Sharpening the Sword
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There are so many individual things that contribute to a sharp mind that one doesn't know where to begin. (Except that it has a lot to do with where the individual is starting from.)
Basic mental faculties of precision of thought, distinguishing thought from other faculties, a grounding in logic, mindfulness of word choice (and using a dictionary to fully understand the words you use and their meaning through their etymology), etc.
Another enormous aid is increasing your powers of concentration: making sure you have at least a basic ability to point your mind where you choose and keep it there by choice.
And communication: Intentional communication is a skill lacking in most people. Learn and practice it.
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@Jim Eshelman said
" mindfulness of word choice"
Be mindful of your environment, increasing situational awareness will build receptivity to subtle changes in your immediate perceptive area. I also agree that etymology is extremely useful, seeing words in other languages allows a wider range of reference when seeking descriptors and watching the evolution of a word through time makes one a lot less likely to misuse and misconvey. It gives a broader comprehension region. I also found that getting at least a basic to intermediate mathematical understanding of physics and algebra (set theory helped too) allowed for me to think in more abstract and hypothetical ways that still maintained a grounding in logic. Look into the different logical fallacies, cognitive biases and memory biases that could possibly skew your perception into a more ego-favourable direction and with enough mindfulness you could stop them before they become an issue.
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Speaking of mathematics...
There seems , to me, a mis-conception that having a developed sense of language is unnecessary.
I might go so far to say a Math teacher needs to know English better than an English teacher.
The English teacher can play around with words, while still maintaining the same sense of meaning.
Switch things around in a Math definition and you have a new mathematical principle...
( I have mentioned this before, no ?)As a friendly reminder, Mathematics began as an occult science...
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People seem to be convinced that having a developed sense of language or being very picky with words implies being arrogant and over-concerned with appearing intelligent. You make a good point, math teachers need to stop being so dry. None of them seem to get behind all of the implications of what they are doing and the source of the entire concept. It gets over-intellectualized into a thing that scares a lot of people when most of its useful components are very base, not only in method but in origin.
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@Mens Oculus said
"People seem to be convinced that having a developed sense of language or being very picky with words implies being arrogant and over-concerned with appearing intelligent. You make a good point, math teachers need to stop being so dry. None of them seem to get behind all of the implications of what they are doing and the source of the entire concept. It gets over-intellectualized into a thing that scares a lot of people when most of its useful components are very base, not only in method but in origin."
"Pickiness" about language etc. is simply the skill in employing the sword. It's not about appearances - it's about effectiveness, skill, discipline, drilling, what you can do with it.
The intellect being overly-intellectualized? Hysterical. All of my recommendations were intended to take this specific faculty at its distinctive best.
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The sword pierces through the veil, it paves way through and into illusion.
@Jim Eshelman said"It's not about appearances - it's about effectiveness, skill, discipline, drilling, what you can do with it."
That applies to more than just the sword.
Mind you I have not come across high level math professors, but from my experiences with math teachers, there is a lack of fire or depth in their appreciation. From what I see today, the intellect has been dumbed down into something more readily accessible for the masses, so when dealing with actual intellect, it has the appearance of being over-intellectual. But assumptions are dangerous and I digress. -
@Mens Oculus said
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@Jim Eshelman said
"It's not about appearances - it's about effectiveness, skill, discipline, drilling, what you can do with it."That applies to more than just the sword."
Yes, of course. But the question was about the sword. So the task in answering it is: Specify what will strengthen and intensify the intellect (for the most part isolated from other faculties), and bring its capabilities most under the magician's control.
"Mind you I have not come across high level math professors, but from my experiences with math teachers, there is a lack of fire or depth in their appreciation."
And, correspondingly, the sword or dagger (implements of Air) are, in and of themselves, characteristically free of Fire per se. There should be a certain arid sterility to it.
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@Cygnus said
"Thanks for the tips. It seems to me from the description of the Sword in Book 4 that a key component is being able to see things dispassionately from many different viewpoints. (Similar to some of RAW's stuff.) "
It is not only being able to see the many viewpoints but also the ability intellectualize and communicate the various degrees of unity and separation amongst them.
As Jim mentioned, mindfulness of word choice is a great way to 'sharpen the sword' while at the same time teaching you more about your self and the people you interact with.
At the moment, I am making some repairs on my own intellect. Out of a desire to communicate, seem more 'normal,' I developed a habit of 'dumbing down' my words. A slow process, but I feel it has allowed me to communicate more openly (and also lead to my sentences being less 'wordy').
EDIT: I am working to rectify the habit, in case that was not clear.
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@Uni_Verse said
"(Similar to some of RAW's stuff.) "
I really liked how he broke down his self into 16 different aspects that worked as a whole. How thought that a very good exercise.
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@Dar es Allrah said
"By consciously choosing to widen your vocabulary, it affords both you and others the opportunity to wield the language more precisely, and the mind is made receptive to new idea's simultaneously."
Also, if you widen your vocabulary beyond your native tounge, you can start to speak from different cultural frames of reference which can completely shift the context of the word and therefore widen the context of your view.
