Just Finished Reading The ReWired Brain by Ski Chilton

The ReWired Brain is a newly published book by Dr. Ski Chilton, professor of medicine, writer, and entrepreneur...along with Dr. Margaret Rukstalis and A.J. Gregory.  Melissa introduced me to it and I just finished reading it...here are my reactions...

Dr. Chilton in this book lays out the thesis that anyone can "rewire" their own brain and thus transform their life due to recent discoveries in neurological research.  He introduces and explains the concepts of brain plasticity, epigenetics, dual process reasoning (Systems One and Two) and the undifferentiated and differentiated minds.  He challenges, through the presentation of epigenetics, the commonly held notion that one's genetic makeup greatly restricts their capacity to change and that one's mental makeup is pretty much determined in their younger years.  Instead, Chilton explains that our nervous system is designed for change throughout our lives and that what we now choose to think in itself directly causes physical changes that affect our future.  Roughly stated, with dual process reasoning, System One corresponds to the subconscious mind and the lower brain functions while System Two, which defines our humanity in his opinion, rests within the cerebrum...the key is to keep them in balance, and especially work to avoid letting System One rule over what we say and do.  What I appreciate about this book is the personally liberating idea that I can design and change my brain and thinking to whatever I want it to be...the catch is that I not only have to know where I want to go, but also that I need to understand where I'm coming from right now: this is where the concept of differentiation comes into play.  For much of what we take for granted as truth comes from early childhood experiences, some of which may have involved abuse or exposure to destructive belief patterns.  It is important to recognize them in order to "differentiate" our past experience from what we truly are and want to become...

Ski Chilton writes from a personal perspective, drawing upon his own life story and his faith as a Christian.  You do not have to be a fellow believer in order to derive benefit from his writing, though...just realize that he is simply honestly expressing things as he sees them.  He also presents self-exploration questions at the end of chapters designed to get the reader more involved...very useful.  I've grossly simplified the good author's message in this necessarily brief review...let me just say in closing that there's a lot of new stuff here to learn and I'm confident that before long I'll find myself reading it again.  Thumbs up on this book...