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<v Speaker 1>Welcome back everyone. Today we're going to be talking about

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<v Speaker 1>Aaron Ralston. Make sure whichever episode welcome and whichever show

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<v Speaker 1>this episode is placed on. Today we examine one of

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<v Speaker 1>the most harrowing survival stories in modern history, not merely

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<v Speaker 1>for its drama before it teaches us about the human

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<v Speaker 1>mind under conditions of absolute desperation. In May two thousand

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<v Speaker 1>and three, twenty seven year old Aaron Ralston set out

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<v Speaker 1>for a solo climbing in Blue John Canyon, Utah, but

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<v Speaker 1>should have been a routined adventure became a five day

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<v Speaker 1>ordeal that would force him to confront the ultimate question,

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<v Speaker 1>how far would a mind go to survive? On April

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<v Speaker 1>twenty six, two thousand and three, Aaron was descending his

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<v Speaker 1>narrow Slot canyon when an enormous bold had shifted, boulders shifted,

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<v Speaker 1>crushed his right hand and forearm against the wall. He

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<v Speaker 1>was completely alone, more than one hundred feet below the rim,

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<v Speaker 1>with no cell signal and no one expecting back for days.

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<v Speaker 1>For the first twenty four hours, he tried everything, prying, lifting,

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<v Speaker 1>chipping at the rock with his multi tool. Nothing worked.

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<v Speaker 1>By tay two, now we had dehydration setting in. Think

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<v Speaker 1>about it. He couldn't eat, couldn't do anything, he couldn't drink.

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<v Speaker 1>By day three, he began rationing his remaining camelback.

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<v Speaker 2>Water and two burritos.

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<v Speaker 1>He carved his name, birthdate, and presumed death date into

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<v Speaker 1>the canyon wall. Psychologically, Aaron entered with the researchers called

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<v Speaker 1>disassociated detachment, a protective mental state with a mind distanced

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<v Speaker 1>itself from unbearable reality.

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<v Speaker 2>He later described.

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<v Speaker 1>Moments of calm, lucidity mixed with hallucinatory conversations with family members.

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<v Speaker 2>Who were not there.

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<v Speaker 1>By day five, Aaron faced clinical certainty he would die

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<v Speaker 1>of dehydration or septic shock within hours. In that moment,

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<v Speaker 1>he made a calculation, and most of us cannot imagine.

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<v Speaker 1>Using only a pocket knife, he first broke the bones

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<v Speaker 1>in his forearm against the boulder that methodically cut the

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<v Speaker 1>muscle and tendon and artery. This was not impulsive. It

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<v Speaker 1>was a deliberate, multi active, instrumental problem solving under extreme sense,

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<v Speaker 1>Aaron Letter explained the waiting I mean Erin later explained

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<v Speaker 1>he weighed every option with cold clarity, continue waiting or

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<v Speaker 1>die and die, or enduring him unimaginable pain for the

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<v Speaker 1>chance to live. This represents the pinnacle of executive functioning,

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<v Speaker 1>the prefunnel cortex under threat, normally responsible for things like planning,

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<v Speaker 1>impulse control, empathy, emotional regulation, but also anticipating consequences. He

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<v Speaker 1>threw upon years of mountaineering discipline in a deep internal

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<v Speaker 1>locus of control with visualization techniques. After freeing himself, Aaron

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<v Speaker 1>repelled down the canyon with one armikes several miles was

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<v Speaker 1>eventually rescued by helicopter. He lost forty pounds and nearly

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<v Speaker 1>his life, but he survived in the years it followed, ever,

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<v Speaker 1>and experience profound post traumatic growth, as they call it,

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<v Speaker 1>and he wrote the best selling book Between a Rock

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<v Speaker 1>and a Hard Place, became a motivational speaker, started a family,

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<v Speaker 1>continue pursuing extreme adventures.

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<v Speaker 2>This time for greater preparation and respect for risk.

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<v Speaker 1>His story that became the basis for the film One

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<v Speaker 1>hundred and twenty seven Hours. What does his story teach

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<v Speaker 1>clinical psychology in us? First is the power of cognitive

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<v Speaker 1>reappraisal under duress. Rather than spiraling into panic. He reframed

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<v Speaker 1>the boulder not as an enemy, but as a problem

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<v Speaker 1>to be solved. Second, the limits and strengths of human pain.

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<v Speaker 1>Tolerance and dissociation. A mind can compartmentalize agony when survival

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<v Speaker 1>is at stake, a mechanism we all see in soldiers,

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<v Speaker 1>elite athletes, and trauma survivors.

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<v Speaker 2>Third, the long term integration of.

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<v Speaker 1>Trauma, Erin did not repress the experience, He transformed it

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<v Speaker 1>into purpose. This aligns with research on post traumatic growth.

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<v Speaker 1>Many survivors report deeper relationships, new priorities, and increased personal

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<v Speaker 1>strength after confronting mortality. His story stands as one of

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<v Speaker 1>the clearest modern examples of the minds.

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<v Speaker 2>Capacity to choose life.

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<v Speaker 1>When every external indicator says death is inevitable, it challenges

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<v Speaker 1>our assumptions about where we are capable of when pushed

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<v Speaker 1>at the absolute limit. If you ever find yourself facing

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<v Speaker 1>a situation that feels impossible, remember the same mind that

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<v Speaker 1>carried Erin.

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<v Speaker 2>Through that canyon is inside each of us.

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<v Speaker 1>The question is not whether we have the strength, but

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<v Speaker 1>whether we can access it when it matters. Most thank

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<v Speaker 1>you for joining me on this examination of Really you

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<v Speaker 1>can call it survival psychology. If this episode moved you,

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<v Speaker 1>share it with someone who needs a reminder of human

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<v Speaker 1>resistant resilience.

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<v Speaker 2>Human resilient.

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<v Speaker 1>Until next time, stay observant, stay prepared to remember sometimes

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<v Speaker 1>the only way out is through