Our Brain and How Much of it We Use
Do we use only 10% of our brain or do we use it to its fullest capacity? Find the answer here.
Pursuant to an American researcher, humans use 100% of their brain. On the other hand, according to one erroneous popular myth, humans use only 10% of their brain. And still related to this myth, if people would use a higher percentage of their brain power, they would be capable of such things a telepathy, etc. The origin of this myth can possibly be found in the mass media's search for the sensational, the uncommon.
The above mentioned 10% myth seems to appear from the writings of William James, a famous American psychologist back in the 1800s. Among his contributions there is the so-called James-Lange theory, according to which emotions come from the body rather than from the mind. Another of James' contributions was the short book entitled "On Vital Reserves." He was interested in studying human mental and physical limitations, and was particularly interested in the so-called "second wind" experience. What he did notice was that when using energy, "The fatigue gets worse up to a certain critical point, when gradually or suddenly it passes away and we are fresher than before. We have evidently tapped a level of new energy masked until then by the fatigue-obstacle..." Therefore, James thought it useful to try to tap that kind of energy more often and with less effort: "For many years I have mused on the phenomenon of second wind, trying to find a physiological theory. It is evident that our organism has stored-up reserves of energy that are ordinarily not called upon."
This "second wind" experience was meant to give proof that we have unused energy resources when we feel exhausted: "Stating the thing broadly, the human individual thus lives usually far within his limits; he possesses powers of various sorts which he habitually fails to use. He energizes below his maximum, and behaves below his optimum."
Obviously, William James referred to other things than our brain capacity, i.e. about strong will and self-discipline. What he says is "the busiest man need no more rest than the idler." This self-discipline is what most psychologists nowadays see as a sign of mental balance and sanity.
Mostly any psychology or psychiatry written course states that humans use their brain in a selective manner out of very well-sustainable biologic reasons. This means that instead of all the neurons' working together when we are caught in an entire mental activity, in reality these activity zones may be like some sort of activity stains that can be found on the whole surface of the brain, depending on what we are doing at a given moment.
For instance, let's say we are watching a certain car on the street. Our brain will process all the details of that particular car and will ignore the colors, the registration numbers and for example the hair color of the car's driver because we are not interested in such details at that particular instant. So these details that we are not yet interested in will translate at the brain's level by a "stain" of excited neurons on our brain, which actually process only that piece of information that interests us. The other surrounding neurons are on stand-by. If after admiring that car we pass by our favorite eating place and are struck by the smell of our favorite food like for instance chips and roast chicken with mushrooms and garlic sauce, then the anterior excitement "stain" which may supposedly be found in the cortical zone and which has to deal with the optical sense, will smoothly pass onto the smelling area and the optical sense will remain on stand-by most of the time. Because of that, in order to direct most of our attention on our smelling something nice, we most often close our eyes.
In conclusion, humans are most likely to use the entire mass of the brain, and that means 100%, only not all parts at the same time. If we didn't use certain parts of our brain or of our whole body in general, these parts would get atrophied. The thing is, although we cannot use the entire brain all the time, this does not imply that we have a great amount of reserves of paranormal abilities and activities.
The above mentioned 10% myth seems to appear from the writings of William James, a famous American psychologist back in the 1800s. Among his contributions there is the so-called James-Lange theory, according to which emotions come from the body rather than from the mind. Another of James' contributions was the short book entitled "On Vital Reserves." He was interested in studying human mental and physical limitations, and was particularly interested in the so-called "second wind" experience. What he did notice was that when using energy, "The fatigue gets worse up to a certain critical point, when gradually or suddenly it passes away and we are fresher than before. We have evidently tapped a level of new energy masked until then by the fatigue-obstacle..." Therefore, James thought it useful to try to tap that kind of energy more often and with less effort: "For many years I have mused on the phenomenon of second wind, trying to find a physiological theory. It is evident that our organism has stored-up reserves of energy that are ordinarily not called upon."
This "second wind" experience was meant to give proof that we have unused energy resources when we feel exhausted: "Stating the thing broadly, the human individual thus lives usually far within his limits; he possesses powers of various sorts which he habitually fails to use. He energizes below his maximum, and behaves below his optimum."
Obviously, William James referred to other things than our brain capacity, i.e. about strong will and self-discipline. What he says is "the busiest man need no more rest than the idler." This self-discipline is what most psychologists nowadays see as a sign of mental balance and sanity.
Mostly any psychology or psychiatry written course states that humans use their brain in a selective manner out of very well-sustainable biologic reasons. This means that instead of all the neurons' working together when we are caught in an entire mental activity, in reality these activity zones may be like some sort of activity stains that can be found on the whole surface of the brain, depending on what we are doing at a given moment.
For instance, let's say we are watching a certain car on the street. Our brain will process all the details of that particular car and will ignore the colors, the registration numbers and for example the hair color of the car's driver because we are not interested in such details at that particular instant. So these details that we are not yet interested in will translate at the brain's level by a "stain" of excited neurons on our brain, which actually process only that piece of information that interests us. The other surrounding neurons are on stand-by. If after admiring that car we pass by our favorite eating place and are struck by the smell of our favorite food like for instance chips and roast chicken with mushrooms and garlic sauce, then the anterior excitement "stain" which may supposedly be found in the cortical zone and which has to deal with the optical sense, will smoothly pass onto the smelling area and the optical sense will remain on stand-by most of the time. Because of that, in order to direct most of our attention on our smelling something nice, we most often close our eyes.
In conclusion, humans are most likely to use the entire mass of the brain, and that means 100%, only not all parts at the same time. If we didn't use certain parts of our brain or of our whole body in general, these parts would get atrophied. The thing is, although we cannot use the entire brain all the time, this does not imply that we have a great amount of reserves of paranormal abilities and activities.
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