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BLOCK 3 ESSAY 1

PSYCH 1009

MRS ENID SCHUTTE

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In the past, the belief that humans only use 10% of their brain was brought to society’s

awareness. The rapid growth of technology has forced people to increase their knowledge, hence

the theory of the amount of brain usage became a myth .The development in the world and the

manner in which knowledge is perceived is heavily influenced by what people say to one another

and the vast platform that has allowed this has been media. Thus, it is difficult to gather accurate

information concerning this topic without it being tampered by people’s opinions, critiques as

well as perspectives. Therefore, in this essay the examination of the myth as well as its

emergence into modern day society with the help of evidence on how the brain functions will

assist in proving why this myth is incorrect. Furthermore an integration of an effective example

that demonstrates the processing within the brain in order to complete a simple everyday task

could help prove that humans use more than 10% of their brains.

The rise of the myth that humans only use 10% of their brain potential originates from the

misunderstanding of the work by some theorists in the 19th century (Chundler, 2005). The

accuracy of who brought it into awareness is low however, what is known is that other theorists

in related fields did not hesitate in sharing this myth (Chundler, 2005). The uncertainty of the

origin of this myth as well as the lack of verification would be the expected cause of its

deterioration, however the power that media retains is greater than evidential facts hence the

myth is still spoken of today (Radford, 1999). Media took advantage of this fallacious statement

and started using it for marketing purposes, entertainment and reader engagement

(Chundler,2005).Despite the minimal evidence for the authenticity of the theory, media was able

to attract more people into believing that it is a fact and this prolonged the existence of it
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(Chundler,2005). In other words, the misconception has been overplayed without a legitimate

basis (Chundler, 2005).

Moreover the evidence provided from the manner in which the brain functions completely

exposes the falseness of the theory (Chundler,2005). Although it is already recognized that there

isn't empirical evidence concerning the issue, this in itself is a reason to reject it entirely (Boyd,

2008). Nonetheless, according to Radford (1999), the myth implies that 90% of the human brain

is unused is equivalent to an organ in our body that is not needed. However , that is impossible

because when there is any damage caused to an organ that is not needed it does affect any

functions of the other organs whereas, if there is any brain damage upon the unused part of the

brain it can lead to disability , slow functioning or even death sometimes. Furthermore, in

relation to the evolution of the brain size, there has been an observation of the increase in size

and logically the surface area wouldn't increase without purpose rather , it would increase to

intake more knowledge (Chundler,2005).

Additionally , the function of each area in the brain is unique to different activities and some

parts work simultaneously in order for one to carry out the task in the manner that they desire,

thus that will mean more than one section of our brain is used (Boyd,2008).According to

Chundler(2006), brain imaging technology illustrated that more than one part of the brain is

operative whilst a task is being conducted however since other parts are active at a higher degree

than others, it is paid more attention to and this can lead to the assumption of inactivity of the

other parts. These brain imaging technologies include MRI’s as well as PET scans

(Chundler,2006).
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Take the simple everyday task of eating food. Despite the fact that it may seem like a simple task

which requires just the consumption of food, in the brain it is much more complex (Boyd,2008).

The three main areas being the cerebrum, cerebellum and the brain stem come into action with

this task. Firstly the cerebrum is responsible for the higher functions and in this case this includes

smelling the aroma of the food, being able to see and taste the food ( Lundy-Ekman,2013). The

frontal lobe within the cerebrum controls decision making and this would be influenced by the

temporal lobe which controls the olfactory sense (Lundy-Ekman,2013). Therefore that already

shows that more than one section in one part of the brain is interlinked and active in this task

(Lundy-Ekman, 2013). Furthermore, the cerebellum which regulates voluntary gestures, would

have the function of controlling the chewing of the food as well as coordination in swallowing

and breathing at the same time (Lundy-Ekman,2013). Lastly whilst all of this is happening basic

functions such as swallowing, blinking ,breathing and continuous heart beating are still active

which is controlled by the medulla oblongata through the brainstem(Lundy-Ekman,2013).

The mere fact that the individual is living already shows that one area of the three is active,

which in itself invalidates the fact that only 10% of our brain is being used because even prior to

the task, it is operating (Lundy-Ekman,2013). The reality is if one of these operations within the

brain were to be compromised due to a brain damage perhaps an interference of some sort it will

hinder the independent accomplishment of this task (Lundy-Ekman,2013).

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In conclusion, each area of the brain is important for the completion of any basic task, from

walking down the road to interpreting a complex problem. The illustration of the simple task of

eating demonstrated that it utilizes all areas of the brain actively thus the completion of a more

complicated task could utilize even more parts of the brain. Therefore the usage of the brain

exceeds the 10% limit as proposed but rather it actively uses more than one part of the brain

simultaneously with the others. This proves that the long lived myth solely exists due to what

people are made to believe rather than empirical facts.

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REFERENCE LIST

Boyd, R. (2008). Do people only use 10 percent of their brains. Scientific American, 7.

Chundler,E.H.(2005). Do We Use 10% of Our Brain?

http://faculty.washington.edu/chundler/tenper.html

Chudler, E. (2006). Myths about the brain: 10 percent and counting. Everything Blog. Retrieved

August, 30, 2008.

Kweldju, S. (2015). Neurobiology of research findings: how the brain works during reading.

PASAA, 50, 125-142.

Lundy-Ekman, L. (2013). Neuroscience-E-Book: Fundamentals for Rehabilitation. Elsevier

Health Sciences.

Radford, B. (1999). The ten-percent myth. Skeptical Inquirer, 23, 52-53.