The Einstein Factor: A Proven New Method for Increasing Your Intelligence [ペーパーバック]

Convinced by the reviews I had read in Amazon, I decided to 'take the plunge' and buy this book. I was not disappointed. The book contains a wealth of information for increasing your intellect and gaining access to the subconscious mind. I was hopeful, but at the same time somewhat cynical about techniques such as Freenoting, Photoreading and Socratic Learning, but I gave them the benefit of the doubt. I have put all three into effect, among others, and have learnt to trust my unconscious insights and to control my 'Editor'. I am a university student studying macroeconomics, and I was cramming for my exams weeks before. Usually I would have been anxious, but since I had become familiar with some of the methods in the book I felt confident in my ability to learn before the exam and to perform on the day. I felt relaxed (the book teaches you about that as well). My enthusiasm for study has increased greatly. It's wonderful to know that after a short period spent Photoreading you can go to bed, because the brain absorbs what you have learnt during sleep! And instead of tedious notetaking I make amusing comments and witty remarks about what I am reading, often scribbling on the text itself (in pencil). When reviewing, I made fun.

Photoreading is based on relaxed unconscious learning. It is so powerful that when reading through copious amounts of academic texts I merely flick through the pages, without focusing on the words on the page. eye with no conscious effort on my part. I kid you not. It took me a bit of time to realise this and I'm still learning to confine myself to reading only the bits that this intuition leads me to, but I'm getting there. subtle in their effects. If you consciously look out for your 'inner voice' or for subtle insights, the chances are that you won't find them. You've got to be relaxed and you've got to be patient and learn to not put your mind under pressure to perform. You will not be disappointed.

I wasn't Factor's instructions, I proceeded to Photoread my entire macroeconomics textbook several times over a number of weeks. The book is hundreds of pages long, yet each Photoreading session only took about 15 minutes. Soon, I found myself focusing on certain chapters, which I 'sensed' were the areas I needed to read. When I eventually sat down to learn macroeconomics the conventional way, I was getting insights before the author had confirmed them in the text, and new information felt familiar and comfortable. I was 'drawing it out' of my unconscious and creating something new. I was reaching fresh insights. I couldn't believe it. Needless to say, I now find macroeconomics rather enjoyable!

The Einstein Factor has become a part of my life. Not only do the techniques accelerate your mind, but the book's a good read as well. It's written in a clear manner with informative diagrams, is well paced in its progression and has snippets of intriguing information on topics ranging from quantum physics and the 'ideal realm' to Mozart and the evolution of man's intelligence through the ages (memetic evolution). It's a quality product; a pleasure to spend time with. I'm getting it for my sister as a birthday present. Trust me, you want to get it too. And y'know what? I haven't even been concentrating on Wenger's main technique, Image Streaming. I've only tried it a handful of times. And yet during this time I have started to dream (or rather, started to recall my dreams) during REM sleep. I have had brainwaves coming out of the blue, and I mean 'Eureka!' I have begun creative writing and consciously use all my senses in my day to day life. The potentials for further development with time and persistence are mind-boggling.

I didn't even realise how much this one book had impacted on my life until I sat down to write this review. That's how subtle the the event, because you'll be in flow and totally focused. You'll be in that state that's referred to as 'being in the zone', when anything is possible. Win Wenger has dubbed it 'creative fire'. And anyone can get there. It's certainly my goal.

Win Wenger and Richard Poe have put together a masterpiece. Buy this book and prepare yourself for a glad, rich and waiting for a genius like YOU.

Recently there seems to be a lot of books being released on how to increase one's intelligence, this book seemed to be the only one that actually gave a method that worked. Image Streaming works, there's no doubt about it, but one thing that I cannot stress enough - if you want to become a genius or become more intelligent you need to put in the effort. The book suggests 15 minutes of Image Streaming a day but if you really want results you should practice for at least an hour. The reason is, according to the book and other studies* one's IQ raises 0.9 pts for every hour put in, if you put in 15 minutes a day your IQ will raise gradually of course but best results are achieved through more practice.

The reason this book is called the Einstein Factor is because of the notion of how Einstein developed his intelligence. Einstein as many people have heard was dyslectic. People who knew him as a child assumed he would never amount to anything. At the age of 16, while he was sitting in class, he thought about what it would be like to ride on a beam of light. He then pondered what would happen if he put a mirror in front of his face - would he see a reflection? This thought/idea is what apparently accelerated Einstein into his genius. Over the next 10 years Einstein contemplated this idea using methods apparently such as Image Streaming. He was heralded as a genius when he was 26 so the process wasn't overnight, but going from a dyslecsic/"retarded" state of mind to genius is quite a leap and that is what Dr. Wenger is trying to show the reader. When Einstein died in 1955 his brain was disected, researches found that he had a significantly larger number of neurotransmitters/neuroconnections, especially in what seemed to be an extremely well developed corpus callosum (the nerves that bind the hemispheres of the brain). Image Streaming is about arousing new areas of the brain and having the hemispheres of the brain work together.

The reason I gave this book 4 stars was because of the "photo reading" section of the book. I tried to go into it with an open mind, but the simple concept of reading at 32,000 words per minute is somewhat absurd, regardless of the claims that Dr. Wenger makes. He says that you're supposed to view the pages with your subconscious and the information will come to you when you need it. That's not very reassuring when one needs to ensure that he/she knows the information, for instance if someone has a test he/she needs to study for. If you are interested in speed reading I suggest picking up Power Reading - ISBN: 0960170618. It is an excellent book on how to accelerate one's reading capabilities.

Looking at Einstein as a model, it took Einstein 10 years to shift into a "genius" - testimonial to this method's validility based upon his contributions to physics, and impact on society. Intertwined with the tutorials, Dr. Wenger provides insight into some of the most recognized minds, detailing on how each person recognized their gift and utilized it to their advantage.

*Mind Accelerator (ISBN: 0973197102) is another book that seems to demonstrate the method of Image Streaming. More information can be found about this book at http://www.themindaccelerator.com/

"Einstein Factor" by Dr. Win Wenger purports to raise I.Q. by 1 pt per 80 minutes of "Image-Streaming", the main I.Q. building exercise prescribed in the title. This claim is largely based on anecdotal reports and the "Reinert Studies" for which no crucial details of experimental design are given; nor have these "results" (Increased I.Q.) been replicated by credible researchers anywhere. As noted in the Washington Post, the erstwhile "professor" Charles Reinert is currently a practitioner of long distance healing therapy. Draw what conclusions you may from this.

Perhaps most damning to Dr.Wenger's hypothesis is the fact that current learning theories and present neuroscience make no allowance for such dramatic increases of I.Q. Save of course for children suffering from massive nutritional deficiency who are consequently well fed and cared for. Intelligence to a large extent is biologically determined, just like height. Roughly speaking, you get what you were born with. That is why it is so difficult to "increase" intelligence except in exceptional circumstances such as the one illustrated above.

I have personally "Image-Streamed" for the last 6 months as per the explicit directions stipulated in "Einstein Factor" for 12 to 15 minutes everyday with no appreciable difference in I.Q. as measured by a battery of standardized tests (SAT, LSAT, GMAT) or in any numinous aspects. And it is not as if I previously scored near the very top percentile of these exams so as to preclude any improvement on subsequent attempts. I have yet to take the Raven's Matrices though I have no reason to believe that the result will be any different. I simply have no evidence of any kind of advancement in any aspect of my "intelligence" via "Image-Streaming".

Aside from ballot box stuffing and confirmation bias I suspect that some of the superlative reviews are due to the fact that "Image-Streaming" does seemingly produce a few side effects, mainly the stirring up of old memories. I can personally attest to this myself. However this side effect does not equate to an improved memory but rather just the remembrance of a few random images. Interesting, but nothing to hang your hat on. Perhaps I am an outlier and if most people undertaking Image-Streaming are indeed experiencing massive I.Q. surges it is then only a matter of time before mainstream scientists pick up on this and conduct legitimate studies. One would think this would have already happened, as a number of years have elapsed since "Einstein Factor" was published. But alas, no such events have transpired.

At any rate I find it entirely disingenuous to base the validity of "Image-Streaming" on anecdotal evidence and one flimsy pseudo-experiment, not even double-blind from what I can tell. As Carl Sagan stated, "dramatic claims call For dramatic evidence", here we have a dramatic claim with with not even an iota of evidence. I cannot recommend "Einstein Factor".