I keep trying to return John Medina’s book, Brain Rules: 12 Principles for Surviving at Thriving at Work, Home, and School to the library. But I still have it—because it’s just too interesting. So, I’ve added a fourth blog to this series. And there may be more if this book continues to stubbornly stay on my bed stand. (And yes, I should and probably will buy my own copy.)
This final chapter in Medina’s book is on the innate exploratory nature of human beings. It starts at birth. Babies are little scientists, he explains. Their behavior from the womb is driven by their curiosity. He describes how he did an experiment with his newborn, discovering that this little baby would imitate his dad when he stuck out his tongue—at 30 minutes old. Mirror neurons residing in the brain are “cells whose activity reflects their surroundings.” In other words, our brains have cells that allow us to quickly imitate a behavior we have seen for the first time. That’s some fast track learning.
But according to Medina, our brains are meant to continue to explore for a lifetime. “Researchers have shown that some regions of the adult brain stay as malleable as a baby’s brain, so we can grow new connections, strengthen exiting connections and even create new neurons, allowing all of us to be lifelong learners.” Most of us know some of these amazing senior citizens whose brains can run circles around their juniors. My aunt was one of those. Curious until her body failed, she was a classic addicted-to-learning person. And she was so fun to be around because she was so alive. She asked questions and made interesting observations and had great sense of humor too. Her brain was making new neural connections until it quit. I’m convinced of it.
The fuel for all learning is curiosity. Medina points us back to children. They are inherently curious. They are constant learners. During most of their early years, they are “little scientists,” Medina explains. They are asking questions, forming hypothesis, conducting experiments, noting the results and repeating them. For example: What will happen if I push my bowl of spaghetti off the edge of the tray? There it goes! That was fun. I got a lot of attention and I liked how the sound and the way the stuff flew. I wonder what will happen if I do that again?
A sense of wonder or curiosity is the final subject of Medina’s book. He believes it is the most important brain rule of all! As a research scientist and educator, his passion is learning. He was encouraged by his mother to stoke the fuel of his curiosity, and he has. And he wants us to as well, in how we raise our children, run our businesses and develop our education system. If we follow the science of brain rules, we’ll find joy, he concludes.
“For little ones, discovery brings joy. Like an addictive drug, exploration increases the need for more discovery so that more joy can be experienced. It’s a straight up reward system that, if allowed to flourish, will continue into the school years. As children get older, they find that learning not only brings them joy, but it also brings them mastery. Expertise in specific subjects breeds the confidence to take intellectual risks. If these kids don’t end up in the emergency room, they may end up with a Nobel Prize.”
Thanks for a great book, John. I learned a lot!
-posted by Donna Detweiler, who finds homeschooling is a sneaky way to keep on learning as an adult.
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