The Human Brain
<div class="IPBDescription">How much do we use</div> I've just suddenly gotten interested [a 5 minute "hm, thats pretty cool" thing] about the human brain, and how we only use like 10 percent of it
whats the other 90 percent of? if we suddenly tapped into it and used it all, what would it affect? what would happen?
i.e would we be able to do really really really complex mathematical problems in our head? would it make us superhumans, able to move things with our minds [i cant remember the word, its like psykinetik or something], or would we just have hugely increased memories, as well as increased perception of our ideas/thoughts?
it would raise our IQ by a lot, sure [wouldnt it?] but would it do anything other than give us, effectively, more ram and cpu power [likening to a computer], so we can do more things [think] at the same time [as well as having hugely advanced memories]
any solid theories? thanks
whats the other 90 percent of? if we suddenly tapped into it and used it all, what would it affect? what would happen?
i.e would we be able to do really really really complex mathematical problems in our head? would it make us superhumans, able to move things with our minds [i cant remember the word, its like psykinetik or something], or would we just have hugely increased memories, as well as increased perception of our ideas/thoughts?
it would raise our IQ by a lot, sure [wouldnt it?] but would it do anything other than give us, effectively, more ram and cpu power [likening to a computer], so we can do more things [think] at the same time [as well as having hugely advanced memories]
any solid theories? thanks
Comments
if so, wow
thats the best ive EVER seen
like, EVER
ill check it out
The brain cells aren't supposed to be dead, just unused.
In biblical times, Figures like methuselah and noah were regular people who lived hundreds of years; the average age of the patriarchs was supposidly 912 years. Methuselah was the oldest at 969 years of age (apprently a literal figure) and noah not long behind.
Essientially, the world was supposidly different before the flood, and man was brought about to be an "immortal" being, but then the sins brought death and whatnot which effected the longivity among other things.
Living 900 years is bound to bring lots of memories. You can't purge and refresh consiously. You can't defragment. It just takes alot of room; memories that are long term and significant, or memories that are insigificant and hardly noticeable. Even if you can never recall them, or if you forget them, they are still there.
Now, whether you believe all of this or not is another matter, (I'm not trying to persuede you, heck, I had to research this stuff because I haven't read the bible or anything, but I did remember someone mentioning this to me so I looked it up, which is where I got the info.) but what if? Man is living alot longer than just a few hundred years ago. It won't be long till 80 is the average age; then 90, then 100......
But who knows, the brain is a complex thing beyond complex things. Whatever it is, it enables humans to do what we do, think how we think. It's not a uniform or perfect thing, it can atrophy or grow.... One day we may find a computer that can do things faster than the brain possibly could (I can't remember what the fastest computer is capable of, but it was quite a bit less than the brain is capable of still); but no matter how advanced, it will never be a brain. Computers may even learn- use logic even. But it won't ever have emotions or consiousness, although it may appear to with heavily scripted AI and fuzzy logic and what have you. The original "computer" can't be beat. Talk about doing something right the first time! <!--emo&:p--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/tounge.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='tounge.gif'><!--endemo-->
Heck, maybe we have super duper telekenetic powers or abilities that are unknown- tap into the right part of our brain, and KAMEHAME HAAAAA <!--emo&:p--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/tounge.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='tounge.gif'><!--endemo-->
Ever sit down and just try to... think differently? We get into the same old routine, that new things are not tried, and we don't know how to try them. Someone had to be the first to whistle. Heck, ever whistled with your fingers? That took me 4 days to learn and I KNEW how to do it. Someone had to have been the first to do that... and it wasn't by accident, they were fooling around and it happened and now it's common. Someone had to be the first to do math, to snap your fingers, to go crosseyed, to click your tounge. All of this isn't done or discovered with everyday thinking, it takes someone who was just fooling around trying other ways or looking for new things, whether its on purpose or not. Perhaps one day someone WILL think differently, and open up can of worms beyond what we understand now.
We may USE our entire brains, I mean, the rest isn't just dead, but perhaps what they mean is we only utilize "10%" to it's fullest effect. And to be honest, don't think we truely know how much we use to the fullest effect, because quite frankly, we don't know the cap. We don't know the upper limit of brainpower since no one has ever gotten there... and so it's hard to say whether we're using 2% or 80% to it's fullest extent isn't it? They mention all this in that website blasting the myth that was posted in a reply here, but this is just what I think so there <!--emo&:p--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/tounge.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='tounge.gif'><!--endemo-->
I mean, you can't tell me a guy who hasn't gone to school in his life is using his brain to the fullest extent; when compared to someone like einstein. Period. Neither is using their brain to it's 100% max fullest potential, but I can tell you which one is closer.
On the other hand, all that "unused" stuff may just be subconsious. It's the thing that enables us to keep all of this running and up to speed. Our FPS so to speak does not drop, and it takes alot of processing power not easy to keep it running steadily <!--emo&;)--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/wink.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='wink.gif'><!--endemo-->
I guess in the end, after this big post, my answer is "*shrugs* I dunno. Could be a lot of things...."
and I'm rambling and I feel like a nerd now so I'll shush <!--emo&::nerdy::--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/nerd.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='nerd.gif'><!--endemo-->
the point about living older
the human life expectancy is about 70-75 years old. if we gradually "fill up" our brain, then the age of about 700-800 is when we would use most of our brain, but brain cells die at an astounding rate (4 billion a year or so) when you reach mid twenties and they dont get replaced
True. Some people who try to explain the bible (I don't try to explain it, take it how you want to) say that after the flood there was a mutation that made cells age more rapidly; random change in the structure of cells in the body. In addition, there was supposidly less harmful things in the world at the time of noah; aka no radio waves floating around, no monitors or TV's frying peoples eyes, no cell phones..... that probably takes it's toll. Still, back then there wasn't very good medical care compared with today- who knows, maybe they were more hardy before the flood (if you believe that there was one and the whole thing was possible)
Another theory is free radicals, basically the waste product of cells, that bounce around and can cause damage to a nucleous of a cell perhaps mutating the genes and causing cancer. (take your vitamin E kids!)
Heck, another theory is that oxygen itself is poisonous. NASA found that after 21 days of breathing pure oxygen, people begin to suffer brain damage (if I remember correctly), and although the atmosphere is mainly nitrogen, eventually the oxygen we breathe may be what limits our age.
Then again, in your regular body, a photocopy of a photocopy of a photocopy is never as good as the original (aka cells dying and new cells replacing them takes its toll eventually)
There are plenty of factors that _could_ explain the limitations on our age. Better hygene and living conditions, coupled with better medical capabilities ensure that when you do get ill, you have a much greater chance of living, but what do you think the upper limit is, even if you've lived the perfect life? 100 years or so, because of the uncontrollable loss of brain cells? Possibly longer? I don't know... it would be interesting to find out though
Again you present as fact old scientific theories from the 1960's which have become urban legends.
<a href='http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Retrieve&list_uids=9809557&dopt=Abstract' target='_blank'>This 1998 study</a> presents solid evidence for adult neurogenesis.
Uh.. right... so our brains are like the ozone layer..... Thats why cheerleaders are so stupid. Hairspray enters their head and destroys their brains.
No actually, I'm referring to the free radicals at the cellular level. Probably something seperate from what your thinking of when you went off on that whole ozone layer thing.
However, I do believe the human brain has plenty of room for improvement. If you want to know what it is capable of, just look at idiot savants. They can do complex mathematical computations as fast as a calculator.
Take a look at the woman with the best memory according to the guiness book of world records. She has a photographic memory capable of memorizing entire pages of books word for word just by reading it once. Ask her to read a 100 page book and recite it back exactly how it is written, and this is no sweat on her part.
Most people take this for granted, but walking is a miracle in itself. You know how many muscles are involved in walking? Not only must you use many many muscles to extend your legs, but you must also use many muscles to keep them in balance and your center of gravity in place. We do it like we've been able to walk since we were born. This is no easy feat.
Take this to the next level, and you have athletes capable of running, jumping, kicking a soccer ball mid-air, and landing it in the goal. If you knew how complex this was, you would truly see it as a marvel of the brain. I dare say computers would have a hard time computing so many inputs and so many outputs.
We also have the power to take a flat black & white picture of something and make it 3d in our heads. No depth perception, not even a colored picture, and yet we have this estounding ability to decide exactly what it would look like if there were truly a minature 3d image inside the picture. We don't have the technology to make a robot with 2 cameras on it to do what we can do in a fraction of a second. Take this a step further, and humans might have the potential to be able to comprehend our complex multi-dimensional universe the way it exists. We are already trying to figure out how the universe works, and considering we have brains very similar to a chimpanzee, we are doing quite well at it.
We are at the start of a new age. Mark my words, in 100 years, we'll all be taller, smarter, and make us look like cavemen in comparison. Our "evolution" is accelerating, and the profound effects it has on the brain is yet unknown. However, what is known is that there is much more about the brain that we don't know than what we do know. Undoubtedly, the brain has much potential.
now that we're at Psychonetic powers: <a href='http://www.sanitygame.com' target='_blank'>Sanity: Aikens Artifact</a> - you can get it for Pc best buy prices and it's a okay adventure game. invovling puzzles, psychic powers and world-is-going-to-end-prophecies (spelling?).
at least some of the 90% is our non-concious mind - this is active when we're dreaming( and errm......unconcious <!--emo&:D--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/biggrin.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='biggrin.gif'><!--endemo-->). perhaps we should start listening to our super genious dreams <!--emo&;)--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/wink.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='wink.gif'><!--endemo-->
As you probably know, different sections of the brain do different things. Portions of the brain control sight, while others control touch.
I was watching a PBS special about the brain, and found some interesting news. In this special, a volunteer went blindfolded for one month. During this month, she was taught to read braile. At the start of the experiment, she was tested on her ability to differentiate between two different letters. These were randomly placed upon the same finger of her hand. She scored rather badly.
Brain tests were done at the start of the experiment, and they showed that her vision center of her brain had lower readings than normal, due to the lack of sight.
After the month, she was tested again for touch sensitivity. She scored excellently on her braile tests, and was actually able to read quite fluently.
Brain tests showed that her vision center was functioning at a higher rate than normal.
It appeared that her touch portion of her brain had actually taken over her sight portion! To see if this was possible, the scientists deadened her optical area of her brain with a large electromagnet. This is a safe operation - it's not permanent.
They tested her again. She no longer could read braile. She scored badly on her braile tests.
After the effects of the magnet wore off, the blindfold was removed. She could see, but she wasn't as good with braile as she was when she was blindfolded.
What does this mean to me? I think that this shows that it's not 10%. Not 40%. I think that the brain is SO overcrowded that it actually fights over the different areas!
What I mean by processing power versus hard drive space, is that you may mean that, hypothetically, we only use 40% of the potential power of our brain, rather than 40% of the space. Perhaps that is correct.
However, I am a bit lost as to how this is proven. Man has always been knowledgeable, but in different areas over time. How are scientists able to discern how we only use a percentage of our brain? If the intelligence of humans has stayed the same over time, how does one gain a percentage? If the idea is that "we could do so much more" - who is to say that we actually can? If the scientists are only using 40% of their brain as well, why are they to be taken any more seriously than the rest of us less than halfers?
(actually what if that WAS possible?)
read the intro text for the RPG- System Shadowrun for a theory about magic returning to the world.....
And honestly as long as I'm okay I don't care if I'm not using my brain at 100% <!--emo&:D--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/biggrin.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='biggrin.gif'><!--endemo-->
If we used 100% of our brain, we would die. Why? Because there is simply <i>too much</i> power to be harnessed. Your brain would end up thinking <b>too</b> logically, and not being able to make sense of things, and would get confused and stop functioning. That, and your brain would weight about 50% of your total body mass. <!--emo&;)--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/wink.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='wink.gif'><!--endemo-->
There's this light on my college campus that is light-sensitive and comes on when it gets dark. It is on the way to my cafeteria from where I sleep. Everyday when I walk to the cafeteria (around 6:00 or so when the light is dimmed), if the light is on, as I pass it turns off. If it is off, it turns on. I thought this was a weird querk, but that this happened with everybody who went past.
Well someone was ahead of me one day and went past the light, and nothing changed. I got curious about it and started doing weird experiments. I would try walking behind the light (so the sensor wouldn't be facing me), and the effect is always the same and always to me and nobody else. Not only this, but it does this for every sensor-activated light on the campus. It is as if I had an aura around me which triggered the light. What the hell does it mean?
*EDIT* Also, computers/machines/technology tend to work properly when I'm around. I know people that when they touch computers, it goes haywire. Seriously, I don't know why. Has to do with your mood though. When I'm in a pissy mood, my computer tends to screw up a lot easier. */EDIT*
However the brain contains no parts designed for physcokinecis (sp) or telepathy (sp), it is estially a very powerful chemical computer, which sits in your body and controls it.
Recent research has also shown that we are much more unconcious than previously thought, that is we do a lot more things unconciously than we do conciously.
a few people gave proof [didnt they? i didnt read too much] that we use all of our brain. [or maybe it was "but not too its full extent", in which case that was essentially my original question]
but people are still giving theories and everything..............
??
There's this light on my college campus that is light-sensitive and comes on when it gets dark. It is on the way to my cafeteria from where I sleep. Everyday when I walk to the cafeteria (around 6:00 or so when the light is dimmed), if the light is on, as I pass it turns off. If it is off, it turns on. I thought this was a weird querk, but that this happened with everybody who went past.
Well someone was ahead of me one day and went past the light, and nothing changed. I got curious about it and started doing weird experiments. I would try walking behind the light (so the sensor wouldn't be facing me), and the effect is always the same and always to me and nobody else. Not only this, but it does this for every sensor-activated light on the campus. It is as if I had an aura around me which triggered the light. What the hell does it mean?[...]<!--QuoteEnd--></td></tr></table><span class='postcolor'><!--QuoteEEnd-->
It means that somewhere in a room there are three guys standing at the window with a remote control for that light, **** their pants in laughter at the people giving the light puzzled looks (just a try at a simple explanation). <!--emo&:)--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/smile.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='smile.gif'><!--endemo-->
It isn't true that we use only 10% of our brain, it's actually more like <b>2%!</b> That is the part of your brain that is taken up by the actual nerve cells. The other 98% are the neuroglia, the stuff that surrounds the nerve cells and binds them together. You know, the stuff that looks all wrinkly like a walnut. And before you begin any speculation, no, you can't use the neuroglia for anything. It's just fillstuff. It has the same intellectual capability as a steak. Or a roastbeef. Or... well, you get the idea. <!--emo&:)--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/smile.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='smile.gif'><!--endemo-->