Brain Games One

Brain game one 

Do we really know what we think we know?

Research suggests that when your brain is subjected to the same content over and over, it simply says "Ok! I know that already!" and proceeds to go on autopilot or zones out completely. For an example of this, let's take a look at what I am doing as I write this article...typing. We can pretty much all do it to some extent. Some might use two index finger to visually type the words but their effectiveness is drastically reduced if they were forced to shut their eyes.

The other, most common method of typing is to use the "asdf jkl;" method. Surely we know this inside and out because we can eventually learn to type anything we want, as fast as we want, and never miss a beat. But do we really know this like we think we do?

Let's test this theory shall we?

Using the asdf jkl; method, type out the following sentence:

The quick brown fox jumped over the lazy dog

Obviously, this was rather easy and you more than likely aced this test. But what happens if we switched our hands. For this next test, put the index finger of your right hand on the "A" key and the pinky of your left hand on the "J" key. Now retype the sentence without looking, using the same speed you would use if your hands were in the usual position.

tge qiivh vtoen ;oc ju.ptd ober uye ;szw foh 

the above sentence was my result.

my auto correct went berserk by the way : )

I have personally written many millions of words in the form of texting, book writing, article writing, emailing...etc. That was my result. Pretty funny when I think about it.

So how does knowing this help the brain?

Doing things differently, such as typing with crossed hands or writing with your non dominant hand gives your brain a good workout. It's like a weightlifter who adds additional pounds onto the bar. Besides being pretty fun, as well as quite humorous at times, doing things differently for a few minutes per day can benefit the brain, particularly where the hippocampus (section of the brain reserved for memory) is concerned.

Practice this

You can practice this brain workout by doing the following:

1.  Make a new text document called "brain game 1" and save the file somewhere on your computer.
2. Write any simple sentence at the top of the page.
3. Switch your hands and practice typing it 10 or 15 times. The first sentence you should write as fast as you ordinarily would (without looking) just to get some perspective. Then you can think about where the key is in relation to the fingers now that your hands are reversed. Feel free to peek if you want.
4. Attempt to write the sentence correctly 10 or 15 times a day until you get the sentence correct.
5. After you get it correct, change the sentence to something else. After a while, the original sentence will become easy. Once you change your sentence it will become a little harder again.

This is something you can do in a few short minutes which will give the brain the workout it needs. For humors sake, feel free to reply with your resulting first sentence from the crossed hands workout.