Q&A: Use of the Brain
Use of the Brain
Question
Hello and blessings, Rabbi,
I heard the claim that researchers found that a person uses between 5 and 7 percent of the brain, and practically speaking, if we could reach maximal use, we would almost be in the category of “You have made him little less than God.”
Now, the researchers who checked this are also supposedly using only between 5 and 7 percent of their brains. So it could be that if they were using 18.73 percent, they would have discovered different results. And if so, why believe that we use only between 5 and 7 percent if we have no way to get reliable results? And if they were using 18.73 percent, they would presumably find that we use 18.73 percent of the brain, and then the question would come back again.
I don’t know, it just sounds like nonsense to me.
What does the Rabbi think about it?
Answer
Even if we used the whole brain, compared to God we would be lacking by exactly the same amount. Every number is at the same distance from infinity.
The fact that we use only part of the brain does not mean that the part being used is mistaken. It only means that we could have achieved more. The concern about error always exists, but it is not necessarily connected to the percentage of the brain we use. Even if we used all of it, it would still only be the brain we were given. We still lack some tremendously brilliant brain that no human being has, so we could still worry that we are mistaken.
In short, this is a meaningless question.