Yeah, I searched for it on the web too before posting, thinking I'd surely be able to give a site making the claim, but I didn't find one. I heard it in a teacher education class several years ago (not at my institution <grin>), and was reminded of it recently in an online thread in the rather horrifying "Yahoo Answers" site, when someone promoting some new agey stuff repeated the claim.
But apparently it's not part of the conventional wisdom, thank goodness. Paul Smith Alverno College Milwaukee On 7/17/06, Rick Froman <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
Maybe they meant to say that there are more neurons in the brain than people in a small city. :) BTW, in what context was this brain power statement made? I couldn't find anyone making that claim on the internet (usually the most likely location for unreliable claims). Rick Dr. Rick Froman Psychology Department Box 3055 x7295 [EMAIL PROTECTED] Proverbs 14:15 "A simple man believes anything, but a prudent man gives thought to his steps." -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Paul Smith Sent: Monday, July 17, 2006 12:39 PM To: Teaching in the Psychological Sciences (TIPS) Subject: [tips] Re: Why our students seem so dense I recently came across a group taught that "the human brain uses enough energy to power a small city". Not a one of them questioned the claim for a moment. Sounds good, must be true, I guess. (My crude guestimate says it's more like about a half a watt-hour per day, so it'd have to be a REALLY small city, I think) Paul Smith Alverno College Milwaukee On 7/17/06, Michael Scoles <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > > I just walked by a classroom used to train future teachers. These > classrooms can be identified readily by the large number of posters on the > wall. A poster near the door proclaimed, "There are 10 trillion nerve cells > in the brain!" > > A Penn & Teller "Bullsh*t" episode addresses the problems people have with > large numbers. They suggest a counting method that might work here. Let's > just say that the brain has a ****-load of neurons. > > Obviously, going beyond that level of precision would confuse future > teachers. > > > Michael T. Scoles, Ph.D. > Associate Professor of Psychology & Counseling > University of Central Arkansas > Conway, AR 72035 --- > To make changes to your subscription go to: > http://acsun.frostburg.edu/cgi-bin/lyris.pl?enter=tips&text_mode=0&lang= english > --- To make changes to your subscription go to: http://acsun.frostburg.edu/cgi-bin/lyris.pl?enter=tips&text_mode=0&lang= english --- To make changes to your subscription go to: http://acsun.frostburg.edu/cgi-bin/lyris.pl?enter=tips&text_mode=0&lang=english
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