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Ian Logan
Dr. Rand
UWRT 1102-010
1 April 2015
Inquiry Project

Who Will Win?

The room suddenly went dark. A little light attempted to illuminate the entire auditorium
from a small room behind the audience. Right before their eyes could adjust to the dark,
numerous lights of all colors moving in circular patterns suddenly lit up the entire room. Out of
nowhere, music began echoing off the walls as the stage sprang to life once again. As the
commotion began dying down, every eye in the audience shifted to the lone man standing in the
middle of the stage.
Andddddd..were back! Ladies and gentlemen welcome back to the final episode of
Whos the Next Little Einstein? Im Eric Waldridge, your host, and we are down to the finale!
These last two contestants have outmanned, outgunned, and outmaneuvered their competition up
to this point. Since it is the finals, we decided to change things up a bit and made a slight
alteration was made to tonights rules. Were allowing the last two participants to bring their
school backpack with them filled with any level textbook or paper. Hopefully they will take
advantage of the help as this one is for all the marbles!
You all remember how we got this far. We started with hundreds of kids from every town
and city across the country looking for the best and brightest of todays youth. They went head to

head against each other, seeing who was the most knowledgeable in the different areas of life. I
tell you what, its amazing what these kids know at such an early age. I am blown away every
single time by the amount of information they have in their little noggins. And now weve
eliminated all but the final two contestantsLittle Johnny and Mary Jane. Johnny, a short blondehaired boy of thirteen, is from Boring, Oregon. Fun fact, this city has a little more excitement in
it than the name implies. Hahaha. I am a little shocked to see Johnny in the finals though, I must
say. He was not my first pick to still be here, but he definitely wasnt my last! Mary Jane, his
opponent, comes from the Big Apple and really set the standard. Her track record is practically
flawless, easily beating all of her competition to claim her spot here in the finals. She will
definitely be hard to beat as she just blew us all away with her answer to, How can Congress
and the Senate improve the American government? Outstanding. I did not know a girl of her age
knew the inner workings of politics like that. It will be interesting to see how Little Johnny
responds to the question I about to present him. Does he have what it takes to beat his
competition? Or will Mary Jane finish with a clean sweep and claim the title? Lets find out!
Johnny, your question is, is the human brain limited?
Funny you should ask that, Mr. Eric. My English teacher actually assigned my class that
very question; and I just finished writing that paper a few days ago. I think I still have a copy of
it here in my backpack. Just give me one secondyup. Here it is. Ahem.
(Below is a copy of Johnnys paper for your convenience.)

Johnny Applecore
March 20, 2015
Elementary English

Is Our Brain Limited or Limitless?

The brain is an extremely powerful organ. It not only stores what we see, hear, taste, and
touch for use later in life, but it also gives us new ideas, thoughts, and inventions. As we grow
up, we can wrap our minds around and understand more intricate and complicated concepts.
What other body part has this kind of functionality? None. As time continues to progress,
mankind has invented and created more complex machines thanks to our growing knowledge
and understanding of the way our world works. These concepts could not be understood without
the help of the brain. Our minds have imagined previously unheard of stories and numerous
people have fallen in love with the things we have brought out of the shadows and into existence
courtesy of our brain. However, will we ever reach the limit of what we can comprehend and
store in the organ between our ears? Will we ever reach a point where anything and everything
has already been thought of by another person? If there is some kind of mental limit imposed on
us, is there anything we can do to circumvent it?
A decent amount of Americans seem to think that humans only use ten percent of their
brain. If we want to understand more and increase our brain capacity, we would simply need to
tap into that unused ninety percent. That would be the easy answer; but that fallacy is not true.
Nonetheless, that myth has somehow seeped into the minds of many people and deceived them.
Barry Gordon at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine in Baltimore disputes this misconception
saying, [W]e use virtually every part of the brain the brain is active almost all the time
(Boyd). This widely known fact is simply false.

However, the brain does technically have a limit. Even though we use more than ten
percent of our brain, it is not infinite. The brain is made up of small units and there is a
maximum amount of information which they can store. Our brain can pack in only so many
neurons; our neurons can establish only so many connections among themselves; and those
connections can carry only so many electrical impulses per second (Fox 43). Converting to
modern storage terms, the brains memory storage capacity...[is] something closer to around 2.5
petabytes (or a million gigabytes) (Reber). However, despite having a limitation on the capacity
of the brain, people will not come close to utilizing all of their available storage. Other things
will, and do, limit our ability to (potentially) come close to utilizing all of that storage
(Poldrack). A couple of these restraints include sleeping and aging. Sleep actually cleans out the
brain of unimportant memories. Since every single moment of every single day does not need to
be remembered, the brain keeps track of the important memories. Also, sleep deprived people
have smaller than average brains (Weller). University of Oxford scientists found in a study that
people suffering from sleep deprivation more often had cortical shrinkage than people who got
the appropriate number of hours (Weller). By sleeping, people also reduce the number of hours
they are awake, which reduces the number of memories stored in their brain (Poldrack). In short,
sleep recharges the brain and prepares it for the upcoming day.
On a similar note, aging also reduces the reaction of the brain. In fact, for every 15 years
after age 24, cognitive speed dropped by about 15% (Park). As people get older, their brains
wear out and take more time to process their surroundings and make decisions (Park). The more
time spent processing means that it will not store as many memories. In short, common, every
day experiences actually hinder human intelligence. With limiting factors such as these, the brain

will not be able to reach its maximum capacity. Therefore humans should not worry about
running out of space upstairs.
What about trying to alter the brain to go above and beyond that limit? Is there a way to
make a super brain? Scientists have actually done extensive research on this topic. They too
wonder whether or not they can enhance the current possibilities of the human brain. For
instance, Thomas Hills from the University of Warwick and Dr. Ralph Hertwig from the
University of Basel looked into this particular subject. They concluded that people cannot have
their cake and eat it too when it comes to acquiring more brain functions. For instance, people
with higher IQs, better memories, or savant like tendencies have a greater chance of suffering
from a disorder. In essence, there is a give and take when it comes to higher brain function. One
person cannot simply possess all of the extraordinary brain functions currently known to man
(University of Warwick). If the brain were enlarged to hold more neurons, the processing speed
would be slowed. If more links were made between the neurons, the amount of energy consumed
would be too high. If neurons could be shrunk down, then more could be packed into the existing
space. However, smaller neurons tend to misbehave. There is always give and take when it
comes to possible enhancements of the brain (Fox 42). Although humans may be able to find a
way to boost one characteristic of the brain, they would need to compromise and give up another
function in order to attain that result. In short, if we wanted to alter the makeup of the brain to
improve it, there would be some loss of functionality in at least one area (University of
Warwick).
Since there is a cap on what we can put into the brain, and there is no clear way to alter it
for the better, what about what we can get out of it? Is there a limit to the amount of original
ideas we can come up with? Will our creativity ever run out? As long as people continue to

produce offspring, humanitys creativity will not run dry. After all, children are a lot more
creative than adults. Since kids have not learned all of the rules of the world, they do not know
the possible from the impossible. Anything and everything can happen in their mind (Sloane).
Since kids grow up into adults, grownups have this creative side buried inside of them
somewhere. They just need to look within themselves and find it.
Also, in the past couple of centuries, the amount of inventions humans have fabricated
has increased exponentially. From the creation of the engine to the microchip, humans have
invented many new gizmos that accomplish a wide range of tasks. Engines ease the task of
travelling while computers solve problems. Two hundred years ago, humanity would have never
thought of such intricacies. Today they are a reality thanks to the brain.
Books have long since captured many individuals. People love sitting down and reading a
good story. Recently, the fantasy genre has grown immensely. People have invented superheroes,
galaxies, worlds, and civilizations from their imagination. Since this genre does not have to
follow the rules applicable on earth, almost anything goes. With such a loose restriction, the
possibilities of what people can come up with are endless. Titles such as Alice in Wonderland,
The Lord of the Rings, and Harry Potter have become extremely popular and attract numerous
readers. These particular titles have even been casted into movies and gained more fans. To put it
briefly, if someone was a child and has a brain, they have the ability to imagine something
original and continue the creative cycle. Since it does not matter what the idea is and anything
goes, there can never be a limit as to what can come out of the human brain.
After looking at both what can go into a brain and what comes out of it, I would say there
are some thresholds we cannot cross, but not everything is limited. Just because there may be a
mental cap on the amount of intelligence one person can attain does not mean that is the end of

the road. As the years go on, people continue to write books and think of new stories and
characters. As the list of good books continues to lengthen, so does humanitys creativity. In
short, the question, is the human brain limited? does not have a definitive yes or no
answer. Rather, the question must be broken down into parts in order to accurately give the most
complete answer. If you asked me, is the brain limited or limitless? I would answer yesit is
both limited and limitless.
(End of Johnnys paper.)

Wow. Folks, I think I just heard a masterpiece. After reading his work, I think Little
Johnny has an excellent chance of winning this competition. After all, this is Whos the Next
Little Einstein? And I am Eric Waldridge. Why would I expect anything less than the greatest
from our final two contestants? I am blown away that a kid this young was able to orchestrate the
words on the page in that manner. I dont know why I doubted Johnnys ability; but my, oh my, I
was gravely mistaken! Judges, I now turn the decision over to you. What will you decide? Who
will win?

Works Cited

Boyd, Robynne. Do People Only Use 10 Percent of Their Brains?. Scientific American.
Scientific American, a Division of Nature America, Inc. 7 Feb. 2008. Web. 13 Mar. 2015
Fox, Douglas. The Limits of Intelligence. Grochbiology.com. Scientific American Jul. 2011.
Web. 31 Mar. 2015.
Park, Alice. Our Brains Begin to Slow Down at Age 24. Time Magazine. 15 Apr. 2014. Web.
31 Mar. 2015.
Poldrack, Russell. How much can a person learn in a lifetime?. Society for Neuroscience. 25
Jul. 2012. Web. 31 Mar. 2015.
Reber, Paul. What Is the Memory Capacity of the Human Brain?. Scientific American, a
Division of Nature America, Inc. 1 Apr. 2010. Web. 31 Mar. 2015.
Sloane, Paul. Why are Children so much more Creative than Adults?. destination innovation.
www.destination-innovation.com/articles, 2015. Web. 30 Mar. 2015.
University of Warwick. "Human brains unlikely to evolve into a 'supermind' as price to pay
would be too high." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, LLC 7 Dec. 2011. Web. 31 Mar. 2015
Weller, Chris. Sleep Deprivation Kills Brains Cells, Shrinks Organ In Size: Rest Up And Stay
Smart. IBT Media Inc. 1 Oct. 2014. Web. 31 Mar. 2015.

Reflection:

When I was writing this inquiry project, the most interesting thing I learned was the fact
that the brain does have a limit although humans do not need to worry about it. Yes, there is a
maximum amount of information it can hold. However, humans will never reach that limit as
there are limiting agents. Sleep and aging are some of the things that limit humans from
absorbing their maximum potential. I had a difficult time writing this paper. I initially could not
find too many sources supporting my original question (Is it possible to obtain superpowers?).
When that did not pan out, I broadened my topic and looked for other relevant articles, papers,
etc. about Why do people like the fantasy genre? This time, I did find sources. However, this
question was not specific enough for an inquiry project; there were too many paths I could have
taken to answer this particular question. I also did not have enough of a personal liking to this
topic compared to my first one. I then changed my question yet again. I went and visited my
teacher to talk it through; and, after a small discussion, we went back to my original question and
looked at the underlying questions behind it. We concluded and I was going to answer Why do
we (people) push limits? However, when I sat down to work on my paper on my own, I thought
it would be difficult to use this question, so I tweaked it and ended up with, Is the human brain
limited? I figured there would already be research on this topic and I would have an easier time
answering this question. After I finally figured out what I was going to write on and had a game
plan, I simply needed to now spend time and get it done. Although it may seem like I jumped
around from question to question, they are all related to one another. Granted, I may have
backtracked and then taken a different path; however, my final question (is the human brain
limited?) ended up stemming from my original question (is it possible to obtain

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superpowers?). Writing a paper is a process. Once a person knows the process, it is easier to
write another paper of the same kind a second time around. By looking at the history behind my
process of choosing a topic, it may now be easier for me to write another inquiry project in the
future. (At the same time it might not as I almost took too long to pick one this time around.)
Nevertheless, I have laid a groundwork that I have the option to follow in the future. In this
paper, I am most proud of the structurethere is a paper within a paper. I decided to give a story
and present my paper within that story. This allowed me some freedoms to create whatever
backdrop I wanted to and made the writing process more fun to me, personally. If I had extra
time, I would love to know the specifics on how the brain stores memories or how to access
memories which might not be easily accessible. Perhaps one day I will find out the answers to
these questions.