“There are three kinds of men. The one that learns by reading. The few who learn by observation. The rest of them have to pee on the electric fence for themselves.” – Will Rogers, “The Manly Wisdom of Will Rogers”. “Friars Club Bible of Jokes, Pokes, Roasts, and Toasts”. Book by Nina Colman, p. 316, 2001.

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This quote is ankle-deep in cowboy humor and commonsense. It is also worth exploring some. There is an obvious meaning to learning by reading and observation. What is not quite as obvious is that there is a bit of scientific observation as to why most of us have to learn for ourselves. Instead, what is not so obvious is that learning through observation requires using a brain circuit to mankind’s evolutionary advantage. MIT’s Picower Institute for Learning and Memory felt a need to scientifically prove this. While most of us are satisfied with simply knowing this, MIT went to work at identifying a distinct brain circuit (anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) and basolateral amygdala (BLA)) to develop the ability to interpret the social cues needed to learn from observation. For the most part, I think most of us will accept the common sense approach to this concern.