I write this post after having heard this same cliché from the lips of several people, belonging to areas of the academic spectrum that range from illiteracy to PhD. In all cases, it exuded that feeling of filthy simplicity that I hate the most, and it’s my job to eradicate clichés and try to replace them with thinking. Here is the troublemaker:
“…so the guy had a brain stroke? Sorry to hear that, but it’s hardly a surprise: he was always of-the-intellectual-type, and brain is like a machine, the more you use it, the sooner it’ll burn out.”
I also have a personal reason to deal with this: my father had a stroke 14 months ago, so the issue has evident resonances for me (He is fine now, thank you; in fact, after a couple of very risky operations and five weeks at the intensive care unit, his biggest sequel now is a certain state of shock for having become such a miracle of science.)
So here comes my impugnation. Ahem: sorry to disappoint you guys, but anatomy, biology and medical science (pardon me for quoting so many disciplines “of the intellectual type”) tell us the contrary. This is how it works: The cells that we are made of are tiny alive beings in constant division; the purpose of that division is that, as soon as one cell dies, a new one can replace it. The only exception to this rule, the only place where cells do not duplicate themselves is precisely the brain. We still do not understand fully the working of neurons; maybe because of their complex and very specialized function, they are not replaced once they die. You are given a certain amount of brain cells when you are born, and that’s it.
Such progressive, and unavoidable loss of neurones along our whole life causes many people to have problems with their mental faculties at the end of their life. The cells from the rest of the body become weaker, slower, and lose reproductive power, but they hold on. But neurons are irreplaceable.
Nevertheless, there are also good news: such high specialization in neurons is also, in a way, a blessing, because their number is not as important as the richness and quality of their interconnections. And, guess what’s the way to develop quality neuron connections? By using your brains, damn it. That’s why many artists and intellectuals can create their masterwork in their last decades of life. That’s why a person can sometimes recover sight or even movement after an accident, if a new brain area is capable to assume the functions of the destroyed one. Brain cannot renew its material, but its capability to rebuild and reinvent its structures is virtually unlimited.
In fact, brain is still a huge mystery (how is it possible that a couple of photons and a few cells become aunt Peggy who is entering with an apple pie?), and a rich mental and intellectual life is not a guarantee against anything (there are physical factors, too). But it surely makes a good start. I always find surprising the strong attention people pay to physical health, fitness and the like, while at the same time fill their senses with all kinds of “thrash food” from the media: small chat about who’s-doing-what-to-whom, rivalries that would make a three years old children flush, etc, etc, etc. Shouldn’t we care about mind health too?
Analogies are useful, but sometimes dangerous too. Instead of the machine-that-wears-out analogy, I propose the brain as a forest: the number of trees is not as important as the variety and richness of the branches they have.
Note: some people might have noticed that Zerebria’s home page calls the brain “the mysterious machine”. This sets an interesting example of levels of language usage. One thing is poetic language, where imagination and freedom rule, and a different one is resigning oneself with poor, wrong simplifications, and spreading them around. A punishment of 10 neurons for idleness!!!
Anything here sounds tragically familiar to you? Have you ever met or maybe even supported yourself this common place? Do you have that relative who asks you (ain’t it cute?) not to read so many books, with a genuine concern that it could “damage” your brain?
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The magic of journaling
There’s nothing wrong with being a freak
Life right after removing the wrapper