The Human Mind

I was on the bus the other day as usual, and overheard something incredibly obvious and yet, quite interesting. A woman was speaking about her children in a french immersion program and just how quickly they pick up new information. The phrase "like a sponge" quickly comes to mind doesn't it?

Anyways, I haven't been able to figure out if through the years this blessing becomes a curse of stubbornness, or simply a folly of nature. I mean after we learn something as intricate as another language, how to operate a piece of machinery or something equally complicated and we get older, does our mind simply solidify turning from a sponge into an un-adaptable piece of machinery?

Obviously not, but it is another indicator of how stubborn the human mind can actually be once we get set in our ways, isn't it?