School may be out for the summer, but our brains shouldn’t be.
In fact, the opportunities for folks of all ages (not just kids) to continue to learn are still plentiful throughout the summer months.
And we should all be taking advantage of them.
We’ve read a number of interesting articles lately regarding the need to continue to exercise our brains not only as we age, but also as social media continues to be geared toward rapid consumption and artificial intelligence (AI) and other technologies make things seemingly easier and easier.
Our brains, like any other muscle, can atrophy if use declines, and studies and experts have warned that excessive use of AI can lead to a decrease in cognitive ability, as can many other factors.
We would argue that excessive reliance on things like memes and soundbites could have a similar effect.
But it’s imperative that we continue to hone our critical-thinking and deep-thinking skills, for our own health and for the health of our communities.
We must be able to think through what we’re hearing and seeing. We have to be able to see and consider things beyond what’s right in front of us — such as political messaging during election season (and always), what a neighbor is saying on social media, what could be a financial scam text we just received, etc.
Oftentimes, there’s a lot more just beyond what we initially see, and it takes effort and consistently exercising our brains to know how to and to want to push beyond that initial tidbit to learn more.
But, lucky for us, Archuleta County is rich with resources to enable learning across the lifespan.
We have many who love to learn and who love to share their knowledge and what they’re learning about through community organizations, clubs, lectures, special events and more.
We have nearby places to visit to grow our knowledge about things like archaeology, astronomy, animals, history and more.
We have numerous resources for reading and learning at our fingertips, like through the Ruby M. Sisson Public Library, giving us the opportunity to learn about almost anything whenever we want to.
We also have access to numerous resources we can take outside with us to exercise both our bodies and our brains (taking a physical or app guide outside to go birding, for example).
And, if you don’t want to leave AI behind, we’ve seen a number of tips for helping to use AI to grow your knowledge and hone your skills, such as by “arguing” with it to make you think more, not less.
The world is truly at our fingertips.
The need for critical thinking and healthy brains will no go away; if anything, it will grow.
Randi Pierce
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