Next time you raise an eyebrow¹ at the views of your partner, friend, sibling² or colleague, remember they could be helping³ to make you smarter.

下次当你的伴侣、朋友、兄弟姐妹或同事的观点让你大吃一惊的时候，记住他们能让你更聪明。

New research shows that intelligence is not fixed⁴ but can be boosted throughout adulthood⁵ by family members, bright mates and intellectually stretching careers.

新研究指出，在整个成年期里，智力不是固定不变的，而是可以通过家庭成员、聪明的伙伴以及用智力拓展的事业来提高的。

The study challenges the commonly held notion that intelligence is ‘static’ by the age of about 18.

这项研究质疑了普遍存在的观念，那就是智力到大约18岁就“稳定”了。

Current scientific consensus⁶ suggests that intelligence is controlled by genes⁷, with environmental factors such as schooling⁸ and nutrition playing a part up to this age. After this point, IQ scores stabilise.

当前科学界的共识是：智力是由基因控制的，而学校教育和营养等环境因素一直到18岁可以发挥一定作用。在这之后，智商分数就稳定了。

But James Flynn, Emeritus⁹ professor of political studies and psychology¹⁰ at the University of Otago in New Zealand, argues that people can ‘upgrade’ their own intelligence throughout their lives.

但是，新西兰奥塔戈大学政治研究和心理学荣誉教授詹姆斯·弗林持有异议，他认为人们在一生中都可以“提升”自己的智力。

He believes intellectual stimulation¹¹ from others is crucial as the ‘brain seems to be rather like a muscle – the more you use it, the stronger it gets’.

他相信来自他人的智力刺激很重要，因为“大脑似乎更像一块肌肉——你用的越多，它就变的越强”。

However, the reverse is also true – so people who share a home or workplace with the intellectually challenged risk seeing their IQ levels nosedive as a result.

不过，反之亦然，人们与智力有缺陷的人共享居住或工作场所，结果就会有智商水平暴跌的风险。