Character Development and Brain Science

I can remember as a young teenager, my right forearm was larger than my left. Why? Because I played tennis right-handed. I remember seeing a photo of a famous tennis player once whose tennis arm was at least twice the size of his non-tennis arm.

Turns out the same is true for our brains. Apparently when people make the same choices over and over again in life, physical changes take place in the brain. We've known for a long time that behavior is habit forming. And that it's hard to break a well-formed habit. I always thought that was mostly psychological. But current brain science is suggesting it is also physical.

John Medina (of Brain Rules fame) says, "The brain acts like a muscle. The more activity you do, the larger and more complex it can become.... Our brains are so sensitive to external inputs that their physical wiring depends upon the culture in which they find themselves."

This is amazing! And it has huge implications for the formation of character.

If I lie to you about something small over and over again. Over time, my brain becomes pre-disposed to lies. Bigger and bigger lies become possible. If I practice generosity over and over again, eventually it becomes easier. I'm able to harness more and more generosity.

The idea is that we can develop moral habits just like we develop physical ones. We probably always knew this was true. But we always assumed it was mere psychology. So that you could quickly and easily turn the thing around. Just input a little new knowledge. The physicality of it suggests we need to be more patient and take things step by step.

Just like when someone who has never run before wants to run a marathon. You might start them off with a one mile jog... and slowly build up over a period of months to be able to run 26 miles. At some point in there they actually become a "runner".

Think about this in terms of your own moral development. What kind of person do you want to be? What habits do you have now that you wish you didn't? Are there directions you think God would want you to go? The key, then, would be to map out a "training schedule" to get there over time, rather than try and beat yourself up when you fail.

Of course, some moral issues need to be dealt with immediately. If a muscle is broken it just needs surgery. But more often than not, this is about retraining. Map out a change today that you'll be glad about in 6 months.