Continuing to unfold the physical health analogy, letβs consider exercise. The cognitive equivalent of aerobic activity is contemplation β the intentional focusing of your mindβs eye on a singular topic with the goal of increased understanding. Just as the sedentary lifestyles that emerged in the mid-20th century degraded our bodies, our current lack of contemplation is degrading our brains. Whatβs the equivalent of this cardio for our ailing brains? A good candidate is reading. Making sense of written text exercises our minds in important ways. We develop what the cognitive neuroscientist Maryanne Wolf calls βdeep reading processesβ that rewire and retrain neuronal regions in ways that increase the complexity and nuance of what weβre able to understand. βDeep reading is our speciesβ bridge to insight and novel thought,β she writes. Perhaps consuming a few dozen book pages a day should become the new 10,000 daily steps β a basic foundation of activity to maintain cognitive fitness.
Technology Weakens Our Minds. We Can Fix This. www.nytimes.com/2026/03/27/o...
