Speed is the new intelligence

This great post by Dilbert creator argues that speed is the new intelligence. Is that really true?

The intelligence discussed by Scott Adams has to do with common sense and big numbers. Technology facilitate access to people, ability to generate and test ideas, access to supporting information and knowledge. Simply by using information technology properly we function like highly more intelligent individuals. However, there are other levels of speed-related genius which are not mentioned in the article.

Some people attributed with genius were able to work more and faster than others. Thomas Edison and Benjamin Franklin, as well as 1%-3% of the general population simply can sleep less. These people effectively have more hours per day and can achieve more. One of my friends is such a man. I am continuously amazed at his stamina.  He is working round the clock, all time zones internationally, always clear and composed. A person who has 20% more spare time, whose downs are like my ups – such a person gets a clear advantage over the peers.  There is a controversy if Uberman sleep can work for you – probably it can for some people, but not all of us.

The next group of geniuses to consider are people who are extremely creative. Ability to connect things (linking) very fast allows to generate huge amounts of ideas. People who are creative usually not only generate ideas efficiently, but also sort and evaluate the ideas faster than their peers. This ability allows to focus only on the best ideas, provides a constant flux of new workable ideas, and eventually some great ideas that truly WORK. Fortunately, based on my experience, this skill can be partially learned. There is some creativity material in this blog. One day we may release a book or a course on the subject…

The pure genius type, a man like Einstein, is a thinker of a different sort. Ability to visualize various scenarios with great focus, in great detail, over time, without releasing attention, allows to skip experiments and computer simulations, errors and debugging – which take 90% of regular person’s time. A person like that would do virtually nothing – running multiple scenarios in his/her head and then implement the best one without making mistakes.  This is probably the ultimate effectiveness. If you practice visualization and meditation, over time you get closer to this superskill. Not really sure if true mastery in this skill can be learned or taught,  I am slowly (and painfully) reducing the amount of hands-on work vs mental experiments. The progress is slow, and there is a lot of work ahead of me.

Superlearning is a way of generating intelligence by speed. We learn to remember fast and to read fast. However the true speed and true intelligence require much more than memory and reading, it requires true mastery…