Increasing IQ through increased blood flow to the brain. . .

[Master_Debator]

I was wondering if anyone could help me with suggestions for increasing blood flow to the brain. . . (I'm pretty sh$%y at writing scripts, so could someone try to word them in the best possible way)

Examples I thought of include:

A) Imagining that a ball of warm red energy is surrounding the head. . .causing their head to warm up, increasing blood flow to the brain.

B) Imagining that you can feel blood flowing into the head. . .warming your head up. . .causing it to pulse. . feel tingly. . .etc.

C) Imagining that the blood vessels in the head are one inch larger. . .

D) Then enhance circulation to that area of the brain through Dr
Wenger's method of imagining it to be an inch larger or so in all dimensions and located out an inch farther from the center of your body.

The last example is from www.yahoogroups.com/group/imagestream Dr. Win Wenger's group. Dr. Wengers website is www.winwenger.com. Check out his books (The Einstein Factor <- Reading it now. . .awesome, and Beyond ok)

Any ideas?


sweeps420@hotmail.com

Thanks alot

[Merlin]

>I was wondering if anyone could help me with suggestions for increasing blood flow to the brain

Not me.
I have no reason to believe there would be a positive benefit unless there is an injury or similar restricting bloodflow. Even then I'd only work with suggestions geared towards healing.

I think your premise is in error.

[Terry (existing)]

So, you are assuming that increased blood flow will make you smarter?

[parsa]

Try standing on your head :D .

[skip]

MasterDebator,

I dont know what you want an increase in IQ for, and I am not going to ask.

I suspect that there is a presumption, actually two presumptions, that you are making and either one of them might not be acurate.

One is that increased blood flow = greater IQ.

I dont know whether that is true or not.

The second is that greater IQ is going to accrue something for you, other than just ioncreased IQ.

And I wonder, without asking, what more IQ (whatever it is), is supposed to do for you, and if increasing your IQ would accomplish it.

I know people with tremendous IQ's who:

Are incredibly disfunctional,

Are impossibly arrogant,

Almost ignorant,

and the list could go on and on.

What I am trying to point out is that a higher IQ wont necessarily make you better educated, or well liked, or even enhance your ability to operate well in this world.

The point is that a high IQ isnt a guarantee of anything except perhaps potential. It is no guarantee that you will take advantage of that potential.

So while I agree that you cannot take advantage of potential you dont have, you may be likely to get more of what you want by taking advantage of all the potential you do have, as opposed to merely adding unused potential.

If you really want to increase your abilities I would suggest cross crawling, and other techniqies that teach you simultaneous use of both the left and right hemispheres of your brain. That is guaranteed to give you a boost that is the equivelent of a significant increase in IQ, rather easily.

cheers,

skip

[EC]

I'm not sure that you aren't simply advertising and don't really want a reply. Just in case, are you perhaps thinking of increasing oxygen to the brain rather than blood. Is it cognitive functioning, "alertness" you are perhaps interested in improving?

EC

[master_debator]

I'm not sure that you aren't simply advertising and don't really want a reply. Just in case, are you perhaps thinking of increasing oxygen to the brain rather than blood. Is it cognitive functioning, "alertness" you are perhaps interested in improving?

EC

Yes, mental alertness is what I'm after. Check the info here about oxygen/cerebral blood flow:

http://www.winwenger.com/ebooks/guaran3.htm

[MASTER_DEBATOR]

Yes, mental alertness is what I'm after. Check the info here about oxygen/cerebral blood flow:

http://www.winwenger.com/ebooks/guaran3.htm

oops, heres another one

http://www.talkaboutsupport.com/group/alt.support.asthma/messages/105123.html

[Jack]

Hello,

IQ is not a measurement of intelligence just a measurement of the ability to do intelligence tests. The real measurement of intelligence is whether you can survive, breed and afford to buy a Porsche for cash. If you have, you are intelligent.:)

Jack

[Cassandra 8]

Gingko Biloba has been found to increase oxygenated bloodflow to the brain.

Having tried it, I can say it increases your ability to concentrate, but only very slightly, and it does very little for mental clarity.

For me, taking a break, a walk around the block and a cup of tea is probably more profound.

Then again, my measured IQ is 140+ :rolleyes:...

[EC]

Hypnosis can certainly help one to incorporate those routines that will result in increased oxygen, to the brain and everywhere else. The right answer is excersise and nutrition.

EC

[Don]

Hello,

IQ is not a measurement of intelligence just a measurement of the ability to do intelligence tests. The real measurement of intelligence is whether you can survive, breed and afford to buy a Porsche for cash. If you have, you are intelligent.:)

Jack


I disagree. In my opinion those are not signs of intelligence, simply signs of being able to work the system.

[Cassandra 8]

Hello,

IQ is not a measurement of intelligence just a measurement of the ability to do intelligence tests. The real measurement of intelligence is whether you can survive, breed and afford to buy a Porsche for cash. If you have, you are intelligent.:)

JackLet's see:

Survive: yes
Breed: yes
Buy a Porsche for cash: yes

Equally these indicators just mean "successful". But luck plays the greatest part in success. Luck and the guts to risk everything.

IQ, it seems to me, is bound up with the speed and depth of understanding of novel concepts, the ability to utilise familiar ones in new ways, seeing information where others look at data, and, indeed, seeing when others simply look.

[skip]

"But luck plays the greatest part in success."

Luck might be winning the lottery.

Was it luck that caused you to buy the ticket in the first place?

Intelligence might be defined as consistantly doing everything you can to place yourself into a position where you can be lucky. Then luck takes care of the rest.

skip

[Merlin]

>If you really want to increase your abilities I would suggest cross crawling, and other techniqies that teach you simultaneous use of both the left and right hemispheres of your brain. That is guaranteed to give you a boost that is the equivelent of a significant increase in IQ, rather easily.

Problem is, the mind picks left or right, depending on things other than left/right development.

[Merlin]

>Luck might be winning the lottery.

For some ;-)

[Terry (existing)]

I disagree. In my opinion those are not signs of intelligence, simply signs of being able to work the system. Well, I disagree, but not because it is a way to work the system, but because it is a measure of general knowledge over a wide field, usually obtained by avid readers. Mine was 165 many years ago, and my oldest son was off the scale, yet he is less of a worldly success than my other three.... However we both love to read, and this love carries on to some of my grandchildren who are all honour students. What they choose to do with that knowledge they have gained will decide how successful they become, but others who never reach the honour role could do just as well, or even better, because knowledge has no value 'till it is put to use.

[Jack]

Hello Don,

My opinion about IQ was a little tongue in cheek but does, I think, hold true. The ability to work the system is a sign of intelligence as much as the ability to describe the action of argon on iron 10 light years away using a mathematical model. The former will ensure survival and the latter may ensure another paltry grant. The ability to do intelligence tests is merely an ability to do intelligence tests, and no more.

I worked with Hans Eysenck some years ago and after practicing tests for several months raised my IQ level from 140 to 185. Totally meaningless.

And of course, it all depends on what the word intelligence means, as Cassandra has pointed out.

Jack
I disagree. In my opinion those are not signs of intelligence, simply signs of being able to work the system.

[Un_registered]

My dog has a higher IQ than me.

He doesnt feel the need to sweat like a slave for 50 hours a week in order to buy an engine with wheels.

IQ is meaningless.

In my opinion, awareness of what is going in the/your world and your reaction to it is what matters.

And that cant be measured by numbers.

Or certificates.

(Some of the least intelligent people I have ever met possess what you earth-folks call 'degrees')

[Cassandra 8]

"But luck plays the greatest part in success."

Luck might be winning the lottery.

Was it luck that caused you to buy the ticket in the first place?
I was thinking more in terms of those prepared to risk everything by mortgaging their house to raise funds for a business venture. Something substantial and guided and describable to a bank manager rather than a vanishingly small probability.

[Don]

Well, I'm not going to get into a debate about this because, as our posts have shown, it's quite futile. In fact, some years ago, the people who created the concept of IQ (and administer the test for it), admitted that they had no idea what it measured.

Some years ago, I had a brief debate with William Shockley, co-inventor of the transistor, at UCLA. He had the racist belief that because (according to him) Black Americans had lower IQs than Whites, we should pay Blacks to be sterilized in order to improve the overal intelligence of Americans. When I pointed out that even the creators of IQ didn't know what it measured, Dr. Shockley started mumbling, repeating himself and not replying to my question (for which I had received a standing ovations from the audience). I felt sorry for a poor old man who had fallen victim to false beliefs about the nature of IQ and who was now rather doddering. But that did not excuse his racism.

[EC]

>> Well, I'm not going to get into a debate about this because, as our posts have shown, it's quite futile. <<

I agree with that position, but I guess I am not intelligent enough to stay out of the conversation either.......

IQ is actually a measure of how much time an individual has devoted throughout his or her life to left brain or logical learning. This would include academia. Folks who devote more of their time (for whatever reason) to looking inside (introspection), unable to focus "outside", generally do poorly when their knowledge of the outside world is measured.

Since a fairly accurate scale has been established to measure adequate learning as it relates to age, we can also measure the depth of emotional pull or issues.

IQ is not a measure of "ability", just where you have spent most of your time.

EC

[Cassandra 8]

My dog has a higher IQ than me.When I point my finger somewhere and exclaim "look!", you look to where I point.

You belong to the only species that looks wherever I tell you to look.

Your dog doesn't get it. It just sniffs at my finger.

[AnthonyM83]

Wow, interesting views here.

I don't think IQ is necessarily a measure of how much you've invested academically. Two people can train themselves with questions from IQ tests in their preferred learning style and one might pick it up MUCH faster than another. Same time investment, similar energy investments, different results.

I also don't think one's IQ to be meaningless. It seems to show your abilities at certain kinds of problems...measurements of certain types of intelligence. Just because they're not useful to you, doesn't mean they're useful to others (like electrical engingeers or organic chemists).

(BTW, the IQ test was originally created to identify students who needed specialized education...it has since then been abused for all kinds of things, including racial discrimination)

[Merlin]

Some of the IQ tests I've seen are actually vocabulary tests.

[EC]

I think you missed the point Anthony....

>> Two people can train themselves with questions from IQ tests in their preferred learning style <<

But only if they can focus in the present long enough to practice having an IQ

EC

[EC]

>> Some of the IQ tests I've seen are actually vocabulary tests. <<

Yes, unfortunately test often have to be scaled back, more in-line with the accomplishment level of todays youth. :)

EC

[parsa]

>Some of the IQ tests I've seen are actually vocabulary tests.

That's good to know. I thought I was just imaging that :) .

[Un_registered]

When I point my finger somewhere and exclaim "look!", you look to where I point.

You belong to the only species that looks wherever I tell you to look.

Your dog doesn't get it. It just sniffs at my finger.


When my boss looks at me and shouts "Jump!" I timidly and obediently jump.

When my boss tells my dog to "Jump", my dog laughs and tells him to 'get one of your human slaves to do it - I'm off to bed'

I belong to the only species that SHOULD be aware of what the reality of its life is - but DOESNT HAVE A CLUE.

Is that intelligent?

[Cassandra 8]

>> Some of the IQ tests I've seen are actually vocabulary tests. <<

Yes, unfortunately test often have to be scaled back, more in-line with the accomplishment level of todays youth. :)

ECThe daughter of a friend says that her school has stopped correcting spellings on pupils' work. Where will it end? Reading as an option?

Mind you, under-educated youth is more easily manipulated.

I believe I've just discovered the secret to world domination...:rolleyes:

[skip]

Im not sure it matters what you were thinking about Cassandra.

I think there is a fundamental distinction between believing that luck is all important verses intelligent preparation.

If you are constantly intelligently preparing yourself to be lucky, then you will more often be lucky.

I think that is true irregardless of what you have chosen to risk.

And I also think that it is the preparation and positioning that often makes the luck.

That is why I took issue with your statement that luck was the prime factor.

skip

[Cassandra 8]

If you are constantly intelligently preparing yourself to be lucky, then you will more often be lucky.Indeed. Creating opportunities for luck to flourish is good. All you need then is a fair wind, watchfulness and time...

I'm working with a friend at the moment who considers all her options to be blocked and no lucky breaks possible. Re-educating her over a series of lunches to create opportunities rather than shutting them down seems to be paying dividends. She's just got herself her first date in ages!

My original point was just that, in fact.

[skip]

Then when you said, "But luck plays the greatest part in success.", it was my mistake to take it at face value?

I evidently misunderstood your intention in that post.

More confused than before, :)

skip

[AnthonyM83]

I think you missed the point Anthony....

>> Two people can train themselves with questions from IQ tests in their preferred learning style <<

But only if they can focus in the present long enough to practice having an IQ

EC

I'm not quite following you...can I get an example (for context)?

I'm basically just saying IQ can be a measurement of certain types of intelligences and these intelligences DO have value to different people, contradictory to what was being said (seemed to me)...

[EC]

Hi Anthony,

For simplicity, IQ test measure primarily those things that we learn if we focus on things "outside ourselves", worldly things, logical teachings or academia you might say. It matters not what "preferred learning style someone chooses, if their primary focus throughout life has been to inner emotions or issues, they will score quite low on IQ test. This does not mean that they have less of an IQ, it just means that they have spent more time looking inward than outward. Hence, IQ test are a very good marker for those that have emotional issues that keep them from progressing in their studies and life. Such things as what we call ADD.

EC

[EC]

A good example is a young man I am familiar with that scored well above average on an IQ test when he was 5 yrs old. My next chance meeting with him was when he was 17 and he could barely pay attention enough to get from the car to the office door without running into a tree.

What went wrong between 5 and 17,,,,,He chose to spend his time backing through life, looking into his past rather than facing forward and joining the rest us of out here in the world. I guess you might say though, that was his actual preferred learning style :)

EC

[AnthonyM83]

Heh, true. BTW, I just inserted the 'preferred learning style' so that when I made the comparison b/t two people taking the same course, I wouldn't get someone saying that it was mainly a result of their different learning learning styles.

I suppose all intelligence tests are a measure of actual, not potential, intelligence, and often it only measures certain intelligences (remember, there are 7 main ones, at least ones currently being taught in Psych 101 classes). One would want to measure each for different reasons.

[Danny12]

As a computer programmer with the unenviable task of having to retrain/upskill, I would be interested in any techniques which might enhance logical/mathematical reasoning.
I also have a couple of related questions:
Does stress and or depression adversely affect reasoning beyond the simple fact of distraction?
I am now 30 years of age. I seem to remember being able to grasp concepts more easily when I was 20 or there abouts (possibly wishful thinking/ 20/20 hindsight etc.) Would my age be a factor in this?

Thanks for your time.

[Merlin]

>As a computer programmer with the unenviable task of having to retrain/upskill, I would be interested in any techniques which might enhance logical/mathematical reasoning.
I also have a couple of related questions:
Does stress and or depression adversely affect reasoning beyond the simple fact of distraction?

Yes, both

I am now 30 years of age. I seem to remember being able to grasp concepts more easily when I was 20 or there abouts (possibly wishful thinking/ 20/20 hindsight etc.) Would my age be a factor in this?

It can be.
It depends on how much you exercise your mind.
It seems to take work to even maintain current ability.

[Oki Mo]

Physical work causes muscle growth. Mental work causes brain growth. Now, muscle growth can also be caused by suggestion. So, it follows logically that so can brain growth and ability. So, why suggest increased cranial blood-flow, when you have no logical reason to assume this will increase IQ – if you want to increase IQ via suggestion, do so directly – suggest an increased IQ.

[AnthonyM83]

Eh, just b/c muscle grows from hypnosis doesn't follow that neurons grow from hypnosis. They probably can anyway, but fault logic

[Oki Mo]

I’m afraid you’ve lost me. My logic being, because suggestion has an effect on certain cells of the body, it should have a similar effect on other cells of the body – seems like a logical extrapolation to me.

Or do you think it is logical to say, because suggestion causes muscles to grow, it should cause muscles to grow? Or, because suggestion causes brain cells to grow, it should cause brain cells to grow?

[Cassandra 8]

I’m afraid you’ve lost me. My logic being, because suggestion has an effect on certain cells of the body, it should have a similar effect on other cells of the body – seems like a logical extrapolation to me.

Or do you think it is logical to say, because suggestion causes muscles to grow, it should cause muscles to grow? Or, because suggestion causes brain cells to grow, it should cause brain cells to grow?It does seem like a logical thing to think, doesn't it, but it's actually more interesting and a good deal simpler than that. Let me explain.

Muscles grow when their over-use creates microscopic tears in their fibres. In repairing them, they grow back thicker. In many cases, you use more energy in the repair than in the original exercise.

In terms of suggestions about muscle size, the subject perceives extra strength and so uses the muscles in question more. They tear and repair to a greater extent and so grow and become more dense faster.

You grow extra connections between existing neurons as the direct physical manifestation of learning. One neuron can have thousands of active connections at any one time, and "you" are composed of billions of neurons.

So a typical brain building suggestion would be something along the lines of having an unquenchable thirst for new knowledge and deeper understanding of the world. Your brain, creates new connections to accommodate the new knowledge.

[Oki Mo]

It does seem like a logical thing to think, doesn't it, but it's actually more interesting and a good deal simpler than that. Let me explain.

Muscles grow when their over-use creates microscopic tears in their fibres. In repairing them, they grow back thicker. In many cases, you use more energy in the repair than in the original exercise.

In terms of suggestions about muscle size, the subject perceives extra strength and so uses the muscles in question more. They tear and repair to a greater extent and so grow and become more dense faster.

You grow extra connections between existing neurons as the direct physical manifestation of learning. One neuron can have thousands of active connections at any one time, and "you" are composed of billions of neurons.

So a typical brain building suggestion would be something along the lines of having an unquenchable thirst for new knowledge and deeper understanding of the world. Your brain, creates new connections to accommodate the new knowledge.

Casandra
I am a bit confused by your opening sentence, “but it’s actually more interesting and a good deal simpler than that” – the BUT indicates a contradiction to follow, but I do not find one (well, not an obvious one) - then too, you say, “it is a good deal simpler than that”, and then proceed to give suggestions to indirectly cause brain growth – how is that simpler than directly suggesting brain growth?
I agree in principle with what you have said, with this caveat – muscle tearing is one of many theories regarding muscle growth - when I last checked, no one had proven it to be scientific fact.

[skip]

Oki Mo,

Lets try this a different way.

Suppose your brain does grow. Will you be smarter?

Bigger muscles are not generally stronger than smaller ones, that are better toned.

The seemingly good logic, bigger muscle equals stronger muscle, sounds true but it is not necessarily so. The seemingly good logic bigger brain (more growth), is even less likely to equal smarter person. The complex equivelents (this equals that) are not necessarily true.

What we do know IS true, is that bigger muscles can be stronger, but only if well toned.

We have no idea if that is true about brains, and people with relatively bigger brains, do not seem to have a corrosponding increase in IQ. (IQ may, or may not, equal smart.)

And we dont know if increasing oxygen to the brain will increase IQ either.

WE DO KNOW that too much, or too little, oxygen to the brain will kill it.

WE DO KNOW that people who use their brains, in a variety of ways, do increase their measurable IQ. It may not make them smarter, but it does apparently increase the size of the corpus collosum (The connection between the two hemispheres of the brain.) It also does apparently increase the various nerve pathways between brain cells, which is theorized to result in increased IQ.

So how do you build new pathways, and increase the size of the corpus collosum?

There are hundreds of ways. Most of which involve simply doing things differently, than you normally do. Crawl using rt hand and leg going forward at the same time, then left hand and leg. Then crawl using rt hand left leg going forward simultaneously, and left hand rt leg, write or draw with your non dominant hand, change your routines around regularly, take up art, or dancing, or a musical insturment, go thru the entire kama sutra, and then do it all backwards, go to a yoga class, or tai chi. Anything that will move you out of your current comfort zone, and force you to learn something new. And keep doing it until it is comfortable and then move on to something else, unless you have found something you are passionate about.

These types of things, and there are tens of thousands of possibilities, will challenge you to grow and adapt, and your brain will grow and adapt, and become more and more flexable with it. and you can have a hell of a good time doing it.

Dont forget, exercise, good nutrition, and adequate rest, are key elements as well.

And yes you can use hypnosis and NLP to enhance this, because there are lots of things you can do with suggestions, especially with regard to how you spend your time in dream states.

cheers,

skip

[Oki Mo]

Skip, I agree that a bigger brain is not necessarily a smarter one, but that was not my point - I was responding to the original poster who wanted to use suggestion to increase IQ by increasing blood flow – my response was, if you want to use suggestion to increase IQ, why not do so directly rather than indirectly. I’m sure indirect suggestions would work, and I’m sure various mental calisthenics would also work. All, I’m saying is, “Why beat about the bush, when you can get straight to the point.”

[Cassandra 8]

Casandra
I am a bit confused by your opening sentence, “but it’s actually more interesting and a good deal simpler than that” – the BUT indicates a contradiction to follow, but I do not find one (well, not an obvious one) - then too, you say, “it is a good deal simpler than that”, and then proceed to give suggestions to indirectly cause brain growth – how is that simpler than directly suggesting brain growth?Well, I had to get you to read the thing somehow :rolleyes:

I agree in principle with what you have said, with this caveat – muscle tearing is one of many theories regarding muscle growth - when I last checked, no one had proven it to be scientific fact.Sorry, I couldn't be bothered looking it up (bad Cassandra, naughty Cassandra!). I was up all night watching the General Election with friends and didn't get to bed until 6am, but I'm glad we share the analogy.

I forgot to add a final point: A strange thing happens when you exercise your brain. It gets easier to create and strengthen new neural connections. So, a side effect of a suggestion to increase intellectual curiosity might actually be that it feels as if it's getting stronger as time goes by... I'd be interested in any feedback anyone's got after trying that.

[skip]

I understand you were answering the question.

You could increase blood flow and still not get what the origional questioner wanted, an increase in IQ.

Is increasing blood flow or oxygen flow more important than getting the desired results of increased IQ?

[Oki Mo]

Skip, we seem to be in agreement, but speaking past each other. I did not suggest that an increase in either oxygen or blood flow would have any impact on IQ - in fact I suggested that neither of these were any guarantee of an improvement in IQ. The only thing I suggested was that instead of increasing blood flow via suggestion, underwater swimming, or any other method, and by so doing, hope to increase IQ, why not simply use suggestion directly to increase IQ. If I could put it simply; rather than suggest, “The blood flow to my brain is increasing”, why not suggest, “My IQ is increasing.” I know that this is not the way one would formulate the suggestion, but I am merely trying to make my intention as simple as possible to forestall any further misunderstanding.

[skip]

Ah thanks for the clarification and my apologies for the misunderstanding.

skip

[Don]

Oki Mo, Stanford-Binet, the creators of the concept of IQ and the group that oversees actual IQ tests (not the ones found in books or on the internet) have said that they don't know what the IQ measures.

So part of the problem in making suggestions to increase IQ is the imprecision of any such suggestion. "Subconscious, I'd like you to increase something that I don't know what it is." Now that's confusing to conscious and subconscious.

Respectfully, I would suggest (pun intended) that you forget the concept of IQ completely. Just trash it.

Instead, get down to the specifics. What EXACTLY do you want to increase? Your ability to quickly understand math formulae? Your ability to grasp mechanical concepts? Get down to exactly what you want and your subconscious will reward you.

[AnthonyM83]

I’m afraid you’ve lost me. My logic being, because suggestion has an effect on certain cells of the body, it should have a similar effect on other cells of the body – seems like a logical extrapolation to me.

Or do you think it is logical to say, because suggestion causes muscles to grow, it should cause muscles to grow? Or, because suggestion causes brain cells to grow, it should cause brain cells to grow?

When we say neurons growing in this context, I think we mean forming new connections, new pathways, things that will make us "smarter". That's a little more complicated than just causing muscle cells to grow. Neurons form connections based on practice and experience. I can think of a few ways to try doing this with hypnosis, but it's going to be working on a slightly different principle than growing muscles.

My only qualm was with the logical thought process. I've heard people say that since you can make bone tissue grow, you can thus make people grow taller. Or because there is a lot of extra genes we're not using in our DNA, we can thus activate all kinds of hidden abilities. Yes, might be true, but not because of that reason. I'm a bit sensitive it b/c I see a lot of similar statements from my fellow hypnotists (who are very smart, not putting anyone down).

[Oki Mo]

Oki Mo, Stanford-Binet, the creators of the concept of IQ and the group that oversees actual IQ tests (not the ones found in books or on the internet) have said that they don't know what the IQ measures.

So part of the problem in making suggestions to increase IQ is the imprecision of any such suggestion. "Subconscious, I'd like you to increase something that I don't know what it is." Now that's confusing to conscious and subconscious.

Respectfully, I would suggest (pun intended) that you forget the concept of IQ completely. Just trash it.

Instead, get down to the specifics. What EXACTLY do you want to increase? Your ability to quickly understand math formulae? Your ability to grasp mechanical concepts? Get down to exactly what you want and your subconscious will reward you.

Don, I agree with what you say. I have no idea what my IQ is, and whether is average or better – but when I observe people around me, who feel the desperate need to check out their every move with their financial advisor, personal trainer, general practitioner, dietician, nutritionist, child psychologist, therapist, marriage councillor, lawyer, minister, etc. then I do allow myself to believe that my actual mental performance is above average - but I put that down to curiosity and a dogged determination to find my own answers to questions that bother me – I have never been prepared to bow to someone else’s authority and accept their truth, simply because they happened to be an expert, or to have a PhD, or because they were some recognised authority. There are people out there who are brilliant, and who leave me with the same feelings of awe and admiration, that I have when I hear a gifted musician. These people score very high on IQ tests, but whether their brilliance is due to a high IQ, or their high IQ is due to their brilliance, is probably impossible to prove one way or the other.

[Oki Mo]

When we say neurons growing in this context, I think we mean forming new connections, new pathways, things that will make us "smarter". That's a little more complicated than just causing muscle cells to grow. Neurons form connections based on practice and experience. I can think of a few ways to try doing this with hypnosis, but it's going to be working on a slightly different principle than growing muscles.

My only qualm was with the logical thought process. I've heard people say that since you can make bone tissue grow, you can thus make people grow taller. Or because there is a lot of extra genes we're not using in our DNA, we can thus activate all kinds of hidden abilities. Yes, might be true, but not because of that reason. I'm a bit sensitive it b/c I see a lot of similar statements from my fellow hypnotists (who are very smart, not putting anyone down).

Anthony, I think you were reading too much into what I said - I was suggesting a general principle not a specific method. That is why I did not offer specific suggestions, nor make any specific claims.

[Don]

I think you will agree that Albert Einstein was brilliant. He was known for getting lost when walking home. Do you get lost when you walk home from school? Does that make you more brilliant than Einstein? I know people who received straight As in school but who can barely hold a job. Bill Gates dropped out of college and became the richest man in the world.

Einstein's IQ has been estimated to be just over 160. There are around 550,000 people in the world today that have that IQ or higher. Was he really so unusual?

Abraham Lincoln (who, it has been estimated, had an IQ of only ten points less than Einstein) said, "A house divided against itself cannot stand." That goes for the mind, too. Focus on one thing and work on it. Forget trying to raise your IQ.

Oh, and if you do work on individual things, get rest, exercise, and good nutrition, your IQ should improve.

Not that it matters.

[Oki Mo]

Abraham Lincoln (who, it has been estimated, had an IQ of only ten points less than Einstein) said, "A house divided against itself cannot stand." That goes for the mind, too.

Don
Regardless of Lincoln's IQ, he was wise enough to quote Jesus (EG)

[Russ]

Trepanation

Heck of a conversation piece