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AlanFromWichita
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Music makes you smarter; that’s a form of prayer.
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mexolic
Guest
I would say that people of faith who pray are smarter. Maybe not more inteligent, but knowing better to put their trust in God through prayer. 
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Reuben_J
Guest
Prayer certainly makes one smarter. It is a conduit, a bridge to be in communion with God. We can’t be wrong with God. Yes, we can be fool for God but who care when we have God for us! 
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Linusthe2nd
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PCalungsod
Guest
Wiser maybe, not smarter. Wiser, in a sense that you become more aware of your relationship with God (“I am His child and He is my Father.”), who is the ultimate source of wisdom and in my experience, prayer makes a person more calm, hence making him think more deeply and think more clearly.
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Lost_Wanderer
Guest
I’d still say no.Pooly phrased. Question should be does living in the State of Grace make you smarter?
There are plenty of smart people who are not exactly saintly (sad as that sounds).
There are plenty of saintly people who are also not very bright (though I did wish they used their heads more).
Being dumb may not be a sin but that doesn’t make it a good thing.
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AlanFromWichita
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I agree with your observations. Living in a state of grace may be a smart thing to do, but to me that’s more an absence of sin, rather than an accomplishment of the mind. Actually, being in a state of mortal sin, by definition, requires an act of the mind.
That said, being out of the state of grace can cause anxiety which reduces learning. But then again, a sociopath does not have that anxiety and some of them get pretty clever.
In any given situation, it isn’t too hard to imagine a person being in the state of grace, and thereby feeling free to learn. But as a hard and fast “rule” I’m tempted to separate the intelligence from the morality. There are very clever, evil minds, as well as wonderful people who have very low IQ and are not only ineducable but untrainable.
Maybe these cases are the norm, maybe they aren’t. I’ll leave that question to researchers. But I’m just saying that mental acuity and learning, and moral behavior, do not necessary coincide for each and every individual.
Alan
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southeast_wisco
Guest
Sin does darken the intellect. I’ve heard that more than once from respected priests at airmaria dot com.
What a person feeds on has an effect one’s mind and thought process. Watch soap operas two hours a day and it will effect one’s mind, emotions, way of talking, way of interacting, etc.
Prayer may give you more time to develop one’s talents. For example, few young people today believe in avoiding deep kissing/soul kissing and all this physical arousal outiside of marriage. Tell a young persoon to avoid deep kissing/soul kissing and all this physical arousal outside of marriage - the young person may reply, “If I did that I would have some much time and energy on my hands, I’d be a genius.”
Prayer may or may not make a person directly smarter but it could very likely change one’s priorities so one has more time & energy to study more-study better-study more effectively with better results. Prayer may help a person change one’s priorities to study fruitfully.
What a person feeds on has an effect one’s mind and thought process. Watch soap operas two hours a day and it will effect one’s mind, emotions, way of talking, way of interacting, etc.
Prayer may give you more time to develop one’s talents. For example, few young people today believe in avoiding deep kissing/soul kissing and all this physical arousal outiside of marriage. Tell a young persoon to avoid deep kissing/soul kissing and all this physical arousal outside of marriage - the young person may reply, “If I did that I would have some much time and energy on my hands, I’d be a genius.”
Prayer may or may not make a person directly smarter but it could very likely change one’s priorities so one has more time & energy to study more-study better-study more effectively with better results. Prayer may help a person change one’s priorities to study fruitfully.
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Lost_Wanderer
Guest
If we’re talking about time then prayer would also be construed as waste much like french-kissing. What’s to stop someone from saying to just go dive into study altogether?
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AlanFromWichita
Guest
I don’t understand. Are you saying that prayer is a waste of time? If so then maybe we need to look at what is being done during that prayer. Do we get a sense of mental relaxation, thereby reducing anxiety and thus in better condition for learning? If I’m even on the right track, then do we need to isolate, for sake of the discussion, the salient components of the generalized activity we’re referring to as “prayer” which put a person to the advantage?
I have no idea if the above makes sense, but I don’t know how to fix it so I’ll leave as is.
Alan
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Lost_Wanderer
Guest
That’s a good argument too but I’m just saying that if we’re just talking about saving time, a person would consider just focusing on study altogether. Meditative activity can be recommended but is it a necessity? And for how long? That much is up for debate.
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AlanFromWichita
Guest
OK. In my particular case, meditative and contemplative activity saved my sanity first, and then optimized my mind so that my focused and unfocused and subconscious thoughts all play nice together.
But prayer has unique impact on each person, and for me the results were positive and worth the time. That is not the case for everyone, I’m sure. Unless praying in itself is the reward, in which case the cost/benefit analysis always comes out on the sweet end. Of course if that’s the case, then the question of if it makes you smarter is left unanswered, at least not answered by virtue of the scenario.
Alan
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