On Neuroplasticity and unfamiliar things

Neuroplasticity neu· ro· plas· tic· i· ty is the brain’s remarkable capacity to adapt, reorganize, and rewire itself throughout your life.

Neuroplasticity is a concept I came across earlier in life, at the time it was funny to me because a huge part of my “thing” at the time was always doing something and trying stuff. The idea that it declines with age seemed so foreign to me.

So imagine how gobsmacked I was when I came to realize it’s been a while since I tried something for the first time.

A distinction I would like to make is what I consider new versus unfamiliar. Through the course of the year I have tried a number of new things, be it foods, hobbies or even places. With a few exceptions rarely am I ever caught off guard, for instance, learning to use strudel to play the synth is something new, however strudel uses a JavaScript-like language so my knowledge of programming kind of carries me. Similarly traveling to new places wasn’t a huge change, although the experiences were new, the act of traveling? Not so much. Evidently, there are some huge asterisks here but hopefully you get the idea.

In the case of unfamiliar experiences, these are things that require me sucking at it, for a while. I’d liken this to riding a bike, or in my case roller skating for the first time, the first couple hours were not fun to say the least, however they were welcome as I had no prior knowledge to draw on.

This is the unfamiliar experience I am trying to describe. Our brains do a lot of pattern matching as such we are able to get away with different things based on our hobbies, line of work etc. Patterns are also essential for daily life, it’s how you knowingly or subconsciously avoid danger, or gravitate toward potential opportunity, it is also what makes uncertainty less appealing. Why go through the agony of learning to walk on four wheels when I can ride a bike?

I suppose the reason for this grand reflection is how refreshing this is. I stare at a screen for hours on end and as much as I love what I do, man shall not live by screen alone. So I try to find joy in other things outside 1’s and zero’s.

Trying unfamiliar things I believe is one of the best ways to form new neural pathways, this is not to say I want to infinitely chase new things as good things take time, however I also believe to avoid falling into the trap of comfort it is important to try something unfamiliar every now and then.