Science, Evolution, and the Human Brain

Time Magazine had an article that said scientist in
neurology were puzzled by the fact that nearly half
our brain goes unused. They were wondering if
man will ever be able to use the other half.
This made me wonder why man would evolve with
a brain he only uses about half of. Could he have
needed it all at one time for some purpose we are
not aware of? Can scientist in evolution explain this?
Or perhaps God created man with this capacity so
man would be able to communicate with him in a
spiritual way. Does anyone have any thoughts on this?

RJHinds

Originally posted by RJHinds
Time Magazine had an article that said scientist in
neurology were puzzled by the fact that nearly half
our brain goes unused. They were wondering if
man will ever be able to use the other half.
This made me wonder why man would evolve with
a brain he only uses about half of. Could he have
needed it all at one time for some purpose we are
not aware o ...[text shortened]... to communicate with him in a
spiritual way. Does anyone have any thoughts on this?

RJHinds

It's possible that instead of evolving we're actually devolving.

Except Rush Limbaugh. He does it with half his brain tied behind his back. 😉

Originally posted by josephw
It's possible that instead of evolving we're actually devolving.

Except Rush Limbaugh. He does it with half his brain tied behind his back. 😉

That's funny!

RJHinds

Originally posted by RJHinds
Time Magazine had an article that said scientist in
neurology were puzzled by the fact that nearly half
our brain goes unused. They were wondering if
man will ever be able to use the other half.
This made me wonder why man would evolve with
a brain he only uses about half of. Could he have
needed it all at one time for some purpose we are
not aware o ...[text shortened]... to communicate with him in a
spiritual way. Does anyone have any thoughts on this?

RJHinds

I think our brains are like antennas to 'get in touch' with the "Greater Mind" that is God/consiousness/Light/Spirit. (Use whichever word u like)...(Universe/Buddha/Christ-conciousness,etc.)
I think the purpose of our brains is to "turn them on" ,via our spiritual evolution, and hence start using them to their full capacity.

(I'll keep this answer short for a number of reasons, but I will elaborate on any points you may wish)

Originally posted by RJHinds
Time Magazine had an article that said scientist in
neurology were puzzled by the fact that nearly half
our brain goes unused. They were wondering if
man will ever be able to use the other half.
This made me wonder why man would evolve with
a brain he only uses about half of. Could he have
needed it all at one time for some purpose we are
not aware o ...[text shortened]... to communicate with him in a
spiritual way. Does anyone have any thoughts on this?

RJHinds

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=do-we-really-use-only-10

Originally posted by RJHinds
Time Magazine had an article that said scientist in
neurology were puzzled by the fact that nearly half
our brain goes unused.

Time magazine have got it wrong. Scientists have mapped out the general functions for most of the brain. We have not found half of it to have no function.

Or perhaps God created man with this capacity so
man would be able to communicate with him in a
spiritual way. Does anyone have any thoughts on this?
Are you suggesting that you do use that 'other' half, but this usage is undetectable to scientists? Or are you suggesting that you do not communicate in a spiritual way but speculate that you potentially could?
Neither makes much sense to me.
If you use it but that usage is undetectable then it is just as likely that you are using it for something other than spiritual communication and it is undetectable.
If you do not use it, then there is no reason to even guess that it is an inactive God communicator.

Originally posted by twhitehead
Time magazine have got it wrong. Scientists have mapped out the general functions for most of the brain. We have not found half of it to have no function.

[b]Or perhaps God created man with this capacity so
man would be able to communicate with him in a
spiritual way. Does anyone have any thoughts on this?
Are you suggesting that you do use th ...[text shortened]... do not use it, then there is no reason to even guess that it is an inactive God communicator.[/b]

Please permit RJHinds to hypothesize. Why jump the gun and kill him off? I must add that I also did read in a coffee table book called" Mysteries of the Universe"some time back that Humans have a far bigger brain than they need and its overcapacity has been a puzzle to evolutionists.

Originally posted by rvsakhadeo
Please permit RJHinds to hypothesize. Why jump the gun and kill him off? I must add that I also did read in a coffee table book called" Mysteries of the Universe"some time back that Humans have a far bigger brain than they need and its overcapacity has been a puzzle to evolutionists.

Please permit RJHinds to hypothesize. Why jump the gun and kill him off?

RJHinds asked some questions and twhitehead answered. Why is that killing him off?

I must add that I also did read in a coffee table book called" Mysteries of the Universe"some time back that Humans have a far bigger brain than they need and its overcapacity has been a puzzle to evolutionists.

This doesn't really say anything apart from the fact that you read something that says this. Without seeing the original article (which we hope will have references), we cannot really comment. We can also assume you misinterpreted the context. Also, just because something is puzzling, doesn't mean it can't have some logical explanation within the scientific community.

Originally posted by rvsakhadeo
I must add that I also did read in a coffee table book called" Mysteries of the Universe"some time back that Humans have a far bigger brain than they need and its overcapacity has been a puzzle to evolutionists.

I suggest you read the article in the link JS357 gave (if you haven't already).

Interestingly it implies that scientists studying evolution (I don't think much of the term evolutionists) would doubt the claim rather than worry about its implications:

First of all, it is obvious that the brain, like all our other organs, has been shaped by natural selection. Brain tissue is metabolically expensive both to grow and to run, and it strains credulity to think that evolution would have permitted squandering of resources on a scale necessary to build and maintain such a massively underutilized organ.

To twhitehead:

I really don't know how much of my brain I use,
but it probably isn't very much. Ha, Ha.
Anyway, of what little I do use, I was thinking
if what these scientist say is true, then why?
Since, I believe in God, and God is the creator of
all the universe and everything that is in it, why
would he create man with more brain than he needs?
Maybe, God had a plan for man to use these extra
parts of the brain for something. It also, doesn't
seem to fit well with the theory of evolution as I
understand it; because Darwin's idea of natural
selection would not need to produce more brain
than is needed. Maybe, that is why these scientists
are so puzzled. Do you have any ideas why?

RJHinds

Originally posted by RJHinds
To twhitehead:

I really don't know how much of my brain I use,
but it probably isn't very much. Ha, Ha.
Anyway, of what little I do use, I was thinking
if what these scientist say is true, then why?
Since, I believe in God, and God is the creator of
all the universe and everything that is in it, why
would he create man with more brain than he needs? ...[text shortened]... Maybe, that is why these scientists
are so puzzled. Do you have any ideas why?

RJHinds

That is assuming it really is true that we have more brain matter than we need. Even if we do, that does not discredit evolution. It could be that in the past, part of our brain had a prior function which we no longer need (although very unlikely). If this is the case and evolutionists are puzzled, they might be puzzled by what this prior function was.

This is, of course, one possible explanation out of many.

Originally posted by twhitehead
I suggest you read the article in the link JS357 gave (if you haven't already).

Interestingly it implies that scientists studying evolution (I don't think much of the term evolutionists) would doubt the claim rather than worry about its implications:

First of all, it is obvious that the brain, like all our other organs, has been shaped by natur ...[text shortened]... urces on a scale necessary to build and maintain such a massively underutilized organ.

I tried the link but the page does not exist. Can somebody give me the full address of the page ? Thanks in advance.

To twhitehead:

Yes I did read the article JS357 referenced but that
article was about the myth that we only use 10% of
our brain and how it must of got started. And even
though the author of that article believes that the
brain was formed through evolution he does not
really explain it. But why can a baby be born with
half a brain and still grow up to function normally
in society? That seems to prove we don't really need
all our brain.

RJHinds

Originally posted by RJHinds
Do you have any ideas why?

Have you actually read any of my responses so far? You appear not to have as I have answered all those questions.

Originally posted by rvsakhadeo
I tried the link but the page does not exist. Can somebody give me the full address of the page ? Thanks in advance.

The link still works perfectly for me. Make sure you copy the full link and no extra spaces or anything.