Just because something is not in your mind does not mean it does not exist. Just because something is not in your mind does not mean it is wrong. Pause for a moment and let us try a simple exercise in brain plasticity.
How often have you heard the term brain plasticity (article in Spanish)? There is plenty of literature on the subject, as well as information online. The concept of brain plasticity “refers to the way our nervous system changes through its interaction with the environment.” But what can I do to stimulate my brain’s plasticity? One very easy exercise I practice every day to stimulate it is this: listening to others.
When we listen to others, we exercise our ability to open our minds and receive, in another person’s words, knowledge that does not yet exist in our world. As it arrives, like any new information, it often shakes our foundations and beliefs and causes such an uproar within us that we refuse to listen. And as if that were not enough, we label and judge the speaker as incoherent and ignorant. All this reveals is that the person who knows nothing about this new subject, who refuses to accept that it is possible to think differently and do the same things in another way, is on this side of the conversation. When we listen to others, we are in the present moment; we receive both verbal and nonverbal information that often clashes with our database. If we reject it, if we block it out, our database will remain incomplete and we will have one fewer tool for solving the problems we may encounter in the future.
Exercise your brain’s plasticity by listening to others, the same plasticity that has brought you to where you are today. Listen more: you will gain new tools and abilities that will help you solve problems you cannot even imagine yet.
“We have two ears and only one tongue so that we may listen more and speak less.”
DIOGENES THE CYNIC