The Rise of Superman

Decoding the Science of Ultimate Human Performance

By: Steven Kotler

Narrated by: Jeff Cummings

Wall Street Journal Bestseller

In this groundbreaking book, New York Times bestselling author Steven Kotler decodes the mystery of ultimate human performance. Drawing on over a decade of research and first-hand reporting with dozens of top action and adventure sports athletes like big wave legend Laird Hamilton, big mountain snowboarder Jeremy Jones, and skateboarding pioneer Danny Way, Kotler explores the frontier science of “flow”, an optimal state of consciousness in which we perform and feel our best.

Building a bridge between the extreme and the mainstream, The Rise of Superman explains how these athletes are using flow to do the impossible and how we can use this information to radically accelerate performance in our own lives.

At its core, this is a book about profound possibility; about what is actually possible for our species; about where - if anywhere - our limits lie.

©2014 Steven Kotler (P)2013 Brilliance Audio, all rights reserved.

Exceptional book about the neuroscience of flow!

This book is brilliant and it always fires me up when I listen to it. This is one of my favourite things to listen to on my 5 + hour training runs or rides or walks. I love to learn about how the neurotransmitters affect perception and how I can use them to improve in what I already love to do.

Love the content but that narrator....

Big fan of the insights that Steven Kotler and his cohorts put out. Their research on the flow state opens up a diverse dialogue on how our mindspace expands with AI technology. What's surprising about the book is how much of this research fails to be a part of the mainstream. The capabilities we're reaching now is accelerating faster than ever in the course of history.

Its thought-provoking to think that some of the super abilities we see in movies is close to being a reality. This would solve major conditions like Alzheimer's, paralyzation, communication disorders, mortality, neurological enhancement, etc. The book delves into our past and the implications of playing God in the future.

Please keep in mind, I'm not insulting the narrator's ability to do his job, but the method of delivery was distracting. There are times when I feel like I'm listening to George Carlin narrating Thomas the Tank Engine when he impersonates the voices. The narrator's style doesn't match with the content he's reading.

Overall - The book is a great read, highly recommended if your'e interested in how the mind and body have evolved, and are interested in technology and how it will make us super heroes, definitely worth it. Good luck getting past the narrator though...

Enough with the stories!

I liked the first story about how extreme athletes use flow to survive their incredible acts of bravery but was worn out by all the rest. Far too many stories that told us what the first story told us. The rest of the book was great. The science was solid and easy to understand and the topic of flow hacking is riveting. Very exciting to hear how much can be done with flow. This is a great book if you are interested in the neuroscience behind flow buy not if you are looking for actual steps on how to hack flow. Overall, I am glad I read it.

keys to hacking your life

this was well worth the listen and if you are competitive in any way shape or form this is the fundamental building blocks

Mentality of an athlete

Entertaining book that covers awesome stories and shows you that athletes in humans can push the limits just by being mentally strong