You know we only use a small percentage of our mental abilities?

Question

Scientist put numbers on it like we only use 10% or something.

In Atlantis they had mastered levitation, self propulsion, telepathy and all the "black arts".

The creation of Church's and religions was to control the masses. To stop the practice of such "gifts"

Replacing history like Atlantis with myths like the bible stories (walking on water, parting the sea, smiting people and nasty things) and calling history (istoria) like Atlantis "myths".

Have we lost our mental abilities, has fear mongering made us less as beings?

The lements of the insane?

This question is meant for discussion, like a question, abusive answers from the fearful or angry not required, thanks.

Answer 1

Though an alluring idea, the "10 percent myth" is so wrong it is almost laughable, says neurologist Barry Gordon at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine in Baltimore. Although there's no definitive culprit to pin the blame on for starting this legend, the notion has been linked to the American psychologist and author William James, who argued in The Energies of Men that "We are making use of only a small part of our possible mental and physical resources." It's also been associated with to Albert Einstein, who supposedly used it to explain his cosmic towering intellect.

The myth's durability, Gordon says, stems from people's conceptions about their own brains: they see their own shortcomings as evidence of the existence of untapped gray matter. This is a false assumption. What is correct, however, is that at certain moments in anyone's life, such as when we are simply at rest and thinking, we may be using only 10 percent of our brains.

"It turns out though, that we use virtually every part of the brain, and that [most of] the brain is active almost all the time," Gordon adds. "Let's put it this way: the brain represents three percent of the body's weight and uses 20 percent of the body's energy."

The average human brain weighs about three pounds and comprises the hefty cerebrum, which is the largest portion and performs all higher cognitive functions; the cerebellum, responsible for motor functions, such as the coordination of movement and balance; and the brain stem, dedicated to involuntary functions like breathing. The majority of the energy consumed by the brain powers the rapid firing of millions of neurons communicating with each other. Scientists think it is such neuronal firing and connecting that gives rise to all of the brain's higher functions. The rest of its energy is used for controlling other activities—both unconscious activities, such as heart rate, and conscious ones, such as driving a car.

Although it's true that at any given moment all of the brain's regions are not concurrently firing, brain researchers using imaging technology have shown that, like the body's muscles, most are continually active over a 24-hour period. "Evidence would show over a day you use 100 percent of the brain," says John Henley, a neurologist at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn. Even in sleep, areas such as the frontal cortex, which controls things like higher level thinking and self-awareness, or the somatosensory areas, which help people sense their surroundings, are active, Henley explains.

Take the simple act of pouring coffee in the morning: In walking toward the coffeepot, reaching for it, pouring the brew into the mug, even leaving extra room for cream, the occipital and parietal lobes, motor sensory and sensory motor cortices, basal ganglia, cerebellum and frontal lobes all activate. A lightning storm of neuronal activity occurs almost across the entire brain in the time span of a few seconds.

"This isn't to say that if the brain were damaged that you wouldn't be able to perform daily duties," Henley continues. "There are people who have injured their brains or had parts of it removed who still live fairly normal lives, but that is because the brain has a way of compensating and making sure that what's left takes over the activity."

What's not understood is how clusters of neurons from the diverse regions of the brain collaborate to form consciousness. So far, there's no evidence that there is one site for consciousness, which leads experts to believe that it is truly a collective neural effort. Another mystery hidden within our crinkled cortices is that out of all the brain's cells, only 10 percent are neurons; the other 90 percent are glial cells, which encapsulate and support neurons, but whose function remains largely unknown. Ultimately, it's not that we use 10 percent of our brains, merely that we only understand about 10 percent of how it functions.

Answer 2

If you read the Course In Miracles [it's a one year course if you're willing to take it], you will find out that you can learn to use way more of your mental capabilities than you have been throughout your entire life.

Answer 3

Actually, in Psychology circles it is stated that the brain is already operating at "peak efficiency."  However, in Psychology circles evidence for ADD is also supported to help corrupt corporations help sell a form of speed to children so, their ethics are a bit questionable.  Regarding mental abilities, here is the real science, taken from Neurobiologists, REAL brain scientists, not Psychology cranks;

1)  We are born with 100 billion neurons, however, we begin to loose them rapidly throughout childhood unless a person is stimulated with problem solving, brain games, etc.  The more a child is bombarded with information and made to use it, the less neurons they will lose, and the more connections they will form.

2)  I.Q. is rooted as much in genes as it is environment, however, "genius" genes are exceedingly rare, and they occur in roughly equal measure across all races, however because the people in power who control the media are in reality racist interest groups, only white geniuses are publicized.  There are child prodigies all across this planet, from Manhattan, to the jungles of Brazil.  However nonwhite prodigies tend to be ignored by the media in this country.  Also, of further note regarding the Psychologist's "gene" argument, is the fact that many prodigious kids are born to couples who are not the sharpest knives in the drawer.  Some are indeed a mystery.  You do not want to trust a Psychologist's teachings on I.Q., for a very good reason; most of Psychology does not emphasize neurobiology enough, and many of their so called scientific arguments are all based on what is observed out, not inside, the human brain.  A neurobiologist, on the other hand, can paint you a better picture; no neural scientist will argue the fact that the brain gets more efficient with repetition, nor will they argue the fact that a child's brain rapidly loses brain cells through child hood.  It is an urgent emergency to young couples, not to let their child's brains die.  There is no reading "too heavy for her" or "too technical," a child's brain can adapt.

3)  The whole "10%" thing is indeed a myth.  Nevertheless.....I think what the guy who said it meant, that with most people, by the time they hit puberty, they are only using 10% of the intellectual abilities they COULD have had, had so many neurons not been lost.  We do not know, exactly, the intellectual extent of a brain working at 100% capacity, or near 100%.  Marylin Vos Savant, Stephen Hawking, and Noam Chomsky, all three estimated to be in the 200's, are only working at 15%.  

In other words you are correct about one thing, from a Neurobiologist's point of view; most of the human race really IS retarded, considering what its capable of.  Far as all that levitation stuff I'm not sure about that but I am open to the idea of the theory of Atlantis.  Its possible that an ancient society, had people who operated at 90% of the brain's intellectual capacity, and had technology that to us, would appear alien.  In fact, primitive peoples mistook gunpowder weapons for magical weapons (Aztecs vs Spaniards).  What would a caveman make of a computer?  A submarine even?

Also if evolution is true, and cro magnon man has been here for 200k years, and civilization has only existed for 10k, who is to say in that time line during those 200k years other civilizations did not rise and fall?  Ever see "Life After People" or "Population Zero?"  It doesn't take very much for mother nature to do all memory of us in, nor does it take very long.  Imagine a whole island sinking to the bottom of the ocean, some ships that sunk in as little as 100 years ago are little more than unrecognizable hunks of coral.

So absolutely Atlantis is possible.  However.........conjecture isn't proof, and you are still logic bound to question even your own thinking.

later.

Answer 4

We haven't lost our deeper and more subtle mental powers, but for the vast majority of people they are in abeyance or latent. Most people will go through life not even suspecting what latent potential they possess.

It is possible to develop and expand one's psychic and spiritual potential. First, one has to know that this potential exists, and that it is possible to develop it.  Then it simply takes work and discipline to gradually build upon one's strengths day by day.

One must learn to become more sensitive to what is around one and inside one.

Answer 5

You are perfectly correct. Mind has got immense potential. It can achieve anything and everything.

We generally use a small portion of our mental capacity.

It is because of lack of self-motivation or self-inspiration. It may also be because we do not place challenging assignments before us.

Answer 6

Thing is, you only use what you need - it`s called efficiency. :)

It is true that we do not use our full capacities; I am afraid I do not quite get your Atlantis connection. Are you insinuating we could master levitation and telepathy if only we wanted to...? That is a bit like suggesting you could meet the Easter Bunny in person if only you wanted to, in my very humble opinion.

When people these days talk about loss of mental abilities, we generally refer to kids being bad at calculating manually because calculators/computers can do the math. Most of the time, we don`t link loss of mental abilities to abilities such as thought control, sawing virgins in half and reading the future from crystal balls. And for a reason, I daresay. :)

And then, maybe, it is a question of what you define as useful mental abilities. Calculating without a calculator certainly is useful, but if you -have- a calculator doing very complex calculations for you, do you really -need- to know how to do it manually yourself? Talking about -complex- tasks, not simply adding 2 and 2.

It would have helped, maybe, if you hadn't linked the "waste" capacity we all know there is to Church but to Science.