Do you exercise? Do you jog, walk, bicycle, swim, or work out at the gym? If not, do you plan to begin soon, or at least know that you should?
A famous short story by Ray Bradbury forecast some 40 years ago that by now walking would be obsolete; in his story, “The Pedestrian,” Bradbury painted a future society where the sidewalks and roads would be vacant of pedestrians, that the very act of walking was cause for suspicion. Yet here we are in a new century and going to health clubs in record numbers, not to mention filling the roadways with our joggers, bicyclists, and walkers. We exercise our physical selves for health; no one, after all, wishes to be sick or to die young.
We also tend to watch what we eat (or know that we should). We want feel good and look good; we don’t want to be overweight (though many of us are); we desire health and longevity and strive to do those things that will serve those ends.
But what do we do for the mind? The mind, after all, grows old, and many older minds seem to lose their sharpness, their agility, their memory. Can the same concern we show (or know we should show) for our physical selves be applied to our mental capacities? Is there some way we can exercise the brain?
Well, we could take classes in philosophy or foreign language or physics; but that’s a lot like work. Isn’t there some more or less (excuse the pun) mindless activity we could pursue to tone the mind? Something that requires no commitment to continuity in the form of weekly classes, quizzes, attendance at set hours, and so on?
The answer is "yes." If you are interested in words (or could become so), you have at hand everywhere the tools with which to tone and tune your brain. Words are everywhere, and we encounter them every day. By simply thinking critically about the words we meet—and not just individually, but in groups as they are used by writers from the newspaper to the labels in your clothes—we can exercise our minds. How? By looking for inconsistencies or contradictions, for redundancies and illogic, for lack of focus and excess baggage. By paying attention to and analyzing what we read we can pump the muscles of our minds, keep the blood and nutrients flowing: stave off mental atrophy.
At least this is the line of logic that underlay the launching 15 years ago of WordWise, a "serial tract for the verbally inclined." This periodical sought to promote mental exercise through verbal awareness. Because words are everywhere used illogically, inefficiently, ambiguously, and gratuitously, we can capitalize on their abuse and misuse and careless use. Instead of apprehending the written word without conscious thought and inferring intended meanings without noticing the disparity between them and what the words actually convey, we can exercise the large muscle between our ears and help keep it fit.
Perhaps a few examples are in order. We often hear the phrase, "the reason is because," and "the best of any" and "the single largest" (or some other superlative; take your pick). Yet few of us flinch at the inherent, or, as I prefer to call it, latent redundancy in each of these everyday expressions. Nor do many of us react to the excess baggage of "desert areas," "mountain areas," and "valley areas" when the weatherman is talking about deserts, mountains, and valleys. We hear of a famous person’s celebrity status, another person’s skill level—without stopping to reflect that celebrity and skill can stand alone, without these useless junk words, which are everywhere. We listen unmoved by the disparity when a newsperson reports that a suspect robbed a store and fled with the cash; what, I always want to know, is he suspected of? Incivility? Bad breath? (We’ve been told he’s a robber, so that’s not merely suspicion.) We never bristle at hearing "literally" used literally all the time in senses where literal—as opposed to figurative—is the only possibility.
I could go on for pages. But these examples give you some idea of the kinds of verbal abuses that one finds out there. To become conscious of these lapses in logic is to exercise the mind, enhance the consciousness, sharpen the intellect. That, at least, was our theory back when. But now the Wall Street Journal reports (Nov. 23, 2001) on a new understanding of how the brain works:
"For years, the conventional wisdom has been that we are at the mercy of genetics and fate when it comes to our aging brains. But a new understanding of how the brain works has turned that theory on its head."
The article goes on to state that like other organs, the brain is dramatically affected "by how we treat it." Well, duh!" Imagine that.
"Just as we can do our part with diet and exercise to prevent physical ailments such as heart disease and diabetes, we can take steps to protect our brains and stave off mental decline."
That sounds a whole lot like what I wrote in my promotional material for WordWise over a decade ago. And the article goes on:
"A growing body of research shows that many cognitive problems can be delayed or prevented—and some even reversed—with a little physical and mental effort. . . ."
Some of the examples given are learning a second language, taking piano lessons, attending lectures, and even reading a difficult book. Well, I modestly suggest that reading anything with your critical faculties turned on will also produce these salutary benefits. Mental effort will reduce mental decline.
"Doctors say new mental challenges help to map out new pathways in the brain. . . . ‘Every time you learn something new it builds new connections to the brain cells,’ "
Thus saith an assistant professor of psychology at Harvard. Exercising the brain really does build new "muscle." We were exactly right in 1987. It’s always pleasant to learn that your intuition was right on the money.
So instead of just reading things, from henceforth and ever more read with your verbalert faculties switched on. This will help keep the old melon pumping iron. The Harvard experts have said so.
—WW