Photo: Universal Pictures
I am sure you all have already seen the trailer of new Scarlett Johansson movie Lucy. If not, here it is..
Here, Professor Norman ( Morgan Freeman) is giving a lecture where he is telling:
It is estimated most human beings only use 10% of their brain’s capacity. Imagine if we could access 100%. Interesting things begin to happen.
It is a common misconception that people think only 10% of their brain is actually being used. The fact of the matter is that the most of the brain, if not all of it, is always working.
What is the origin of this myth? In 1890 Harvard psychologists William James and Boris Sidis tested a theory named “reserve energy theory”. William James told audiences that people only meet a fraction of their full mental potential, which is a plausible claim. In 1936, American writer Lowell Thomas in his foreword to Dale Carnegie’s 1936 book “How to Win Friends and Influence People”, summarized this idea:
Professor William James of Harvard used to say that the average man develops only ten per cent of his latent mental ability.
Adding a false precise percentage quoting William James was totally wrong, but this statement became widely popular over time.
With the advancement of science we can now monitor brain activity by using technologies like positron emission tomography (PET) or functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Brain scans have shown that no matter what we’re doing, our whole brain is always active. It is true that some areas are more active at any one time than others. But, unless one has brain damage, there is no one part of the brain that is absolutely not functioning.