Is It True That We Only Use 10% Of Our Brain?

Is it true that we only use 10% of our brain?

We have heard more than once that human beings do not use their potential 100%. 

Centuries and centuries of evolution, and we have only developed a tiny part of our brain capacity? 

Just thinking about it, a mountain of doubts invade us. We ask ourselves what questions we would be able to answer if we used all of our brain capacity, or how we could multiply the functioning of all these seemingly sleeping areas.

The origins of the 10% myth

Indeed, we have all heard someone say that we only use 10% of our brain, a great myth that is based on a completely wrong idea.

This concept dates back to the beginning of the 19th century, when  scientists were able to study brain activity in people for the first time,  thanks to a rudimentary method through which they could only see the functioning of a few specific structures. , which made up only 10% of our brains.

But already at that time, this percentage was associated with the total number of neurons that make up our brain mass.

In reality,  10% are indeed neurons, but the remaining 90% are glial cells which are directly responsible for learning, and whose activity mingles with that of neurons.

Another aspect that must be taken into account is the famous physicist Albert Einstein in himself.

At the time, someone said that the latter was using 90% of his brain capacity.

As he was a genius and a prominent figure in the world of science,  people compared to his intellectual potential hit a 9: 1 ratio.

An idea that is undoubtedly wrong, because it is not really a question of cerebral capacities, but of efficiency.

Gifted people, for example, use their brain circuits in a much more intense and efficient way.

Thus, it is not a question of pressing the button which will turn on only one part of our brain, because the latter will turn on no matter what , but with a greater or less intensity.

We use much more than 10% of our brain capacity

Indeed, we have a great deal of evidence to support this fact. We will start with small demonstrations:

-Think of all those people who suffered from a stroke, traumatic injury, illness, etc.

If we only used 10% of our brain, that would mean that the remaining 90% would be completely empty and useless.

Therefore, sustaining an injury to any of these inert parts would not affect our performance in any way. However, it does not work that way. 

When a person suffers an accident, they lose some of their abilities, regardless of whether it is in the temporal, occipital or parietal area.

Sometimes a simple blow can cause us to lose our sense of smell, or to lose part of our memory. The 10% theory is therefore not at all valid.

Our brain needs 20% of our energy to stay in good condition. It is the organ in our body that consumes the most energy. If we were only using 10% of our capacity, our body would not be dedicating so much energy to such a “poor machine”.

-Technologies, such as tomographies or resonances, allow us to see our brain activity. It is something absolutely astonishing.

Our brains work continuously, even when we are asleep. All zones are in constant motion, and none are turned off or unused. 

-When doctors perform autopsies and analyze our brain, they can see very clearly the activity of each of the areas.

If we were to use only 10% of our capacity, there would be a marked degeneration in the rest of the brain, which, since it was not used, it would simply be composed of inert matter. However, such a thing has never been observed.

In conclusion, we can say that the myth of the 10% is indeed a myth, a false story that resurfaces from time to time in our society, like a ghost of the nineteenth century. 

Our brain is an ultra complex machine that is in constant activity. The fact of multiplying its capacities tenfold depends only on us, our curiosity, our desire to learn and innovate.

This is how more intense connections will form. This is the real secret!

 

 

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