Intellect: 21 Tips Towards Brightness

Note: In this article I will be using the word ‘intellectual’ to define a well-educated classy-thinking person. I will also be talking about this topic from my own point of view which is subject to discussion and I do not claim that what I type is the absolute truth.

The question of how to become an intellectual person has always been asked by many of us. People are naturally curious and eager to learn more about anything, whether in the field in which they work or study, or in areas they do not know anything about.

Perhaps the word intellectual itself has many meanings and multiple concepts that differ from one person to another, and each person has his personal view of the meaning of this word. For example, some of us believe that intellectual means the person who reads more books, while others see that the intellectual person means the person who knows in all areas of life. Officially, according to the dictionary, the word intellectual means a person possessing a highly developed intellect or if we went back a little bit in time, a person who has knowledge of knowledge!

The characteristics of an intellectual person also differ from one person to another, but in general an intellectual person has the following characteristics, and no intellectual person can be excluded from one of these qualities:

• An educated person.

• Has sufficient knowledge on a variety of topics.

• Classy and modest.

• Curious, open-minded and non-biased.

• Tolerant and respectful of people who are different from them.

• Rational and accepts criticism.

If you have all of these qualities, that’s great, now you need to continue reading the article to learn more about how to become an intellectual person.

1- Learn How to Appreciate Art

An intellectual person must explore all areas of culture, including art. Art is one of the basics of culture, and understanding it and looking at it will make you more appreciative of all that is artistic, including paintings, sculptures, statues and others. Intellectuals are well aware of understanding art, absorbing it and enjoying it, whether by looking at paintings and reading them artistically, or by reading art in books and others. To be an educated person, I advise learning more about art.

2- Get to Know the Greatest Paintings in History

No doubt you know Da Vinci’s famous Mona Lisa, The Scream, or perhaps Salvador Dali’s dazzling paintings. An intellectual person must be able to recognize the name of the artist who painted the painting, and of course the motives for drawing this painting and the message it conveys to the recipient, etc. And to be an intellectual person, try to get to know the 50 greatest paintings in the world.

To do so, simply search the web.

3- Visit Museums and Art Galleries

We are still in the framework of art so far, we have not discussed books, reading or learning yet. Intellectuals visit museums whether they are famous museums or just a small art gallery. Your visit to museums is a beautiful and unforgettable experience, and it is a great opportunity to meet with great intellectuals who understand the field of art more than you, and maybe have a discussion with someone you met there about a painting or a sculpture. To be an intellectual person, visit museums. Start with the main museums in your city and then move on to other major museums in other cities, and maybe other countries if you get the chance to do so.

4- Learn About the Greatest Buildings in The World

The Eiffel Tower, the Great Wall of China, the Colosseum, and many other wonderful and impressive buildings that every educated person should know and be able to distinguish between them and learn about their architects, as well as the history of their construction etc. To do this, you do not need to visit these buildings, and it would be great to visit them all, but all you have to do is get to know the 50 greatest buildings in the world, and of course do not forget the buildings in the country in which you live.

5- Sculptures and Statues

From the famous Statue of Liberty by Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi to the Statue of Nonviolence/Knotted Gun by Carl Fredrik Reuterswärd, and many, many more. There are absolutely amazing stone carvings and statues that every intellectual person should be familiar with. Every statue and every sculpture express many meanings and messages, whether direct or indirect, and every statue holds a certain significance. To become more intellectual, start with the 25 greatest statues and sculptures in the world and try to read the history of these statues and the story of their creation, as well as the messages they are trying to deliver.

6- Read 50 Books from Western Literary Reference

The Western Literary Reference is a list of books accepted by Western scholars as the most important and influential in shaping Western culture.

I will not mention names of books for you to read, instead, I will tell you what type of books you need to be focusing on to increase your intellect level.

Down below you will find four main eras that I recommend for you to focus on:

- The Theocratic Era.

- Aristocratic Era.

- The Democratic Era.

- The 20th Century.

7- Read Books from 25 Different Countries/Nations

The problem is that you will find in the Western literary reference is that the list of books includes only some Western countries, forgetting the many great works and books written in other countries or nations. You can fill this gap by reading books from 25 different countries, and of course you do not need to understand the language of that country in order to read the books they published. Great books are often translated, and therefore this makes it easier for you to learn more and gain more knowledge. Start reading books for great nations today and throughout history such as China, Japan, America, Canada, India, Russia (All eras are recommended).

8- Food

Yes, food makes you intellectual!

Globalization has played an important role in spreading cultures between different regions. For example, we can eat sushi without having to go to Japan. An intellectual person should try eating foods from different countries. Food is one of the manifestations of culture and one of the distinguishing characteristics of each country. Sushi is known as Japanese food, while couscous is Moroccan food, etc. The experience of eating foods from different cultures will make you curious to know about these cultures, their history and the qualities that make them special and different. And of course, as I said at the beginning, you do not have to travel to a country to try its food, just search in your city for foreign restaurants that serve foreign foods and try them.

9- Read About Different Religions

Among the characteristics of an intellectual person, as we mentioned at the beginning of the article, is that they are open-minded, curious, and non-biased.

What we mean by non-biased is that they are not fanatics or strict about certain opinions and they are not only reading about a particular field and avoiding other fields.

The intellectual person must be neutral in their reading of religion as well. Whether you were born in a religious or non-religious family, you must give religion an opportunity to read and to satisfy the intellectual and cultural curiosity that possesses you. Read about well-known religions such as Christianity, Islam, Judaism, Buddhism and Hinduism, then read other non-famous religions such as Baha’i, Jainism, paganism such as ancient Egyptian religions and Viking religions.

Also, you might want to read about cynical religions such as the Pastafarian religion. Read the history of these religions and how they arose, and read about their teachings, symbols, rituals performed by their adherents, their traditions, frameworks, beliefs, laws, and sacred books if you are able to do that. You reading about different religions, will give you a broad view of the world and will make you open to all religions and to all people of all these religions. An intellectual person respects all people with their different religions and beliefs.

To learn more about these religions, you can:

• Talk to a person of a different religion and ask him questions

• Visit temples of different religions

• Read books that summarize the basic principles of the religion you want to know

• Read about the history of religions

10- Listen to Classical Music

Culture is most often associated with classical music. This type of music is considered one of the antique and upscale genres because of its beautiful and dazzling specifications and expressions. Music is art, and getting to know more about it especially the classical type will add extra cultural taste to your mental treasury.

11- Opera

For those unfamiliar with opera, it is a form of theater in which music is the main event. It is important to know opera, or at least see it, because it is an essential part of both culture and art, and it has ancient history and holds a respectful status in the world of music and theater.

Watching and listening to opera can help us see the world from another angle, which is a wonderful experience when you watch it live, but unfortunately, opera is almost a rarity in our time. In spite of this, you can always watch opera on TV, computer, or your smartphone. Just type opera in any search engine and enjoy it. Try to search for the 10 best operas in the world, and read a little about each one (its history, messages that it delivers, the significance of its production, etc.).

12- Ballet

Ballet will make me an intellectual? You may or may not have asked this question, you may not be a fan of ballet, but ballet is somewhat similar to opera, at least from a cultural and artistic point of view.

When attending a ballet show, you will hear some of the most famous music that has been meticulously produced, other than of course the wonderful dance that the show offers.

As an intellectual person, you have to be familiar with this wonderful art. Ballet is not just a dance show, as the general public thinks, but it is a show that hides beautiful and calming stories, messages and music. Try to get acquainted with the most famous or the 10 best ballet performances that took place in the world, and why not watch one of these shows and enjoy watching it, or at least enjoy the music that the show offers.

13- Listen to Music from All Over the World

As I mentioned earlier in this article you have to read books from many different countries and cultures, you should also listen to music from different countries, especially music that makes each country different and unique.

Listening to the music of different countries will make your mind open and curious to know more about the culture of each country, its history, traditions, etc. In order to be an intellectual person, YouTube serves you with millions of different music tracks to learn infinite types of music from different cultures.

14- Go to the Theaters

Direct performance is an important art form that dates back to the ancient Greeks. The experience of watching a live show will be an experience that is not comparable to watching it on a computer screen or television, and you may relate to this if you watched a movie in the cinema instead of watching it at home on a TV screen.

Go to the theater in your city. If you can’t go to the theatre, try watching plays on YouTube, because plays are almost like movies except better. Start with the plays that were played in your country to learn more about the culture of your country, then check out the famous plays of other nations.

15- Foreign Movies

I believe that most people nowadays have watched a foreign move or TV show. This is a very wonderful thing, because watching foreign movies will give you the opportunity to learn more about places you may never visit, and it will also give you the opportunity to learn more about different cultures, traditions and lifestyle of each country. In order to become an intellectual person, try to watch various foreign movies and diversify your choices to increase your culture reservoir.

16- Read History

Perhaps it is naive to find a citizen of a country who does not know anything about the history of his country, and whether you studied history in school or not, you should read more and more about the history of your country and the history of the world in general.

Start reading the history of the greats, such as the history of the pharaohs, the Babylonians and the Sumerians, the history of the Greeks, the Romans…etc. Your reading of history will, of course, make you more intellectual, as it will reveal many facts that you did not know about before.

17- Keep Up with Current Events

An intellectual person knows what is happening in the world, whether economically, politically or socially.

I do not advise you to look at the news only, but try to think more deeply about the news you watch or listen to, such as thinking about solutions to economic or political problems etc. You should also pay attention to false news that may be aimed at satisfying personal interests and nothing more. Seek the truth and not what you want to hear.

18- Travel

There are two types of travel:

1- travel while you are sitting at home, where you can learn everything about the world with the click of a button.

2- Then, there is the real journey, which is to travel with your own flesh and blood to areas you have not visited before.

Traveling will give you many opportunities to meet new people from various cultures. You will get the chance to know new traditions and new ideas that you were not familiar with before. So, if you want to become an intellectual person, pack your bags and start traveling.

19- Learn a New Language

There are several advantages that you will gain from learning a new language:

• First, you will have a good understanding of the original cultural references. (Like reading a book in its original language).

• Second, you will be able to understand the different ways of thinking and each person’s point of view even better and more accurately.

• And third, it will give you the opportunity to learn more about the culture of each language, and the more you read the more you know. I advise you to start learning German/Chinese/Spanish/Portuguese and the business language of course English.

20- Read Poetry

Reading poetry can teach you to know rhetorical, simile, and metaphor, which is one of the traits of intelligent people. In addition, poetry expresses history, myths and literature, which are important and useful things in culture, and poetry is an emotional and expressive language that you may enjoy if you are interested in this field. Choose 5 famous poems, read them and try to understand the meaning of each line of the poem then chose if you like it or not.

21- Basic Knowledge in Science and its Fundamentals

It is very necessary to have a background in the basics of science, for science is the basis of knowledge that we have reached so far, and with science we develop as humans in several fields such as health, technology and others.

It is not required from you to go too deep in one field of science, but as an intellectual person you have to learn the basics in every field of science. For example, to learn a little in psychology, a little in biology, a little in physics and so on. Your knowledge of science is very important, because science reveals facts about the world, nature, the universe, and about man as well. In order to become an intellectual person, you must learn about science and read more each time.

In conclusion, you don’t have to watch opera even if I said so or travel or even watch ballet shows to become an intellectual person. The main point that I am trying to make is that you have to create a taste of your own about everything you see or listen to. Do not follow the rules just know the facts and discuss them with respect and delicacy.

I hope you enjoyed my article. This took some time as you might guess. A little support would be amazing. Thank you and I am really interested in reading your opinion.