The plot of the popular 2011 movie Limitless captures the dream of unlimited intelligence–the age-old human quest for extreme wisdom or supernatural cognition. In this movie, actor Bradley Cooper stars as Eddie Morra, a struggling writer in New York City who’s just been abandoned by his girlfriend. Defeated and despondent, he samples a nootropic, drug NZT-48 that significantly enhances his mental processing powers and gives him total memory retention. As the drama unfolds, Eddie enjoys all the rewards that we imagine to accompany unlimited cognitive powers–success, wealth, and a celebrity lifestyle. However, as one might expect, such gratuitous benefits have side effects that severely interfere with cognitive function. It would seem that, outside the world of fantasy, we frail mortals are condemned to do the best we can with the genes we inherit.
Centuries ago, we discovered drinks like tea and coffee that, when immersed in hot water release caffeine, a stimulant that helps us focus with greater intensity when engaged in work that requires concentration. Celebrating the powers of coffee, Johann Sebastian Bach, in 1732, wrote his Coffee Cantata. In 1757, Samuel Johnson, English essayist and playwright described himself as a “hardened and shameless tea drinker,” claiming to consume more than 40 cups a day. By the 20th century, coffee had become the greatest cash crop on earth and a main staple of fast food chains like Starbucks and McDonald’s that jump start, every morning, a major portion of the workers in the western world. More recently, among the younger members of society, high caffeine drinks like Red Bull came into use to provide a jolt of alertness or enhance athletic performance.
In 1983, the Soviet cosmonauts used the nootropic phenylpiracetam to help them deal with the prolonged stress of working in space. Today, companies are springing up in areas like San Francisco to meet the growing demand for nootropics, from those seeking to increase their productivity. While such stimulants may have short term advantages in enhancing focus and concentration, they come with negative side effects when taken in high doses. In his book Superintelligence, computer scientist, Nick Bostrom of Oxford University opines:
It seems implausible, on both neurological and evolutionary grounds, that one could by introducing some chemical into the brain of a healthy person spark a dramatic rise in intelligence.
Our intellectual potential is defined in part by our general intelligence g, as measured by our IQ, but our actual intelligence evolves through the interaction of g with the environment. The emerging question is no longer “Can we change our IQ?” but rather, “How much of our actual IQ is determined by environmental factors?” If, indeed, our intelligence is related to the number of neural connections, or synapses made throughout our lives, then we need to know what stimuli best generate these connections and how much they factor into the intelligence we develop. The best suggestions we have to date for enhancing your IQ are to combine healthy physical activity with a deep involvement in intellectual challenges. For more information, visit: http://Do any studies exist on whether people can become more intelligent by practicing activities that require intelligence? – Intelligence and IQ
