Noise

Chapter 3Brain Basics: Are Your Penguins Falling Off the Iceberg?

My friend Chuck is a pararescueman (or PJ) in the US Air Force. He is as talented as he is humble. His responsibilities require him to master many different skills, ranging from combat operations to saving lives and aiding the injured, often in very austere and challenging environments. His profession requires constant training and, at any given moment, he might need to recall critical information like specific tactical procedures or complex medical techniques.

One day, he was telling me how he was trained to dig a snow cave to survive overnight in the cold. Another time he was telling me about different types of parachute equipment. Knowing how frequently he is in training, preparing for new missions and different scenarios, I asked him how he can focus on it all.

He said, “Joe, it’s like penguins on an iceberg. You can only fit a certain number of them on there at a time. As I learn something new, a fat penguin falls off the other side. That’s the way it goes.”

Chuck’s ability to focus, to learn—and relearn—critical information is essential for him to be prepared at all times, living up to the PJ motto, “That others may live.”

Our Brains Are Changing

Whether he knew it or not, he described what happens to our brains with all of this noise and infobesity. It turns out that our brains aren’t just being affected ...