It's another day and still counting. Time does not let up. It just keeps chipping away at our will to make every day count. The good news is that Khan Academy is challenging the conventional wisdom of intelligence development. I have been taught that your IQ is relatively fixed. Khan academy challenges this premise. They have several videos on their site that show images of the brain.
Khan asserts the images are evidence that the brain can grow more neural connections (connections are loosely related to intelligence) by placing the brain under stress. e.g. You can become smarter with mental exercises that challenge and stress your brain. Khan research analogizes this increase in brain power with the increase in muscle size created by putting your muscles under stress - such as working out. My doctor friend argues that this is a specious analogy because a brain is not a muscle, however, for 1,492 years the world was indisputably believed to be flat too.
Khan's research makes sense to me. For example, I have known people who work daily crossword puzzles (which challenge and stress the brain) stay mentally sharp, if not sharper, well past the age of 85. At 70 Trump will be the oldest elected president and he still fires on all cylinders. I do too and I am 74. My mother was in a nursing home at 90 and still played bridge. She was an active bridge player. Bridge definitely challenges and stresses your brain.
DNA aside, I believe Khan academy is on the right track. I am going to make this day count by challenging and stressing my brain. I am going to spend the day with the New York Times crossword puzzle, without Google assistance, or play 3 games of chess against my computer.
What will you do to challenge and stress your brain?
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