Ebook The Education of the Central Nervous System

The old theory that education consists solely in modifications in an immaterial entity has worked untold damage. It was argued that the immaterial never grew old, and that it could be trained as well at one time as at another. From this mistaken notion arose such adages as, "It is never too late to be what you might have been." It would be nearer the truth to say of any creature whose higher knowledge rests upon sensory foundations, or, in other words, upon modifications in nerve cells: "It is always too late to be what you might have been." Education may be something more, as the writer believes, than modifications in the central nervous system, but it is also true that without these modifications no mortal can be educated.

If brain cells are allowed to pass the plastic stage without being subjected to the proper stimuli or training, they will never fully develop. The majority of adults have many undeveloped spots in their brains.

This book calls attention to the importance of early purposive training of the central nervous system while its brief morning of plasticity lasts.