Personality Tests and Tools

10% of the Brain Myth Let me state this very clearly: There is no scientific evidence to suggest that we use only 10% of our brains. Let's look at the possible origins of this "10% brain use" statement and the evidence that we use all of our brain. Where Did the 10% Myth Begin? The 10% statement may have been started with a misquote of Albert Einstein or the misinterpretation of the work of Pierre Flourens in the 1800s. It may have been William James who wrote in 1908: "We are making use of only a small part of our possible mental and physical resources" (from The Energies of Men, p. 12). Perhaps it was the work of Karl Lashley in the 1920s and 1930s that started it. The Evidence (or lack of it) Perhaps when people use the 10% brain statement, they mean that only one out of every ten nerve cells is essential or used at any one time? Furthermore, from an evolutionary point of view, it is unlikely that larger brains would have developed if there was not an advantage. "We use 100% of our brains."