People often mention offhand of a loving mother lifting a car of her baby. It's the power of family! Nothing can keep a lioness from her cub! This is both true and false. The body and mentality of someone can very well release limiters that cause superhuman feats, but it's not only the power of motherly love that can do this.
As I have said before when the body goes into a 'fear state' it shuts down all non-essential systems of body function and focuses on both faster healing of wounds and increasing energy available for muscles to use. Reflex arcs are also known to be more active in these situations. Allowing the body to move and react at peak form something that is just not physically possible in an everyday situation.
An example of this is when Tom Boyle Jr. at about 8:30 PM on a summer evening in Tucson saw the Comaro in front of him skid and hit a bike. For a few seconds the Comaro kept going dragging the bike and it's rider 18-year-old Kyle Holtrust. One of Kyle's legs became jammed under the car and couldn't be moved. Boyle rushed over and started to lift the car, he was able to hold to car enough for Kyle to pull his leg free (about 45 seconds). Boyle was six foot four, 280 pounds and lifted a Comaro weighing 3,000 pounds beating the world record by just under 2,000 pounds. This is the power of fear.
Hi Lucy! This is a really interesting topic. Since these superhuman feats seem to almost be physically impossible, is there ever a rebound after them? By that I mean, does the body have to somewhat recover/heal after being put under that level of exertion?
ReplyDeleteYes the body will go into a relaxation and heal phase when it has been moved of the 'fear state' though healing will be slower and more thorough then in the previous 'fear state'.
DeleteHi Lucy! I'm curious, has anyone you've talked to at your internship been in or witnessed one of these situations?
ReplyDeleteAnother question, although more hypothetical, could you potentially manipulate how someone perceives a scenario (either with psychological or chemical inducers) so that they trigger this superhuman effect, and if so, how long would the human body be able to sustain such enhanced activity before exhaustion (i.e. the subject faints from overexertion)?
First no one at my internship has personally experienced these effects. But second if an arc of hormones could be continuously added to an individual of good health it is theorized that these effects could be realized. But if not they could go into life threatening shock.
Delete