Blame the Prefrontal Cortex

Recently, I've written several posts about stupid behavior committed by teenagers.  Neuroscientists who study the gray matter between our ears report that the prefrontal cortex in the brain (where logic resides) is not fully developed until the early to mid twenties.  So all of those stupid things you old folks did back then and you young whippersnappers are going to do in the future, you now have a valid excuse. Blame the prefrontal cortex.  The following story is about a man who reversed the "stupidity first, logic later" cycle.

One day, oh so long ago, Alex's dad changed his mind about being a husband and father and ran away from home. When Alex was eleven, his mother Rachel, who had worked so hard to singlehandedly care for her two young boys, developed a high fever and suddenly died.  Peter, a cousin, heard about Rachel's death and adopted the boys, but then he changed his mind about living and so he killed himself.  At eleven, Alex was on his own.

A local import/export business owner hired the young boy and by age fourteen, Alex was running the business by himself for months at a time while his boss traveled.

When a hurricane devastated the community he lived in, Alex wrote a detailed account of its destruction which was published in the local newspaper.  At fifteen, his writings were so impressive that a number of the town's people collected enough money to send him to school.

At age seventeen, Alex enrolled in college, and when he was eighteen, he joined the local military.

By twenty-one, he was given the title of Lieutenant Colonel by the highest-ranking military officer in the states.

At twenty-seven, he founded The Bank of New York.

By age thirty-two, Alex was Secretary of Treasury.

For the next fifteen years, his resume continued to impress.  But then.

In the early morning hours of July 11, 1804,  this incredible man with the exceptional, logical brain, did a really, really, stupid thing, and he died because of it.  He was forty-seven.

Do you know who this man is?

More clues:

1.  He was chief of staff to George Washington.

2.  While Secretary of Treasury, he established this country's first national bank.

3.  He established the U.S. mint.  Thank him for the coins knocking around in your pocket and/or purse.

4.  His face is on the $10 bill.

5.  With a wife and seven children to care for, the youngest just two, Alex agreed to a duel with Aaron Burr, the Vice President of the United States.  Oh, Alex! What were you thinking?  I thought you were smarter than that.

For more info about the man with the early mature brain, but who later did a really stupid thing, go to:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_Hamilton