I just read “The Brain that Changes Itself” by Norman Doidge. It’s all about brain plasticity and how our brain is constantly changing. Basically all of our brain is maps, like auditory map where different areas respond to different frequencies. Or higher up, different areas respond to different syllables. When we’re young, these maps quickly differentiate, just on inputs, i.e. your syllable map will adjust to the syllables you hear, part of why its difficult to learn a 2nd language when you’re an adult. But they continue to change and adapt as you grow older. If you blindfold someone, their visual cortex starts helping out with other senses almost immediately. When they train a monkey to perform a new task using its index finger, its index finger quickly takes up more of its map. People with brain damage from strokes or other accidents, are able, through training, to regain many skills by re-training other parts of the brain to take over.

One important point that is emphasized in the book is the need to keep your brain plastic. The more often you do some experience, the more learned in the brain it is, the more of the map it will take up, and the harder it will be to learn more stuff. So you should continue changing things up and trying new experiences to keep your brain lively. And the less learning you do, the less plastic your brain may become. So do your brain exercises as you get older!

A significant part of the book focuses on research by Michael Merzenich. He has developed some software programs to help improve people’s brain maps. Due to defects in the brain or body, or the inputs the brain is getting from the environment itself, certain maps may develop abnormally, but can be fixed through training. For example, you can re-train your audio map to properly hear sounds. He has software to do this for thousands of kids who have struggled with language, speaking, listening, and reading, due to this abnormality. He also has software for the elderly. And after the same software proved very helpful with autistic children, he has some interesting theories there as well. Here’s an interesting TED talk by Merzenich.

Random chance. Somehow the big bang happened, the universe was created, stars formed, our star formed, planets formed around the sun, the Earth formed, it was the right distance from the sun, it revolved and rotated at the right speeds, it had a moon and tides, life appeared, it evolved, we arrived, and no man-made or natural disasters have wiped us out (like the dinosaurs). Eventually your grandparents were born, your parents, and you. That’s it. It’s entirely random dumb luck that we (and you) are here. There’s no special meaning, no higher purpose that we’re here for. We just happen to have occurred, we are here for maybe 100 years and then we die.

We die. Think about that for a minute. You will at some point cease to exist. It’s hard to imagine. You try to think about what it will feel like to die… but you can’t. It won’t feel like anything. You won’t exist. You’ll be gone. There is no magic, no afterlife, your consciousness isn’t going to live on or be reincarnated. When life ends, that’s it. Your existence is really really short, make the most of it!

What is the meaning of life? There isn’t one. Life just happens. Is that depressing? On the contrary, I think life is meaningless until you see that it has no meaning. Then ‘life is what you make it’. Life is random and brief, and that is what makes it so beautiful and amazing. So many things had to fall the right way for you to exist and it will be gone so fast… So appreciate it! Savor it! Enjoy it! Do something with it! Do you want to be remembered after you’re gone? Build relationships! Help others! Contribute to society!