excreationist

I think that we basically use all of our brain, although a lot of the information is duplicated (that's how neural networks work) - but there is a potential for us to store a lot more information. That is because we can form new connections - neurons can literally attach themselves to different neurons so that new memories can be formed. (Well that's what I thought I heard - maybe I'm wrong)
It's like having a notepad and filling it up with diagrams and writing, then putting in smaller and smaller writing, trying to cram it all in. If you wrote small enough, you could write a whole encyclopedia in that notepad.

[ January 10, 2002: Message edited by: excreationist ]</p>

Oolon Colluphid

Thanks for posting that UO.

This sounds like a typical piece of creationist propaganda. Without clarification on what “full mental potential” means, it’s impossible to criticise it. But I’ll bet a pound to a penny the people quoted were not saying that the vast majority of our brain isn’t being used for something -- most likely, it just isn’t being used for higher level thinking. Maybe 99.99% of our mental potential (whatever that means) isn’t being used, maybe it is. But that’s a long way from saying that 99.99% of our brain’s mass is unused. It ain’t what you’ve got, it’s what you do with it .

Another point: there is, I understand, a strong correlation in primates between brain size (relative to body size) and social complexity. I'll check and get back to you.

TTFN, Oolon

CodeMason

<a href="http://www.csicop.org/si/9903/ten-percent-myth.html" target="_blank">http://www.csicop.org/si/9903/ten-percent-myth.html</a>

faded_Glory

Speak for yourself. As I grow older I am becoming acutely aware that I could very well use many more braincells than I seem to have...

fG

hyzer

Standing in road, handkerchief on head, arms straight down, wrists curled in:
“My . . . . . brain . . . . hurts.”

Asha'man

Well, this is an apples and oranges situation. Man-made computers are linear, and human brains are parallel. If you try to search your brain for a memory, you effectively search the entire thing at once. A computer must search linearly, one memory after another. However, a computer is capable of performing certain types of operations, like math, extremely quickly and with great precision. Therefore, a computer is far better at some tasks, and a brain is far better at others.