i think it'd be more acurate to say that we use 100% of what we think we have... dfh out.

Heh, the 10% thing is an unusually persistent urban legend. Its not true nor has it ever been. The brain is all used, most of it is used to some extent all the time. Certain regions are highly active depending on what the person belonging to the brain is doing. For example while you are talking and walking the regions involved with talking and walking are active, yet the regions involved in reading and typing are inactive. Yet while you browse ATS, the regions in charge of walking and talking aren't doing much, yet the parts that are in charge of reading and typing are busy. Yet its all still there and its all used.

An urban legend? I heart einstein sad something if we use all 100%, we can fly.

..and I heard Einstein said that I was Batman, doesn't make it any less of an urban legend.

i had always heard the 10% thing, but never anything substantiating it.

I DO know that the deal with einstein (i believe his brain was actually sub-weight) was that his brain had a much higher concentration of so called 'cleaner' cells, cells that went around eliminating dead ones that were just cluttering up the brain. we all have em, but he had an enormous concentration, so his brain was 'spotless.'

that and he was right. ya gotta have a certain special way of thinking to 'invent,' so to speak, relativity as he did, and he had that. obviously.

I believe they we use 100% of our brain because our brain is broken up into different functions. But I also believe our brain can wire itself a ceratin way to utilize some parts better than others. This is why blind people can navagate the a downtown city without getting hit by a car.

Also I believe that even though we use 100% of it that isnt the full capacity of your brain. Every part may be in use but that doesnt mean that each region is using 100% of them 100% of the time, or ever for that matter. I know for a fact that I dont utilize my hearing, my sense of touch, my visual recognition as much as I could. So this immediately states that I am not using those three regions at 100% capacity. So YES, we do use all of it but not all of what it can handle.

Interesting on how much myths become reality when you don't know better . Myself, I have always been told the 10% thing as well. Quick question, I also heard the brain runs off half a watt of electricity. Is this also an urban legend or is this true? If it's true how can we accomplish so much using only that much energy.

Amorymeltzer,

Thanks for hooking up those links for me, i've been rather busy or else i would've done it myself. So I guess thats another myth, well thanks for clearing that up for me!

I didn't realize we share a brain. Are we good at math? That would be nice. Speaking solely for my brain, I just returned home from work and I am proud to say that at the max I used no more than 2.7% today (that's generous). Nevertheless, I billed our clients at a rate which assumes 100% output. Had I known I actually channel 10% of our collective intellect, I would have negotiated a much higher fee from them. Changing the letterhead will be a bitch.

poor gesso, u have my sympathies.

i read a book a while back, the name of which will forever escape me, about neural plasticity, which is a wholly fascinating subject. it did a real great job of just showing how bloody complex the human brain is, and just what it does. i remember thinking then that 10% had to be way too small to allow this one guy to echolocate. its amazing what we really can do when we dont flip burgers.

(on a side note, mcdonalds i think is looking into automating their stores. america will be jobless - moreso!)