We all know that laziness is contagious – we also know that when people get together more and more of the people in that group becomes similar. It seems the human species is able to change itself and psychology to get along with others in large groups, this has been proven. In fact, studies have shown that people in the same group will become fatter or thinner, more motivated or less motivated, and even healthier or less healthy.
We all know that when groups of childbearing age women get together their menstrual cycles will slowly begin to match up. Therefore, it seems that there is a lot more to the psychology and physiology of human groups, tribes, and societies. I’d like you to go to YouTube right now and watch a very interesting video by Nicholas Christakis called: “The hidden influence of social networks.”
Although he doesn’t come out and say it, it appears to me that intelligence is also contagious. Depression, motivation, and even political persuasion all tend to gel together in groups. And it has often been said that any given individual is the average of their five closest friends. And we know that children mimic their parents, with the same mannerism, and often similar personalities. You don’t have to be a childhood developmental psychologist to notice this.
As the coordinator for a think tank on the Internet I can tell you that intelligence really is contagious, and that if you hang around smart people, you will in fact become more intelligent yourself. And if you hang around people who do not value intelligence, intellectual conversation, or deep thinking, you will become less intelligent. Although the “contagious intelligence theory” which I just made up has not been proven by science, I believe it to be so.
In fact, considering the number of observations and the experience I’ve had with this I might almost say it’s a foregone conclusion and fact. If you want to become smarter, then you need to hang around smart people, and have smart friends. You need to turn your mind back on and constantly be thinking, reasoning, and solution providing. You need to think in new and interesting innovative thoughts, and think outside the box. That is if you want to become more intelligent.
You should engage in intellectual discourse, watch intellectual programs on television (such as the Discovery Channel), and read intellectually challenging books. I hope you will please consider all this.
Source by Lance Winslow
