It is cliché to say, “Our children are our future,” but it really is true and an important thing to consider. In particular, our children’s brains will determine the fate of humanity and the planet. A child’s brain is like a work of art in progress, and every experience that a child has affects the final result. This is why we must think very carefully about how we educate our children’s brains, not only through our traditional educational systems, but through all the information we impart to them through cultural and parental example.

In many ways, our current educational system does not do justice to our children’s brains. The traditional foundations of education are the “three R’s: reading, writing, and ‘rithmetic.” All of these follow the left-brain dominance that our society seems to reward. I believe that the brain hides many other creative and intuitive gifts that will become increasingly important in the modern world.

This past week, the Fourth Annual Brain HSP Olympiad was held in the United Nations building in New York City. The Olympiad exists as a true celebration of the vast abilities of the human brain. Here, children and adults can show talents that are rarely appreciated in typical academic competitions.

For me, the event brings great hope with it. The United Nations represents humanity’s enduring desire to come to come together in peaceful unity, so it is very meaningful to me to see it held there. So far, our highly developed analytical minds have done little to ensure a peaceful world. But as I watch these children, I have no reason to despair whatsoever, and many reasons to hope.