The road to my discovery started on the 16th of March 2015. I had just finished watching the 2014 science fiction movie “Lucy”.
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It was a storyline based on the fact that the average human use only 10 percent of the brain capacity. The Main Character, Scarlett Johansson was able unlock her brain capacity from 10% to 100%. She could do amazing things like travel through time.
I remember Morgan Freeman who acted as a neuroscientist saying “It’s estimated most human beings only use 10% of the brains capacity. Imagine if we could access 100 percent. Interesting things begin to happen.”
I had an epic experience watching the movie since I’m a great fan of science fiction (As per physics education undergraduate).
I have always had interest in exercising my brain. I love numbers, I love chess, and I love IQ games. They really help shape my thinking skills.
So I rushed to Google after the movie and typed “How to harness 20% of my brain capacity”. Scrolling through the search result, I saw Wikipedia’s headline on number three -“Ten Percent of the brain myth”.
I read through and found out the greatest shocker of my life. I did more research and found some other sites and I confirmed it over and over again.
I couldn’t believe that I’ve embraced a lie so strongly for a long time. Well, do not panic much. Just read on.
By the way, I wonder how many more lies we’ve been told. You really need to question a lot of things you think you know.
What Is the Origin of the 10 Percent brain Myth?
Well, from what I’ve read, no one really knows who and where it all started from. All we have are just speculations.Some traced it to a misinterpreted quote of an American psychologist; William James who said “the average person specifically develops only 10 percent of his latent mental ability.” Some say it was Albert Einstein and some others think it was Pierre Floures in the 1800s.
As for me, I think it is just rubbish. I don’t really care who started it.
We Use 100 Percent of Our Brain
There are no scientific proofs of the 10 percent usage. From modern science, taking a full scan of the brain shows activities coursing through the whole organ, even when we are sleeping.What If It Were true We Use 10 percent of our brain?
Ah! That’s very interesting. Neuroscience tells us that the brain uses 20 percent of our body daily energy. So think about it. How can the brain suck up as much as 20 percent energy just for 10 percent efficiency?Here is another illustration I read. Let’s assume we remove 90 percent of our brain. The average brain weighs 1.4kg. If we remove 90 percent, it becomes 0.14kg of brain tissue which is equal to the size of sheep’s brain!
So if you still believe you use 10 percent , it means you have a sheep’s brain.
You can do some more research on your own. I’m no neuroscientists (though, I was dreamed of becoming a neurosurgeon).
What about Savants?
In case you don’t know, savant syndrome is a condition in which a person shows spectacular and extraordinary capabilities far beyond the normal. It is a very rare case.Some of them are extremely talented artists. Some are remarkable mathematicians. I know of one woman who can tell you the exact time even down to seconds without a clock.
Read: 25 Amazing Savant Minds
Most of these people are not 100 percent normal. Some have autism. I noticed that savants are extremely good at just one thing. It’s like they focus all their mental energy on one thing.
What I think people really mean by “we use 10 percent of our brain”
I think the context to which people use this is based on their shortcomings. We often associate our shortcomings with untapped potentials.Basically, we feel there’s more we are capable of than what we are now. The honest truth is that all these are not associated to the percentage of grey matter we harness.
Conclusion
Humbly snap out of that old belief! If you are still wondering why some people seems smarter than others, stay tuned on this blog. I will share some soon.
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It’s really a great way of saying thanks :)
