High IQ's? - Haiku's!

Your brain will awaken,
Like a ray of morning sun,
As you try haiku!

The properties of high literacy and writing relating to the brain are already known and documented. Lesser known to many is that Haikus and other forms of poetry go one step better than traditional methods of writing and force you to obey rules and criteria which prompts your brain into complex problem solving action while simultaneously focusing on creativity and artistic values, thus using both sides of your brain.
A Haiku is a traditional form of Japanese poetry which requires 3 lines, the first should have 5 sounds (syllables in Western culture), then 7, then 5. Usually Haikus relate to nature, but they can even be funny and witty.

Use your power of mind,
To create something fresh, unique.
Your brain will love you!

To the pub for a round of IQ points chaps!

The pub is an intellects dream. It's choc full of number games- Darts, dominoes, etc. and they're all free!

If you've ever watched darts players on the T.V. you'll know just how good at maths they are. They even know their 13 times table! This is because they are forced to do subtractions in their head while weighing the best numbers to go for and while trying to coordinate their hand to eye movements too- truelly a brain work out.

Dominoes, while not requiring much physical skill, does involve numbers and abstract concepts like bluffing and so works out the brain much the same way a game of poker would.

Then there's the pool table. Playing pool requires you to stay one step ahead of your oponent and to utilize your hand to eye coordination. As with the others, you'll probably need to juggle around a few numbers in your head too. Stay away from the bar though, alcohol has a detremental effect on various parts of your brain- especially your ability to reason! And of course we all know that alcohol kills brain cells.

Finally though, after a game of darts, a round of dominoes and a hustling at pool, what better way to end your brain stimulating night out than with the pub quiz? Questions that test your general knowledge are known to stimulate your mind more than those which you may be specialized in. Not only that but you might make some money!

2 more unorthadox ways to improve your IQ

Jigsaw Smarts


Remember at Christmas when you were 7 and Johnny next door got the new Hot Wheels collection, skelectrics set and a 2 way radio system, and all you got was 3 pairs of socks and a Jigsaw from Aunt Jemima? Well you can thank Aunt Jemima, she was doing you a favor (yeah right). By doing a variety of simple puzzles you can give your brain a serious work out and get the energy flowing. Jigsaws force us to use our spatial awareness and reasoning skills to determine where each piece goes and doing even just a few a month can tone up that brain matter.





Crosswords

7 Across, 5 letters - Synonymous with intelligent.
Did you get it? Even if you didn't, you still had to think about it, and that's exactly my point. By doing crosswords you're thinking all the time. Literally straining in fact, to get the answers. A recent study showed that while doing crossword puzzles alone the brain burns up to 1.5 calories per minute. That's 90 calories an hour! Another frequently mentioned study is that of a convent which academics visited in the 80's? They found that although some of the nuns were into their 90's, they were all very mentally active and alert. While their diet was the same as the surrounding populace, the only significant difference that could be found was that the nuns did a crossword every day of their lives. So do a crossword and stave off Altzheimers, keep sharp and get smart. Smart.. Oh, that's the answer!

6 Free IQ Tests Reviewed

Most of the free IQ tests you'll try aren't very good at measuring your IQ since they're just designed to generate some widget you can copy and past into your MySpace or whatever to show off to your friends: "Look guys, I'm a genius with a 3049 IQ!!". They're an ego booster.

That said, these low quality, free IQ tests still have value: they're great for increasing your IQ! Some may argue of course, that you're simply learning what kind of questions you're likely to be answering and so obviously you'll do better in IQ tests. While this is true, you ARE also increasing your IQ since you're actually attempting the questions. It's the same as doing crosswords, puzzles, etc, since that's essentially what an IQ test is. So yes, what better way to increase your IQ than by doing IQ tests?

Here are another 6 free IQ tests available online. Like the rest I've posted a link, short review, and the number of questions.


Westside Advanced Recognition and Reasoning Exam

This is a very bland and boring looking free IQ test. It's also just text (not automated), and so you'll have to write down your answers on paper or in notepad or whatever. It's also one of the longer IQ tests (1 hour). Despite all those negative aspects, it's pretty good and feels professional. I reckon someone could offer to automate this (via JavaScript or something) for the guy and produce a real good IQ test.

Questions: 25 Questions in 3 Sections
Time: 1 hour



Free IQ Test

"This test is for entertainment purposes only. It does not represent an actual evaluation of your Intelligence Quotient." - From site

This is a pretty accurate description of this test. It looks like someone has just thrown together a bunch of questions with JavaScript. It gives you a basic generated score at the end. This isn't really an IQ and the questions are overly easy, but it's still got some fun questions I haven't seen on the other free IQ tests and it doesn't take too long.

Time: Not timed - Took me about 10 minutes or so
Questions: 30



Mental Performance Test

This test is given to people who want to join The High IQ Society and as such it's of a decent standard. This is different from the other free IQ sites in that you have to manually email your results to the creator before you can get your results, and he mentions that it takes up to 3 weeks for a reply!

Time - Not timed - Allow an hour or so
Questions - 60



Entrace Tests

Ever wanted to be part of an exclusive club for high IQ people? Read on.. these 3 tests will grant you entry to some of the most elusive clubs of the intelligence world.

The 3, free IQ tests below all use http://www.chez.com/remuemeninges/scale.htm The Power Scale and are available in PDF format. They're all harder IQ tests, and will take at least an hour to complete, although they are not timed. After you've completed them you need to send in your result by e-Mail or by post. Eventually, your results will be sent back.

916

The 916 is an admission test for: the WAHIP, the High IQ Society for the disabled, the Altacapacidadhispana, the SIGMA, the SMARTS, the The Mind Society, the Top One Percent Society, the Elateneos, the EXISTENTIA, the Artifex Mens Congregatio, the Neurocubo, the GLIA, the Milenija, the ISI-S, the Introspective High IQ Society, the Camp Archimedes, the PLATINUM the PARS - and the GIGA Societies, and potentially for several other societies (Cerebrals, Glia, Poetic Genius, Pi, Mega..).

Wow! If that doesn't whet your appetite then you're blind, deaf and dumb. This is the ultimate entry test to all those exclusive clubs. Not only that but it's a great, fun, free IQ test! Again, however, you need to send your results off by email or post and wait for your result.

Questions: 26

The Hyper-Test

The Hyper-Test
"The Hyper-TesT, with visuo-spatial and algorithmic subtests, is power-type IQ test intended to measure the power of reasoning and the persistence." - From site

I like this test because it's all visual. 95% of the questions are in the form of pictures and the rest are texts which describe a visualization or a situation. So it's testing a specific part of your mind.

Questions: 26


Concep-T

The third and final IQ test in the Power Scale series, Concep-T TesT is an admission test for the SIGMASociety and potentially for several other societies (Cerebrals, Glia, Poetic Genius, Pi, Mega...). It's a very verbal and linguistically orientated test (to do with language and writing) and has some very difficult questions. Definitely worth a try.


As I mentioned before, most free IQ tests are pretty low standard and don't actually measure your IQ, but there are some out there. The 3 above are good examples and should be attempted when you have a good bit of spare time.

These are just some of the many free IQ tests I've reviewed, for some simpler and quicker free IQ tests check out my previous posts. I'm also interested to hear what you have to say, so if you take any of these tests or you just want to be heard, then do it, add a comment!

3 more fun ways to increase your IQ!

Musical Prodigy

Most people have heard, in one shape or another, of the theory that listening to Mozart increases your IQ (although one piece of Mozart's work triggered seizures in epileptics!!). Specifically it is said to increase spatial awareness, the part of the brain that deals with spacial areas and directions. While this is generally believed to be true, it has been found that the increase in that specific part of the brain is only to the tune of 3 or 4 IQ points.

Instead, throw your CD collection out the window and clean out your MP3 folder and entirely replace your music collection with genres you have never entertained before. If you're into Rock, try Rap music. If you're a Jazz-man, switch to Blues. Mix it up and try all those weird genres you thought you'd never like -Yes, even Techno and Country & Western!. This prompts creative parts of the brain since you are experiencing new feelings (music is all about emotional reaction and connects with our feelings).



Poker genius

Ever heard the term Poker genius? That's because many of the top players are genuinely genius. Poker, especially Texas Holdem' is a game of skill, calculation, manipulation and a bit of luck thrown in for good measure. Poker, like chess, forces you to juggle many different possibilities and outcomes in your mind at once. Unlike chess though, it also requires the ability to read other players, determine bluffs and pick up body language, and do it all while not revealing any information about yourself.
Oh, and did I mention it's great fun?




Gamer Guru

"Computer games don't affect kids, I mean if Pac man affected us as kids, we'd all be running around in darkened rooms, munching pills and listening to repetitive music."

Many computer games have been proven to increase proficiency in visual tasks and hand-to-eye coordination and many sections of the U.S. military are given training on popular computer games. As little as an hour of fragging a day for 10 days can wield significant results and improve motor functions.

So racking up a few kills may equate to racking up a few IQ points!

Another 2 Unique Ways to Increase Your IQ

Ride a unicycle

You can buy a unicycle from E-bay for as cheap as $40 - Not bad for something that will exercise both your body and mind.
Unicycles are great for increasing your balance and balance is key to many activities. It will also help to align the left and right hemispheres of your brain which is important since in most people one side is very dominant. Unicycling will also improve your coordination and your reaction times. And of course as with any other physical activity it will get you fitter, increasing blood-flow to the body and brain.

It takes about a week or so to learn to unicycle and you should probably invest in some knee pads, but it's another great way to impress your friends AND get fitter and smarter!




The Oxford English Dictionary contains more than 615,000 entries, but the average English vocabulary is as low as 10,000! Even the most educated linguists have a repertoire that only stretches to around 100,000 or so. By adding to your lexicon of words you can increase your intelligence, your ability to communicate and entertain people and hold their interest easier.

Words have physical effects on people and are an important aspect of life. For example if you said to your friend
"Make the badness come out of your body and your mood will get better." he'd understand what you meant but it wouldn't have much of an effect.
Instead, if you were to say
"Allow your anxiety to drain from your body your outlook will enhance." you'd probably have a much more positive reaction. This is because people identify with certain words and become more engaged and connected to you on a subconscious level if you are more articulate and can describe what you mean well.

Check out 100 Words Every High School Graduate Should Know and other lists at ListsOfBests.com.
Use it in conjunction with Dictionary.com (which has a neat Thesaurus function too) for maximum effect.

Here are 2 to get you started:

soliloquy
1. an utterance or discourse by a person who is talking to himself or herself or is disregardful of or oblivious to any hearers present (often used as a device in drama to disclose a character's innermost thoughts): Hamlet's soliloquy begins with “To be or not to be.”
2. the act of talking while or as if alone.

ziggurat
n. A temple tower of the ancient Assyrians and Babylonians, having the form of a terraced pyramid of successively receding stories.

More free IQ tests

Here are several more free IQ tests available online. Again I'll post the number of questions and approximate time given for completion. Apart from the BBC's Test the Nation these are all very short, free IQ tests.

A.C.E Intelligence test

A unique and interesting intelligence test with a strange final question, the purpose of which I have no idea. This test also has a section where you can specify if you already know the answer to a question, or whether you're just making a guess. It has a professional feel but the other aspects of the A.C.E. society and website seem dubious to say the least (check out their about us page!)

Time: 20 minutes
Questions: 33



Simple IQ

Pretty quick IQ test which is age related and time limited. It doesn't mention how the IQ is calculated or calibrated, but the bad jokes make up for it.

Time: Max 13 minutes
Questions: 38



IQ Test.com

This is similar to SimpleIQ (above) and the questions are almost identical (so someone has been stealing from someone!) but seems to be a lot more professional and contains more information. It also e-mails your results instead of displaying them.

Time: Max 13 minutes
Questions: 38



BBC's Test the nation

This televised intelligence test was very popular, claiming several million viewers. It's also very accurate and has been developed using several hundred people. The free IQ tests above simply don't compare in accuracy. Unfortunately, this test requires a broadband connection (due to videos) and as such isn't suitable for everyone.

Time: 45 minutes
Questions: 170



IQ test for free

For bonus points you might want to try this one, which differs from the rest of the free IQ tests in that it's VERY accurate in it's answer and only has 9 questions!

Time: < 5 minutes
Questions: 9



These free IQ tests are less accurate (with the exception of the BBC test and the final one) and are grouped because they're pretty quick to complete. If you'd like to get a more accurate gauge of your intelligence then feel free to look at the earlier post Free IQ Tests