A few months ago I was in the movie theater. When they began playing the previews, I was surprised by a claim made by a character being played by Morgan Freeman. He said “It is estimated that most human beings only use 10 percent of their brain’s capacity. Imagine if we could access 100 %. Interesting things begin to happen.†Interestingly this claim may seem particularly uncontroversial. I have heard this claim for most of my life, and if you take a look into a number of films, you will see the idea hinted at. In this newer film “Lucy,†it is firmly stated by a supposedly expert on the topic of the brain.

Films like Phenomenon with John Travolta, and Matilda with Mara Wilson show individuals who because of a new found ability to take advantage of their brain’s potential, they can do incredible things. On the website TVTropes, they share various other examples where the myth is used. The list includes the films Flight of the Navigator, Tommy Boy, Powder, Iron Man 3, The Last Mimzy, Phenomenon, Defending Your Life, Wedding Crashers, My Favorite Martian, The Sorcerer’s Apprentice, Inception, Scott Pilgrim vs. The World, My Stepmother is an Alien, Race to Witch Mountain, Limitless, and The Shadow.

One might ask why this myth is something that has permeated our culture. I believe that it is important to note that not only is this myth prevalent in much of the public, but a few years ago there was a survey which indicated that even a third of psychology majors thought this myth was true. I look back at my time as an undergraduate; I believe that I did not realize that this was a myth for a couple of years into my education.  I believe that the answer is that it is an extremely provocative and compelling idea. Imagine the incredible potential of humanity to ponder the idea that we are only using 10 percent of our incredible capacity. As shown above, much of science fiction has used this idea to suggest that incredible powers are awaiting us.  It has been suggested by individuals attempting to sell the public products.  Some of which include products to help us use more of our brain, but even suggesting that this is how psychics get their power.

However, in this post I want to help provide some important arguments that can help us understand why this conception does not match up with research findings and our understanding of the field of neuroscience. So how much of our brains do we actually use? Well, depending on our definition, and how precise we want to be, there are complexities that could provide differing suggestions. I feel that it is safe to make a general statement suggesting that a more accurate figure is much closer to one hundred percent. This is because the brain is an organ that has evolved in ways that would not necessarily allow for the incredible amounts of waste suggested by the ten percent number. Brain matter is incredibly costly and expensive.  Besides the fact that unused brain tissue degenerates and or is taken over by differing processes, it is hard to even locate where this incredible amount of unused tissue would reside.

I was attempting to think of a good analogy, but I will share one that is noticeably flawed as I think it makes my point fairly well. I noticed that the figure of how much of our brain that we use can vary, and I think a good way to describe this is by looking at the heart. If we evaluated this organ, we would notice that at some points pieces of it would be more active than others. Other parts may seem like they are doing very little, especially depending on our technique of looking at the organ, such as an image. However, I think it would be strange to say that because only certain parts are working in a particular way that it means that we are only using 10 or 20 percent of it. In the same way, we may look at brain scans, and depending on the moment may only see certain parts lighting up.  This is actually ignoring the fact that the other parts are indeed still functioning in very productive and important ways.

I believe that good evidence for this is the fact that when parts of the brain are damaged, and this would include a piece much smaller than ninety percent, this often results in a much lower functional capacity. Indeed no area of the brain can be destroyed, be it from head trauma or strokes, and leave the patient unaffected.

I believe that it is also fascinating how this idea seems to have originated. It appears to have come from misquotes of William James while he was discussing capacity and being later shared as the ten percent figure in a forward to Dale Carnegie’s popular book. I thus believe it is important for us all to remember the importance of skeptically engaging those ideas that we feel are common sense, and common knowledge. I believe that the fact that we use all of our brains does not detract from its incredible power. It does not mean that we indeed do not have incredible capacities and potential. It just means that the figure arguing that there is a current large portion of the brain not being used in any way does not match up at all with the research.

Thank you so much for listening. The content for this episode was inspired by the book “50 Great Myths of Popular Psychology.†I highly suggest that you pick up a copy. Also, if there are any questions regarding this myth, or suggestions for other myths we could evaluate, please share your thoughts in the comment section below.

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