Why do human brains stop learning?

 

Why do human brains stop learning?

I came to the question in the heading when I realized that people appear to be pre-programmed to put an end to analyzing some things. Perhaps because any particular brain “knows” that some things are too difficult for it to comprehend. Take myself as an example. I cannot, for the heaven of me, carry a tune. Yet, as a layman, I do enjoy listening to music, of any kind. But, were you to ask me the “why” of it, I would be bewildered.  

Yet, show me patterns of almost any kind and I invariably look for a pattern in it. Perhaps that is why I do not collect cobwebs in my mind, at least that I myself can discern. A huge claim, but do not ask me for proof.

What if I cannot find any proof? There are many millions of instances that are beyond me. Then, I say something like, “sour grapes”, and that is that. But, there is a caveat to this. Should someone were to offer an explanation for a phenomenon, I do not stop. I keep asking myself, “How can I get to understand?”

This is not a problem in my interactions on most of the topics I discuss with my family, relatives, friends and acquaintances. But, there is one, the usual answer to a question I ask on this as yet unidentified topic is, “This is what our elders have told us, we have been following ...you are not to ask why ...”

Now, you know that the topic is spirituality/religion!

I think of my father a lot. When I was young, say till the day I left the coop for my engineering education, he would patiently explain to me why this, why that etc. and tell me to my face that I would learn more about it on my own as I kept asking questions.

I wish to digress and get this off my chest. Once, when we were living in a third floor barsati in the then Madras (three rooms + kitchen, with flat roof in one room, and the others with sloped asbestos covering, and a large open to sky area across which one had to run in rain to the bathroom and toilet), I remembered asking my father why, though we were right below the water tank, taps ran dry first in our house whereas the flats in the first and second floor still had running water. He cryptically answered that we were closer to the tank than the other floors. That was the clue I needed, and it was the beginning of my focus on differences between situations to try understanding things. Even to this day, I keep thanking my father, and missing him, for not teaching me anything but teaching me to learn.

Yet, he clammed up when the topic veered towards God(s) and Goddesses, temples, the other religions and such other matters. These silences were not in his mental makeup, but I let them slide. I should not have.

People are scared of being exposed to themselves. As a result, they have self-silenced. While there are autodidacts (self-taught), these are auto-silenced!  What are they afraid of? The Gods, of course! I do not think Gods care whether you, as an individual or as a group, believe in Their omniscience, omnipotence and benevolence.

When would they unshackle themselves? Not as long as they fear what society would say about them. Their fear is not self-generated, is not even generated by God, but a mental imposition on them by society.

Yes, they say that man is a social animal, which could be true. We did survive by forming groups and group affiliation played a big role in human (as a species) survival. Isn’t it time to shed that fear mentality?

Are they waiting for an advertisement, as in the Virginia Slims campaign of long ago, “You’ve come a long way, baby”? This ain’t coming.

You “Just do it!” Nike advertisement.

Start learning again.

Raghuram Ekambaram