Bruce Cameron

Editor’s Note: The following column was originally published in 2010.

I was fascinated to listen to a report on how to make one’s brain more effective, although my brain wasn’t all that interested.

Apparently, there are three levels of brain activity. Level 1 is the lowest level — the amount of concentration required to, say, delete e-mails or serve in Congress. As human beings, we spend a lot of time in Level 1, including all of our teenage years.

Level 2 is mild engagement, like listening to an in-law. Our brains are burning glucose and becoming fatigued (or, depending on the in-law, enraged...