Too often I see how a lot of people think we only use somewhere between 2 and 12% of our brains. I asked my old psych professor about this awhile back and found it was far from the truth.
At any given time we're not using all of our brain, and maybe it is around 10% then, but how often are we performing to our full potential. There are an infinite amount of ways we can use our brains, and each way will use different parts, and higher percentages of our brain.
Thanks to programs like the whole mind system we can make a lot more connections between varying parts of the brain for a lot more efficiency than ever before.

Thanks for your time.

I spoke with a psychiatrist once who also believed that every part of our brain is used, at one time or another, but that frequently different parts of our brains/minds are in conflict - leading to sub-optimal performance. One way of viewing this might be the "society of mind" model (Minsky?) where the mind, rather than being a single entity, is comprised of a number of intelligent "agents" or units that each interact, the sum total of which is our perception of ourselves. Now, the theory goes, if you have a "self-preservation" unit that kicks in when having to study or problem solve (due to conditioning that ties self-worth into learned material, say), this will compete with the mental resources that are engaged in trying to read or learn. Since it is tied, whether rightly or wrongly, with the survival instinct, its priority has a higher value than the "learning module" that might be running (which is not, in most people, tied to survival so much), effectively disabling it. The notion that we only use 10% (or 3-4%) of our potential might, in actuality, lie in the dominance struggles that occur in our brains between these different "agents".

If ways are found to passivate the "agents" that work contrary to the "agents" that we are trying to use to achieve our goals, then perhaps we can more fully utilize our learning potential. One way of passivating the rogue "agents" would probably include relaxation and positive visualization - both used extensively in accelerated environments. Also, using a sense of play can passivate the "survival agents".

I'd be interested in reading other people's thoughts on this subject - especially Mr. Bissonette's and Mr. Scheele's.

ckerins,

What an interesting post!

Passivate.......? What is the definition of this word? How is it different from passive? I clearly understand it in the context, but i'm curious for the full definition; it's not in the dictionary i have.

Thanks<

Sorry about that! I am mired in J2EE code, EJBs, servlets, and a bunch of really hairy and scary stuff! Passivate is a term used with respect to EJBs (enterprise java beans - something that is a part of J2EE). I was posting briefly while taking a break from some work that I was doing and got my vocabulary a little muddled! :-)

quote:

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Originally posted by Margaret:
ckerins,

What an interesting post!

Passivate.......? What is the definition of this word? How is it different from passive? I clearly understand it in the context, but i'm curious for the full definition; it's not in the dictionary i have.

Thanks<

---

I've read that the majority of our brain's processing power goes toward maintaining us spatially--making sure we don't fall, making all sorts of gravity calculations. Walking is, after all, perpetual falling and rescue. The websites I have read say around 85% of brain usage is taken up so.

This is one of the great sides of Flotation Tanks. Not only does it cut off all sensory stimulation, but the buoyant saline waters keep you perfectly afloat, essentially negating the effects of gravity on the brain. The result is an immediate and ultra-intense theta state.

I've always wanted to try one of these. Supposedly, one hour in a tank is equivalent to four hours of sleep. I wouldn't mind sleeping in one of these for two hours every day instead of having a bed!! May the bedroom become a tankroom! The flotation tank is probably the most powerful tool available for altering consciousness. God, how I wish for one of these...

Brian, I'm surprised that with all the other stuff you've tried you've never spent any time in a floatation tank. Believe me, you must. Every time I finish a float I wonder how floating for an hour in salt water deprived of all sensory feeling can cause such a profoundly relaxing condition. Things that would normally wind me up in a moment just don't seem to matter. A totally relaxing and rejuvanating experience.

I've never tried a small individual tank, I use a place that has small floatation rooms. They're about 8 feet by 6 feet and tall enough to stand up in. This means once you've stopped the water moving about you're unlikely to have any part of your body touch the sides. Having said that I'm sure individual tank produce great results as well.

On one occasion some 14 hours after the float I used a L/S machine on my usual program and got far superior results. Maybe the float allows the senses to become more receptive to stimulation. Maybe this proves that being more relaxed DOES give better results. Until writing this I hadn't made that association.

Brian, over the last couple of months your posts have encouraged me to try new things. I'm now a regular consumer of Wheatgrass juice, the owner of a rebounder and the proud and almost constant user of the Brain Wave Generator. I hope this encourages you to seek out a floatation tank an give it a go.

Gareth,
What a name you have! You have no idea the associations I attach to your name! Are you a gallant plate-mailed, battle-axe-wielding knight by any chance? What is your armor class these days and do you and do you still have an 18 strength? I’m referring, of course, to Dungeons & Dragons. I was an avid player when I was 8 years old—played for about three years. Grand memories. Just grand. Anyway, my character’s name was Gareth. I had no idea that name was used in the real world! I’m envious.

Believe me when I say this, there is no-single-material-thing that I desire more than a flotation tank. There are two things holding me back, however. The first is that the closest floatation center that I know is in New York City, a good train ride away. The second is that to purchase one would set me back around $7,000... But I will promise you this: I will buy a float tank as the first big-ticket purchase of my life (even before car and house) as soon as the money starts rolling in. –within two years of today.

Cheers,
Brian

LOL. How I wish I was that character. There again, using paraliminals, I can be anything I want. Right Pete?

I'm sure you will get your tank and I know you'll enjoy it. I too have a train journey to my nearest float centre which is in London. I have to put aside at least half a day for a 1 hour float but it's always worth it.

My name is actually Welsh and was quite unusual in England when I was young but nowadays it's getting quite popular. I guess it hasn't reached the States just yet but give it time - us Gareth's are making a name for ourselves!

Is it pronounced Ga-reth, or Gar-eth?

Just curious.

The emphasis is on the first part of the name. Given that a lot of people either pronounce or spell it wrong I'm used to all variations!

Invariably you have to use your intuition when you come up against something new and the more we do that the better we must get.

Back on topic, many 'experts' say the capacity of the human brain is infinite, how then can they say we use only a specific percentage of our capaicity? Surely a better measurement is how much we use it not how much of it we don't use.

To resolve the riddle of how much we use, we need to specify whether we are talking of the brain or mind. That's a morass for sure in the research literature. At the Nobel Conference at Gustavus College a few years back, Patricia Churchill, Oliver Sacks, Anthony Damasio and others were trying to share their view on what consciousness and mind might actually be. Personally, I like Tor Norretranders view in his book The User Illusion.

Here is my position. The conscious mind, which most of us operate from, represents a tiny fraction of the total operating potential of the body/brain/mind.

Our conscious mind, located mostly in the left temporal lobe, is primarily verbal and it works slowly. The portion of your brain mass devoted to carrying out conscious brain functions is approximately 2 percent. The rest of the brain mass of your cerebral cortex works 10,000 times faster than your conscious mind can. And your limbic system works 10,000 times faster than that. In otherwords, 98 percent of your offline brain functions, those functions other than conscious, work 10,000 to ten million times faster than your conscious mind.

It doesn't mean we don't use most or all of our brain. It means that consciously, we don't have much going...and we can bring a LOT more of our off-line resources into conscious use. That's what our work at Learning Strategies Corporation has been about.

Interesting facts. So the more of your subconscious you can use for problem solving, the faster and more accurate the solution.

The more I think about this the more of the simple instructions from the programs and praliminals spring to mind. "Relax and let go...". Just let the subconscious do the work. "Notice... witness... look for the signals...". Hi it's me your subconscious with the answers you wanted.

The problem I have is one of control. I like to feel I have control of the situation/problem and letting it go for a greater power to work on is obviously the right thing to do but what about my control - my comfort zone! However convinced I am that this works I feel I should be consciously doing something not just waiting for the answer. There must be a paraliminal for this one.

I guess you never really have control of the subconscious just unrestricted use of it.

You just intuitvely described Eastern Enlightenment and the obstacles to its attainment.

The problem I have is one of control.

More, regular and deeper Meditation probably... or...

There must be a paraliminal for this one.

Funny, that's what drew me to LS in the first place. I was trying to find some sort of revolutionary technology that would accelerate the enlightenment process. I didn't want to wait with the slow-going ancient methods. It would probably take me 20 to 40 years with Tai Chi to finally 'GET IT'. The Natural Brilliance Generator is what you seek! I got side tracked from Natural Brilliance with all this photoreading and paraliminal stuff. Natural Brilliance is where it's at for Enlightenment. Used properly, it may just be the most effective method for attaining enlightenment. Is not beta consciousness just a bundle of internal oscillations? Resolve the oscilliations, no more internal struggle, no more consciousness, 'access your genius potential' as Paul says. But I see it as more Enlightening than 'Geniusizing'. Both involve the primacy of the subconscious.

I guess you never really have control of the subconscious just unrestricted use of it.

I could say, 'Enlightenment or Bust!' but it's more like 'Enlightenment AND bust!'.

no more consciousness

Is that really a good thing? I see this in the same light I view religion (my mother's obsessive nature over Christianity has spurned many arguments) she expects God to just work things out for her, that whatever happens, it's His will, and that in the end, it's all for the best. I have to look at this as giving up your right to design your own destiny, and giving away responsiblity for your own existance to a distance consciousness, God, the unconscious, whatever you wish to call it. You would be disaccosiating yourself with your own life, and giving control over to someone, or something, you can only hope knows better.

-I have but one life to live, and one life to give to my unconscious, but that is one life too many.

Is that really a good thing?

I would argue that this is the only TRUELY good thing within the realm of human experience.

Let's look at what's ACTUALLY going on here and forget all the mumbo jumbo. Here's a model I've created in order to understand consciousness and enlightenment better.

Think of consciousness as merely a 'focusing agent'--The ability to divide things into small bits and analyze them. Think of consciousness as a tremendously focused beam of laser light.

Now take a deep breath, release and notice. What happened? Your brainwaves slowed down just as your light waves slowed down. The result? Your laser beam (or consciousness) now looks something like a halogen floodlight, lighting up the night.

Now do that for 20 years. What happened? The number of degrees of light continued to expand until.... until what? Until finally, your consciousness reaches 360 degrees. When this happens, there is no more 'dark' and 'no dark'. ALL IS LIGHT! The YinYang becomes the empty Zen Circle.

Total awareness. Total knowing. Total goodness. Total bliss. Total power.

From laser beam, to flood light, to sphere of light.

I have but one life to live

And when you refer to 'I', what is that? A collection of tensions? A collections of fears and insecurities and doubts and internal oscillations?

You would be disaccosiating yourself with your own life, and giving control over to someone, or something, you can only hope knows better.

Exactly.

I would argue that those who are driven by Reason and Thinking are driven by the notions of cause and effect and therefore exist within the realm of Karma. Your perception of free will is largely an illusion, in other words. I would further say that one attains a much higher degree of freedom via enlightenment (via letting go) simply because you are using the spontaneity of the subconscious--the source of all creativity--as your guide. Thus, one transcends karma IN THIS LIFE and gains true freedom via the application of God's Grace--aka subconscious spontaneity.

"You've got to let it all go, Neo. Fear, doubt, and disbelief" said Morpheus from The Matrix. Neo runs... and jumps... and falls... But by the end of the movie, he attains that sphere of consciousness--a state far superior to his former self, I think you'll agree. The Matrix is a useful allegory in chronicleing the path to enlightenment.

Further, you are not 'destroying your ego' or 'personality' as some traditions would say. You are simply removing all the 'stop signs' so you can go from stop and go traffic (15mph) to the autobahn (150mph). Think of 'ego' as a synonym for 'fear' or 'limiting beliefs'.

Tim is still tim, just minus all the crap.

At least, this is what the great champions of Intution say. The champions of Reason give an entirely valid argument the other way as well. It's just like I mentioned in the other post on Decisive Action. Do you want to be a laser beam or (ultimately) a sphere of light? It's a very personal matter. And both are entirely valid forms of existence.

Choose wisely.

I'm of the opinion that it's not a question of one or the other, but of 'when'. 'You've got to know the rigid self-disciplined life, before you can lead a life of liberation.'

To be sure, focusing has its uses...in the begining. For example, you've got to learn how to read first with your laser beam, before you can use your flood lights to photoread.

What you are saying has a ring of truth to it that I can faintly grasp, but it lacks a substance that makes it tangible to me. Probably my lackings, for I've had this experience with various self-help books that had a lot to say, they just did not know how to say it. Certainly, the way you put, it comes across very eloquently, but it just doesn't feel right to me. There is that little nagging in the back of my head that will not let me accept what you are saying. It's hard to explain.

Anyway, a number of those self-help books that left me in a funk were the "The Secret of Letting Go," "Freedom from the Ties that Bind," both by Guy Finley and also, his mentor, Vernon Howard, and the book of his that I have read is "The Power of Your Supermind." All three of these books talk about a negative self that keeps you back, and ruins your life. So the idea is to destroy this negative self and let your positive self prevail. He used a bunch of confusing metaphors that he never really connected back to reality, and all in all just gave me an identity crisis. Not very enjoyable, I'll tell you that. But it did get me thinking about the meaning of self and consciousness, which I'm sure pretty much everyone has done, so it wasn't a complete loss. My point was, is, that when you start seperating different versions of yourself, questions must be raised, questions about the meaning of self that I can't at my current status in life really get a feel for. My loss I guess.

Oh well, I'll just have to make the best of what I've got.

It feels real, doesn't it? "You", I mean. A magnificent illusion!

As Paul asked, "To what extent am I the thinker of my thoughts?"

It's a wholly experiential kinda thing, and impossible to quantify--which, I guess, is why many people do not acknowledge it.

If you are looking to either expand your consciousness or become and intuitive genius and you have the Natural Brilliance Generator, why not try listening to side A every night before you go to sleep and side B every morning before you awaken? I think after a week, you'd start to 'experience' some noticable expansion.

It's not explicitly mentioned anywhere by Paul, but I believe that this tape installs a model of the Zen Mind onto its listener. I further believe that this is the most powerful, 'all-around' tape that Paul has produced. It is 100 tapes in one!

In the meantime,

Stay Cool

How do you measure the infinate?

Hello all: While new to this forum, I have been a student of these matters for 30+ years--and I was impressed by the level of dialogue to be found here.

Brian: There are so many different models and metaphors one could use, but it seems to boil down to: do I stay (consciously) "in control" and continue to live a in halting, frustrated and diminished manner, or do I choose to have the results I want without being able to "take credit" for them?

All of our conditioning tells us to stay "in control," but experience has shown this to be an inefficient (and uncomfortable) way to operate...

Perhaps there is some middle ground--hey, why should we have to wait for the Big Enlightenment to enjoy the benefits?--of dancing with the para-conscious mind: gently playing with it, turning over more and more of our functioning to the faster and smarter parts of ourselves, and gradually expanding our trust in the process.

To use your analogy, we can gradually broaden our focus from laser to flashlight, and so forth, without scaring or straining ourselves in the process. I think I could handle that...

Gassho/Namaste!

[This message has been edited by shinsei (edited March 19, 2001).]

We most likely use 100% of our brain but only 12% in our favour and 88% against us.

Jodokus, see what Paul Sheele said earlier in this post.

High Life, you can find the brain wave generator at www.bwgen.com

My 2 cents worth...
I have been recently researching the net on the concepts of Zen and such... I am amazed at how much the Star Wars Universe models this mindset... (Brian649 made a reference to THE MATRIX; same thing here...)
Jedi Masters often advise their padawans to "Let Go." and to "FEEL the Force." Back throughout time it seems many people, considered wise, have all come to the conclusion that to obtain the optimal performance one must "let go" of the willfull (or conscious effort)need to have optimal performance. In the martial arts it is a farily well understood fact (or so I'm told) that you can not consciously fight succesfully 100% of the time... in order to be succesfull it must happen without effort... "Sharpness without effort", automaticlly... somthing can't happen automatically AND be conciously controlled at the SAME time.
Consider the Stereogram... using divergent vision, one can (possibly) "see" an image within the image. BUT if when you start to make out the "hidden" image, you then try to conciously FORCE it into focus (ie. you let your eyes focus on the surface.)The image disappears... to see the image correctly, you must "LET GO" and let the image just happen. (how very ZEN).
In order to achieve the optimum results one must leave their "comfort zone"... It can be a difficult thing to just let go... and not be in controll... but consider this... what takes more control... to hold a powerfull reign on your self... or to "let go" even though it feels strange and isn't comfortable... utilize that need to control by controling your need to control...
=)
If any of that makes sense to anyone else please raise your hands now... cause it was pretty much stream of consiousness for me...8) 8)

Brian,

Like Gareth, I've been following your posts for several weeks now. Gosh, I have so many questions. Where do I start?

If you had a chance to do your self-improvement all over again, what would you do differently?

By the way, I think I found a product you might be interested in. I was looking for wheatgrass juice/powder to no success and found something called "The Ultimate Meal". You can view their website at http://www.ultimatemeal.com

[This message has been edited by ScottH (edited July 18, 2001).]

Hey all im trying to make alot of conections this year in computer school. If i could use 10 % of my brain then I would be 4 or 5 times smarter than anyone. Reason is the percentage went down from 3% to a small fraction of that! Lets face it we are all mortals in need of everlasting life. That is why we use that 1 to 10% If we did live longer and were perfect we would use all 100%

quote:

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Originally posted by Brian649:
...Anyway, my character’s name was Gareth. I had no idea that name was used in the real world! I’m envious.

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Dragging up a 6 month old conversation, Gareth is actually a very common Welsh name. It's MY real name too!

sorry its me again..

what about
"there's always a first time"
or
"what pours into a jug, the rest will pour out" - referring to so much of our brain thats being used
or
"human brains have taken over 2 million years to develop"
or
"its only taken a bacteria about 200 million years to develop into a constantly-regrowing-cells kind of organism that actually thinks for itself"
or
"humans are the only animals on the planet that can actually consider suicide"
or
"green apples are red apples"
or
"a picture is worth a thousand words"
or
"erase the negative side and the balance of full being will collapse"
or
"there's (some) nothing in life not(not true) worth living for"
or
"what more can a man want?" - man knows there's more, so what's the point of this??
or
"what you give is what you get" TRUE in every way.

so if you think bad karma is all it is. well, just think of all those barriers you have to argue with to get through. you could go as positively as you can and break through and achieve as much, "humans are a paradox" well I haven't got a lot against that! but it'd be a loooooonnnnng time by the time we can get to the perfect calm, the perfect sense of being who we are, - I'm not saying we haven't, just saying that we haven't been able to grasp and hold it for as long as possible. a lot of people are believed to have reached a "self-actualisation" like mother teresa and all that, but that's just the motely few. and furthermore, psychologists say that you have to reach calm in all levels of your being, how you cook, how you look after yourself, how you socialise, how you communicate, how you help out, how you gain knowledge, how you can get your dreams, how you get to the point of full satisfaction.... so when you say enlightening, even if you achieved it for a time, something always comes a snowballin' and you have to start all over again, but maybe with better knowledge and maybe getting better at it, but you'll never know whether its 'the peak' or 'your best'. I believe that the total realisation of this comes at a certain age when you have had just about anything that you thought you could wish for, and you start to dissipate into the withering prune ready to die cos every one that you truly know are up there.
I've had enough experience with my elders and that's always been the atmosphere. so accept it now you'll be in the pits quicker than you thought possible. it'd explain a lot of questions why so many young people (who have parents, friends, home, having little wrong with their lives other than not to far from being perfect!) are suicidal.
I could go on, and on, and on, but I'd like to know what you're thinking right now before i know what to go on. and besides if there isn't another post, i'll just think it's just another phase in my life where I'm out of sorts. and wanting to get this radical thinking outta my system.

miss eggy

quote:

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Originally posted by NiJuIchi:
Too often I see how a lot of people think we only use somewhere between 2 and 12% of our brains. .

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The 87% that most don't use, is because they are conditioned by religion to fear the mind.
If they were using 20%, there would be no more disease on this planet. If they were using 100%, there would be no planet.

I discovered something, I think, similar to Ultimate Meal when I was Whole Foods last weekend, in single packets: http://www.gojuvo.com/

quote:

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Originally posted by ScottH:
Brian,

Like Gareth, I've been following your posts for several weeks now. Gosh, I have so many questions. Where do I start?

If you had a chance to do your self-improvement all over again, what would you do differently?

By the way, I think I found a product you might be interested in. I was looking for wheatgrass juice/powder to no success and found something called "The Ultimate Meal". You can view their website at http://www.ultimatemeal.com

[This message has been edited by ScottH (edited July 18, 2001).]

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I am curious and have ordered some. Have you tried this product? It looks very interesting.

I hope it doesn't taste like dirt.

quote:

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Originally posted by NiJuIchi:
Too often I see how a lot of people think we only use somewhere between 2 and 12% of our brains. I asked my old psych professor about this awhile back and found it was far from the truth.
At any given time we're not using all of our brain, and maybe it is around 10% then, but how often are we performing to our full potential. There are an infinite amount of ways we can use our brains, and each way will use different parts, and higher percentages of our brain.
Thanks to programs like the whole mind system we can make a lot more connections between varying parts of the brain for a lot more efficiency than ever before.

---

NiJuIchi

I believe it's now between "zero %, and 17%"... but for the world's majorities, it be closer to a "0 to 3%"...
I recall the blond haired new neighbor, a dead ringer for Marilyn Munroe at 22... A few days after her parents bought her that house next door, probably to get rid of her, by dumping her on our street... "in our laps"..
I was walking through my yard, when I happened to notice her trying to use a hammer's end of the wooden handle in a desperate attempt to tap down a stubborn protruding nail, in her deck...
I gently corrected her... Her response nearly floored me...
"Oh?? Silly me.. teehee, chuckle chuckle.
I thought the curved metal part was the handle!"
I really didn't know what to say... I smiled polite, as I noticed I had lost some of the feeling in my legs... I turned away, grinned totally ouch, ear to ear,
looked up, and whispered "thankyou"...

She's raising a kid yet... who will be eligible to vote, drink booze, drive, carry a loaded gun in the forest, in 15 years, and make babies in his mum's bloodline...
In her case, I'd give her a zero...

"programs, percentages, full potential, infinite ways, different parts..."

Me thinks that be like autopsing the mind... It be like trying to drive a car after you've pulled off the wheels, the gastank, the gas peddle, and the lights...

I think we use all the brain... and those percentage estimates are merely degrees in how we access, maintain, and employ the mind... as compared to our 100% potential to be our 101%...

What's happening, is the last generation is further mentally advanced than all previous generations, in their mental abilities only... not necessarily in the smarts, although they are more capable of higher intelligence, and progressively more and more lazy, and more and more dependent upon the media to direct their lives... in every way, but real... The tendency is to grow more synthetic, and forget there is a mind... because we are in an extinction fall, and there's no viable reason to want to use more of the mind, which would only show us that we really are fading into oblivion... by our own hand... our timebomb messes to the planet...

You have the ability to access whatever percent of your full potential as you can...
whether you believe it or not... The secret is to learn to push all your fears aside, so they won't be triggered, while you do that accessing... Plus, should you access too much for your present state of evolution, there is a good chance that you would spontaneously ignite and burn...
If you are to play here, It be advisable to look at as much as you can, but do not touch any of it until you have developed a powerful moral resolve...

You might be interested in a couple of the related posts in the "deprogramming" thread, by "cosmicbrat", in "occult forum"... Those posts were/are way too goshawful rough 'n tough to fit in this soft kind gentle-peoples forum...

[Note: username changed from Life to cosmicbrat]

[This message has been edited by Life (edited January 10, 2005).]