Overcoming Fear, with Alex Honnold

T-Mobile 5G Home Internet. https://T-Mobile.com/HomeInternet Order Take Me to Your Leader here 👇 https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Take-Me-to-Your-Leader/Neil-deGrasse-Tyson/9781668249970 Is the fear of heights innate or learned? Neil deGrasse Tyson, Chuck Nice, and Gary O'Reilly explore taking risks, the neuroscience of fear, and how to overcome it with Alex Honnold, freestyle rock climber, subject of the film Free Solo, and Host of Planet Visionaries: in partnership with the Rolex Perpetual Planet Initiative as well as neuroscientist Heather Berlin. We start with Alex Honnold, the only person ever to free solo Yosemite’s El Capitan, and how he approaches a big climb. Has he ever gotten scared or shaken? Did he ever have a fear of heights? Alex breaks down what free soloing actually means and what he does to mentally prepare himself for taking on big challenges. How does he expand his comfort zone? We discuss a brain scan he had of his amygdala and whether it’s nature or nurture that makes his brain fear less. Learn about Alex’s foundation, The Honnold Foundation, and how time spent in nature inspired him to help with solar access. Are some fears preprogrammed? Why do we fear heights and spiders more easily than electrical sockets? Neuroscientist and clinical psychologist Heather Berlin joins to explain what's actually happening in the brain when we take risks and feel fear. We explore the role of the amygdala, risk-taking, and how phobias form. How can someone who does feel fear change their mindset and practice to get over their fears? We explore the balance between overpreparing and underpreparing and how “letting go” can sometimes be the best thing– of the fear, not the rock, of course. Thanks to our Patrons Joseph Savage, Grace Smith, Joe Pacillo, Gregory Wright, Eric Brothwell, IvanM, Pattie Particle, Cory Fenstermaker, James H Lawson, embreebane, Dai Stiho, Raymond C King, J M, Alex Wheeler, Jason Rushmore, Idris, Damian Correa, Dylan Woody, Julia Nolen, Chris Petit, Anna, David Kapner, Lalo, Vic, Ash Anthony, Wayne Stubblefield, Robin Fordham, EL_Bdo, Teresita Brown, Heather Walker, Christian Cummins, NS, Trenton Clark, Pou Lay, Joya, Derek Bolka, Diego Calderón, Charles Kimmel IV, Josh Folland, Gerard Kennedy, Hunter Ruigrok, Chris Frazier, Yasmany Cubela Medina, Julian Childs, Brandon Sachs, Scott Warren, Moses Bulondo, Sai Kiran, Zalijah Stahl, Crystal Monahan, Lee Robertson, Kenny918, Tinajocelyntheyogi, Tuan Nguyen, Elizabeth Laycak, Joshua Kelly, Ali Haidari, Richard Clements, Maria Giddings, Joyce, Andrew Frigyik, Scott Muri, Mark Hardt, Alex Stern, Anthony Mercury, Hellothere123, James Gordin, Matt Robertson, Peter Manis, Gegi, Rob, Heber Martinez, Aditya Khurjekar, and Jim Finley for supporting us this week. Timestamps: 00:00 - Introduction: Alex Honnold 02:57 - What is Free Soloing? 07:36 - Preparing for the Big Climb 11:43 - Fearing Heights 16:41 - Overconfidence & Overthinking 22:21 - The Role of Fear 24:54 - Challenging Yourself 28:16 - Brushing Off Close Calls 30:06 - Alex’s Brain Scan 32:08 - The Honnold Foundation 37:49 - Introduction: Heather Berlin 38:39 - How Fear Looks in the Brain 39:30 - Is Fear Innate? 42:25 - Taking Micro-risks 46:50 - Controlled Surrender 53:30 - How to Control Your Brain Check out our second channel, @StarTalkPlus Get the lates StarTalk book, 'To Infinity and Beyond: A Journey of Cosmic Discovery' on Amazon: https://amzn.to/3PL0NFn Support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/startalkradio FOLLOW or SUBSCRIBE to StarTalk: Twitter: http://twitter.com/startalkradio Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/StarTalk Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/startalk About StarTalk: Science meets pop culture on StarTalk! Astrophysicist & Hayden Planetarium director Neil deGrasse Tyson, his comic co-hosts, guest celebrities & scientists discuss astronomy, physics, and everything else about life in the universe. Keep Looking Up! #StarTalk #NeildeGrasseTyson