I have a theory. Bear with me. I’m trying to tie a few things together.

Every time we learn something new, we use up a new part of our brain. This is why our brains are so big: we have lots of extra storage space. Remember that old thing about how we use only 15% (or something like that) of our brains? Well I suspect that is because we largely stop learning after about, say, 25 years old. I think there are many reasons for that, including:
- after school is finished, work takes priority, so any additional learning is on top of work and frequently an additional stress in our life, and therefore the pleasure of learning is usually lost, so we don’t seek it out, or have much time for it.
- as members of hierarchical societies, going back to school or starting a new class means both returning to the bottom of the pile and admitting we lack some knowledge.
- learning is frequently expensive and stressful (see above).

So we avoid it. We leave that storage space empty. In addition to this, we lose the opportunity to create more adrenalin reserves (which occurs when we learn) which are required in order to lay down memories, and so when we reach the end of our lives we run out of adrenalin and start to lose our memories, resulting in Alzheimer’s and dementia. Use it or lose it. Alternatively, the things we do learn in our busy, stressed lives are not properly laid down in our memories because we don’t sleep enough, and we need that sleep to form our short and long-term memories and sort through information.

Learning is not sufficient on its own however, it must be balanced with action. In the beginning there is action; babies learn first to control their bodies, and then use their bodies to manipulate their surroundings to satisfy needs and desires. Areas of brain that have been activated by physical activity are then used as the foundations for more abstract developments like thinking and learning. So the wider range of actions and experiences you have to base your learning on, or to interact with your learning, the more you get out of it. For example, the university students who come straight from school are often timid and prefer spoon-feeding, whereas students with work and life experience have more confidence, ask more questions and can relate their learning back to life/work experiences, giving them an added dimension and more random accumulated information to work with.

So ideally, there should be periods of both learning and practice interspersed and alternating throughout life.

Anything to add? Have I missed anything or made too large a leap? Or even better, do you have any references to any studies related to these things? I’m sure most of this comes from studies I have read here and there….

• Journogirl (Mount Gambier) said on 07/09/30 at 02:20 PM.....

  As a fellow mature age university student I agree. I remember, particularly in tutes where I would call the school leavers “The Mutes” as they really didn’t contribute to discussion unless specifically asked. The more mature students therefore tended to dominate the class using not only readings but also life experience to assist in making their point.

  Yet there is always a plus and minus side to all these things and the school leavers tended to come into their own at exam time (I am mentioning first year here) as they were the more recent ones out of the school exam experience so could more readily remember the strategies to take to survive the experience.

  I must point out that this is a generalisation as there were also school leavers I came across during my time at uni who were prepared to have a go but they did tend to be the minority.

• Ken Kanno said on 07/10/02 at 03:24 AM.....

  I think i agree people generally learn better after experiencing some practical side followed by more academic. I did learn so much last year in college and i am trying to make it practical this year but i forgot a lot of things i studied. Whereas I remember more if i had some practical experience and then did some studies and i remember more. It’s strange but i guess for me it’s the way it works. So i am planning to study some more after this practical year. I guess they have to go side by side. I feel like i’m back in university now when i used to study psychology..haha. Hey hope your study is going well. Update me with what is going on Joe!

• MissSin (Tokyo (soon to be Okinawa)) said on 07/10/03 at 06:40 PM.....

  and here i was, thinking that we had all these extra brain cells so we could blow them on alcohol & hangovers…

  knew it was too good to be true.

  but, on a more serious note, yeah, experience does help.
  did a degree in japanese (mostly in england) and didn’t really learn anything practical (well, didn’t RETAIN anything practical) 
  then spent time living here, working here, making friends here, and i have learnt WAY more.
  am trying now to relearn kanji, because that is my BIG weakpoint.  but i am finding they’re going in easier than first time around.  don’t know whether it’s because a) i’ve actually retained them somewhere in my thick skull b) i have more life experience to give them foundation or c) i bought a kanji learning game for my nintendo ds…

• indigorayz (melbourne) said on 07/10/08 at 09:44 AM.....

  I have alot of info for your post sweety! A bit too much to go into here tho!
  Use it or lose it is very true,our brains are just like muscles.If we dont activate certain areas they atrophy.
    Things like Alzheimers unfortunately are more of a biological process where plaque forms on neurons and thus cant fire adequately. This certainly is not from lack of use though.Research has shown though that it may be a genetic pre disposition or a consequence of toxic exposure.
  Dementia .........yes thats a general degenerative disorder.
  More info availabel on request!xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx