Experiencing Experiential Intelligence -- Guide To Acting Like A Genius (By Mr. Nathan Lasher)
Updated: Sep 16
(Disclaimer: The guest posts do not necessarily align with Philosocom's manager, Mr. Tomasio Rubinshtein's beliefs, thoughts, or feelings. The point of guest posts is to allow a wide range of narratives from a wide range of people. To apply for a guest post of your own, please send your request to mrtomasio@philosocom.com)
Article Synopsis by Mr. John Igwe and Co.
"Experiencing Experiential Intelligence: A Guide To Acting Like a Genius" by Mr. Nathan Lasher is an engaging and conversational article that demystifies the concept of experiential intelligence, making it less intimidating for readers without a background in cognitive science or psychology.
The article emphasizes practical application, encouraging readers to actively engage with their experiences and learn from them, providing actionable advice such as journaling and lifelong learning.
Lasher's advocacy for lifelong learning and the continual expansion of one's knowledge base is commendable, as it reminds readers that the quest for understanding and personal growth should not end with formal education.
He also emphasizes the importance of imagination and creativity, which often diminish with age, providing a broader perspective on intelligence beyond traditional metrics like IQ.
Overall, "Experiencing Experiential Intelligence: A Guide To Acting Like A Genius" is a thought-provoking and practical piece that encourages readers to harness their experiences for personal growth.
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"[Experiential Intelligence] The combination of mindsets, abilities, and know-how gained from your unique life experience that empowers you to achieve your goals... [It] provides a holistic way to understand what’s needed for success in today’s world by getting in touch with the accumulated wisdom and talents you have gained over time through your lived experience.” -- Soren Kaplan
Introductory Disclaimers
I have no right telling anyone this, academically speaking. My degree is in economics and my background is in sales and marketing. I have only my intelligence to use as a reference so for the sake of this article I will not use any outside sources. Perhaps Mr. Tomasio will decide to add source material to what I am saying.
Most people require that material to draw conclusions and come up with thoughts on things. I get "to cheat" because I will automatically know what to think about something because of some amazing abstract cognition I have going on. My hope in writing this is to get people to start acting like a genius.
I know you can’t increase intelligence. However, intelligence is what teaches us how to do things better. This is a process which I believe other people might be able to apply to their lives. My hope is to share an insight into what intelligence does for me and how other people might be able to do the same thing.
If philosophy is all about creating better understanding then I am about to philosophize the hell out of you.
Understanding What is XQ: More Common Than you Think
Experiential intelligence is not a unique type of intelligence. Intelligence is pretty stationary as it doesn’t change. What intelligence itself is comes from the same place consciousness does. You would literally have to change your genetics in order to increase it.
Experiential Intelligence is also known as XQ so for time's sake I will refer to it as that from now on.
XQ expression of intelligence is when you use past experiences to determine what you know and how to use it. It is also known and referred to as creative intelligence. This is the result of abstract cognition drawing on every experience you have had to formulate an idea about something new.
You can think creatively about things simply by your past experiences being automated as far as accessing them. And again, this is down with abstract cognitive features. My point being everyone has them and I want to teach people how to use them.
You can think like I can by doing this simple process. Take a moment after each experience and write about what it can teach you. I'd suggest journaling. Write it enough times until you can remember it. Then, once you have it memorized, don’t think about it. You may encounter something in the future which will make you think about it and you will discover ways in which it can be used.
Hence the importance of life long education. You never know when what you learn might come in handy. Learn like a genius by learning a new thing each week. That way you have 7 days to learn it well enough it becomes a skill of yours.
Skills become those things which you never know if you are going to need to end up knowing in the future.
The Path To Polymathy And Problem-Solving
Easiest way to become a polymath is to always want to understand everything about everything. Do not limit yourself to only one perception. A polymath is a person who is specialized in multiple different areas.
Polymathy is simply the process of knowing multiple uses for things. Polymathy allows you to become a walking multi tool pocket knife.
Problems exist as constructs in people’s minds. For instance many might see my room as a mess and therefore problematic. To me I know where almost everything is, it all has its place.
Next time something is a problem, take a minute to understand what the situation really is. You more often than not will no longer see the situation as problematic. You realize you have full control over changing your own circumstance if you so choose to.
I learn through experience. Once I understand it, I will never forget it. There are different levels to memory retention. I remember by experiencing and through emotions. If I can create a pleasant enough emotion while thinking about something I will typically remember it for an extended period of time.
So, my next insight on how you can function like a genius is to take some time to process experiences you go through on an individual basis. Document the entire experience and save it. Take pictures and make notes. Create "an encyclopedia" of your own. That way if you ever come across something you are unfamiliar with you can see how you handled similar situations and what the results were.
Life really is about always learning and growing as a person. The less important insight is to stop trying to get people to see you as a certain way. Only focus on your actions and let them tell other people who you are as a person.
My intelligence used to express itself randomly in the past in unrecognizable ways. It also used to be a matter of knowing it was something I am capable of but not being sure how to do it.
It took some more massive exposure to it for me to finally realize the secret to intellectual expression. It is something that happens all on its own and does so by making your actions be a representation of it. Just the simple act of doing things and answering people will do a way better job of expressing it than you ever can consciously do. Letting people see your creative side is the difference between a high intellect and a genius.
Next, I have a framework I want to throw out there on a change to growing up which could "create" more geniuses. What I don’t understand is what happens to people’s imaginations as they grow up? Imagination is an expression of intelligence.
Children, as such, are able to create and see whole realities using nothing but their own intelligence. Why do people stop using their intelligence like this? My suggestion is to change the current perspective about imagination: As one only limited to the arts and to beauty.
We should not be losing our imaginations as we grow older. I believe the answer is in introducing a psychology class as a part of growing up: A class that is focused on people becoming the best version of themselves. I believe everyone is capable of using the intelligence that they have like a genius would.
If everyone learned the power of experiential skills it would create a way better world. Imagine if young children had their imaginations fostered as they grew up. Imagination is an expression of intelligence. You can get better at expressing each expression of it. If that expression is naturally built into our DNA, then why do people decide to stop using it as they grow up?
The true sign of intelligence is not knowledge but imagination. -- Albert Einstein
The only people who still seem to be using it are the artistic types. What if we applied this mentality to other areas within business and life? I use my imagination without even meaning to.
Intelligence is a part of the conscious mind which is a part of the soul. Look around a room, what do you think is the thing which is recognizing what the things in it are? It is your soul and intelligence and I just want people to remember to foster their own intelligence by practice using it.
Before you start each task, imagine all the ways it can be done. Don’t limit yourself to trying new things. The task still gets finished but in trying new ways to do it you are actually doing field research. You never know when you might find a better way of doing things. This is done not by paying all this money for an education. It is by giving yourself unique experiences you have never done before. The new way might not be the best way to do the task but you might have discovered a way to do something else better.
How to Increase the Capital In You
That is the polymathy point I am getting to you. Always be open to new experiences because you never know how doing so might end up helping an unrelated topic. It is a matter of always wanting to improve yourself. Human capital far exceeds fiscal.
You can catch a man a fish and he eats for a day or you can teach him to fish and he will eat forever. The lesson behind this I believe is expressing the importance of trying and learning new things. You never know how it might help make you a better person. Part of being a genius is having massive amounts of human capital via your brain. Geniuses succeed when they find a way to use that human capital. My point in all this is you don’t have to be a genius to act like one.
You can start by improving your human capital by doing actions which represent yourself better. Don’t worry about telling people who you are. Simply do so by acting like the type of person you are. Make sure your words are built on a strong foundation of actions.
Not saying words aren’t important, they can be used in order to plan things out. But a life built solely on words isn’t much of a life of quality.
Philosocom might be the exception. Its words are its value and the reason you're here. I am merely referring to human beings in this instance. This site was the result of its owner taking action. He backs up with actions with words and his words with actions.
The Semantics of Action
If the purpose of life is to grow both physically and cognitively, why don’t people continue to do so cognitively past their early 20’s?
Next time you see something you are unfamiliar with, try and imagine all the stuff you could possibly do with it. You might feel dumb when you realize how simple the action is that is required, but who knows, and maybe you don’t have a breakthrough idea as an alternative?
Actions are contagious. Maybe you picking up trash on the side of the road puts the thought in several other peoples and they decide to clean up the trash in front of their houses. Who said you had to clean up everything?
For every action there is an equal or opposite reaction. You picking up trash was the action and getting other people to was the reaction. See how that works. You could talk all day long about the world being a more beautiful and cleaner place or you could go out and actually make it so.
Humans are creatures of mutual habit. You are like every other human out there. There are exceptions such as Mother Terresa but in this regard it speaks more to the nature of humanity than anything else. Doing nothing but being a loving and helpful human being, she drew major attention to herself as a result of that not being a bigger part of a specific person's life. How sad is that? No help among human beings has made the amount of work she did seem huge.
Has humanity lost its way so that nice is becoming a word lost in its vocabulary? If you want to think like a genius, every time you do something take a moment to think in what other areas of your life might it be helpful in.
You never know the change that might come from you learning to apply it to unrelated areas. Anything can be used to do anything, relatively speaking. Not going to lift heavy objects with an apple. Unless you look at it as you eating the apple and giving yourself enough energy to lift the object yourself. That is the kind of thinking a genius mind will give you!
Everything is possible but requires the correct pathology to be used in order to accomplish it. A better life can be obtained by finding better pathologies for things. Pathologies are simply the way that things get done.
Conclusions (Added by Mr. Tomasio Rubinshtein)
Mr. Lasher, despite mostly relying on his own experiences, believes that everyone can act like a genius. He emphasizes the importance of experiential intelligence (XQ) - the ability to use past experiences to solve problems and generate creative ideas.
Key takeaways to act like a genius, include:
Engage with your experiences: Reflect on your experiences and actively learn from them. Journaling is a great way to record and process your learnings. Furthermore, additional active study strategies can be learned and integrated to your routine.
Lifelong learning: Keep acquiring new knowledge and skills throughout your life. See anything and anyone as an opportunity to invest in study.
Embrace imagination: Don't let your imagination fade away with age. Use it to solve problems and think creatively. It doesn't need to be the sole asset of artists and craftsmen.
Become a polymath: Gain knowledge and skills in various fields. This will give you a broader perspective and allow you to make unexpected connections.
Focus on actions: Let your actions speak for themselves. Take initiative and don't just talk about things.
A great read.
The criterion for being recognized as genius comes much after the words have been written or otherwise expressed. It is an egoistic mistake to think that just because you can be original and smart in what you write that you qualify. So lets forget all about being a genius and concentrate on clear properly expressed thoughts, derivation and related ideas which are not of a personal kind,
but relate to something of greater importance to the rest of the world, as I have done in macroeconomics. Should you or your friends want to see what I have discovered in making this subject a true science,(to replace its past pseudo-scientific and badly biased interpretation), kindly write to me for a fre…