Conscious life, in all forms, is defined by thorough…
Page 73. Conscious life, in all forms, is defined by thorough going plasticity, a structure we can have to yield to an influence, but strong enough not to yield all at once. It is meant or has evolved, to bend but not break. Each relatively stable phase of equilibrium in such a structure is marked by what we may call new set of habits.
— from Expanding Your Range (Growth/Change/Education/Learning/Habit) · Sick Souls, Healthy Minds- How William James Can Save Your Life by John Kaag
In the book
It does not only rewire when some great event strikes; it rewires second by second, day and night. Conscious life of any kind, William James saw, has this same quality — a structure pliable enough to yield to an influence, but strong enough not to yield all at once: built to bend, not break. The catch is that this clay stiffens with age — we lose much of that flexibility as we grow older — which is exactly why the young must recognize that their power to change is at its highest right now. — Expanding Your Range (Growth/Change/Education/Learning/Habit)