Speaker A
So you want to become smart. In most of the world, you're told that it takes 12 years of school plus 4 years of college plus 6 years of graduate school to become smart. But what you actually become is homeless. That's not even a joke.
Becoming smart is easier than you think by focusing on reading, practicing skills, and sharing knowledge humbly.
Ask about this video. Answers come from its transcript only — with the timestamp, so you can check them.
Generated from the transcript and can be wrong — check the timestamp.
Key Takeaways
- Reading nonfiction regularly is the most effective way to become smarter.
- Practice is crucial to retain and master any skill.
- You don't need to know everything; focus on the most useful parts of a skill or topic.
- Sharing knowledge humbly increases respect and reinforces your own learning.
- Simple brain hacks are less effective than active learning and application.
What the video covers
- Traditional education is often seen as the only path to intelligence, but it can lead to negative outcomes like unemployment.
- People want to become smarter for problem-solving, financial gain, social respect, and conversational skills.
- Common advice like eating blueberries or listening to classical music is superficial and insufficient.
- The core method to becoming smart is consistent reading, especially nonfiction, to gain useful knowledge.
- Reading fiction improves vocabulary and reading speed, while nonfiction helps in sharing interesting facts.
- Practicing skills is essential because knowledge without practice is quickly forgotten by the brain.
- You only need to master about 20% of a skill to achieve 80% proficiency.
- Teaching others without sounding condescending helps reinforce your knowledge and builds respect.
- Using real-world examples and imagining practical applications helps retain information better.
- Avoid being obnoxious or overly pedantic in conversations to remain likable and approachable.
Chapters
- 00:00Introduction: The Myth of Formal Education and Intelligence
- 00:38Why We Want to Be Smart: Money, Skills, and Social Respect
- 01:59Common but Ineffective Brain Hacks
- 02:39The Key to Getting Smarter: Reading
- 04:26Types of Reading: Fiction vs Nonfiction
- 05:27Finding and Using Books to Learn
- 06:47Humility and Communication in Showing Intelligence
- 08:41Learning and Practicing Skills Effectively
- 10:00Retention Challenges and Practical Application
- 12:20Conclusion and Call to Action
Full Transcript — Download SRT & Markdown
Speaker A
joke but on the bright side when you make a Reddit post about how you can't get a job you can do it in perfect English if you haven't guessed by the title becoming smart is actually very easy even if you think your genetics
Speaker A
But on the bright side, when you make a Reddit post about how you can't get a job, you can do it in perfect English. If you haven't guessed by the title, becoming smart is actually very easy, even if you think your genetics make you dumb.
Speaker A
money we want to be good at solving problems hopefully for money we want to get better geds and learn difficult subjects to make more money and also to flex on people and lastly we want to sound smart in conversation just enough
Speaker A
If you compare yourself to every other animal, you're actually pretty overpowered. When people like you and me say we want to get smarter, it means a bunch of things. We want to learn useful skills, ideally skills that make money.
Speaker A
and Socrates and if you instead look for specific advice that you can actually try right now this is what you get eat blueberries cuz they brain food drink black coffee exercise sleep more take IQ tests listen to classical music these
Speaker A
We want to be good at solving problems, hopefully for money. We want to get better GEDs and learn difficult subjects to make more money and also to flex on people. And lastly, we want to sound smart in conversation, just enough so people respect you but not too much to the point where people think you're a nerd.
Speaker A
actually do to get smarter that's not just the same six brain hacks from a Facebook post copied and pasted from a Wiki how article inspired by a quote spray painted on a New York Subway wall the main thing you need to do is read
Speaker A
The problem is most advice on the internet is so vague and philosophical that even if it works, the only people who could actually follow it are Oprah and Socrates. And if you instead look for specific advice that you can actually try right now, this is what you get: eat blueberries because they're brain food, drink black coffee, exercise, sleep more, take IQ tests, listen to classical music.
Speaker A
indeed is the key to being able to casually drop interesting knowledge in conversations for example just by reading this book you can come off to anyone in conversation as someone who knows history the key is to not be
Speaker A
These things sound good, but at some point, you have to, you know, actually learn stuff. Besides, even in the past, there have been some geniuses who have spent the whole day sitting at a desk, getting 2 to 4 hours of sleep a day. So what can you actually do to get smarter that's not just the same six brain hacks from a Facebook post copied and pasted from a WikiHow article inspired by a quote spray-painted on a New York subway wall?
Speaker A
standards of a YouTube comment section in real life saying well actually before proving someone wrong will make you instantly unlikable change the well to an easy and now we're talking let's redo that conversation crazy how we evolved from chimpanzees right it is crazy right
Speaker A
The main thing you need to do is read. What kind of reading? It depends. Fiction is good for learning to read faster and it gives you a better vocabulary. Also, if you read a lot of dialogue, it makes you feel like you have friends. But most people go straight for nonfiction, which indeed is the key to being able to casually drop interesting knowledge in conversations.
Speaker A
touch grass the key is to teach people what you know without making them sound dumb this way people will actually learn from you which will make them see you as smart and respectable now how do you find these books it's actually really
Speaker A
For example, just by reading this book, you can come off to anyone in conversation as someone who knows history. The key is to not be obnoxious about it. Crazy how we evolved from chimpanzees, right? Well, actually, evolution is nonlinear and several human-like species inhabited Earth simultaneously, none of which could even be remotely considered chimpanzees.
Speaker A
if your finger slips you might accidentally end up on this website and you might accidentally search for the title of the book and by chance click on the first link and oh no accidentally downloaded a file and opened it with the
Speaker A
While this is considered polite by the standards of a YouTube comment section, in real life, saying "well actually" before proving someone wrong will make you instantly unlikable. Change the "well" to an "and" and now we're talking. Let's redo that conversation. Crazy how we evolved from chimpanzees, right? It is crazy, right?
Speaker A
learn a skill one unless you practice the skill your brain will think it's useless and forget it two you only have have to know 20% of the knowledge to master 80% of the skill so I guess we could just move on this is called the
Speaker A
You know, I was reading the other day and apparently humans and chimpanzees—I always thought we evolved from them, but I guess we just evolved side by side. You can be smart while also being humble and also sounding like you touch grass.
Speaker A
one ever learned how to tie a tie by watching how to tie a tie you only learn how to tie a tie by watching how to tie a tie while tying a tie the same applies to reading books only make you smarter
Speaker A
The key is to teach people what you know without making them sound dumb. This way, people will actually learn from you, which will make them see you as smart and respectable. Now, how do you find these books? It's actually really easy. You don't have to read the same five books everyone tells you to read. Just think of a topic you want to learn about, like cleaning. Now Google books about cleaning. Here's one that looks good.
Speaker A
forget it but let's just imagine that's something that you can't practice right now like imagine you're reading a book about cars and then you see this diagram of how to jump start a dead car with a good car ideally you'll read about it
Speaker A
Usually, these books cost money, but if your finger slips, you might accidentally end up on this website and you might accidentally search for the title of the book and by chance click on the first link and oh no, accidentally downloaded a file and opened it with the appropriate ebook viewer.
Speaker A
video and pretend that's your car by imagining the whole process from start to finish you just convinced your brain that you used all that information and now you'll remember it meanwhile the person who just looked at the diagram
Speaker A
Well, now that you have the book, you'll also find that not only can you pick out interesting tidbits to use in conversations, but you can also learn many useful skills. There are 10 things you should know before you learn a skill. One, unless you practice the skill, your brain will think it's useless and forget it. Two, you only have to know 20% of the knowledge to master 80% of the skill. So I guess we could just move on.
Speaker A
it'll be useful this is basically how the entire school system works you learn a piece of information and because it'll be like 15 years before you actually use it your teacher creates an imaginary situation where that information is
Speaker A
This is called the learning curve. It's a graph of how good you get at a skill over time. As you can see, just by practicing a little bit, you can make a lot of progress in the beginning, but you have to practice. No one ever learned how to tie a tie by watching how to tie a tie. You only learn how to tie a tie by watching how to tie a tie while tying a tie.
Speaker A
your brain at least attempt to remember the information the only problem is once the test is over your brain says it's not useful anymore and you forget it some people think repetition or space repetition or studying in intervals or
Speaker A
The same applies to reading. Books only make you smarter if you give your brain a reason to remember the stuff in the book. So once you read the chapter on cleaning a bedroom, go ahead and clean a bedroom. It doesn't even have to be your bedroom, just clean one and now you'll never forget it.
Speaker A
don't have any practice questions make your own and convince yourself that the stakes are high like pretend that you're hanging off a cliff by one arm and someone's there to pull you up but only if you can name all the parts of a human
Speaker A
But let's just imagine that's something that you can't practice right now. Like imagine you're reading a book about cars and then you see this diagram of how to jump-start a dead car with a good car. Ideally, you'll read about it and then go practice it, but not everyone has two cars lying around to practice on.
Speaker A
distractions just pure information and a bunch of practice questions and if you can't solve them you have to flip all the way to page XXX VV I II in the appendix to get help textbooks aren't for the Casual learner because it's not
Speaker A
But you can still practice it by just imagining. Imagine the moment where you'll need to know how to jump-start a car. Put yourself in the situation, find a video, and pretend that's your car. By imagining the whole process from start to finish, you just convinced your brain that you used all that information and now you'll remember it.
Speaker A
any subject you want but before you do that I'm collecting donations in the form of subscribes to fund the next video [Music]
Topics:becoming smartlearning tipsreading nonfictionskill masterypractice skillsknowledge sharingself improvementbrain hacksintelligenceeducation critique
