in 1970 scientists in the UK started an extraordinary experiment that experiment is still ongoing and it's one of the longest ever to be carried out on human development you might have heard of it it's called the 1970 British cohort study or BCS for short this is one of the most important sources of information on lifelong learning anywhere in the world the people in this study have been tracked from birth until now and they're in their 50s and what scientists have CED from their lives well it's certainly eye opening and in some cases shocking they've discovered
how to make yourself smarter the analysis shows that there are certain habits well one in particular that can reshape your future boost your intelligence and well change the entire trajectory of your life what is it the answer is in this envelope which we'll open at the end but for now you and I are going to figure out what it could possibly be so what is the British cohort study well in 1970 scientists in the UK decided to ATT track 17,000 people born in the UK that year in a particular week in April and they've been
tracking them ever since so they've collected data on them when they were born and then again in 1975 1980 1986 1996 20204 all the way up to 2021 they're still tracking them now but the Year we're interested in is 2012 you remember 2012 London Olympics Tesla was still fashionable Donald Trump was just a reality TV star and the participants of this study were turning 42 and they become some of the most highly tracked people in the world I'll show you the sort of data that been collected so they ask questions about health and education and
finances and employment and that kind of thing so measuring life outcomes you how good your life is basically but the great thing about this study is that you can compare answers at different times of people's lives to try to figure out what causes people to have better or worse lives now in the 2012 study they focused on education and learning and that was interesting because in a previous study when the participants were 16 they'd done the same thing researchers compared the results of cognitive development and ability at ages 5 10 16 and 42 and they
found something very very telling people with the same cognitive abilities early in life were able to increase them essentially becoming smarter by doing one thing and one thing only and doing this in childhood not only boosted intellectual growth but according to data from the group it's impact is four times greater than having parents with a University degree it accelerates General intellectual development have you guessed what it is yet I'll give you a clue according to the data women do it more than men the results from the study are very clear doing this makes you smarter
and starting early in life has lifelong benefits there are other studies too like this one which rathered improves your mental health or this one which found a link between doing it and Longevity what else it gives you better social skills improves your mood increases empathy reduces anxiety increases brain connections slows age related brain Decay and protects against depression it can also make you rich well kind of the 1970 British H Court study isn't unique there was also one in 1958 what did it find children who were just one level ahead with this skill at age
seven earned £5,000 more per year by the age of 42 now you might be thinking maybe these kids were just naturally smarter maybe intelligence explains their higher earnings but no because the link remained even after controlling for intelligence and family background and years in education in other words this alone predicted higher earnings in adulthood I'm not going to keep you in suspense any longer I'm going to open the envelope but before I do once you know the answer there's something else you need to know because well there's a massive problem related to this are you
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year if you choose the annual plan [Music] childhood reading predicted adult job Prestige and socioeconomic status more powerfully than family wealth or intelligence reading is also a driver of upward Mobility the researchers put it plainly your literacy and numeracy skills as a child will shape your success for the rest of your life no matter how smart or wealthy your parents were that sounds quite straightforward but there is a massive problem take a look at this this research from the reading agency a uk-based charity its aim is to empower people to read more in 2024 they
released the state of the nation's adult reading report I'll summarize it for you reading is in steep decline particularly among people aged 16 to 24 a quarter of this group never read for pleasure and half of the entire UK adult population says they they don't read regularly can you guess why look at this graph it's the top six reasons that laps readers give for what's stopping them reading at number one here what is it can you guess yeah it's social media these findings are replicated over and over again in study after study maybe people's reading
habits are changing maybe they're reading the same just on digital devices but that's not the case long form reading in any format is dropping it's easy to blame social media for all of this and it plays a significant role but there are other factors too changing life and work patterns we all have less time pressures from education to pass exams and less emphasis on reading for pleasure it's all playing a part and it becomes a vicious circle because the less we read the more challenging reading becomes we lose our reading stamina and ability to focus
so we're not going to pick up that 700 page book because it's too difficult and yes yes I did buy a 700 page book recently and I'm still reading it after 3 months because I don't prioritize reading as much as I would like to and I like reading when I bought the the Kindle version which I don't own thanks to the latest Amazon update I didn't realize how long it was and had I realized I probably wouldn't have bought it if we all stop reading what then it's bad for us individually but collectively it's arguably
even worse just think about what the potential consequences of that could be poorer critical thinking skills at a societal level will lead to worse societies lower levels of empathy because reading is good for that an angrier Society less able to see things from other perspectives and less capable of putting their own points across who knows where that might lead there's a reason that totalitarian regimes burn and ban books what can we do to fix this well the good news is that you can change your reading habits and it's not as difficult as you might think
so here are five suggestions on how to read more the first one is something that's really helped me why aren't you reading for me it was that reading wasn't as accessible as other media so I made two minor changes to my life I switched off my notifications on my phone and I made sure I carried a book or my Kindle around with me as much as possible so now when I have a spare 5 minutes or more instead of reaching for my phone I reach for a book I also read before I go to bed
read what interests you look if you want to read Agatha Christi books then read them don't worry about what people think I like reading essays they're not as lengthy as novels and they've helped to build a reading habit for me three set realistic goals despite what your favorite YouTubers say you're probably probably not going to read a novel a week so don't set that as your goal can you read a novel a month or 10 minutes a day aim for that starts more and be consistent one of the main blocks to reading is time but
I bet you can find 10 minutes a day to read so do that just 10 minutes a day and five enjoy yourself the whole point is to make reading fun this should be an enjoyable experience so allow it to be don't put too much pressure on yourself and if you start a book that you find yourself hating feel free to stop and move on to something else take some inspiration from this article where author and journalist Nancy Joe sales describes how she got her reading habit back go to the comments and tell me which book
you're going to read next oh and the 700 page book that I'm still plowing through what is it well it's not highbrow it's Dr Who The Writer's Tale
