Are Human Limitations Self-Imposed?

The medical world is filled with bizarre, unusual (and sometimes not completely understood) phenomenon. Most people reading this post will be familiar with the various stories of individuals who fall victim to accident or injury, only to recover baring seemingly supernatural gifts. In 2002 Jason Padgett, an average Joe furniture store employee, was mugged by two men and suffered severe brain injury. When he eventually recovered he become obsessed with mathematics and physics and discovered that his vision allowed him to "see" the equations and formulas all around him. More recently a woman who chose to remain anonymous detailed how, after suffering a concussion from a skiing accident she was able to recall the most minute details of every place she had ever been or seen and replicate this into accurate maps and diagrams completely from memory. There are more such stories ranging from sudden mathematical genius to musical prowess or artistic abilities. This sudden onset of these abilities has been dubbed 'Acquired Savant Syndrome'.


http://www.huffingtonpost.com/allan-lennon/are-human-limitations-sel_b_7777510.html?utm_hp_ref=weird-news&ir=Weird+News

Fascinating article, I think there's a lot to the idea that people who tell themselves they can't do something and people who tell themselves they can are generally both right. Unfortunately things like acquired savant syndrome and "hysterical strength" happen so rarely that they'll be very tough to study properly. If there are "cheat codes" for activating such abilities, they'd probably be discovered through some other type of research.

Speaking of "hysterical strength," I've always wanted to know whether people who had that happen to them suffered physically when the adrenaline rush (or whatever) wore off -- kind of like how you can get through an intense workout and not feel pain until the next day.

thought from the "dragonlance series" of books

when asked how much a dragon could lift and carry the reply came.......

As much as it thinks it can