The ability of our brains to create new pathways fascinates me. The first analogy my brain conjured up involved cattle and the paths they create walking to and fro on the hillsides along California State Route 57 between Pomona and Brea. I'm sure cattle leave paths elsewhere and other animals, like deer, make paths, too, but since I'm writing we'll go with the image that helped me understand.
Through the magic of Google Maps, Street View, you can travel to these hills without leaving your home. As you can see, trails traverse the hill and angle up or down to connect to other trails. The trails are the things you know.
To learn new things, you need to make a new path. A path is not made by walking once. Consider how many trips these cattle make to create a firm path. Over time the dirt is compacted and it is nearly impossible for grass to grow. That is knowledge you'll not forget easily.
Our brains go beyond this. Suppose Paul Bunyan walked by and dropped his cell phone right in the middle of these paths. Imagine the cow walking the path and running into the huge slab, her way blocked. What would happen? Of course, the cow would walk around and make a new path in order to continue her daily trips.
Amazingly, our brains have the capacity to make new paths, too. It may not be easy, but just the fact our brains can reroute it's paths/circuits is impressive.
Okay. I promised the answer to that second photo last week. Did you say an old tire? An elephant's skin? Take a gander. It surprised me, too.
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