The Rise of Superman: Decoding the Science of Ultimate Human Performance

Our sense of how long “the now” lasts is directly related to information processing: The more stuff we’re processing, the longer the moment appears to last. And the longer the moment lasts, the better quantity and quality of information we have at our disposal. More data gives us a shot at sudden insights. Better data leads to more creative solutions. Both allow us to fine-tune our reactions.

As focus tightens, the brain stops multitasking.

The technical term for this exchange is transient hypofrontality, with hypo (meaning slow) being the opposite of hyper (i.e., fast). In flow, which parts of the brain become hypofrontal determines the nature of the experience—with a quick rule of thumb being: the greater the deactivation of neuronal structures, the more profound (and bizarre) the experience.

a team of Israeli scientists discovered that when people lose themselves in a task—be it playing cards or having sex or climbing a mountain—a part of the brain called the superior frontal gyrus starts to deactivate. The superior frontal gyrus helps produce our sense of self, that introspective feeling of self-awareness

There’s long tradition here—the tradition of honoring someone who has died trying to live their life to the fullest by, in turn, living your own life to the fullest.

“Bliss junkies are people who think the magical ease of the flow state is the goal,” says Wheal. “When they confront the difficulty of the day to day, they’d rather reach for a pill or a new lover or another meditation retreat than get down to hard work. The idea being, if it was all so easy, clear, and effortless in flow, then why not wait for the next wave to hit? Not being in flow becomes an excuse to stay listless and undermotivated.”

Scientists who study human motivation have lately learned that after basic survival needs have been met, the combination of autonomy (the desire to direct your own life), mastery (the desire to learn, explore, and be creative), and purpose (the desire to matter, to contribute to the world) are our most powerful intrinsic drivers—the three things that motivate us most.

freeriding tilted the value structure of action and adventure sports. It overemphasized self-expression. It de-emphasized winning. And especially de-emphasized the idea of a solitary winner. As long as freeriders were seeing interesting lines and riding those lines in interesting ways, they were winning. No longer was the fastest person down the mountain the best athlete on the mountain. To really win, you had be creative.