Growing Good People
At age seven months in the womb, humans begin language coordination in response to what they hear through the mother’s belly wall. Some 52 muscles learn to respond to the various phonemes (a basic language sound like 'b' in boy and 'm' in man) of the language surrounding that belly. There are also studies showing that the emotional state of the parent imprints as do things like music and other environmental conditions. Nutrition, drug use and pollution spill right through directly to the fetus via the placenta and umbilical cord. Parenting begins way before the bassinet.
At eighteen months, the child has a brain 1/3 the size of an adult but the same number of neural connections. These connections are called synapses and relay information – outgoing from the nerve cell through axons, ingoing by way of dendrites. It is the number of connections of nerve cells that relates to intelligence, not the number of neurons.
As the brain grows, by age 6 we have about five times the neural connections we do as adults. These trillions upon trillions of connections are there waiting to be imprinted by the environment, parents and society. This is probably the reason, some 2000 years ago, the church started the sacraments at ages 6 or 7. (It is remarkable how so many 'new' scientific discoveries were anticipated by the intuitive traditions of, what we believe to be, unsophisticated minds of the past.) Beginning at about age 12, the fatty myelin sheath covering connecting neuronal tendrils not used, are literally dissolved, absorbed into the cerebrospinal fluid. Thus 80% of the neural brain mass present at age 6 is gone by age 14 as a result of disuse. Further belittling is the fact that of the remaining 20% of the brain, we only use 5%. That means, of our full potential, we only use about 1%! (For evolutionary materialists out there, please explain to me how something as complex as a brain – infinitely more complex than anything humans have ever invented – developed so that 80% of it could dissolve and 95% of what remains go unused.)
This 'devolution' of the brain applies to the neocortex, that big part of the brain with all the folds and grooves that humans are so proud of because that's where all our smarts (are supposed to) come from. The more 'primitive' parts of the brain, the 'reptilian' brainstem and limbic systems responsible for stimulus-response sorts of actions and emotion-cognition, remain intact and do not experience this loss. In other words, our ability for 'fight-flight' (running from predators), self-awareness (me, I, look at me), sex (fun stuff and children hatching), eating (wouldn't want to miss that) and road rage (essential in modern living) are never at risk, just our ability to be intelligent about all that base reptilian stuff is.
Nothing new here, right? Is it not clear which parts of the human brain are in full function today? Just watch a little television, listen to 'with it' music, go to some movies and pick up some of the tabloids at the grocery counter and you'll see the human brain stem has suffered no melt-down. But that 3-pound blob on top of it, the seat of intelligence, is evidently just filling up space.
What is primarily responsible for making and holding neural connections is not what we can beat into our kids with rules, instructions and performance pressures, but what they experience around them. At least 95% of the imprinting a child receives, neither the child nor the parents are aware of. Who we are emotionally, ethically and intellectually at our core in our day-to-day routines as parents – not what we pretend or preach – is picked up by the child as its most important lessons and is then 'neural connected.' So telling a child to be something we are not doesn't work. If we want better children, then we must be better people.
This also speaks to the importance of a loving and nurturing family nest. We learn love, in large part, by experiencing it. The erosion of the family in our libertine society thrusts the child into a peer group for imprinting. This begins with technological births in hospital wards, then continues with isolating infants in their own bedrooms, pseudofood in bottles with nipples, television, day-care, broken homes and on to public schooling…you know, the 'modern' way to rear kids. The premature unfolding of development is accelerated through exposure to adult themes pressing in from everywhere in our society. Menstruation is beginning in 8-year-old girls (partly the result of hormone-type pollutants in food), there is an outbreak of pregnancies in 9-year-olds, and violent sex crimes among children under the age of 10 are becoming common. Children are being thrust into full operational adult thinking way before they are capable of handling it properly. That is why some 70% of teenagers are functionally illiterate: they may be able to learn, but cannot grant meaning. They have not been properly imprinted, don't have sufficient life experience for context and don't have the neural connections.
So yes, the home, family and parents are responsible for the development of children. On the other hand, there is a lot of nature involved too. Any parent raising a child into adulthood will see that the child at 40 is pretty much identical to the child in earliest infancy. So don't be too quick to blame yourself for a child gone bad. Don't spend your fortune in therapy either, whining about how your parents didn't love you. We can lose important neural connections in childhood but once you realize who you are – very early in childhood – the ball is ultimately in your court. There are people with essentially no brain in their skull (compressed to a thin membrane from hydrocephalus) who excel intellectually and ethically. So, as an adult, buck up, take responsibility for yourself and make good use of the neural connections remaining. That's in your court. You are not a victim.
But the present circumstances for children are a peculiar situation with no historical precedent. There is no solution other than for the adults to not be distracted by the veneer of civilization, its glamour of modernity, and its amoral and libertine pressures. Even though we are left with 1% of our mental potential, we can make a lot of good use of that. It means reaching inside for the goodness that is there in our hearts and extending that to our fellow humans. It means not following the conscience of others but learning what is already within and being true to it. Children don't need money, videos, signature shoes and pressure for grades and sports performance. The inner needs of children don't care about being raised in a pigpen so long as there is love. If that critical emotional relationship is not there, children will seek it in peers, including the perverted, money grubbing, media models. Then we have the ethically blind (other children, brainless idols and profiteering media) leading our blind children. This is the proper incubator for the adults of the future? What then, particularly when everyone has been indoctrinated into thinking they are victims and any failure in life is the fault of somebody else? What a formula for the collapse of society!
The answer is that greatest of all intelligences, love. That is not a platitude. Love requires an expansive and wise mind. Even with the puny 1% of our brain that we use, the capacity for love is infinite. In the end, what else really matters anyway? In the process, by being a person of goodness and reaching out in this way to others, we become the perfect model for the development of a loving and well-adjusted child. And hardly a word needs to be spoken in the process.
For further reading, or for more information about, Dr Wysong and the Wysong Corporation please visit www.wysong.net or write to wysong@wysong.net. For resources on healthier foods for people including snacks, and breakfast cereals please visit www.cerealwysong.com.
Bed Bugs - Are They Dangerous?
If your parent or grandparent ever tucked you in at night, you may have heard this common, yet somewhat curious, chant. Most children never see or hear of bedbugs and never have any idea what their ridiculous parents are talking about, drifting off to sleep without any concern of the attack of the so-called ‘bedbugs’. But, what they are blissfully unaware of is that there actually are bedbugs, scientific name cimex lectularius, and they would love to dine on the delicate flesh of a tender young offspring, if given the chance.
These creatures were most common when our ancestors were dwelling in caves, unprotected from the creatures preying on all the common wildlife of the day, but almost unheard of in the modern world of developed society. Approximately the size of a small apple seed as adults, these creepy-crawlies are notoriously difficult to find. They, like the common tick, are thin enough to slip between floor boards, under outlet covers and into the smallest spaces one could imagine, only emerging at night to feast on their unsuspecting prey.
The result of their bite and feast is no more or less harmful than that of a spider or dedicated mosquito – swelling and itching usually – and can only carry live disease, such as HIV, for up to an hour on its mouth parts so is not well know for passing disease in the modern world. And adult bedbugs can survive up to one year without feeding on blood, so their survivorship of hard times is quite amazing.
The last decade has seen an unprecedented increase in reported bites in highly developed countries – Australia in particular, reporting a 700% increase from 2000 to 2004 compared to the previous 4-year period. There however, the vast majority of the cases were reported from lower-end lodging such as back-packer hotels, people camping or in less than standard dwelling. But even here, in the good old US of A, there are increased reports on both coasts and everywhere in between, from hospitals and dorm rooms, hotels and motels, apartments and even town homes, single family homes and on cruise ships - anywhere there’s good eating for these hungry little bugs. The higher density the population, the happier they are with no regard to income or social status.
Immigrants and travelers have been blamed for their recent re-introduction into modern and developed countries in recent years. With no place on earth outside a couple days travel, we could potentially see other interesting parasites make it onto US turf as well, if customs has no way of detecting and eliminating them.
There is one additional variety of bedbug, cimex hemipterus, that prefers tropical settings, that is said to be in up to 65% of homes located in those regions. These have also made their way into Australia, but not yet to the US, most of which were directly linked to travel to Asia and other Pacific countries.
One of the reasons sited, but not confirmed for the recent proliferation of these pesky intruders is their increased resistance to certain pesticides. In the past pest-control chemicals tended to be broad based, aimed at wiping out cockroaches, ants and the like but also wiping out the populations of bedbugs at the same time. Now, as chemicals are refined to target very specific species, the bedbug is not affected by them, even immune to their effects, thusly given the opportunity to breed and flourish.
If you have a concern about bedbugs or even suspect them to be in your own home, the best thing to do is alert a pest-control company. Typically they will make some recommendations to you and even visit to inspect the area and apply some chemicals to eliminate the parasites from the area. Do not be alarmed by them however, because besides the itchy bite mark, these little critters are fairly benevolent to you and your children or pets.
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Habits that Hinder an Organized Closet
Having an organized, accessible closet is a goal for many people, albeit an elusive one. In order to maintain an organized closet, you must actually clean and organize it in a logical way in the first place. An often overlooked step of any closet organization endeavor is donating or giving away clothing that is not an active part of your wardrobe. For most people, however, minimizing the clutter of unused clothing is easier said than done. If any of the following justifications sound familiar, you may be guilty of common mistakes that are keeping you from having the organized and modern closet of your dreams:
“It might come back in style.” Granted, fashion trends follow (long) cycles, but is this a realistic reason for keeping that fluorescent sweatshirt with the neck cut out? If the item does come back in style in ten or twenty years, will you be the appropriate age to take advantage? If you are keeping some trusty articles of clothing around in hopes of wearing them again someday, you are wasting valuable closet space that could accommodate items that you actually wear.
“It has sentimental value.” If you own clothing that you do not wear but are keeping for sentimental reasons, be honest with yourself about how much it means to you. There is nothing wrong with preserving your wedding dress or an antique gown handed down from your grandmother, but a four sizes too small dress from junior prom is taking it too far. There is simply no need (or space) to keep clothing from every important occasion in your life. So hold on to pictures and memories, and away with the excess.
“It was expensive.” Ouch, you splurged on a $500 high fashion piece that was in style for one season. How were you supposed to know? As fashion goes, items that are all the rage one moment can be laughably unfortunate the next. But keeping such items in your closet is only keeping you from having an organized, accessible closet that makes your everyday life easier. Why not take the item to a consignment shop and give someone else the opportunity to get more use out of it? To prevent this clutter causing dilemma in the future, reserve splurging for high quality, timeless basics that can be used for years. A streamlined, structured leather bag, for instance, is a better candidate for your hard earned money than an of-the-moment flashy anything.
“It might fit again one day.” Sometimes, this can be a valid reason for keeping clothes around. After all, you do not want to have to purchase an entirely new wardrobe when you return to the size you used to be. If you are a woman who has recently had a baby, for instance, it is logical to keep your pre-pregnancy wardrobe around while you work your way back into it. But if you have clothing of all shapes and sizes from the last ten years, assess how long it has been since you have worn each piece. Is it realistic that it will fit one day, and if so, do you even like the item anymore? Would you really miss it if it was gone?
Once you have done away with needless clothes, take the same approach to get your shoe and accessory collections under control. An organized closet means easy access to your functional wardrobe and a simplified daily routine. Remember, holding on to the past may be hindering you from what you need now and in the future.
About the Author: Stephen Nickse is the founder of Closet Solutions, a leading provider of quality Boston custom closets, strategically headquartered in the nation’s design capitol, Boston, Ma. For more information, please visit www.closet-solutions.com.
