Last week, a message came through my IM from my cousin. He asked a simple question, "Do you believe in this mid-brain thing?". I've read something about it, because it seems to be all the rage nowadays here in Indonesia, and I replied (always the sceptic), "No, looks completely like hokum to me." He agrees.
His question did spark an interest in me to investigate more on this matter. So I went to thelocal mid-brain activation organisation website, and read about their claims of creating little geniuses, with their proof being the ability to read blind-folded (BFR for short, and includes coloring pictures while blindfolded) and Dermo-Optical Perception (DOP). Well, coincidentally, I've done some (totally unscientific) experiments of my own a few years ago about DOP (I'll share the results later on).
In short, they claim that humans only use 3% (THREE!!!) of their brain, and activating the mid-brain will magically increase that number. See here for the source (in Indonesian language. Bad Indonesian language. Bet you expected a bunch of geniuses to be able to write well, huh?). Synopsis in English: Outrageous claim here, outrageous claim there (all claimed to be very scientific, of course). Add some misspelled names of some experts that have nothing to do with it to add credibility. Add some more outrageous claims of success all over the world (for which I haven't seen a single proof - not even one linky). Basta!
Now, of course all those claims don't mean anything without pics. You know, the interwebs demand it (Pics, or it didn't happen!), so here we have some nice pics, courtesy of Indonesia's finest forum. I wanted to take some from their own gallery, but they seem to have taken every pic out of their site. Anyway, here you go:
Blind-folded bike riding.
Coloring pictures while blind-folded
Using the computer blind-folded
Notice anything strange in the pictures above? *Wink, wink* I bet their accuracy would drop to nearly 0% if you exchange their blindfolds with opaque-painted swimming glasses. It seems all they "activate" is your child's cheating and lying skills... Wow! Teach your kids how to lie and cheat, only for $350! That's a bargain...
OK, then. Now to my experiment about DOP. Far from their claim of being able to "sense" color with their fingertips, I found out that I could "sense" light not just with my fingertips. The downside is that it must be done at night. It doesn't work in bright daylight. I could sense a small lightbulb with my skin from about 1 metre away. Or a bright LED light from about 2 metres away. No sensing of colours on a piece of paper though. How does it work? The small light bulb in my experiment emits heat and light in a focused direction. Therefore, my skin is able to feel the small heat radiated by the bulb, and the bright LED light is bright enough to penetrate my eyelids, so i see a faint light, even when I close my eyes. No fancy tricks needed, no brain activation needed (and it's certainly not DOP in the literal sense).
Regardless of what these self-proclaimed "experts" say, I use 100% of my brain (no activation needed, thank you). Just not all at the same time. That's why you won't see me reading, writing, solving a math equation, inventing the next best thing since sliced bread, playing football, and reciting Cicero's Catiline Orations all at the same time. Not that it would be a pretty sight to see anyway...
Quo usque tandem abutere, Catilina, patientia nostra? Quam diu etiam furor iste tuus nos eludet? Quem ad finem sese effrenata iactabit audacia?
How long, O Catiline, are you to abuse our patience? And for what long duration will that madness of yours mock us? To what end will you throw your unbridled audacity around you?
