There's an old rule in neuroscience that does not alter with age: use it or lose it. It is a very hopeful principle when applied to critical thought in the reading brain because it implies choice.
Interpretation
The principle emphasizes the importance of engaging the brain to maintain and enhance cognitive functions.
The quote by Maryanne Wolf highlights the idea that mental engagement is crucial for maintaining and improving one's cognitive abilities, regardless of age. It underscores the empowering notion that individuals have the ability to influence their mental acuity through active participation and critical thinking, suggesting that with regular use of our cognitive faculties, we can foster growth and prevent decline in our mental capabilities.
In practice
In a seminar about lifelong learning, one might say, 'As Maryanne Wolf pointed out, there's an old rule in neuroscience: use it or lose it.'
Digital technology can be a great resource, but it can also be a pernicious one, so it's how we, as a society, really study the cognitive impact of that and use evidence-based research to go after the technology designers to do a better job of dealing with the problems of memory and attention we are seeing.
In reading, we are both scientists and poets.
The acquisition of literacy is one of the most important epigenetic achievements of Homo sapiens. To our knowledge, no other species ever acquired it.
The quality of our reading is not only an index of the quality of our thought; it is our best-known route to developing whole new pathways in the cerebral evolution of our species.
There's a richness that reading gives you, an opportunity to probe more than any other medium I know of. Reading is about not being content with the surface.
The attention span of children may be one of the main reasons why an immersion in on-screen reading is so engaging, and it may also be why digital reading may ultimately prove antithetical to the long-in-development, reflective nature of the expert reading brain as we know it.
I did not develop my ear. I discovered I had an ear, and it was an accident.
People say: idle curiosity. The one thing that curiosity cannot be is idle.
Fear only the will of God and you will have no cause to fear anyone else.
Men are seldom blessed with good fortune and good sense at the same time.
Don't give in to your fears. If you do, you won't be able to talk to your heart.
A man cannot be comfortable without his own approval.
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