How close are we to achieving our intellectual potential?

[Ahknaton]

It's a pop-psychology cliche that "we only use 10% of our brains". Most people agree that the individual's level of intelligence is a product of both genes and environment. It goes without saying that the current environment is far from ideal for many people. My question is, how much further can we improve through bettering our environment before we reach our biological "ceiling"? Suppose we had an ideal environment: no crime, sophisticated culture, healthy nutrition, the best education available, no poisonous chemicals in the child's development environment etc. How much smarter would we be (without any eugenic genetic enhancement)? Or are we almost at our limit already? I'm talking about the average person in Western society here.

I was going to make a poll with 5% increments from 5% to 100%, but my browser locked up, so you can just give me a rough figure. I personally think that most of us are underachieving significantly compared to our natural capability.

[kultron]

My guess: this is the best it's going to get. Modern society has fucked itself for any upward change to still be possible.

[Brechun]

It's a pop-psychology cliche that "we only use 10% of our brains". Most people agree that the individual's level of intelligence is a product of both genes and environment. It goes without saying that the current environment is far from ideal for many people. My question is, how much further can we improve through bettering our environment before we reach our biological "ceiling"? Suppose we had an ideal environment: no crime, sophisticated culture, healthy nutrition, the best education available, no poisonous chemicals in the child's development environment etc. How much smarter would we be (without any eugenic genetic enhancement)? Or are we almost at our limit already? I'm talking about the average person in Western society here.

I was going to make a poll with 5% increments from 5% to 100%, but my browser locked up, so you can just give me a rough figure. I personally think that most of us are underachieving significantly compared to our natural capability.

Probably something like this: http://www.orionsarm.com/

[Fenrir]

"we only use 10% of our brains"

This is a commonly repeated myth, stemming from the fact that when you look at MRI results it appears only about ten percent of the brain is being used at any given moment (it's compartmentalized in its specialities, so if you're solving math problems the part of the brain used to vocalize internal thoughts will not require extra oxygen or energy). The percentage of brain used could vary given the mental task.

I think most people have reached their maximum potential or are fairly close to it. This idea that everyone is secretly a genius just waiting to realize his potential is moronic. Would you say the same about a rat or dog or a chimpanzee? Humans are scaled up monkeys. In this light, most people are mediocre, and I find this to be the rule rather than the exception when it comes to anything approaching true intellectual difficulty. I'd suggest a higher math like complex analysis, but I think a majority of people have difficulty with basic algebra. The same goes for reading and writing.

Since the beginning of this fall I've gotten teaching experience with some average college students in a "top tier" public university. That means the average IQ is probably around 115. Some of these kids are bright, but the majority are utter morons, incapable of doing simple mathematics. They are trainable in a technical manner, but not very capable of independent thought. I don't think this has to do with fluoridation in the water of mercury in the tuna - it's genetic ability, plain and simple. I will say the same for the majority of research scientists and grad students I have worked with so far as well. Most are probably "geniuses" but only relative to the rest of the population. The majority are simply trained research scientists and not capable of truly great discovery like the famous scientists of the past. The only potential they have left to fill is to continue learning, but the hope of gaining more intelligence is virtually an impossibility as it stands.

Having said that, there's certainly something to be said for hard work. Thinking and learning are work, and I have found some very lazy brains who do have more potential than they live up to, but thoughts about this are a topic for another post.

[Brechun]

No, the 10% myth came from a misinterpretation of the functioning of glia and neurons. Glia in our brain out-number neurons 10-1, and people in media back then took this as a statement of humans using only a fraction of their brains. When in reality, we use all of it.

[Ahknaton]

I realise the 10% thing is a myth, that's why I referred to it as "pop-psychology".

[TruthSeeker]

You are as smart as the number of neuron connections made in one's own brain. The more connections/shortcuts/neural clusters made, the faster one learns. Even one's own thoughts can also influence how you learn. Positive emotions reforce faster learning than the negative.

[New Scientist]

"we only use 10% of our brains"

This is a commonly repeated myth, stemming from the fact that when you look at MRI results it appears only about ten percent of the brain is being used at any given moment (it's compartmentalized in its specialities, so if you're solving math problems the part of the brain used to vocalize internal thoughts will not require extra oxygen or energy). The percentage of brain used could vary given the mental task.

I think most people have reached their maximum potential or are fairly close to it. This idea that everyone is secretly a genius just waiting to realize his potential is moronic. Would you say the same about a rat or dog or a chimpanzee? Humans are scaled up monkeys. In this light, most people are mediocre, and I find this to be the rule rather than the exception when it comes to anything approaching true intellectual difficulty. I'd suggest a higher math like complex analysis, but I think a majority of people have difficulty with basic algebra. The same goes for reading and writing.

Since the beginning of this fall I've gotten teaching experience with some average college students in a "top tier" public university. That means the average IQ is probably around 115. Some of these kids are bright, but the majority are utter morons, incapable of doing simple mathematics. They are trainable in a technical manner, but not very capable of independent thought. I don't think this has to do with fluoridation in the water of mercury in the tuna - it's genetic ability, plain and simple. I will say the same for the majority of research scientists and grad students I have worked with so far as well. Most are probably "geniuses" but only relative to the rest of the population. The majority are simply trained research scientists and not capable of truly great discovery like the famous scientists of the past. The only potential they have left to fill is to continue learning, but the hope of gaining more intelligence is virtually an impossibility as it stands.

Having said that, there's certainly something to be said for hard work. Thinking and learning are work, and I have found some very lazy brains who do have more potential than they live up to, but thoughts about this are a topic for another post.

DOnt forget the creativity factor, mental instability and precocious attitude.

Also there isn't a limit on brain speed. All brain processes are way behind the electrical components they deal with, which are ions. For example brain axons (which connect up brain processes) have evolved to become faster as previously mentioned by having more glia to feed , and repair them. And by becoming thicker. The currency they pump is sodium, but they are still way behind electrical speeds, slowed down by mitochondria, lipid renewal and so on. All of these and other aspects of brain biology have plenty of headroom to and are still evolving, especially considering we are heading into a future of genetic engineering. Jews are a good previous example of self engineering for IQ by selection with rapid IQ hikes due to mutations in lipid metabolism and maternal descent preserving mtDNA (energy production) without skull size increase.