why is it that we only use on average 10% of our minds?

Question

what's the other 90% of it for?being with a supreme being in heaven,or hell,or nothing at all?i personally think there is a helluva lot more too it. much love &respect to all.

Answer 1

Others have already stated the obvious, but my guess is that the willingness of people to believe this nonsensical statement probably stems from how much information we learn and forget over time. If people could access and actively use every piece of information they've ever been exposed to, it would feel like we're all a lot smarter then we appear to be. We'd all seem to be super geniuses.

Twenty years ago, when I used to build racecar engines, I knew the firing order of every 60s-70's musclecar. Today I can barely recall two of them. When you don't use information on a regular basis, you lose it (or at least you lose the ability to access it. It's probably still in your brain somewhere.)

Most adults had to memorize math or physics formulas in high school, but few of us can remember them, unless we use them on a daily basis. Hence, it feels like we're not "using" our brain, when the reality is we're just not keeping those pathways active.

It's likely that certain peoples brains are "wired" more elegantly (probably a result of good genetic combinations) and that is why individuals have higher and lower I.Q.s. Of course there are many people who possess high I.Q.s but use very little of their minds (for instance, Jim Morrison, who wrote brilliantly insightful lyrics and poetry, yet killed himself by living like an idiot.)

Answer 2

Brain imaging research techniques such as PET scans (positron emission tomography) and fMRI (functional magnetic resonance imaging) clearly show that the vast majority of the brain does not lie fallow. Indeed, although certain minor functions may use only a small part of the brain at one time, any sufficiently complex set of activities or thought patterns will indeed use many parts of the brain. Just as people don't use all of their muscle groups at one time, they also don't use all of their brain at once. For any given activity, such as eating, watching television, making love, or reading, you may use a few specific parts of your brain. Over the course of a whole day, however, just about all of the brain is used at one time or another.

2) The myth presupposes an extreme localization of functions in the brain. If the "used" or "necessary" parts of the brain were scattered all around the organ, that would imply that much of the brain is in fact necessary. But the myth implies that the "used" part of the brain is a discrete area, and the "unused" part is like an appendix or tonsil, taking up space but essentially unnecessary. But if all those parts of the brain are unused, removal or damage to the "unused" part of the brain should be minor or unnoticed. Yet people who have suffered head trauma, a stroke, or other brain injury are frequently severely impaired. Have you ever heard a doctor say, ". . . But luckily when that bullet entered his skull, it only damaged the 90 percent of his brain he didn't use"? Of course not.

Answer 3

It means we consciously use 10% of our mind. That is thinking, focusing our senses, and a few other things.

For instance, when you look around you consciously see a tv, a book, words, pictures, numbers, etc. In reality your eye only sees light, then your brain processes that information according to a log input of information it has accumulated overtime mostly during infancy amd defines separate objects, depth, motion, distance, etc. So is such the case that while your brain does a lot of work to harness the sense of vision, we consciously do very little beyond focusing our eyes at an object (or unfocusing like with stereograms).

The most common examples are involuntary bodily functions, such as breathing, your heartbeat, sneezing, coughing, sweating, etc. While we may be able to consciously cause such actions, it is usually of unnecessary or wasted effort.

In theory if people could control more of their minds, they could turn off senses, like sight and hearing and understand blindness and deafness.

Answer 4

Because we don't.

The average person uses an average of 100% of his brain. There's no part of it that goes unused. The "10%" myth has absolutely no basis in reality.

That claim was debunked at essentially the same time as it was made, but the media and a great many "mystical" types still enjoy espousing it to this day.

Answer 5

I think that its because if we used the other 90% that we would over stress our organs. Just like Muscles we only use about 10% also but if we were to use all of our muscles there would be so much stress upon the muscle that it would tear it self apart. Same with the brain. but more like a burn out besides tearing it self up

Answer 6

I agree with "Silent One"....I think the 90% fights to keep the 10% in order or is constantly questioning or adjusting that 10%.

Answer 7

Cause Yahoo answers took the other 90% Dahhhhhhhhh

Answer 8

Each part of your brain is used to control each part of your body and what is left is used for thinking and storage. The brain has been maped and at some point you will use every part of it.

The fairy tale of using only 10% of the brain is like saying the bible is fact.

Answer 9

Hi.
I feel that we are confusing ourselves with functioning of " Mind & Brain".
Mind is " Abstract" & hence it cannot be Quantified.
If , I understand correctly , what you mean is ' Brain ".
There many ways to use your brain centpercent. That falls under " Practice,Concentration,Evaluation" of any act you perform in day today life.
Mind is root cause of all desires &control/reduce desires, than it will automatically lead you one Or more number of acts to increase your brain power.

Answer 10

I believe that the 90% we do not use is in charge of keeping the 10% we abuse constantly in working order.

hails,
Silence