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The Developing Mind
Words by Dr Annabel Gold
This article gives refreshing insight and tips into how we can develop our mental capacity. Dr Annabel Gold makes us understand that education is more than enrolling in a school, attending lectures and taking exams. Sit back and read about how you can change and develop your mind.
According to Noah webster 1828, Education is defined as:
EDUCA'TION, noun [Latin educatio.] The bringing up, as of a child, instruction; formation of manners. education comprehends all that series of instruction and discipline which is intended to enlighten the understanding, correct the temper, and form the manners and habits of youth, and fit them for usefulness in their future stations. To give children a good education in manners, arts and science, is important; to give them a religious education is indispensable; and an immense responsibility rests on parents and guardians who neglect these duties.
The education of a life starts from the womb, as a baby is developing in their mothers womb, they are already being somewhat taught by the mother and once they are born, they are then also taught by father, sibling, relatives and friends. Actually, whoever is within their environment consciously/subconsciously educates the baby on how to function and live.
The formation years of a life are the 0 - 10 years, this is the stage where ideologies are planted in the mind. Programming is easy at this stage because the brain has twice as many connections between the neurons and it is in these connections that learning happens. At this stage of life, the brain is able to learn faster than any other time of life. So, what a child experiences at this stage would have longer lasting effects on their development. The choices and decisions that we make today are heavily influenced by this early stage of formation.
Environment is an external stimulus that also affects the formation stage. Everyone is ultimately a product of their environment. Many cultures and communities understand this, which is why they become intentional with what kind of environment their child/children grow in. Looking at the jewish community, their culture is very strong in ensuring that their children learn how to study and read, which is why they are referred to as ‘The people of the book’. The way they are shaped as a child defines the type of adult they become.
There are many influential world changers who went through intense education that was intentionally targeted to push them in a particular direction. For example, Michael Jackson, who is regarded as the King of Pop and one of the most significant cultural figures of the 20th Century. Looking at his life, a main reason why he rose to such fame and stardom was his childhood/formation years. From the age of 5, his parents - especially his dad, planted nothing but music, fame and success into his malleable brain. He later revealed that he was shielded from ‘normal’ childhood games, activities and friends. Instead, most of his time was spent rehearsing everyday for many hours. So, his formative years were spent in the spotlight or preparing for it. MJ’s childhood experience drove him to legendary success but it also paved out a lot of mental struggles for him later on in life. The childhood abuse he experienced from his dad ultimately led to drug addiction, identity crisis and trauma.
Our formative years (0 - 10 years), is the time where we have the least control in what we learn, what we experience and what gets planted in our minds. Although this seems quite unfair, it’s just the reality of life. However, the reason why it doesn’t define our whole life is because whether those formative years have been positive or negative - there is always an opportunity to change, alter or build upon what has been embedded in the brain already. This is defined as neuroplasticity, which is the ability of neural networks in the brain to change through growth and reorganisation. Our experiences throughout life are able to change the structure of our brains, which means that our brain capacity isn’t fixed. This means that no matter what age you are, if you can open yourself up to learning new things and new ways of doing things, the physical structure of your brain changes and the way you think eventually changes.
For me, it’s refreshing to know that brain adaptation is possible throughout life! Especially because the mind is everything, the result of our lives is based on our mentality. For some of us, our parents didn’t sit down to tell us about money or sex, they just told us to be good children. But that is fine because we have the opportunity to sit down and educate ourselves on the matters that are important to our development in life.
The world today is filled with baby adults - people that are not willing to be educated, but have arrived to the full knowledge of life and development. I think that it is an asset to have an open mind, a mind that is still willing to listen and learn, a mind that can open up to be educated and re-educated, no matter what age the person is.
Tips
Take a look into the pattern of your formative years and take time to understand, not from a position of regret but from the position of enlightenment, understanding that change is more than possible, it just takes willingness and commitment.
Open up to something new, a new person, a new language, a new activity, new words, a new experience.
I believe that education is the key to change. If a life is going to change, it takes education. If a community is going to change, it takes education. Most importantly, if the world is going to change, it will take education. Education goes beyond the four walls of a building, school, college or university. It goes way beyond reading a textbook and completing exams based on that textbook. Education is about learning from experiences and from people who positively influence us.