Do we really use just 10% of our Brain ? Myth vs Fact !

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A number of people believe that humans just use 10% of their brain. Those who have have higher IQ might have crossed this average percentage. A normal person would easily believe this theory, as we have a tendency to believe in super humans with super intelligence, and it is not possible if all of use 100% of our brain. There will be no difference between a normal person and Albert Einstein if we don't believe in 10% brain usage theory. But the truth about this theory is totally different.

Do we really use just 10% of our Brain ?

Homo Sapiens (or today's Man kind) are made after evolution of millions of years. In this process of evolution we got some new abilities as per necessity and also lost some feature if they were of no use any more. We are still evolving today but the it is not visible in one generation or two, as it takes thousands of years to notice any visible effect. Today we have a perfectly balanced body and every organ has a use according to present environment. If you believe "10% of brain" theory then you must think twice.

How may we get a brain 10 times the necessity. It is simply a wrong fact. Those who found it, either did some wrong analysis or believed in the fact that we are successors of some alien species that came to earth a long time ago and we are yet to know full potential of our brain.

A person with scientific attitude believes on facts, not on any preconceived notions. A number of people keep believing in the 10% of brain theory without questioning it.

From where do we get this 10% of brain theory ?
Before we answer this question you must know that The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research did a survey in 2013 and found that 65% Americans believe that just 10% of our brain is used by us in a lifetime. However now this brain usage percentage has increased to 35% in some cases but still this myth is surviving and will not come to an end anytime soon.
Timeline of origin of 10% brain theory

  • Harvard psychologists William James in 1890 told audiences that people only meet a fraction of their full mental potential, which was taken as a plausible clause by educated people of that time.
  • In 1929 a book "Mind Myths: Exploring Popular Assumptions About the Mind and Brain" was published which contained a chapter on 10% brain myth.
  • In 1936, American writer Lowell Thomas added a falsely precise percentage and said that Professor William James used to say that humans use just 10% of their brain.
  • In the 1970s, psychologist and educator Georgi Lozanov proposed a teaching method called suggestopedia with a belief in its base that humans use just 5 to 10% of their mental capability.
  • Some people also believe that in late 19th century and beginning of 20th Century when early brain researches were going on, scientists were unable to find the functions of a large part of brain. It lead to a misunderstanding that only 10% of brain is used by humans.

 Today the truth is known that 100% brain is used during a day. However it is possible that during one particular task only 10% brain is active. But a large percentage of population still thinks that we use just 10 to 35 percent of our brain.

Facts that will make you believe that we use 100% of our brain.

  • The very first fact is that we evolved and got only that much capability which is necessary. Getting a brain with 10 times of normal capability is something unnecessary and impossible to develop under the normal biological process of evolution.
  • Death during childbirth was often associated with large skull size. If our brain is really unnecessarily large then we should have lost it by natural selection and mortality rate during child birth would have been less.
  • Every person with a brain damage (either accidental or stroke) always loose some capability due to loss of a part of brain. However some lucky people may get their lost capability back due to neuroplasticity if that was not a major brain damage.
  • Some recent researches based on brain scans confirmed that all parts of brain remain active all the time. Some parts remain more active during a particular task, but we can't take any part of brain as non functional.

Every part of brain has got a function, either physical, mental or emotional. Some parts of brain just handle our internal metabolism. All functions of brain are really very hard to know as some of these parts make us think, make us dream, make us plan. Our brain can take us to a scene that happened decades ago and can also make us think of that future when we will not be here. Whatever we look, we are much more than that. The fact that we don't utilize our full potential is true, but nature has granted us with power to do much more in our life with a brain of three pounds.

After reading this article you must stop believing that extra 90% brain can give you psychic powers some day, which is falsely advertised in a number of sci-fi movies. Your views on this article are most invited in the comments section. 

4 comments

  1. Thank you for dispelling this myth. I think society loves this myth because we're all so terribly vain and it makes us feel wonderful.

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  2. Thanks for this article, It was really helpful.

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  3. This was actually funny to hear, as so many people truly believe that humans only use 10 percent of their brain. What is even more interesting, is that we (humans) are THAT gullible. Ha!

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  4. This website should be more well-known- Great science!

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