Review: Awaken the Genius: Mind Technology for the 21st Century by Patrick K. Porter

I first reviewed Awaken the Genius: Mind Technology for the 21st Century by Patrick K. Porter in July 2005, and decided to present the review here to prepare you for Superlearning 2000 that I will be reviewing in a couple of weeks. It’s important for us to find ways to learn better and be more creative. I have added new information to the original review.

Patrick Porter defines awakened geniuses as “those who have learned to tap that superconscious reservoir of information so as never to waste time or energy in recreating the wheel. They simply make modifications and enhancements until they move forward with optimum speed and efficiency.”

This book is a practical guide filled with lots of exercises. For example, there is one exercise that helps you to figure out your preferred mode of communication – visual, auditory or kinesthetic. How do you want information to be presented to you? How do you analyze information? Do you decide by how things LOOK to you (Visual)? Or, do you decide by how things SOUND to you (Auditory)? Or, do you decide by how things FEEL to you (Kinesthetic)?

Visual learners: They want to see how something is done, and benefit most from maps, diagrams, charts, pictures, and films. If you show them, they will understand. They will likely say, “I see what you mean.”

Auditory learners: They prefer to hear explanations and like to talk their way through things. They benefit most from traditional learning techniques, where the leader presents the information. They will likely say, “I hear what you say.”

Kinesthetic learners: They want to get lots of hands-on experience so they can feel how something is done. They learn fastest when they are involved in the activity, such as science labs, drama presentations, skits, and field trips. They will likely say, “I feel what you mean.”

To take the test to figure out what type of learner you are, go to this website http://www.businessballs.com/vaklearningstylestest.htm. There are other sites online to take the test as well.

A research report by The William Glasser Institute about how we learn indicates that we learn:

• 10 percent of what we Read
• 20 percent of what we Hear
• 30 percent of what we See
• 50 percent of what we See and Hear
• 70 percent of what we Discuss with Others
• 80 percent of what we Experience Personally
• 95 percent of what we Teach to Others

The best way to learn so that you remember most of the information is to use a combination of methods: reading, watching videos, listening to podcasts, discussing what you have learned and also teaching it to others.

Patrick Porter explains in Awaken the Genius that our brain works on four frequencies: Beta (15 to 40 cycles a second), Alpha (9 to 14 cycles per second), Theta (5 to 8 cycles a second) and Delta (1.5 to 4 cycles per second). In the Beta frequency, you are operating in a state of wide awake, which is the state of mind where you get things done. However, it’s also the frequency that produces fear, frustration, anxiety and self-doubt. In the Alpha and Theta frequencies, you are in a state of peace, tranquility, happiness and contentment. This is the state where you meditate, pray, be in the quiet of nature. You get into these frequencies while listening to relaxing music. Alpha and Theta can only exist with a relaxed body and mind. In the Delta frequency, you are in an unconscious dreamland.

Porter also describes the four steps to what he calls “Optimal Learning State.” The author recommends listening to baroque, melodic, classical and new age music. These types of music start the Alpha brain wave response, which opens your mind to learning. The four steps:

1. Get into a comfortable position: Sit comfortably in a straight back chair, feet flat on the ground, eyes closed and rolled slightly upwards
2. Use your imagination to create a place out in nature: This will be your personal place of relaxation. Make the experience as rich as possible. Porter suggests that your personal place of relaxation has a golden dome around it, and that in this place you can be or do anything that you want
3. Use your imagination, move through the successful fulfillment of all your goals and outcomes: Imagine what it will be like when you accomplish these positive outcomes
4. Bring yourself back: Say the words “wide awake wide awake

The four steps to “Optimal Learning State” may seem weird to you, but other information that I have read suggest that it’s important for you be relaxed when you need to learn – relaxed body, alert mind. This is the author’s way of getting you to that stage.

Five Great Ideas

1. To awaken your genius, you have to attain the skills of self-discovery. You must first become a guru about you. Self-discovery is to know yourself and own your successes and faults
2. You must restructure your thinking, so that what others perceive as failure, you perceive as feedback
3. Geniuses realize that now is the best starting point for a brighter and more exciting future
4. We are all moving – some people are moving forward, some are moving in the reverse, and others move wherever the advertisers tell them to go. Are you willing to realize the limitlessness of your potential?
5. We are always in the right place at the right time, and will always have what we need

I recommend Awaken the Genius: Mind Technology for the 21st Century by Patrick Porter. Please write your thoughts in the comments box below.

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