Film ,,Lucy" - do we really use only 10% of the brain

HELLO STEEMIANS,

Today I have watched a film called ,,Lucy", and I would like to present you a pishological analysis of this film.

Professor Norman, who plays Morgan Freeman in blockbuster” Lucy”, begins his lecture with the words: "We only use ten percent of the brain, imagine what would happen if we reached 100 percent, there would be various interesting things." The whole premise of the film is based on this widespread belief. But, is that a misapprehension or a fact?

In the film, the main heroine, played by Scarlett Johansson, is forced to carry drugs in her womb, which is actually a synthetic hormone that is secreted by the body of a pregnant woman. The drug, with a fluorescent blue color, is packaged in a plastic bag, at one point started leaking into her womb, allowing her to reach those famous hundred percent. Lucy begins to kill people randomly, gets telepathic and tele-kinetic powers, is able to read an enormous amount of literature on the Internet and keep it memorized. Her perception is sharpened, she remembers even the things that she experienced in her mother's stomach, even some kind of mental travel through time is possible. At the moment of the biggest conflict with the "bad guy" in the film, she simply dematerializes with the message "I am now everywhere." This is the moment when it reaches 100 percent, as through film percentages are progressing.

Source: google images

The movie is actually based on the unconscious desire, not only of the audience, but also of scientists, that there is a "secret tank" in the brain, a source of creativity that only waits to be unlocked and exploited. This would increase our chances of magical enlightenment and change, therefore the film deals with a fantasy about how every person has untapped potential.

The history of this misconception is rather long. William James, the father of modern psychology, wrote that "we use only a small part of our mental and physical abilities." Various scientists then interpreted this statement as saying that William James was referring to the famous ten percent, although, as far as it is known, James did not actually mention it.

Source: google images

Using techniques such as functional magnetic resonance and PET scanner (positron emission tomography) shows that the brain is almost always fully active! It is therefore clear that many areas of the brain are involved in the simplest activity, such as watching a movie, and not only that, the activity between these different areas is very dynamic. This does not support the theory of "non-use" of the brain. Even while we sleep, the brain is not completely "off".

Source: google images

There is also a theory that unused brain cells die, the so called “use or lose" presumption. If we used only ten percent of the brain, we would in fact be all susceptible to Alzheimer's disease and other neurodegenerative diseases. Unused cells have a tendency toward degeneration, therefore a big part of the brain is "lost", which does not happen.

It is true that the brain uses more energy than any other organ in the body, which means it is very busy. The brain in humans makes only two or three percent of body weight, and uses twenty percent of body energy. There are thoughts on which it is impossible to determine which percentage of the brain is being used, but that he certainly is more than ten percent, while Eric Chudler smoothly states that we already use our brain in its fullness, and how we use it, that's another story.

In the MythBusters tv show, one episode dealt with this phenomenon - "Tablecloth Class," and they consider this misconception uncovered. It is interesting that they have obtained data from 35% using magnetic encephalograms and in consultation with a neurosurgeon. Beyerstein has been dealing with this topic for a long time and has stated that the evidence of using the whole brain is that no part of the brain can be damaged without damaging some function; that by natural selection, people with smaller and more efficient brains would have the advantage; that conditions like Parkinson's disease cause severe consequences and affect very small areas ("percentages") of the brain.

It is true, however, that the brain has about 100 billion neurons, but that the number of glial cells is actually much higher. Glial cells provide a structural balance, supplying neurons with the necessary myelinum and removing pathogenic cells. The exact size of glial cells and neurons is not known, but there are authors who claim that he is just ten to one. In other words, this would mean that neurons make up only ten percent of our whole brain. However, let us also bear in mind the research that shows that compared to other primates, a person has a similar relationship between brain cells as well, and they are proportional. These findings show that the human brain is actually the same as the brains of other primates and that we do not "jump out" in terms of brain composition.