– According to an old and persistently repeated assumption, human beings use only 10% of their brains. Science has long ago refuted this idea, but it nevertheless continues to be propagated as a truth. Much more disturbing is the fact, revealed in a recent survey conducted by Paul Howard-Jones at the University of Bristol, that the we-use-only-10%-of-our-brain myth is still believed by many educators – the very people who have the responsibility to foster the intellectual development of our children.
– The researchers asked teachers in China, Greece, Turkey, Netherlands, and the UK if they agreed with a series of popular but flawed beliefs about the brain. The results showed that those wrong ideas are still considered true by a large number of teachers. Some myths are so ingrained that the professionals in education themselves see no reason to put them in question. Howard-Jones said that poor communication between neuroscientists and educators is often the reason of the problem.
Image: A diagram of the functional areas of the human brain (Wikipedia)
