Intelligence Experiment

I think that intelligence, largely, is a matter of being able to find patterns in one's environment, and that the greater intelligence is that which is capable of finding more and more subtle patterns. If this is true, then it should be possible to exercise one's pattern detecting ability in a number of ways, and increase one's intelligence.

Well, one way that seems promising to me is the assumption of different points of view. That is, training your mind by attempting to see things from other points of view as completely as you can; the more points of view the better. Being able to put yourself completely into different vantage points (not just intellectually, but emotionally as well), opens up new ways of looking at things, and, as a consequence, gives more ways of finding patterns in the chaos of our moment to moment environment.

I am already trying to expand my ability to assume different points of view, and I feel it's helped me to see many things more clearly than I otherwise would have. However, I would like to invite others willing to try the same thing (or who have been making the effort to assume a wider range of views for other reasons) and see how the effort has effected them.

Have you found that opening yourself to different points of view has sharpened your mind? I'd love to hear your thoughts.

Jim