Maggie Koerth-Baker
How To: Use All Of Your Brain
by Maggie Koerth-Baker - December 12, 2006 - 9:20 AM

homer_brain.jpgTip #1: Be Alive
Actually, that’s pretty much all you have to do. Despite what the Uri Gellars of the world would have you believe, you’re already using all of your brain. Everybody (from otherwise respectable media mavens to shamefully misinformed teachers) has probably told you at some point that humans only use 10 percent of their grey matter, but that couldn’t be further from the truth. The myth most likely originated from the phrenology craze of the early 19th century, when pseudo-scientists were busily chopping up the brain into overly distinct control sectors. Later, some of the early and very rough experiments in neuroscience involved hooking electrodes up to the brains of test subjects. Stimulating some parts of the brain cause instant, and obvious, physical reactions. But, when the electrodes were applied to other spots, there seemed to be no effect at all. Scientists called these areas “the silent cortex.” By the 1930s, stories of these cranial dead zones had morphed into the oft-repeated “factoid” that quickly became a favorite of advertising writers, self-help salesmen, and paranormal power hucksters—all of whom claimed to have the secret to unlocking that ostensibly unused 90 percent. It didn’t help matters much that respected scientific figures such as Margaret Meade and Albert Einstein (Say it ain’t so!) thought nothing of stepping well outside their own realm of scientific knowledge to repeat the 10 percent claim as if it were truth. But, just because some of the 20th century’s greatest minds were suckers for an urban legend, doesn’t mean you have to be. The next time someone brings up the 10 percent figure, flatten’ ‘em out with this one-two logic punch.

Real Fact! The “silent cortex” zones that neuroscientists discovered in the 19th century later turned out to be running some very important functions—like language and abstract thought. Personally, we’d rather not live without those, thanks. Modern brain imaging systems clearly show that there aren’t any vast swaths of useless cerebral cortex lying around. Although we don’t use every part of our brain constantly, we do use just about all of it at some point throughout the course of a given day.

Real Fact! Ever hear a doctor on your favorite surgical drama tell a patient that their head wound isn’t a big deal because it hit the 90 percent of the brain they don’t use? Yeah, you won’t hear that from a real doctor, either. If we truly did only use 10 percent of our brains, we would be able to remove big chunks of the grey stuff and not have it matter much at all. But that isn’t the case. Take away 90 percent of human brain’s volume, and you’re left with something roughly akin to the size of a sheep’s brain. Cut out a chunk, and there will be consequences.

« Previous Post   -   Next Post »
Click here to get a Risk-Free issue of mental_floss magazine
Comments (13)

  1. “Take away 90 percent of human brain’s volume, and you’re left with something roughly akin to the size of a sheep’s brain.”

    Or a congressman…or Tom Cruise…Or GW Bush’ smarter brother.

    posted by Sheldon Siegel on 12-12-2006 at 9:33 am

  2. Or you might post a comment like:

    “Take away 90 percent of human brain’s volume, and you’re left with something roughly akin to the size of a sheep’s brain.”

    Or a congressman…or Tom Cruise…Or GW Bush’ smarter brother. “

    posted by Allen Waherburg on 12-12-2006 at 9:47 am

  3. Woah. Back off, guy. True, it was an easy joke and not that funny, but there was no reason to insult the person who posted it.

    posted by Alex on 12-13-2006 at 9:31 am

  4. The problem is not in how much brain we use, but how we use it. Scientists measuring the quality of cognizance would do us an inestimable service in checkout lines across the country. We are what we think. I think.

    posted by Darwin Hood on 12-13-2006 at 12:24 pm

  5. If ignorance is bliss and we are using only 10% of our brain, then it follows that we would all be blissful. I myself am blissful, but that is because i am on some heavy duty Rx’s. Anyway,

    posted by Melodie on 12-13-2006 at 4:33 pm

  6. I’d like to point out that I just had to delete two eerily similar (*cough*bot*cough*) responses promoting some Amazing! New! Method! sure to help you (Yes, You!) access that 90% of your brain you don’t really use.

    Besides being incredibly apropos and hilarious, this incident is also a great demonstration of why Flossers need to get out there and spread some trivia for the good of this nation. It’s up to you guys. No one else can save your less-well-read friends from lame Internet scams.

    posted by Maggie on 12-13-2006 at 4:51 pm

  7. I think that this sort of ‘material metaphor’ is simply the wrong way of thinking about the brain. That leads (see above) to obsession about brain volume – it is much better to think in terms of information processing strategies and content – what is actually going on inside. Neurons are really astonishingly inactive in a healthy brain – one of the few times that they work flat out is during an epileptic fit. what is s magical about the brain is how less is more – you need lots of inactivity to give ‘space between the notes’ Imagine a radio working at 100% -all it would produce is white noise – for music, sculpture and thought it is what is missing that makes what is left interesting. However, the bottom line is that currently what we call psychology is in the same position that medicine was when it was practiced by barbers. We are all basically talking bullshit … myself included.

    posted by Matt on 12-14-2006 at 7:19 am

  8. I’m curious to know if there are parts of our brains we don’t use.

    posted by Jonathan on 11-21-2007 at 9:10 am

  9. if we only use 10 percent of our brain, we’d prolly be mush!

    posted by beth on 8-30-2009 at 6:42 pm

  10. It’s not that we don’t use that ninety percent. It’s that we don’t use more than ten percent of our brain AT A TIME. Overall, we use all of our brain. Just not at the same time.

    posted by Talon on 8-16-2010 at 7:14 pm

  11. i disagree – i still beleive that there are parts of our brain that we dont use or dont use to its full protental, there is always space for new knowledge and to learn new things phyisical and mentally. everyone is different, some smarter some learn easier. plus every generation is getting better and better maybe this is us evolving to use these parts of the brain more usefully. either way there is still alot of advances our brains can do that we just dont know how yet. like speach it is tourt to you and walking, every think we know how is tourt to us. so how can we use something that none of us know how to.

    posted by Tony on 9-1-2010 at 4:48 am

  12. of course it would be bad if we take a chunk out of the brain. just like anything else, take a chunk out of your fat and there’s consequences. even though we don’t use it doesn’t mean anything. it is impossible for us to say that we do or don’t use that much of the brain. just for the fact that our fancy gizmos say that doesn’t mean much, we interpret things in our own way but that doesn’t make it true. just because we say something doesn’t make a true. so for the fact that some say we use 90% of our brain and others say we don’t know can say either side is right. so stop acting all high and mighty with your own perception of this debate.

    posted by vince on 10-21-2011 at 11:31 am

  13. My turn to act all high and mighty! I believe that we do use all of it, just not its full potential. Which is speed. Our subconscious processes information far faster than our consciousness. If we could use subconscious part consciously, that would be full brain power usage. That is all.

    posted by Chris on 11-9-2011 at 5:43 pm

Comment

commenting policy