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The brain is plastic, but it does not respond well to being hit with a brick wall. It needs reinforcement in the direction you want it to go. For example, you
by RoyalHenOil 2y ago
The brain is plastic, but it does not respond well to being hit with a brick wall. It needs reinforcement in the direction you want it to go.
For example, you treat a phobia through gradual exposure to the source of fear, not through undergoing a sudden overwhelming experience. That usually creates a traumatic response that actually makes the phobia worse.
Likewise, if you want to learn how to read a long book, start with shorter books and work your way up. If you can't sit through a novella and so you try to force yourself to read Crime and Punishment, you will fail — and you risk actually making it harder to read books in the future by strengthening the neural association between reading and feeling bored/frustrated.
- FrustratedMonky 2y agoI think yjftsjthsd-h is correct. These posts are arguing over 'scale' or degree. Everyone is agreeing on 'brain is plastic'. Just arguing over starting with 'Crime and Punishment' or 'Snow Crash'. I would just add, that it all depends on where the kid is at. This just jumped out at me because I did have one kid at young age, set a schedule and forced himself to read 'Crime and Punishment'. So it can be done. But maybe for others, that is a huge step. Everyone is starting at some different levels of current skills, with different levels of drag. -- So any discussion here about 'where to start' will all be wrong.