1. Reverse psychology works. People really will do the opposite of what you tell them. Case in point – idiot freshmen kids at “Sex in the Dorms” drinking the STI demo cups despite all the signs in black marker saying “DO NOT DRINK” and “THIS IS NOT A TASTY BEVERAGE,” and in spite of all of us SEC people telling them not to do it. Actually, not in spite of, but because of all of the warnings. I don’t know, but if I were attending an event that ostensibly was going to be about sex, I’d be a little wary of drinking out of the cups provided by the presenters. Especially if they contain a mysterious white milky substance that they refuse to identify. Luckily for them, it was just old milk mixed with some Mountain-Breeze scented liquid starch. The worst that could happen to those daring individuals is they’ll smell like fresh high-altitude air and be smooth and unwrinkly on the inside. Maybe next time, whoever is in charge of the demo will add some, uhh, spicier ingredients.
To date, we have not been sued.
2. We do not only use 10% of our brains. Maybe it is true for the yokels that keep perpetuating this myth, but the rest of us really do need every part of our brains to function normally. Think about it: why is brain damage such a big deal? Why do health officials make such a big deal about helmet safety for cyclists? It’s because all of it, the whole squishy gray shebang, is necessary to keep you healthy and happy and not foaming at the mouth or spasming on the ground or some such.
I’m still not sure where this myth originates. My brain and pathology prof. says it comes from early studies of the neocortex, in which they could identify certain areas that were definitely related to a specific function (primary motor, sensory, etc. projection areas), but they couldn’t quite figure out what the rest of the neocortex was for and speculated that it did nothing. Now we know that those areas are important in forming associations. The professor of a previous course I’ve taken placed the blame on Watson or one of the other early prominent psychologists, who made a throwaway statement during a press conference that the media ran away with. I think Snopes says something different than either of these two, but the site is down now for some reason. At any rate, it’s untrue. So wear your helmets, and if a co-worker or deluded friend tries to tell you “hey, did you know we only use ten percent of our…”, give ‘em a good bash to the head with a 2×4 for me before they finish their sentence, and then maybe we’ll start to see the demise of that myth.
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