BRAIN EXERCISE?

If I hear someone say, “I know all about exercise.”  I would not be surprised.  Ever since Kenneth Cooper emphasized the importance of aerobic exercise, the world has been drawn to every form of exercise.  One to build bulk muscle, another to slim down, still another to build cardiovascular strength…

What do we know about exercising the brain or what that looks like?  I wish there was a simple answer, there isn’t primarily because of semantics. 

Brain development is associated with Education.  Learning is another word that is associated with Education.  You go to school to learn.  Learn; math, science, history, language, arts, and whatever the Education Departments deem important.

Education is a means to deliver information on to a platform called School.  Learning is the process by which that information gets put into the brains of the students. 

Here is my metaphor:  Education is like the process of gathering wood for a fireplace.  One either goes out to find a dead tree, cut it down, cut it into pieces, then split it into burnable chunks, or one buys it.  After this is completed, it is brought into the home.  The wood now is ready to be used.

However, the wood cannot be put into the fireplace unless there already is a fire that is hot enough to burn and sustain burning the wood placed onto it.  Someone needs to start a small fire using; paper and kindling.  This first step is crucial to sustain a fire.

Learning is the process of taking that wood and putting it into the fire.    Once the wood starts to burn, the fireplace gets hot.  The environment is improved because of the heat; the benefit of the fireplace.

It always amazed me that officials have taken Education as a force feeding process.  Setting up an environment to punish students that do not use their wood the way they want. 

This post is not about Education, it is about EXERCISING YOUR BRAIN.   The bridge here is that the perspective of growing your mind may be lost because of misunderstanding the education process. 

Let’s look at this scenario:  If students are told from first grade on that information is given to them and it is their responsibility to use it.  Teachers would be available to help the students use the information.  In other words, the rate of learning and extent of learning is on the shoulders of the students.  Evaluation would not be based on grades from testing, but rather by the assimilation of the information (burning the wood) given them.  We would be testing the temperature of the environment, in stead of measuring the amount of wood given to the student. 

If you are wondering who starts the fire?  That takes place in the home before school starts.  Ideally, both parents being involved.  Two parents involved in this process adds enough cacophony that forces the child to start the interpretive process of discerning.

When the student enters the wood burning phase of Education, he or she is already equipped to discern differences among different factions

As I stated earlier, this is not about Education, it is about EXERCISING YOU BRAIN.  Once someone leaves the education environment, there is a hesitancy to learn.  This is true for most people.  Those who have an affinity to continue learning, usually receive outside encouragement.  Either by a boss, mentor, or other influence emphasizing the importance of continuing to Learn. 

It is for the rest of us that this post is intended. 

Physical exercise has great value.  However, your physical condition, in most cases, does not determine your place in society.  It is your mental ability that dictates your position.  It was once said, “Your salary is minimum wage from the neck down, it is what is in your head that gives your worth.” 

If we can appreciate this being true; why are we not exercising our brains? 

Could it be the burnt image of Education and Learning being coupled together? 

My purpose here is not to direct you to answers to the question asked.  Rather, it is to get you to think about exercising you brain.  Drawing a distinct separation between Education and Learning is crucial. 

I am eternally optimistic of the potential of everyone, regardless of age, environment, or parentage.  Why?  Because, everyone has the capacity to go beyond that point they have perceived as their limit.  This is a difficult concept to absorb.  Yet, it is true. 

It used to be taken as a universal fact that once you get to a certain age, growth stops.  The Study of Neural Plasticity has blown that belief into oblivion.  I will leave it up to you to research this for yourself.  The short of it is, our brains have no limits to growth.    

If you can accept this premise for a moment.  What is it that will make your reach further than you think you can go?  Reinforcement is huge.  When you read books, whether non-fiction or fiction, you are being exposed to another opinion.   The nice thing about reading is, as opposed to a conversation, you cannot interrupt the continuum of the author’s thought process. 

My post on January 21^st, entitled, “Hey, you interrupted me.”   I wrote about “Listening.”  Learning to listen is a learning opportunity.  While listening to someone; you get to learn about that individual and have an opportunity to learn a different point of view.