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Originally Posted by Pyrotex  Now, "slow-motion" sensing is another thing. It does take place, and it's not that uncommon. It doesn't take an oriental mystic or a samarai or a little yellow pill to do this. It has happened to me at least three times in my life, when my adrenaline levels shot through the roof. In two of those occassions, it enabled me to save my life, or at least avoid serious injury. |
I’ve had similar “slow-motion” experiences, mostly involving out-of- or marginally-under-control cars. (Like many Americans, my youth was a bit reckless - I think I came to my senses only after the state of Virginia was nearly successful in locking me up for 20 years)
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However, I'm unaware that anyone can call forth "slow-motion" sensing on command. You can't just snap your fingers and do it.
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About a decade ago, I stumbled upon a technique, which while not as quick as snapping your fingers, seems to be able to reliably and repeatedly reproduce the “time-slowing” state of perception I recall experiencing in dangerous situations.
When my kids were in their adolescence, they were curious about fighting, but intimidated by sparring with me, so we agreed to the rules that I would be defensive only, limited to open hands and light pushes, not tripping or grabbing. As the kids grew in confidence and size, the sport grew more challenging, and, despite the worst injuries I received from it being bruises, jammed fingers, and an occasional black eye or bloody nose,
frightening, apparently enough to trigger the time-slowing physiological and psychological response – which was damn handy in avoiding their increasingly effective attacks!
In addition to the sense of slowed motion, it seemed I was also able to see events slightly before they occurred.
With repetition, it became apparent what was actually occurring. Although my
kinesthetic and situational awareness, smoothness, and anticipation was unusually good (in other words, I was making good moves), the rate at which I was able to perceive, think, and act
during an attack was not significantly greater than normal. Rather, in the lull following an attack, I was
remembering what had occurred a few seconds before in a detailed, slowed-down manner. This also explained the oddity of seeing into the future. My mind assembled these memories into an account, but got the sequence wrong.
The scientific literature contains (although I’m unable to search up a supporting reference) multiple experiments involving staged crimes and stage magic tricks that show that ordinary people often do not correctly remember sequences of events. I believe this phenomena explain the “slow motion” effect commonly reported as occurring during stressful situations.
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