There is a widespread, persistent, and deeply misleading misconception that learning and improvement are exclusively about accumulating knowledge or skills, as if the brain were a large warehouse where more content automatically means more capacity and, therefore, more competence.

The more you add, the better? 

That’s not always how neurological optimization works.

In reality, the opposite is also true.

The nervous system does not grow solely by accumulation. It evolves through selection.

Selection isn’t only about what needs to be added; it’s also about what shouldn’t be kept.

When the brain identifies a neurological trait and behavior as desirable because it supports a survival strategy, it will work on making it a swift response.

It will favor and strengthen that response by either forming new neural connections or by reinforcing existing ones.

But an efficient way to prioritize this new behavior is to start neglecting and weakening the opposing tendency simul...