17
RaveThe plasticity of the human brain gives me hope
These are my bedtime ramblings and hopefully they make sense, I’m tired and I was letting my mind muse about this while I brushed my teeth…
I’ve been learning about the science of reading (I’m in education) and some of it has been about the parts of the brain used in deciphering and comprehending written language.
When it comes to oral language, humans are hardwired to learn oral language and pick it up naturally very early in life, barring developmental delay or disability.
However, with decoding written language, the parts of the brain involved in this task are not close together and do not naturally communicate with each other, so these pathways have to be purposely built and reinforced. The human brain is not hardwired to learn to read the way it is hardwired to do the other kinds of higher-level thinking humans do. And yet, this is a skill that can be taught to most humans.
This gives me hope because a lot of times on Ovarit we discuss male socialization and nature versus nurture, etc. But if we can teach little humans to read when that’s not in our “natural” human repertoire, surely we can gradually shift the tides of male behavior as well, though not immediately and not all at once. The arguments for “that’s just how men are” or “men are biologically wired to…” blah blah blah fall flat because humans have these amazing big fucking brains that adapt!
Easier said than done, I know. But it’s better than the days when I start feeling very blackpilled, so to speak.
Agree. Unfortunately we would basically have to reboot society to achieve this. So it’s pretty difficult to imagine it happening. But it is nice to know it’s possible.
I suppose i just find it comforting to know it’s not IMpossible :)
I like your hopeful take! I suppose it also means that since the brain is plastic you can turn yourself into a pornsick AGP even though you started out as a perfectly normal human being.
I'm also super interested in this field. While there's still so much we don't know (it seems for example that there are somethings that seem to be unchanchable or at least much harder to change than others), plasticity is definitely a reality and it stays with us in the adult life as well - contrarily to what used to be believed. I believe people who have experience(s) in breaking and forming habits (especially if it's addictions) have important first hand experience of plasticity.
So yeah I do think that in the right environment, with time and effort, there's a lot we can do to shift male behavior in a more positive direction!
I think we can but only if women really truly come together, and right now, so many of them are TRAs or don’t care.
There's an enormous payoff for learning to read in terms of personal satisfaction, social approval, and independence. There are huge negatives in failing to learn to read in terms of anxiety and depression, social shame, and lack of independence.
Of course it'd doable, but men have to want to do it. Men would have to be offered some kind of payoff equal to or better than an orgasm if we want to train their brains to shift their behaviour.
Yeah, I think that's the problem here. Men don't want to be better.
And we all know psychotherapy only works when people want to change.
We'd have to seize power and refuse to have sex with men who don't retrain their brains to stop being misogynist. (And we'd have to put all rapists to death)
I support this strategy. Already women are refusing more and more to sleep with awful men.
Yes, we would have to increase the social stigma for abusers and sexists and decrease the social payoffs which is no small task. And it looks like women are increasingly letting shitty men rot alone.