Neuroplasticity describes the changeability of the brain’s neuro-cellular materiality. It asserts that neural connections, like plastic, are not immutable; under the right conditions, they can be reformed and repurposed. But, this is where the term can mislead us. Plastic has no agency. It’s inert. Change happens to it. There is no being. No participation. Unlike […]
I share this article from “Neuroscience News” because it’s a good summary of interesting neuroscience, and because, like my prior post: “Sound In the Womb Provides Sound Learning Benefits“, it’s another example of how even neuroscience obscures the role of learning in our lives. First a bit of history. In early 2014, I encountered a […]
This fascinating post outlines the temporal dynamics and training wheels’-like benefit-effects of initially learning the gross and fuzzies before learning to differentiate the more extensive, intense, subtle, and nuanced. However, I share this because it is yet another example of how our common language obfuscates the role of learning in our lives. “Early Sound Exposure […]
I have long had concerns about the “Growth Mindset” movement. I have a sense that it’s well-intentioned and kindred in some ways, but that it is in danger of becoming yet another fad – another protocol that ends up deemphasizing first-person learning because of how it pushes what to believe. About a week ago I […]
![motherandchi[1]](https://learningstewards.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/motherandchi1-240x180.jpg "Other Words for Learning: Maternal Socialization")
Another example of how our common and scientific use of language obscures and undermines our appreciation of the role of learning in our lives. From the article: Maternal socialization, not biology, shapes child brain activity Children of mothers with clinical depression are at three times greater risk to develop depression themselves than are their low-risk […]
“The content of your character is your choice. Day by day, what you do is who you become” – Heraclitus “It is your character, and your character alone, that will make your life happy or unhappy. That is all that really passes for destiny. And you choose it. No one else can give it to […]
What can you say about yourself that is completely unaffected by learning? Please share your thoughts!
Why are you who you are? Re: “How Identical Twins Develop Different Personalities”
From Brain Mysteries 4-20-12: “We’re seeing that there are a lot of effects of social status on genes, including our own, but we are also seeing that many of the changes aren’t permanent …” Tung said [ lead author Jenny Tung, a visiting assistant professor in Duke University’s evolutionary anthropology department]. This study is “just the tip of […]
Re: Wired Science 4-11-2012 DNA Ain’t Destiny. No Kidding “you are — a constant conversation between your genes and the environment, which includes both you and the surrounding world” Yes, it can’t be said enough that genes do not programmatically determine who we become. And, the way you put it is a big improvement over the old dichotomy of nature v nurture […]
