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On a cosmic scale, our life is insignificant, yet this brief period when we appear in the world is the time in which all meaningful questions arise.

Paul Ricoeur

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HARDWIRED V LIVEWIRED 

Imagine if some hapless rhinoceros found itself on the Arctic tundra, or on top of a mountain in the Himalayas, or in the middle of urban Tokyo. It would have no capacity to adapt (which is why we don’t find rhinos in those areas). This strategy of arriving with a pre-arranged brain works inside a particular niche in the ecosystem – but put an animal outside of that niche, and its chances of thriving are low. In contrast, humans are able to thrive in many different environments, from the frozen tundra to the high mountains to bustling urban centers. This is possible because the human brain is born remarkably unfinished. Instead of arriving with everything wired up – let’s call it “hardwired” – a human brain allows itself to be shaped by the details of life experience. This leads to long periods of helplessness as the young brain slowly molds to its environment. It’s “livewired”

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If life's lessons could be reduced to single sentences, there would be no need for fiction. -Scott Turow, 

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Somerville and her team have an idea why peer pressure strongly compels behavior in teens: areas involved in social considerations (such as the mPFC) are more strongly coupled to other brain regions that translate motivations into actions (the striatum and its network of connections). This, they suggest, might explain why teens are more likely to take risks when their friends are around.

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