Dr. David Eagleman

And so they're resisting it.

I totally agree.

My father spoke eight languages fluently, without accent.

And that's because he went to medical school in Europe and did his clinical rotations in different countries.

And he was a young man, so everywhere he went, he got a girlfriend.

And then he had the incentive to learn the language.

And by the way, maybe we'll come to this, but when it comes to brain plasticity, the reward systems are a big part of what makes change happen in the brain.

Actually, let me just mention this is tangential, but let me just mention this while it's on my mind.

You know, a lot of people really for the last 30 years, ever since the Internet became a big thing, really worried about what this is going to mean for kids and education.

I think it's terrific.

I am very optimistic about this because.

What kids started getting a few decades ago was this opportunity to learn about something right when they were curious about it.

So they want to know how to fix the bicycle tire or what is this space physics thing or whatever.

And they ask the question and get the answer.

Why does that matter?

It's because brain plasticity really happens when you have the right cocktail of neurotransmitters present.

And that cocktail happens to map onto curiosity or engagement.

I'm slightly older than you are, but when we were in school, the teacher teaches you the thing.

They just dump everything, like, oh, the Battle of Hastings happened in 1066, and you may or may not ever need to know that.

But what kids get now is information right in the context of their curiosity, and that makes a big difference, because stuff really sticks.