For those who are regular viewers of sports, Olympic level  or professional,  extreme sports or even golf, you know that what human beings are capable of is constantly increasing.

What we are learning, is that the extension of human performance is not just about higher, or stronger, or faster, it's also about the mental component. It's the mental performance we are able to achieve, that makes the physical possible.  This has been called being in the zone, or flow.  

The idea of "flow" has been around and widely studied for many years.  But today, with our new forms of peering into the brain and into the very idea of consciousness, we are finding both the internal insights and the far flung potential of human performance.

Steven Kotler takes us to the edge in The Rise of Superman: Decoding the Science of Ultimate Human Performance.

My conversation with Steven Kotler: