Let's skip the chit-chat and get to the main topic at hand. How does one become smarter?
Well, if you google it, it will say reading, playing an instrument, and so on. These are things that require methods of thinking. We need to be smart to figure them out. But how do we think though?
I believe that how we think is almost exactly like sudoku. We take in information and formulate from there. If we know some information to be a certain fact, we will also be able to figure out other facts from them and formulate even more facts from the facts we know. However, the information we take in is also important, since no human, not a single one will be able to figure anything out without knowing certain information. For example, you can't do anything if your sudoku board is empty, how do you figure out the number of placements? You just can't.
Basically, smart people will be able to figure things out from smaller information, however, if the information is too small, no amount of intelligence can figure it out unless you're omniscient.
I know I said no chit-chat, but it had to be said.
Anyways, how do we effectively become smarter? Well, that's easy to answer, just train your brain bruh, but I'll give you some very good information you might want to learn.
Since emotions are dictated by the brain, it's important to know that feeling emotions take away some ability from the brain, the more negative it is, the more brain power it takes, because if you feel negative, you're always thinking of the cause of the negative emotion and think of solutions for it. The more positive it is, the less you think about it.
1. Don't feel negative emotions while thinking. If you have a problem, but you have to study, just think that the problem was already resolved and worry about the problem later. (this can be really bad advice IF THE PROBLEM YOU'RE HAVING IS SERIOUS)
2. Energy is also important, your brain needs nutrients to think, so eat, drink, and just take care of your body, since bad health can come with emotional problems. Cardio can also be a short-term solution, for some reason, you think clearer a few minutes after doing cardio till you're tired. (don't overdo it though, it can make it worse)
3. Fully focus on the problem at hand.
4 (hypothetical). The subconscious might be better than conscious thinking, however, I haven't theorized this part yet, so I'll probably do it tomorrow.