development of any skills or knowledge. This section of memory is needed to solve priority tasks, and it fills up fairly quickly.

By overloading it, you begin to commit more bugs. That's why it's better to make small progress at a time, so that it fully fits into your brain. After that, you can move on.

8. Try New Techniques Instead of Old Known Ways

Many people know the way to kindle a fire according to the principle of "hut". Surprisingly, there is another method, which lies in the fact that a layer of small branches is placed on large sticks, after which the entire “construction” is covered with a newspaper. Such a scheme for making fire works no worse than a "hut". Moreover, it requires less regulation, which makes it more efficient.

Changing the methodology often leads to a simpler solution. is inextricably linked with the search for new untapped paths.

9. Eliminate maximum amount options

A person tries to find as much information as possible about the subject being studied. Create a list of all the most significant options and data. As a result, you can quickly make a decision and lose a little time searching, which often takes a lot of resources.

10. Accept that self-discipline is not for everyone, and then place real bets on the failure of your project.

No matter how highly motivated you are and how well you have created a plan of action, it is common for every person to lack self-discipline. That's why you need to consider the possibility of possible failure. One method is to apply human psychology, especially the reluctance to lose.

For example, you can make a deal with yourself to do something that you hate, in the event that your work turns out to be fruitless.

11. Pay close attention to key aspects of the learning process

The learning process has limits - that's a fact. At the very beginning, you are full of enthusiasm and consume a lot of information. However, this exhausts the forces, after which the process slows down due to the high load. Once you get the basics, the learning process stops. If this happened, you have reached a critical point. You should scrupulously follow this, providing for everything in advance.

Our brain learns best in the beginning and end of a session. Therefore, you need to break the process into two parts in order to reduce the time in the middle. You also need to remember the Restroff effect, which lies in the fact that an object that stands out from the mass of similar elements is remembered much better. That is why it is worth separating monotonous activities with small breaks. Well, you can't forget about Edgar Dale's Cone of Learning.

13. Consider some security

Tim Ferris, as an example, talks about investor Warren Buffett, who is famous for acquiring securities at a price below par. For this reason, it can be assumed that the billionaire is more likely to stay afloat when the market situation deteriorates. In the process of training, you need to practice the same approach. You need to make sure that if you don't succeed, you will still get a significant result. Make sure you can avoid the worst failures and benefit from your efforts. It doesn't matter what benefit you get in the end.

14. Learn from the right people prominent people

Michael Phelps is not a worthy example, since this person has good physical data and great sports experience. It is better to pay attention to those people who did not stand out in any way, and after they became prominent personalities. They are the ones who have the techniques that you can use for yourself.

Thus Tim Ferris gives valuable advice About, how to learn anything fast, regardless of the chosen area. By following the above principles, anyone can easily and fairly quickly acquire a skill in any field.

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Our world today is very interesting place. It is impossible to imagine how much there is in the world. Every year new horizons of activity for mankind open up. Today, dear reader, we turn to a very important topic. How can you develop an interest in something? Where to get new knowledge? How to learn something? We'll talk about this.

How to learn to do something?

It's no secret that any business requires a lot of patience and time to master it. Each person, guided by his natural instincts, feels the need to gain experience in a particular craft. This is part of the basic hierarchy of our needs. How to achieve success in anything? What does it mean to study effectively? We offer some tips.

• First of all, you need to accurately imagine what kind of business you are more predisposed to. To get started, answer yourself next questions. What do I like more: mental or physical work? What subjects were easier for me in school? To what does my soul lie, and what arouses genuine interest in me? The answers to these questions will surely lead you to the realization of what you want to do with yourself. This is very important point to feel like a whole person.
• Having chosen your hobby, craft or life's work (how anyone can do it), you should start dedicating it a large number of time. It is known that only a well-understood theory in combination with practice can give a truly worthy result. Where to get theoretical basis your activities? Your main friend and assistant - book, internet or teacher. Only on base good allowance you can start practical application their knowledge. Remember also that quantity breeds quality. This means that you will have to work hard to make the business that you are doing good.
• How can you learn something if there are no books written about it? There is only one way - to learn from other people's experience. Here you will face a difficult task - to find your teacher, teacher or educator who can share his invaluable experience with you. The main thing is to find these people. However, even if you don't need outside help We recommend that you at least talk to an experienced person about what you want to do. It is also good to learn from the mistakes of others - this is a great art that requires attention and concentration.
• Any student knows that skills and knowledge do not come easy. To succeed, you need to work hard. That is why you will have to show willpower and endurance. It will be much easier for you if you like the business that you are doing and that you are learning from the bottom of your heart. If this is not so, or even, on the contrary, is disgusting, then it is time to seriously think about changing your priorities in life. It is very important not to abandon the work you have started halfway. And this applies to both the entire learning process and individual tasks facing you. Remember: bring any business to the end, otherwise there is no point in doing something at all.
• Correct distribution time is the way to success in any training. There are entire personal time management systems that help people live effectively. Much in this area depends on the ability to plan their activities. When drawing up a plan, it is necessary to take into account such nuances as a consistent combination of theory and practice, implementation independent work, meetings with teachers, rest and distraction from activities, application of acquired skills in life and their consolidation. In addition, do not forget to connect all this with your personal life plans, because complete personality- This is a person who is successful in everything.

The most difficult thing in all this, perhaps, is to choose what you really like. When even the smallest doubt arises about the expediency of what you are doing, think carefully. Don't rush anywhere. Sit down and weigh all the arguments for and against. In the end, a person's life and earnings are usually aimed at achieving the pleasure of a truly beloved thing, whether it is raising children or reconstructing old cars. All roads are open to you, it remains only to make an informed choice.

MENSBY

4.4

Anyone modern man constantly have to learn something: a foreign language, driving rules. No matter what to learn, we will tell you how to quickly learn something.

It doesn't matter if you want to learn how to speak foreign language in three months, or learn to juggle in a weekend, or learn to memorize the cards in a deck in less than a minute. Here are some of the recipes for those who need to learn quickly.

In his book The 4 Hour Chef, Tim Ferris goes beyond learning how to cook. This book is about how to learn anything quickly in general.

1. A basic system of four principles that can be applied to any skill

1.1 Analysis

"What are the minimum learning units, Lego bricks, I should start with?"

1.2 Selection

"What 20% of the building blocks do I need to focus on to get 80% of the results?"

1.3 Step by step sequence

"In what order should I study?"

1.4 Motivation for the future

"How do I set the stakes to create real incentives and ensure that I will stick with the program?"

2. Analyze the task

People often give up on completing a task because of too much information.

The key here is identifying what needs to be focused on and breaking it down into smaller, manageable pieces.

3. Start With Techniques That Can Be Used Quickly

Learning to conjugate verbs is terrible. It's boring and doesn't quick results. But remembering a few auxiliary verbs(to be, want, have, etc.), not only will you quickly learn how to conjugate verbs, but you will also unlock a lot of the functionality of the language.

Small but useful wins will help support the task and speed up the learning process.

4. Finding the simplest building blocks will speed up progress.

Ferris gives the example of learning Japanese. In the language of 1945 hieroglyphs, some consist of 15 dashes.

In modern Japanese only 214 classical keys are used. They are much easier to deal with and open up a clearer path to explore.

5. Find someone who has been using or teaching this skill for years.

Find an expert, but not necessarily the best in the world, just someone who is close to it. Find a reason to talk to him, the request is not a significant reason. Ask how they would teach the least suited for the class, who are the best and least known teachers, and what an eight-week course would look like for someone willing to shell out a million dollars for it.

6. Get ahead with the "lowest effective dose"

A small step is easier to turn into a habit and less likely to give up.

People often give up and quit when they try to do everything at once. They take on a big project and quickly lose their passion. Small but high-quality steps take less time, but allow you to increase the effectiveness of training in long term. If you are learning a language, choose the most important, most frequently used words and learn a few of those words every day. If you're learning to cook, you'll want to start with the most common cooking techniques.

7. Don't overload short-term memory by trying to do too much at once.

One of the strongest obstacles to learning anything is the limitation of short-term memory. This part of the memory is used for the most immediate tasks, and it quickly fills up when you encounter something new and unfamiliar.

When this part of the memory gets overloaded, you make more mistakes. Therefore, it is important to take one step at a time so that it fits in your head and you can move on.

8. Try to use new methods instead of the most popular schemes

Every Boy Scout knows the "wigwam hut" method of starting a fire, using wood chips and newspaper in the center and large sticks that fold into a hut on the outside.

But you can use the completely opposite method: a layer of small branches on larger sticks, and all this is covered with newspaper. It works better, requires less regulation. Sometimes changing the methods helps to come up with an easier solution.

9. Eliminate as many options as possible

We always try to find the best more information about the subject being studied. Make a one-sheet list of all the most important choices and information.

Thus, you will make a decision faster and spend less time searching, which takes a lot of this very time.

10. Admit you have discipline issues and bet real if your project fails.

It doesn't matter how much you want to do something or how well you have planned everything, because people tend to slip because of not too good discipline. Therefore, you will have to make outside bets in case of failure. One way is to use human psychology, and especially our unwillingness to lose. For example, you can arrange with yourself to automatically pay an organization you don't like if you don't reach your goal.

11. Pay close attention to critical points in the learning process

Needless to say, learning has its limits. At first, during the inspiration, you study a lot, and this drains your strength. Then you have to slow down a bit as it gets harder.

After that, having comprehended the basics, you begin to stop. it critical point. You need to watch this carefully and plan ahead and in advance.

12. Track how your brain remembers information

Your brain remembers information at the beginning and end of a session. Break each session into two to reduce the time in the middle.

In addition, there is the Restorff effect, when an object that stands out from a number of similar homogeneous objects is remembered better than others. Therefore, it is necessary to diversify monotonous activities with breaks.

13. Give yourself some degree of security

Ferris cites the example of Warren Buffett, who is known for buying shares at below par, so he's more likely to do well when the going gets tough.

The same can be applied to learning anything. Make sure that even if things go awry, you can still get a good, noticeable result. You will avoid the worst failures and get something useful from your efforts. And it doesn't matter what it is.

14. Learn from great people, but only from the right ones.

The example of Michael Phelps is not very suitable to learn from. You cannot copy his outstanding physique or the part of his life that he devoted to swimming.

Examples of personalities that are best to learn from are people who start out as average and become outstanding. Here they have techniques that you can copy.

Photo: Frits Ahlefeldt-Laurvig flickr.com/hikingartist

We are learning throughout our lives, from childhood and ending old age. guitar playing new software, raising a child - the human brain constantly absorbs new information However, this happens at different speeds. In childhood, information is absorbed very quickly, but the older we get, the more difficult it is to learn.

Below you will see several ways that will help you hack your mind and make it work faster and better.

Maintenance

Like any complex mechanism, the brain requires regular maintenance, and if you do not neglect it, it will be able to cope with any task. Several good habits help keep the brain in perfect condition, so that the learning process will be faster and easier.

go in for sports

I don't trust any thought that didn't come while moving.

Turns out, physical exercises needed not only for a great figure and healthy body but also for brain function. If your brain refuses to think, try taking a walk or working out at the gym. Studies show that memory and mental clarity improve after just 15 minutes of exercise.

Meditate

Regular meditation not only relieves stress but also helps improve your memory. In addition, concentration skills are developed during meditation, which is very important for the learning process.

More omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids

These essential acids restore damaged nervous processes such as attention, speed of thought, and memory. Omega-3 acids are found in excess in flaxseed oil and walnuts, peanuts and pumpkin seeds. There are many of them in fatty fish - salmon, mackerel, sardine and halibut. No wonder they say that fish helps to think better.

get enough sleep

In order for the brain to function properly, you need to get enough sleep. Healthy sleep increases the speed of perception, helps to make sound judgments and provides fast work brain.

If you repeat the learned material before going to bed, for example, a poem or a lecture, during the night the information will be firmly fixed in your memory and in the morning you will have an excellent command of the subject.

drink water

Scientists from the University of East London found that a simple drinking water helps to concentrate and decide better challenging tasks. The results of the experiment, published in the Daily Mail, show that people who are thirsty think 14% slower. So always keep a bottle of water handy.

Take a break from studying

You can not do only one thing every day - work or study. It is important to periodically be distracted by something else so that the brain sums up and processes the information during this time.

If you decide to take up a hobby, choose activities that involve concentration and hand-eye coordination, such as juggling. One study found that juggling has a positive effect on brain function. True, the positive results took place immediately after people gave up a new hobby.

have fun

Laughter is The best way relax and avoid emotional burnout especially when you have to study at an accelerated pace. Laughter has been proven to help solve problems and be creative.

How to make the process of learning easier?

Warm-up for the brain

Before diving into work, you can have a little fun, along the way, setting your brain to work. For example, you can mentally select rhymes for words or solve a simple problem. Such a “warm-up” helps to relax and tune in to the perception of more complex things.

study together

If your training is like storming a fortress, you can find someone to support you. Whether it's a group, a club, or a friend, it's easier to focus on the material in a team and make the learning process itself more organized.

Robert E. Kennedy Library at Cal Poly /flickr.com

Set up a place

The environment is very important for learning. Ideally, the space should be clean, quiet, and fresh, but variety doesn't hurt either. For example, in good weather, you can try to work in the park or in a cozy cafe. The only thing that should not be mixed is education and bed. Even though it's very comfortable the bed is subconsciously associated with sleep and relaxation, so it will be harder for you to concentrate.

metacognition

Most of the advice on how to improve the learning process is based on metacognition. This concept can be defined as the art of awareness of one's own consciousness. You evaluate your own thinking, your ability to complete the task, and the goals that are appropriate for this.

You need to step back from the first impression of the material and evaluate how quickly you learn knowledge, are there any problems and ways to learn more productively.

Do one thing at a time

Multitasking is a real talent, but, unfortunately, it reduces the efficiency of work. If you do several things at the same time, you cannot concentrate well on them, so the time needed to complete the task increases.

Don't be afraid of failure

A group of researchers from Singapore found that people who solve complex math problems without instructions and help, most often they could not cope. However, in the process they found interesting ideas who helped them in the future.

This can be called a "productive failure" when the experience gained in the solution process will help more than once in the future. So do not be afraid of failures - they will come in handy.

Test yourself

Do not wait last exam- test yourself often or ask a friend to give you a little test. Productive failures only deal with finding solutions, and if you fail an exam that required rote memorization, it won't help your learning, it will only hinder it.

cut material

It is useful to supplement your notes with visual elements such as graphs, charts, or maps.

Think about where it can be applied

Very often, when presenting facts and formulas, the scope of their application is missed. Dry knowledge is quickly forgotten, and if you want to remember something for a long time, try to find a use for it yourself. real life. Knowing how, where and why to apply facts in real life will securely fix the information in your memory.

Apply different methods

The more diverse the sources of knowledge, the more likely it is that they will remain in your memory.

coordinated work different areas brain improves the perception and storage of information.

For example, it can be reading articles, listening to audio materials, watching videos, writing or retyping by hand, speaking out loud. Most importantly, don't do everything at the same time.

Link to existing knowledge

If you can mentally connect what you know with what you have learned before, it will help you learn more quickly and effectively. Don't leave knowledge in isolation - build it into the big picture of the world that is in your brain.

You will succeed

Be confident in yourself and know that you will succeed. Not only because it's true, but also because faith in the power of one's intellect really increases it.