In most of the world, you're told that it takes 12 years of school plus 4 years of college plus 6 years of graduate school to become smart, but what you actually become is homeless.

在世界上的大多數地方，你會被告知，要想變得聰明，需要上 12 年的學，再加上 4 年的大學和 6 年的研究所學生，但實際上你會變得無家可歸。

That's not even a joke.

這可不是開玩笑。

But on the bright side, when you make a Reddit post about how you can't get a job, you can do it in perfect English.

但好的一面是，當你在 Reddit 上發帖抱怨找不到工作時，你可以用流利的英語來表達。

If you haven't guessed by the title, becoming smart is actually very easy, even if you think your genetics make you dumb.

如果你還沒有從標題中猜到，變得聰明其實很容易，即使你認為你的基因讓你變得笨。

If you compare yourself to every other animal, you're actually pretty overpowered.

如果你把自己和其他動物相比，你其實很強大。

When people like you and me say we want to get smarter, it means a bunch of things.

當你我這樣的人說我們想變得更聰明時，這意味著很多事情。

We want to learn useful skills, ideally skills that make money.

我們希望學習有用的技能，最好是能賺錢的技能。

We want to be good at solving problems, hopefully for money.

我們要善於解決問題，希望能賺錢。

We want to get better grades and learn difficult subjects to make more money, and also to flex on people.

我們希望取得更好的成績，學習更難的科目，以賺更多的錢，同時也能屈能伸。

And lastly, we want to sound smart in conversation, just enough so people respect you, but not too much to the point where people think you're a nerd.

最後，我們要在談話中表現出聰明的一面，既要讓別人尊重你，又不能讓別人覺得你是個書呆子。

The problem is, most advice on the internet is so vague and philosophical that even if it works, the only people who could actually follow it are Oprah and Socrates.

問題是，互聯網上的大多數建議都過於空泛和哲學化，即使這些建議有效，真正能照著做的人也只有奧普拉和蘇格拉底。

And if you instead look for specific advice that you can actually try right now, this is what you get.

而如果你想尋找一些你現在就可以實際嘗試的具體建議，這就是你所得到的。

Eat blueberries cause they're brain food.

吃藍莓，因為它們是健腦食品。

Drink black coffee.

喝黑咖啡

Exercise.

運動。

Sleep more.

多睡一會兒

Take IQ tests.

參加智商測試。

Listen to classical music.

聽古典音樂

These things sound good, but at some point you have to, you know, actually learn stuff.

這些東西聽起來不錯，但到了一定時候，你就必須，你知道，真正去學東西。

Besides, even in the past, there have been some geniuses who've spent the whole day sitting at a desk, getting 2-4 hours of sleep a day.

此外，即使在過去，也有一些天才整天坐在辦公桌前，每天只睡 2-4 個小時。

So what can you actually do to get smarter that's not just the same 6 brain hacks from a Facebook post copied and pasted from a WikiHow article inspired by a quote spray-painted on a New York subway wall?

那麼，怎樣才能真正讓自己變得更聰明，而不僅僅是從 Facebook 上的帖子中複製粘貼過來的 6 個腦力黑客，從 WikiHow 上的文章中獲得靈感的 6 個腦力黑客，從紐約地鐵牆上噴塗的一句話中獲得靈感的 6 個腦力黑客呢？

The main thing you need to do is read.

你需要做的主要是閱讀。

What kind of reading?

什麼樣的閱讀？

It depends.

這要看情況。

Fiction is good for learning to read faster, and it gives you better vocabulary.

小說有利於更快地學習閱讀，還能增加詞彙量。

Also, if you read a lot of dialogue, it makes you feel like you have friends.

此外，如果你讀了很多對話，就會覺得自己有了朋友。

But most people go straight for non-fiction, which indeed is the key to being able to casually drop interesting knowledge in conversations.

但大多數人都會直接選擇非小說類書籍，這的確是在談話中隨口拋出有趣知識的關鍵。

For example, just by reading this book, you can come off to anyone in conversation as someone who knows history.

例如，只要讀了這本書，你就能在與任何人的交談中表現出一個瞭解歷史的人。

The key is to not be obnoxious about it.

關鍵是不要令人討厭。

Crazy how we evolved from chimpanzees, right?

我們是如何從黑猩猩進化而來的，很瘋狂吧？

Well actually, evolution is non-linear and several human-like species inhabited Earth simultaneously, none of which could even be remotely considered as chimpanzees.

實際上，進化是非線性的，地球上同時居住著幾個類似人類的物種，其中沒有一個可以被認為是黑猩猩。

While this is considered polite by the standards of a YouTube comment section, in real life, saying well actually before proving someone wrong will make you instantly unlikable.

雖然按照 YouTube 評論區的標準，這被認為是一種禮貌，但在現實生活中，在證明別人錯了之前說 "實際上很好 "會讓你立刻變得不討人喜歡。

Change the well to an easy, and now we're talking.

把 "井 "改成 "易"，現在我們就來談談。

Let's redo that conversation.

讓我們重新來過。

Crazy how we evolved from chimpanzees, right?

我們是如何從黑猩猩進化而來的，很瘋狂吧？

It is crazy, right?

這很瘋狂，對嗎？

You know, I was reading the other day, and apparently, humans and chimpanzees- I always thought we evolved from them, but I guess we just evolved side by side.

你知道嗎，我前幾天讀到一篇文章，很明顯，人類和黑猩猩--我一直以為我們是從它們進化而來的，但我猜我們只是並肩進化。

You can be smart while also being humble, and also sounding like you touch grass.

既要聰明，又要謙虛，還要聽起來像在摸草。

The key is to teach people what you know, without making them sound dumb.

關鍵是要把你知道的東西教給別人，而不是讓他們聽起來很笨。

This way, people will actually learn from you, which will make them see you as smart and respectable.

這樣，人們就會真正從你身上學到東西，從而認為你聰明、值得尊敬。

Now, how do you find these books?

現在，你如何找到這些書？

It's actually really easy.

這其實很簡單。

You don't have to read the same five books everyone tells you to read.

你不必讀每個人都告訴你要讀的五本書。

Just think of a topic you want to learn about, like cleaning.

只要想一想你想了解的主題，比如清潔。

Now Google, books about cleaning.

現在用谷歌搜索有關清潔的書籍。

Here's one that looks good.

這裡有一個看起來不錯。

Usually, these books cost money, but if your finger slips, you might accidentally end up on this website, and you might accidentally search for the title of the book, and by chance, click on the first link, and oh no, accidentally download a file, and opened it with the appropriate ebook viewer.

通常，這些書都是花錢買的，但如果你的手指不小心滑了一下，你可能會不小心上了這個網站，可能會不小心搜索了一下書名，然後偶然點擊了第一個鏈接，哦不，不小心下載了一個文件，並用相應的電子書閱讀器打開了它。

Well, now that you have the book, you'll also find that not only can you pick out interesting tidbits to use in conversations, but you can also learn many useful skills.

好了，現在有了這本書，你還會發現，你不僅可以在對話中挑出有趣的花絮，還可以學到很多有用的技能。

There are 10 things you should know before you learn a skill. 1.

在學習一項技能之前，你應該瞭解 10 件事。1.

Unless you practice the skill, your brain will think it's useless and forget it. 2.

除非你練習這項技能，否則你的大腦會認為它毫無用處，並將其遺忘。2.

You only have to know 20% of the knowledge to master 80% of the skill.

你只需瞭解 20% 的知識，就能掌握 80% 的技能。

So I guess we could just move on.

所以我想我們可以繼續前進了。

This is called the learning curve.

這就是所謂的學習曲線。

It's a graph of how good you get at a skill over time.

這是你隨著時間的推移掌握某種技能的程度的圖表。

As you can see, just by practicing a little bit, you can make a lot of progress in the beginning.

正如你所看到的，只要稍加練習，你就能在開始階段取得很大進步。

But you have to practice.

但你必須練習。

No one ever learned how to tie a tie by watching how to tie a tie.

沒有人是通過觀察如何打領帶而學會打領帶的。

You only learn how to tie a tie by watching how to tie a tie while tying a tie.

只有邊打領帶邊看如何打領帶，才能學會如何打領帶。

The same applies to reading.

閱讀也是如此。

Books only make you smart if you give your brain a reason to remember the stuff in the book.

只有讓你的大腦有理由記住書中的內容，書籍才能讓你變得聰明。

So once you read the chapter on cleaning a bedroom, go ahead and clean a bedroom.

所以，當你讀完 "打掃臥室 "這一章後，就去打掃臥室吧。

It doesn't even have to be your bedroom.

甚至不一定非得是你的臥室。

Just clean one, and now you'll never forget it.

只要清洗一次，你就永遠不會忘記。

But let's just imagine that's something that you can't practice right now.

但讓我們想象一下，這是你現在無法實踐的。

Like imagine you're reading a book about cars, and then you see this diagram of how to jumpstart a dead car with a good car.

想象一下，你正在閱讀一本關於汽車的書，然後你看到了如何用一輛好車啟動一輛沒電的車的示意圖。

Ideally, you'll read about it, and then go practice it.

理想的情況是，你先閱讀相關資料，然後去實踐。

But not everyone has two cars lying around to practice on.

但並不是每個人都有兩輛車可以用來練習。

But you can still practice it by just imagining.

但你仍然可以通過想象來練習。

Imagine the moment where you'll need to know how to jumpstart a car.

想象一下，當你需要知道如何啟動汽車的時候。

Put yourself in the situation, find a video, and pretend that's your car.

設身處地，找一段視頻，假裝那是你的車。

By imagining the whole process from start to finish, you just convinced your brain that you used all that information, and now you'll remember it.

通過想象從頭到尾的整個過程，你會讓大腦相信你使用了所有這些資訊，現在你會記住它們。

Meanwhile, the person who just looked at the diagram and tried to memorize it still won't know what to do if they ever had to jumpstart a car.

與此同時，如果有人只是看了看圖表並試圖記住它，那麼如果他們需要啟動汽車，仍然不知道該怎麼做。

This is how you get smart.

這樣才能變得聰明。

Use everything you learn.

學以致用

And if you can't, imagine yourself in the moment where it'll be useful.

如果做不到，那就想象一下自己在那一刻會有什麼用處。

This is basically how the entire school system works.

整個學校系統基本上就是這樣運作的。

You learn a piece of information, and because it'll be like 15 years before you actually use it, your teacher creates an imaginary situation where that information is useful.

你學到了一條資訊，但因為要過 15 年才能真正用上它，所以老師創造了一個假想的情境，讓這些資訊派上用場。

That is, a test.

也就是測試。

An exam that has questions on that exact piece of information.

考試中的問題正是針對這些資訊。

And if you get it wrong, you fail.

如果你做錯了，你就失敗了。

Or in South Korea, you get prison time.

或者在韓國，你會被判入獄。

Just kidding, that's only if you cheat.

開個玩笑，那是在你作弊的情況下。

This is usually enough to make your brain at least attempt to remember the information.

這通常足以讓你的大腦至少嘗試記住這些資訊。

The only problem is, once the test is over, your brain says it's not useful anymore, and you forget it.

唯一的問題是，一旦測試結束，你的大腦就會說這已經沒用了，然後你就會忘記它。

Some people think repetition, or spaced repetition, or studying in intervals, or mind mapping will help them get better grades and learn faster.

有些人認為，重複、間隔重複、間隔學習或思維導圖可以幫助他們取得更好的成績，學得更快。

But in reality, doing practice questions will give you the most results, because they simulate the actual situation in which you'll need to use what you learned.

但實際上，做練習題會讓你取得最大的成果，因為它們模擬了你需要運用所學知識的實際情況。

If you don't have any practice questions, make your own, and convince yourself that the stakes are high.

如果沒有練習題，那就自己出題，讓自己相信考試的風險很大。

Like, pretend that you're hanging off a cliff by one arm, and someone's there to pull you up, but only if you can name all the parts of a human cell.

比如，假裝你一隻手懸掛在懸崖上，有人會把你拉上來，但前提是你能說出人體細胞的所有組成部分。

Learning information, and making it seem useful to your brain, is all you need to get smart.

學習資訊，並使其對你的大腦有用，這就是你變得聰明所需要的一切。

And this is why textbooks are the S-tier format for becoming smart as fast as possible.

這就是為什麼教科書是儘快變得聰明的 S 級形式。

There's no fluff, no hand-holding, no distractions, just pure information, and a bunch of practice questions, and if you can't solve them, you have to flip all the way to page XXXVVIII in the appendix to get help.

書中沒有花言巧語，沒有手把手教你，沒有干擾，只有純粹的資訊和一堆練習題，如果你不會做，就得一直翻到附錄的第 XXXVIII 頁來尋求幫助。

Textbooks aren't for the casual learner, because it's not as fun as watching a YouTube video on the topic, and forgetting it all an hour later.

教科書不適合臨時學習者，因為它不像在 YouTube 上觀看相關視頻那樣有趣，而且一小時後就會忘得一乾二淨。

But if you're ever up to the challenge, there is a website you might accidentally end up on, where you could accidentally download free textbooks on any subject you want.

不過，如果你願意接受挑戰，你可能會無意中進入一個網站，在那裡你可以無意中下載任何主題的免費教科書。

But before you do that, I'm collecting donations in the form of subscribes to fund the next video.

但在此之前，我正在以訂閱的形式募集捐款，以資助下一個視頻的製作。