How’s this for a statement
We use most parts of our brain at different times but we don't use it to its fullest potential. We can learn a lot more and do a lot more with it if we want to or know how.
I don't think anyone uses their brain to its fullest capabilities. It's like a never ending hard-drive on a computer. You can learn more and more and the information remains in there and is able to be recalled (sometimes if you haven't drunk too much the night before).
Most animals have smaller brains per body and skull size when compared to humans. This automatically puts them at a lower point of intelligence. They still have the ability to learn and many wild animals are actually quite intelligent. They have to be in order to survive. They also use all of their senses rather than just their eyes & ears, (like most humans do).
One of the things associated with brain usage is intelligence and our perspective on it. We consider someone who uses their brain as a smart human and potentially one who has lots of degrees and can multiply two large numbers or write a book. Whereas in reality, a smart or intelligent animal is one that can understand what is happening around it and change or adapt its behaviour in order to maximise its chances of survival.
There are plenty of judges out there who know the law extremely well, yet some of them don't know how to use a computer. Every 6 yr old child in western society that goes to school knows how to use a computer, does that make them as smart as a judge, (yes
, but I'm just saying that because I lost a court case the other day). In general a 6yo is not as intelligent as an adult who has studied. Likewise they don't use as much of their brain as an adult can simply because their brains are still developing at that age.
There are also different types of intelligence. For example some people are incredibly knowledgable about certain things, yet know nothing about other things. There are plenty of booksmart people who have no logical sense. They would ace an exam on rocket science yet walk down a dark alleyway at night. Any dog or cat would look before going down the dark alleyway and either feel something was wrong or deliberately go down there for a rumble or quickie.
However the basic animal instinct is still in all of us. We just no longer use it due to our domestication. Blind people have much better senses than people with normal eyesight. This is because they have to rely on their other senses to survive. Animals have better senses than people and their senses are more finely tuned to their surroundings. The senses work in conjunction with the brain and give the animal the edge.
If we start to suffer extreme physical or emotional stress we stop using various parts of our brain and resort to basic instinct. This is also called animal instinct and is simply the body's way of trying to survive under extreme conditions. When the body gets to this stage we do not think logically and our body is usually flooded with adrenalin keeping us in a state of fight or flight syndrome. Then our muscles are ready for action and our minds don't think about what is going to happen, it just reacts. At this stage our brains are not functioning any more efficiently than the brain in a lizard or snake. We respond to stimuli by either avoiding it, or eating it.
Once conditions settle down and we start to recover from the stress our minds start to work more efficiently and we start to think more clearly.
A similar thing happens when we don't get enough sleep. If we don't get enough sleep one night we feel cranky and tired. If we don't get enough sleep for a prolonged period of time then our behaviour starts to change quite dramatically. We can become aggressive, careless, unbalanced & poorly coordinated, illogical and generally unpleasant compared to normal. This is the brain stressing out and reducing its work load. When we are in this state of semi basic instinct we are not using our brains effectively or efficiently and we are not much more intelligent than a dog or cat. We can still walk and talk and drive cars, but we aren't concentrating on it properly and accidents often happen when in this mode. We are also on edge and it takes very little to get an extreme reaction from a person suffering from sleep deprivation. Quite often the reaction will be violent and unpredictable and result in injury to one or more parties. This is the basic brain kicking in and turning civilised human into a fight/flight reactive animal.
Basically we don’t use our brains as well as we could. And animals use their brains differently to humans in order to survive. Wild animals use their brains to survive and are constantly thinking and planning strategies. Domesticated animals quite often become bored and start to develop stereotypical behaviour. People also develop this. The best we can do is to stimulate our minds with new sensations and sites and try to stop it from becoming bored. Keep your mind active and keep your pet’s mind active and we will all be better off.
/www.snopes.com/science/stats/10percent.asp
