Summary of the book 'Free your brain' by Idriss Aberkanne

Have you ever wondered why we are told to stay within the framework? To follow the rules, to listen carefully in class and not to question too much what we are taught? We have heard this kind of speech since we were children, as if it were the only way to succeed in life. But what if I told you that we are seriously mistaken? That true success is hidden elsewhere, in the corners that we dare not explore. This is exactly what Idriss Aberkane invites us to do in his book Free Your Brain: Take Control of Our Mental Abilities to Make Them Levers for Change.

Aberkane reminds us of something obvious but too often forgotten: our brain is not a machine that simply obeys external commands. It is a powerful tool, but we still need to know how to use it correctly. At school, at work, in politics, we do not use it ergonomically. And that is the problem: this lack of ergonomics leads to collective malaise, to intellectual stagnation.

So how do we free ourselves from this mental confinement? First, we need to change our relationship with knowledge. You know, we often have this misconception that the more information we accumulate, the “smarter” we become. Aberkane shows us that it is not about accumulating, but about distributing this knowledge in a more fluid and efficient way. He mentions a fascinating anecdote: in India, they introduced a special currency that is only used to pay for courses. The person who receives this money can only use it to obtain an education in turn, and so on. Result? Everyone gets richer, but not financially, intellectually!

What if this was true wealth? An uninterrupted chain of knowledge exchanges where everyone becomes both a learner and a teacher. Aberkane calls this the knowledge economy, a system where no one loses.

What’s even more exciting about his approach is that he pushes us to rethink our relationship with time and performance. He talks about mental athletes, those people capable of incredible cognitive feats, like calculating the 23rd root of a 201-digit number. You might be thinking, “Okay, that’s cool, but I’ll never do that.” But in fact, Aberkane tells us that we are all capable of this kind of performance. Yes, you too! The secret is neuroergonomics: using your brain optimally, like a weightlifter who optimizes each movement to lift an enormous weight.

It's like being given a super computer but using it like an old typewriter. Sounds absurd, right? But that's what we do every day with our own brains. We limit ourselves, we stay in small boxes, we don't explore what this great tool can really accomplish.

Aberkane goes further by explaining that this liberation of the brain is not just to shine in mathematics competitions. No, it is much more than that. It is a philosophy of life that pushes us to fully flourish as individuals. He talks about the ego, and here again, he shakes up preconceived ideas a little. We often think that the ego is a problem, that it must be repressed. Aberkane, for his part, tells us that a well-used ego can be an immense force, a driving force to accomplish our projects and even contribute to the collective good.

What if we finally dared to free ourselves from these old mental structures? No longer submit to fixed hierarchies or outdated ideologies? Aberkane encourages us to rethink the world, to break away from classic patterns to imagine a future where everyone is free to think, create and grow without constraints.

Aberkane doesn't just stop at knowledge or the ego. He also explores an aspect that could well change the way we live and learn: the idea of ​​a society built on a better collective use of our cognitive abilities. Does that ring a bell? In a world where we constantly talk about efficiency, productivity and competitiveness, Aberkane asks this simple question: what if we finally used our brains wisely, for ourselves and for others?

It's fascinating, isn't it? Imagine a society where we would no longer simply teach facts or formulas, but where we would teach each individual to make the best use of their own brain capacities. A kind of tailor-made education, where everyone could optimize their own brain according to their talents and needs. No more school force-feeding, as he puts it so well in one of his striking analogies, comparing our educational system to that of force-feeding geese. Aberkane denounces this overabundance of often useless information, which leads to a "fat brain". In other words, it is not because we stuff a student with knowledge that he will become more intelligent, just as force-feeding a goose will not make it more efficient, but just sick.

But then, what would be the alternative? How can we escape this vicious cycle of mental gorging? Aberkane proposes a radically different approach, based on what he calls neuroergonomics. For him, it's quite simple: instead of imposing mountains of information on us without really teaching us how to use it, we must teach ourselves to better organize our thoughts, to structure our knowledge in such a way as to make it a lever for transformation.

This idea goes hand in hand with another powerful concept explored in the book: the span. What is a span, you might be wondering? It’s simply the distance between your thumb and your little finger when your hand is open. And for Aberkane, it’s more than just a physical measurement: it’s a metaphor for the limits of what our brains can grasp at any given time. Just as our hands can only grasp one object at a time, our brains can only hold so much information at any one time. So we need to structure our ideas and knowledge ergonomically to better understand them.

And here is where it gets exciting: Aberkane shows us that, just as the dimensions of the human body have influenced the design of our physical environment (buildings, objects), the dimensions of our brain should influence the way we design our knowledge dissemination systems. This means that everything related to education, communication or decision-making should be rethought according to the cognitive capacities of our brain.

Can you imagine? A school, a workplace, or even a society designed to be in perfect harmony with our natural way of thinking and understanding. It would be a world where we would learn not according to a rigid program, but according to what our brain is actually capable of processing effectively. Aberkane takes this idea so far as to suggest that the future of human organizations, including political systems, should be based on what we know today about our brains. That makes you think, doesn't it?

But there’s more. What I found fascinating about Aberkane’s thinking is his idea of ​​a positive “hyper-individuality.” Basically, he’s telling us that, far from harming the collective, cultivating one’s own ego can actually be beneficial for everyone. Imagine a world where everyone is encouraged to fully realize their potential, not at the expense of others, but by contributing to mutual enrichment. It goes against everything we’ve been taught, but that’s also the beauty of this approach: breaking down preconceived ideas in order to better move forward.

And then, Aberkane does not fail to underline the dangers of fixed ideologies. He insists on the need for liberated experimentation, without being confined by the certainties of past thought systems. This is one of the most revolutionary aspects of his book: the idea that, in order to progress, we must constantly question what we think we know. Critical thinking is our best ally, and it is by daring to go against established ideas that we can truly free our brains.

So what do you think? Do we continue to follow the rules or do we try to reinvent the game?