The brain is designed to be a learning machine. It has evolved over millions of years to digest all the information around it and synthesize it into behaviors and decisions that enhance our probability of survival and reproduction. For all the talk you hear about specific regions controlling particular aspects of your body or your cognition, the truth is that the brain is highly adaptable and can undergo considerable reorganization/reconfiguration when tasked to do so.
You need only consider a child to see how readily and eagerly the mind absorbs information; for the first 10-15 years of life we are rapidly trying to figure out the world around us and how we fit into it all. Everything around us during this time is exciting and new and we soak it all up like a sponge. Unfortunately, that process stops sometime soon thereafter for most people. In many cases, as we near adulthood, we choose a ‘career’ – or at least a more narrow path – and then focus most of our mental energy in that direction. We lose track of all the other activities/people/ideas out there to behold and consequently reduce the ways in which we use our minds.
Given the brain’s proclivity to learn, this process of narrowing our interests is probably doing us a great disservice. Granted, it may allow us to excel in a particular field, but it may also make us more likely to suffer from cognitive decline and even Alzheimers or other forms of dementia. Perhaps even more importantly, it increases the chance that our lives will become dull, routine, commonplace and otherwise boring. As soon as we forget that this world is a totally fascinating place, rife with opportunities to explore, grow, experience and the like, we have given up one of the fundamental aspects of being human. When we are no longer curious seekers of new ideas, new hobbies and new people, we are effectively resigning to a life of stasis. I am not suggesting that life needs to be teeming with stimulation – certainly there is such a thing as too much of a good thing, and the simple life has many merits – only that we should always keep learning and seeking out novelty to keep our minds young and our lives full of the richness that surrounds us.
