Because I have a deep-seated psychological compulsion to read self-improvement books that do not result in any actual self-improvements -- unfortunately I have no equally compelling drive to follow what the books say -- I am currently reading a book about improving your memory and mental fitness. The title has the word "brain" in it. I think. I can't remember for sure.
Contrary to popular belief -- according to the book -- new brain cells are not just generated when you're young. Adult brains also generate new brain cells. Unfortunately these cells are mostly put there by TV and radio advertisers, with the result that one cell starts singing "You say 'good buy,' and I say 'hello...' " and pretty soon all the other cells are singing it too.
A vital brain activity for staying young mentally is communication among the nerve cells. Unfortunately some of these nerve cells are male, and some are female, and so you can imagine that communication has a tendency to be somewhat problematic. To increase the sharing of information across brain cells, the book advocates a brain exercise program that uses the five senses in novel ways and "shakes up everyday routines."
I have scoured the book from beginning to end, and nowhere does it talk about shaking up your everyday routine by, say, unexpectedly winning large sums of money. But as disappointing as this may be, the idea of doing things in new ways, thereby stimulating new pathways in the brain, nevertheless may have some merit.
Take the daily commute. If you're like many people, commuting is one activity where your brain pretty much gets to take a nap, and it looks forward to this time. The book advocates implementing tough love, whereby your brain is not allowed to take naps while you are commuting, but is forced to pay attention to its environment in new ways.
One way to do this is to perform routine tasks, to which your brain pays scant attention because they are so routine, with your eyes closed. You should, the book says, attempt to use only your sense of touch and memory to, for instance, unlock the car, find the ignition, put on your seat belt, turn on the radio, put on your makeup, spill coffee in your lap, etc. Your other senses are forced to give you information about the items you are touching, which encourages your brain to form new responses to the stimuli, such as "What the heck is THAT?"
This type of exercise can have unexpected effects not only for you but also for those who live around you, who may be saying, "Why is the neighbor trying to open the hood of our car with her keys?" "Now she's putting the gas cap up to her ear. Do you think we should call the police?"
It is not recommended that you extend this little exercise to its logical conclusion, which would be to actually drive with your eyes closed, even though it may seem that a good percentage of the OTHER drivers on the road do this routinely. Be assured that although they seem to do this effortlessly, in their brain a full-blown war is taking place between the male and female cells:
Female cell: "We should have turned left back there!"
Male cell: "You think I don't know how to get to work? Stop trying to tell me how to get to work! I could do this with my eyes open!"
My physical being has so far resisted any attempts to make it more fit, but perhaps I'll have better luck with my brain.
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