how do I get the same knowledge and wisdom as everybody else? (emotional, Aspergers)

[Herbrocks]

I love the title of your post!

All I can say is "wisdom is what you get when you don't get what you want"

[Morphous01]

Originally Posted by samston

I'm 30 and my mental age is about 12. Everybody else picks up normal facts of life quicker than I do. Is something wrong with my brain?

If you are able to log onto CD, and communicate with others, I doubt anything is "wrong" with your brain. Regardless, I see plenty of people like you waking around (30+ but come off much younger mature wise); I caulk it up to American culture in which living in a 1 rate country shields people from the harsh reality's of life (e.g, Darfur, malnutrition, frequent random car bombings) that would other wise cause them to grow up sooner.

Anyhow, knowledge and wisdom are two different things. As far as knowledge, like the poster said below, you can take a test (which has its limits) to discover how quickly you pick up on things relative to the general population; a test can also point out what naturally comes easy to you. (e.g, math, mechanics).



If you want to improve your knowledge, and sharpen your mind, I recommend the following off the top of my head:


Get rid of your TV...
Read books...
Eat healthy...
Exercise (it sends fresh oxygenated blood to the brain)..
Drink VERY light, don't drink to get drunk..
Hang around people who are MUCH smarter then you (e.g stock brokers, mathematicians)...
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Cultivate your TRUE PASSIONS, don't settle to do things you dont like just for money...
And the biggest one of all is to KEEP LEARNING!!!





As far as wisdom, it's a little different, some people are born naturally wise (e.g., "you are wise beyond your years") but you can still pick it up from experience, and you can also pick it up from being in the company of older people who have proven that they are very wise. If you have no elderly people around you (and this is where the books come in) deep wisdom can be found in ancient text; a good place to start is the various books that were written by the Japanese warrior class about 500/600 years ago.

Don't worry, you have a long time to make up ground because, where as, the human body peaks around 27-33 the brain peaks mentally somewhere in the 50's; also, the brain is very malleable in that you can teach yourself to constantly learn how to do new things up until you die; the key is to never become complacent (like most Americans in that they just want to retire so they can sit around and watch TV all day) and constantly push yourself mentally.

[Morphous01]

Originally Posted by Herbrocks

All I can say is "wisdom is what you get when you don't get what you want"

yea, that's true and it's usually harsh when you get it that way...

[TFW46]

Hang around people who are MUCH smarter then you (e.g stock brokers, mathematicians)...

I agree with your other advice but I cant go along with this one. Hanging around smarter people does as much for one's intelligence as hanging around ethical people (oops...that excludes most stock brokers) does for one's ethics or hanging around interesting people (oops...that excludes most mathematicians) does for one's personality. And I say that as a former mathematician.

Perhaps you meant to suggest that he hang around people with experience in fields in which he's interested.

[Fat Freddy]

Originally Posted by samston

I only knew that everything in life has a cost when i was 29.

You should have bought more when it was cheap and people trusted you.

Now that you are over 30 it's too late.

[ino]

Originally Posted by SouthernBelleInUtah

You can get an IQ test from many psychologists but it will cost you. Maybe take a course at a community college to use their student testing services for much less money. Alternatively, any university with a doctoral program in psychology has a student-run assessment clinic that is quite cheap. Call around!

It'd probly be a good idea to read up on that IQ (so called) test.
You'll find that the bloke who originally came up with the concept used it for young school kids (if memory serves me well) and it was never meant to be used as it's so widely used today.

Forgotten his name but for those who love 'referenced data sources' they can do the research, and research will also turn up the fact that he was fairly displeased that his concept was taken and used/abused for purposes of which it was never meant for.

Here ya go, have a read of this...

History of IQ Tests

[Hopes]

Originally Posted by samston

I'm 30 and my mental age is about 12. Everybody else picks up normal facts of life quicker than I do. Is something wrong with my brain?

Are you talking about common sense type things? Or are you talking about knowledge about specific subjects, meaning of words, etc?

[stillkit]

Solomon said the beginning of wisdom is fear of the Lord.

But, what did he know? He was only the wisest man who ever lived!

[coyoteskye]

comparisons are odious.
find your sSelf and be yourself.

[samston]

Originally Posted by Hopes

Are you talking about common sense type things? Or are you talking about knowledge about specific subjects, meaning of words, etc?

I'm talking about wisdom and truths of life.