Master's Thesis

I have had this idea for a long time but it all comes down to intelligence. What makes someone intelligent? How can they retain intelligence and what things can we do to remain intelligent?

Here are a few ways:
1) Say your prayers. When we rehearse in conversation that which we have done throughout the day to our Father in Heaven we remember those specific things. Just talking with him will require us to actively remember different facts and situations that have happened. When we review them we maintain them. When we stop thinking about something it fades away.

2) Write in your journal. The mere writing of something down requires our brains to actively think and re create. When we write things down, especially special experiences and things we really want to recall not only do they stay in our memory with the extra review but we also have them written down in case we ever forget them.

3) Tell people about what is happening in our lives. This is the main concept that others can help with. Imagine the first day of school for a little boy or girl. They get on the bus to go to kindergarten and they learn their new teacher's name. They may even begin some math or letters (in my case) or any other type of information that has been specially treated to be spoon fed so that the younger mind can organize it properly. They either have an amazing day or they have a sad day. The kid gets on the bus home and sees his house. He/She jumps off the bus and runs to their mom. Mom asks, "What happened in school today?" The kid starts retelling every little detail. Now it is the obligation for the mother and father to listen to what the little person has to say. If they have enough love for their child it'll never get old and the child will get into the habit of reviewing, to someone that cares and wants to listen, their days and the facts that they have learned every day. When they review it they keep it. When they feel that love they aren't afraid of talking. They know they have someone that listens. Parents have an extra responsibility from the very start to be listening and ready to give positive comments and compliments and they need to maintain their extreme love so that these habits do not encounter opposition. It is about diligence just as Elder Bednar said about FHE. It is the fact that they had it every single week that made it special, even though nothing special was remembered in particular.

With these three easy forms of review and output a child will remember what has happened to them. They will be positively reinforced and be all the more intelligent. Just as hours and hours of practice are required to learn a violin, whether it be mental or physical, the same goes for memory. We must practice our memory recreating that which we have learned.

My family once made a little joke about my brother. He got in bed, thought for two hours, slept for eight, and woke up and thought some more for two hours. He was in the habit of reviewing and because of that habit he now reviews as much as he eats and sleeps. It is a second nature skill to him and will continue to mature and blossom throughout life.

I was in that habit starting my seventh grade year. I reviewed things when I went to sleep. One day my mind was working so much at night that I could no longer sleep. I was so aware. It became a type of insomnia, I was thinking myself awake. My mind wanted to hold onto these facts so much that sleep was such a little priority. I do not believe that is safe. I didn't review things with anyone, I could only think about them. I had no other output. As such I started working on trying to make my brain go dead when I got into bed. I finally did it. I finally was able to mediate myself to sleep every night. I don't have any problems with insomnia and I am trying to re-get into the habit of reviewing, using my output, to others the things that I have learned throughout the day. When I do I hold onto them. When I don't, I lose them.