Perhaps one of the strangest phenomena of human survival is Third Man syndrome. Shackleton first described it, in which a strange companion appeared to him during the tough legs of his journey, but soon more and more people came forward to echo his experience. Mountain explorers, shipwreck survivors, and polar explorers have all claimed to have either seen a person or heard a voice, often providing helpful information on how they should escape their situation. The third man has been termed many things by medical professionals who try to explain it rationally: “A sensory illusion caused by extreme physical exertion or monotony” and “a condition attributable to low blood glucose or cerebral edema.” But there seems to be something more to it than that. One researcher believes there is an “angel switch” in our brain, an otherworldly mechanism that kicks in when we reach our limits of endurance. Peter Hilary, a noted adventurer who has witnessed the third man himself, believes that “there is a benevolent being assigned to each of us on a permanent basis, who sometimes works in the background like a discreet servant” and in times of real emergency makes itself known in the physical realm.
All of this and more on this installment of Expanded Perspectives Elite!
Music:
All music for Expanded Perspectives Elite is provided by The Black Angels http://theblackangels.com, Pretty Lights http://prettylightsmusic.com
Songs Used:
- Young Men Dead
- Lost and Found
- Starlit Skies
- Almost Familiar