The Rise of Superman: Decoding the Science of Ultimate Human Performance

by Steven Kotler

as it now seems that without a calm, relaxed frame of mind, the brain is incapable of switching from beta-dominant localized networks to alpha-driven widespread webs. But this isn’t where the process ends. Whether we’re speaking about Hamilton’s hand drag on the Millennium Wave or his decision to jump out of the barrel at Jaws, that moment of sudden insight comes with a different brain wave signature. Exactly thirty milliseconds before the breakthrough intuition arrives, EEG shows a burst of gamma waves. These ultrafast brain waves appear when a bunch of widely distributed cells—i.e., novel stimuli, random thoughts, and obscure memories—bind themselves together into a brand-new network. It is the brain-wave signature of the “Aha!” moment. “But the interesting thing about a gamma spike,” explains Leslie Sherlin, “is that it always happens inside of theta oscillations. The two waves are coupled. It makes sense. Theta processes novel incoming stimuli; gamma is what happens when those stimuli snap together into new ideas. But it’s hard to do any of this on command. It takes meditators a long time to get that kind of control. This is where athletes in flow have a huge edge—their brain is already in alpha/theta. They’re holding themselves in the only state that can produce that gamma spike.” When you add these elements together it’s easy to see why flow is such an effective decision-making strategy. Not only does it elevate our problem-solving abilities, but—by holding themselve...