Something that has always amazed me is the ability that our brain-finger connection has to type. Without thinking about where the letters on the keyboard are, we’re able to think of a word and then have it come up on the screen at almost talking speed. The interesting thing about this is that this is not an inborn skill. Our brain is not pre-wired to know that on the middle line of the keyboard will be the letters ASDFGHJKL. That’s not even consistent with the ABC’s order that we learned when we were little. Through practice, most people who have access to a computer are able to pick up this learned, incredible skill.
So what’s the limit then? If we can teach our body to move our fingers and produce words without even looking, what else could we teach our bodies to do? Professional balancers, artists, athletes, and musicians do this all the time by picking up new skills and teaching their body to react in the right ways. It will be interesting to see what small and large tasks the future will produce (such as the T9 texting method or new ways to drive a car or new interactive video games) that the body will be able to learn and perform.
