I’ d read somewhere that an average human being uses only 10 per cent of the brain in his lifetime. Very few extraordinarily gifted humans have actually gone beyond that 10 per cent limit, they said. I wondered why. What lies beyond that threshold limit, what if the remaining 90 per cent hold key to some superpower? Like Professor Xavier or Jean Grey of the X-men series! I wonder.
A few months back, I watched the movie Limitless starring Bradley Cooper and Robert De Niro, and was surprised to see the concept of tapping into the “unlimited” potential of the human brain. Of course, it was drug induced in the film, but imagine if such a phenomenon really takes over our mind, making us read many pages of a book within a short span of time, think like a supercomputer, execute calculations and algorithms in a jiffy! I was truly stumped by this concept of a mind with ‘limitless’ speed and deductive prowess.
Quite recently, I have been bestowed with a lot of leisurely hours and I decided not to trifle with them, rather I thought why not use them to do all those things which I couldn’t do during my days at college, supposedly due to lack of time. Duh! And in the process of learning a varied assortment of things, I came face to face with the consequences of an over-used mind! Too many cooks spoil the broth. For me, too many thoughts led to a possible brain fry!
And I thought one can actually be a jack of all trades. But I also wished to be a master of all. That was stupid!
In the last month itself, I began to take learn cooking, take lessons on Japanese language and master Adobe Photoshop simultaneously. My blog also kept me involved almost daily. Every evening, I had kids visiting my house for tuition. Facebook, Twitter and Whatsapp were a daily necessity. So much to do everyday. Phew! And just a few days back, I entered a collaboration with 9 other bloggers to write a story for a contest in a blogging website. All these activities began to gain momentum and importance with every passing day. Soon, I was thinking about recipes, Japanese kanas (letters), Photoshop effects, my blog, tuition lessons, the contest and the social networking world, all at the same time! I was thinking about all these things the whole day, in fact.
Yesterday, as I sat down in front of my laptop and began to compose a short story, I noticed my hands could not keep up with my thoughts and words. I started to skip several words while typing, only to press the Backspace key and rewrite them again with some stability. First sign of a my mind working beyond its natural speed.
My cellphone rang. A college friend had called. The chat began well. He asked to explain him something. I obliged. But soon, my friend had to cut me short. “Kunal, I don’t understand you. Can you speak slowly?” He didn’t even say “A little slowly”. Gosh! I was speaking much faster than he could comprehend. Second sign of a mind sending thoughts to the mouth too rapidly.
My family members began to notice that I get instantly irritated if they or some other person doesn’t respond to me quickly. Quick questions, Quick answers. My mind wanted that. Third sign of a mind working too fast.
A few hours later, my mother called me to help her in the kitchen. I rushed. I was learning cooking after all, and I couldn’t miss a chance of a trip to the kitchen. Work can wait, I thought. There, in the kitchen, mom told me to chop vegetables and put the milk to a boil. I didn’t notice that she had left the kitchen. Well, I did put the pot of milk on the stove. I was cutting vegetables…and slowly, drifting to my ‘busy’ world. A few minutes later, I was a t the receiving end for the spilled milk and a messy kitchen. Not a sign of a fast-working mind, but an over-used mind. Not absent-minded ok!
Yes, I was overusing my mind. Overdoing things. Too many thoughts indeed led to disasters, rather than make me a Jack of all trades, master of all!
What’s the point of having a mind with ‘limitless’ capabilities if the rest of your body can’t coordinate with it?
The Kaleidoscopic Kanvas 