Mastering juggling increases brain matter
(and then a few 3 ballers were shown)
I’ve heard that just about anything that is difficult to learn is good excercise for the brain. Unicycling is pretty high up there too, which is why many of us are here. I know I’ve learned many things trying to ride that have transfered across into my general ability to move. I’m not the most talented or coordinated guy in the world, and I’ve been driving a desk for 25 years, so perhaps my middle aged brain is “growing” at a faster rate than an athletic 16 year old’s would.
Brains slowly attrophy in a lifetime, but constant learning stops or even reverses that process. Like with muscles, if you don’t use it you lose it. Medical researchers find that trial lawyers, who have to rapidly learn the facts on every new case they get, are among the fittest mentally. Their brains are usually indistinguishable from 20 year old’s brains when they die. Adventurers are similar - sharp as a tack even at 80 (well, except for Messner… sad story there.) People with repetitive occupations, like coal mining or assembly work in factories, often lose up to 50% of their brain volume by the time they are 70. Hard drinking accelerates the process. It’s really sobering to compare MRI scans of old guys with different occupations.
I can see the TV show now;
Ryan Atkins: Trial Lawyer
‘Did you or did you NOT order the Pedal Grab?’
‘He had to gap’
‘YOU CAN’T HANDLE THE GAP!!!’
Re: Just heard on CNN (so it’s true)
u mean u missed it?
if CNN gets excited about a couple of 3ballers,
can u imagine how much 5balls must increase your brain ?!
Re: Re: Just heard on CNN (so it’s true)
People should be warned! If they master too many balls their brains may explode!
Phil
Re: Re: Re: Just heard on CNN (so it’s true)
I can juggle (somewhat), ride a uni and do some pretty cool tricks with a yoyo, yet my brain seems to just limp along. Maybe all the these activities have combined to explode critical thinking components of my brain. 
Jason
Re: Re: Re: Re: Just heard on CNN (so it’s true)
Maybe that’s the vital part left out of the story… the huge, expanding “juggling” part of the brain pushes the rest of it out of the ears… 
Phil
Re: Re: Re: Re: Just heard on CNN (so it’s true)
jason, i’m not sure what u do for a living so i’m not sure if u ever face the kind of problem-solving situation that u sometime seem to sort out while u’re in that half-dream/half-wake stage of sleep early in the morning (10-15mins b4 the alarm clock goes off)
if u know what i’m talking about (failing which, u’re just gonna have to wait till u have to help KMM with his geometry homework - relax, u’ve got a couple of years;) ), try this
the next time u find yourself with trying to figure something out, pick up your three balls and go stand in front of a mirror
get your cascade going and by just looking at the top of the balls and eventually looking ‘thru’ the pattern, look yourself in the eye while u keep the cascade going
keep this up for a while and dont be surprised if u dont suddenly start thinking about your problem in a whole new way
i know it sounds all new-agey hey-shoo-wow and stuff
try it
Re: Re: Re: Just heard on CNN (so it’s true)
… after juggling or unicycling for a while, I either sit down in front of either the TV or computer and fry all those brain cells that developed. I figure the size of my brain stays pretty constant if I do that.
Re: Just heard on CNN (so it’s true)
On Sat, 24 Jan 2004 01:15:21 -0600, GILD
<GILD@NoEmail.Message.Poster.at.Unicyclist.com> wrote:
>keep this up for a while and dont be surprised if u dont suddenly start
>thinking about your problem in a whole new way
>
>i know it sounds all new-agey hey-shoo-wow and stuff
Hey GILD, with that last ‘dont’ it doesn’t sound new-agey at all. It
just says Probably nothing happens. Should we omit that last ‘dont’
(or the first ‘dont’ instead which makes it even stronger)?
Klaas Bil - Newsgroup Addict
I have a feeling you might need two points of contact with the ground for such a thing to work? Or at least training wheels on the front and rear. - John Foss commenting on a picture of a one-wheeled vehicle he saw on RSU.