The Idea of humans only using 10% of our brains is believed to have originated with the work of a Harvard scientist named William James, considered by many to be the father of American psychology, anyone would expect his work to be accurate, right? We’ll see in this article.
While James never put an exact figure on it, he believed that humans are only able to tap into a small fraction of our mental and physical abilities. A supporter of James’ theories named his son William James Sidis, after the man he supported. William James Sidis was raised in a way in which he could “unlock” the brain’s full potential, the result was wildly successful, gaining William James many supporters and spreading his theory further. The boy who had “unlocked” the full potential of his brain spoke 26 languages, attended Harvard at the age of 11, and had an estimated IQ of 250-300!
Although this experiment proved James’ theories to be right, current neuroscience says no. Humans have some of the biggest and most powerful brains, therefore the heads of babies are so large. The fact that the human brain is so advanced, large and uses a lot of power simply rules out the possibility of this theory being true. In fact, something as simple as opening and closing a fist can use more than 10% of the brain’s power. MRI scans further prove that humans use more than 10% of their brains because scans have shown us that the brain is widely active even when sleeping! The only reason this theory is widely accepted is because neuroscience was at its infancy at the time this theory was thought of.
TL; DR: No, Humans use more than 10% of their brains. There is no possibility of the 10% theory being right due to much advanced neuroscience and new findings over the years. Despite the theory being false, it is still widely accepted today.
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