The claim that we use only 10% of our brain capacity is a well-known myth. But if we actually use considerably more than 10%, is it possible to get close to maximum capacity? In other words: Is there a point where I have to say, “If I want to lean a new fact, I have to forget an old one to make room for it”?
In: Biology
Keeping this to ELI5. No you don’t ever have to worry about forgetting something so that you can learn something new. In fact, learning new things will help you remember old things.
You can imagine your brain having the worlds largest most efficient memory storage system ever. You will never live long enough to “fill” it.
The 10% of your brain thing is Mumbo jumbo nonsense that Keeps coming up in movies and stuff. If you only used 10% of your brain you’d be dead. You use all of your brain, sometimes some parts of the brain are in “more use” than other parts. Just like sometimes some parts of your body are in more use than other parts.
Brain plasticity is a thing… but to say ANY part of the brain can take over for ANY other part of the brain for be false. There are limits, and we just don’t know how to take advantage and force brain plasticity, to occur, although we have good ideas how it happens, it usually happens on its own.
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