[ycosynot]

It's not about knowledge, it's about grasping. When the thing is made easy to grasp, you increase knowledge, not global understanding. To understand better, you have to practice understanding. (supposedly)

And so rather than watching digested videos, I recommend reading the works and essays of great minds, and struggling (reasonably), to embrace their way of thought, while appreciating the content. Understand some, then go again, and understand more. Socrates taught Plato, and Plato taught Aristotles. Is it a coincidence? I would find the greatest mind I can find, first among other strategies. Personally, I've started reading Emerson, everyday, or Montesquieu. I write parts I like, on paper, and try to understand better along, why he says what he says, and why he writes how he writes.

But this is supposing I'm smart, and have my word to say... Well, let us settle on the compromise then, and experiment? Because also, different people are at different levels of grasping, and also, they have different definitions for 'smart', so you should do depending on what you want to become, and which 'they' you want to be a part of.

Personally, I don't care that much, it just feels good to be so near a great mind, though surely everyone has his own view of what that is.

[rancur]

the ability to grasp is more valuable than the knowledge though-- this is why my alma mater didn't really worry too much about making the material digesting us.

not joking. Frankly, it makes my degree more valuable

[ycosynot]

I didn't say grasping is superior to knowledge, I said the optimum path to increase grasping (intelligence) may be different than the optimum path to increase knowledge, and that if this is the case, then I would train with hard-to-grasp material rather than easy-to-digest videos. I admit my first sentence was badly worded (I'm not English, though it's no excuse).