1 00:00:05,070 --> 00:00:09,610 A fire walker. Free of pain by controlling his mental state. 2 00:00:10,470 --> 00:00:16,309 A blind man able to create maps in his mind by using the power of sound. 3 00:00:17,010 --> 00:00:23,530 And a plane crashed deep in the jungle where a single survivor was guided by an 4 00:00:23,530 --> 00:00:24,530 inner voice. 5 00:00:25,910 --> 00:00:27,170 The human mind. 6 00:00:27,990 --> 00:00:31,990 It is the home of all our thoughts, hopes, dreams, and memories. 7 00:00:32,600 --> 00:00:37,680 The organ we call the brain not only keeps us alive, it allows us to 8 00:00:37,680 --> 00:00:41,880 and experience the incredible world we live in. 9 00:00:42,920 --> 00:00:47,660 But are there people who are wired differently than most of us? 10 00:00:48,380 --> 00:00:55,100 Can unique circumstances permit some to tap into extrasensory abilities that 11 00:00:55,100 --> 00:00:57,100 defy nature? 12 00:00:58,819 --> 00:01:04,379 Or do we all have extraordinary mental skills that can come to our rescue with 13 00:01:04,379 --> 00:01:06,620 power that we never knew we possessed? 14 00:01:07,940 --> 00:01:10,060 Well, that is what we'll try and find out. 15 00:01:25,450 --> 00:01:30,510 San Pedro Manrique, Spain, June 23, 2018. 16 00:01:31,670 --> 00:01:37,490 Here, as they have for centuries, villagers gather for an evening festival 17 00:01:37,490 --> 00:01:38,950 celebrate the summer solstice. 18 00:01:39,230 --> 00:01:45,250 They engage in singing, dancing, wearing elaborate costumes. 19 00:01:46,450 --> 00:01:52,250 But for a select group of villagers, the festivities aren't so 20 00:01:52,250 --> 00:01:53,790 conventional. 21 00:01:54,920 --> 00:01:59,560 Because their evening also includes something out of the ordinary. 22 00:01:59,920 --> 00:02:03,680 A dangerous walk over fire. 23 00:02:06,120 --> 00:02:09,479 Now, I've seen many fire -working rituals in many different contexts in a 24 00:02:09,479 --> 00:02:10,479 variety of countries. 25 00:02:10,860 --> 00:02:13,940 But I've never seen a fire as fierce as the one in San Pedro. 26 00:02:14,940 --> 00:02:18,340 This is by far the most important event in the life of this community. 27 00:02:20,060 --> 00:02:22,800 They have this amphitheater around the... 28 00:02:23,310 --> 00:02:29,810 the place where the actual fire is, then these men walk on the embers. It's 29 00:02:29,810 --> 00:02:35,390 five or six steps from one side to the other, and they do it carefully, and 30 00:02:35,390 --> 00:02:38,230 usually carrying someone on their shoulder. 31 00:02:40,750 --> 00:02:43,850 People often wonder, is the firewalk really hot? 32 00:02:44,070 --> 00:02:48,230 And the answer is yes, once the wood is first laid out. 33 00:02:48,620 --> 00:02:52,680 the overall temperature is between 1 ,000 and 1 ,200 degrees. 34 00:02:53,820 --> 00:02:59,280 That's really hot, more than enough to burn flesh, certainly. 35 00:03:00,500 --> 00:03:06,920 So imagine a carpet that is 20 feet across and several inches deep, 36 00:03:07,080 --> 00:03:12,060 and it's burning at a temperature that is hot enough to melt aluminum. 37 00:03:13,360 --> 00:03:16,100 If you look at the temperatures involved... 38 00:03:16,410 --> 00:03:20,530 You're typically talking temperatures over 1 ,000 degrees Fahrenheit, and skin 39 00:03:20,530 --> 00:03:22,590 burns at 100, 160 degrees Fahrenheit. 40 00:03:23,610 --> 00:03:26,290 Walking on fire is very, very dangerous. 41 00:03:26,650 --> 00:03:33,090 I mean, you're barefoot, there's one wrong move, and you can be severely 42 00:03:34,110 --> 00:03:37,830 People ask me all the time whether fire walkers have any kind of special trick, 43 00:03:37,990 --> 00:03:41,990 whether they're some kind of special drug that prevents them from feeling 44 00:03:41,990 --> 00:03:43,790 or getting burned. 45 00:03:44,510 --> 00:03:46,230 The answer to all of these is no. 46 00:03:46,790 --> 00:03:47,930 There's no special trick. 47 00:03:52,950 --> 00:03:58,610 Walking on fire and at temperatures hot enough to turn metal into liquid. 48 00:03:59,370 --> 00:04:03,110 No one in their right mind would do this and expect to emerge unharmed, right? 49 00:04:04,730 --> 00:04:10,730 And yet, the people of San Pedro and Enrique managed to do just that and on a 50 00:04:10,730 --> 00:04:11,730 yearly basis. 51 00:04:12,510 --> 00:04:13,510 But how? 52 00:04:15,120 --> 00:04:18,200 Walking across hot embers is one of my favorite physics problems. 53 00:04:18,980 --> 00:04:23,840 The trick is making sure the embers are hot enough that you actually get a very 54 00:04:23,840 --> 00:04:29,440 thin but very real layer of water vapor between your skin and the hot coals. 55 00:04:31,260 --> 00:04:36,700 Some of these same fire walkers, one day they walk across unscathed, another 56 00:04:36,700 --> 00:04:39,560 time they try it, they do burn their feet. 57 00:04:45,120 --> 00:04:46,120 Their mindset. 58 00:04:46,680 --> 00:04:51,640 So at my firewalks, once we've taken the group out to the fire and we're getting 59 00:04:51,640 --> 00:04:55,960 ready to walk, first I like to remind them again about their intention. 60 00:04:56,400 --> 00:04:59,460 And this helps motivate them and get them across. 61 00:05:00,240 --> 00:05:05,560 And then we raise people's energy before a firewalk. 62 00:05:06,800 --> 00:05:13,160 Firewalkers around the world, regardless of tradition, religion, they raise the 63 00:05:13,160 --> 00:05:14,180 group's energy. 64 00:05:14,750 --> 00:05:20,910 before they walk. This can be done with meditation, chanting, singing, 65 00:05:21,190 --> 00:05:27,770 dancing. Whatever the case, you want to get your group into an excited, pumped 66 00:05:27,770 --> 00:05:34,230 -up state before the fire walk. There is absolutely something about being in an 67 00:05:34,230 --> 00:05:38,610 excited, uplifted state that helps you get across safely. 68 00:05:41,040 --> 00:05:46,660 So what actually happens there psychologically is there is this 69 00:05:46,660 --> 00:05:52,400 buildup. There is this highly intense arousal that's happening. And so you 70 00:05:52,400 --> 00:05:57,020 cortisol and other sort of endocrine hormones flooding the system, which will 71 00:05:57,020 --> 00:05:58,560 help to block some of the pain receptors. 72 00:06:02,260 --> 00:06:03,260 Water vapor. 73 00:06:04,240 --> 00:06:05,240 Mind control. 74 00:06:06,080 --> 00:06:10,680 But can firewalking without pain or injury really be just a simple matter of 75 00:06:10,680 --> 00:06:11,680 willpower? 76 00:06:12,140 --> 00:06:16,060 Or does it require something even more? 77 00:06:17,380 --> 00:06:21,700 We know we have the capability to redirect pain or even to numb pain just 78 00:06:21,700 --> 00:06:23,140 putting ourselves in the right mindset. 79 00:06:23,660 --> 00:06:27,760 But many of these firewalkers don't even have blisters or burns on their feet. 80 00:06:28,020 --> 00:06:30,420 So when you look at physics, that's impossible. 81 00:06:30,780 --> 00:06:33,300 If you touch something that's hot, you're going to get burned. 82 00:06:34,060 --> 00:06:38,360 So the question is, are we dealing with the magical force that we have yet to 83 00:06:38,360 --> 00:06:39,360 fully understand? 84 00:06:39,800 --> 00:06:43,940 So in one study with the San Pedro Hispanic Firewalking Ritual, a team of 85 00:06:43,940 --> 00:06:49,840 anthropologists were curious, what happens to a person's heart rate for the 86 00:06:49,840 --> 00:06:56,120 individual who's actually walking and for any individual who is close to them, 87 00:06:56,180 --> 00:06:58,240 like a relative or a family member? 88 00:07:03,760 --> 00:07:09,360 For this study, my colleagues and I went to San Pedro and used some devices that 89 00:07:09,360 --> 00:07:10,740 collected heart rate data. 90 00:07:11,600 --> 00:07:16,940 And we placed those devices not only on the fireworkers themselves, but also 91 00:07:16,940 --> 00:07:17,940 members of the audience. 92 00:07:21,640 --> 00:07:26,760 And what we found is that the ritual itself created an astonishing level of 93 00:07:26,760 --> 00:07:29,060 synchrony in the heart rates of the participants. 94 00:07:30,120 --> 00:07:35,660 The surprising part is that you will still have a state of physiology that's 95 00:07:35,660 --> 00:07:41,200 similar to the individual, as if you are walking with the cold, when in fact, of 96 00:07:41,200 --> 00:07:42,200 course, you're not. 97 00:07:43,340 --> 00:07:49,460 It is so much more than just an individual ritual. It is a community 98 00:07:50,620 --> 00:07:56,440 Yes, it is technically possible to cross a coal bed unharmed all by yourself, 99 00:07:56,700 --> 00:07:59,520 but it is much easier. 100 00:08:00,120 --> 00:08:06,340 to experience a firewalk surrounded by people who are there to support you, 101 00:08:06,340 --> 00:08:07,980 family, your community. 102 00:08:08,840 --> 00:08:13,540 Crossing barefoot over thousand -degree coals doesn't make any practical sense. 103 00:08:13,960 --> 00:08:18,860 And even though I've personally crossed hundreds and hundreds of coal beds, I 104 00:08:18,860 --> 00:08:23,380 still don't perfectly understand how and why it works like it does. 105 00:08:25,960 --> 00:08:31,340 The ability to walk barefoot over open flames and end up unharmed might be a 106 00:08:31,340 --> 00:08:33,280 perfect example of mind over matter. 107 00:08:33,900 --> 00:08:38,260 While it's clear that the human brain is capable of shielding us from pain while 108 00:08:38,260 --> 00:08:43,280 under stress, can the same be said if we lose one of our senses? 109 00:08:45,100 --> 00:08:50,780 Perhaps clues can be found in the story of a young boy who was born blind and 110 00:08:50,780 --> 00:08:52,820 developed the ability to see. 111 00:08:53,600 --> 00:08:55,460 using the power of sound. 112 00:09:00,380 --> 00:09:02,460 Hacienda Heights, California, 1968. 113 00:09:03,340 --> 00:09:08,100 Two -year -old Daniel Kish, just one year after having both eyes removed due 114 00:09:08,100 --> 00:09:12,600 cancer, sneaks out of his crib to explore his family's backyard. 115 00:09:14,560 --> 00:09:20,760 Far from being fearful or afraid, Daniel is as confident as he is curious. 116 00:09:21,580 --> 00:09:26,320 Because... At just two years old, he has developed an ability called 117 00:09:26,320 --> 00:09:30,940 echolocation, which allows him to see by using his ears. 118 00:09:32,460 --> 00:09:36,000 For those of us that study sensory systems, Daniel Kish is a rock star. 119 00:09:38,840 --> 00:09:43,400 He is clearly the most studied human that actively echolocates. 120 00:09:45,960 --> 00:09:48,520 So he will emit sounds himself. 121 00:09:49,840 --> 00:09:53,380 These sounds will go and bounce off objects and come back to his own ears. 122 00:09:53,600 --> 00:09:59,400 And these noises provide him information on distance to a target, what that 123 00:09:59,400 --> 00:10:04,280 target might actually be, how dense it is, how light it might be, its shape. 124 00:10:05,020 --> 00:10:10,380 I've been able to echolocate for as long as I can remember. And for me, it was 125 00:10:10,380 --> 00:10:11,460 as natural as breathing. 126 00:10:12,140 --> 00:10:13,600 It was just my way of seeing. 127 00:10:14,140 --> 00:10:16,680 I didn't really know it was echolocation per se. 128 00:10:16,980 --> 00:10:23,000 I just knew that I was aware of my surroundings and that I could function 129 00:10:23,000 --> 00:10:24,000 that awareness. 130 00:10:24,220 --> 00:10:27,940 It was just sort of part of the process of learning to see, which is very much 131 00:10:27,940 --> 00:10:33,060 what sighted kids actually do as they begin to calibrate their vision. 132 00:10:34,360 --> 00:10:38,300 After that, it was just sort of normal. It was just a matter of course to click 133 00:10:38,300 --> 00:10:42,400 and scan and find things and not really be afraid of what was out there. 134 00:10:44,680 --> 00:10:48,320 For most of us, if you've ever had any experience with echolocation, it's 135 00:10:48,320 --> 00:10:51,480 probably when you've been told about how bats work, right? 136 00:10:52,200 --> 00:10:57,740 Bats emit a sound. The sound bounces off objects and then comes back to them. So 137 00:10:57,740 --> 00:11:01,940 they can actually determine how far away an object is, what its size and shape 138 00:11:01,940 --> 00:11:02,940 may be, and so forth. 139 00:11:03,500 --> 00:11:08,900 And what Daniel's done is he's taken this idea and basically turned it into 140 00:11:08,900 --> 00:11:10,240 something that humans can actually use. 141 00:11:11,970 --> 00:11:16,110 Without ultrasonic hearing, without all of the advantages that bats have 142 00:11:16,110 --> 00:11:20,470 evolved, humans are somehow able to do this, and relatively easily. 143 00:11:21,390 --> 00:11:23,770 So, how? 144 00:11:24,070 --> 00:11:25,070 Why? 145 00:11:25,090 --> 00:11:29,170 I believe that we can do this because we always have. 146 00:11:29,450 --> 00:11:34,630 We've been doing it since man was prey and not predator, since we had to hide 147 00:11:34,630 --> 00:11:39,070 the dark. So we don't have to develop these systems from scratch. All we have 148 00:11:39,070 --> 00:11:40,070 do is turn them on. 149 00:11:41,680 --> 00:11:46,880 By making clicking sounds and then listening to how those sounds 150 00:11:46,880 --> 00:11:51,440 what's around him, Daniel is able to create a virtual picture of his 151 00:11:51,440 --> 00:11:53,980 surroundings with astonishing accuracy. 152 00:11:57,160 --> 00:12:01,660 Neurobiologically, I think this speaks to something that we call sensory 153 00:12:01,660 --> 00:12:08,380 substitution, that his visual cortex has been appropriated, if you like, 154 00:12:08,560 --> 00:12:10,780 because it's not receiving visual information. 155 00:12:13,090 --> 00:12:18,630 Daniel's rare ability has made him the world's foremost echolocator. But there 156 00:12:18,630 --> 00:12:23,450 are some in the scientific community who question the extraordinary nature of 157 00:12:23,450 --> 00:12:24,450 Daniel's ability. 158 00:12:25,110 --> 00:12:29,450 They argue that it's more likely that Daniel is simply making lucky guesses 159 00:12:29,450 --> 00:12:31,070 he claims to sense his environment. 160 00:12:31,470 --> 00:12:34,490 But for Daniel, there's no question. 161 00:12:35,050 --> 00:12:38,270 He sees a map in his mind. 162 00:12:38,590 --> 00:12:39,870 And what's more? 163 00:12:41,710 --> 00:12:42,710 He can prove it. 164 00:12:43,990 --> 00:12:48,630 Even though he's never seen, he's clearly using his echolocation skills to 165 00:12:48,630 --> 00:12:52,970 construct some sort of map of the visual world, although he doesn't have any 166 00:12:52,970 --> 00:12:55,710 experience with the visual world the way someone that's sighted does. 167 00:12:57,830 --> 00:13:00,990 When I visit a new place, I basically just look around. 168 00:13:01,470 --> 00:13:08,190 And for me, that involves, of course, using my sense of echolocation to scope 169 00:13:08,190 --> 00:13:09,190 out the environment. 170 00:13:09,270 --> 00:13:10,770 I start out with... 171 00:13:11,180 --> 00:13:13,400 What's most distinctive? What stands out? 172 00:13:13,740 --> 00:13:15,080 What's most unique? 173 00:13:15,660 --> 00:13:17,860 What seems to define the space? 174 00:13:18,980 --> 00:13:24,720 Essentially, it resolves into what I call three -dimensional fuzzy geometry. 175 00:13:24,720 --> 00:13:29,860 all of these features sort of coalesce into an actual image. 176 00:13:31,380 --> 00:13:34,680 Mapping it is part of the process. 177 00:13:35,400 --> 00:13:37,700 Drawing is a way of sharing. 178 00:13:38,400 --> 00:13:40,800 what my relationship with the environment is. 179 00:13:41,260 --> 00:13:45,880 It's a way of giving people a peek into my head. 180 00:13:48,660 --> 00:13:51,240 So you've got a house here, that's the most relevant feature. 181 00:13:52,120 --> 00:13:55,240 There's a parked vehicle of some kind there, and then trees. 182 00:13:56,340 --> 00:14:03,220 And then just as I got to about here, I was able immediately to tell, okay, 183 00:14:03,300 --> 00:14:06,580 this has got to be some sort of a patio area or maybe a grotto. 184 00:14:07,160 --> 00:14:13,460 And then as I rounded the area, this tree line became very obvious that 185 00:14:13,460 --> 00:14:15,120 one edge of the garden. 186 00:14:16,620 --> 00:14:21,920 Daniel often says that, you know, he can see these things in his mind. And 187 00:14:21,920 --> 00:14:23,700 skeptics would say, oh, that's impossible. 188 00:14:24,000 --> 00:14:27,640 He must be hearing sounds or just making calculations and guesses that just 189 00:14:27,640 --> 00:14:30,780 happen to be true. But he's actually able to prove it. 190 00:14:31,260 --> 00:14:34,400 He's actually able to draw what he sees in his mind. 191 00:14:36,080 --> 00:14:37,080 And it's accurate. 192 00:14:39,900 --> 00:14:43,880 I am a person who is naturally curious. 193 00:14:44,920 --> 00:14:48,620 I've been an explorer since I got out of my crib and started wandering around. 194 00:14:49,300 --> 00:14:53,100 It didn't really occur to me that, oh, but wait, I no longer have eyes. 195 00:14:53,720 --> 00:15:00,720 My interest is in understanding the world, knowing about the world and 196 00:15:00,720 --> 00:15:04,460 sharing whatever it is I think I've learned about the world. 197 00:15:05,080 --> 00:15:08,640 with others to the extent that others may benefit from that. 198 00:15:08,940 --> 00:15:11,240 It's not about seeing or not seeing. 199 00:15:11,520 --> 00:15:13,220 It's about knowing. 200 00:15:14,280 --> 00:15:16,780 It's about understanding, and it's about sharing. 201 00:15:17,820 --> 00:15:22,700 Daniel's incredible ability to make his way through the world is truly a sight 202 00:15:22,700 --> 00:15:23,700 to behold. 203 00:15:23,760 --> 00:15:29,120 But how did he unlock such an unusual and powerful sensory ability? 204 00:15:30,180 --> 00:15:33,260 Perhaps clues can be found in the stories of ordinary people. 205 00:15:34,540 --> 00:15:40,660 who experienced traumatic events and saved lives by tapping into a superhuman 206 00:15:40,660 --> 00:15:41,660 strength. 207 00:15:44,760 --> 00:15:47,860 Melbourne, Australia, August 1st, 2013. 208 00:15:48,760 --> 00:15:53,700 High above the city, 22 -year -old Brad Guy is excited to make his first 209 00:15:53,700 --> 00:15:55,180 skydiving jump. 210 00:15:55,780 --> 00:16:00,320 The self -professed adrenaline junkie wants to push the limits. 211 00:16:00,720 --> 00:16:03,500 But he'll soon find that this is going to be... 212 00:16:03,930 --> 00:16:05,710 The fall of his life. 213 00:16:07,570 --> 00:16:12,090 I was given the opportunity to choose which height I wanted to jump from, and 214 00:16:12,090 --> 00:16:16,050 decided to go as high as possible, which was 15 ,000 feet. Very high. 215 00:16:16,450 --> 00:16:21,870 So my tandem instructor ran me through how it would feel to jump and what I 216 00:16:21,870 --> 00:16:23,910 to do to ensure maximum safety. 217 00:16:24,310 --> 00:16:26,290 Then he asked me if I had any final questions. 218 00:16:26,870 --> 00:16:31,970 I think because I was so nervous, I made the joke saying, I hope my parachute 219 00:16:31,970 --> 00:16:32,970 opens. 220 00:16:35,410 --> 00:16:40,310 I remember when that rickety door of the aircraft opened and my instructor just 221 00:16:40,310 --> 00:16:43,190 edging me closer and closer, I was so terrified. 222 00:16:44,010 --> 00:16:50,450 And eventually my instructor said, three, two, one, jump, and he pushed us 223 00:16:54,010 --> 00:16:56,630 I was moving so fast that I couldn't even comprehend. 224 00:16:57,830 --> 00:17:02,990 Just that four, five, seven seconds of free fall, it's totally euphoric. 225 00:17:03,500 --> 00:17:04,500 It's indescribable. 226 00:17:05,160 --> 00:17:06,420 It's kind of like magic. 227 00:17:06,839 --> 00:17:10,960 When a skydiver jumps out of a plane, they're accelerated by gravity at a rate 228 00:17:10,960 --> 00:17:14,980 of 32 feet per second per second. His speed would have been upwards over 100 229 00:17:14,980 --> 00:17:15,980 miles per hour. 230 00:17:16,520 --> 00:17:19,359 Brad skydives an even greater thrill than he expected. 231 00:17:19,680 --> 00:17:24,940 But as he and his instructor plunge toward the ground, something goes 232 00:17:24,940 --> 00:17:25,940 awry. 233 00:17:27,200 --> 00:17:32,780 There just was this point when, as we're falling, I was expecting a thrust of a 234 00:17:32,780 --> 00:17:36,420 parachute to come as per the safety instructions, and it never came. 235 00:17:38,820 --> 00:17:43,320 I felt a bit of a thrust from a parachute, but it wasn't enough to slow 236 00:17:44,980 --> 00:17:49,200 And that's when I noticed that the first parachute, it's been deployed, but it 237 00:17:49,200 --> 00:17:50,200 hasn't opened. 238 00:17:52,040 --> 00:17:56,400 And the emergency parachute got stuck in the original parachute. 239 00:17:56,780 --> 00:17:59,200 And because they're tangled together, we're not slowing down. 240 00:18:01,230 --> 00:18:04,050 We were tumbling towards the ground from 15 ,000 feet. 241 00:18:04,710 --> 00:18:08,570 I start freaking out. I'm really panicking. All I could really see was 242 00:18:08,570 --> 00:18:09,570 getting closer and closer. 243 00:18:10,470 --> 00:18:13,710 And I knew I was going to hit the ground and die. 244 00:18:18,390 --> 00:18:21,910 The impact just smashed through my body. 245 00:18:24,570 --> 00:18:28,610 It really didn't feel like a fall. It almost felt like the earth just came and 246 00:18:28,610 --> 00:18:29,610 hit me. 247 00:18:30,160 --> 00:18:32,940 And when I hit the ground, I'm still strapped to my instructor. 248 00:18:33,400 --> 00:18:34,400 He's unconscious. 249 00:18:35,580 --> 00:18:36,760 Eventually, he did come to. 250 00:18:37,200 --> 00:18:39,420 We were just strapped to each other, screaming. 251 00:18:39,640 --> 00:18:44,660 I remember I was just hysterically crying, so confused, having no idea what 252 00:18:44,660 --> 00:18:47,760 happened, partially still thinking that I was actually dead. 253 00:18:49,720 --> 00:18:53,560 Against all odds, the two men survive a fall of nearly three miles. 254 00:18:54,500 --> 00:18:57,520 Brad and his instructor are rushed to the hospital. 255 00:18:58,030 --> 00:19:01,810 where they both begin a long and miraculous recovery. 256 00:19:02,890 --> 00:19:07,750 My physical injuries, I broke my upper spine, fractured my lower spine, tore 257 00:19:07,750 --> 00:19:12,250 ligaments in my neck, cracked and bruised ribs, mild head concussion. 258 00:19:12,630 --> 00:19:18,730 I had suspected that I was a quadriplegic. I was numb from the neck 259 00:19:18,730 --> 00:19:21,110 took me a long time to feel my body again. 260 00:19:21,710 --> 00:19:27,130 You would think that after all these years and all the time I've had to 261 00:19:27,130 --> 00:19:31,590 on it, that I would be able to look at the situation and seriously ask myself, 262 00:19:31,790 --> 00:19:36,330 was this luck or is it just all the odds been in my favor on a particular day? 263 00:19:37,530 --> 00:19:38,530 I don't know. 264 00:19:39,330 --> 00:19:40,330 I don't know. 265 00:19:41,250 --> 00:19:42,250 I would love to know. 266 00:19:43,660 --> 00:19:48,440 Sometimes when humans face extreme danger, the normal parts of our 267 00:19:48,440 --> 00:19:53,320 brain kind of get pushed aside and the sympathetic nervous system kicks in and 268 00:19:53,320 --> 00:19:58,600 can institute an adrenaline rush into the body, which can do some amazing 269 00:19:58,600 --> 00:20:04,940 things. It forces blood into the muscles and pumps them up and becomes hard to 270 00:20:04,940 --> 00:20:08,840 strengthen and protect your skeletal system and connective tissue. 271 00:20:09,710 --> 00:20:14,390 Was a surge of adrenaline responsible for protecting Brad's body from the 272 00:20:14,390 --> 00:20:15,430 extreme impact? 273 00:20:16,050 --> 00:20:20,610 Or was there something even more incredible going on? 274 00:20:20,850 --> 00:20:26,890 Perhaps an explanation can be found by examining another case of survival. One 275 00:20:26,890 --> 00:20:31,370 that involves an extraordinary feat performed by an ordinary man. 276 00:20:34,450 --> 00:20:37,570 Tucson, Arizona, July 26, 2006. 277 00:20:39,060 --> 00:20:44,900 Tom Boyle, a supervisor at a local aerospace company, is driving home with 278 00:20:44,900 --> 00:20:49,860 wife. The couple are about to exit a parking lot when another car pulls 279 00:20:49,860 --> 00:20:50,860 alongside them. 280 00:20:50,940 --> 00:20:57,600 What happens next actually changes Tom in ways that seem to defy the very laws 281 00:20:57,600 --> 00:20:58,600 of nature. 282 00:21:02,700 --> 00:21:06,500 The driver, he had taken it upon himself to peel out out of the parking lot. 283 00:21:06,840 --> 00:21:11,660 And as he did that, he sucked in a bicyclist underneath the vehicle. 284 00:21:11,880 --> 00:21:16,120 I jump out of the car. I go running after the Camaro. And as I approach the 285 00:21:16,120 --> 00:21:21,280 Camaro, there was a boy underneath on a bicycle yelling for help and asking 286 00:21:21,280 --> 00:21:23,160 people to please get the car off him. 287 00:21:23,540 --> 00:21:24,780 I just reacted. 288 00:21:25,300 --> 00:21:29,580 As the boy's cries ring out, Tom has no time to think. 289 00:21:29,980 --> 00:21:36,870 A powerful force comes alive inside him, a force that allows Tom, To 290 00:21:36,870 --> 00:21:38,630 do the impossible. 291 00:21:39,610 --> 00:21:45,990 It just got me so, I guess, nervous and compelled to help 292 00:21:45,990 --> 00:21:48,350 that I just lifted the side of the car. 293 00:21:48,690 --> 00:21:52,390 As I started lifting the car, I could hear the bicyclist telling me, higher, 294 00:21:52,490 --> 00:21:54,250 higher, mister, please go higher. 295 00:21:54,850 --> 00:21:55,850 So I did. 296 00:21:56,510 --> 00:22:00,150 I just held it as long as I possibly could, and I just thought, don't let go. 297 00:22:00,550 --> 00:22:02,130 And fortunately, we got him out. 298 00:22:02,990 --> 00:22:03,990 I'm 6 '3". 299 00:22:04,250 --> 00:22:06,110 At that time, I was 275 pounds. 300 00:22:07,310 --> 00:22:13,690 And the most I've ever lifted, I think, was 800 pounds. 301 00:22:15,010 --> 00:22:18,970 As I lifted the car, I'd never thought about how much it weighed. I just 302 00:22:18,970 --> 00:22:19,970 about saving this kid. 303 00:22:20,610 --> 00:22:22,750 Now, Tom's a big guy, solid guy. 304 00:22:23,230 --> 00:22:27,230 But we're talking about a car, okay? This is a car that weighs about 3 ,000 305 00:22:27,230 --> 00:22:29,990 pounds, and yet he just jacks it up. 306 00:22:30,380 --> 00:22:34,540 bare hands, lifts this thing up. Human beings can't normally just lift cars. 307 00:22:35,860 --> 00:22:39,800 These situations where people manage to do superhuman feats of strength, like 308 00:22:39,800 --> 00:22:44,400 lift a car off someone, as often happens in science, these are rare events. We 309 00:22:44,400 --> 00:22:45,500 don't have detailed measurements. 310 00:22:45,760 --> 00:22:49,660 And so really understanding the true biophysics and physiology of all the 311 00:22:49,660 --> 00:22:53,420 details that go in remain a bit of a mystery and an interesting area for us 312 00:22:53,420 --> 00:22:54,460 explore going forward. 313 00:22:54,990 --> 00:22:59,070 We don't use most of our muscles capability throughout the day. It's 314 00:22:59,070 --> 00:23:02,470 much more, but for some reason only under these extreme circumstances. 315 00:23:02,790 --> 00:23:09,550 If we can learn how to control our mind and use it at will, that would be like 316 00:23:09,550 --> 00:23:11,270 being a superhuman, a superhero. 317 00:23:12,610 --> 00:23:18,850 That will, that power is being driven both not only by the adrenaline, but 318 00:23:18,850 --> 00:23:19,990 importantly, it's that energy. 319 00:23:20,560 --> 00:23:24,360 It's that type of thing in China that's called Fajing, animal explosive energy. 320 00:23:25,440 --> 00:23:29,580 It's a burst of absolute decision. 321 00:23:30,700 --> 00:23:37,360 It's that unknown, that unexplained energetic place that we all know about. 322 00:23:37,360 --> 00:23:40,680 talk about it. We have feelings and vibes about these things. 323 00:23:41,160 --> 00:23:45,560 So this was a once -in -a -lifetime moment for me. I've never done anything 324 00:23:45,560 --> 00:23:46,560 like this again. 325 00:23:47,150 --> 00:23:49,690 I think you could tap into some amazing power. 326 00:23:49,990 --> 00:23:51,930 I truly do. It's there. 327 00:23:52,370 --> 00:23:54,510 You just have to have a reason to use it. 328 00:23:59,210 --> 00:24:03,330 So where does this sudden search of incredible strength come from? 329 00:24:03,710 --> 00:24:05,590 Is it something special and rare? 330 00:24:06,290 --> 00:24:12,950 Or is it simply adrenaline and an untapped ability that exists within all 331 00:24:14,120 --> 00:24:18,780 Perhaps the answers lie in the chaos surrounding another life -and -death 332 00:24:18,780 --> 00:24:24,140 scenario and the surprising circumstances of an extraordinary 333 00:24:28,820 --> 00:24:33,840 Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, November 1992. 334 00:24:35,580 --> 00:24:42,400 Banker Annette Herfkins, her fiancé, and 29 other passengers board a small 335 00:24:42,400 --> 00:24:46,700 plane. and head to the coastal town of Natron for a vacation. 336 00:24:48,780 --> 00:24:55,520 But what is supposed to be a short, routine flight is about to turn into a 337 00:24:55,520 --> 00:24:56,520 nightmare. 338 00:24:58,540 --> 00:25:02,560 When I saw the plane, I didn't want to enter it because it was awfully small. 339 00:25:03,000 --> 00:25:08,140 I am very claustrophobic, and I said, there's no way I'm entering that plane. 340 00:25:08,200 --> 00:25:10,520 I'm not going to go in there. It looks old, but mostly small. 341 00:25:11,279 --> 00:25:16,420 And my fiancé said, well, don't worry, don't you have to, it's only 55 minutes, 342 00:25:16,440 --> 00:25:20,560 and do it for us, because I have this beautiful vacation planned, and I knew 343 00:25:20,560 --> 00:25:23,560 were going to speak up about it, but please, please do it. 344 00:25:25,060 --> 00:25:28,260 And then we entered from the back of the plane. 345 00:25:29,580 --> 00:25:34,580 So we sat down, and we were told to buckle our seatbelts, and they were 346 00:25:34,580 --> 00:25:38,900 across. And then I was restrained enough as it is, and I did not buckle my 347 00:25:38,900 --> 00:25:39,900 seatbelt. 348 00:25:40,650 --> 00:25:42,170 And the flight took off. 349 00:25:43,630 --> 00:25:48,630 For the next 30 minutes, I just kept counting the minutes. And the 50th 350 00:25:48,750 --> 00:25:51,550 there was a gigantic drop. 351 00:25:52,370 --> 00:25:53,690 And people were screaming. 352 00:25:54,150 --> 00:25:57,970 And my fiancé looked at me and said, well, this I don't like. 353 00:26:01,790 --> 00:26:03,910 And then another drop. 354 00:26:08,620 --> 00:26:09,620 More people screaming. 355 00:26:09,780 --> 00:26:13,020 And he reached for my hand, and I reached for his. 356 00:26:14,020 --> 00:26:15,440 And then everything went black. 357 00:26:17,380 --> 00:26:20,960 I woke up to this eerie sound of the jungle. 358 00:26:24,480 --> 00:26:26,120 The plane broke in three pieces. 359 00:26:26,900 --> 00:26:29,860 The wings, the fuselage, and the cockpit. 360 00:26:30,840 --> 00:26:35,460 Then I looked at my left, and there I saw my fiancé still trapped in his seat. 361 00:26:38,220 --> 00:26:39,220 It was that. 362 00:26:44,160 --> 00:26:50,260 In shock, grief -stricken, and with the legs and hips broken, Annette painfully 363 00:26:50,260 --> 00:26:51,780 pulls herself out of the wreckage. 364 00:26:53,640 --> 00:26:58,100 Only to find that every passenger on board has perished. 365 00:26:59,560 --> 00:27:00,560 Except her. 366 00:27:01,120 --> 00:27:03,580 It all seems impossible. 367 00:27:06,670 --> 00:27:13,670 In this plane crash, Annette was the only survivor of 31 people. She's the 368 00:27:13,670 --> 00:27:14,670 one that survived. 369 00:27:14,990 --> 00:27:19,430 Did it have to do with just the randomness of her being in the right 370 00:27:19,430 --> 00:27:24,410 hit the ground in just the right place, that had just the right structural 371 00:27:24,410 --> 00:27:28,770 integrity based on how they crashed, or could it be something else? 372 00:27:32,790 --> 00:27:35,990 Miles from civilization, injured and alone. 373 00:27:36,460 --> 00:27:38,920 Annette finds herself in an unbearable predicament. 374 00:27:39,420 --> 00:27:45,760 But somehow, from somewhere deep inside her, she finds a way to survive. 375 00:27:47,620 --> 00:27:49,140 I would just be quiet. 376 00:27:52,820 --> 00:27:54,340 And listen to my instinct. 377 00:27:54,540 --> 00:27:57,440 I just listened to that voice and I acted on it. 378 00:27:58,340 --> 00:28:01,820 And it said, make a plan, divide it in achievable steps. 379 00:28:02,440 --> 00:28:06,220 And when you achieve one of those steps, congratulate yourself. That's exactly 380 00:28:06,220 --> 00:28:07,220 what I did. 381 00:28:07,820 --> 00:28:10,180 I realized that I was going to need some water. 382 00:28:10,780 --> 00:28:15,100 So I looked at the wing of the plane, the insulation material was some kind of 383 00:28:15,100 --> 00:28:17,440 foam. So I figured that could work as a sponge. 384 00:28:19,600 --> 00:28:25,620 And then I made seven little bowls, and I lined them up for it to rain. 385 00:28:28,100 --> 00:28:29,920 And then it rained, and it poured. 386 00:28:33,260 --> 00:28:38,560 And then I was very happy to see this little bowl filling up with water. 387 00:28:39,080 --> 00:28:41,160 Tasted like a batch of pain, as you can imagine. 388 00:28:44,840 --> 00:28:48,900 She was able to survive the plane crash, but maybe what was even more remarkable 389 00:28:48,900 --> 00:28:54,940 is that she was able to survive eight days in the jungle with no prior 390 00:28:54,940 --> 00:29:01,220 jungle training or experience and no conditioning to be in the jungle. 391 00:29:03,310 --> 00:29:10,190 On the afternoon on the eighth day, out of nowhere, men came up the mountain. 392 00:29:12,710 --> 00:29:15,810 And they showed me a passenger list. 393 00:29:16,250 --> 00:29:18,930 And I had to point out my name. 394 00:29:19,510 --> 00:29:23,210 And I just realized how amazing it was that they actually found me. 395 00:29:24,870 --> 00:29:29,090 It may have been random chance that allowed Annette to live through the 396 00:29:29,090 --> 00:29:30,090 crash. 397 00:29:31,370 --> 00:29:36,110 But what was the so -called voice that gave her the guidance she needed to 398 00:29:36,110 --> 00:29:37,110 survive? 399 00:29:38,650 --> 00:29:44,750 Is it some kind of deep -seated electro -biochemical force 400 00:29:44,750 --> 00:29:48,370 that's innate in the brain that suddenly gets activated? 401 00:29:49,310 --> 00:29:51,930 Or is it something that comes from outside? 402 00:29:52,350 --> 00:29:57,750 Is it faith from an outside power that brings that energy to the person who's 403 00:29:57,750 --> 00:29:58,750 desperate need? 404 00:29:59,830 --> 00:30:05,530 Whether or not you view yourself as strong and capable, you have the 405 00:30:05,530 --> 00:30:09,290 to tap into these things and get in tune with these strengths, with these 406 00:30:09,290 --> 00:30:11,370 capabilities, whether you know it or not. 407 00:30:11,930 --> 00:30:16,070 We all have that voice inside of us that we can listen to. 408 00:30:16,710 --> 00:30:20,350 In extreme situations, it's always there to help you. 409 00:30:21,110 --> 00:30:24,810 Just listen to that voice. Be silent. It's there. It's there. 410 00:30:30,730 --> 00:30:33,850 Kelso, Washington, February 2nd, 2020. 411 00:30:34,570 --> 00:30:39,930 38 -year -old Stephen Peete attends to his Sunday chores like yard work and 412 00:30:39,930 --> 00:30:43,430 cooking and tinkering with several projects in his basement. 413 00:30:43,910 --> 00:30:46,650 All the same things that any person might do on a weekend. 414 00:30:47,110 --> 00:30:52,730 But for Stephen, he has to do all this far more carefully than the average 415 00:30:52,730 --> 00:30:58,270 person because for him, doing household chores is more than just a series of 416 00:30:58,270 --> 00:30:59,270 tasks. 417 00:30:59,310 --> 00:31:00,310 It's actually dangerous. 418 00:31:01,930 --> 00:31:06,250 I was born with a rare genetic condition called congenital analgesia. At the 419 00:31:06,250 --> 00:31:10,250 time, that was the name given to it. Now it's called congenital insensitive 420 00:31:10,250 --> 00:31:11,250 pain. 421 00:31:11,650 --> 00:31:14,910 So I can't feel any pain at all. 422 00:31:16,470 --> 00:31:18,170 A life free of pain? 423 00:31:18,690 --> 00:31:21,250 Sounds like something many of us would pay dearly for. 424 00:31:22,150 --> 00:31:26,830 But for people like Stephen, death or severe injury? 425 00:31:27,230 --> 00:31:29,230 lurks around every corner. 426 00:31:31,250 --> 00:31:35,050 My parents first noticed something was different when I was teething and I 427 00:31:35,050 --> 00:31:36,130 chewed off half my tongue. 428 00:31:37,450 --> 00:31:41,670 That definitely alarmed them to something serious going on, so they took 429 00:31:41,670 --> 00:31:47,390 my pediatrician who did a couple of tests and determined that more than 430 00:31:47,390 --> 00:31:48,390 didn't feel pain. 431 00:31:49,250 --> 00:31:54,710 They ran needles up and down my spine, poked my feet a couple of places. I 432 00:31:54,710 --> 00:31:57,170 didn't. elicit a native response, a painful response. 433 00:31:59,710 --> 00:32:03,110 Stephen's gruesome injury provides a stark reminder that while most people 434 00:32:03,110 --> 00:32:08,770 probably don't think of pain as a sense, it may actually be the most important 435 00:32:08,770 --> 00:32:09,770 sense of all. 436 00:32:11,310 --> 00:32:15,910 Congenital analgesia is an inherited form of insensitivity to pain. 437 00:32:16,350 --> 00:32:20,230 Congenital means it runs in the family, and analgesia means that you don't feel 438 00:32:20,230 --> 00:32:23,230 pain. You have no feeling of pain whatsoever. 439 00:32:23,950 --> 00:32:27,530 There's some form of mutation in a gene that's essential for pain perception. 440 00:32:28,590 --> 00:32:32,990 When people first hear that I don't feel pain, they think it is the greatest 441 00:32:32,990 --> 00:32:34,950 thing in the whole world. They're like, well, I've got super power. 442 00:32:35,510 --> 00:32:39,430 But my childhood was spending good chunks of time in the hospital. 443 00:32:40,390 --> 00:32:46,310 I stayed in between like four months to maybe a year and a half, which isn't 444 00:32:46,310 --> 00:32:47,310 normal. 445 00:32:48,510 --> 00:32:50,610 It's an extremely problematic condition. 446 00:32:50,930 --> 00:32:53,130 Pain protects us from self -harm. 447 00:32:53,480 --> 00:32:55,040 and it's often the first time of disease. 448 00:32:55,460 --> 00:32:58,060 So people who are pain -free often die very young. 449 00:32:58,720 --> 00:33:04,700 It's actually rather amazing that he's made it through life as far as he has. I 450 00:33:04,700 --> 00:33:08,260 mean, the classic example we always hear about is learning not to touch things 451 00:33:08,260 --> 00:33:09,260 that are hot. 452 00:33:09,380 --> 00:33:12,500 Pain alerts us when we're doing something in the external world that 453 00:33:12,500 --> 00:33:13,540 make sense and we should stop. 454 00:33:16,140 --> 00:33:19,260 The one thing that I really have to keep an eye on... 455 00:33:19,530 --> 00:33:23,470 It's probably whenever I'm engaged in a physical activity that's a little bit 456 00:33:23,470 --> 00:33:25,490 strenuous, like doing yard work. 457 00:33:25,890 --> 00:33:30,910 It's stuff like that where I can injure myself and not immediately realize it 458 00:33:30,910 --> 00:33:34,550 that can cause serious repercussions down the road. 459 00:33:35,770 --> 00:33:39,470 When we think about senses, we always think about the classic five senses. 460 00:33:39,950 --> 00:33:42,570 Sight, touch, smell, taste, and hearing. 461 00:33:43,130 --> 00:33:45,970 One thing that's really interesting, though, is... 462 00:33:46,170 --> 00:33:49,870 we basically have another sense, which is our pain, our sense of pain. 463 00:33:50,070 --> 00:33:53,010 We often just reject that as, well, that's just touch. 464 00:33:53,210 --> 00:33:57,450 But that negates or doesn't think about the internal pains we often feel, 465 00:33:57,510 --> 00:34:01,890 whether it's headaches or stomach aches or sore muscles, which really isn't 466 00:34:01,890 --> 00:34:02,890 quite touch. 467 00:34:02,950 --> 00:34:04,190 Pain is another sense. 468 00:34:04,470 --> 00:34:06,750 It's a sense, we call it, not perception. 469 00:34:08,070 --> 00:34:10,469 It's conveyed by specific kinds of nerves. 470 00:34:10,690 --> 00:34:15,030 We get activated when, for instance, we might touch a hot stove or cut 471 00:34:15,030 --> 00:34:16,030 ourselves. 472 00:34:16,670 --> 00:34:22,310 What's interesting is the brain can regulate pain dramatically, but the 473 00:34:22,310 --> 00:34:26,630 drive that causes pain is from the peripheral nerve. The nerves that send 474 00:34:26,630 --> 00:34:30,630 information into the brain don't work in congenital analgesia patients. 475 00:34:31,550 --> 00:34:37,190 This loss of pain is caused by malfunctions in a very small number of 476 00:34:37,190 --> 00:34:38,190 are extremely rare. 477 00:34:38,409 --> 00:34:42,429 One of them is involved in signaling in the peripheral nerves. It's called NAV1 478 00:34:42,429 --> 00:34:44,929 .7. It's a protein that's called a sodium channel. 479 00:34:45,310 --> 00:34:46,530 It's like an electrical switch. 480 00:34:46,770 --> 00:34:50,469 And if that protein doesn't function properly, then you can become pain 481 00:34:53,810 --> 00:34:59,170 Since Stephen doesn't feel pain, it begs the question, what does he feel 482 00:34:59,170 --> 00:35:02,590 instead? It's difficult for me to try to explain. 483 00:35:02,910 --> 00:35:07,650 But even though I don't feel physical pain, what I can feel is heat, cold, 484 00:35:08,010 --> 00:35:12,370 touch, just like every other person. What I do feel is... 485 00:35:12,840 --> 00:35:19,020 Probably a byproduct of pain is like these impulses, almost like a nerve 486 00:35:19,680 --> 00:35:24,340 Since 2012, I've had the opportunity of being able to participate in a couple of 487 00:35:24,340 --> 00:35:26,120 studies with different universities. 488 00:35:26,840 --> 00:35:31,820 I spent a good portion of my childhood in the hospital. And during those days, 489 00:35:31,960 --> 00:35:37,820 it was usually with people who felt pain and seeing people, especially that 490 00:35:37,820 --> 00:35:40,080 young who are going through such painful experiences. 491 00:35:41,040 --> 00:35:44,920 That's really what prompted me to sign up for a lot of these studies when I was 492 00:35:44,920 --> 00:35:45,920 approached. 493 00:35:46,320 --> 00:35:50,820 And the overall goal in a lot of these studies is to try to create a non 494 00:35:50,820 --> 00:35:56,240 -narcotic painkiller because the opioid crisis that our country is facing is one 495 00:35:56,240 --> 00:35:58,060 that other nations are facing as well. 496 00:35:59,520 --> 00:36:03,120 So I've been asked quite a lot with all these studies I've been participating in 497 00:36:03,120 --> 00:36:07,140 if I had the chance to feel pain, if they could figure out what activates or 498 00:36:07,140 --> 00:36:08,160 deactivates that switch. 499 00:36:08,670 --> 00:36:10,470 Would I myself want to feel pain? 500 00:36:11,810 --> 00:36:13,290 And my answer is no. 501 00:36:14,070 --> 00:36:17,750 And that's only because I've damaged my body so much throughout my entire life 502 00:36:17,750 --> 00:36:21,350 that if I were to feel pain right now, I'd just be in a constant state of pain 503 00:36:21,350 --> 00:36:22,350 all the time. 504 00:36:22,670 --> 00:36:28,290 I have a bad knee, but my back is a little bit messed up. So my quality of 505 00:36:28,290 --> 00:36:29,570 would just be low. 506 00:36:29,890 --> 00:36:31,950 And there's no way I could live like that. 507 00:36:34,030 --> 00:36:37,750 The ability to feel pain is essential to our very survival. 508 00:36:39,020 --> 00:36:43,900 But are there other senses in addition to familiar ones, like touch or sight, 509 00:36:44,000 --> 00:36:49,280 that go beyond our common understanding of what humans are capable of? 510 00:36:50,400 --> 00:36:55,520 Do we all possess an extrasensory perception? 511 00:36:59,300 --> 00:37:05,120 As we continue to study the human mind, will we one day be able to reveal 512 00:37:05,120 --> 00:37:07,300 certain extrasensory abilities? 513 00:37:08,520 --> 00:37:12,900 For millennia, there have been people who could sense an invisible presence, 514 00:37:13,200 --> 00:37:19,160 whether it be a deceased loved one, a spiritual energy, or even something more 515 00:37:19,160 --> 00:37:24,800 sinister. While it may sound a bit oka -boka, a study published by scientists 516 00:37:24,800 --> 00:37:30,480 from Caltech in 2019 suggests that humans can not only detect energy 517 00:37:30,700 --> 00:37:35,220 they can also sense the magnetic field of the Earth. 518 00:37:36,040 --> 00:37:40,080 The human brain has a lot of phenomena going on inside it that uses 519 00:37:40,080 --> 00:37:44,400 electromagnetic charges and electric fields. And if you change the magnetic 520 00:37:44,400 --> 00:37:50,660 field around your brain, it will impact what's going on inside your brain. 521 00:37:50,940 --> 00:37:57,140 So small magnetic fields are most certainly detectable. We just may not 522 00:37:57,140 --> 00:37:58,140 we're detecting them. 523 00:37:58,160 --> 00:38:03,080 They wouldn't surprise me in any way if there aren't aspects of brain function. 524 00:38:03,560 --> 00:38:08,460 that we are completely unaware of at the moment, that we'll become aware of 525 00:38:08,460 --> 00:38:11,540 later when we understand more about how the brain actually works. 526 00:38:12,600 --> 00:38:18,260 Since it's already been proven that humans have more than five senses, could 527 00:38:18,260 --> 00:38:22,640 there really be something to the notion that we have the potential to sense the 528 00:38:22,640 --> 00:38:27,320 world around us in what some would consider bizarre or even mystical ways? 529 00:38:28,320 --> 00:38:31,160 According to some researchers, the answer is yes. 530 00:38:32,170 --> 00:38:37,130 And as evidence, they point to an incredible phenomenon known as paroptic 531 00:38:37,130 --> 00:38:38,130 vision. 532 00:38:38,830 --> 00:38:43,870 Paroptic vision was first proposed by a surrealist writer called René Dommel, 533 00:38:44,030 --> 00:38:47,990 who was a teenager, practiced seeing color through his fingertips. 534 00:38:48,230 --> 00:38:53,090 So he'd put different colored handkerchiefs inside a box, and then 535 00:38:53,090 --> 00:38:57,130 see if he could tell what color the handkerchief was. That sounds quite 536 00:38:57,310 --> 00:38:59,410 but I've done some experiments. 537 00:38:59,930 --> 00:39:04,450 It's a rare ability, but I did find one person who was able to detect the colors 538 00:39:04,450 --> 00:39:09,230 through the fingertips. I can't explain it, but she could detect color with 80 % 539 00:39:09,230 --> 00:39:11,490 reliability through her fingertips. 540 00:39:12,950 --> 00:39:18,370 It's been discovered that the skin has opsins embedded in them, and opsins help 541 00:39:18,370 --> 00:39:22,190 the body calibrate to circadian rhythms, to 24 -hour rhythms. 542 00:39:22,710 --> 00:39:26,830 So it's not too much of a stretch to think how opsins could not just detect 543 00:39:26,830 --> 00:39:28,570 light, but they could also detect color. 544 00:39:29,630 --> 00:39:33,990 Many people believe that there are mysterious ways of sensing things that 545 00:39:33,990 --> 00:39:35,170 involve the traditional senses. 546 00:39:35,430 --> 00:39:40,810 And I believe that there's perfectly reasonable expectation that may perhaps 547 00:39:40,810 --> 00:39:44,410 true. We don't really understand how the brain works at all. 548 00:39:45,990 --> 00:39:52,030 As incredible as it is to discover new senses, it's also a little unsettling. 549 00:39:52,710 --> 00:39:57,670 Because if our brain is just using our senses to constantly try and guess what 550 00:39:57,670 --> 00:39:58,670 reality is, 551 00:39:59,770 --> 00:40:03,250 Then how are we to know when it gets us wrong instead of right? 552 00:40:04,650 --> 00:40:08,710 I like to think of perception as a kind of controlled hallucination because 553 00:40:08,710 --> 00:40:12,130 there's no light in the skull, there's no sound in the skull. All you've got to 554 00:40:12,130 --> 00:40:16,650 go on out of the brain are these noisy and ambiguous sensory signals. 555 00:40:17,070 --> 00:40:18,290 Signals don't come with labels. 556 00:40:18,610 --> 00:40:20,870 I'm from a coffee cup or I'm from a cat. 557 00:40:21,870 --> 00:40:25,550 And this is why, for instance, if you look up at the sky and there's some 558 00:40:25,550 --> 00:40:27,150 clouds, sometimes you might see faces. 559 00:40:29,690 --> 00:40:33,330 Reality is not quite as real as people think. 560 00:40:34,090 --> 00:40:38,390 We are often told that something looks red because it reflects more red 561 00:40:38,390 --> 00:40:41,350 wavelengths. But there's no such thing as red wavelengths. 562 00:40:41,630 --> 00:40:46,790 Color is not a property of objects. It's a property of brains. 563 00:40:47,870 --> 00:40:53,010 It's simply the wonder that our brain is creating all of this and that we can 564 00:40:53,010 --> 00:40:54,390 agree on so much. 565 00:40:55,610 --> 00:41:00,570 Perception is about representing the world and the body and the self in the 566 00:41:00,570 --> 00:41:02,070 that's most useful for the organism. 567 00:41:02,390 --> 00:41:08,410 So if you see a color, that's not right or wrong. Color is where the brain meets 568 00:41:08,410 --> 00:41:11,130 the universe in a way that's useful for us. 569 00:41:11,950 --> 00:41:16,470 I think we can all agree reality exists. We think, therefore, something exists. 570 00:41:17,010 --> 00:41:21,870 But what it is and how we will know what it is is fun to explore. 571 00:41:23,600 --> 00:41:28,260 It's thrilling to think that we may one day witness the next step in human 572 00:41:28,260 --> 00:41:32,520 evolution by unlocking our so -called extrasensory abilities. 573 00:41:33,240 --> 00:41:38,320 Could things like pain management, physical strength, and even the 574 00:41:38,320 --> 00:41:43,140 heal ourselves be functions that already exist within us? 575 00:41:43,960 --> 00:41:48,700 As we learn more about the power of mind over matter, perhaps the answers will 576 00:41:48,700 --> 00:41:49,760 become second nature. 577 00:41:50,300 --> 00:41:51,600 But for now... 578 00:41:52,060 --> 00:41:56,440 the extraordinary capabilities of the human brain remain 579 00:41:56,440 --> 00:41:59,140 unexplained.