Summary of Brain Rules: by Dr. John Medina | Includes Analysis

By Instaread Summaries

Summary of Brain Rules: by Dr. John Medina | Includes Analysis

 

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John Medina is a developmental molecular biologist with a special interest in how

the brain works. In Brain Rules, he groups his findings into twelve brain rules.

Medina only uses research that

• Language: English
• Publisher: Instaread, Inc
• Release date: May 17, 2016
• ISBN: 9781683781448

Book preview

Summary

John Medina is a developmental molecular biologist with a special interest in how the brain works. In Brain Rules, he groups his findings into twelve brain rules. Medina only uses research that passes his standards. It must have appeared in a peer-reviewed journal and also have been successfully replicated.

The first Brain Rule is based on the idea that by understanding the evolution of the human brain, readers can better understand their present-day brains. Human beings became the dominant species on the planet through their intelligence, which is centered in the brain. They evolved to be intelligent. One facet of that intelligence is that human beings, uniquely among Earth’s species, can use symbolic reasoning. An example of symbolic reasoning is when the author’s son pretends a stick is a sword. Other species would only be capable of seeing the stick as a stick. Language comes out of the ability to use symbolic reasoning. As they evolved, human beings became used to quickly adapting to fast-changing environmental conditions. This led to their spreading out over the globe, leaving inhospitable places for new ones. The brain grew accustomed to having to adjust to situations at the drop of a hat.

Human brains evolved to be quite large. Human beings have a long childhood, necessary for their brain to fully develop. Long childhoods necessitated that the human species learn how to cooperate. Cooperation led humans to develop a keen need and ability to understand the inner psychology of other human beings, so that they could make sense of the world around them.

The second Brain Rule is based on exercise. Some people maintain youthful exuberance into