No method has been found to increase IQ in a general sense. The tasks that attempt to do this always fail to increase anything other than the particular area in which they train you. That being said, there is so much to gain from just thinking about things and getting experience. So what if you are smart but don't use your head? Nobody cares about a person like that, but they sure do exist. Why are you asking anyway?
For 80% your core is already formed in the first 6 weeks. This means your IQ is basically a product of your parents. However, like Petergrip said; if you do not do anything with it then your not much better off. I would also like to point out that it doesn't really matter if it is fixed or not. Life is so much more then IQ and happiness comes for 99% in other ways.
I don’t know about intelligence but the amount of info the nervous system can process is fixed for all mammals (and is the same across species within this group)
Think about when you were a child and started going to school. You had the intelligent kids, the not so intelligent kids and then those somewhere in the middle. Given we all started at the same age/point then there shouldn't really be much discrepancy in terms of intelligence but there clearly was. This followed throughout the entirety of my time at school, those who were at the top end of the intelligence spectrum at 6 were also there at 16 and the same goes for the other end. I was one of the smarter kids but admittedly by the end was leaning towards average but I put that more down to not putting in the effort, that or I just peaked early. I certainly don't remember any kids going from the bottom of the class to the top.
I think our IQ is fixed. I just think, I do not have proofs of anything, but also, I think there are many other important things to care about more than IQ.
there are people who do not get smarter no matter how much education they got also you can be intelligent without having as much education as another person for example if someone has studied biology, chemistry and history, he's more educated than someone who has only studied mathematics. But i bet you the person who studied mathematics will be more intelligent
There's a difference between knowledge and IQ. A high IQ just means you can learn faster and solve problems quicker than the average person. Someone with a low IQ can still learn and know as much as or even more than someone with a high IQ - it will just take them longer to learn it. A naïve 15 year old with an iq of 160 wouldn't know more than a wise 75 year old with a low/average iq. Not sure if IQ is fixed or not.
I disagree with everyone who says IQ or intelligence is fixed. I have met many people with high IQ and what you will find is usually they pride themselves on being smart. Meaning they practice incessantly on trying to think and process and learn faster and faster. what you'll find in science is babies born with small or deformed brains typically develop slower than the rest but over time the brain wires itself as it thinks it needs to. If the brain is like a muscle that adapts to what it thinks it needs to then focusing on focus or focusing your attention on intelligence over time with certainly improve intelligence. You can learn become or do anything if you focus enough on it. Who is to tell you cant anyway. (focusing on focus is meditation)
I don't believe in IQ tests. Intelligent is more complex which can't be determined by tests. I'm sure no one even now can't define what exactly is intelligence. I've read somewhere and I find it true "IQ tests are good at determining how good you are at IQ tests"
I agree with several opinions stated in this thread and that the discussion comes down to the definition of IQ and "intelligence" in general. Anecdotal observations: I have also personally seen people with high IQ lead a horrific life. I even knew a guy who bragged about his IQ score so much but couldn't handle basic relationships at work. Likewise, I know people who may be considered low IQ (no higher education, dorky attitude etc.) have their shit together and lead a good and happy life. Some are even successful with regards to relationships and finance. If it was only so simple to compress it down to one simple metric...
You are right, and IQ-tests are merely predictors of IQ. There are a broad variety of predictors, and I would not dare say which one is the best. Regarding what intelligence is, I believe is for another discussion. IQ is defined as how competent you are at solving problems compared to others. Like I said, I agree that your performance at a test has the main property of showing how good you are at a test, but the reason these tests have meaning is because they explore how good you are at extracting patterns from a given area. My point before on your ability to train yourself to become better at your tests exploit this in that you are given a lot more opportunities to understand the particular patterns of a certain set of tests, thus improving your skills within that set. What transcends that is your ability to extract patterns across all sets of problems, and there seems to be a correlation here, which justifies the use of IQ tests.
Do you know that there is a whole book solely dedicated to this question by a Stanford psychologist. Title is “Mindset”