Brain Rules is a fascinating book that explores twelve simple principles to help us make the best use of our brains, enabling us to become better teachers, students, parents and business leaders.
Find below a short review of the book, along with a mind map summary created by Litemind reader Johan D’Haeseleer.
The 12 Brain Rules
The 12 principles describing how our brain works best, which form the core of Dr. John Medina’s book Brain Rules, are:
- Exercise. Exercise boosts brain power.
- Survival. The human brain evolved, too.
- Wiring. Every brain is wired differently.
- Attention. We don’t pay attention to boring things.
- Short-term memory. Repeat to remember.
- Long-term memory. Remember to repeat.
- Sleep. Sleep well, think well.
- Stress. Stressed brains don’t learn the same way.
- Sensory integration. Stimulate more of the senses.
- Vision. Vision trumps all other senses.
- Gender. Male and female brains are different.
- Exploration. We are powerful and natural explorers.
For a more detailed explanation of each of these rules, including videos, check out ‘The 12 Rules‘, on the Brain Rules website.)
Although many of us may already intuitively know at least some of these principles, Dr. Medina explains the science behind each of them in a clear, accessible and often very funny manner, bringing along many entertaining stories and practical ideas we can use in classrooms, corporations or in any work environment. The principles are also explained in several, often hilariously funny short videos, to help reinforce each chapter’s concepts (the book ships with a companion DVD).
The main idea of the book — which also serves as a big call for action — is that most of what’s in our world ignores these rules. As Dr. Medina points out, if you wanted to create an educational environment that was directly opposed to what the brain was good at doing, you would probably design something like a classroom. And the examples go on and on, from business presentations to office cubicles.
The good news is that we have an incredible amount of room for improvement in practically everything we design, if only we would consider the brain rules when designing the world around us.
No Mumbo-Jumbo
Throughout the years, I gradually lost interest in reading ‘brain facts’ articles. Things like “Humans use only 10% or less of their brain“, or the idea that “listening to Mozart makes you smarter” being passed as scientific truths started to really annoy me.
And that’s what I really like about Brain Rules: it’s based on real science. It’s backed up by peer-reviewed studies, often replicated many times. So when I say science, I mean it. And, surprisingly to many people, that doesn’t mean the book is boring, not by any means. In Dr. Medina own words, “I’m a nice guy, but a grumpy scientist.” Refreshing!
Getting Help from an Engaged Litemind Reader
For ages I wanted to mention Brain Rules on the blog, but never got around to doing it. Reader Johan D’Haeseleer lent me a hand and generously sent a mind map he created, making up for my procrastination.
Johan has been a work simplifier for a big part of his life. In chatting with him, I discovered that we share many ideas, including the belief that we can treat almost anything as processes that can be learned, simplified and optimized — an idea that I’ve been thinking about a lot lately. (Johan’s website is in Dutch, but for the curious, non-Dutch-speaking types there’s always Google Translate.)
The Mind Map
And here’s Johan’s mind map, which joins Litemind growing book summary gallery. Enjoy!
Get the mind map for Brain Rules:
More Resources
I would have included several links to Brain Rules materials and reviews, but the official Brain Rules website already acts as a great hub for all related information floating around. So, just head over there and browse around — there’s a blog, many videos, audio excerpts and much more to keep you entertained.
If you like what you see, don’t forget to come back here and buy your copy.
Although “Listen to Mozart” may not get you smarter, it is always an intelligent choice…
Nice post.
Interesting book. Definitely worth a look.
One minor quibble with the mind map: I realize, this is an American Site and you people have an unhealthy obsession with not talking about “breeding behaviour” but fer fooks sake: If you’re gonna use the 4F mnemonic, do it properly!
Cheers!
Chris
The 4F mnemonic from the mind map is exactly how Dr. Medina presents it in the book, so no filtering was done.
I’ve seen many people using the mnemonic that way, and I actually find it quite humorous — which in turn helps me remember it more easily.
For those not familiar with it, the 4Fs are:
So I was wrong about who the prude was. My apologies but the main point stands.
I’ve always heard it as Fighting, Fleeing, Feeding and … uhm… mating.
You can see the humour in it of course but I’ve always thought it betrays a timidity in language that has no place in science. And besides, you’ve already said “Fucking” anyway: you’ve put the word in the listener’s/reader’s head with that last F and that’s all language does anyway.
Anyway, it’s not really worth debating, certainly not here. It’s still a good post about what looks to be a great book.
Keep up the good work.
Cheers!
Chris
“you’ve put the word in the listener’s/reader’s head with that last F and that’s all language does anyway.”
That’s a really interesting way to look at it — thanks for the insight!
Thanks Luciano! Always informative and thought provoking!
Seems like an interesting book.
I find no. 10 interesting: “Vision trumps all other senses”.
What about people like me who respond predominantly to aural cues?
Hi Mary,
That’s an interesting question. Unfortunately, the book doesn’t go down that avenue — and neither I can help from experience, since I have a strong visual orientation myself. My guess is that visual is the default brain mode, but that it can be overridden… (?)
Hey Luciano,
I was pleased to read that you also believe that we can treat almost anything as a process that can be learned, simplified and optimized. I don’t know if this comes for a mechanical aptitude bent or what, but I have always felt this way and it was strangely reassuring to hear you say that.
Aha, someone took the bait — thanks for noticing!
Yes, Jonathan, the more I think about and use process improvement ideas in my life, the more I see how valuable it is.
I intend to write about process improvement on the site — just trying to find a good writing angle to approach it.
Luciano, are you using Disqus to add this reply feature to your comments or is it some other plugin? Very cool!
I’m not using Disqus or any plugins. Starting in version 2.7, Wordpress has native support for threaded comments. It’s only a matter of tweaking your theme to take advantage of the new feature.
Here’s an article that explains how to do it.
Hiya
looks like a good book and website. Thanks for the suggestion. It seems to me that much of what we learn or forget is helped by organising our minds a certain way.
The 12 points are inspiring and positive. I’ve used most of those points in helping me learn a language and forget some past events too!
Thanks
Jens
Just finished Pragmatic Thinking & Learning by Andy Hunt. Great next read if you loved Brain Rules. I found them both to be very enlightening.
I second Clint’s recommendation. Coincidentally, I also finished reading Pragmatic Thinking and Learning a couple of weeks ago — and I absolutely love it! (To the point of being able to say it’s the best book I read in 2009 so far.)
Here’s the link if anyone is interested:
Pragmatic Thinking and Learning: Refactor Your Wetware
A sad fact about it is that it’s categorized under ‘Programming’, scaring a large part of its potential audience. That’s really unfortunate, since it’s a great book applicable for everyone, not only software developers.
Very interesting post. It sounds like a great book, and thanks for sharing the 12 Rules with us. The brain is so fascinating and even though some of these rules seem obvious, it never hurts to remind ourselves of everything that’s impacting our minds.
Hi Luciano, just stumbled upon your blog. I’m rather amazed. I’ve been doing mind maps as a student to help me process texts I read (heres a link to a chapter of Medina’s book http://bubbl.us/view.php?sid=1.....RWRNTUo3SQ – in one of my maps). Very cool to see what you are doing here with your blog and the use of maps. I’ll be stopping in again!
Hi Sheri,
Thanks for sharing your mind map and enriching the topic!
(I got “not authorized” messages a couple of times when trying to access it, but tried again later and was then able to get through)
“12 Vision. Vision trumps all other senses.”
I disagree, my primary and most important sense is hearing. This point depends on the person and how they have developed.
And where’s the mind map to view closely?
Right here, Catherine.