Mindhacker: 60 Tips, Tricks, and Games to Take Your Mind to the Next Level
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More About This Title Mindhacker: 60 Tips, Tricks, and Games to Take Your Mind to the Next Level

English

Compelling tips and tricks to improve your mental skills

Don't you wish you were just a little smarter? Ron and Marty Hale-Evans can help with a vast array of witty, practical techniques that tune your brain to peak performance. Founded in current research, Mindhacker features 60 tips, tricks, and games to develop your mental potential. This accessible compilation helps improve memory, accelerate learning, manage time, spark creativity, hone math and logic skills, communicate better, think more clearly, and keep your mind strong and flexible.

English

Ron Hale-Evans is a writer, game designer, and the creator of the Mentat Wiki, a collaborative environment for exploring ways to become a better thinker. He has done technical writing for the Free Software Foundation, the Linux Foundation, and Microsoft.

Marty Hale-Evans is a technical editor who has worked for Microsoft, Boeing, and the University of Chicago Press. An award-winning game designer, she currently chairs a local literary science fiction convention and pursues various creative endeavors.

English

Introduction xvii

Chapter 1 Memory 1

Hack 1: Remember to Remember 1

Hack 2: Build a Memory Dungeon 6

Hack 3: Mix Up Your Facts 10

Hack 4: Space Your Repetitions 14

Hack 5: Recall Long-Ago Events 18

Chapter 2 Learning 25

Hack 6: Establish Your Canon 25

Hack 7: Write in Your Books 32

Hack 8: Read at Speed 44

Hack 9: Learn by Teaching 49

Hack 10: Play the Learning Game 52

Hack 11: Pretend You’re a Grad Student 55

Hack 12: Study Kid Stuff 59

Chapter 3 Information Processing 63

Hack 13: Polyspecialize 63

Hack 14: Integrate Your Interests 67

Hack 15: Sift Your Ideas 72

Hack 16: Ask the Hive Mind 77

Hack 17: Write Magnificent Notes 83

Chapter 4 Time Management 95

Hack 18: Keep a Mental Datebook 95

Hack 19: Tell Time Who’s Boss 99

Hack 20: Meet MET 106

Hack 21: Get Control of Yourself 111

Hack 22: Locate Lost Items 121

Hack 23: Huffman-Code Your Life 126

Hack 24: Knock Off Work 129

Chapter 5 Creativity and Productivity 135

Hack 25: Manifest Yourself 135

Hack 26: Woo the Muse of the Odd 138

Hack 27: Seek Bad Examples 143

Hack 28: Turn a Job into a Game 148

Hack 29: Scrumble for Glory 160

Hack 30: Salvage a Vintage Hack 167

Hack 31: Mine the Future 174

Hack 32: Dare to Do No Permanent Damage 179

Hack 33: Make Happy Mistakes 182

Hack 34: Don’t Know What You’re Doing 187

Hack 35: Ratchet 195

Chapter 6 Math and Logic 199

Hack 36: Roll the Mental Dice 200

Hack 37: Abduct Your Conclusions 204

Hack 38: Think Clearly about Simple Errors 209

Hack 39: Notate Personally 215

Hack 40: Notate Wisely 218

Hack 41: Engineer Your Results 223

Hack 42: Enter the Third Dimension 233

Hack 43: Enter the Fourth Dimension 239

Chapter 7 Communication 263

Hack 44: Spell It Out 264

Hack 45: Read Lips 271

Hack 46: Emote Precisely 275

Hack 47: Streamline Your Shorthand 283

Hack 48: Communicate Multimodally 287

Hack 49: Mediate Your Environment 291

Chapter 8 Mental Fitness 299

Hack 50: Acquire a Taste 300

Hack 51: Try Something New Daily 305

Hack 52: Metabehave Yourself 308

Hack 53: Train Your Fluid Intelligence 315

Hack 54: Think, Try, Learn 321

Hack 55: Take the One-Question IQ Test 331

Chapter 9 Clarity 335

Hack 56: Cultivate Beginner’s Mind 336

Hack 57: Take a Semantic Pause 340

Hack 58: Retreat and Reboot 350

Hack 59: Get Used to Losing 355

Hack 60: Trust Your Intelligence (and Everyone Else’s) 359

Appendix A The Unboxed Games Manifesto 367

Appendix B 3D Visualization 369

Index 373

English

"What I enjoyed most was that the book generally managed to avoid the overblown language and hype of most "hack" books and instead focused on practical applications and realistic assessments of how effective a particular strategy might be. Even without the hype, I found the book motivating and it encouraged me to explore subjects that were new to me and consider ideas for self-education, self-improvement, and creativity."
Michael Corayer, MichaelCorayer.com

"Many of the hacks here take advantage of the fact that the way you see your mind and your world are often radically related, if not often the same thing. What I mean is that a lot of these are not just mental exercises, but tricks for productivity, ways to communicate better, hacks for breaking bad habits, tips for time management, and creative ways to be more creative. It's not just about the hacks though. Mindhacker is also stocked with other (re)sources: Relevant URLs, books, and articles are listed on every page, along with the stories of the hacks' origins, and the book's website has even more, including pieces of code as well as complete programs."
Roy Christopher, RoyChristopher.com

"The examples mentioned are just a couple that I found immediately useful, but this book seems like one I will return to again and again. Areas that may not seem as pressing to me today may well become very important to me tomorrow, and Mindhacker may be my best hope yet in fighting off senility."
Greg Barbrick, BlogCritics

"There's a real embarrassment of riches in this book, all of which are well-researched and scientifically rigorous, which reflects Ron’s psychology background. This is a book that seems tailor-made for browsing. "Mindhacker" is extensively cross-referenced. When you pick this book up, you'll find yourself zooming around the pages, bouncing from hack to hack to hack. I was already a fan of the previous book, "Mind Performance Hacks," and this is certainly a worthy sequel, in spirit if not in fact. It will definitely become part of my personal canon, and if you're really serious about stretching your mind, it should be part of yours, too."
David Delony, Walyou.com

"Mindhacker really is a good match to Grey Matters readers, as it is all about improving your mind, and having fun while doing so. It's approachable, educational, fun, and neither intimidating nor condescending in tone. I highly recommend Mindhacker. If you haven't already picked up "Mind Performance Hacks," do your mind a favor and pick them up together."
Scott Cram, Grey Matters blog

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