Lego’s recent advertising campaign called “Word Puzzle” is playfully elegant but touches on something I feel quite strongly about. I subscribe to the belief that our experiences shape how our brains develop. The classic nature vs nurture debate – on a fundamental level there is a large component of nurture that develops personality and reason.
It is for that very reason that I believe the youth of today are wired different than our grand parents. This is not to say we are smarter or more stupid – just that the cognitive reasoning, multi-taking and decision making engine in our head works differently.
Lets take an extreme example of my grand parents and a young teenager growing up. My grandfather is in his late 80s and walked to school everyday. He recounts history class as being so exciting because the teacher would tell drum beating stories of war and conflict. TV of course was not on offer. Teenagers of today expect engagement on a level of magnitude higher than that of what my grandfather would have experienced. TV, Internet, Gaming and Mobile Communications define entertainment inputs for this generation. And I believe the difference is causing a fundamental rewiring of their brains – opinions that are shared by Tapscott and Carr amongst others.
But I thought the above campaign cleverly touched on the topic of lateral thinking and perspective. Upon looking at the graphic I’m reminded of the simple and basic nature of word puzzles – but I’m bothered by my inability to identify other additional “lego groups”. Perhaps I’m out of practice? Am I the only one who can’t see it? It leaves me an awareness of the value children derived from Lego and how quickly we’ve left it behind for 3D games and touch screen phones.
