Challenging the brain by exposing it to new situations, tasks and skills can improve its efficiency, much like strength training does for our muscles. But maximum efficiency requires optimal rest.

It might come as a surprise to learn that the brain responds to training in much the same way as our muscles, even though most of us never think about it that way. Clear thinking, focus, creativity and good judgment are built through challenge, when the brain is asked to stretch beyond routine rather than run on autopilot. That slight mental discomfort is often the sign that the brain is actually being trained, a lot like that good workout burn in your muscles.

    • Wren@lemmy.todayOPMEnglish
      1·
      2 months ago

      And yet I’d never heard that term in my life when geography was a significant portion of my anthropology courses. Luckily, I’m not opposed to asking questions even when a fact is framed as something six year olds should know. Most people just don’t say anything.

      For instance, in a group of 100 people, 60 people clapping for you can make it seem like the whole room is on your side. You don’t hear the 40 who stay silent.

      If you really want to get into it, there’s some interesting psychology around learning environments with applications across different industries. Basically, every single person has a unique background, strengths, weaknesses and gaps in their knowledge.

      • Flamekebab@piefed.socialEnglish
        1·
        2 months ago

        It wasn’t something six year olds should know, it was a comedic example of something that many people remember from geography lessons but have no idea why it was worth teaching. It comes up in British comedy from time to time because we were all taught it and can’t for the life of us tell you why.

        I didn’t just choose it for comedy though, I chose it as an example of something that could be taught for the sake of challenging a young mind, despite it being fairly irrelevant on a factual level. I would not expect a small child to understand that implicitly and so would consider explaining it, should they be receptive to the idea.

        I would not expect to have to explain “challenging your brain helps you” to someone on Lemmy because the context is different, to the point of it being realistically perceived as patronising by a significant proportion of likely readers.

        So when I said “common knowledge” I meant in the sense of “anyone with a modicum of metacognition, of any age”.

        Context is important and the amount I feel you’re expecting me to supply seems bizarrely huge. My messages are tailored to whoever I feel is likely to read them, based on my previous experience with a platform. I don’t expect to need to explain all the assumptions any more than I would when talking to other reasonably intelligent adults.

        I’ve been talking to people on forums and the like for literal decades at this point and this level of explanation is a massive outlier, so I’m fairly sure it’s not me being a wee bit odd. I mean, I’m often a bit odd, just not in this particular interaction!

        …that last sentence was in jest, in case even more context is needed. Sigh. Christ, given the criticism was that I was shutting down discussion it doesn’t seem to have worked!