Boost Your Brainpower: Top 14 Fun Facts About Intelligence You Never Knew
1. Einstein's Stolen Brain
Guess Einstein couldn't keep his gray matter off the record after all: Despite requesting to be cremated and his ashes scattered secretly, Albert's brain was snatched by Thomas Harvey, an overeager pathologist, leading to decades of unauthorized studies that defy Einstein's humble wish to avoid idolization.
Source => nationalgeographic.com
2. Socrates: Midwife of Knowledge
Who says midwives only assist with childbirth? Socrates was the quirkiest of them all, churning out intellectual offspring left and right: In reality, he considered himself a midwife of knowledge, facilitating the birth of wisdom in others through his clever questioning and relentless pursuit of understanding, bestowing upon us the precious gift of the Socratic method that maintains its grip on philosophy and education to this day.
Source => en.wikipedia.org
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=> Fun Facts about Learning
3. Einstein's Early Genius
You know how kids dream of becoming Albert Einstein when they grow up? Little did they know they'd have a hard time keeping up with his early genius: At the tender age of 12, Einstein taught himself geometry, paving his way to graduating from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology with a degree in math and physics – despite not being a straight-A student in all subjects. By age 26, he had earned his Ph.D. and churned out four groundbreaking physics articles in just one year!
Source => amnh.org
4. Chemists and the Mighty Mole
Why did the chemist break up with their significant other? They had trouble getting past their "mole" issues! Ah, the mysterious mole, the source of countless woes in high school chemistry: At its core, the mole concept, involving Avogadro's number (6.022 x 10^23), serves as a crucial metric for chemists to count atoms or molecules in a substance. This ability to wield this mighty mole enables chemists to craft intricate formulas and untangle perplexing equations, solidifying their status as intellectual titans within the realm of science.
Source => intro.chem.okstate.edu
5. Banner Blindness Phenomenon
Feeling ignored like Harry Potter under the cupboard? It might be banner blindness at work: A whopping 86% of web users unconsciously ignore banner ads due to over-exposure, leading to ad fatigue and the increased use of ad blockers, as found by Infolinks.
Source => outbrain.com
6. Brainy Sunfish
Who needs an Ivy League degree when you're a brainy sunfish? These aquatic Einsteins know their waterfront real estate makes all the difference: Pumpkinseed sunfish residing in complex shoreline habitats have larger brains than those in open water, as observed by University of Guelph biologists. This intriguing find implies that their habitat influences brain size within a single lake fish population and offers insights on how our finned friends might respond to environmental challenges like pollution and climate change. Clever fish indeed – but nature doesn't assign "smarter" fish at birth, just to be clear.
Source => phys.org
7. The Vengeful Crow Mafia
Watch out for the crow mafia: they'll never forget a face and they'll teach their children to hate you too! Shockingly, American crows can recognize and remember human faces associated with bad experiences, share this knowledge with other crows, and even pass it on to their young, who will also scold and mob the dangerous humans.
Source => discovermagazine.com
8. Border Collie Brainpower
If you're playing Trivial Pursuit with your dog and they're bone-crushingly good, chances are you own a Border Collie: This astute canine breed has been classified as one of the most intelligent doggos by researchers at the University of Helsinki, excelling at problem-solving, logical reasoning, and short-term memory! Though when selecting your next pup, remember that smarts aren't everything—loyalty, friendliness, and adaptability also make for a paw-some companion.
Source => fatherly.com
9. Emotionally Intelligent Stalker
Did you hear about the emotionally intelligent stalker? They always know how you feel: Emotional intelligence comes in three models – ability, trait, and mixed – that focus on competencies, self-perceptions, and traits meant for ace navigation in social situations, proving it's not just another measure of IQ.
Source => futurelearn.com
10. Family Trees and IQ Leaves
When your family tree gets a triple A+ but your leaves haven't sprouted properly: intelligence is heavily influenced by both genetics and environmental factors such as socioeconomic status, nutrition, and education, with genetics potentially accounting for 75% of IQ level variations, while environmental factors determine if someone reaches their intellectual potential.
Source => xcode.life
11. Tesla's Blink-&-You-Miss-It Inventions
If Nikola Tesla were a Marvel superhero, his power would be the magical art of "Blink-&-You-Miss-It" Inventions: From bringing alternating current systems to life to creating wireless electricity, Tesla's marvelous eidetic memory and boundless imagination enabled him to intricately visualize and mentally assemble inventions before even laying a finger on the physical components.
Source => virgin.com
12. Salsa Dancing Brainiacs
Who needs a PhD when you can salsa your way to being a brainiac? The next time someone claims that dance is just for fancy footwork, tell them to cha-cha-check their facts: Studies funded by the CDC's Healthy Brain Research Network show that Latin ballroom dance programs like BAILAMOS© can improve memory, attention, and focus in older sedentary adults, and even boost thinking and memory in those experiencing mild cognitive impairment. So, dust off those dancing shoes and let the cognitive fiesta begin!
Source => cdc.gov
13. Night Owls and Intelligence
Whoever said "early to bed, early to rise" must be shaking in their nightcap: studies suggest that those with higher IQs may exhibit more variable sleep patterns, even leaning towards being night owls, though it shouldn't be assumed that staying up late automatically confers genius status.
Source => apartmenttherapy.com
14. Smartest Self-Talker Debate
Mirror, mirror, on the wall, who's the smartest self-talker of them all? Well, the answer is still up for debate: Self-talk, a common phenomenon in humans and some animals, is linked with high-level mental functions, but there's no direct proof that it can actually enhance intelligence or problem-solving skills.
Source => ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
