Is There a Difference Between Fluid and Crystallized Intelligence?

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S Sik: We did not actually describe the difference between fluid and crystallized intelligence. So tell me, what are your thoughts on that topic? S Sik: People get better at things through their twenties and thirties. And weirdly, it tends to pique in your late thirties or early forties, and then it tends to decline. But there's a second intelligence curve behind it that doesn't reward the same things. The great news is that crystallized intelligence increases through your forties and fifties and even sixties - and stays high in your seventies and eighties.

Sam Harris speaks with Arthur C. Brooks about what it takes to build a good life. They discuss the power of social comparison, the intelligence taboo, political dignity and ethical hierarchy, the Dalai Lama, the nature of love, fluid and crystallized intelligences, the strange case of Linus Pauling, the limits of identity, atheism and religious faith, fear of death, psychedelics, existentialism, St. Thomas Aquinas, and other topics.

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Learning how to train your mind is the single greatest investment you can make in life. That’s why Sam Harris created the Waking Up app. From rational mindfulness practice to lessons on some of life’s most important topics, join Sam as he demystifies the practice of meditation and explores the theory behind it.