Given recent research about brain plasticity and the dangers of
cognitive load, the most powerful tool in our cognitive arsenal
may well be design. Specifically, we can use design principles
and discipline to shape our minds. This is different than
learning and acquiring knowledge. It's about designing how each
of us thinks, remembers and communicates — appropriately and
effectively for the digital age. Today's popular handwringing
about its effects on cognition has some merit. But rather than
predicting a dire future, perhaps we should be trying to achieve
a new one. New neuroscience discoveries give hope. We know that
brains are malleable and can change depending on how they are
used. The well-known study of London taxi drivers showed that a
certain region in the brain involved in memory formation was
physically larger than in non-taxi-driving individuals of a
similar age. This effect did not extend to London bus drivers,
supporting the conclusion that the requirement of London's taxi
drivers to memorize th