Who hasen't heard that? Even I used to think that this statement was true some time ago. Let's face it, if someone like Einstein said it then it must be true. That is exactly what happens with myths in science nowadays. Generalization and extrapolation can lead us to mistaken conclusions, starting though from an actual scientific fact. And this one is no exception.
Wheter was Einstein or someone else who said that, today we know as a fact that every part in our brain has a certain purpose that is complex and specific. The way the brain works can be understood if we divide it into funcional areas. The whole cortex is specifically associated with the infinite amount of cognition functions that we know. And each area, even though linked with one function, can as well be involved in many others. This is what we have to keep in mind when we face this kind of statement. Truth is that neuroscience has prooved by many procedures (surgery, imaging techniques) that our brains are 100% active. Further, some researches have shown that, even asleep, we can not dissociate the brain of some of it's most essential activities. This is one of the most powerful reasons to believe that Einstein was wrong, at least if he ment what we say about his words nowadays.
These scientific facts speak for themselves, and it is hard to dispute them. However, I choose another argument to refute this affirmation that is so clearly wrong. If we look at the matter from the perspective of evolution there is no need of running tests nor neurosurgery. The fact is that the brain is really the organ of our species, it is the one who differentiate us from our primate cousins. The development of the brain has taken long time to bring us where we stand today as men kind, and so it would be very unwise from Natural Selection to waste all this years in an organ that is mostly useless, wouldn't it?
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Jumping Brains |
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