It is said we only use 10% of our brain…

Does that mean the other 90% is ‘junk brain’, like ‘junk DNA?’ Given the perfect efficiency with which Nature tends to operate, I have my doubts.  What if we could learn to activate that other 90%? Imagine what we might become capable of…

For example, watch this 60 Minutes feature about Derek. I dare you not to laugh or cry with astonishment.

Thanks to Dustin Hoffman, we all know the story of the savant — the person who, despite apparent physical or cognitive handicaps, is able to perform unfathomable mathematical calculations instantaneously, or memorize whole libraries in a leisurely weekend, or, in this case, create music as if playing from an organic (living, feeling) supercomputer.

But what if this ability to process information were something everyone could do? Why is it that these superhuman capabilities only seem to pop up in people otherwise considered ‘handicapped?’

In my understanding, this is an example of quantum learning. Based in the right-brain‘s intuitive, abstract visual centers, this is a non-linear style of absorbing information, where shapes, sounds and symbols predominate over more linear constructs like language. Yes, what I’m describing is kind of like in The Matrix, where packets of information can be instantly assimilated and never forgotten:

By ‘quantum’ I mean non-local. Have you ever had the experience of just knowing where to go, what to do? This is our intuitive faculty at work. Where does that information come from? Drawn from the collective consciousness perhaps? Downloaded directly from the etheric records? Can’t we learn to do this at will?

Perhaps there is a method for bringing the two hemispheres of the brain into balance and thereby cultivating a divine combination of intellect and intuition. Maybe we are all born with the ability to effortlessly learn at lightning speed. Indeed, it is well known how quickly children learn; why is that? And why does that ability fade?

I am of the opinion that Derek is a kind of prototype-person, here to show us what we are capable of. Notice how his extraordinary ability to play the piano is merely a vehicle for his genuine love for connecting with people. Perhaps his disarming charm and essential innocence is evidence that along with advances in technical ability must come advances in universal morality. To me, that makes sense in the bigger picture, seeing how our global society is spiraling in on itself unsustainably. We may have all the technology in the galaxy but without knowing how to nobly employ it, it does us absolutely no good; in fact, it becomes a potential source for our own destruction.  “With great power…”

In any case, you can learn how to do this! Learn how to activate and utilize “the other 90% of your brain.”

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David Telfer McConaghay was born on planet Earth. Since that fateful first day of Spring in ’86, he has wandered across its surface in search of something which, when found, kindly insists that he continue searching. His immediate family lives in Minneapolis, MN, though he also feels at home in Washington D.C.; Grass Valley, CA; Bogotá, Colombia; and now, almost Denver, CO. He completed his B.A. in English & Creative Writing at The George Washington University in 2008. The Sivananda Ashram Yoga Farm (Vrindavan of the West) is the primary source of any yogic inspiration David aka Sri Nivasa may express. He plays on Facebook HERE.