If the mind is a muscle, then can we train it to do something out of the ordinary?

Question

I dont remember exactly who told me that the mind is a muscle that needs to be put to work (someone important that is), if we can put our minds to extensive training, can we achieve some sort of psychic powers or something like that or anything out of the ordinary? They say that we only use about 8% of our minds, then what about the rest of the 92% we dont use?

Answer 1

The 'problem' with the mind is NOT that it's a muscle, but rather that it's a forest.

A forest has only so much light falling on it. And plants compete for that light. Those plants which get more nutrients can grow and take the light for themselves, leaving other plants to die.

So too your brain only has so many neurons. Those connections in your brain that you make use of become stronger, and those that you don't make use of are eventually lost. We can see very extreme examples of this - the 'vision processing' section of a blind person's brain ALWAYS gets turned into something else; an autopsy of a cab-drivers brain showed a 'direction-finding' section that was ten times larger than normal.

So, yes. Whatever you use your brain to do becomes easier for it to do in the future, whether that is good or bad for you. Whatever you stop using your brain to do becomes harder for it to do in the future. People who develop a narrow line of thinking often become unable to think of anything else.

You'll note something interesting about this: there is NO part of your brain that goes unused. If it's not used for one purpose, it is used for another. The idea that huge portions of anybody's brain is just sitting around and doing nothing is completely mythological.

It IS true that you only use a small portion at one time. That is the difference between order and chaos. Would you be able to communicate if you had to use every word in the English language in each sentance? Would your computer operate if every circuit were conducting the maximum amount of current at all times? That is not a description of efficiency... in most cases that's a disaster seconds away from happening (in the brain, such an event manifests as an epileptic seizure).

Answer 2

Ive also wondered in the past if we could train our minds, I dont know if the mind is a muscle, because the brain and mind are considered seperate...........However, I do believe that you could achieve something out of the ordinary......look at Chris Angel mind freak, hes been able to accomplish so much with the power of illusion......I believe if you construct your thoughts a certain way, you train your mind to think a certain way, you will be able to see different results........

Answer 3

I'm not sure is the brain is a muscle or not, however you could develop it to perform extraordinary things!!!

For example some people can memorize very large amounts of information; some have the ability to solve very complex questions, while others were born with extra sensory perception (ESP). There are also people that are "enlightened" and use their brain with profound wisdom. Monks can increase their body temperature by 10 degrees by simply connecting themselves with their internal self. There have been people that have slowed their heart beat to undetectable levels. I've even heard of stories of people have re-circuited their brains to function normally after very bad accidents (where a third of their brain was destroyed). Our body and our brain is a tremendous organ. It could help us achieve practically anything we want to do (go to the depths of the sea; fly in the air; walk on the moon)!

IF you ask yourself the proper questions, feed your brain the right nourishment, and visualize and practice (in your mind) how to improve anything- you will. Everything you achieve and don't achieve is based on your thoughts!

Best of luck.......

Answer 4

People DO use all of their brains already. SPECT, EEG(that right?) , and other brain scans show activity in all regions of human brains. It's merely the quality of the brain usage. A large part of psychic ability is less scientific and more personal belief. If you train yourself to REALLY believe you are capable of great metaphysical powers, then life will find ways to prove you correct.

Answer 5

The mind is not a muscle.
The way you train your "mind" is the same way you condition a muscle.
Time, patience, repetition, increase the difficulty, repetition, again increase the dfficulty, if you should experince a set back- the rest a bit and start up with the last "success" and move forward again.

That is the process. Apply it to anything you want.

Answer 6

The mind is the program that arises in the brain as it supervises the activity of the body. It has no real existance except by use. The brain itself is an organ.

Answer 7

yes, in our ordinary life, we only put to work a meaningless 10% of our brain capacity, which means there is a whole universe in there that still is undiscovered. Yes you can train your mind, learn, read, know, discover and ask. If we got to use all of our capacity, we would become evolved beings, able to understand and process everything human. Wouldn't that be sweet?

Answer 8

i'm pretty sure we use all our brain, but we only use 8% at a time, not 8% in total. think of the brain as christmas tree lights, you know those kind that light up only one section at a time? if we only use 8% of it total, it'd be a pretty crappy light show. but we use all of it, only 8% at a time, it's not so bad and even shows elegance sometime.

while it's not really a muscle, it does require training. you can teach it to do things like learn languages and then to think in those languages. there are words in certain languages that can't really be readily translated to other languages readily. (recently i tried to translate the word 'infatuation' into vietnamese) for example. other things include crossword puzzles, sudoku, anagrams, vocabulary. that's probably something else you heard, that those things are considered by some to be exercises to keep your brain active in old age.

in fiction something like this is much more possible. roald dahl (the author of charlie and the chocolate factor and james and the giant peach) wrote a short story about a guy who taught himself to see through things by staring at the black part of a candle's flame. the story was called "the wonderful story of henry sugar" and in it, he started off by using his skill to cheat at card games, becoming incredibly rich. eventually though the guy had a change of heart and used his skill (he also eventually had to wear elaborate disguises to be able to get into casinos) to win money to fund orphanages.

the mind is a terrible thing to waste, and though telekinesis is probably out of grasp, i suggest other things like inner peace through yoga and meditation, the ability to create compelling fiction through practice, prediction of winners on the stock market through research and dedication are not.

i'd try those first, but if you do feel like staring at the black part of a flame for hours at a time for weeks and weeks, tell me if i works.

Answer 9

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Answer 10

yes.