Friday, March 5, 2010

Of Mice and Men

People say we are becoming a dumber society.

I don't think that's completely true.

Kids nowadays learn way more than generations past.

I learned programming in high school. My father didn't learn it at all. He's still pretty much impressed with colour TV. My nephews are designing websites and binding CS packs to keys. At 6.

A study using mice and mazes showed that later generation mice did better and faster at mazes their great-grandparents did. There is such a thing as inherited information - a generational memory.

And that is nothing. Testing of control mice from surrounding areas showed that it is possibly not genetic. That there could be a sharing of information on a non-physical level. Perhaps a metaphysical one.

That, or the younger mice cheated.