Science Changes its Tune

(An Essay from my New Book!)

Science! The Great God Science. Unfortunately, (or fortunately - you be the judge) it grows and develops and says something different.

Such has been the case with learning. During the 90's Science said that the brain and it's nervous system was pretty much fixed by the time you were an adult. For this reason, it was close to impossible to learn much. I could have told them this was not true, having specialized in teaching a highly complex skill to older folks for decades. Nobody asked me, however.

In fact, the Yamaha Corp. made a video that promoted this idea. Now why would they do this? I figure it's cause they make pianos and it's always been easy to “guilt sell” parents into buying something expensive for their kids. Thus, the Corp. figured that they'd make some money on it.

Come the 2000s and the 2010s, science now knows better. It tells us that learning goes on throughout life. They even invented a nifty word for it: “neuroplasticity.” You could look it up easily enough, but I will tell you right here that it means that being “a lifetime learner” is actually possible. That fits with my own personal observations so I “buy it.”

The problem is that too many older people were raised in the bad old days, when learning new skills was the special province only of the young. Thus, the don't pursue any learning at all, thinking it's impossible. Thanks, Science. Your previous words help ensure that such folks simply quit listening to any new pronouncements.