I have always been fascinated with the brain. The rest of the human body is ruled by the brain — it commands every sensation, every movement, every thought, every memory, and every dream. Sir Charles Sherrington wrote that within this “enchanted loom millions of flashing shuttles weave a dissolving pattern, always a meaningful pattern, though never an abiding one.”
My interest in this instrument was intensified during my son Caleb’s seventh grade year, when he and another boy decided to do their science project on a comparative study of the brains of various animals vs. the human brain.
So they (really, we) began.
They went to many butcher shops and collected the brains of rats, sheep, dogs, cats, pigs, and cows…
What about a human brain?
Finding a human brain was not so easy. Most of us are using ours and do not want to give them up. We contacted several physicians.
Finally with the help of a parent, the boys were given a slice. We were mesmerized by it. At first glance it looked to me like a slice of cold meat loaf, but upon closer examination its complexities began to appear.
The boys’ research went on to reveal more about the human brain. A typical brain weighs about three pounds; it is about the size of two fists doubled up together; it is a pinkish gray in color; and its surface is covered with multiple crevices.
Its appearance, however, gives no clue to its abilities or its limits.
The boys learned that the human brain can:
- remember how to tie a shoelace;
- solve complex mathematical problems utilizing the principles of differential equations;
- match names and faces;
- store a variety of telephone numbers;
- never forget how to ride a bike or swim, even in a body that has not performed the task for two decades;
- create tantalizing music for evocative art;
- recall a favorite recipe for chocolate chip cookies; and
- anticipate a thoughtful act or gesture.
They also learned there are many things the brain has not been able to accomplish; solve the problems of hunger and poverty through the world; eliminate pollution problems; find the secret of solving addiction problems; do away with greed; and guarantee kindness.
Caleb’s next experience with the brain occurred one summer when he worked as a teaching assistant to several physical therapists who helped youngsters who had experienced severe brain injuries. Caleb became especially involved with one boy who was approximately six months younger than he was. When Caleb had applied for this volunteer job during the spring, this boy had just been admitted to the hospital. John had shot himself with a twenty-two-calibre handgun. The bullet had gone through his chin, up through his mouth, behind his right eye, and had lodged in his right brain. Surgery had removed the bullet and had saved this boy’s life, but he was left with only half a brain — the left hemisphere.
When Caleb first met the youngster, he could do nothing for himself — absolutely nothing: no talking; no communication at all, even with eye blinks; no feeding, no walking; no bathroom control. He was described as an individual with zero functioning. Caleb came home from this introduction to John wiped out emotionally and psychologically.
It was a wrenching experience.
What followed was a program of intense therapy, one that included the loving, nurturing — and yes, demanding — care of devoted physical therapists, parents, and other volunteers. The boy began slowly, very slowly, to come alive again. The left side of his brain began to take over tasks that his right hemisphere had performed, and he began to learn to talk, to walk, to feed himself, to read, to do mathematics, to tie his shoes, to color, etc.
After four months of this therapy, John could walk without help, and he could read and do math on the fifth grade level. A year later he was back in high school as a sophomore — within a special program, but operating almost at grade level. In June, 1994, he graduated from high school; he was hired as a clerk in a department store.
John is a kind, thoughtful boy whose life has enriched those fortunate enough to have the opportunity to work with him. I know that Caleb’s life has been dramatically affected by his experience to help this boy return from a state of virtual non-existence to a life that will be useful and productive. In some ways, John is accomplishing more with his half brain than many of us do with both halves.
What we can learn from this.
Making the most of both halves is the primary goal of education. I believe that happens with a mixture of interesting essentials. For children and parents both, these essentials include:
- “Dreaming/fantasy” time. Without this, we spend too much time trapped in what is, and too little developing a vision of what could be.
- “Messing around” time. What would happen if I put this with that? Hummmm? What about trying…? Maybe I could…? And experimentation must include a willingness to fail. I know of no great breakthroughs that came in only one, two, three, or four tries. Sometimes the number of tries hits the hundreds, as with the achievements of Curie, Bell, and Edison.
- Perseverance and self-sacrifice. Becoming an expert requires devotion, commitment, dedication, and single-mindedness. Only these characteristics will take us past the stage of superficial, general knowledge to the degree of understanding that gives us the power to be creative, to make a difference.
I am convinced that if we build the appropriate attitudes about problem-solving that future discoveries will propel human beings to a new threshold of awe. The challenges that face humanity include pollution, poverty, hunger, and homelessness. Solutions will be found, and permanent improvements to our problem-solving abilities made, by “setting our minds to it.”
What impressed Caleb about both of his experiences with the brain — and what impressed me, as I shared in them — is the power of the brain. It is mysterious…it is intriguing…it is an enigma. It certainly is all of these things. And it is also clearly capable of even more than we sometimes imagine.
Caleb’s brains are still with me.
At times when I am feeling discouraged about the mess the human race has created, I go out to the garage and dig out Caleb’s brains (yes, they are still all out there, preserved in formaldehyde). They remind me that there is still much we do not know and understand. But they also reassure me that there is so much that we can do.
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