http://community.victoriaadvocate.com/home/Blog/Crobar/5646 I cannot count how many times and how often I hear that phrase uttered.  For some people it's almost a mantra..."we only use 10% of our brains...", "hey, you know what they say, we only use 10% of our brains...".  I've even seen it in print in many different places, even in newspapers and popular magazines.  I'm curious as to where the individuals putting forth this assertion derived this from.  Who are the mysterious "they" which is spoken of and why would "they" state something anyone who studies the brain can tell you is silly? Just in case anyone wants to know that statement is false.  I've seen the highest concentration of that claim made in relation to support for things such as ESP, clairvoyance, telekinesis and so forth.  So if we only use 10% of our brains, what is the other 90% doing?  In this model of the brain we have a small chunk doing all the work and most of our gray and white matter is just decoration or for some the seat of untapped "powers". Well folks, we do use all of our brain.  I could go into a lengthy post involving lots of neurobiology but it's late and I'm tired.  For now I just felt like venting to alleviate some frustration about hearing this ridiculous claim for the ten thousandth time today.  Maybe someday in the future I'll get the motivation to address this properly and delve into it in mucho detailo. I cannot count how many times and how often I hear that phrase uttered.  For some people it's almost a mantra..."we only use 10% of our brains...", "hey, you know what they say, we only use 10% of our brains...".  I've even seen it in print in many different places, even in newspapers and popular magazines.  I'm curious as to where the individuals putting forth this assertion derived this from.  Who are the mysterious "they" which is spoken of and why would "they" state something anyone who studies the brain can tell you is silly? Just in case anyone wants to know that statement is false.  I've seen the highest concentration of that claim made in relation to support for things such as ESP, clairvoyance, telekinesis and so forth.  So if we only use 10% of our brains, what is the other 90% doing?  In this model of the brain we have a small chunk doing all the work and most of our gray and white matter is just decoration or for some the seat of untapped "powers". Well folks, we do use all of our brain.  I could go into a lengthy post involving lots of neurobiology but it's late and I'm tired.  For now I just felt like venting to alleviate some frustration about hearing this ridiculous claim for the ten thousandth time today.  Maybe someday in the future I'll get the motivation to address this properly and delve into it in mucho detailo. en-us