How to Instantly Become Smarter

On the subtle art of critical thinking.

Most people fear intelligence. They believe it is something you are either born with or need to study for 15+ years at the best schools and universities to achieve. But there is something very simple you can do to instantly boost your intelligence.

Learn the skill of critical thinking.

The first thing I want to point out is how simple it actually is. For most of my life, I didn’t even consider it a special skill. It came naturally to me. In the same way people learn to walk, talk, or read, I learned how to think properly. Only later did I realize how few people actually possess this ability.

Rough estimates suggest that no more than 2–5% of people have critical thinking as a habit. These are frightening numbers.

What Critical Thinking Is — and Why It Matters

Critical thinking is often defined as the process of analyzing facts and arguments to reach informed conclusions.

But this definition doesn’t help much. What does it actually mean to “analyze facts and arguments”?

In simple terms, critical thinking is the ability to ask the right questions. That’s it. And this single habit separates the smartest people from everyone else.

Why does it matter? Because this is the only way to live your own life.

Without this skill, you are just a leaf moved by the wind. Your choices are random and suboptimal — or worse, they are made for you. People without critical thinking are marionettes, manipulated by those who are smarter.

If you can’t distinguish truth from lies, you are nothing more than a puppet of other people’s minds.

How to Train This Skill

As I said, this isn’t difficult. With enough practice, it becomes automatic.

The first step is simple: start questioning everything.

You hear a statement on the news — question it.
You read something on social media — question it.
A friend says something confidently — question it.

You shouldn’t automatically believe anything.

At this stage, the most important thing is to notice every moment when you accept something without doubt. This usually happens with ideas that are considered “obviously true” simply because many people believe them.

Examples include statements like:

• “History must be taught in school.”
• “Democracy is always better than monarchy.”
• “Billionaires should be taxed more.”

I’m not saying all widely accepted ideas are wrong. Many of them are correct. But some are wrong — and almost nobody questions them.

Over time, your brain forms a habit. You stop consciously trying. Every time I hear or read a claim, my mind automatically evaluates whether it makes sense. This reflex is what you should aim for.

How to Evaluate Arguments

This is the second part of the skill.

Once you develop the habit of questioning assumptions, you must learn how to evaluate arguments themselves. The key ability here is distinguishing strong arguments from fake ones.

Training this works the same way — by practice. But now you question the reasoning, not just the belief.

A simple example: “God exists because it is written in the Bible.” This is an obvious fallacy, yet millions of people fail to see why it makes no sense. Once you analyze it, the flaw becomes clear: it is circular reasoning.

You are not judging whether the belief itself is true. You are judging whether the argument supporting it is valid.

A belief can be true for bad reasons. God may exist — but this argument is still wrong.

This distinction is difficult for many people. But with enough discussion, debate, and exposure to weak reasoning, recognizing flawed arguments becomes second nature.

The Dark Side of Critical Thinking

If you develop the habit of questioning assumptions and evaluating arguments, you are already smarter than 95% of people.

But problems begin when critical thinking is misunderstood.

Some people turn skepticism into a personality trait. They doubt everything, dismiss experts, and believe that asking questions automatically makes them intelligent. In reality, this is not critical thinking — it is defensive stupidity.

Real critical thinking is selective. It questions weak arguments, not strong ones. It tries to understand a position before attacking it. Blind skepticism rejects ideas without the effort required to evaluate them, which is just another way of refusing to think.

Final Thoughts

Critical thinking is more important today than ever. AI makes spreading misinformation cheap and effortless. If you can’t tell what is real and what is fake, you will be controlled.

The good news is that this skill is easy to learn. It doesn’t require talent, education, or credentials — only the willingness to form a habit.

As always, the choice is yours.

Be a puppet.
Or be a human.