Climbing Gold

Facing Fear with Alex Honnold | ReThinking with Adam Grant

Oct 18, 2022
Ask episode
AI Snips
Chapters
Transcript
Episode notes
ANECDOTE

Lifelong Passion for Climbing

  • Alex Honnold has loved climbing since he was a child, starting with playful climbing on buildings and trees.
  • He discovered rock climbing in a gym at age 10 and has climbed full-time since then.
INSIGHT

Flow State in Cutting-Edge Climbing

  • On difficult free solo climbs, Alex operates mostly on autopilot without active appreciation of surroundings.
  • He experiences a flow state where the focus is solely on performing the activity itself.
INSIGHT

Selective Threat Detection in Brain

  • Alex's brain is trained to respond only to actual threats, not perceived ones like images.
  • His amygdala doesn't trigger fear responses to innocuous stimuli, conservatively activating for real dangers.
Get the Snipd Podcast app to discover more snips from this episode
Get the app