It may not be true that humans only use 10% of their brains, but at this point, the nonsensical urban legend has probably fueled more than 10% of our pop culture. It’s popped up to explain plot points in movies ranging from Inception to Flight of the Navigator, not to mention all sorts of old novels, comic books, and TV shows.
Most infamously, the silly trope is crucial to 2014’s Lucy, which sees Scarlett Johansson discover that the other 90% of her brain can be used to kick everyone’s ass. Three years before Lucy, though, and 15 years ago today, Limitless saw Bradley Cooper unlock his latent mental capacity, then use his newfound intellect to live the kind of life every Red Bull-chugging frat boy dreams of.
