Grow Your Brain

A recent encounter with a black bear in the Great Smoky Mountains taught me a lesson about wisdom. This experience launched me into a Bible study about wisdom and understanding. With my findings, I suggest that Proverbs be retitled the Book of Wisdom. It has more instruction on wisdom than any book in the Bible. 

Women Are Smarter

It is interesting that Solomon uses the pronoun “she.” Lizzy suggests this is because “Women are smarter than men.” To some degree, this has been true in our relationship, especially as it relates to gaining wisdom and knowledge. When our children were young, Lizzy would try to teach me about “assimilation and accommodation.” She attributes this concept to Jean Piaget, a Swiss psychologist known for his work on child development. Lizzy studied Piaget’s theory of cognitive development and epistemology, which basically describes how knowledge develops in the brain. Child development was her first major in college. Like Piaget, Lizzy places great importance on the education of children.

Let me tell you how this worked in our family. Lizzy would propose, “We need to take our kids to Disney World.” I would argue that it is expensive and we can’t afford it. Then, I would make the mistake of adding; “They are so young. They won’t remember a thing. Let’s wait until they are older.” With this statement, I had lost the argument. Lizzy would launch into an explanation of how the brain works and how this experience would make our kids smarter. How could I say “No” to that. We borrowed the money from our retirement savings and took the kids to Disney World.

Brain Research

It is true that recent research about learning and how the brain works has supported the concept of “assimilation and accommodation.” The brain is looking for novel stimuli, which it processes and assimilates or files with prior knowledge that it has stored. Often, the brain needs to accommodate this new knowledge by adjusting the understanding previously held about how the world works. Lizzy was right! As parents, we need to provide more novel stimuli to light up our kids’ brains. 

Does this work with adults too? Yes, we can even grow our brains when we are older. For example, on our recent trip to the Great Smoky Mountains, my son-in-law, Greg, grew his brain with a novel experience. Many of you have seen the video of him walking up to a bear on the trail saying “Hi, buddy, hi buddy.” Then, you see the bear lunging at him, growling. . . and Greg dropping the camera. Thankfully, Greg and my granddaughter, who he was carrying on his back, are fine. The momma bear was just scaring Greg off to protect her three cubs. The lesson: don’t approach bears in the wild.

I’m sure Greg had read warnings about approaching bears, but this new novel experience made a connection in his brain that he will never forget. This experience proves that even adults can grow their brains.

 “Blessed are those who find wisdom, those who gain understanding, for she is more profitable than silver and yields better returns than gold.”

Proverbs 3:13-14

Copyright © 2023 Chuck Locklear

Also, see Growth Mindset.