All language subtitles for The.UnXplained.S08E05.Mind.Over.Matter.1080p.HULU.WEB-DL.AAC2.0.H.264-RAWR_track3_[eng]

A firewalker free of pain

by controlling his mental state,

a blind man
able to create maps in his mind

by using the power of sound,

and a plane crash
deep in the jungle,

where a single survivor
was guided by an inner voice.

The human mind.

It is the home
of all our thoughts, hopes,

dreams and memories.

The organ we call the brain
not only keeps us alive,

it allows us to interpret
and experience

the incredible world we live in.

But are there people
who are wired differently

than most of us?

Can unique circumstances
permit some

to tap
into extrasensory abilities

that defy nature?

Or do we all have
extraordinary mental skills

that can come to our rescue

with a power
that we never knew we possessed?

Well, that is what
we'll try and find out.

Here, as they have
for centuries,

villagers gather
for an evening festival

to celebrate
the summer solstice.

They engage in singing, dancing,

wearing elaborate costumes.

But for a select group
of villagers,

the festivities
aren't so conventional

because their evening
also includes something

out of the ordinary--

a dangerous walk over fire.

Now, I've seen
many fire walking rituals

in many different contexts
in a variety of countries,

but I've never seen a fire as
fierce as the one in San Pedro.

This is by far
the most important event

in the life of this community.

They have
this amphitheater around the,

the place
where the actual fire is.

Then these men walk
on the embers.

It's five or six steps
from one side to the other,

and they do it barefoot

and usually carrying someone
on their shoulder.

People often wonder,
is the firewalk really hot?

And the answer is yes.

Once the wood is first laid out,
the overall temperature

is between 1,000
and 1,200 degrees.

That's really hot--

more than enough
to burn flesh, certainly.

So, imagine a carpet that is

20 feet across
and several inches deep

and is burning at a temperature

that is hot enough
to melt aluminum.

If you look
at the temperatures involved,

you're typically talking
temperatures

over 1,000 degrees Fahrenheit,

and skin burns at 100,
160 degrees Fahrenheit.

Walking on fire is very,
very dangerous.

I mean, you're barefoot.

Just one wrong move

and you can be severely burned.

People ask me all the time
whether firewalkers

have any kind of special trick,

whether they're on some kind
of special drug

that prevents them from feeling
pain or getting burned.

The answer to all these is no.

There's no special trick.

Walking on fire,

and at temperatures hot enough
to turn metal into liquid.

No one in their right mind
would do this

and expect to emerge
unharmed, right?

And yet the people
of San Pedro Manrique

manage to do just that,
and on a yearly basis.

But how?

Walking across hot embers is one
of my favorite physics problems.

The trick is making sure
the embers are hot enough

that you actually get
a very thin but very real layer

of water vapor between your skin
and the hot coals.

Some of these same firewalkers--

one day they walk across
unscathed.

Another time they try it,

they do burn their feet.

My experience tells me,

the difference is
in their mindset.

So, at my firewalks, once we've
taken the group out to the fire

and we're getting ready to walk,

first I like to remind them
again about their intention,

and this helps motivate them
and get them across.

And then we raise
people's energy

before a firewalk.

Firewalkers around the world--

regardless
of tradition, religion--

they raise the group's energy
before they walk.

So, this can be done
with meditation, chanting,

singing, dancing.

Whatever the case,
you want to get your group

into an excited, pumped-up state

before the firewalk.

There is absolutely
something about being

in an excited, uplifted state

that helps you get
across safely.

So, what actually happens

there psychologically is,
there is this emotional buildup.

There's this highly intense
arousal that's happening,

and so you have cortisol and
other sort of endocrine hormones

flooding the system,

which will help to block
some of the pain receptors.

Water vapor?

Mind control?

But can fire walking
without pain or injury

really be just
a simple matter of willpower?

Or does it require
something even more?

We know we have the capability

to redirect pain
or even to numb pain

just by putting ourselves
in the right mindset,

but many of these firewalkers
don't even have

blisters or burns on their feet,
so when you look at physics,

that's impossible.

If you touch
something that's hot,

you're going to get burned.

So the question is,

are we dealing
with a magical force

that we have yet
to fully understand?

So, in one study

with the San Pedro
Spanish fire walking ritual,

a team of anthropologists

were curious what happens
to a person's heart rate

for the individual
who's actually walking

and for any individual
who is close to them,

like a relative
or a family member.

For this study my colleagues
and I went to San Pedro

and used some devices
that collected heart rate data,

and we placed those devices

not only
on the firewalkers themselves

but also members
of the audience.

And what we found is
that the ritual itself

created an astonishing level
of synchrony

in the heart rates
of the participants.

The surprising part is that

you will still have
a state of physiology

that's similar to the individual

as if you are walking
over the coals,

when, in fact,
of course you're not.

It is so much more
than just an individual ritual.

It is a community experience.

Yes, it is technically possible

to cross a coal bed
unharmed all by yourself,

but it is much easier
to experience a firewalk

surrounded by people
who are there to support you--

your family, your community.

Crossing barefoot
over 1,000-degree coals

doesn't make
any practical sense,

and even though
I've personally crossed

hundreds and hundreds
of coal beds,

I still don't
perfectly understand

how and why it works
like it does.

The ability to walk barefoot
over open flames

and end up unharmed might be
a perfect example

of mind over matter.

While it's clear
that the human brain is capable

of shielding us from pain
while under stress,

can the same be said
if we lose one of our senses?

Perhaps clues can be found

in the story of a young boy

who was born blind
and developed the ability to see

using the power of sound.

Two-year-old Daniel Kish,

just one year after having
both eyes removed due to cancer,

sneaks out of his crib to
explore his family's backyard.

Far from being fearful
or afraid,

Daniel is as confident
as he is curious

because at just two years old,

he has developed an ability
called echolocation,

which allows him to see
by using his ears.

For those of us
that study sensory systems,

Daniel Kish is a rock star.

He is clearly
the most studied human

that actively echolocates.

So, he will emit sounds himself.

These sounds will go
and bounce off objects

and come back to his own ears,

and these noises
provide him information

on distance to a target, what
that target might actually be,

how dense it is,
how light it might be,

its shape.

I've been able to echolocate
for as long as I can remember,

and for me
it was as natural as breathing.

It was just my way of seeing.

I didn't really know
it was echolocation per se.

I just knew that I was aware
of my surroundings

and that I could function
with that awareness.

It was just sort of part of the
process of learning to see,

which is very much
what sighted kids actually do

as they begin
to calibrate their vision.

After that,
it was just sort of normal.

It was just a matter of course
to click and scan

and find things and not really
be afraid of what was out there.

For most of us,
if you've ever had

any experience
with echolocation,

it's probably
when you've been told

about how bats work, right?

Bats emit a sound.

The sound bounces off objects
and then comes back to them,

so they can actually determine
how far away an object is,

what its size and shape may be,
and so forth.

And what Daniel's done is,
he's taken this idea

and basically turned it
into something

that humans can actually use.

Without ultrasonic hearing,

without all of the advantages
that bats have evolved,

humans are somehow able
to do this,

and relatively easily.

So, how? Why?

I believe that we can do this
because we always have.

We've been doing it since man
was prey and not predator,

since we had to hide
in the dark.

So we don't have to develop
these systems from scratch.

All we have to do
is turn them on.

By making clicking sounds

and then listening
to how those sounds reverberate

off what's around him,

Daniel is able to create
a virtual picture

of his surroundings
with astonishing accuracy.

Neurobiologically,

I think this speaks to something

that we call
sensory substitution.

That his visual cortex has
been appropriated, if you like,

because it's not
receiving visual information.

Daniel's rare ability

has made him the world's
foremost echolocator,

but there are some
in the scientific community

who question the extraordinary
nature of Daniel's ability.

They argue that
it's more likely that Daniel

is simply making lucky guesses

when he claims
to sense his environment.

But for Daniel,
there's no question.

He sees a map in his mind.

And what's more...

...he can prove it.

Even though he's never seen,

he's clearly using
his echolocation skills

to construct some sort of map
of the visual world,

although he doesn't have
any experience

with the visual world the way
someone that's sighted does.

When I visit a new place,

I basically just look around,

and for me
that involves, of course,

using my sense of echolocation

to scope out the environment.

I start out with what's most
distinctive, what stands out,

uh, what's most unique, uh,
what seems to define the space.

Essentially,
it resolves into what I call

"three-dimensional
fuzzy geometry,"

so all of these features
sort of coalesce

into an actual image.

Mapping it
is part of the process.

Drawing is a way of sharing

what my relationship
with the environment is.

It's a way of giving people
a peek into my head.

So, you've got a house here--

that's the most
relevant feature.

There's a parked vehicle
of some kind there,

and then trees.

And then,
just as I got to about here,

I was able immediately to tell,
"Okay, this has got to be

some sort of a patio area
or maybe a grotto."

And then, as I rounded the area,

this tree line
became very obvious,

that bounds
one edge of the garden.

Daniel often says that,
you know,

he can see these things
in his mind,

and skeptics would say,
"Oh, that's impossible.

"He must be hearing sounds

"or just making
calculations and guesses

that just happen to be true,"

but he's actually able
to prove it.

He's actually able to draw
what he sees in his mind...

...and it's accurate.

I am a person
who is naturally curious.

I've been an explorer
since I got out of my crib

and started wandering around.

It didn't really occur
to me that,

"Oh, but wait,
I no longer have eyes."

My interest
is in understanding the world,

knowing about the world,

and sharing whatever it is
I think I've learned

about the world with others

to the extent that others
may benefit from that.

It's not about seeing
or not seeing.

It's about knowing.

It's about understanding
and it's about sharing.

Daniel's incredible ability

to make his way
through the world

is truly a "sight" to behold.

But how did he unlock
such an unusual

and powerful sensory ability?

Perhaps clues can be found
in the stories

of ordinary people...

...who experienced traumatic
events and saved lives

by tapping
into a superhuman strength.

High above the city,

22-year-old Brad Guy

is excited to make
his first skydiving jump.

The self-professed
adrenaline junkie

wants to push the limits,

but he'll soon find
that this is going to be

the fall of his life.

I was given the opportunity

to choose which height
I wanted to jump from,

and I decided to go
as high as possible,

which was 15,000 feet.

Very high.

So, my tandem instructor
ran me through

how it would feel to jump
and what I need to do

to ensure maximum safety.

Then he asked me
if I had any final questions.

I think
because I was so nervous,

I made the joke saying,

"I hope my parachute opens."

I remember when that rickety
door of the aircraft opened,

and my instructor just
edging me closer and closer,

I was so terrified.

And eventually
my instructor said,

"Three, two, one, jump,"
and he pushed us out.

I was moving so fast
that I couldn't even comprehend.

Just that four, five,
seven seconds of free fall.

It's totally euphoric.
It's indescribable.

- It's kind of like magic.
-When a skydiver

jumps out of a plane,
they're accelerated by gravity,

at a rate of 32 feet per second,
per second.

His speed would have been
upwards over 100 miles per hour.

Brad's skydive
is an even greater thrill

than he expected.

But as he and his instructor
plunge toward the ground,

something goes horribly awry.

There just was this point
when, as we're falling,

I was expecting a thrust
of a parachute to come

as per the safety instructions,
and it never came.

I felt a bit of a thrust,
uh, from a parachute,

but it wasn't enough
to slow us down.

And that's when I noticed
that the first parachute,

it's been deployed
but it hasn't opened.

And the emergency parachute
got stuck

in the original parachute.

And because
they're tangled together,

we're not slowing down.

We were tumbling toward
the ground from 15,000 feet.

I start freaking out.
I'm really panicking.

All I could really see
was the earth

getting closer and closer.

And I knew I was going
to hit the ground and die.

The impact just smashed
through my body.

It really didn't feel
like a fall.

It almost felt like
the earth just came and hit me.

And when I hit the ground,

I'm still strapped
to my instructor.

He's unconscious.

Eventually, he did come to.

We were just strapped
to each other, screaming.

I remember I was
just hysterically crying,

so confused, having no idea
what had happened.

Partially still thinking
that I was actually dead.

Against all odds,
the two men survive a fall

of nearly three miles.

Brad and his instructor
are rushed to the hospital,

where they both begin
a long and miraculous recovery.

My physical injuries--
I broke my upper spine,

fractured my lower spine,
tore the ligaments in my neck,

cracked and bruised ribs,
mild head concussion.

I had suspected
that I was a quadriplegic.

I was numb from the neck down.

It took me a long time
to feel my body again.

You would think that,
after all these years

and all the time
I've had to reflect on it,

that I would be able
to look at the situation

and seriously ask myself,

"Was this luck,
or is it just all the odds

being in my favor
on a particular day?"

I don't know. I don't know.

I would love to know.

Sometimes, when humans
face extreme danger,

the normal parts
of our operating brain

kind of get pushed aside,

and the sympathetic
nervous system kicks in

and can institute an adrenaline
rush into the body,

which can do
some amazing things.

It forces blood into the muscles

and pumps them up
and becomes hard

to strengthen and protect

your skeletal system
and connective tissue.

Was a surge of adrenaline

responsible
for protecting Brad's body

from the extreme impact?

Or was there something
even more incredible going on?

Perhaps an explanation
can be found

by examining
another case of survival.

One that involves
an extraordinary feat

performed by an ordinary man.

Tom Boyle, a supervisor
at a local aerospace company,

is driving home with his wife.

The couple are about
to exit a parking lot

when another car
pulls alongside them.

What happens next
actually changes Tom

in ways that seem to defy
the very laws of nature.

The driver,

he had taken upon himself
to peel out

out of the parking lot,
and as he did that,

he sucked in, uh, a bicyclist
underneath the vehicle.

I jump out of the car,
I go running after the Camaro.

And as I approached the Camaro,

there was a boy underneath
on a bicycle

yelling for help
and asking people

to please get the car off him.

I just reacted.

As the boy's cries ring out,

Tom has no time to think.

A powerful force
comes alive inside him.

A force that allows Tom
to do the impossible.

It just got me so...

I guess, nervous,
and, uh, compelled to help

that I just lifted
the side of the car.

As I start lifting the car,
I can hear the bicyclist

telling me,
"Higher, higher, mister,

please, go higher," so I did.

I just held it as long
as I possibly could,

and I just thought,
"Don't let go."

And fortunately, we got him out.

I'm six-three. At that time,
I was 275 pounds and, uh,

the most I've ever lifted,
I think, was...

...800 pounds?

As I lifted the car,

I never thought about
how much it weighed.

I just thought about
saving this kid.

Now, Tom's a big guy.

Solid guy.

But we're talking about
a car, okay?

This is a car that weighs
about 3,000 pounds,

and yet he just jacks it up.

Bare hands, lifts this thing up.

Human beings can't
normally just lift cars.

These situations where people
manage to do

superhuman feats of strength,
like lift a car off someone,

as often happens in science,
these are rare events.

We don't have
detailed measurements.

And so, really understanding

the true biophysics
and physiology

of all the details that go in

remain a bit of a mystery
and an interesting area

for us to explore going forward.

We don't use most
of our muscles' capability

throughout the day.

It's capable of much more,

but for some reason, only under
these extreme circumstances.

If we can learn
how to control our minds

and use it at will,

that would be like being
a superhuman, a superhero.

That will, that power,

is being driven both
not only by the adrenaline

but more importantly,
it's that energy.

It's that type of thing in China
that's called fa jin,

"animal explosive energy."

It's a burst
of absolute decision.

It's that unknown,
that unexplained,

energetic place that we all
know about, we talk about it,

we have feelings
and vibes about these things.

So, this was a once-
in-a-lifetime moment for me.

I've never done anything else
like this again.

I think you can tap into
some amazing power.

I truly do. It's there.

We just have to have
a reason to use it.

So, where does this sudden surge

of incredible strength
come from?

Is it something
special and rare?

Or is it simply adrenaline

and an untapped ability
that exists within all of us?

Perhaps the answers lie
in the chaos

surrounding another
life-and-death scenario,

and the surprising circumstances

of an extraordinary rescue.

Banker Annette Herfkens,
her fiancé

and 29 other passengers
board a small plane

and head to the coastal town
of Nha Trang for a vacation.

But what is supposed to be
a short, routine flight...

...is about to turn
into a nightmare.

When I saw the plane,

I didn't want to enter it
because it was awfully small.

I was-- I am
very claustrophobic,

and-and it's... I said,

"There's no way
I'm entering that plane."

"I'm not gonna go in there.

It looks old, but mostly small."

And my fiancé said,
"Well, don't worry.

"Don't-- you have to,
it's only 55 minutes,

"and do it for us, 'cause I have
this beautiful vacation planned

"and I knew you were
gonna speak up about it,

but please, please do it."

And then we entered
from the back of the plane.

So, we sat down,

um, we were told
to buckle our seat belts,

and they were going across.

And then, I was restrained
enough as it is,

and I did not buckle
my seat belt.

And the flight took off.

For the next 30 minutes,

I just kept counting
the minutes,

and the 50th minute,
there was a...

gigantic drop.

And people were screaming,

and my fiancé
looked at me and said,

"Well, this I don't like."

And then, another drop.

More people screaming.
And he reached for my hand

and I reached for his,
and then everything went black.

I woke up to this eerie sound
of the jungle.

The plane broke
in three pieces: the wings,

the fuselage and the cockpit.

Then I looked at my left
and there I saw my fiancé

still strapped in his seat.

He was dead.

In shock,

grief-stricken and with
her legs and hips broken,

Annette painfully pulls herself
out of the wreckage...

...only to find that
every passenger on board

has perished, except her.

It all seems impossible.

In this plane crash,
Annette was the only survivor.

Of 31 people, she's the only one
that survived.

Did it have to do with
just the randomness

of her being in the right seat

that hit the ground
in just the right place

that had just the right
structural integrity

based on how they crashed?

Or could it be something else?

Miles from civilization,
injured and alone,

Annette finds herself
in an unbearable predicament.

But somehow, from somewhere
deep inside her,

she finds a way to survive.

I would just be quiet...

...and listen to my instinct.

I just listened to that voice
and I acted on it.

And it said, "Make a plan,

"divide it in achievable steps.

"And when you achieve
one of those steps,

congratulate yourself."

That's exactly what I did.

I realized that I was
gonna need some water.

So, I looked
at the wing of the plane.

Insulation material
was some kind of foam.

So, I figured
that could work as a sponge.

And then, I made
seven little bowls

and I lined them up
for it to rain.

And then it rained,
and it poured.

Then I was very happy to see

these little bowls
filling up with water.

Tasted like the best champagne
that you can imagine.

She was able to survive
the plane crash,

but maybe what was even
more remarkable

is that she was able to survive
eight days in the jungle...

...with no prior jungle training
or experience

and no conditioning
to be in the jungle.

On the afternoon on the
eighth day, out of nowhere...

...men came up the mountain...

Hey, hey, hey!

...and they showed me
a passenger list,

and I had to point out my name.

I just realized
how amazing it was

that they actually found me.

It may have been random chance

that allowed Annette to live
through the horrific crash...

...but what was
the so-called "voice"

that gave her the guidance
she needed to survive?

Is it some kind of deep-seated

electro-biochemical, uh, force

that's-that's innate
in the brain

that suddenly gets activated?

Or is it something
that comes from outside?

Is it faith
from an outside power

that brings that energy
to the person

who's in desperate need?

Whether or not you view yourself
as strong and capable,

you have the potential
to tap into these things

and get in tune
with these strengths,

with these capabilities,
whether you know it or not.

We all have that voice
inside of us

that we can listen to,

and in extreme situations,
it's always there to help you.

Just listen to that voice.

Be silent.
It's there, it's there.

38-year-old Steven Pete

attends to his Sunday chores,
like yard work and cooking

and tinkering with several
projects in his basement.

All the same things that any
person might do on a weekend.

But for Steven,

he has to do all this
far more carefully

than the average person,
because for him,

doing household chores

is more than just
a series of tasks.

It's actually dangerous.

I was born
with a rare genetic condition

called congenital analgesia.

At the time, that was
the name given to it.

Uh, now it's called congenital
insensitivity to pain.

So, uh, I can't feel
any pain at all.

A life free of pain?

Sounds like something many of us
would pay dearly for.

But for people like Steven,

death or severe injury
lurks around every corner.

My parents first noticed
something was different

when I was teething
and I chewed off half my tongue.

That definitely alarmed them to,
uh, something serious going on,

so they took me
to my pediatrician,

who, uh, did a couple of tests
and determined that,

more than likely,
I didn't feel pain.

They ran needles
up and down my spine,

uh, poked my feet
a couple places.

I still didn't elicit
a negative response,

a painful response.

Steven's gruesome injury
provides a stark reminder

that while most people probably
don't think of pain as a sense,

it may actually be
the most important sense of all.

Congenital analgesia
is an inherited form

of insensitivity to pain.

"Congenital" means
it runs in the family,

and "analgesia" means
that you don't feel pain.

You have no feeling
of pain whatsoever.

It's some form
of mutation in a gene

that's essential
for pain perception.

When people first hear
that I don't feel pain,

they think it is the greatest
thing in the whole world.

They're like,
"Wow, you got a superpower."

But my childhood was spending

good chunks of time
in the hospital.

I'd stay anywhere between,
like, four months

to maybe a year and a half,
which isn't normal.

It's an extremely
problematic condition.

Pain protects us from self-harm,

and it's often
the first sign of disease.

So people who are pain-free
often die very young.

It's actually rather amazing

that he's made it through life
as far as he has.

I mean, the classic example
we would always hear about

is learning not
to touch things that are hot.

Pain alerts us
when we're doing something

in the external world

that doesn't make sense
and we should stop.

The one thing that
I really have to keep an eye on

is probably whenever I'm engaged
in, like, a physical activity

that's a little bit strenuous,
like doing yard work.

It's stuff like that
where I can injure myself

and not immediately realize it,

that can cause serious
repercussions down the road.

When we think about senses,

we always think about
the classic five senses.

Sight, touch, smell,
taste and hearing.

One thing that's
really interesting, though,

is we basically
have another sense,

which is our pain,
our sense of pain.

We often just reject that as,
"Well, that's just touch,"

but that negates
or doesn't think about

the internal pains
we often feel,

whether it's headaches
or stomachaches

or sore muscles,
which really isn't quite touch.

Pain is another sense.

It's a sense.
We call it nociception.

It's conveyed
by specific kinds of nerves

that get activated
when, for instance,

we might touch a hot stove
or cut ourselves.

What's interesting is,

the brain can regulate pain
dramatically,

but the basic drive
that causes pain

is from the peripheral nerves.

The nerves that send information
into the brain don't work

in congenital analgesia
patients.

This loss of pain is caused
by malfunctions

in a very small number of genes
that are extremely rare.

One of them is involved
in signaling

in the peripheral nerves.

It's called Nav1.7.

It's a protein
that's called a sodium channel.

It's like
an electrical switch.

And if that protein
doesn't function properly,

then you can become pain-free.

Since Steven doesn't feel pain,

it begs the question,
what does he feel instead?

It's difficult
for me to try to explain,

but even though
I don't feel physical pain,

what I can feel is heat,

cold, touch,
just like every other person.

What I do feel is
probably a byproduct of pain,

is, like, these impulses,
almost like a nerve firing.

Since 2012,

I've had the opportunity
of being able to participate

in a couple of studies
with different universities.

I spent a good portion
of my childhood in the hospital,

and during those stays,

it was usually
with people who felt pain,

and seeing people,
especially that young,

who are going through
such painful experiences,

that's really what prompted me

to sign up
for a lot of these studies

when I was approached.

And the overall goal
in a lot of these studies is

to try and create
a non-narcotic painkiller,

because the opioid crisis

that our country is facing
is one

that other nations
are facing, as well.

So, I've been asked quite a lot,

with all these studies
I've been participating in,

if I had the chance
to feel pain,

if they could figure out
what activates

or deactivates that switch,

would I myself want
to feel pain?

Um, and my answer is just "no."

And that's only because
I've damaged my body so much

throughout my entire life

that if I were
to feel pain right now,

I'd just be in a constant state
of pain all the time.

Not only do I have a bad knee,

but my back is
a little bit messed up,

so, my quality of life
would just be low,

and there's no way
I could live like that.

The ability
to feel pain is essential

to our very survival.

But are there other senses
in addition to familiar ones--

like touch or sight--

that go beyond
our common understanding

of what humans are capable of?

Do we all possess

an extrasensory perception?

As we continue
to study the human mind,

will we one day be able

to reveal certain
extrasensory abilities?

For millennia,
there have been people

who could sense
an invisible presence,

whether it be
a deceased loved one,

a spiritual energy,
or even something more sinister.

While it may sound
a bit "ooga booga,"

a study published by scientists
from Caltech in 2019 suggests

that humans can not only
detect energy fields.

They can also sense
the magnetic field of the Earth.

The human brain has a lot

of phenomenon going on inside it

that uses electromagnetic
charges and electric fields.

And if you change the magnetic
field around your brain,

it will impact what's going on
inside your brain.

So, small magnetic fields
are most certainly detectable.

We just may not realize
we're detecting them.

It wouldn't surprise me
in any way

if there aren't aspects
of brain function

that we are completely
unaware of at the moment,

that we'll become aware of later

when we understand more about
how the brain actually works.

Since it's already been proven

that humans have more
than five senses,

could there really be something
to the notion

that we have the potential

to sense the world around us

in what some would consider
bizarre or even mystical ways?

According to some researchers,
the answer is yes,

and as evidence, they point

to an incredible phenomenon
known as paroptic vision.

Paroptic vision was
first proposed

by a surrealist writer
called René Daumal,

who, as a teenager,
practiced seeing color

through his fingertips.

So he'd put different colored
handkerchiefs inside a box,

and then he'd test

to see if he could tell
what color the handkerchief was.

That sounds quite fringe,
but I've done some experiments.

It's a rare ability,
but I did find one person

who was able
to detect the colors

through the fingertips.

I can't explain it,
but she could detect color,

with 80% reliability,
through her fingertips.

It's been discovered

that the skin has opsins
embedded in them,

and opsins help
the body calibrate

to circadian rhythms,
to 24-hour rhythms.

So it's not too much
of a stretch

to think how opsins
could not just detect light,

but they could also
detect color.

Many people believe

that there are mysterious ways
of sensing things

that don't involve
the traditional senses.

And I believe that there's a
perfectly reasonable expectation

that may perhaps be true.

We don't really understand
how the brain works at all.

As incredible as it is
to discover new senses,

it's also a little unsettling.

Because if our brain
is just using our senses

to constantly try
and guess what reality is,

then how are we to know

when it guesses wrong
instead of right?

I like to think of perception

as a kind of
controlled hallucination,

because there's no light
in the skull,

there's no sound in the skull.

All you've got
to go on as a brain

are these noisy
and ambiguous sensory signals.

Signals don't come with labels--

"I'm from a coffee cup,"
or "I'm from a cat."

This is why, for instance,
if you look up at the sky,

and there's some fluffy clouds,
sometimes you might see faces.

Reality is not quite as real
as people think.

We are often told
that something looks red

because it reflects
more red wavelengths.

But there's no such thing
as red wavelengths.

Color is not a property
of objects.

It's a property of brains.

It's simply the wonder

that our brain is creating
all of this,

and that we can agree
on so much.

Perception is
about representing the world

and the body and the self

in the way that's most useful
for the organism.

So if you see a color,
that's not right or wrong.

Color is where the brain
meets the universe

in a way that's useful for us.

I think we can all agree,
reality exists.

We think,
therefore, something exists.

But what it is

and how we will know what it is,
is fun to explore.

It's thrilling to think

that we may, one day,
witness the next step

in human evolution

by unlocking our so-called
extrasensory abilities.

Could things
like pain management,

physical strength
and even the potential

to heal ourselves be functions
that already exist within us?

As we learn more about the power
of mind over matter,

perhaps the answers
will become second nature.

But for now,
the extraordinary capabilities

of the human brain remain...

unexplained.

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