## [Q] Best methods for a normal person/character to rationally optimize their mental capacity and cognition?

* Author: u/None *
* URL: https://www.reddit.com/r/rational/comments/4aa33j/q_best_methods_for_a_normal_personcharacter_to/
* Score: 0

* Created: 2016-03-13T21:22:17

### Post:

[removed]

### Comments:

> **u/ulyssessword** [+7]  (an hour later)
> 
> Try asking tomorrow, in the Monday General Rationality thread.  
> 
> The mods want to keep the main part of this sub focused explicitly on *fiction*, and I support them in their decision.

> **u/Nepene** [+2]  (an hour later)
> 
> http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/brain-training-doesn-t-make-you-smarter/
> 
> You can't train your brain to be smarter with brain games. Your speed of thinking and clarity are mostly limited by your genetics.
> 
> You can do a little by living healthier- eat well, exercise, sleep decent hours and that will improve your mind a bit, but your intelligence is mostly fixed.
> 
> Some drugs can do a bit. You can improve your attention span with various cocaine like drugs, painkillers can let you work while in pain. If you have a notable deficiency in these areas that can help. If you're tired caffeine can help you be less limited. Ethanol can fix some social intellect issues.
> 
> If you spend a huge amount of time learning various memory tricks you can learn to fix short term memories in your long term memory faster, although it's a lot of effort.
> 
> Personally I use a notepad to record stuff, so I don't really need to remember much more. I have a smart phone which remembers a lot of my calendar details, which I keep on silent most of the time to avoid distractions. 
> 
> There are lots of ways to improve specific skills, which is much more productive. If you want a protagonist to be improving themselves I'd recommend more having them be smart in their choice of what to learn and research how to best learn that skill.

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