superhuman

These three Latin words are perhaps more recognizable when translated: “Higher, Faster, Stronger”– the motto of the Olympic Games. With the 2012 summer Olympics underway, fans cannot help but appreciate the volume of athletic talent being showcased in London. Feats of strength, speed, endurance, and accuracy are regularly demonstrated, and witnessing such finely honed human abilities is both spectacular and inspiring. As world and Olympic records are broken and set on an almost daily basis, the athletes currently competing are able to show the global audience that there seem to be no limits on how far human prowess can be developed. But are we really seeing the limits of what human beings are physically capable of? The strongest or fastest athletes in the world are not necessarily demonstrating a paranormal human ability, though they are exhibiting finely honed ones grounded in some essential human physiology. For example, the human fight-or-flight response, in which strength and speed are increased well beyond normal levels, occurs when adrenaline is released into the human