Do we use only %10 of our brain?

[Bluey]

This is a PM I received from minus. I thought it so interesting that I made this thread about it. I hope she wont mined me posting it. Am sure she well not

The 10 percent statistic has been attributed to the pioneering psychologist and philosopher William James (1842-1910). I haven't been able to confirm that he gave a specific percentage, but he did say "we are making use of only a small part of our possible mental and physical resources" (The Energies of Men, 1908). The anthropologist Margaret Mead supposedly said we used 6 percent. Similar numbers have been mentioned by various lesser known parties.

Whatever the source, such figures have no scientific basis except in the most limited sense. Serious brain researchers say that while we perhaps don't use our brains as efficiently as we might, there's no evidence we have vast unused abilities.

http://xrl.us/op3aq (Link to www.straightdope.com)

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The 10% Myth

http://www.snopes.com/science/stats/10percent.asp

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Guess what? This isn't true! Although clever copywriters might lead you to believe otherwise, most neuroscientists and brain specialists these days agree that the widespread 10% factoid is myth, based on misinformation.

http://ask.yahoo.com/ask/20011025.html

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The often heard claim that you only use 10% of your brain is false.

http://www.alonelylife.com/little-known-facts-t-2352-5.html

Lots of links and I have not had the chance to get my head around all of them. IDK how much of the brain we use. But I think there is a lot in there that the scientists don't see. As you say here actually, just put in a slightly different way. I think there is a lot moor to our unconscious that we don't see. I personally think a lot of the brain lays dormant and not used. Like anything else if you don't use it you forget how it works. Maybe we are capable of being telepathic? And maybe our brains are capable of other things like seeing a spirit or something that we have not even thought of. what could we do if we had %100 of our brain power?

 

[Unacceptance]

Well, a lot of the other brain goes to powering the small amount that does work.

Look at things like Cat Scans sometimes, everything works.

 

[Silence KId]

i use 0% of my brain. Achieving is not worth the effort.

 

[Yin]

Snopes aside, I don't think it's true.

 

[Minus]

As Unacceptance says, brain activity can be viewed with various modern imaging equipment such as PET scans and fMRI machines. They clearly show that there is no large unused portion of the brain. That isn't something that they are guessing at, it is known. What isn't known is where this 10% Myth started or what it may have been based on because it is totally opposed to what is now known about the brain.

Not every activity requires the use of the full brain at one time just as not every physical activity require the use of every muscle at one time. Still through the day you will use your full brain.

If 90% of you brain wasn't used then "removal or damage to the "unused" part of the brain should be minor or unnoticed. Yet people who have suffered head trauma, a stroke, or other brain injury are frequently severely impaired. Have you ever heard a doctor say, ". . .But luckily when that bullet entered his skull, it only damaged the 90 percent of his brain he didn't use"?"

 

[Bluey]

Interesting, very interesting. so your saying that we do indeed use all of our brain but not at the same time.

So how intelligent can a person get? what is the limits of our brain?

And maybe we do not use the full pretentiousl of all the different section's.

I suppose its like any mussel. The moor you work it the stronger it gets. Or in the case of the brain the moor intelligent it gets.

 

[jales]

i think we use all of our brain lol

i dont think we have super powers

just like most of your other body parts have a function/role/purpose.. most parts of our brain most likelly have a purpose even though we may not know it.. or havent been able to see it yet...

if there are parts we dont use..they probably dont have that much potential..not unless we drink a chemical from space or so
(loony answer but i hope it makes some sense)..

and even if they do have vast potential as we are..without the space juice ..then the only real way to test this would be to if people who have had parts of they brains damaged functioned like they did before..or like other people who dont have damaged brains..

And in the cases of brain damage that I have heard about (im thinking just of an uncle of mine who died)... they dont behave normal. But I didnt read the articles..so I dont know.

to me we use most of our brain in some way.

 

[Minus]

I am not aware of anyone having come up with any limits. Obviously there has to be limits to about anything but i haven't run across any attempt to define this area.

And maybe we do not use the full pretentiousl of all the different section's.

I am sure that we don't.

I suppose its like any mussel. The moor you work it the stronger it gets. Or in the case of the brain the moor intelligent it gets.

Sure, we aren't born knowing string theory or with the ability to identify a Vivaldi concerto. A good portion of it's ability is learned.

 

[Anonymous]

and even if they do have vast potential as we are..without the space juice ..then the only real way to test this would be to if people who have had parts of they brains damaged functioned like they did before..or like other people who dont have damaged brains..

Mmmm, Space Juice. If it tastes like Kool-aid I'm all for it.

Oh and I'm sure we use most, if not all, of our brain. It wouldn't make sense coming from an evolutionary stand-point that we would have portions of our brain we don't use. Unless of course all forms of life use only 10% of their brains, but come on now...
And you can train your brain to adapt and change certain parts of it while your younger and growing. It's already been shown that certains parts of the brain can be affected by the mental state of the person as they grow up. I'd be surprised if the other parts didn't change as you grew up depending on what parts were used more.

There's a theory that Einstein's brain had an abnormality in a section that involved math, imagination, and the more analytical thought network of the brain. And the idea is that he trained his brain when he was younger to grow in that place because he used it more than other areas of the brain. Of course who knows how true any of this is, but the thought of it being true is pretty neat in my opinion

 

[Satyr]

i use 0% of my brain. Achieving is not worth the effort.

Same here. Depending on who you ask, some make the claim that this is about the percentage I tend to use.

And now on to my next boneheaded response....which is probably scheduled immediately.