The prefrontal cortex is the CEO part of the brain. It is involved with personality, decision making, and moderating social behavior including impulse control and risk taking.
You may not be surprised to learn, therefore, that this structure matures late in life. One study found that the prefrontal cortex may continue maturing late into your 40s.
The brain of a teenager typically has a poorly developed prefrontal cortex—this is reflected in behaviors that you might have experienced yourself back in the day.
I know I look back and think about some of the things I did and wonder how I made it out alive.
It’s curious to me that it takes so long for this part of the brain to develop—after all… it’s where all the wisdom resides. Wouldn’t it be useful as a teenager?
Part of me thinks that prefrontal cortex development into our late thirties and early forties is designed to compensate for our relative physical decline.
In other words, we find other ways to be useful to the tribe since we can’t hunt or reproduce with the same efficiency.
The tribal elders have wisdom in the form of a well-developed prefrontal cortex and it gives the rest of the tribe a reason to keep them around rather then pushing them off a cliff.
Whatever the evolutionary purpose for this late development of wisdom in our lives, I can say with some certainty that I have felt that prefrontal phenomenon palpably in my own life.
I have become wiser in the last 10 years and I actually feel smarter today at 44 than I ever have in my life. And to be clear, I’m not sure if I could study with the same intensity that I did in 20 years ago in medical school and I’m not sure if my recall would be quite as acute.
When I say that I am smarter, I mean that in very broad terms. I see the world with far more clarity than I did in my 20s. I am a very different person.
For me, the most profound change in my thinking has been the recognition of traditional paradigms and conventional wisdom. It used to be the case that I never really questioned anything—it never occurred to me to do so.
These days, I like to examine my own belief systems and am not afraid to challenge them. That is very liberating.
It does take some courage to do so. Our belief systems are shaped throughout our life and are so deeply ingrained in us that sometimes, when we start doubting them, it feels like we are doing something wrong.
Of course belief systems permeate all facets of our life and Wealth Formula is a show about wealth so let me use a relevant example in the investing world.
Published on 7 years, 4 months ago
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