Why do people persist in believing we use only 10% of our brains?
456266
Well, I was going to answer but the previous answers mostly illustrate my point.  People will believe any old nonsense.
696598
Actually, this is a misunderstood myth.\n\nIt sources from 2 misunderstandings.  First, we never use 100% of our brain at the same time (i.e. different activities stimulate different neurons at different times).  And, second, a good portion of our brain (perhaps 60-80%) are connections.  Think of it like an airport hub system, where the hubs allow people to connect to the more remote places where fewer people travel.\n\nAlso, just to back this up from a logic perspective, it really would make very little sense evolutionary wise that 90% of the brain would be wasted. And, in fact, through evolution, our brains have been getting larger, not smaller.\n\nFurthermore, when there are some people who are able to recover from serious brain injuries, it is more driven by new connections being formed, rather than new brain cells being created.\n\nHope that helps explain things.
40047
Because we're also the only beings that use less than ten percent of our brains! Even the most intelligent human is a serious waste of potential.
772461
No.....I think that some of us are smart, some are geniuses, but in the whole we are average. I have nothing to base this on, but looking at some of the wonders of this planet, it almost seems arrogant of us to assume that we are the only ones in this universe that are smart. The universe is vast and wide and we have yet to come close to discovering it's full areas. It's almost like owning a mansion and not getting to see all the rooms.
1066739
Even Albert Einstien could not use 100% of his brain. According to a research , humans use only 10% of their brain and Einstien used 90% of his intellect. So you can realise what the potential of human brain is. If at all you come to know how one can use 100 % of his brain , let me know too.And if you are able to do so, I hail to you as a true genius(no kidding).All the best , may god bless you!\nYours sincerely,\nVanchit
115873
We do use our brains but there are many functions of the brain remains unknown and not discovered.Some of the percentage makes up the mass of water,blood vessels,white blood cells...Who knows in ancient times we 've got telepathic ability?=P
1024711
Like all of us, Einstein used 100% of his brain.  There are no areas of the brain that are not alive & active (and therefore, in use.)  It is possible that he did use his brain a little differently from the average person.  But since we really don't have a clear picture of how the average person uses their brain, this is just speculation on my part.
14714
Most articles say all of your brain. I believe that it also depends on the person. If you sit all day watching tv, you aren't going to use your brain as much as someone who goes for walks, reads a book, or participates in hobbies or other daily activities.
219847
You are entirely correct! The power of the mind is limitless. The reason we humans have such low expectations is because we are weak at mind and conscious. We constantly underestimate ourselves, we humans are by far the most intelligent things to have ever existed on earth, we simply lack the drive and fear too many things.
1087698
>>  well let u know a secret did u know that we use only 10% of are brains and the outher 90% we dont even know about \n\nThis is supposed to be a secret?  It's only one of the most quoted "facts" in existence.  And it's completely nonsense.\n\nOh, and to the original question, most of relativity *has* been proven.
960753
humans only use about 10% of their brains!!! amazing huh?
463192
We use 100% of our brain-or at least 100% of our brain sense signals and uses oxygen and glucose.  Any neuron which does not connect with another and depolarize occasionally will probably die.  I have no idea where this myth came from, unless it was from studies of learning and memory.  We can learn a great deal more than most of us do-any average person could learn multiple languages, become expert in a number of fields, etc, but we don't.  This doesnt mean we dont use our brains-learning is more likely the generation of new pathways, connections, etc.  So it may be that we only learn 10% of what we could (put this way, it would be closer to 1%).  The majority of the brain is set aside for motor and sensory system integration- It takes an enormous amount of brain power to just perform our normal movements and to interpret and filter all the huge amount of sensory information we get every second-*That* is the primary action of the cortex.
309278
The limbic system of your brain has corrupted your worldview, but that's to be expected in a very insecure universe.  People who are enlightened use their cerebral cortex to look for the creative side of life and for happiness here on earth during the short sojourn between the random event of birth and the random nothingness of death.
635291
because for you, cerebral activity is enhanced in parts of the brain dealing with higher order functions.  "you are thinking too much."\n\npeople who feel the opposite response tend not to think about much other than sex anyway.
401747
I think it's because people are basically egocentric.  Also self-preservation is rather high on the list of the instincts.
616229
It is a human tendency to think that one who does not see things as you do is just stupid.  Sometimes people who are dominated by their left brain are very one-sided in their thinking.  Their brain tells them that there is logic and reason to support a particular theory, and it closes off to any other viewpoint.  People argue at cross-purposes to each other, because they are thinking in 2 completely different ways.  They talk past each other from different paradigms, and it seems so senseless.  \n\nEach person seems the biggest dummy to the other.  One has not refuted his fellow until he has refuted him from within his own paradigm.
267113
No, we use all of our brains. The "10% use of brains" urban legend is completely false.