Dr. David Eagleman

So we, living in the 21st century, we say, oh, great, you know.

Physics, math, this, that, art, great.

We got everything that's happened before us.

Now let's do our own thing.

And that's what's so special about the plasticity of the human brain, the adaptability of it.

The downside, the gamble, is that Mother Nature drops human brains into the world kind of half-baked.

And we then get to absorb everything.

But in the rare circumstance where you're not getting the right input, then that ends up really in trouble because it's only half-baked.

So when it comes to language, we can learn multiple languages when we're young.

That's very easy, but it gets harder and harder as that goes along.

And various other things become harder.

And here's why.

It's because...

I mentioned this earlier, but the job of the brain is to make a model of the world so it can operate within it.

So, for example, you're an entrepreneur and you love doing business.

So you get it.

OK, here's how, you know, here's a structured business.

Here's how you hire.

Well, here's how you set up a board.

Well, you're doing everything because you've got a really rich internal model of how to structure a business.