Genial Mente: Dr Joaquim Valls on Intelligence, Talent, Creativity and Learning Faster
"How to learn four times faster" is the promise on the cover. In Genial Mente, Dr Joaquim Valls argues that anyone can become talented and creative, and can learn even subjects as feared as mathematics. The subtitle of the Catalan edition sums it up: the keys to intelligence, talent and creativity.
Author: Joaquim Valls Morató
Title: Genial Mente (2014)
Format: Spanish paperback (Ediciones Obelisco), 256 pages
Scope: Popular psychology on learning, talent and creativity
Amazon: www.amazon.es/dp/8416192146 (ASIN 8416192146)
Motivation and Hours
The book teaches techniques and practices for developing new skills, and therefore for personal growth and reaching goals. Everything depends on each person’s motivation and the number of hours they put in.
Simple Methods
Valls relies on simple methods, such as visual memory (using pens of different colours), repetition and good time management. He also gives practical advice: spend at least half an hour reviewing what you studied during the day, recite things aloud, and even read while you walk. He claims that by following these routines anyone who is interested can improve their academic performance.
The Author
Joaquim (Quim) Valls Morató, born in Barcelona in 1959, is an economist and university lecturer who has taught mathematics and management skills, and the creator of a method for developing emotional intelligence that he calls Kimmon. He has written a series of popular self-help books with titles built on the same wordplay, among them Buena mente, Maravillosa mente and Emocional mente; in Spanish, "genialmente" means "brilliantly", while "genial mente" means "brilliant mind". This book carries a prologue by the philosopher José Antonio Marina, one of Spain’s best-known writers on education and intelligence.
A Provocative Thesis
The book’s most controversial claim, according to its publisher, is that there are no unintelligent pupils, only incompetent teachers, and that anyone can learn mathematics. It is a deliberately provocative way of attacking a common myth: the idea that ability is fixed at birth, and that some people simply "aren’t maths people". Many teachers will find the claim unfair to their profession, but the underlying message, that effort and good methods matter more than innate talent, is encouraging for struggling students and their parents.
What the Research Says
Some of Valls’s recommendations match what learning research has found. Regular review spread over time is more effective than cramming, and testing yourself, by reciting or explaining material without looking, strengthens memory more than rereading. The psychologist Anders Ericsson’s work on deliberate practice, and Carol Dweck’s research on what she calls a growth mindset, both support the idea that skill grows with focused effort. Readers should treat promises such as learning "four times faster" as motivational rather than measured, and judge each technique on its results.
Practical Value
Read as a toolkit, the book offers students simple habits they can try at once: colour-coded notes, a daily half-hour review, reading aloud and planning study time. Parents can use it to talk with their children about how learning works, and adults returning to study will find it encouraging. Its original Catalan edition, Genial ment, appeared the same year.
Ideal Readers
Secondary-school and university students who feel stuck, particularly with mathematics, and parents looking for ways to support them without adding pressure. Teachers may disagree with the book’s provocations but will find useful ideas for helping pupils who have decided they are "no good" at a subject. The tone is upbeat and personal, closer to coaching than to academic psychology, and readers who want the research behind the techniques can follow up with a book such as Make It Stick by Peter Brown, Henry Roediger and Mark McDaniel.
Who Is It For?
It is a book about growth and self-improvement, useful for students and parents alike. I have not found an English edition, so I link the Spanish one.
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