Most of us are learning disabled—by design. That’s because our brains are wired for speed. Over 100 billion neurons, connected by one quadrillion synapses, process approximately 100 trillion bits of information per second. The processing power of the human brain is unmatched by even the fastest supercomputers. Yet, all that power creates enormous excess capacity when it comes to listening. After accounting for comprehension, our brains think at a rate of about 500 words per minute—four times faster than the average person speaks. The result? While our over-productive brains are instructing our heads to give an attentive nod on the outside, on the inside we’re thinking, “Enough already! Finish your sentence so I can tell you all the great things I just thought about while you were talking.” And therein, according to Larry King, is when we disable our learning.
Your thoughts? What opportunities will you have today to be “quick to listen and slow to speak” (James 1:19)?
