Anyone who tries something once
Both intelligence and life grow.
With a little bit of habit and tricks
Brain function improves from any age.
The ultimate guide to becoming a smart person!

We seem to have a major misunderstanding of what 'smart' and 'stupid' mean.
This is especially true when it comes to academic background.
The author was accepted to the University of Tokyo's medical school and graduated, and even now, he sometimes hears people say, "You're smart, doctor."
But it has already been 46 years since I entered the University of Tokyo.
Moreover, it is said that the author neglected his classes at the time, so he was probably one of the lowest-ranking students among those who graduated from medical schools in the same year, including those from other universities.
So, to be honest, I feel embarrassed when I hear people say, 'You're smart.'

After the age of 60, what is needed to have a good head is neither innate talent nor the power of knowledge.
It just takes a little bit of tricks and habits.
There are certainly techniques in the world that can help you do things you can't do.
The important thing is whether you know it or not, and whether you can put what you know into practice.
This happened when the author was teaching online. There were a lot of students who had poor reading comprehension skills, so the class was not proceeding properly.
So, I was thinking about how to improve the reading comprehension skills of these students and looked for various methods. Then, I brought a system developed by a daily instructor at a prep school for college entrance exams and applied it to the students, and they said that their reading comprehension skills improved by leaps and bounds.
I think the same thing applies to sports, art like music or painting, and even human relationships.
Aren't there many cases like this where you were originally capable of doing something, but ended up stuck unable to do it because you didn't know the proper technique?

The strength needed to live wisely in the future is ‘knowledge’ and ‘motivation.’
As can be seen from the terms 'information gap' and 'information underprivileged', the ability to know will be a very important turning point in life, as one's future life will be determined by whether one can obtain useful information.
In this way, to improve the quality of one's life, it is necessary to take an active approach to gathering the right information.
And having motivation means 'not giving up on your hopes.'
So, let's not predict the outcome before we start something.
And above all, this part is important. When it seems like things aren't going as well as you thought, you need to change direction with a light heart, thinking, 'Should I change my method a little?'
If we compare it to love, if you confess to the first person but get rejected, confess to the second person but get rejected again, if you change the way you express yourself and meet other people, wouldn't you get the OK on the 10th time?

Especially among doctors, there seem to be many who assume that 'this is absolutely the right answer,' but it is not impossible that this will be overturned in 5 or 10 years.
So, even more so, we must not forget that there is not only one answer in the world.
My respected physician and anatomist, Dr. Takeshi Yoro, was so healthy, even though he smoked heavily and said, “The world doesn’t always go according to theory.”
I think so too.
Especially after working as a doctor for a long time, you really realize that the world doesn't follow the rules.
To say that someone is smart means to say that they have excellent application skills.
That's why it's so important to be flexible enough to change direction and accept that sometimes things don't go as planned or predicted, rather than getting caught up in finding a single right answer.
People who can do this will be able to actively respond when the world's answers change with the times.
--- p.28

In this situation, rather than being activated, it actually falls.
No matter how young you are, if you live your life being driven by 'doing what you're told' and 'following precedents', your frontal lobe will not function properly and its function will gradually become dull.
I think the joy of being a senior is being free from that kind of lifestyle and being allowed to have free emotions.
Emotional suppression and stress are harmful to the brain.
Now that I have finally grasped the 'freedom unbound by common sense and restrictions,' I will walk my path with pride.
This is an excellent tonic for the frontal lobe.
Another advantage of being a senior is that you have more free time than when you were working.
I often say, "It's important to find something you can be a genius at." For example, if a parent brings their child and says, "I want to make this child a genius," I would reply, "Then let him learn about 100 things."
--- p.37

I have a map in my head and I find the best route among them.
As a result of performing the task of 'remembering information and retrieving it' for a long time, the neurons in their hippocampus increased and developed significantly.
In this way, the brain can develop regardless of age depending on how it is trained, and, as in the case of the veteran taxi driver, it is entirely possible to increase memory capacity and improve functions compared to when one was younger.
Just like physical strength, memory and thinking skills also naturally decline if not used.
So, don't give up and keep giving up by saying, 'I'm getting older,' and instead, say, 'It's not too late.
It is important to train your brain with a positive mindset, thinking, ‘I can do it from now on.’
If you practice like that, the results will naturally follow, and the hope that it can happen will bring vitality to your daily life.
--- p.64

Rather than being swept away by the world's common sense and the pressure to conform, it's great brain training to think, "Everyone says it's like that, but is it really right?"
It may seem a little arrogant, but let's challenge ourselves to nitpick about things that people in the world take for granted.
I'm trying to tackle this by asking, 'Isn't this perspective also possible?'
When an information program on television asserts something as if it were obvious, it is ideal to first question it rather than blindly believe it, as this is what activates the prefrontal cortex function.
Then, when a counter-argument comes to mind, let's gather data to support it.
Nowadays, anyone can easily find relevant information and verify its authenticity using a smartphone or computer.
You can even read foreign papers using an automatic translation program.
The process of accessing diverse information and developing a multifaceted perspective on things stimulates the brain.
--- p.81

In other words, what young people want to hear when talking to seniors is not that person's unique story and outlook on life.
If you only want to gain knowledge, it's enough to look it up on the Internet rather than asking him.
The experience and wisdom accumulated over a long life are the greatest strengths of the senior generation.
Let's take advantage of this and come up with some original ideas and concepts.
The idea is to become a thinker who can provide direction for life to young people.
People who are capable of original thinking and telling interesting stories are attractive no matter what their age, and so more people will gather around them.
In fact, in cognitive psychology, being 'smart' is not about having a lot of knowledge, but rather the ability to use that knowledge to make inferences.
A person's intelligence is revealed not in the acquisition of knowledge itself, but in how he develops that knowledge in a way that is uniquely his own.
--- p.125

The ability to reorganize and combine the information and knowledge coming into me from my own perspective is directly related to a 'good head'.
We have freedom of thought.
However, the habit of believing what the media reports or what people believe to be true will ultimately lead to a halt in thinking.
So, instead of blindly believing what the world says, wouldn't it be better to first develop the habit of arguing against something, thereby sharpening your thinking skills and developing the ability to come up with original ideas?
A while ago, on the radio, someone was talking about how terrifying the Chinese Communist Party was, focusing on how many people it had sacrificed, and then I heard someone else take that and say, "The Communist Party is scary," and I thought that was a bit of a short-sighted way of thinking.
As I listened, I got the impression that the radio corner was trying to subtly change the subject to how dangerous the Communist Party was, but what was scary was not the Communist Party itself, but its leader at the time.
In fact, in France, the left-wing coalition, including the Communist Party, is the largest political force.
--- p.131

Thanks to his widespread acceptance, he became a master of wine criticism, and wines are now graded using the 'Parker Points' method he created.
If he had been a very picky and delicate person with unique tastes, he would not have become such an influential figure.
We tend to think that only those with exceptional talent can become world-changing hitmakers, but sometimes being a genius can actually be a hindrance.
There are many cases where the world is changed by ordinary senses that can be synchronized with the tastes of the general public, rather than by a sensitive sense like absolute taste.
The world's evaluation of works of art and products, as well as the qualities required of successful people, are constantly changing as the times change.
--- p.164

Of course, he must be working hard consistently, but his ability to quickly change the mood to something fun in an instant, no matter what anyone says, is truly amazing.
Even if the guest is an ordinary person, he can use witty ad-libs to highlight his unique side, which is truly a rare talent.
Hearing this, you might be disappointed and think, "Innate talent is a big thing after all," but aren't you, the senior reader of this book, not striving for the top spot in the broadcasting industry like Akishima Sanma?
So, I think there is no need to aim to be a genius at all, and it would be helpful to maintain peace of mind to realize that you cannot become a genius.
However, even if you can't become a genius, it is possible to become much smarter than you are now through continuous effort and habits.
As a result, it is quite possible to hear praise for being a smart and wise grandfather or grandmother.
--- p.170

Advice such as making a kinder expression, changing the way you speak, or even speaking first to the other person by saying, “I blush in front of people I respect.”
If you can think like this even when you're sick, wouldn't that be the start of a change in your lifestyle for the future?
Of course, it is important to make efforts to treat the disease.
But what I want to talk about here is when it gets difficult.
If the outlook for recovery is bleak, it is important to consider how to live a positive life going forward while still having the condition.
Therefore, seniors need a calm and peaceful spirit to live with the disease while taming it well with the spirit of 'co-illness', that is, living with the disease rather than fighting it.
--- p.193

Compared to his younger brother, his older brother was handsome and received a lot of love from those around him since childhood.
However, my younger brother was much better at studying than my older brother and was accepted into a prestigious middle school, which caused the attitudes of the adults around him to change drastically.
How does the younger sibling feel at that time? In this case, just like the pretty girl case mentioned earlier, he has a distorted thought that 'I am valuable only because I studied well, but I could never beat my older sibling in the first place.'
So, as a result, people end up boasting about their good grades and ignoring and treating those who don't study well as fools.
Because this can happen, I've always emphasized that you shouldn't love your children with conditions.
In other words, it's not that I think, 'You're loved because you're pretty or because you have good grades,' but rather, when I look at you, I feel good too.

--- p.229