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Do We Only Use 10% (Or Similarly Small %-age) Of Our Brains?

drjbrennan

Ephemeral Spectre
Joined
Aug 14, 2001
Messages
313
I keep hearing about 10% of a humans brain being used at any one time. Its a scam or distortion Yes ?
 
It's one of those "everyone knows..." things which are, as far as I know, entirely untrue.

It may be the case that only a small proportion of the brain appears to be active at any one time, but that doesn't mean that the rest of the grey matter isn't busy contemplating life, the universe and everything.

Jane.
 
And anyway, it only applies to football players... ;)
 
This is an old fave from the urban legend / popular mythology stable.

Snopes takes it to the sword here
Link is obsolete. The current link to the relevant Snopes article is:
https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/the-ten-percent-myth/


However, it has such a hold upon popular consciousness, I don't think any amount of debunking will overturn it.

I know I assumed it to be true for many years.
 
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My sister is doing a degree in Psychology and throws a wobbler whenever someone brings this up...

I think however, that most people's brains are in use only 10% of the time...
 
We use all our brain power.

This is from some misquoted research carried out in the 1920's. Reports of the research claimed we only use 20% of our brainpower most of the time. I read in the New Scientist magazine (I think) that we in fact use all of our brain power all of the time ie. 100%. I am afraid that it it just an urban legend.
 
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Thats as may be,but

DNA contains 10 times more memory than the brain itself.
 
The Church of Scientology has provided me with many good laughs, but the best one was on the back of a leaflet I was handed some years ago:

"Did you know:
We use only 15% of our brain capacity!
-The Scientologists"

Exactly what I've always suspected... :D
 
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