Society views the Mental stimulation provided by grade school necessary for the normal development of children. After high school, though, we view Mental Exercise differently. It's widely understood that to be successful in a material sense, some sort of further education – whether collegiate or trade-oriented – is necessary, but other kinds of mental stimulation are generally seen as optional and somewhat unnecessary.

Films, books, television, and music are all designed to be as entertaining as possible – not to be as educational or as conducive to personal growth as possible. These entertainments are created for passive consumption, and that's exactly how we experience them. We are couch potatoes, not only physically, but mentally.

Low Level Thinking
We do use our minds, to some degree, just to get through life everyday, but because much of that kind of thinking takes little effort, it doesn't qualify as exercise. There's a big difference between contemplating moral issues, art criticism, or scientific discoveries, and deciding which frozen dinner you want to heat up tonight.

For many adults, job-related learning through continuing education or training is nearly the only mental exercise they get. Those of us who have dead-end jobs or careers we don't care about don't even have that source of stimulation.

The truth is, that many of us have languished mentally for too long and could use a little mental exercise.