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00:04a firewalker free of pain by controlling his mental state a blind man able to create maps
00:13in his mind by using the power of sound and a plane crashed deep in the jungle where a single
00:21survivor was guided by an inner voice the human mind it is the home of all our thoughts hopes dreams
00:30and memories the organ we call the brain not only keeps us alive it allows us to interpret and
00:38experience the incredible world we live in but are there people who are wired differently than most
00:47of us can unique circumstances permit some to tap into extra sensory abilities that defy nature
00:58or do we all have extraordinary mental skills that can come to our rescue with a power that
01:05we never knew we possessed well that is what we'll try and find out
01:24san pedro manrique spain june 23rd 2018 here as they have for centuries villagers gather for an
01:36evening festival to celebrate the summer solstice they engage in singing dancing wearing elaborate
01:44costumes but for a select group of villagers the festivities aren't so conventional because their
01:56evening also includes something out of the ordinary a dangerous walk over fire now I've seen many fire
02:07working rituals in many different contexts in a variety of countries but I've never seen a fire
02:12as fierce as the one in San Pedro this is by far the most important event in the life of
02:18this community
02:20they have this amphitheater around the the place where the actual fire is then these men walk on the
02:28embers it's five or six steps from one side to the other and they do it barefoot and usually carrying
02:36someone on their shoulder people often wonder is the fire walk really hot and the answer is yes once the
02:46wood is first laid out the overall temperature is between a thousand and twelve hundred degrees that's
02:54really hot more than enough to burn flesh certainly so imagine a carpet that is 20 feet across and several
03:06inches deep and it's burning at a temperature that is hot enough to melt aluminum
03:13if you look at the temperatures involved you're typically talking temperatures over a thousand degrees Fahrenheit and skin burns at
03:21a hundred hundred and sixty degrees Fahrenheit
03:23walking on fire is very very dangerous I mean you're barefoot just one wrong move and you can be severely
03:32burned
03:34people ask me all the time whether fire workers have any kind of special trick whether they're some kind of
03:39special drug that prevents them from feeling pain or getting burned the answer to all of these is no there's
03:47no special trick
03:53walking on fire
03:54walking on fire and at temperatures hot enough to turn metal into liquid no one in their right mind would
04:00do this and expect to emerge unharmed right
04:04and yet the people of San Pedro and Enrique managed to do just that and on a yearly basis but
04:13how
04:15walking across hot embers is one of my favorite physics problems
04:19the trick is making sure the embers are hot enough that you actually get a very thin but very real
04:25layer of water vapor between your skin and the hot coals
04:31some of these same fire walkers
04:33one day they walk across unscathed another time they try it
04:37they do burn their feet
04:41my experience tells me the difference is in their mindset
04:46so at my fire walks once we've taken the group out to the fire and we're getting ready to walk
04:52first I like to remind them again about their intention
04:56and this helps motivate them and get them across
05:00and then we raise people's energy before a fire walk
05:05fire walk
05:07fire walkers around the world regardless of tradition, religion
05:11they raise the group's energy before they walk
05:16so this can be done with meditation, chanting, singing, dancing
05:22whatever the case, you want to get your group into an excited, pumped up state before the fire walk
05:30there is absolutely something about being in an excited, uplifted state that helps you get across safely
05:40so what actually happens there psychologically is there is this emotional buildup
05:47there is this highly intense arousal that's happening
05:51and so you have cortisol and other sort of endocrine hormones flooding the system
05:56which will help to block some of the pain receptors
06:02water vapor
06:04mind control
06:05but can fire walking without pain or injury really be just a simple matter of willpower
06:12or does it require something
06:14even more
06:17we know we have the capability to redirect pain or even to numb pain just by putting ourselves in the
06:22right mindset
06:23but many of these fire walkers don't even have blisters or burns on their feet
06:27so when you look at physics that's impossible
06:30if you touch something that's hot you're going to get burned
06:34so the question is are we dealing with the magical force that we have yet to fully understand
06:39so in one study with the San Pedro Spanish fire walking ritual
06:43a team of anthropologists were curious what happens to a person's heart rate
06:49for the individual who's actually walking
06:51and for any individual who is close to them
06:56like a relative or a family member
07:03for this study my colleagues and I went to San Pedro
07:07and used some devices that collected heart rate data
07:11and we placed those devices
07:13not only the fire walkers themselves
07:16but also members of the audience
07:21and what we found is that
07:23the ritual itself
07:25create an astonishing level of synchrony
07:27in the heart rates of the participants
07:30the surprising part is that
07:32you will still have a state of physiology
07:35that's similar to the individual
07:37as if you are walking over the coals
07:40when in fact of course you're not
07:43it is so much more than just an individual ritual
07:47it is a community experience
07:50yes it is technically possible to cross a coal bed
07:54unharmed all by yourself
07:56but it is much easier
07:59to experience a fire walk surrounded by people
08:04who are there to support you
08:05your family
08:07your community
08:08crossing barefoot over thousand degree coals
08:12doesn't make any practical sense
08:13and even though I've personally crossed hundreds
08:17and hundreds of coal beds
08:18I still don't perfectly understand
08:21how and why it works like it does
08:25the ability to walk barefoot over open flames
08:29and end up unharmed
08:30might be a perfect example of mind over matter
08:34while it's clear that the human brain is capable
08:36of shielding us from pain while under stress
08:40can the same be said if we lose one of our senses
08:45perhaps clues can be found in the story of a young boy
08:48who was born blind
08:50and developed the ability to see
08:53using the power of sound
09:00pass the end of heights california 1968
09:03two-year-old daniel kish just one year after having both eyes removed due to cancer
09:08sneaks out of his crib to explore his family's backyard
09:14far from being fearful or afraid
09:17daniel is as confident as he is curious
09:22because at just two years old
09:24he has developed an ability called echolocation
09:28which allows him to see by using his ears
09:32for those of us that study sensory systems
09:34daniel kish is a rock star
09:39he is clearly the most studied human that actively echolocates
09:46so he will emit sounds himself
09:49these sounds will go and bounce off objects
09:52and come back to his own ears
09:53and these noises provide him information on
09:57distance to a target
09:59what that target might actually be
10:01how dense it is
10:02how light it might be
10:03its shape
10:05i've been able to echolocate for as long as i can remember
10:08and for me
10:09it was as natural as breathing
10:12it was just my way of seeing
10:13i didn't really know it was echolocation per se
10:17i just knew that i was aware of my surroundings
10:20and that i could function with that awareness
10:24it was just sort of part of the process of learning to see
10:27which is very much what sighted kids actually do
10:30as they begin to calibrate their vision
10:34after that it was just sort of normal
10:36it was just a matter of course to click and scan and find things
10:40and not really be afraid of what was out there
10:44for most of us if you've ever had any experience with echolocation
10:48it's probably when you've been told about how bats work
10:51right? bats emit a sound, the sound bounces off objects
10:55and then comes back to them
10:57so they can actually determine how far away an object is
11:00what its size and shape may be and so forth
11:03and what daniel's done is he's taken this idea
11:06and basically turned it into something that humans can actually use
11:11without ultrasonic hearing, without all of the advantages that bats have evolved
11:16humans are somehow able to do this
11:18and relatively easily
11:21so...
11:23how? why?
11:25i believe that we can do this because we always have
11:29we've been doing it since man was prey and not predator
11:33since we had to hide in the dark
11:35so we don't have to develop these systems from scratch
11:38all we have to do is turn them on
11:41by making clicking sounds
11:44and then listening to how those sounds reverberate
11:46off what's around him
11:48daniel is able to create a virtual picture of his surroundings
11:52with astonishing accuracy
11:57neurobiologically
11:58i think this speaks to something that we call sensory substitution
12:03that his visual cortex has been appropriated if you like
12:08because it's not receiving visual information
12:13daniel's rare ability has made him the world's foremost echolocator
12:18but there are some in the scientific community
12:20who question the extraordinary nature of daniel's ability
12:24they argue that it's more likely that daniel's simply making lucky guesses
12:29when he claims to sense his environment
12:31but for daniel
12:33there's no question
12:35he sees a map in his mind
12:38and what's more
12:41he can prove it
12:43even though he's never seen
12:45he's clearly using his echolocation skills
12:48to construct some sort of map of the visual world
12:51although he doesn't have any experience with the visual world
12:54the way someone that's sighted does
12:57when i visit a new place i basically just look around
13:01and for me that involves of course using my sense of echolocation
13:07to scope out the environment
13:09i start out with what's most distinctive what stands out
13:13what's most unique
13:15what seems to define the space
13:18essentially it resolves into what i call three-dimensional fuzzy geometry
13:24so all of these features sort of coalesce into an actual image
13:31mapping it is part of the process
13:35drawing is a way of sharing what my relationship with the environment is
13:41it's a way of giving people a peek into my head
13:48so you've got a house here that's the most relevant feature
13:52there's a parked vehicle of some kind there
13:54and then trees
13:56and then just as i got to about here
14:00i was able immediately to tell
14:03okay this has got to be some sort of a patio area or maybe a grotto
14:06and then as i rounded the area this tree line became very obvious
14:12that bounds one edge of the garden
14:16daniel often says that you know he can see these things in his mind
14:21and skeptics would say oh that's impossible
14:24he must be hearing sounds or just making calculations and guesses that just happen to be true
14:28but he's actually able to prove it
14:31he's actually able to draw what he sees in his mind
14:36and it's accurate
14:40i am a person who is naturally curious
14:45i've been an explorer since i got out of my crib and started wandering around
14:49it didn't really occur to me that oh but wait i no longer have eyes
14:53my interest is in understanding the world
14:58knowing about the world
15:00and sharing whatever it is i think i've learned about the world
15:04with others to the extent that others may benefit from that
15:08it's not about seeing or not seeing
15:11it's about knowing
15:14it's about understanding and it's about sharing
15:17daniel's incredible ability to make his way through the world
15:21is truly a sight to behold
15:23but how did he unlock such an unusual and powerful sensory ability
15:29perhaps clues can be found in the stories of ordinary people
15:33who experienced traumatic events and saved lives by tapping into a superhuman strength
15:45melbourne australia august 1st 2013
15:49high above the city 22 year old brad guy
15:52is excited to make his first skydiving jump
15:56the self-professed adrenaline junkie wants to push the limits
16:01but he'll soon find that this is going to be the fall of his life
16:07i was given the opportunity to choose which height i wanted to jump from
16:11and i decided to go as high as possible which was 15,000 feet
16:15very high
16:16so my tandem instructor ran me through how it would feel to jump
16:21and what i need to do to ensure maximum safety
16:24then he asked me if i had any final questions
16:27i think because i was so nervous i made the joke saying
16:30i hope my parachute opens
16:35i remember when that rickety door of the aircraft opened
16:39and my instructor just edging me closer and closer
16:41i was so terrified
16:44and eventually my instructor said 3, 2, 1, jump
16:48and he pushed us out
16:51i was moving so fast that i couldn't even comprehend
16:58just that 4, 5, 7 seconds of free fall
17:01it's totally euphoric
17:03it's indescribable
17:05it's kind of like magic
17:06when a skydiver jumps out of a plane
17:09they're accelerated by gravity at a rate of 32 feet per second per second
17:13his speed would have been upwards over a hundred miles per hour
17:16Brad's skydive is an even greater thrill than he expected
17:19but as he and his instructor plunged toward the ground
17:24something goes horribly awry
17:27there just was this point when as we were falling
17:30i was expecting a thrust of a parachute to come
17:33as per the safety instructions
17:35and it never came
17:39i felt a bit of a thrust
17:40from a parachute but it wasn't enough to slow us down
17:45and that's when i noticed that the first parachute
17:47it's being deployed but it hasn't opened
17:52and the emergency parachute got stuck in the original parachute
17:56and because they're tangled together we're not slowing down
18:01we were tumbling towards the ground from 15,000 feet
18:04i start freaking out i'm really panicking
18:06all i could really see was the earth getting closer and closer
18:11and i knew i was going to hit the ground and die
18:18the impact just smashed through my body
18:24it really didn't feel like a fall it almost felt like the earth just came and hit me
18:30and when i hit the ground i'm still strapped to my instructor
18:33he's unconscious
18:35eventually he did come to
18:37we were just strapped to each other screaming
18:39i remember i was just hysterically crying
18:42so confused having no idea what had happened
18:45partially still thinking that i was actually dead
18:49against all odds the two men survive a fall of nearly three miles
18:54brad and his instructor are rushed to the hospital
18:57where they both begin a long and miraculous recovery
19:02my physical injuries
19:04i broke my upper spine fractured my lower spine
19:07tore the ligaments in my neck
19:08cracked and bruised ribs
19:11mild head concussion
19:13i had suspected that i was a quadriplegic
19:17i was numb from the neck down
19:18it took me a long time to feel my body again
19:21you would think that after all these years
19:25and all the time i've had to reflect on it
19:27that i would be able to look at the situation
19:30and seriously ask myself
19:31was this luck or is it just all the odds being in my favour
19:35on a particular day
19:37i don't know
19:39i don't know
19:41i would love to know
19:43sometimes when humans face extreme danger
19:46the normal parts of our operating brain kind of get pushed aside
19:50and the sympathetic nervous system kicks in
19:52and can institute an adrenaline rush into the body
19:56which can do some amazing things
19:59it forces blood into the muscles
20:02and pumps them up and becomes hard
20:04to strengthen and protect your skeletal system
20:07and connective tissue
20:09was a surge of adrenaline responsible for protecting Brad's body
20:13from the extreme impact
20:16or was there something
20:18even more incredible going on
20:21perhaps an explanation can be found by examining
20:24another case of survival
20:26one that involves an extraordinary feat
20:29performed by an ordinary man
20:34tucson arizona july 26 2006
20:38tom boyle
20:40a supervisor at a local aerospace company
20:43is driving home with his wife
20:45the couple are about to exit a parking lot
20:48when another car pulls alongside them
20:50what happens next
20:52actually changes tom
20:54in ways that seem to defy the very laws of nature
21:03the driver he had taken upon himself to peel out out of the parking lot
21:06and as he did that he sucked in a bicycle
21:10underneath the vehicle
21:11i jumped by the car
21:13i go running after the camaro
21:14and as i approached the camaro
21:16there was a boy underneath on a bicycle
21:19yelling for help
21:20and asking people to please get the car off him
21:23i just reacted
21:25as the boys cries ring out
21:27tom has no time to think
21:29a powerful force comes alive inside him
21:33a force that allows tom to do the impossible
21:39it just got me so
21:41i guess nervous
21:44and compelled to help
21:46that i just lifted the side of the car
21:48as i started lifting the car
21:50i could hear the bicyclist telling me
21:52higher higher mister
21:53please go higher
21:55so i did
21:56i just held it as long as i possibly could
21:59and i just thought don't let go
22:00and fortunately we got him up
22:03i'm 6'3
22:04at that time i was 275 pounds
22:07and uh...
22:08the most i've ever lifted i think was
22:13800 pounds
22:15as i lifted the car
22:16i'd never thought about how much it weighed
22:18i just thought about saving this kid
22:20now tom's a big guy
22:21solid guy
22:23but we're talking about a car
22:24okay
22:25this is a car that weighs about 3,000 pounds
22:27and yet he just jacks it up
22:30bare hands
22:31lifts this thing up
22:32human beings can't normally just lift cars
22:35these situations where people manage to do superhuman feats of strength
22:39like lift a car off someone
22:41as often happens in science
22:43these are rare events
22:44we don't have detailed measurements
22:45and so really understanding the true biophysics and physiology of all the details that go in
22:50remain a bit of a mystery and an interesting area for us to explore going forward
22:55we don't use most of our muscles capability throughout the day
22:58it's capable of much more
22:59but for some reason only under these extreme circumstances
23:02if we can learn how to control our minds and use it at will
23:08that would be like being a superhuman a superhero
23:12that will that power is being driven both not only by the adrenaline but more importantly it's that energy
23:20is that type of thing in China that's called faging animal explosive energy
23:25it's a burst of absolute decision
23:30it's that unknown that unexplained energetic place that we all know about we talk about it
23:38we have feelings and vibes about these things
23:41so this was a once in a lifetime moment for me
23:44i've never done anything else like this again
23:47i think you could tap into some amazing power
23:49i truly do
23:51it's there
23:52we just have to have a reason to use it
23:59so where does this sudden surge of incredible strength come from
24:03is it something special and rare
24:06or is it simply adrenaline and an untapped ability that exists within all of us
24:13perhaps the answers lie in the chaos surrounding another life and death scenario
24:19and the surprising circumstances of an extraordinary rescue
24:29ho chi minh city vietnam
24:32november 1992
24:35banker annette herfkins
24:37her fiancé
24:38and 29 other passengers
24:41board a small plane
24:43and head to the coastal town of nha trong for a vacation
24:48but
24:49what is supposed to be a short routine flight
24:52is about to turn
24:55into a nightmare
24:58when i saw the plane
25:00i didn't want to enter it
25:01because it was awfully small
25:02i was i am very claustrophobic
25:05and i said there's no way i enter in that plane
25:08i'm not going to go in there
25:09it looks old but mostly small
25:10and my fiancé said
25:13well don't worry don't you have to
25:15it's only 55 minutes
25:16and do it for us
25:17because i have this beautiful vacation planned
25:19and i knew you were going to speak up about it
25:22but please please do it
25:25and then we entered
25:27from the back of the plane
25:29so we sat down
25:31we were told to buckle our seat belt
25:34and they were going across
25:35and then i was restrained enough as it is
25:37and i did not buckle my seat belt
25:40and the flight took off
25:43for the next 30 minutes
25:45i just kept counting the minutes
25:47and the 50th minutes
25:48there was a
25:50gigantic drop
25:52and people were screaming
25:53and my fiancé looked at me
25:57he said well this i don't like
26:01and then another drop
26:08more people screaming
26:09and he reached for my hand
26:11and i reached for his
26:14and then everything went black
26:17i woke up to this eerie sound of the jungle
26:24the plane broke in three pieces
26:26the wings, the fuselage and the cockpit
26:30then i looked at my left
26:32and there i saw my fiancé
26:33still strapped in his seat
26:38he was dead
26:44in shock
26:45grief-stricken
26:46and with the legs and hips broken
26:48Annette painfully pulls herself out of the wreckage
26:53only to find that every passenger on board
26:56has perished
26:59except her
27:01it all seems
27:03impossible
27:06in this plane crash
27:08Annette was the only survivor
27:11of 31 people
27:13she's the only one that survived
27:15did it have to do with
27:16just the randomness of her being in the right seat
27:19that hit the ground in just the right place
27:22that had just the right structural integrity
27:25based on how they crashed
27:26or could it be something else
27:32miles from civilization
27:35injured and alone
27:36Annette finds herself in an unbearable predicament
27:39but somehow from somewhere deep inside her
27:43she finds a way to survive
27:48i would just be quiet
27:53and listen to my instinct
27:54i just listened to that voice
27:56and i acted on it
27:58and it said make a plan
28:00divided in achievable steps
28:02and when you achieve one of those steps
28:04congratulate yourself
28:05that's exactly what i did
28:08i realized that i was going to need some water
28:10so i looked at the wing of the plane
28:13the insulation material was some kind of foam
28:15so i figured that could work as a sponge
28:19and then i made seven little bowls
28:23and i lined them up for it to rain
28:28and then it rained and it poured
28:33and then i was very happy to see
28:35these little bowls filling up with water
28:38they select the best champagne as you can imagine
28:44she was able to survive the plane crash
28:47but maybe what was even more remarkable
28:49is that she was able to survive eight days in the jungle
28:53with no prior jungle training or experience
28:58and no conditioning to be in the jungle
29:03on the afternoon on the eight days out of nowhere
29:08man came up the mountain
29:13and they showed me a passenger list
29:16and i had to point out my name
29:19and i just realized how amazing it was that they actually found me
29:25it may have been random chance
29:27that allowed annette to live through the horrific crash
29:31but what was the so-called voice
29:34that gave her the guidance she needed to survive
29:38is it some kind of deep-seated electro biochemical uh force that's that's innate in the brain that suddenly gets
29:48activated
29:49or is it something that comes from outside
29:52is it faith from an outside power that brings that energy to the person who's in desperate need
29:59whether or not you view yourself as strong and capable
30:03you have the potential to tap into these things
30:07to get in tune with these strengths with these capabilities
30:10whether you know it or not
30:11we all have that voice inside of us
30:14that we can listen to
30:16any extreme situations
30:18it's always there to help you
30:21just
30:21listen to that voice
30:23be silent
30:23it's there
30:24it's there
30:31kelso washington february 2nd 2020
30:3438 year old steven pete attends to his sunday chores like yard work and cooking and tinkering with several projects
30:42in his basement
30:44all the same things that any person might do on a weekend
30:46but for steven
30:48he has to do all this far more carefully than the average person
30:53because for him doing household chores is more than just a series of tasks
30:58it's actually dangerous
31:02i was born with a rare genetic condition called congenital analgesia
31:05at the time that was name given to it
31:08now it's called congenital insensitivity to pain
31:12so i can't feel any pain at all
31:16a life free of pain
31:19sounds like something many of us would pay dearly for
31:22but for people like steven
31:25death or severe injury
31:27lurks around every corner
31:31my parents first noticed something was different when i was teething and i chewed off half my tongue
31:37that definitely alarmed them to something serious going on
31:41so they took me to my pediatrician
31:43who uh... did a couple of tests and determined that more than likely i didn't feel pain
31:49they ran needles up and down my spine
31:52poked my feet a couple of places
31:54i still didn't elicit a negative response a painful response
31:59steven's gruesome injury provides a stark reminder that while most people probably don't think of pain as a sense
32:05it may actually be
32:07the most important sense of all
32:11congenital analgesia is an inherited form of insensitivity to pain
32:16congenital means it runs in the family
32:18and analgesia means that you don't feel pain
32:20you have no feeling of pain whatsoever
32:23there's some form of mutation in a gene that's essential for pain perception
32:28when people first hear that i
32:31don't feel pain they think it is the greatest thing in the whole world
32:33they're like why i got super power
32:35but
32:36my childhood was spending good chunks of time in the hospital
32:40that stayed in between like four months to maybe a year and a half
32:45which isn't normal
32:48it's an extremely problematic condition
32:50pain protects us from self harm
32:53and it's often the first time of disease
32:55so people who are pain free often die very young
32:58it's actually rather amazing that he made it through life as far as he has
33:04i mean the classic example we always hear about is learning not to touch things that are hot
33:09pain alerts us when we're doing something in the external world that doesn't make sense and we should stop
33:16the one thing that i really have to keep an eye on is probably whenever i'm engaged in like a
33:22physical activity that's a little bit strenuous like doing the yard work
33:25it's stuff like that where i can injure myself and not immediately realize it
33:31that can cause serious repercussions down the road
33:35when we think about senses we always think about the classic five senses
33:39sight touch smell taste and hearing
33:42one thing that's really interesting though is we basically have another sense which is our pain our sense of pain
33:50we often just reject that as well that's just touch
33:53but that negates or doesn't think about the internal pains we often feel whether it's headaches or stomach aches or
33:59sore muscles which really isn't quite touch
34:02pain is another sense it's a sense we call it not exception
34:08it's conveyed by specific kinds of nerves
34:10get activated when for instance we might touch a hot stove or cut ourselves
34:16what's interesting is the brain can regulate pain dramatically but the basic drive that causes pain is from the peripheral
34:25nerves
34:25the nerves that send information into the brain don't work in congenital analgesia patients
34:31this loss of pain is caused by malfunctions in a very small number of genes that are extremely rare
34:38one of them is involved in signaling in the peripheral nerves
34:41it's called nav 1.7 it's a protein that's called a sodium channel
34:45it's like an electrical switch
34:46and if that protein doesn't function properly then you can become pain free
34:54since Steven doesn't feel pain
34:56it begs the question
34:57what does he feel instead
35:00it's difficult for me to try to explain
35:02but even though I don't feel physical pain what I can feel is heat, cold, touch, just like every other
35:10person
35:10what I do feel is probably a byproduct of pain is like these impulses almost like a nerve firing
35:20since 2012 I've had the opportunity of being able to participate in a couple studies with different universities
35:27I spent a good portion of my childhood in the hospital and during those days it was usually with people
35:33who felt pain
35:34and seeing people especially that young who are going through such painful experiences
35:41that's really what prompted me to sign up for a lot of these studies when I was approached
35:46and the overall goal in a lot of these studies is to try to create a non-narcotic painkiller
35:52because the opioid crisis that our country is facing is one that other nations are facing as well
35:59so I've been asked quite a lot with all these studies I've been participating in
36:03if I had the chance to feel pain
36:05if they could figure out what activates or deactivates that switch
36:08would I myself want to feel pain
36:12and my answer is no
36:14and that's only because I've damaged my body so much throughout my entire life
36:17that if I were to feel pain right now I'd just be in a constant state of pain all the
36:21time
36:22not only do I have a bad knee but my back is a little bit messed up so my quality
36:28of life would just be low
36:29and there's no way I could live like that
36:34the ability to feel pain is essential to our very survival
36:39but are there other senses in addition to familiar ones like touch or sight that go beyond our common understanding
36:47of what humans are capable of
36:50do we all possess an extrasensory perception?
37:00as we continue to study the human mind
37:03will we one day be able to reveal certain extrasensory abilities?
37:08for millennia there have been people who could sense an invisible presence
37:13whether it be a deceased loved one, a spiritual energy, or even something more sinister
37:19while it may sound a bit ooga booga
37:23a study published by scientists from Caltech in 2019
37:27suggests that humans can not only detect energy fields
37:30they can also sense the magnetic field of the earth
37:36the human brain has a lot of phenomena going on inside it that uses electromagnetic charges and electric fields
37:43and if you change the magnetic field around your brain
37:46it will impact what's going on inside your brain
37:50so small magnetic fields are most certainly detectable
37:56we just may not realize we're detecting them
37:58it wouldn't surprise me in any way
38:00if there aren't aspects of brain function that we are completely unaware of at the moment
38:06that we'll become aware of later when we understand more about how the brain actually works
38:12since it's already been proven that humans have more than five senses
38:17could there really be something to the notion that we have the potential
38:21to sense the world around us in what some would consider bizarre
38:25or even mystical ways?
38:28according to some researchers the answer is yes
38:32and as evidence they point to an incredible phenomenon
38:35known as pyroptic vision
38:38pyroptic vision was first proposed by a surrealist writer called René Dommal
38:44who was a teenager who practiced seeing color through his fingertips
38:48so he'd put a different colored handkerchiefs inside a box
38:51and then he'd test to see if he could tell what color the handkerchief was
38:56that sounds quite fringe but I've done some experiments
38:59it's a rare ability but I did find one person who was able to detect the colors through the fingertips
39:05I can't explain it but she could detect color with 80% reliability through her fingertips
39:13it's been discovered that the skin has opsins embedded in them
39:16and opsins help the body calibrate to circadian rhythms to 24 hour rhythms
39:22so it's not too much of a stretch to think how opsins could not just detect light but they could
39:27also detect color
39:29many people believe that there are mysterious ways of sensing things that don't involve the traditional senses
39:35and I believe that there's perfectly reasonable expectation that may perhaps be true
39:41we don't really understand how the brain works at all
39:46as incredible as it is to discover new senses it's also a little unsettling
39:52because if our brain is just using our senses to constantly try and guess what reality is
39:59then how are we to know when it guesses wrong instead of right
40:04I like to think of perception as a kind of controlled hallucination
40:08because there's no light in the skull there's no sound in the skull
40:11all you've got to go on as a brain are these noisy and ambiguous sensory signals
40:16signals don't come with labels that I'm from a coffee cup or I'm from a cat
40:21and this is why for instance if you look up at the sky and there's some fluffy clouds
40:26sometimes you might see faces
40:30reality is not quite as real as people think
40:34we're often told that something looks red because it reflects more red wavelengths
40:39but there's no such thing as red wavelengths
40:41color is not a property of objects
40:44it's a property of brains
40:48it's simply the wonder that our brain is creating all of this
40:51and that we can agree on so much
40:55deception is about representing the world and the body and the self
41:00in the way that's most useful for the organism
41:02so if you see a color that's not right or wrong
41:06color is where the brain meets the universe in a way that's useful for us
41:12I think we can all agree reality exists we think therefore something exists
41:17but what it is and how we will know what it is is fun to explore
41:23it's thrilling to think that we may one day witness the next step in human evolution
41:28by unlocking our so called extra sensory abilities
41:32could things like pain management
41:35physical strength and even the potential to heal ourselves
41:39be functions that already exist within us
41:44as we learn more about the power of mind over matter
41:47perhaps the answers will become second nature
41:49but for now
41:51the extraordinary capabilities of the human brain
41:55remain
41:58unexplained
42:00in the human brain
42:02as critical and being great
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