Full disclosure: it's about a guy with a hole in his brain.
Phineas Gage worked as a foreman for a construction team working on a
railroad bed in Vermont. It was not gentle or safe work.
Gage’s crew used explosive powder to blast away rock that needed to be
cleared for the tracks.
The gunpowder needed to be tamped, or lightly packed, to concentrate its
power, and this was accomplished using an iron tamping rod about three
and a half feet long and weighing over 13 pounds.
You might be able to see where this is going.
On September 13, Gage was tamping the gunpowder with the tamping rod
when it suddenly exploded right from under him.
The tamping rod shot up like a javelin and pierced Gage’s left cheek,
tore through his brain, blasted out the top of his skull, and landed
approximately 30 yards away from Gage.
Gage was left with two literal holes in his head and yet was otherwise, well,
relatively fine.
Gage survived and was even able to communicate with attending doctors
that afternoon.
Historians believe he might never have even lost consciousness during the
incident, even though the left part of his frontal lobe had been ripped to
shreds.
After the accident, Gage’s workers, family, and friends described a
significant change in his overall personality.
Although no specific records exist pertaining to how they regarded Gage
before the catastrophe, afterward his friends and associates generally
agreed that he was formerly friendly, good-natured, and hard-working.
But after the event he became ill-tempered and frequently drank. He
became a braggart and made shocking sexual remarks without thinking.
He lacked a sense of social inhibition that would have prevented him from
being, to put it bluntly, a jerk. He was for all intents and purposes an
entirely different person.
A sad time for Phineas, but scientists were overjoyed to be able to study
someone like him. Want to learn about exactly what happened in his brain,
and how we can use that for our own purposes?
Neuroplasticity is how our brain adapts in ways that reflect our
experiences and actions, though not necessarily our intentions. And we can
channel this to improve our lives.
We create neuroplasticity through repetitive actions and thoughts that
eventually become habits, and in doing so we reinforce and improve the
function of these neural pathways.
Repeated behaviors create new patterns of thought and habits—little by
little, neuroplasticity occurs and starts to wear a groove like a Zen garden or
sandbox that gets raked repeatedly.
This happens so that the grooves become deeper and deeper over time
until they are finally unconscious and instinctual.
The brain is always ready to begin this process, because ultimately, these
grooves save the brain energy and allow it to do what it wants—habituate
and conserve energy.
Better habits? More discipline? Less fear and anxiety? It's all about digging
that groove in that Zen Garden over time. You can create real, physical
changes - there's no easy fix, and stimulation is key.
For more on how to use neuroplasticity and neuroscience to your
advantage and train your brain for better performance:
Scientifically,
Pete
P.S. Do you want to teach yourself anything, break down
complex topics & master new topics and skills? Check out
the Principles of SuperLearning course here!
P.S. Do you want to get control of your life? Live a life without
stress, distractions, and putting things off! Check out the Build
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