Is it possible to develop abilities or “you can’t go against nature”? What is intelligence and can it be developed?

Thank you very much for your question.

For a person engaged in mental activity, be it a student, a yeshiva student, etc., it is very important to use his intellectual capabilities to the maximum. Constant mental activity has a positive effect on a person’s ability to think. There are also opportunities to develop this ability.

We are not talking about any psychological exercises, but about the unique experience that has been accumulated in the world of yeshivas in the process of thousands of years of constant work on self-improvement, experience that accumulates and is passed on from generation to generation. This is discussed in detail, for example, in the books of famous rabbis Rav Yisroel Salanter and Rav Shlomo Wolbe.

Of course, the Almighty has endowed people with different abilities, and what one person can easily achieve, another achieves only in the process of painstaking work on himself. In addition, there are various aspects of thinking that require separate “investments”, for example, depth of thinking, the ability to produce new ideas and, of course, concentration. Since in modern world the last aspect, concentration, is the most vulnerable due to the universal addiction to television, computer games and the Internet, let’s try to turn to him.

The human brain is a unique organ that does not stop working even for a moment. Regardless of whether a person is sleeping or awake, he is engaged physical exercise or resting, the brain is constantly at work. The problem is that there are two opposing forces that make the brain work. When a person tries to understand and realize something, the brain comes into action and begins to think. If a person does not bother himself with attempts to understand, then the brain begins to work in autonomous mode and the imagination “turns on.”

Imagination is “produced” by the human brain naturally from birth. And the ability to think consciously and purposefully is acquired at a later age.

Our sages figuratively call human thinking a king. The king ponders and develops a management plan to which the activities of his entire kingdom will be subordinated. And when a person thinks about something, all his organs and senses are subordinate to the mind.

What a person thinks about reflects his essence. The Talmud (Kiddushin 49 b) says that a man who dedicates a woman to be his wife on the condition that he is a complete righteous person commits a legal act of consecration, even if he is a complete evildoer. The Talmud explains: the woman is considered dedicated to him because he may have repented at that moment. In other words, we see that even with the help of one thought of repentance, a complete villain can turn into a complete righteous person. In the same vein is the Talmudic statement that thinking about a sin is worse than the sin itself (Yoma 29a). A person can break the law in a fit of passion, which is certainly unacceptable, but still does not reflect his essence. And thoughts about sin reflect this essence.

As mentioned above, thought, on the one hand, is the highest, and on the other hand, the most refined power of man. Thought is easily interrupted by extraneous stimuli, and even in those few moments when a person tries to think, his brain is often only 60-70 percent occupied with mental activity, leaving the rest to the imagination.

Therefore, we must try to accustom the thought to work in a directional manner, without jumping from one aspect to another, and to use the thinking ability of the brain as much as possible. First you need to find a quiet place and time to work on yourself. Every day for three minutes you should try to think about a topic without being distracted by anything else. The topic that you would like to reflect on must be determined in advance; it is very important that it is interesting to you. As you will see, it is difficult to think without distraction, even for one minute. But when daily work within about a month, with G‑d’s help, you will be able to bring the duration of this “exercise” to three minutes.

It should be remembered that, unlike work on building up muscle mass Where success depends on the degree of effort and tension, in concentrated thinking work it is impossible to achieve success through effort alone. Working on a thought is like playing the violin, so success here can only be achieved with light, enjoyable movements.

We'd love to hear about your successes.

Best regards, Yakov Shub

Recently I learned about one very talented girl. Maybe you have also heard her name SONYA SHATALOVA. The girl is autistic. she doesn't say anything. No one taught her to write or read. she taught herself to do this. at the age of 8 she began writing poetry. Now she is 19, she graduated from 11th grade according to the regular school curriculum with excellent results.
This is one of hers school essays, written at the age of thirteen. It amazed me.

TALENTS, GENIUS, PEOPLE, GOD.
Essay on social studies December 2006
There is a parable about the talents in the Gospel. It tells how differently the slaves used the wealth given to them by their master, and how the master reacted to their actions. Those who put their talents to work and multiplied them received both talents and rewards. And the one who did not use his talent in any way lost everything.
In those days, "talent" meant money, a large number of silver, and Jesus was talking about money when he told this parable. The meaning of the parable was: everything that the Lord gives to man, He gives for a reason, but for active use. And if you don’t use what is given, He can take everything away. Over time, the word “talent” began to mean any outstanding abilities, something that stands out sharply against the background of a person’s ordinary abilities.
They say that all people are born talented. Yes it is. The Lord does not release anyone into the world without the gift of talent, including those about whom they say “a person with disabilities" It’s just that talents are very different, not only intellectual or artistic, but also emotional, mental, physical, and all sorts. But most talents remain undiscovered, and through no fault of the person. He himself doesn’t know that he’s talented. From birth, a person must find himself in such an intelligent and loving environment so that all his talents can manifest themselves, he can realize them and further develop them.
I knew little boy, he was very sick. He could not speak or move, and was often in great pain. But he had a talent for prayer, and how he prayed! His mother loved him so much and his father loved him, they gave him so much energy that he developed his talent for prayer to extraordinary heights and beauty. Here is an example of the realization and demand for talent in the most difficult conditions, this is what a smart, loving environment does! But many called his mother unhappy.
Unfortunately, the opposite happens much more often, and even with healthy people.
But the talent showed up. In order for it to develop, it is necessary, firstly, that it be in demand in society, otherwise it will not allow it to fully manifest itself. And, secondly, the work of the person himself is needed. Demand is a complex matter; it depends on many factors. Special person, especially a child, is often powerless here. Labor is another matter. If you don’t work and don’t develop your talent, then after a while it fades away, as if “falling asleep.” Melancholy, emptiness, and a feeling of dissatisfaction settle in the soul. Internal resentment, irritation, and envy of those who do not have such a condition grow. A person and his loved ones often do not even understand what is happening and why. They look for a variety of reasons, get sick, start drinking alcohol... There are a lot of people like this around, almost the majority. It is possible to help these people, although it is difficult. We need to help them look inside themselves and find suppressed talent, and give them the opportunity to develop it. If even after this a person refuses to work on his talent, then it’s a disaster. The Lord takes away talent, and with it much more. I also know such examples.
But if a person develops and realizes his talent, then he achieves a state of happiness. Even if his life is very difficult, he knows happiness. The point here is that the Lord created us in His image and likeness, and gave us His creative energy. It is this energy that is realized through talent into the world, and through it a person can become a co-creator with God. It doesn’t turn on right away, which is why it takes work. And one more thing that is important to know: if the creative energy of talent is directed towards evil, it burns the soul. This is inevitable, because it comes from God.
Now about genius. She is not superpowered or super talented. Genius is living simultaneously in everyday reality and in the reality of God, sometimes also in the reality of some of the subtle worlds. The condition for the survival of genius is the transfer of these realities into everyday life. In any way, but if there is no such transfer, the genius goes crazy.
Obviously, genius is a state, a state of the entire person. Being a genius is incredibly difficult, many of them come across as mentally ill or “strange” people. It’s good when a genius has such a talent that it allows him to successfully transfer another reality into everyday reality (for example, Pushkin, Dante, Lobachevsky...). And if the talent is suppressed or lies in some other area - disaster! And a genius must work incredibly hard, more than anyone else. And the standard of his work is different from that of ordinary people, even very talented people. True, geniuses often have assistants from another reality, and this supports them.
A person can stop being a genius. if for some reason he stops living in other realities and remains only in the everyday one. This often happens to children. Or the Lord blocks access to His reality when a genius leans toward evil.
Now the hardest part is about yourself. Do I have talents? Yes, and not alone. Other people know my talent for poetry and writing. He was most evident on this moment and began to be implemented. Other talents are still known only to me, because it is very difficult for them to manifest themselves. Because of which? Because I'm a genius. This is not bragging; one does not boast of genius. I really live in several realities simultaneously and constantly. And my connection with everyday reality is the weakest, and the weakest at the bodily level. Hence the enormous difficulties in realizing one’s talents, hence autism. By the way, there are many geniuses among autists. I need to work a lot, a lot, on myself in order to strengthen my connection with everyday reality and be able to transfer other realities into it, and most importantly, God’s. I think this will be the main task of my life. I want people - everyone - to become closer to God, so that this everyday reality takes on the features of God. For this world to change. I really want this to work out.
A few more additions to make it clearer about genius. First. All children, all of them, up to the age of two are geniuses. They live in both ordinary and Divine reality, and transfer Divine reality into everyday reality with their whole being (look, smile, movement, development) - in a word, by the very fact of their existence. Between two and three years of age, their final transition into our reality occurs, and they cease to be geniuses. This is a normal process for our fallen world, this is a consequence of the Fall. If this had not happened, humanity would not have been able to exist for long in our fallen, distorted world. So it's sad but right.
Second. Those children who various reasons does not lose connections with the Divine or other realities, most often they become mentally ill or autistic. This usually happens because the talents necessary to transfer another reality into everyday life are not identified and developed, and sometimes even suppressed by improper upbringing or treatment. And the child himself may simply not have enough strength to realize his talent. If all children from birth were placed in a smart, loving environment (both family and society), there would be more geniuses.
Third. There are different types of geniuses. There are those who, after infancy, have never again entered other realities in their entire lives, but they clearly see traces, signs, and phenomena of this other reality in our everyday life, perceive them as their own, and pass on their sensations to others, further enhancing these manifestations in our life (Yesenin, Mandelstam).
There are those who feel and see traces, and occasionally fall into the Divine reality (Derzhavin).
And there are those who live all the time in two realities (God’s and everyday reality, and sometimes they fall into some third one (Kant, Einstein, Plato, Pushkin).
Fourth. Realities in which geniuses live after three years, not always bright and good. If this is the reality of a world where there is no God's love and creative power, then genius serves evil. In this case, if he does not come to his senses, the fate of his soul is terrible. It can burn out during the life of the body.
And fifth. It's very difficult to be a genius. It seems from the outside that everything is easy for a genius, that he, like a bird of God, lives without labor and without worries. A genius just has a different energy. But genius is a constant balancing on the brink of reality, and if the talent is not as bright as that of Pushkin or Lobachevsky, for example, then balancing on the brink of insanity. A genius perceives the world in a purely physically different way, and hence often strange behavior and poor adaptation. And a genius needs a lot, a lot, a colossal amount of work, developing all his talents to convey a different reality. And the closer the connection with another reality, the more effort must be made to transfer it to everyday life. Otherwise - madness or short life. As a rule, all long-lived geniuses are workaholics, but their reward from the Lord is amazing.

Alexandra Savina

The word "empathy" seems intuitive: most often it means empathy, the ability to enter into the position of the interlocutor. However, empathy is not only an expression of caring, but also the ability to let another person’s feelings pass through oneself.

The English word “empathy” appeared in the early 20th century as a direct translation of the German “Einfühlung,” literally “to feel.” Then it implied attributing one's own feelings to an object or the surrounding world. By the middle of the last century, the meaning of the term was revised: psychologist Rosalind Diamond Cartwright and sociologist Leonard Cottrell conducted a series of experiments, after which they separated empathy, that is, precise definition other people's feelings and emotions, from the projection of one's own emotions and feelings onto others. In 1955, Reader's Digest solidified the new usage by defining empathy as "the ability to appreciate another person's feelings without becoming so emotionally involved that our judgment is affected."

Many people are unable to even remember their own number mobile phone or in what year this or that event occurred... But there are also those who amaze others with their ability to remember huge amounts of information. Scientists have coined the term "savant syndrome" for them. Are they geniuses? No, it’s not that simple, experts say...

Source: photo archive website

Is “super memory” a consequence of pathology?

Very often, savant syndrome occurs in people with various brain disorders or have suffered trauma. Thus, in 2013, the British autistic artist Stephen Wiltshire depicted in great detail from memory the view from an observation deck located at an altitude of 224 meters, on the top floor of the Shard skyscraper - the most tall building London.

10-year-old Orlando Serrell was hit in the head by a baseball. After this, he discovered that he was able to remember the license plates of all the cars that caught his eye, and also accurately tell what day of the week a particular date fell on, even if it was several decades ago.

Not long ago, a remarkable incident occurred with a woman riding a alpine skiing during a family holiday at the hotel. While riding, she fell and hit her head hard. Doctors determined he had a moderate concussion. After this, something strange began to happen to the woman. “My brain began to process everything that came into view in a very strange way,” she says. “I had the ability to remember everything, every little thing, as if I was reading information by turning the pages of a book.”

The phenomenon of "exponential storage"

“If you could have as many memories as there are neurons, then it turns out that this number is not so large,” comments the psychology professor

from Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois Paul Reber. “Your brain would run out of storage space pretty quickly.”

Reber calls the above-described “savant effect” “exponential storage.” Its essence is that information in the brain of savants is stored differently from ordinary people. Therefore, the smallest details can remain in memory.

Record holders for memorization

Oddly enough, it turned out that Savant syndrome can also be developed as a result of intense training! In 2005, 24-year-old Chinese student Chao Lu set a world record by recalling 67,980 digits of pi from memory. True, it took him a whole day to do this...

Nelson Dellis has won the US Memory Championships four times - in 2011, 2012, 2014 and 2015. He began by memorizing the order of the cards in the deck. At first it took him 20 minutes, but now he is able to remember all 52 cards in just 30 seconds! Before the championship, which took place on March 29 this year, Dellis trained five hours a day...

"Within a few weeks of training, or maybe less, you begin to do things that seem almost impossible for you." ordinary person, says the champion. “This ability is hidden in each of us.”

Most of these “champions” use a trick called a “memory palace” to remember. For example, Dellis imagines his childhood home and mentally places the items he needs to remember in different places that are familiar to him. Those who demonstrate memorization of numbers can translate them into analogous words that form chains of meaning.

What prevents you from developing a good memory?

Director of the Center for the Study of the Mind at the University of Sydney (Australia), Allen Snyder, hypothesizes that each of us has an “inner savant,” and if we “turn it on,” we can remember enormous amounts of data without any effort or training. The thing is that we usually try to reduce the particular to the whole, he argues.

As an experiment, Snyder asked his employees to memorize a list of upcoming purchases. These were car parts - a steering wheel, headlights, windshield wipers... For some reason everyone remembered the word "car", which was not actually pronounced, but with memorizing the list of parts the situation was much worse...

Savants, due to their brain characteristics, do not subject the received data to analysis and comprehension, and do not develop a “single concept,” which gives them an advantage in assimilation of information, Snyder believes. By the way, in autistic people and those who suffer senile dementia The left temporal lobe of the brain is often affected.

When Snyder and his colleagues artificially suppressed neural activity in subjects, they temporarily began to show improvements in skills such as drawing, checking text for errors, and mental arithmetic.

In turn, the already mentioned Paul Reber believes that the limitation of the capabilities of our memory is associated not so much with an overcrowded brain, just as it can be overcrowded HDD computer, how much with download speed. “It’s just that the information we encounter comes faster than our memory system can record it all,” he says.

Sooner or later, every person begins to be interested in the supernatural, unusual things. Then he has a lot of questions. Does he have extrasensory abilities? And how can they be developed? Everyone has different goals - one needs to defeat competitors, the other needs to solve personal problems. The third one just wants fame and money. At the same time, it is important to know that when people begin the difficult path of spiritual improvement, their perception of themselves and the world changes.

The concept of extrasensory perception

There are many methods on how to develop psychic abilities. To start developing in this direction, it is important to answer the following questions: main question- What is extrasensory perception? This term most often refers to a type of perception that is inaccessible ordinary organs feelings, and goes far beyond ordinary human capabilities.

Modern scientists conducting experiments on the brain have found that a person uses only 10% of his potential. But where does the remaining 90% go then? It turns out that many centuries ago people had special knowledge that allowed them to develop the potential inherent in the human mind. From ancient treatises, knowledge has reached our days that the ability to concentrate attention on a specific subject is important in human development.

Concentration on a point

How to develop psychic abilities? The answer to this question has been known for a long time, and one of the proven exercises is “Concentration on a point.” It has several levels of difficulty.

• In the center of the white sheet you need to draw a black dot. Hang it on the wall, and the distance to the eyes should be at least one meter. Next, you need to sit in front of the drawing and start looking carefully at this point. You can't think about anything but her. There is only a meditating person, period. The main thing in the task is to try to drown out the voice of the fussy mind, to stop thinking about anything other than the object of the exercise. With regular practice, you can master this exercise in a month.
• The next stage is meditation using the point blue color. As soon as you manage to master this exercise, you should move on to the next one.
• On a white sheet of paper, 2 black dots are drawn, which are located at a distance of about 10 cm from each other. This is the next stage, which will answer the question of how to develop psychic abilities. You should concentrate on both points at the same time. Since human consciousness cannot focus on two objects at once, it must fade into the background and give freedom to the subconscious. Concentrating on two points at once allows you to enter a magical mode of perception and develop unusual abilities.

Preparing to develop abilities

How to develop psychic abilities in yourself for more short term? It is quite possible to do this. Let's look at a few tips for preparing for short-term exercise.

• First you need to cleanse your thoughts and emotions. We need to get rid of the negative burden that prevents the subconscious from opening up and achieving inner harmony. Meditation can be very helpful for this.
• You should not tell anyone what type of training you are doing. This must remain secret from outsiders.

• Every day you should do special exercises. Since developing psychic abilities on your own is a rather painstaking process, you cannot do without self-discipline. If this is not done regularly, good result you can't expect it.
• You should use the talents you receive only for good purposes. Otherwise these abilities will disappear.
• You should also study Additional information on extrasensory perception. After all, theory is no less important in this matter than practice.

Exercises with photos

Now let's look at a few practical exercises. They will be useful to anyone who is looking for an answer to the question of how to develop psychic abilities at home.

• A technique that allows you to learn to feel the human aura. You need to sit straight in a chair and relax. Spread your arms to the sides, place your palms parallel to each other at a distance of about 30 cm, then slowly bring your palms together and spread them apart. There should be a feeling of elasticity and warmth.
• Next, two photographs are taken, which depict a deceased person and a living one. You should close your eyes and get rid of extraneous experiences and thoughts. Place one hand on the photo and feel the energy emanating from it. Then you should repeat the exercise on another photo.
• To develop intuition on the days when you do the exercise, you should begin to learn to write with the opposite hand.

Basic rules for success

How to quickly develop psychic abilities? The main thing is to really strive for this, to persistently pursue your goal. To achieve success faster, you should follow a few simple recommendations.

• Be positive. It is hardly possible to develop psychic abilities if you do not believe in the end result. Therefore, anyone who wants to become a real medium will need confidence, positive attitude. Doubts will only distract, slowing down the entire process.
• You should be especially careful about your experiences and feelings during training. You need to keep an eye on every little thing happening around you. After all, this could be a supernatural signal.
• Record your dreams and visions on paper. It is useful to have a special notebook for this. This way you can track how quickly progress is happening.
• Imagine various events in your mind's eye as often as possible. Photographs can be used for this purpose. After looking at one picture for a few seconds, you should then close your eyes and try to reproduce it in your imagination.

How to develop psychic abilities: exercise “Through Vision”

This is one of the oldest methods that have come down to our time from our ancestors. It was used to “examine” what is hidden from human sight. To perform this technique, you should sit on a chair so that at a distance arm's length there was a wall. Your gaze will be directed at her during the exercise. You should relax and focus on any point on the wall above eye level. A person has the so-called “third eye” at this level.

Then you need to look at the wall vaguely, without concentrating on anything for about 20 minutes. You should try not to blink. After that, you should try to “see” the same point, but from the opposite side of the wall, looking at it as if through it. You should also spend about 20 minutes on this. The exercise should be performed every day.

Technique “Vision of the Aura”

Advice on how to develop psychic abilities is easy for anyone to follow. To independently train these skills, it is useful to train in closely examining your own eyelids, as well as the contours of objects.

To do this, relax your body, close your eyes and relax. Then you should begin to carefully examine the blurry outlines on the “black screen” of your eyelids for about 10 minutes. It is best to perform this technique in the morning, immediately after sleep, or before going to bed.

How can you develop your psychic abilities even more? 9 days after this workout, you can complicate it by starting the second part. As in the first case, you should relax, closing your eyelids a little. Start looking closely at the contours of any object in the room. It is useful to carry out this exercise in semi-darkness. Bright light will interfere with the vision of the aura. After such training, you can develop your ability to see the human aura, determine the properties of a person’s character, his thoughts.

Methodology for the development of extrasensory hearing

This exercise allows you to develop a sensitive ear. Almost all people, before going to bed, try to protect themselves from extraneous sounds. The point of the exercise is that you should concentrate on a sound for several minutes in order to determine its source. For example, it could be the barking of a dog, or the meowing of a cat. Having heard such sounds, you should try to determine the sex of the animal and its color. If people's voices are heard, their gender, appearance, and clothing should be determined. Performing this exercise allows you to gain control over the world of sounds that penetrate the unconscious.

Development of the sense of smell

This exercise is aimed at developing olfactory abilities, which should also be well developed in a psychic. To perform the technique, you should sit down, relax, and try to identify the surrounding odors. Then think about what is their source, mentally try to imagine them. If you train constantly, the results can be truly shocking. The technique allows you to detect odors that were previously ignored.

Using these exercises to develop supernatural abilities, you can not only expand your perception, but also learn to find a way out of the most difficult situations. The main thing is to remember that unusual abilities should be used only for the benefit of people. They cannot be used for the sake of enrichment or harm.