Читать книгу Sort Your Brain Out - Джек Льюис, Адриан Вебстер - Страница 13

Before the days of automated production lines, piece workers in pencil factories who had the monotonous task of bundling up pencils and packing them into boxes used to struggle at first to earn a half decent wage. The reason for this was that as “rookie bundlers,” being paid by the box, their productivity rate to start with was painfully slow.

The job involved them having to dip one hand into a huge container and depending on required bundle size, pull out an exact number of pencils. New starters would have to count the number of pencils in their hand each time, whereas experienced pencil packers could dip their hand in and instantly pull out an exact quantity. Having done it day in, day out, for long periods of time, their rewired brains had learned exactly what any given number of pencils felt like.

Seeing the astonishing packing speed that could be achieved by seasoned packers and driven by a desperate need to earn good money, novice bundlers’ brains were inspired to adapt quickly through trial and error to meet the demands of this dull but potentially financially rewarding skill. Unsurprisingly, thanks to neuroplasticity, their productivity rates soon shot up.

The human brain retains its ability to learn new skills well into the later stages of adulthood. Think about the number of people who, later in life, discovered the art of text messaging and, in a relatively short period of time, became fairly proficient at something that for most of their lives didn't exist. They may never become as quick as young “tech native” texters, most of whom appear to have been born texting, but just think how many older brains have managed to restructure themselves, creating new pathways to embrace a skill that not so long ago was completely alien to them.