Brain Food

I like to feel smart. However, actually being smart takes work, so I jump at any short cut to stimulate the feeling of braininess without actually having to sit in a classroom for an entire semester.

Perhaps you are like me in this. Here are some activities that can help you achieve a veneer of Mensa-tude.

1) Tivo Jeopardy. Watch it twice. Question all those answers out loud before those moronic, slow poke contestants during the second viewing.

2) After finishing a crossword puzzle to the best of your ability, don't let all the empty squares fool you into thinking you're not brilliant. Fill them in with random letters. From a distance, you look smart.

3) Attend a random, open to the public, lecture at Caltech, preferably on a topic with a title you don't understand. Every time the speaker says something that seems to impress the audience, loudly say "No duh," and roll your eyes. Walk out half way through the lecture, muttering, "Baby Elmo knows more about this stuff than this guy." I recommend trying this tactic during a Stephen Hawking lecture; he's less likely than others to chase you down and beat you up. It is hard to feel smart being publicly whooped by a science geek.

If these methods seem too much like a cheat, and you actually want to become a little smarter while feeling smart, I do have another suggestion.

Mars Hill Audio Journal. Conversations on the cross section of culture and Christianity with Ken Meyers on tape or CD. This is stimulating stuff, covering topics from the role of imagination to literature to media to bioethics. And it is done in a down to earth, even-I-can-follow-it level. In fact, the most recent CD includes a discussion on postmodern individualism and reality television. See, brainy AND couch potatoey all in the same discussion!

Another cool thing about them is they will send you a free sample for you to decide if it really is your cup of tea.

I know this sounds like an ad, but I don't work for these guys. I just really like the way they stimulate my thinking. I found them when David McFadzean bought subscriptions for all the attenders of a Christians in Theatre Arts conference.

Here is a quote from a recent Mars Hill Audio e-mail that summarizes their approach:

"A Christianity which will bear witness to God's Word in Jesus will be a speaking, thinking,arguing, debating Christianity, which will not be afraid to engage in intellectual andphilosophical contest with the prevailing dogmas of its day."
-- Oliver O'Donovan, Begotten or Made? (Clarendon Press, 1984)

Conservative theology meets open minded conversation. My kind of people.

Oh, and if they ever do start to get too brainy, I just say "No duh" and roll my eyes.

Just my thoughts,

-Sean