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Getting dumber
Raziel
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
I'm kind of in a bind here.
See, I've been out of school for about five years now. Didn't actually finish my journalism degree, but I got a job working for a small-town newspaper in my last semester. That turned out to be a big mistake. I got isolated, frustrated with the quality of the reporting, intimidated by the close-knit social structure of the town, and eventually fell into a pretty serious depression.
I spent the next few years bouncing around from job to job, not really going anywhere. Quit writing altogether, quit thinking, started drinking more. Just basically retreating into some ridiculous hole of self-pity.
These days, my confidence is shot, I have no faith in my intellectual abilities, and I'm paralyzed by the thought of putting any element of myself into my work.
It all kind of came to a head today. A friend of mine asked my input on an art history essay she's writing. Just bouncing some ideas off me and stuff, not cheating off me or anything. After a valiant effort, I felt like a simpleton. My ideas felt muddled, my thoughts came slowly, and I was pretty much unable to express myself clearly. As it stands I don't know if this post is just coming across as gibberish.
At any rate, I'm feeling pretty dumb these days. I've been thinking of going back to school, but I'm not sure I can hack it.
So, what can I do to get my confidence back? I used to be a pretty bright guy, and the thought that my brain is drying up is really bumming me out.
So, tl;dr, I swear I'm getting dumber by the day. How do I get my intellectual confidence back?
See, I've been out of school for about five years now. Didn't actually finish my journalism degree, but I got a job working for a small-town newspaper in my last semester. That turned out to be a big mistake. I got isolated, frustrated with the quality of the reporting, intimidated by the close-knit social structure of the town, and eventually fell into a pretty serious depression.
I spent the next few years bouncing around from job to job, not really going anywhere. Quit writing altogether, quit thinking, started drinking more. Just basically retreating into some ridiculous hole of self-pity.
These days, my confidence is shot, I have no faith in my intellectual abilities, and I'm paralyzed by the thought of putting any element of myself into my work.
It all kind of came to a head today. A friend of mine asked my input on an art history essay she's writing. Just bouncing some ideas off me and stuff, not cheating off me or anything. After a valiant effort, I felt like a simpleton. My ideas felt muddled, my thoughts came slowly, and I was pretty much unable to express myself clearly. As it stands I don't know if this post is just coming across as gibberish.
At any rate, I'm feeling pretty dumb these days. I've been thinking of going back to school, but I'm not sure I can hack it.
So, what can I do to get my confidence back? I used to be a pretty bright guy, and the thought that my brain is drying up is really bumming me out.
So, tl;dr, I swear I'm getting dumber by the day. How do I get my intellectual confidence back?
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Also, you're probably freaking out because you hold yourself to a higher standard than the average person. I will get stressed out about essays and classes and worry about my grades. I'll end up with an A on my paper, and my friend who was all "I've got this nailed" will get a C or something. It's all relative.
The problem is, the more you learn...the more you realize you don't know and it can shake your confidence. Don't worry, just go back and you'll do fine. Things will come back to you faster than you think.
I mean, you guys are right and I thank you for the reasoned responses. I mean, to go from high school honour student and all around bright kid to this is simply terrifying.
Thank you, Rubacava!
This, basically. Read stuff, write stuff, etc. As you get older, you'll simply begin losing skills you don't use at faster rates. Drinking or drugs won't necessarily help with retention either. Especially in excess.
And as Thylacine says, it's probably all relative. I used to be an honors student when I was younger and I've forgotten plenty of things. I'm still usually in the upper percentile of the people I'm around on a daily basis.
Do not engage the Watermelons.
All kinds of books.
What you SHOULD do is learn something that interests you. You'll have the opportunity to "read books," but the difference will be that you will want to think critically, process and store the information you're reading.
I was pretty much in the same boat. I left college, joined the military and felt just stupid... but when I started studying for my degree, I realized that the ability to be intelligent was still there, it was just dormant.
Pick a subject that you think might be interesting and pick up some books or even DVDs on the subject. Dive into the information and attempt to bring out as much as you can. You'll even be better than you were before, because you want to learn.
Past couple weeks I've gone through Christopher Moore's new book, a collection of Canadian journalist Gwynne Dyer's articles, finally read The Naked Ape. So I mean, I'm pretty diverse with my reading. Even more so lately as I try to re-connect with my interests.
Thank you, Rubacava!
I've been starting all kinds of projects to learn new things, but for the most part I haven't had the motivation, concentration, or focus to finish any of them. I'll work on a project for maybe 1/2 hour then decide I'd rather be playing computer games... that don't require me to figure something out. My brain is lazy!!
I'm glad someone thought to post this thread, my brain would have never thought of it.
Then talk about them with other people. Meetup.com comes to mind.
This is wrong. Reading stimulates the mind into comprehending the words and the meanings behind them. It isn't mindless processing of input unless you're just looking at the words on the page without actually reading them. Too bad that there is some actual corroboration on this, eh?
Do not engage the Watermelons.
And of course, start doing a thing. Something that you're decent at, but want to be good at. Do that, tell people about it, get roundly praised and then probably bed beautiful women.
I don't know about anyone else but it works for me, like I said I find that my mind feels more agile after I've been keeping at it for 4-7 days. Oddly enough, it also makes coding seem a lot easier and I say that as someone who doesn't enjoy coding.
Find a complex hobby that interests you. Iv'e decided to try to build a telescope this summer. Two years ago I taught myself how to homebrew. If things come together a little better I may do a small film. Just find something that interests you (even mildly) and explore it. In particular, read all about it. Read the news and keep up on current events and discoveries too.