Brain plasticity is absolutely a thing, and there are exercises you can do to maintain and even regain some of your brain plasticity.
A decent flashlight.
A streamlight stylus pro is $20, uses 2 AAA batteries, is barely bigger than a pen, and can be an absolute life saver. It produces way more light and throws it way further than your phone’s light, and I’ve been carrying the same one every day for nearly 15 years now with no signs of it failing. I use it nearly daily in my personal and professional life, you will genuinely wonder how you manages without it if you make it a habit of carrying it.
Or go nuts and get yourself a something like a surefire G2. Bigger, heavier, but more durable and incredibly bright.
Because cops in America all fancy themselves the Punisher (don’t even get me started on that) where everyone is out to get them and every one they shoot is one less bad guy on the street.
No incentive to change when they can get away with killing with impunity and fulfill their murder fantasies.
Asshole who shot this kid probably bragged to all his buddies about smoking a dude with a knife and got attaboys all around.