Trying to view the brain as "just a muscle" is probably simultaneously helpful and misleading in different ways. But I believe the parent's point was more that

Trying to view the brain as "just a muscle" is probably simultaneously helpful and misleading in different ways. But I believe the parent's point was more that what is taught is becoming fundamentally different. If you learn how to add using a calculator are you learning to add or learning how to use a calculator? It's a subtle distinction but in practice the ramifications become important.