What is Digg?Sponsored by wix.com
58 Comments
- giantAppleCore, on 10/12/2007, -3/+90"It's been said that the average adult only uses 10% of his/her brain"
This is false - http://www.snopes.com/science/stats/10percnt.htm
Seriously, that myth needs to die. - mynameistim, on 10/12/2007, -2/+40you beat me to it. i absolutely hate it when people say that, never mind when it is written down.
and is this not the worst sentence in the history of writing?
"In fact, it's been said that the average adult only uses 10% of his/her brain. "
yes, it is a fact that has been said, but it is certainly not a fact that that which has been said is true. - awm4, on 10/12/2007, -4/+20I don't know, have you been to a Wal Mart lately
- RedStateRetard, on 10/12/2007, -1/+12THANK YOU! for posting that link
Usually when I hear "only using 10% of your brain" The next line is someone trying to sell me an elixir, pill, or book to "unlock" my other 90%. - oxyrubber, on 10/12/2007, -1/+10Well over 90% of the human body is space in between atomic nuclei and electrons. In that sense, we use MUCH less than 10% of our brains.
- GoldenGopher1, on 10/12/2007, -0/+887.5% of statistics are made up on the spot - 7 out of 8 people know that :)
- sarusa, on 10/12/2007, -2/+8And if you read 'Mind Wide Open' by Stephen Johnson, he notes that the less of your brain you're using (to a point) the better you're probably doing.
He had his brain actively scanned while he was doing various mental problems or composing text. When he was thrashing and getting nowhere a lot of his brain was active, churning. When he was 'in the zone' and doing great only tiny focused portions of his brain were lit up.
If you're using 100% of your brain you're experiencing a grand mal epileptic seizure. - brainScan, on 10/12/2007, -2/+7I love the fact that so many people are refuting the 10% falsehood by advancing other falsehoods.
@ TheTyrant 63: There is no scientific evidence that shows what "100% of the brain" is
Ummm... sure there is. The brain is a collection of neurons within the central nervous system above the brainstem (including the cerebrum and cerebellum). 100% of the brain is therefore the entirety of all neurons that compose the brain.
@ sarusa: If you're using 100% of your brain you're experiencing a grand mal epileptic seizure.
Ummm... we must all be experiencing seizures right now... oh the horror!!!
Here's the truth: All of the brain's neurons have a baseline firing rate. Within the course of 1 minute, every single one of them has fired. Information processing in the brain depends upon the baseline activation, as well as deviations from that baseline, for every neuron in the entire brain.
What's that you say?? You've seen pictures in the news that show even less than 10% of the brain lit up in MRI scans. Well, good for you. First, those activations in MRI images are relative activations, or the amount of activity change in an area in one situation compared to another. Second, the activity picked up by MRI scans accounts for a proportion of brain metabolism that is too small to be reliably measured (about 1 - 2% of overall brain metabolism). That's because the brain is always active, using tons of energy to propagate information along its axons, and using that energy in a way that MRI scanners can't pick it up!!! - psyber, on 10/12/2007, -2/+7GRRRR you both got there before me. That statement is totally bogus. Nobody in neuroscience takes it serious. Think about it people. You brain consumes a vast amount of resources. Why would we develop such a large energy eating organ and never use it? Not to mention all the neuro evidence.
- TheTyrant63, on 10/12/2007, -3/+7I agree with giantAppleCore.
There is no scientific evidence that shows what "100% of the brain" is, so how can you determine what 10% is. Even if you think that we use 10% is true, you have nothing factual to back it up. - sarusa, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4Way 78: Don't read articles that are ridiculously padded all the way out to 77 reasons.
- Myko, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3"Wasn't the saying meant to be that most people only use 10% of their brain at any one time, rather than only being able to use 10% of the entire brain ever." - Katana
Katana here is correct, why bury her comment? - slacknerd, on 10/12/2007, -2/+4Dang...too slow.
However, learning is fun and cool and profitable. It's nice to see a some info on how to learn better. - SSCrow, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2If you don't like the article, Don't digg it.
Almost 400 diggs. And most of the comments bash the article. wtf. - DeusMachinae, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Nice spam.
- television, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1I only read "101's".
- brainScan, on 10/12/2007, -2/+3Oh yeah... there's a bunch of other stuff in this story that are junk science as well. Even Mind Mapping, which is thought by the average person to be well-supported by science, isn't. To my knowledge, there are no true scientific studies that demonstrate that the benefits of mind mapping are greater than any other type of focused concentration on ideas. In fact, there are well-accepted theories of memory and learning, such as "transfer appropriate processing" and "encoding specificity", that would argue against the utility of mind mapping (as well as the use of standardized testing in our public schools).
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -2/+3Think about it: why the hell would our brain be so big that we only use 10% of it? If we only did use 10%, evolution would have favored much smaller brains, our heads would be quite small. Extra useless brain takes more energy, nutrients, etc. to keep alive, evolution would favor a smaller brain requiring you to eat less to support the same brain capacity ensuring a greater rate of survival.
It is like the average person having 10x bigger muscles. We would have no use for them and would only use 10% of their ptoential. This would mean though we would have to eat a lot more, our heart pump harder and our arteries cary more oxygen at no added benefit. - scotsman, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1>>>Well over 90% of the human body is space in between atomic nuclei and electrons. In that sense, we use MUCH less than 10% of our brains.
No, we use all of it - what you are trying to say is that most of our brain is empty space and that would be true. - TheTyrant63, on 10/12/2007, -2/+3Each person is different, some of these may work for one person and not work for the next. It is up to the reader to test the ones they think are applicable and see if they work for them
Many people dont understand that the human body (including the brain) isnt as cookie cutter was we would like to think.
so saying, "bunch of hippy *****" is far fetched and even out right ignorant. - tasadar24, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1There are a couple things I do when I study that I'd say help me study a lot.
1. When going over previously taken notes, I'm always thinking of what the next big point is. I'm never just concentrating a single sentence, but on what the big point of a paragraph is, burning it into my mind with every word read.
2. While reading, I emphasize key words mentally, imagining that an instructor is reading/explaining the sentence.
-ET3, USN, Nuclear Power School. - Katana, on 10/12/2007, -4/+5Wasn't the saying meant to be that most people only use 10% of their brain at any one time, rather than only being able to use 10% of the entire brain ever.
- ledpamster, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1damn i was gonna say that lol, i read that exact article about 4-5 months ago and ever since then ive totally defended the "we use all of our brain" argument. and i use the last line of the article all the time. "oh really? which part of yours dont you use"
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+15: "Reduce stress + depresssion."
easier said than done when you're working at a company full of arrogant&mindless women :/ - Modulo, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1News Flash! Only 10% of digg users believe the myth that we only use 10% of our brain. Thank you and good night.
- SuckMyDigg, on 10/12/2007, -2/+3This article is complete crap. "Ginko biloba is a reputed memory loss reverser?" WTF? Reputed is not a fact. Thank you very much. And I also agree with the above comments about the 10% use of brain garbage. This article is fluff balonga. BURIED AS INACCURATE!
- geeky, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2I forgot what I was going to type...
- SixSence, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1"Wasn't the saying meant to be that most people only use 10% of their brain at any one time, rather than only being able to use 10% of the entire brain ever." - Katana
Each part of the brain is responsible for different functions. If the 'saying' was meant to be the use of 10% of the brain at one time (meaning the entire brain is used at some point for some function), then why do they use this 'saying' to suggest that it would either make you remarkably better at one function or that it would somehow give you psychic powers if the other 90% was used at the same time. How would combining all of these different and separate functions of the brain to be used at the same time give you some new phenomenal power or give you more brain power towards one specific function, rather than simply distract you. The different ways, including yours, in describing this 10% theory and the effects of it with no logical backing completely disprove the theory by its self. - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2Yeah, since when did making an audio recording of all of your study material just so you can play it back later become 'learning by osmosis'?
- WallyAnti, on 10/12/2007, -2/+3Actually there might be something to this. I took a psych class last fall and the Prof. pointed out some studies that suggest that we organize our knowledge while we sleep and that what you pick up closest to bed time seems to stick better. My anatomy and physiology prof. concurs with this assertion. I don't know if anything sinks in after you go into a deep sleep though.
- GeneralSun, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2The advice is crap because everyone already knows everything here...
- mynameistim, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1what brainScan said.
- SuckMyDigg, on 10/12/2007, -3/+3You sir, may think you're a musical genius, but I assure you, you play like *****.
- TheTyrant63, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1@Katana
For your wording to be applicable it would have to be in a certain situation not a specific time. Such as (this is probably false and only used as an example), when we sleep we only use 10% of our brain or when we eat we only use 10% of out brain.
But at i said before, we havent been able to figure out what "100% of the brain" is so how can we determine what 10% is.
And if you are basing this "10%" on how much activity in the brain is compared to the inactivity of the brain during an MRI of the brain during an activity isnt a good way to do analysis. Even though we do know that the larger the brain the more likely the animal is to be "smart" but there is no ratio between size and intellegence that we can use to calculate this. - Calculusaurus, on 10/12/2007, -5/+5Our brain, conscious, and subconscious are highly mysterious things.
Don't be so sure of yourself. - willemmulder, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1to make people aware of this... I repeat: do NOT read the article, go sleep a little in this already overstressed life...!
I'm the one that tries to make the world a better place, don't you see...?! :-) - Enroth, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0#3 ""thinking nap" (see #23)"
#7 "This includes a nap break, which is for a different purpose than #23."
#23 "Map your task flow. Learning often requires gaining knowledge in a specific sequence. Organizing your thoughts on what needs to be done is a powerful way to prepare yourself to complete tasks or learn new topics"
this also happens with a few others (ie #11 tells you to look at #25, were I think they meant #8), am I reading this wrong?? or cant they link up two points? - Halvy, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1The brain is not a muscle-- but we act like it is when we try to recall things.
The article touched on what I've learned from personal experience, but they drowned it out with their exhaustive ideas.
My experiments have proven that the harder we try to learn, the more we fail, miserably at it.
Learning is unlike doing math where either you were born with the knack for it.. or you weren't.
We all have the ability to learn.. this is unquestioned.
However trying little tricks-- DON'T work, period (at least for me).
Want proof.. you got it.
Whenever you try to remember something.. no matter how hard you *try*, you don't.
It only 'comes-to-you' after you have stopped trying to use your brain like a physical muscle.
If you have learning problems or are getting older, then only machines like computers or other technology will help (that is what they are there for). Master them.
When taking tests.. or 'learning' a lesson from a course.. I find out reading the summary only, or taking the test first cuts out alot of the mumbo-jumbo that clutters our processes.
*Accept* what you read instead of trying to comprehend or argue with it. In other words, *just-read-it* by letting the words hit your eyes (or ears)...but don't try to do anything else. Use your eyes/ears as scanners only.
The data will be recorded in your brain, which is all we need... we DON'T need to figure everything out... understand it.. or agree with it (esp. with math and other logistical items).
Relaxing.. putting things off.. and leaving myself 'open', is the single most important thing that I *try* to do, when it comes to *solving problems*.
Recently I was asked by a professor to give a speech to his incoming classes on how I managed to pass his very hard course.
And what I have just laid out, is what I tell them. - superpanda, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0That was a really informative article. I feel smarter already!
- willemmulder, on 10/12/2007, -3/+3But, learning is to remember something, right...? And most things are stored in your brains while you sleep, so...
Why not take a nap more often, instead of reading somebody's thoughts on thoughts... :-) - DRTED, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Indeed but your conclusion is unsound. Contrary to popular belief the brain is capable of telekenisis, thus allowing the right and left hemisphere to work together, levitating insects of different genotypes.
- kerby74, on 10/12/2007, -4/+3Live healthy... yada yada ya.
- Siulayhumga, on 10/12/2007, -1/+0The 10% thing is completely taking out of context. IIRC the original experiment was on lab rat and they find out even removing a large amount of the rat's brain it can still go over the maze without much problem. Somehow the media turn this around and said only 10% of the brain is being use. yada yada ...
If this is the case then stroke victim won't have such a hard time.
- psyber, on 10/12/2007, -8/+7OMG look at number 16
16 Learn by osmosis. Got an iPod? Record a few of your own podcasts, upload them to your iPod and sleep on it. Literally. Put it under your pillow and playback language lessons or whatever.
They can't be serious.
Bury this article as deep as you can!! - jedikv, on 10/12/2007, -2/+1yet you type it (unless its a feeble attempt at humour)
- Arvaksrotas, on 10/12/2007, -1/+0On the contrary, close observation of the decisions and actions of the average adult indicate brains that appear to be operating at a deficit. Instead of 10%, most seem to be operating beyond their maximum capacity and are suffering blackouts, total breakdown in some cases. As it is true that each human has differing capacities for different activities (marathons, football, chess, etc), it would seem to follow that the same would be true of capacity for thought. What may be 10% in one individual could indeed and probably is 105% in another thus explaining terrible decisions, low performance, and mostly car wrecks and running from police with helicopters due to overheating.
- psyber, on 10/12/2007, -3/+2@Wally
HA, I can find empirical articles, or psych profs for that matter, to support damn near any claim I want. I wonder what the quality of the work was like in studies that show this. - MusicalGenius, on 10/12/2007, -3/+1How is it that you can assure me? Well, if you claim you can, do it.
- fxmcleod, on 10/12/2007, -9/+7Generic crap advice... stay in school eat your vegetables and don't do drugs
- MusicalGenius, on 10/12/2007, -3/+1Thus why you're on here...
-
Show 51 - 58 of 58 discussions
© Digg Inc. 2009
— Content created and posted by Digg users is