What's new

"It is a myth that we only use 10% of our human brain."

daring dude

FULL MEMBER
Joined
Jul 22, 2013
Messages
836
Reaction score
0
Country
Pakistan
Location
Australia
NEW BRAIN STUDY LINK: Brain MUSIC 4 ESP

This ground breaking study, the very first of its kind, confirms a link between certain kinds of music and paranormal perception brain processes- as well as the method to achieve this result.


Specifically, this study was conducted to determine if music could elicit a notable increase in non-sensory perceptions and to alter consciousness in a significant way, either emotionally, intellectually, or in a paranormal manner.

The results demonstrated an overall moderate to high response rate in 70.8% of the study participants. (65 subjects, aged 22 to 79).







"It is a myth that we only use 10% of our human brain."


It is common to hear this statement, alarmingly even from a few people who label themselves as "scientific" or as researchers.

In actuality, such a comment as above, is more misleading itself than the so-called myth of unused brain potential.

Think.


You no more use 90% of your brain potential than you use 90% of your muscle potential all of the time.

To say that we use all of our brain, would be like saying Arnold Schwarzenegger or Lou Firigno had as 90 pound teenagers reached the pinnacle of their muscular development.



You no more use all of your brain all of the time than you use 100% of your lung capacity sitting at your computer keyboard.

You no more use all of your brain all of the time than you use all of your car all of the time; that you always drive at the full potential of your Honda; that you always drive at the top speed of your car; that your trunk and seats are always filled to capacity; that you have even figured out and daily employ every single way in which you could use your car.



To say that we use all of our brain ignores the fact that you keep losing your car keys all the time.

To say that we use all of our brain ignores the fact that you couldn't remember where you left your car in the parking garage- even though this is well within your brain potential.



Sir John Eccles has stated his feelings on the infinite potential of the human brain, and he won the Noble prize.


Such a statement that "We use all of our brain all of the time" or "It is a myth that we only use 10% of our brain" are both misleading and unhelpful uninspiring skeptical crumbs with barely a grain of truth- As well as not even being accurate statements regarding usage of the human brain.



Humans have an unlimited capacity to learn. Unlike computers, no human brain has ever said: "Hard drive full."

A simple look at brain scans will show us that the brain modulates dramatically from one moment to the next in regards to its activity and usage. Here it is then, on the screen of Functional MRI machines and Pet scans, incontrovertible evidence that we do not use all of our brain all of the time.

It is particularly ironic that scientists have their own brand of tunnel vision when it supports their enthusiastic myth busting, but that their own reality tunnel fails to recognize the contradiction of their evidence when it disproves their own claims. Typical of such myth-busting can be found on page 6 of Sam Wang's (Ph.D)Welcome To Your Brain, where he argues that "...you use your whole brain every day...". But Wang conveniently contradicts himself repeatedly throughout his book to blow apart his own claim. For example on page 172, where he informs us that the activity of the amygdala can vary from one moment to the next, as "increased" activity. How can one possibly increase whole brain usage?

Wang's own book repeatedly relies on evidence from functional brain scans that contrast active parts of the brain against in-active regions, and he even gives evidence that our perception can be faulty and short-sighted. This of course is true until such blind-sightedness is pointed out to us, when we can then see what was invisible to us moments before.

See: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vJG698U2Mvo

Hold on- is he telling us we can miss seeing something one moment, and then discover it the next? That's a neat trick from a brain that is being used 100%! This particular "hole" in our perception is actually illustrated in the paragraph immediately preceding his dogmatic 10% brain myth-busting.

How can you have increase activity of ANY part of the brain if all of it is being used all of the time? Such a notion is so absurd that any person even without any knowledge of the neurophysiology of the brain correctly intuits that we can GAIN experience and knowledge .

On the simplest level, how could a human learn anything if we have tapped out the full potential of our brain?

Without question, the brain has the ability to grow. Of course, this is contrary to the former "scientific" observation that prevailed for most of the 20th century: You are born with as much brain as you would ever have, and that it was a downhill slide throughout your life.


The ability for your brain to grow, however, does not dismiss the notion that you are then using all of the brain you may already have as already indicated previously.



Wang and others so enthusiastic to jump on the 10% myth-busting wagon also are conveniently blind to all of the cases that show little or no diminished function of the brain when large portions of the brain are damaged, or removed- such as occurs with a procedure known as hemispherctomy:

Strange but True: When Half a Brain Is Better than a Whole One - Scientific American

If the skeptics myth-busting perspective was true, this would obviously result in losing fully 50% of one's brain function.

Except, that ain't what happens.

In their article on the subject of this radical surgery, Scientific American states, "Another study found that children that underwent hemispherectomies often improved academically"

That's pretty incredible for kids who now have half a motor that drives them around faster than a whole motor.

The same evidence that severely puts the "whole brain all the time" notion to the test, are many severe cases of encephalitis, where massive parts of the cerebrum are dissolved by cerebral spinal fluid- and yet intellect and intelligence may remain within normal bounds (Dandy Walker complex):

Man with tiny brain shocks doctors - health - 20 July 2007 - New Scientist

If the whole brain is being used all the time, how does a person with just 10% of his brain continue to function normally?



To say "We use all of our brain all of the time" says nothing about the potential of human intelligence, creativity, and problem solving. Such a skeptical rebuttal of the vast potential of the human think machine implies that we have reached our limits of brain potential- probably the most harmful dead end notion of all. We haven't even gotten close.

I think the real lesson here is "beware of experts and their conclusions".



Our frontal lobes have been culturally and socially lobotomized. At this stage of evolution, we are simply still Apes With Pencils.

That's actually very good news.



Why do some such "experts" delight it saying "It is a MYTH that we only use 10% of our brain." ?

It's the old, "I know more than YOU Game. It's an ego thing. It is a failure to engage a more accurate perspective of brain potential, itself a result of competitive consciousness- a reptile brain on-upmanship thing, "I am the Brain Knowledge King Of The Hill". It's the old "You are stupid and I am smart by comparison thing." Skeptics LOVE telling people they are wrong. It makes them feel superior. It is a sin of omission, as as often as not, such people making this contrary statement do not really let us know the whole story.

"It is a myth that you only use 10% of your brain" is no more helpful and informative than saying, "The moon is not made of green cheese". It tells us very little, indeed.



So, as it turns out, to say that "We only use 10% of our brain, only 10% of our brain potential"- this is actually an infinitely optimistic, as well as a considerably reasonable and thoughtful perspective of the possibilities that reside inside our craniums.

It is a helpful generalization and observation by and for the lay person, and although not literally precise, it reflects upon the reality that owners of a human think box have an enormous mental potential from which to draw, from which we as individuals and as a human culture, often as not, ignore.


Research Report
Dormancy of the Human Brain
Dormant Brain Research and Development Laboratory
T.D.A. Lingo, Director

The human brain is only 10% functional, at best.
The first to outline this theory, later proved a fact by others, was Australian Neurology Nobel Laureate Sir John Eccles. (Lecture: University of Colorado, University Memorial Center Boulder, July 31, 1974.) "The brain indicates its powers are endless."

In England, John Lorber did autopsies on hydrocephalics. This illness causes all but the 1/6th inch layer of brain tissue to be dissolved by acidic spinal fluid. He tested the IQ's of patients before and during the disease. His findings showed that IQ remained constant up to death. Although over 90% of brain tissue was destroyed by the disease, it had no impact on what we consider to be normal intelligence.

Russian neurosurgeon Alexandre Luria proved that the 1/3 bulk of frontal lobes are mostly dormant. He did this by performing ablation experiments on persons. He gave physiological and psychological tests before, cut out parts and whole frontal lobes, the re-tested after. His conclusion: removal of part or all of frontal lobes causes no major change in brain function, (some change in mood alteration). The frontal lobes are mostly dormant, asleep. (Luria, A.R. "Frontal Lobes and the Regulation of Behavior." In: K.H. Pribram and A.R. Luria, Editors,Psychophysiology of the Frontal Lobes. New York, and London, Academic Press, 1973)

Finally, the human brain contains 10 billion neurons, mostly in the outer layer of brain cortex. the function of these currently dominant cells is fairly clear. but the brain also contains 120 billion glial cells. Aside from some secondary nurturing of neurons, the primary function of the glia is not clear. What big bang mirical awaits mankind within these mysteries?

Today, most would agree without argument that the potential of the human brain is infinite. Thus, to state that a person uses 10%, 5%, or even 1% of their potential brain capacity (infinity) is overly generous.

The point is this: There is no dispute among honestly rational experts about the latent potential of the human think box. There is only friendly dispute about how much and what still awaits us, patiently to be self-discovered between each set of ears. Hence, the wisdom of intuitive folksay was correct: "The human brain is only 10% functional." John Eccles thinks that number is too high. "How can you calculate a percentage of infinity?"



 
.
Bradley Voytek, Ph.D. neuroscience, UCSD Asst. Profes... (more)
155 upvotes by Melinda T. Owens (PhD in neuroscience), Aaron Kucyi (PhD Student in Neuroscience), Paul King (Computational Neuroscientist, Redwood Center

I just want to expand a little on what Joel Lewenstein wrote.

What would it even mean to "use" 10% of your brain? Only 10% of your neurons are necessary for your normal functioning? Are you willing to sacrifice 90% of your brain to see if that's true?

One of the methods neuroscientists use to study brain function is to look at patients with brain lesions and show how those affect cognition and behavior. It's precisely what I do:
http://www.berkeley.edu/news/med...
http://blog.ketyov.com/2010/10/v...
http://blog.ketyov.com/2010/11/v...

We know very well that a lesion to most any given brain region has a behavioral effect.

While that's a practical example, from even a theoretical standpoint, not doing something is still an active state in the central nervous system. For example, the photoreceptors of your eye are always firing action potentials and releasing neurostransmitter in the absence of light (this is called the "dark current"). When light stimulates those cells, they stop firing action potentials and releasing transmitter. Thus, the act of not doing something is the actual signal. (From a signal standpoint, this is really quite amazing and makes a lot of sense: a signal is more clean if you shut a noisy system off and use that to communicate digitally than it is to try and boost a signal above background noise).

So in the brain, even regions that appear to be not doing anything may actually be doing some communication/information transfer/processing/whatever.

EDIT: Also, neurons follow a "fire together, wire together" and "use it or lose it" type of pattern. Neurons that communicate with one another a lot (that is, fire together) are less likely to undergo programmed cell death (apoptosis) through a complicated biochemical reinforcement. In contrast, if a lonely neuron isn't really doing much, then it is "pruned", that is, it isn't receiving a biochemical signal telling it to not commit cellular suicide, so it breaks down.

So even if we were only using 10% of our brains in some hypothetical world, the other, useless 90% would start to go away!

Updated 13 Jun, 2013. 10,269 views.

Upvote155
Downvote
Comments8+
Share



Heather Spruill, Up to no good, probably.
18 upvotes by Max Loh, Betsy Nowakoski, Aaron Hosford, (more)

People use their entire brain. The idea that they don't is possibly a misinterpretation of the idea that we don't use the entire brain at the same time, just like you don't sit on every chair in your home at once.

Written 10 Jan. 1,627 views.

Upvote18
Downvote
Comments2
Share



Joel Lewenstein, Product Design Manager at Quora
45 upvotes by Marc Bodnick, Fahd Butt, Mike Rayzman, (more)

My cognition professor in college said No. Blood is flowing to all parts of your brain all the time, and neurons are firing in most parts of your brain all the time.

She said the origin of the myth was fMRI scans. fMRI scans show blood flow in the brain, using the premise that blood flows to parts of the brain being used. The output that we're all used to seeing shows areas of the brain highlighted in some bright color as a person performs some task, with the conclusion that this part of the brain is active for the task. The key is that this colored visualization is not showing the only blood in your brain, but rather the difference in blood flow before and after the task. So when your hippocampus is lit up on an fMRI, it's not that the rest of your brain isn't being used, it's just that the hippocampus is being used more than it was before.

Written 3 Dec, 2010. 2,837 views.

Upvote45
Downvote
Comments4+
Share



What would happen if we use 100% brain power?
Gabriel Recchia, Ph.D. in Cognitive Science
34 upvotes by Paul King (Computational Neuroscientist, Redwood Center fo... (more) ), Marc Ettlinger (Research Neuroscientist, Department of Veterans... (more) ),Joel Chan, (more)

Brain power isn't really something that can meaningfully be quantified in this way, but arguably we already do use 100%, just not all at the same time. (It wouldn't exactly make sense to be making maximum use of the parts of our brain that move our arms when we don't want our arms to move, for example.) See Snopes' Ten Percent of our Brains for a thorough debunking of the claim that we use only a small percent of our brains on a regular basis. It also bears mention that when you see fMRI diagrams like this:
main-qimg-1836dc74a9375027fc11518b679e4009

that have only a portion of the brain highlighted, they are showing *relative* activity: electrical activity is taking place over the entire brain, but different regions are just more active than others when we perform particular tasks. You wouldn't expect to see extremely high activity in olfactory regions when you're not smelling anything particularly strong, for example, but that doesn't mean they're not active to a certain degree.

That said, what this question may be getting at is: Is there incredible untapped mental potential that could theoretically be unlocked, if we somehow could discover how? It's certainly possible. For example, Psychology Today has a nice discussion on whether extraordinary autobiographical memory could be the result of "unique experiences that occur during development" ( Page on Psychologytoday ). Psychologists differ widely on whether they believe such abilities are primarily due to genetics, the environment or a unique combination of the two.

Written 5 Jul, 2013. 3,194 views.

Upvote34
Downvote
Comments3+
Share



How can we use 100% of our brain?
Colin Gerber, Parkinson's Researcher
16 upvotes by Marc Ettlinger (Research Neuroscientist, Department of Veterans... (more) ), Soohyun Park, Sean Ridout, (more)

If you use 100% of your brain at once you will have a massive seizure and most likely die.

Otherwise humans already use 100% of their brain at one point or another.

Written 17 Oct, 2012. 1,233 views. Asked to answer by Mubeen Patel.

Upvote16
Downvote
Comment
Share



Adrien Lucas Ecoffet, Quora engineer. Frenchman. Americanop... (more)
4 upvotes by Paul Ecoffet, Rose Chen, Meg Foster, (more)

No, this is a popular misconception about the brain but it is wrong in many ways.

I might do some research later to explain this better, but basically the thing is that, while you may only be using 20% of your brain at any given moment, this is because the brain is largely specialized and you are not doing the kind of thing the remaining 80% is built for at that particular moment.

So basically, people use 100% of their brain, but only 20% at a time (actually, the 20% figure is probably inaccurate as well).

You couldn't use 100% of your brain all the time without a serious loss of mental ability.
 
.
It is a well known fact that we know much more scientifically about the moon, than about the human brain..

The understanding of the human brain is rudimentary at best in scientific terms..
 
.
Back
Top Bottom