Has the LSAT made you smarter? Forum

[LesPaul1995]

This is a viable occurrence that has progressed throughout my prep. 3 weeks out from the June LSAT and consistently PT'ing 177+, I have noticed that even everyday conversation/argumentation has changed DRASTICALLY. 6 months ago while with friends and family I would have gone along with everyday arguments/conversations, but I now find myself implicitly finding flaws in arguments, thinking in terms of what must or could be true in a situation, or otherwise thinking in constant logical reasoning terms. It is as if I have to find the correct answer to say before I say something, instead of before my prep of just going with something for the sake of it - like I'm finding the correct answer on a logical reasoning question, lol. I'm curious if anyone else has noticed this "side effect"? The LSAT really has the ability to change the way you think if you did not already think that way (or perhaps this is what becoming smart feels like lol)

[Future Ex-Engineer]

I don't think this is an indication of you becoming 'smarter'. It honestly sounds like you've just started being a dick.

[Jack_Kelly]

I'm definitely more aware of my total inability to do logic games, if that counts as intelligence.

[Platopus]

Nah, always thought like this. Most people are pretty dumb, and it's obvious. Not saying I'm a genius or immune to any of it myself, just saying the revelation that people say stupid shit didn't come from studying the LSAT.

Also, remember, the LSAT constrains us from making some otherwise pretty common sense assumptions that would hold in the real world. Being good at the LSAT is not really an indication of intelligence.

[MediocreAtBest]

I don't think this is an indication of you becoming 'smarter'. It honestly sounds like you've just started being a dick.

[Veil of Ignorance]

.

[Alexandros]

.

[Barack O'Drama]

I don't think this is an indication of you becoming 'smarter'. It honestly sounds like you've just started being a dick.

[tuna_wasabi]

I'm definitely more aware of my total inability to do logic games, if that counts as intelligence.

Ay mate, you are not alone.

[Mikey]

I wouldn't say it has made me smarter.. But I will say that it has made me more attentive to details and being more cautious with certain words. That's about it, though.

[DragonWell]

This is a viable occurrence that has progressed throughout my prep. 3 weeks out from the June LSAT and consistently PT'ing 177+, I have noticed that even everyday conversation/argumentation has changed DRASTICALLY. 6 months ago while with friends and family I would have gone along with everyday arguments/conversations, but I now find myself implicitly finding flaws in arguments, thinking in terms of what must or could be true in a situation, or otherwise thinking in constant logical reasoning terms. It is as if I have to find the correct answer to say before I say something, instead of before my prep of just going with something for the sake of it - like I'm finding the correct answer on a logical reasoning question, lol. I'm curious if anyone else has noticed this "side effect"? The LSAT really has the ability to change the way you think if you did not already think that way (or perhaps this is what becoming smart feels like lol)

I agree. I definitely am getting much better. Also, I heard intense study may help you fend off Alzheimers.
However, I also remind myself, that "Charming is nonsense. Nonsense is charming"--just watch Breakfast at Tiffany's . So I try not to be dick, lol.

[Dr.Degrees_Cr.Cash]

This is a viable occurrence that has progressed throughout my prep. 3 weeks out from the June LSAT and consistently PT'ing 177+, I have noticed that even everyday conversation/argumentation has changed DRASTICALLY. 6 months ago while with friends and family I would have gone along with everyday arguments/conversations, but I now find myself implicitly finding flaws in arguments, thinking in terms of what must or could be true in a situation, or otherwise thinking in constant logical reasoning terms. It is as if I have to find the correct answer to say before I say something, instead of before my prep of just going with something for the sake of it - like I'm finding the correct answer on a logical reasoning question, lol. I'm curious if anyone else has noticed this "side effect"? The LSAT really has the ability to change the way you think if you did not already think that way (or perhaps this is what becoming smart feels like lol)

This definitely happened to me, though in my new found risk aversion in conversation I'm not going to say that indicates anyone is smarter, just more reserved in conversation (and some would probably say boring)

[Nebby]

Creation of this thread is proof you're not smarter

[Future Ex-Engineer]

Creation of this thread is proof you're not smarter

In b4 OP 160s June and comes back asking about a retake

[freekick]

This is a viable occurrence that has progressed throughout my prep. 3 weeks out from the June LSAT and consistently PT'ing 177+, I have noticed that even everyday conversation/argumentation has changed DRASTICALLY. 6 months ago while with friends and family I would have gone along with everyday arguments/conversations, but I now find myself implicitly finding flaws in arguments, thinking in terms of what must or could be true in a situation, or otherwise thinking in constant logical reasoning terms. It is as if I have to find the correct answer to say before I say something, instead of before my prep of just going with something for the sake of it - like I'm finding the correct answer on a logical reasoning question, lol. I'm curious if anyone else has noticed this "side effect"? The LSAT really has the ability to change the way you think if you did not already think that way (or perhaps this is what becoming smart feels like lol)

IMV, the LSAT thinking isn't very different from how a reasonably smart person thinks. Studying for the LSAT structured my thought process so that I am now always aware of the numerous ways in which I can respond. Depending on the needs of a given situation, I am able to pick the appropriate response/line of thinking from the full array of options.

So certainly more efficienct and disciplined now. Smarter? Don't think so.

[Slippin' Jimmy]

I don't think this is an indication of you becoming 'smarter'. It honestly sounds like you've just started being a dick.

[Barack O'Drama]

Creation of this thread is proof you're not smarter

In b4 OP 160s June and comes back asking about a retake

[Slippin' Jimmy]

Creation of this thread is proof you're not smarter

In b4 OP 160s June and comes back asking about a retake

Nope. He won't be able to retake due to his oh so unique circumstances that preclude him from ever taking the test again.

[Barack O'Drama]

Creation of this thread is proof you're not smarter

In b4 OP 160s June and comes back asking about a retake

Nope. He won't be able to retake due to his oh so unique circumstances that preclude him from ever taking the test again.

QFP haha

[Future Ex-Engineer]

Creation of this thread is proof you're not smarter

In b4 OP 160s June and comes back asking about a retake

Nope. He won't be able to retake due to his oh so unique circumstances that preclude him from ever taking the test again.

QFP haha

Does that make OP Ferrisjo reincarnated?

[MercW07]

If anything it has forced me to read and feign an interest concerning topics I would have never considered interesting in the past. For example I now know more about Native American oral traditions than I ever thought I would, but I wouldn't necessarily say I'm smarter because of that lol

[LesPaul1995]

This is a viable occurrence that has progressed throughout my prep. 3 weeks out from the June LSAT and consistently PT'ing 177+, I have noticed that even everyday conversation/argumentation has changed DRASTICALLY. 6 months ago while with friends and family I would have gone along with everyday arguments/conversations, but I now find myself implicitly finding flaws in arguments, thinking in terms of what must or could be true in a situation, or otherwise thinking in constant logical reasoning terms. It is as if I have to find the correct answer to say before I say something, instead of before my prep of just going with something for the sake of it - like I'm finding the correct answer on a logical reasoning question, lol. I'm curious if anyone else has noticed this "side effect"? The LSAT really has the ability to change the way you think if you did not already think that way (or perhaps this is what becoming smart feels like lol)

This definitely happened to me, though in my new found risk aversion in conversation I'm not going to say that indicates anyone is smarter, just more reserved in conversation (and some would probably say boring)

I too have noticed this risk aversion, and I guess since I have noticeably started thinking differently. I generally stay quiet now instead of pointing out flaws to negate the risk of sounding like, many of the commenters in this thread believe, I'm a dick.
However, I think the other posters are mistaking me for what I am purporting. I am not saying that the LSAT is an iq test in that it does measure intelligence - "smart" in the discussed instance is defined as quick witted intelligence, and so to say that the LSAT does not at least prepare you to think more intuitively in the capacity of a lawyer is inaccurate (i.e. corporate litigation, drafting M&A deals that typically differ from one another). Do you really think it is a coincidence that the top schools who typically produce the brightest legal minds of today also happen to have a high lsat median and the worst schools just the opposite? I don't think it is a leap in logic to assume that at least some of these people in the process (especially the ones who have made a sizeable increase in their lsat score) have gotten smarter. This isn't a rhetorical btw.

[A. Nony Mouse]

However, I think the other posters are mistaking me for what I am purporting. I am not saying that the LSAT is an iq test in that it does measure intelligence - "smart" in the discussed instance is defined as quick witted intelligence, and so to say that the LSAT does not at least prepare you to think more intuitively in the capacity of a lawyer is inaccurate (i.e. corporate litigation, drafting M&A deals that typically differ from one another). Do you really think it is a coincidence that the top schools who typically produce the brightest legal minds of today also happen to have a high lsat median and the worst schools just the opposite? I don't think it is a leap in logic to assume that at least some of these people in the process (especially the ones who have made a sizeable increase in their lsat score) have gotten smarter. This isn't a rhetorical btw.

No, just no. The LSAT doesn't teach you "to think more intuitively in the capacity of a lawyer" (which in itself doesn't make sense), and it doesn't make people smarter because more high LSAT people are at schools that select for high LSATs.

[Future Ex-Engineer]

However, I think the other posters are mistaking me for what I am purporting. I am not saying that the LSAT is an iq test in that it does measure intelligence - "smart" in the discussed instance is defined as quick witted intelligence, and so to say that the LSAT does not at least prepare you to think more intuitively in the capacity of a lawyer is inaccurate (i.e. corporate litigation, drafting M&A deals that typically differ from one another). Do you really think it is a coincidence that the top schools who typically produce the brightest legal minds of today also happen to have a high lsat median and the worst schools just the opposite? I don't think it is a leap in logic to assume that at least some of these people in the process (especially the ones who have made a sizeable increase in their lsat score) have gotten smarter. This isn't a rhetorical btw.

No, just no. The LSAT doesn't teach you "to think more intuitively in the capacity of a lawyer" (which in itself doesn't make sense), and it doesn't make people smarter because more high LSAT people are at schools that select for high LSATs.

Precisely. How in the world can OP make such an egregious correlation/causation error and yet claim superior intelligence and mastery over the LSAT??? It kills people for making this exact mistake.

[Yugihoe]

This is a viable occurrence that has progressed throughout my prep. 3 weeks out from the June LSAT and consistently PT'ing 177+, I have noticed that even everyday conversation/argumentation has changed DRASTICALLY. 6 months ago while with friends and family I would have gone along with everyday arguments/conversations, but I now find myself implicitly finding flaws in arguments, thinking in terms of what must or could be true in a situation, or otherwise thinking in constant logical reasoning terms. It is as if I have to find the correct answer to say before I say something, instead of before my prep of just going with something for the sake of it - like I'm finding the correct answer on a logical reasoning question, lol. I'm curious if anyone else has noticed this "side effect"? The LSAT really has the ability to change the way you think if you did not already think that way (or perhaps this is what becoming smart feels like lol)

IMV, the LSAT thinking isn't very different from how a reasonably smart person thinks. Studying for the LSAT structured my thought process so that I am now always aware of the numerous ways in which I can respond. Depending on the needs of a given situation, I am able to pick the appropriate response/line of thinking from the full array of options.

So certainly more efficienct and disciplined now. Smarter? Don't think so.

ITT: A bunch of people with aspergers