It's Monday, November 12th, 2018, and you're listening to Inquiring Minds.

I'm Andravis Gontas.

And I'm Kishorahari.

Each week, we bring you a new, in-depth exploration of the space where science, politics,

and society collide.

We endeavor to find out what's true, what's left to discover, and why it all matters.

You can find us online at inquiring. Show, on Twitter, at Inquiring Show, and on Facebook.

You can also get an ad-free version of this show

by supporting us at patreon.com slash inquiring minds.

And you can subscribe to the show on iTunes or any other podcasting app.

So long-time listeners of this show might know that one of my favorite topics is how we get become our best selves. So how we how we trade up a very complex skill, you know, and then

talking to individuals who have developed that kind of skill, like grandmaster chess champions.

And so I was really interested in hearing about Rowan Hooper's new book.

It's called Superhuman, Life at the Extremes of Our Capacity, in part because it's not just your

usual superhuman feats, like, you know, memorizing pie, although that's in there as well, or running the,

you know, world's fastest marathon, although things like that are in there as well. But he also

talks about human, you know, sort of feats like being a really good sleeper, being able to, like

immediately fall asleep when told to, or people who have extreme resilience. So in the

face of terrible, terrible traumatic events, people who still rise up and are able to, you know,

see life, see the, see the bright side of life. So first of all, I want the sleep superhuman

ability like first and foremost. I think we want the sleep superhuman ability, like first and foremost.

I think we all want that superhuman ability.

...