The Rise of Superman: Decoding the Science of Ultimate Human Performance
Written by Steven Kotler
4.5/5
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About this audiobook
A 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 firsthand 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.
Steven Kotler
Steven Kotler is a New York Times bestselling author, an award-winning journalist, and the executive director of the Flow Research Collective. He is one of the world’s leading experts on human performance. He is the author of eleven bestsellers (out of fourteen books total), including The Art of Impossible, The Future Is Faster Than You Think, Stealing Fire, and The Rise of Superman. His work has been nominated for two Pulitzer Prizes, has been translated into more than fifty languages, and has appeared in more than one hundred publications, including the New York Times Magazine, Wired, the Atlantic, Time, and the Harvard Business Review. Steven is also the cohost of Flow Research Collective Radio, a top ten iTunes science podcast. Whenever possible, he can be found hurling himself down mountains at high speeds.
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Reviews for The Rise of Superman
201 ratings12 reviews
What our readers think
Readers find this title to be an amazing book for those interested in education, innovation, and excellence. It provides lots of examples, is very practical and clearly written. The audio narrative is great. Although some reviewers felt that the book lacked a basic scientific understanding of the principles it discusses and focused too much on stories rather than the theory and principles of Flow, they still found it interesting and thoroughly discussed. Overall, readers believe that this book is a game changer and highly recommend it, especially for parents to teach to their kids.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5it was ok but it never really explained how to get into flow other then if you was into extreme sports and taking it to your limits and soon found out most people who did died lol
1 person found this helpful
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The book could have been called "953 Stories about Extreme Sport Athletes and 5 minutes about Flow"... Indeed, the book talks very little and very sparsely about the actual state of flow and HOW TO attain that state. The ratio must approximately be 3 pages of stories for 1 sentence about flow afterwards. So yes, the book IS interesting -- as far as the stories go -- but I wish there had been more emphasis on the theory and principles of Flow. Still 4 stars, because it is the first time I hear that subject so thoroughly discussed.
1 person found this helpful
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Great book. Inspiring. Makes me want to start living more and find my own flow in life
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/52nd time through was better than the first!! Listened in 2017 and 2020
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Interesting and fun to listen to but the author lacks a basic scientific understanding of the principles he discusses.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5So amazing! This is the meaning of life! And I am gonna five right in.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5An amazing book for those interested in education, innovation and excellence.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Game changer! Parents really should teach this to their kids!
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5It's my first time hearing about Flow. Steven Kotler explains the concept so vividly and in such great detail using real events in history, that I now have a strong conviction that my life will never be the same again. I want to intentionally keep tapping into my flow state as I pursue all my dreams. Thank you Steven Kotler.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Lots of examples, very practical and clearly written. Great audio narrative
- Rating: 1 out of 5 stars1/5People without ideas do inconsequential things and some of them die. This is meant to inspire me but I find this pointless slaughter depressing. Then there's some pseudo science about flow. I'd like to coin a new phrase to describe this nonsense: stoner science. If you ever uttered the phrase "far out bro" unironically this book might be for you.
1 person found this helpful
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Examines how extreme athletes have pushed human achievements further and faster than anytime in previous history by achieving "flow" or the mental state of being completely in the moment & having everything happen seamlessly & without thought. Cutler argues that anyone can use flow to "hack" their life to achieve amazing results in all areas of creativity, work, etc. A fascinating read.