The Fear Project A new book exploring life's most primal emotion
Posts Tagged ‘courage’
Fear less, Love More: An Interview with MeiMei Fox
MeiMei Fox is one of the most dynamic human beings I’ve ever encountered. She’s one of those people who can work a 12-hour day, go home to meditate and do yoga, then party all night, and get up and do it again the next day. After studying psychology at Stanford, MeiMei became a depth psychotherapy-trained [...]
Big Wave Surfing: A Triumph of the Modern Brain
It was an honor to have my article about Mavericks and the neurobiology of fear and courage published in last month’s issue of Surfer Magazine. There will be much more to come on this topic. Here’s the intro to the article. A few winters ago, I got all amped on surfing Mavericks. I’d never been [...]
Swimming Through Fear
On Friday, August 31, at 6 a.m., ultra swimmer Jamie Patrick will begin his attempt to become the first human to ever swim around the perimeter of Lake Tahoe. Though he’ll be wearing a wetsuit, the 68-mile swim will be one of the longest nonstop swims in history. You can watch it live here, but [...]
Why We Love Fear (And Game of Thrones)
One of the best parts of the HBO series Game of Thrones is how well the writing captures fear’s many facets. In this scene, Brandon Stark, son of Ned Stark, is asking Old Nan for a scary story, prompting ominous talk of their world’s dreadful long winters. “Oh, my sweet summer child,” says Old Nan, [...]
Into the Darkness with Mike Madden
(Photo: Mike Madden) “You have the fear of drowning, and you add claustrophobia and all sorts of other kinds of phobias, buried alive, and cave diving has a very high stress level…But there is no question that the biggest enemy in the cave is your own mind.” JY: How did you get into cave diving? [...]
The Doctor’s Diagnoses on Fear
“If fear is something that you hold in your mind in anticipation of something bad happening, I don’t hold that in my mind. I don’t see that kind of peril in surf, no matter how big it gets.” Mark “Doc” Renneker is both a world renowned physician and big-wave explorer. He is one of the [...]
JT Holmes: Transforming Fear to Focus
In 2009, 60 Minutes featured Holmes and friends BASE-jumping in “wing suits,” flying squirrel-like getups that allow them leap off, say, a 1000 foot cliff, and cover up to 2.5 feet horizontally to every one-foot of vertical free-fall. It’s the closest thing to a human flying without a motor, and JT recently took his flying [...]
The Science of Choking
Recently I had the opportunity to apply some of my research from The Fear Project to an ESPN Magazine feature for their Choke issue. The Science of Choking, by Jaimal Yogis IT WAS A CHIP SHOT. With just 15 seconds left in the AFC championship game against the Patriots in January, the Ravens’ Billy Cundiff [...]
What is the best fighter on earth afraid of?
I had the good fortune of growing up best friends with one of the world’s best Mixed Martial Arts fighters ever, Urijah Faber. Recently I sat down with the former world champion to ask him what he’s scared of. JY: When you go into the ring, the night of the fight, what are you feeling [...]