Rating: 
Summary: Amazingly Practical Advice
Review: "How to Be Twice as Smart" appears a perfect candidate for a cheap gag gift to a friend. You should buy the book. But keep it for yourself for serious study on how to leverage your existing brain cells to the maximum benefit.In the text, Witt cites the oft quoted figure that we only use a small percentage of our brains. If we increase that percentage we can outperform others with greater innate abilities. Unlike other authors, Witt actually proceeds to discuss how we can increase our "mental leverage" by the following: (1) Keep an index card system to remember facts, keep the cards randomized (2) Use digit conversions to remember numbers (for example 5 maps to "l" and 3 maps to "m". If you needed to remember a long string of numbers such as your credit card, you could simply remember the words formed from the mapping.) (3) Don't re-read. And try to take in a greater number of words per glance. Use the SMART reading technique which represents the set of questions about the text you should ask yourself: namely, Subject, Material, Assertions, Reaction, Trademark. (4) Perform mathematical computations by going left to right, rather than the reverse (5) Visualization can be as useful as field practice (6) Write in shorthand to capture conversations, etc. (7) Confidence and independence are common traits of creative people (8) Methods of disarming your detractors and influencing others In short, the scope and applicability of Witt's book is striking, making this is the best "improve your mental ability" book I have ever read. Paul Erdos
Rating: 
Summary: I am disgusted by the tone of this book
Review: How to Be Twice as Smart is a book that basically discusses the use of some older techniques that have been developed in the past. Predominating through this book are discussions of antiquated reading techniques such as : only reading the first sentence of every paragraph, using mnemonics to memorize things, and not using vowels when note taking. Don't be fooled into thinking that the book is solely about these topics though. The book covers other topics such as : "Refining your listening powers", "Outwitting your Competitors", "How to use the Written Word to get what you Want", and other interesting topics. This book does a decent job about talking about each of the aforementioned subjects. What makes it get 4 stars instead of something lower, is the fact that it covers such a large array of so many fields, you will have somewhat of a roadmap of what topics you need to study further to get to be particularly good at whatever you want to do. Essentially, this book shows you what's out there so you can focus in better on learning certain things, I just wouldn't rely on this book alone.
Rating:
Summary: Five stars for sensible rather than sensational
Review: I believe this book delivers on the promise of the title. And you don't need to use, or even read, everything in the book to reap benefits from owning it. After I zeroed him in on the method he needed, my husband read only a few pages and then used the wildcatting technique to help solve a riddle while designing software for radio communicators. (Though, personally, I believe the fact that he was still in his jammies at mid-day also played a role in the breakthrough.)
I like the way this book is set out in distinct sections to help the reader pick and choose. The explanatory nature of the Table of Contents helped me skip past areas I wasn't interested in (speed-reading and math skills) and go straight to tips for boosting creativity and improving the power of written communications.
I also like the way the author writes in a commonsense, plain-talk style, using numerous examples of ordinary people to demonstrate the success of the methods. Unlike some other books of this nature (the kind that use sophisticated visuals and success seminar gurus to seduce you into thinking you'll join the author on the cutting edge), HOW TO BE TWICE AS SMART gives the sort of tips that can actually be applied to the average person's life.
This edition with the magenta-colored brain on the cover was published in 1983, back when people (egad!) actually used typewriters, and you will certainly note the dated voice of the author. That shouldn't detract from the usefulness of his methods. But if you don't want to settle for the old edition, look for the Amazon page featuring the Jan 2003 reissue edition with the purple and green cover. I don't know what kind of updates were made, but at least you'll have the option.
Rating:
Summary: I am disgusted by the tone of this book
Review: I find the "ideas" in this book repugnant, namely that craft skills to display the pretense of intelligence for purely narcissistic purposes are a ready substitute for actual thought, introspection and self-development.
Rating:
Summary: Good book to read
Review: I have bought this book a long time and still consider worth to re-read it. The content is so organized and the author tells us how to learn and remember things step by step. Those learning skills such as SMART system is very useful and effective. I can still remember a newspaper story and points in the textbook clearly. I believe anyone who want to improve their learning skills should read this book. High school students, university or graduate students should also take a look. I just wish this kind of learning skills can be taught at early at High School level.
Rating:
Summary: how to take short cuts and miss important points
Review: I was very disappointed in the book. The only area that I found helpful at all was the math section. The quick reading hints were old news. I have found that by reading in this fashion, I have missed key points and important issues. Depending on a persons line of work, I suppose it could be helpful to some, but not for me. I prefer to be more fine tuned.
Rating: 
Summary: out of date info
Review: The techniques Scott Witt describes in this book may seem elementary, but consider how many people reach adulthood in our society lacking such basic skills. The general lack of cognitive efficiency in America, for which the late Steve Allen coined the word "Dumbth," allows the person with even a small amount of what Witt calls "Mental Leverage" to go a long way. You'd do better picking up some simple but effective mental tools than playing with the sorts of positive thinking/visualization voodoo you find in many self-improvement books. Combine Witt's techniques with some cognitive-behavior habits for dealing with emotional disturbances, develop a plan for maintaining your health, add a realistic strategy for financial independence, and you could build for yourself a useful system for success.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent book
Review: This is the greatest book I've ever read. There are lots of great ideas mentioned in aspects like how to improve your memory, how to learn a brand new skill quickly, how to jot notes fast enough not to miss a single word from even the fastest speaker in the world. The only thing I regret after reading this book is I couldn't have read this book earlier. One more thing to mention is that I read this book twice. After finished reading the book the first time I didn't follow the instructions of the author and hadn't practice at all. In the second time I read the book I follow the suggestions and immerse myself practicing the idea. It really works.
Rating:
Summary: COOL book, I could have saved thousands if i had it earlier
Review: Well, it got quite a lot of kewl ideas, although they sound simple and not that original... but with constant practice, you'lll find yourself improving in study and work. There are also some memory "secret" (not so secret actually) that i spent thousand Hong Kong dollar to learn in a stupid memory course. I wish i had this book earlier!!!
Rating:
Summary: It didn't make me twice as smart but I sure look that way
Review: Wow! I bought this book as a lark thinking it might give me some laughs. Instead I can state with certainty that, although it didn't make me twice as smart, it did make me look twice as smart, probably smarter. Particularly good was the advice on intelligent listening. I knew there were covert messages to everything that was said but I didn't know how to decode those messages and use them to my advantage especially in negotiations. The mental math Witt gives us has helped me look like a genius before my students and I now add, subtract, and multiple in my head faster than they can using a calculator. The reason this book is so effective, besides the clear intelligent style of the writing, is that nobody functions at a level anywhere near his or her mental capacity. If you can increase that capacity by a factor of two, you have to outperform the competition.
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