Matt Jones wrote message
news:b86268d4.0105181412.29df at posting.google.com:
... the definitive answer to the ever so popular question
whether humans use only a fraction of their brain.
While I agree that the question that forms the subject of this
thread that got rather emotional rather soon, is quite stupid
and therefore does not deserve an answer, I still don't think
that there aren't any good questions about the *way* we use our
brains.
Ironically, these questions might event touch the point of the
amount of neurons we use for certain tasks. Take memory as an
example: There are a lot of elaborate strategies out there to
improve your memory. Many of them use some sort of
visualization. If you didn't visualize the things you wanted to
buy at the supermarket before, these strategies will actually
help you. And from the neurophysiological view, they will
actually make you use a greater fraction of your brain for that
given task. Of course this does not imply, that you didn't use
the vision related areas of your brain before. You just did not
use them for that specific task.
So, while the statement "Humans only use a fraction their
brain." is complete nonsense, the statement "A lot of people use
only a fraction of their brain to remember their shopping
lists." is quite right. Suddenly you have a statement that is
open to scientific inquiry. Use a PET scanner or FMRI to prove
it.
OTH, I think that the human species is the world champion in
using all sorts of strange fractions of their brain for tasks
that were completely unrelated to those fractions before. Many
people use their language and motor areas to simply write their
shopping lists on a piece of paper. This might seem trivial, but
I guess it is the most brilliant way to use your brain (for that
given task).
Awaiting your flames and rants,
Bob