“Look in the encyclopedia” - this was the standard answer to the child’s questions about the world around him for most intelligent parents who raised their children in the 60s, 70s and 80s. Today, scientific and technological progress comes to the rescue in the development of erudition; you just need to reach a computer connected to the Internet to see Wikipedia or the Great Soviet Encyclopedia, or explanatory dictionaries Ozhegov, or even Dahl, to find the necessary information to expand awareness.
“Google to help you” - here you can find almost anything literary work, just indicating its name in the search bar. A work of any genre carries not only a plot, but also relies on historical facts, refers to details related to geography, biology, criminology, cultural characteristics, society, etc. Therefore, being well-read is one of the most important components on the path to broadening your horizons. When reading, do not pass by words whose lexical meanings are unknown to you. The development of erudition is work aimed at ensuring that not a single white spot on the map of your knowledge, not a single unknown word, unknown phenomenon.
Get a dictionary for terms and concepts that are especially difficult to remember. During the recording process, visual memory is activated. In addition, if you forget something, you can quickly restore the necessary value in your memory by looking at your notepad, which can be easily created on your computer desktop.
In order to develop your horizons, you don’t need a lot of free time, just instead of watching TV series, you can read an interesting book or look up an unknown word you heard somewhere in the dictionary.
Decide why you need it, write your goal on a poster, hang the poster in the bedroom in front of the bed, and most importantly: while working on yourself, try to get maximum pleasure from developing your brains and mastering information.
You can acquire this or that education within 4-5 years. However, in the process of work, in order to become a real specialist, a person is often forced to continue studying until he reaches retirement age. A true erudite learns throughout his life. The question of how to develop erudition does not confront him. The desire to learn new things in him is ineradicable to such an extent that, even realizing that his path on earth is close to completion, he cannot resist the temptation to get acquainted with the next discovery in science or technology.
A.M. Gorky had deep encyclopedic knowledge. His motto was: “If I know that I know little, I will achieve to know more!”
Do we need erudition? Controversies and discussions around the answer to this question continue today.
One side of the participants is sure that erudition is something like an eccentric hobby, which can roughly be called “I want to know everything!” Those who fall into the arms of this hobby strive to constantly expand the horizons of their knowledge and, like true bibliophages, indiscriminately “devour” all the books that come to their hands. Some people collect badges or stamps, while scholars hunt for new knowledge and endlessly search for new ways to increase their erudition.
So, the answer of the first group to the question of whether erudition is needed is rather negative. They consider erudites merely carriers of excess knowledge, and not at all smart people capable of generating new things, making scientific discoveries and providing technological breakthroughs.
The second group responds to their opponents with the famous phrase “ If you don't like education, then try ignorance!" And they give a lot of examples where ignorance really is prohibitively expensive:
- a doctor who failed to make the necessary diagnosis in a timely manner,
- a history or literature teacher whose knowledge is limited to a school textbook,
- a lawyer with little understanding of the legal framework,
- psychologist making diagnoses “over the phone”...
Behind each such case there is often not only a lack of professionalism, but also low level general education, leading to the inability to critically assess the situation and select adequate tools for analysis and correction.
Actually, erudition in the original sense of the word meant “ beyond ignorance or rudeness" (ex-ruide). In other words, the possession of such a breadth of knowledge that does not allow for primitive and naive explanations of the structure of the world. This means it contributes to the development of a special mindset!
An erudite has a critical view of the world
Increasing erudition leads to expansion of knowledge in a variety of areas and scientific disciplines, which in itself is already useful for any person focused on mental development And personal growth. But there is another unique consequence of developed erudition: collecting knowledge from different sources allows them to be compared with each other, contrasted and critically evaluated.
Today, such a critical view of the world is more useful than ever. The barrage of information that bombards us every day gradually makes us tolerant of its falsity. We don’t have time to check it and “swallow it,” suppressing doubts about its reliability.
Erudite individuals evaluate information completely differently. For example, by comparing how the same fact (for example, a historical event) is described in different sources, they easily discover inconsistencies and contradictions. Thus, their “excessive” knowledge of history helps them promptly discard information that is written with insufficient scientific conscientiousness.
Erudites look at the elephant from different angles
In the Bonn Science Center, inside the park area, there is a sculpture symbolizing scientific objectivity - an elephant, which is being touched from different sides by 4 blind men. One touches the elephant’s leg, the second touches the trunk, the third touches the tail, and the fourth runs his hand over the elephant’s body. This sculpture is an illustration of the famous parable about four blind men arguing about what an elephant looks like, where each of them repeated what they touched:
« An elephant is a wide pillar!»
"WITH the womb is a thick flexible hose!»
« An elephant is a small rope!»
« An elephant is a rough wall!»
And only if you put all four images together, you can understand what an elephant is. And it is the erudites who do this better than others.
Or another example. How do you answer the question about consciousness? If you do not use this term as a professional, then most likely you will simply say that this is how a person differs from an animal. You may be using words like " thinking», « understanding" And " awareness”, as close in meaning or even synonyms.
But professionals will answer the same question differently. The philosopher will note that consciousness can be public and personal. The doctor will tell you that you can lose consciousness or remain unconscious. The lawyer will point out that it is important to consider whether the suspect has reached the age of consent. A psychologist will connect the conscious and unconscious.
A polymath is usually able to consider the category of consciousness from all these points of view.
With Vikium you can increase your erudition online"
How to increase general erudition
So, if you set this goal for yourself, then take the following recommendations into account.
Learn and learn new words
At school and college, you learned new terms almost every day, became familiar with scientific concepts and categories, and considered them in the context of a specific theory or technology. Along with the end of training, the flow of new words-symbols into your consciousness also stopped. You are always in the same semiotic space, not giving your brain a reason to form new neural connections, and therefore to develop your intellect.
By themselves, learned new words do not automatically make a person an erudite., but after the new concept stretches a whole chain of their family ties. These connections restructure your understanding of the world. The more such connections there are, the more actively the cognitive simplicity of thinking is replaced by cognitive complexity.
What specific actions are behind this advice:
- Challenge yourself to learn and memorize 3 new words every week.. And not just memorize, but use them in your oral and written speech.
- Look for and learn words that mean different actions in different areas of knowledge, such as building reconstruction and event reconstruction. When you encounter an unfamiliar word, take the time to look up its meaning in the dictionary. Try to first understand for yourself what it means, and only then check the correctness of your reasoning or guesses.
- Read technical and scientific literature and strive not only to understand what this or that new term means, but also what other concepts and categories it is associated with.
Expand your thesaurus
Thesaurus is your individual vocabulary. It can be increased through the practice of using synonyms in your speech. Synonyms are words that sound different but have the same meaning (examples: discover and find, explore and study). Using synonyms, you can diversify your speech.
In addition, synonyms often mean the same thing only to an unprepared person, but an erudite will easily explain to you the difference, for example, between:
- rock and mountain,
- typhoon and tsunami,
- meaning and significance.
Read analytical articles and critical reviews
Such reading will allow you to compare your understanding of a particular issue with the comments of competent specialists.
As a result, you will get three points of view:
- stated in the original source,
- a specialist who understands this issue,
- your own.
Reviews of a critical nature are especially useful, as they will help you see the weak points in the logic of the author of the work being analyzed, and compare the two points of view yourself. This activity transforms reading from passive consumption of information into mental work, which is called comparative analysis.
Visit special sites to increase your erudition
Of course we're talking about about sites designed for pros. There you will not only be able to expand your knowledge, but also practice in order to develop the mental skills of an erudite:
- constructing an objective picture of the world,
- critical thinking,
- comparative analysis.
Write more than ordinary people
Start writing texts on a specific topic. But not everyday or popular, but scientific or philosophical and artistic. Written speech allows you to structure thoughts and arrange them in a certain logic.
The written text is a reflection of your consciousness, so it will be easier for you to determine what you are strong enough and good at, and what still remains a zone of your immediate development.
Read as much as possible!
And let these not just be books with entertaining plots. Read descriptions of scientific experiments, philosophical discussions, serious fiction.
No matter how various merry fellows make fun of erudites, and no matter how disdainfully snobs speak of them, erudites always remain in demand both in a work environment and in moments of relaxation.
It is not for nothing that one of the most important roles in a management team or project group is called “expert” - a bearer of versatile knowledge, well-versed in a variety of areas and therefore able to tell where exactly to look for answers to complex questions that arise on the way to the team goal.
Always pay attention to what you read. It’s one thing to read articles from the Internet, and another thing to read serious fiction. Before talking about the concept of “serious literature,” we must define its concept. It is understood not as pulp novels, but when it is based on philosophy, psychology, history, when it expands the horizons of readers and is necessarily written in good language. Only these three conditions are intended to call the book serious fiction. An additional advantage is that such reading will have a beneficial effect on your oral and written speech, and this, in turn, will help develop the ability to express your thoughts coherently and correctly. Second, studies scientific literature.
Engage in what you read. Books that help you understand the world around you develop intuition and erudition, curiosity and the desire to learn even more. Explore the world not only around you, but also your own inner world. Philosophy is the science of human life. Read more philosophical literature, literature on psychology.
Think and analyze more. A very effective remedy - after reading a book and seeing that you are interested in some aspect, write an essay or note on this topic. Share your knowledge with friends and colleagues, discuss. Discussions help and promote the ability to make critical conclusions based on facts, and also develop memory and logic. It is advisable that your interlocutor has a clear understanding of the subject of the conversation.
Try not to limit yourself to a narrow range of interests. Wide knowledge in various fields indicates high intellectual and spiritual development personality.
Train your mind more often, study foreign languages, write poetry, listen to classical music.
But we should not forget that there is no limit to perfection. Just because you learned something new does not mean that you have become smarter. Get into the habit of thinking new information. Be sure to put your knowledge into practice and share your impressions with people. Spend your time profitably, find out last news, play useful Board games, take part in discussions, you will feel more knowledgeable and confident. The desire for self-improvement will certainly open up new horizons for you.
There is one simple example of how to develop erudition. The point is this: for example, you are sitting in your room. You are surrounded by some objects (TV, chest of drawers, bed, table, flowers, computer, cell phone). Try to tell about each item, who created it and when it appeared. Start, for example. from your clothes: find out where jeans came from and why they have a small pocket. If you learn about 10 things a day, then in a year you will learn about 3650 concepts. And remembering them is not so difficult. The main desire.
You can increase your erudition in many ways, but the surest way is to read a variety of books on history, philosophy, psychology, scientific and fiction literature.
How many wars has humanity survived? How to measure beauty? What do laughter and a grimace of displeasure have in common?
You will find a hundred clear explanations of a variety of things in this book. Its author is a professor at the Department of Psychophysiology at Nizhny Novgorod State University. N.I. Lobachevsky, leading researcher at the Institute of Applied Physics of the Russian Academy of Sciences Vladimir Antonets.
From book:
Can the sound of your name affect how you are perceived?
Russian philologist Vladimir Zhuravlev found that the messages contained in the sound of words in the modern Russian language can be assessed using 25 emotional antonymous comparisons: “good - bad”, “joyful - sad”, “safe - scary”, “simple - complex” and others.
After conducting research with a large number of people, Zhuravlev was able to establish what subconscious rating each sound has on what scale.
Nowadays it’s easy to find clues on the Internet about what impression your name leaves. For example, Nikolai is handsome and safe, Kolya is good, and Kolyan is good, kind and handsome. An analysis of the poems and illustrations for them showed that poets intuitively follow phonosemantic rules and that there are also sound-color relationships that are also observed in the language.
Beauty squared
Most people think that mathematics is too abstract and far from real life the science. Not so!
Have you heard about a mathematical theory that helps simplify the search for a life partner? Can you guess how exponential growth is related to the catastrophes that threaten humanity? Do you realize that the numbers in a company logo influence your purchases? From the book by mathematician and philosopher Alex Bellos you will learn about this and much more. Read in one go!
From book:
A Warning to Humanity
Physics professor Albert Bartlett has been giving his famous lecture "Arithmetic, Population and Energy" since 1969. Each time he begins it by declaring in a foreboding tone: “The greatest flaw of the human race is its inability to understand the essence of exponential growth.”
Exponential growth occurs when a quantity continually increases in proportion to its value, for example by doubling: 1, 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, 64...
Imagine a bottle of bacteria whose numbers double every minute. At 11:00 there is one bacteria in the bottle, and by 12:00 the bottle will be completely filled with bacteria. “If you were an ordinary bacterium living in this bottle,” Bartlett asks, “at what point in time would you realize that there was about to be no free space left?” Amazingly, at 11:55 the bottle appears almost empty: it is only 3 percent full.
Bartlett's bottle is a warning to the inhabitants of the Earth. If the planet's population increases exponentially, there will be no free space left much faster than it seems.
Game theory
Do you want to delight others with your insight? Learn to think strategically and emerge victorious from any situation? This book is written especially for you.
From book:
Less is better
You might think it's always good to have more options. But if you think strategically, reducing the number possible options may bring more benefits.
Thomas Schelling writes in his book about how the Athenian commander Xenophon fought with his back to a deep gorge. He deliberately chose such a position so that his soldiers would not have the opportunity to retreat. Their backs became stiff in that battle, but they won.
Likewise, Cortés sank his ships after arriving in Mexico. The Aztecs could retreat deep into their territory, and Cortez's soldiers had no opportunity for escape or retreat. By making the defeat even more disastrous than it would have been on its own, Cortés increased his chances of victory - and won.
Psychology
Psychology is one of the most interesting human sciences, and now it has become accessible to everyone. To better understand yourself and other people, you do not need to read the works of scientists written in complex language.
This book explains the theory so simply and engagingly that in just a couple of days you will be able to advise your friends. Paul Kleinman will help you understand the key ideas of psychology, the concepts of Freud, Fromm, Rorschach and other researchers.
From book:
Social phobia
Social phobia is one of the most common types of anxiety disorder; Its symptoms affect nearly 13 percent of the world's population at some point in time.
A person suffering from social phobia is constantly worried about how others perceive him. Such people experience an irrational fear that someone treats them badly or evaluates them negatively, and also that they do not appear to others at their best.
Social phobia should not be confused with excessive shyness, since the former is accompanied by persistent and very serious symptoms of an emotional and physical nature: trembling, increased sweating, rapid heartbeat, severe nervousness in situations of communication with strangers, fear of being underestimated, anxiety about the possibility of being humiliated, excessive worry that others will notice the patient’s anxiety, fear of pre-planned events, etc.
Naked statistics 
Our world is generating huge amounts of data faster and faster. However, as The New York Times rightly noted, “data is just the raw material of knowledge.” Statistics are the most powerful tool we have at our disposal for the practical use of information.
In this book Charles Whelan gives many answers interesting questions: how to calculate the number of homeless people in a metropolis, why casinos are always in the black, how globalization affects poor people and others.
From book:
Forecast police
In the 2002 film Minority Report, Tom Cruise plays a crime-stopping detective. His hero is an employee of a certain bureau that uses certain technology to predict crimes before they are committed. And this is no longer fantasy.
In 2011, The New York Times published an article entitled: “Police are on the scene before a crime is committed.” It said that a special computer program predicted a high probability of thefts from cars that day in an underground parking lot located in the business district of the city of Santa Cruz.
When detectives got there, they found two women staring too closely into the car windows. One of them has been repeatedly detained for theft, and the other was found in possession of illegal drugs.
The system used in Santa Cruz was developed by two mathematicians, an anthropologist and a criminologist. The Chicago Police Department has created an entire unit of forecasting analysts. Part of its formation was explained by the fact that the gangs that terrorized the city acted according to certain patterns.
Interstellar. Science behind the scenes
Before filming Interstellar, consulting scientist Kip Thorne offered the director two simple rules. First: nothing in the film should contradict the generally accepted laws of physics or reliable knowledge about the world. Second: all speculation must be scientifically supported.
If you still have questions after watching, then Kip Thorne’s book about the curvature of space and time, black holes, gravity and other mysteries of the Universe will help answer them.
From book:
Time Warp
The main character of the film"Interstellar" Cooper is worried that he will no longer see his daughter Murph, because, being near Gargantua, he ages only a few hours, while years pass on Earth. How to explain this?
Back in 1912, Einstein realized that massive bodies can bend time and this curvature is the cause of gravity. The greater the time dilation, the stronger the gravitational attraction. And at the surface of a black hole, where time hardly moves, gravity is so enormous that even light cannot overcome it.
The theory was confirmed when Robert Wessot of Harvard used a NASA rocket to lift the atomic clock 10,000 kilometers and, using radio signals, compared its time with the clocks that remained on Earth. It turned out that time on Earth flows about 30 microseconds per day slower than at an altitude of 10,000 kilometers.
Economics of everything
The dean of the Faculty of Economics of Moscow State University explains how economics influences various social processes.
By reading this book you will learn moreabout the structure of the state and understand why we are faced with certain forces of social friction, for what reasons perfection is unattainable, what social capital is, the problem of the freeloader, as well as the British disease and red sclerosis, what dilemma the elites face in Russia and much more.
From book:
Do we need a state?
Not only in Russian, but also in the world public consciousness, there were many myths associated with the state. And at some point these myths began to be tested. For example, all the great British economists gave the same example: if it were not for the government, who would build lighthouses in England? But the nation needs lighthouses - what would England be without shipping?
Economist Ronald Coase went to the British Admiralty archives and began to look at who actually built the lighthouses. It turned out that not a single lighthouse in England was built by the government. Whoever built them - captains' guilds, local communities, shipowner corporations, but not the government.
Then Friedrich von Hayek checked how things were going with monetary systems. It turned out that different states in different time created their own treasury systems of monetary notes, but they all died. The banknotes we use now are so-called banknotes, that is, systems of private receipts between banks. They began to look at the police, the fire department, the army, and again there were mixed answers.
The conclusion that can be drawn from all this is this: if the state is needed, it is not for what it was previously thought to be for. The state has substitutes everywhere.
P.S. Liked? Subscribe to our usefulnewsletter. We send you a selection every two weeks. best articles from the blog.
The word erudition is of Latin origin and means great comprehensive knowledge, wide awareness. The concept of erudition is often confused with education, although these words are not synonymous. An erudite person is invariably educated, but not every educated person can boast of his erudition. A polymath never stops there and draws skills not from training courses, but from direct sources. Many of us would like to show off our erudition to others, but how to increase it?
Instructions
1. To become an erudite person through extraordinary display is unthinkable. In order to become a scholar, you need to show sincere passion in various issues. To expand their horizons, erudites turn to books for support before anyone else. Books are the storehouse of wisdom in every society. However, it goes without saying that books are different, and trash pulp novels or inexpensive detective stories will not give you any special food for thought. If you are truly trying to improve your erudition, then you need to turn to more serious literature. Read Russian and foreign classics, scientific research and monographs, biographies of fascinating people.
2. The most important thing is how exactly you will read books. The increase in your erudition will depend not on the number of volumes you read, but on the quality of your reading. Read more thoughtfully, rethink what the author said. If you are interested in any quote, then do not be lazy to write it down for the future. Over time, you will notice how your horizons will develop, new topics of conversation will appear, and your vocabulary will expand.
3. One more modern method increasing erudition is cinema. Of course, not every movie product can enhance your intelligence. Nowadays, a large number of good documentaries are being made about nature, physical phenomena, historical events, fascinating personalities and more. Systematic viewing of such programs will have a beneficial effect on your horizons. From the field of feature films, you can turn to art-house works. Excellent art-house cinema filled with worthwhile quotes, and the philosophical subtext will push you to think.
4. Your erudition also largely depends on the people with whom you communicate. Our social circle leaves a big imprint on our interests, way of thinking and even vocabulary. Try to surround yourself with reasonable people with whom you can communicate different topics. Reach out to erudite people, and little by little your personal level will begin to increase.
In the media, more and more often one hears about the lowering of the tier of education - both higher and secondary, about the low quality of the acquired knowledge of university graduates, even elite ones. Graduates themselves also repeatedly complain about the lack of skills for work, and this also applies to those who did not skip classes and showed excellent results at the session.
Instructions
1. The quality of skills is determined by their depth and demand after graduation. If, as usual, nothing can be done about the demand - the market either needs, possibly, lawyers, or does not need them, then absolutely anyone can work with the depth of knowledge. In addition, the quality of skills depends on two parties – the teacher and the learner. If the quality of knowledge of the first is low, the second will have the same. The quality of knowledge of the student who does not make any effort to learn will also be low.
2. Increasing the quality of knowledge is a continuous work. Our memory has a habit of repressing information that we do not use for a long time. This applies exclusively to foreign languages. It is possible to receive a fundamental linguistic education, but not use a foreign language for several years and, as a result, be unable to typically communicate in a foreign language in a store. Vocabulary is forgotten, and then grammar. In order to avoid this, and even on the contrary - in order to expand your vocabulary, you need to use a foreign language to the maximum. Moreover, now it is not so difficult: in fact, in any large bookstore you can buy books in foreign languages, you can also listen to music and communicate on forums. Some people do not allow themselves to “throw out” a foreign language from their career - they are engaged in home translations for translation agencies and private clients, i.e. improve the quality of knowledge for a real fee.
3. Over time, all knowledge acquired exclusively “through force” is forgotten. It is known that it is easier for a person to remember what aroused his emotions. Consequently, it can be extremely difficult to remember a dreary lecture or information from an extremely dry and difficult-to-write textbook. The way out of this situation is to make the process of understanding this or that subject exciting. This can be done by both the teacher and the teacher himself, although here, ultimately, everything depends greatly on the former. Literature classes at school can be diversified by showing a film based on the work being comprehended, or history classes by going to a museum.
4. One of the major challenges for young experts is the inability to apply the knowledge acquired at university in practice. Russian education is fundamental, it includes the comprehension of a large amount of theoretical material and devotes little time to practice. Some employers solve the problems of employees’ inability to cope with certain tasks by organizing trainings in which they will give the required minimum of knowledge in an easy and accessible form, and then ask them to demonstrate how these skills can be applied. Not all trainings are quite effective, however, the model itself of such an increase in the quality of expert knowledge can be called successful.
5. Self-education, of course, plays a special role in increasing the quality of knowledge. Nothing prevents a student or young expert from purchasing and reading books and magazines in his specialty, attending seminars, and exchanging skills on the Internet. However, not everyone engages in self-education; it requires fairly strong motivation. You can start with motivation - those who have firm goals and strive to achieve certain results are more likely to not stop in the face of certain difficulties and will be able to continuously improve the level of their skills and develop the skills necessary for their career.
Video on the topic
“I know that I know nothing,” said the epoch-making writer Omar Khayyam. Of course, this figurative embellishment is inherent in creative individuals, but there is some truth in similar words. Tea, even a Nobel Prize winner knows only a very small part of the information that society has collected. However, everyone needs to acquire new knowledge. This increases the overall level of human development and expands his horizons. You can never predict in advance exactly what knowledge will be useful to you in a particular situation.
Instructions
1. Read as much literature as you are allowed. Reading not only provides new information, but also trains the brain, teaches you to think, explore, think. Of course, we are not talking about immense romance novels, low-grade detective stories, scandalous and sensational opuses, and similar books. Try to read solid fiction and scientific literature, watch the news. This will bring immeasurably more benefits than computer shooting games, for example.
2. At the first opportunity, try to learn something new for yourself. Not only reading will help you here, but also watching TV shows, communicating on various forums on the Internet, and in hobby clubs. Try to absorb the information into yourself verbatim. If you cannot perceive the material immediately, write it down in a notebook.
3. Communicate with smart people knowledgeable people. Don’t hesitate to ask them questions and clarify information if something seems unclear. Take part in disputes and discussions. This will give impetus to the development of the analytical abilities of your mind, and will also expand your horizons. If you don’t understand something and can’t figure it out, don’t leave it for later. Try to understand the information received immediately.
4. But, of course, before anyone else, master new skills in the specific area in which you work. Improve your skills in various ways. Even if you have already achieved serious success, do not stop there. Study at special trainings, courses, communicate with specialists, share your skills. Set new goals and objectives for yourself. This will only benefit you - you will increase your knowledge and be able to move up the career ladder.
5. In a word, be diligent in following the intelligent behest of the famous scientist K.A. Timiryazeva: “Know a little about everyone, and everything about a little!”
Video on the topic
