3 Thinking Myths: Thinking too much make you crazy

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Using our brain to think, plan, and strategy is important. In the process of evolution, animals lose features that are not used. So why does human being carry around a huge brain? Why to use it, of course. Our brain is the nexus for our survival this cut-throat human civilization.

Those who are able to use their brain well will progress thru life. Those who does not will face extinction. However, there always about of people in this world who would discourage others from thinking. Or at least mislead them into thinking differently. Below are three common thinking myths:

#1. Thinking too much will makes you crazy.

As a kid, I used to hear that thinking too much will make you crazy. Crazy as in having mental illness and being confined in a mental institution. It's was hard for me to deny this belief especially when it came from my parents. It's really does discourage me from thinking.

But is thinking too much really does cause you to go crazy?

There are many causes to mental illness but thinking is not one of them. See WebMD LLC for more information. Link: http://www.webmd.com/anxiety-panic/mental-health-causes-mental-illness

There is probably some basis in what my parents have advised me. Mental illness can be caused by anxiety, depression, paranoia and the inability to "move on" in your life. I rephrase what my parents have taught into:

"Thinking long and hard is okay as long as you have the capability to cope with traumatic and abusive past or current experiences in your life."

#2. Thinking doesn't consume much energy

As a kid (again), I heard from one of my teachers that thinking consume little to no energy at all. If Albert Einstein were to go to work, where he would think all day long, the amount of energy he needs can be replenish by eating a small bean.

This is utterly not true. When idle, our brain consume 20% of our energy while only consist of 2% of our weight. When we think, our brain consume much more energy.

There is such thing as mental exhaustion. Our brain is a muscle and just like any other muscle in our body, sufficient rest is need in order for our brain to perform in peak condition.

Therefore, when you in an intensive thinking session, take short intermission of rest. Clear your mind and meditate. This greatly prolong your thinking session.

#3. You only uses 10% of your brain. Genius uses up to 100% of their brain.

While studying, I attended a motivational course where the instructor for that course states that only 10% of our brain is being used. That is like using only 1 out of 10 of our fingers. The rest of the motivational course is about learning how to tap into our sub-conscious and unconscious mind in order to maximize our brain usage.

Firstly, the fact is, we utilize our entire brain. We just don't use 100% of it at any given time. The fact that we only use 10% of it doesn't have anything to do with our mental capacity. Remember where I talk about our brain using 20% of our energy while idle? If we were to use 50% of our brain cells, we probably deprive of energy to the rest of the body.

Then, there is the issue of all those heat generated. The reason why there is massive amount of blood flowing into our head is not just to transfer oxygen for the brain. Our blood also transfer head from our brain. Clearly, there is a physically limit to how many percentage of our brain that we can utilize at any given time.

End Note

There are a lot of other brain myth that I don't talk about. However, I am only interested in those myth that prevent us from thinking hard and strategizing like our very life depends on it. I hope this article helps you to understand more about your thinking capability.

Do you have any thinking myth you will like to share?