The Fear Project A new book exploring life's most primal emotion
Posts Tagged ‘The Fear Project’
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, [...]
Olympic Stress. How Do Athletes Deal?
One shot. That’s what many of these Olympic athletes will get. The stress is nearly unimaginable. How do they deal? I recently caught up with Jamie Nieto, one of the Team USA Olympic high jumpers, who will be competing in the high jump qualifier in just a few hours. Nieto, who is 35 and likely [...]
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 [...]