In each cubic centimeter of our 3 lbs of brain, there are more cellular connections than stars in the Milky Way. (Not well documented, who did the counting!)
One third of brain activity is delegated just to vision.
Most of our brain function is evolutionarily hard wired–about two thirds of it. These processes represent our autopilot allowing us to circulate chemistry, move, breathe, like…. duck, cough, and swallow.
It’s all proceeding unconsciously, faster than our language can describe. Our conscious mind ( imagining, analyzing, planning, thinking) of which we are so proud, is the much smaller component — and the newest add on. Some of the hard wiring cooperates with the conscious mind. Most of it is inaccessible to our “mental” manipulations. We’d mess it up.
Nevertheless we tinker daily with alcohol, caffeine, smokes, exercise, on and on… and the tango.
When in the learning mode, we practice, practice. The conscious mind, the plodding slower system, takes the lead until the intricacies become — automatic. The ancients would say 10,000 repetitions. (Not sure about the counting there either.)
Practice, over time, generates new circuitry which interfaces with the hard wire establishment, a literal flood of chemistry speeding down new pathways. The process is burned down deep into the neural network. When practice renders a new — anything — automatic, that’s when we own it: an awkward, falling-down spinning back kick matures slowly into a favorite go-to blast. It is now fluid, inevitable, requiring less energy and, therefore, a preferable means of travel.
Hey, just an example. Create your own: train the brain!
DocHo
