pfry@oracle.uucp (Philip M. Fry) (12/15/88)
In article <659@htsa.uucp> fransvo@htsa.UUCP (Frans van Otten) writes: > (in response to article <Dec.8.18.59.38.1988.10409@klaatu.rutgers.edu> > josh@klaatu.rutgers.edu (J Storrs Hall) ) > [Assume] that the human brain is very powerful. 'Normal' people >use this power quite scattered (see my article about multiple 'kinds' of >intelligence). Idiot savants use most of their brain power for a very >small task. >-- > Frans van Otten > Algemene Hogeschool Amsterdam > Technische en Maritieme Faculteit > fransvo@htsa.uucp This reminds me of the often-stated but never-documented comment that people only use 15% of their available brain power. How is this number derived? Any good references? Phil Fry pfry%oracle.uucp@hplabs.hp.com {hplabs,pyramid}!oracle!pfry
bph@buengc.BU.EDU (Blair P. Houghton) (12/16/88)
In article <516@oracle.UUCP> pfry@oracle.UUCP (Philip M. Fry) writes: > >This reminds me of the often-stated but never-documented comment that people >only use 15% of their available brain power. How is this number derived? >Any good references? I think it was just an estimate, albeit one of Einstein's estimates. --Blair "From the people who brought you 'light travels at the same speed in all frames of reference.'"
ok@quintus.uucp (Richard A. O'Keefe) (12/16/88)
In article <516@oracle.UUCP> pfry@oracle.UUCP (Philip M. Fry) writes: >This reminds me of the often-stated but never-documented comment that people >only use 15% of their available brain power. How is this number derived? >Any good references? I've seen recent articles that claim this is bogus. It is apparently possible, by using some form of NMR, to measure energy consumption in the brain non-invasively, so you can get a 3D picture of which parts of the brain were most active while someone was working on a problem. There was a short note in the Science & the Citizen section of Scientific American about this within the last four years.
sewilco@datapg.MN.ORG (Scot E Wilcoxon) (12/18/88)
In article <868@quintus.UUCP> ok@quintus.UUCP (Richard A. O'Keefe) writes: >In article <516@oracle.UUCP> pfry@oracle.UUCP (Philip M. Fry) writes: >>This reminds me of the often-stated but never-documented comment that people >>only use 15% of their available brain power. How is this number derived? >>Any good references? > >I've seen recent articles that claim this is bogus. >It is apparently possible, by using some form of NMR, to measure energy >consumption in the brain non-invasively, so you can get a 3D picture of >which parts of the brain were most active while someone was working on >a problem. There was a short note in the Science & the Citizen section >of Scientific American about this within the last four years. Several of those brain activity images have been published. I think both NMR and radioactively-tagged sugars have been tracked. At least one study gave each subject problems which were within or outside the subject's areas of expertise and compared brain activity to expertise. The problems within the subject's area of expertise used *LESS* of the brain than problems outside expertise, and naturally solved the former faster and better than the latter. Further studies are needed. It is likely that the brain is simply used less due to more efficient retrieval and processing. Someone without similar expertise probably wastes more brain energy to reach a good answer. (Humor follows) Thus, the "smarter" one is at something, the less of the brain is used. The 15% (I've heard 5%) estimate is said to be an estimate by Einstein. Einstein is considered "very smart", thus he should have used very little of his brain. -- Scot E. Wilcoxon sewilco@DataPg.MN.ORG {amdahl|hpda}!bungia!datapg!sewilco Data Progress UNIX masts & rigging +1 612-825-2607 uunet!datapg!sewilco I'm just reversing entropy while waiting for the Big Crunch.