Oct 9, 2022
I am tired, but not exhausted. And at least part of me still wants something more.
// Scott Carney
seen from France
seen from Canada
seen from United States
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seen from China
seen from Russia
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seen from Malaysia
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seen from Thailand
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I am tired, but not exhausted. And at least part of me still wants something more.
// Scott Carney
Scott Carney was the guy who went to Wim Hof’s breath and cold training, wanting to debunk the whole thing about how it could change your body, and then write a book explaining the scam.
He tried the techniques, got the promised results, became a devotee of the method, climbed Kilimanjaro with Wim in two days while shirtless, and then wrote a book talking about how he intended to discredit the whole thing except it totally worked just like Wim said it would.
Feels like a good read during all this snow.
Infinite list of favourite lyrics: 67/?
Wax Fang - Majestic (2007)
"In such disbelief,
I thought I was asleep
When I met you;
My heart liquefied
And I sighed,
'Oh this must be a dream!'
If I forget to set the alarm
And sleep on
Through the dawn,
Don't remind me -
I'd rather be dreaming of someone
Than living alone.
If you're searching the lines
For a point,
Well, you've probably missed it:
There was never anything there
In the first place."
I am tired, but not exhausted. And at least part of me still wants something more.
// Scott Carney
Welcome to Fraud U! Alums: Stanford's seamy history of fakes and payoffs is no longer a secret. 🧐
What's your Stanford degree really worth? Mm-hmm. =1/0 {CALC}
Scott Carney breaks it down.
June 14, 2026
Scott Carney: Keys to Developing Human Resilience
• Mr. Scott Carney discusses his book "The Wedge: Evolution, Consciousness, Stress, and the Key to Human Resilience." He explains what wedges is, offers ways to build human resilience, and how breathing enhances physical performance. Written by Alex Mau.
Mr. Alex Mau
August 31, 2020 • Last updated: August 31, 2020
in Mind and Body • 30 Minutes Read
An abridged audio version of this writing is coming soon.
"What we find out is that when we start exposing ourselves to these extreme environments, we find a way to channel anxiety and even autoimmune illnesses and sort of reverse them." - Mr. Scott Carney
In this episode of "The Art of Manliness" podcast, Mr. Brett McKay interviewed Mr. Scott Carney. He is an investigative journalist and anthropologist. His work blends narrative non-fiction with ethnography. His book "What Doesn't Kill Us" was a New York Times bestseller; other works include "The Red Market" and "The Enlightenment Trap."
Mr. Scott Carney discusses his book "The Wedge: Evolution, Consciousness, Stress, and the Key to Human Resilience." He explains what the Wedge is, presents ways to insert wedges in our lives to toughen our resilience, and reveals how breathing enhances physical performance.
Interview with Mr. Scott Carney in Three Sentences
"If our archaic ancestors were always combating lions, tigers, bears and starvation and all that stuff, every one of those things required a physical response. It required you to respond with adrenaline, with cortisol, with these energy-boosting things. And we don't have that anymore." - Mr. Scott Carney
The Wedge is the choice that we have to intercede between stimulus and response in the body and a wedge is specific techniques to provide ourselves that space.
The Wedge enlightens us to control our automatic reflexive physiological responses to make conscious and mindful decisions to react to any circumstance.
Through the emotional lens, we experience the world that ties with stress, sensation, and mindset, and the neural symbols encode the experiences.
Ideas to Takeaway from This Interview
"You're trying to create space between stimulus and response in the body so that as that tension comes up in you, you will it to relax, and that's what The Wedge is in that moment." - Mr. Scott Carney
What is The Wedge?
Difference between The Wedge and a wedge.
The Wedge is an internal state of mind. It is the choice we make to separate or widen the space between the stimulus from the body's response.
A wedge is an external stimulus—the tools, the method, and the specific technique that we provide ourselves to separate that space.
⇦ The Wedge ⇨ External Stimulus ⇒ Between stimulus and response, there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. ⇒ Internal Response ⇧⇧⇧ a wedge ⇧⇧⇧
For example, we shiver when we jump into ice water. The sense of shiver is The Wedge, and the ice water is a wedge. We put ourselves in stressful situations such as ice water or hot temperature, which demands all of our attention and then choosing what our body does in that stressful reaction.
Instead of fighting the situation to survive, we elect ourselves to relax. We switched from fight or flight response to rest and digest response.
Fight or flight versus rest and digest.
Fight or flight response is the nervous system's response to our environmental stressors, increasing blood flow, heart rate, and making us more alert and receptive.
The nervous system prepares our body for action. It consists of two parts: the sympathetic nervous system and the parasympathetic nervous system. Our sympathetic nervous system, which triggers our fight or flight response, prepares the body for a perceived threat or danger. The heart rate increases and the muscle is tense and tight. The parasympathetic nervous system controls our rest and digest response, returns the body to a state of calm and balance. The heart rate slows down, and the muscle is relaxed and comfortable.
If we can expose ourselves to different physical and mental stresses, our bodies will adapt, adjust, and build resilience.
The Wedge the mental state. The Wedge with the capital W, is we have to intercede between stimulus and response in the body. A wedge is a technique. A wedge, the lower case version, is specific techniques we do to provide ourselves that space.
For example, in cold exposure, a wedge is the ice bath, the technique. The Wedge is the mental ability to suppress the automatic response.
We go into the ice bath.
We suppress our urge to clench up and shiver.
We create a space between stimulus and response.
We are gradually relaxed while the tension in our bodies slowly disappeared.
We insert a wedge to widen the gap between stimulus and response, the space between the external influence and our internal response. The Wedge gives us the option to choose how to respond.
What is an example of a wedge?
A wedge is a specific technique we do to provide ourselves the space between stimulus and response.
These are examples of wedges.
Ice bath.
Sauna.
Kettlebell tossing.
Hot yoga.
Wim Hof's breathing method.
Endurance sports.
Trekking and hiking.
Ice bath.
The body immersed in a bath of ice or ice-water at 10℃ to 15℃ for 10 to 15 minutes. An 8 minutes cold shower works similarly to a cold bath.
Ready with 2 to 5 10 lbs bags of ice.
Load ice in a bathtub with cold water.
Stretch and Warm-up the body.
Immerge into the ice bath gently.
Take deep breaths, inhaling through the nose, and exhaling through the mouth.
Source: Healthline. Ice Bath Benefits: What the Research Says.
Source: Ben Greenfield. How To Take an Ice / Cold Bath.
Sauna.
It is a heated room with temperatures between 65℃ to 90℃. We stay in a sauna room for 10 to 15 minutes at-a-time as recommended.
Drink 1 to 2 glasses of water.
Stretch, warm-up, and relax the body.
Enter and stay in the sauna for 10 minutes.
Exit and rinse off or cool-down with a cold shower and drink a glass of water.
Enter and stay in the sauna the second time for 10 minutes.
Exit and rinse off or cool-down with a cold shower and drink a glass of water.
Enter and stay in the sauna the final time for 10 minutes.
Exit and rinse off and take a cold shower.
Drink a glass of water and eat a light snack.
Source: Healthline. How and Why to Use a Sauna.
Source: Hiking with Mikael. Guide to Traditional Finnish Sauna.
Kettlebell tossing.
Hold the kettlebell in one hand and stand six feet apart from the partner.
Keep eye contact and gently swing twice without release.
Release the kettlebell on the third swing while keeping the attention to the kettlebell.
The partner catches the kettlebell repeats step two.
Source: Kettlebell Tossing. Michael Castrogiovanni
Hot yoga.
"Hot yoga" is not "Bikram yoga." Bikram yoga was invented by a yogi named Bikram Choudhury. It is a 90 minutes exercise consists of 26 poses and two breathing exercises performed in a room heated to 105℉ (41℃) with 40 percent humidity.
Hot yoga is a yoga exercise performed in a room heated above average room temperature between 80 and 100℉ (27 and 38℃).
Hot yoga at home.
Before hot yoga, DO drink at least 8 ounces of water 30 minutes before class and eat a small snack 60-90 minutes before class.
Find a well-ventilated room with a hard surface.
Radiant space heaters.
Yoga mats and towels.
After hot yoga, DO drink 8-16 ounces of electrolyte water or coconut water to replenish your body. The sodium and potassium help to avoid dehydration.
Source: Yoge Tribe. What to Eat and Drink Before and After Yoga.
Source: B Fire. How to Setup a Simple Hot Yoga Room at Home.
Wim Hof's breathing method.
Scientifically proved that Wim Hof's method could influence the autonomic nervous system and physiology.
Sit in a comfortable place.
Take 30 quick, no pause, deep breaths, inhaling through the nose and exhaling through the mouth.
Then take a deep breath and exhale.
Hold for 60 seconds. It is okay to breathe.
Take one deep inhale and hold it for 10 seconds.
Exhale fully.
Take 30 quick, no pause, deep breaths, inhaling through the nose and exhaling through the mouth.
Take a deep breath and exhale.
Hold for 90 seconds. It is okay to breathe.
Inhale fully and hold it for 15 seconds.
Exhale fully.
Take 30 quick, no pause, deep breaths, inhaling through the nose and exhaling through the mouth.
Take a deep breath and exhale.
Hold for 90 seconds.
Inhale fully and hold it for 15 seconds.
Exhale fully.
Return to the natural breathing.
Move the toes and fingers gradually.
Source: Wim Hof. Guided Wim Hof Method Breathing.
Source: Wim Hof Method. The Science Behind the Wim Hof Method.
Endurance sports.
Physical activity in which key muscles are exercise at submaximal intensity for prolonged periods to achieve the desired outcome, for example, triathlon, cross-country skiing, and cycling.
The benefits of endurance sports.
Improved metabolism.
Increase stamina.
Lower the risk of cardiovascular mortality.
Optimize the immune system.
Reduction of cardiovascular risk.
Stimulate muscle growth.
Hiking and trekking.
Hiking is a long, energetic walk in a natural environment on hiking trails or footpaths for a day or overnight. Trekking is long-distance hiking on trails or dirt roads in a wild, rugged terrain natural environment for 50 miles and up in multiple days.
The benefits of hiking and trekking.
Improves cardio-respiratory fitness.
Lowers risk of heart attack and stoke.
Increase bone density and muscle.
Strengthens core balance and posture.
Hiking Trekking Length Half day to a full day Two days or more Equipment Pack for one day hike Pack for days and nights Landscape Hiking trails and footpaths Hiking trails, dirt roads, mountain trails and complete wilderness Trail Trails and roads maintenance and repair by people Variety of terrains and grounds not well-maintenance. Checkpoint Mark made on tree along the trail Few to none Prepare Few days before Few weeks before Challenge Physically to walk at least 5 hours Physically and mentally challenge for days Level Easy to strenuous Moderate to challenging Best For Everyone Experienced hikers
Source: Skilled Adventurer. What Is The Differences Between Hiking and Trekking?
Source: Trek. Hiking vs Trekking: What's the Difference?
How to build human resilience?
Inserting a wedge in our lives.
There are three places we can insert a wedge, the technique, to build human resilience in our lives.
Stress.
Stress is the type of wedge, the kind of technique we choose to endure and experience.
Sensation.
Sensation is the actual feeling that comes after stress.
Mindest.
Mindset is the state of mind between stimulus and response.
How does the brain initially, for the very first time, translate that information?
Stimuli from the environment transformed into neural symbols, which are then interpreted by the brain through transduction; it connects sensation to perception. Neural symbols are how the brain encodes information about the world. They are the bits and bytes of all human experience. The sensation information must first travel from the sensory organs through the neural pathways in the body and into the brain where the experience happens. We are always experiencing because the sensory nerves are continuously transferring information into the body.
Stress is the ice-water. When we jump into the ice water, the neural pathways incite sensory information before the brain can process it.
Sensation is at this moment; we can alter what information that sensation transfer to the mind. We can choose our experience to be tense and uncomfortable or relax and calm.
The mindset is that we can change the translation of the experience by chemical intervention or a specific breathwork protocol that improves the actual transmission rate of information in the sensory nerves.
External Stimulus The synapse is excitatory. ⇩ One Sensor Excitatory. ⇩ Two Sensory Neuron Excitatory. ⇩ Excitatory. ⇩ Three Interneuron Spinal Cord The synapse is inhibitory. ⇩ Excitatory. ⇩ Four Motor Neuron Motor Neuron ⇩ ⇩ Five Biceps muscle relaxes Quadriceps muscle contracts
Source: CK-12. Reflexes: Neurons in Action
We intentionally install wedges at these three places. We reinterpret and retranslate the sensory information into the new emotional state, a unique experience as we enter the stressful situation. Is this uncomfortable? Is this comfortable? The new wedge gives an experience of a new resilience and a new mindset.
What is breathing?
Breathing is the process of respiration, during which air is inhaled into the lungs through the mouth or nose due to muscle contraction and then exhaled due to muscle relaxation.
The process of breathing is divided into two distinct phases, inhalation and exhalation. During inhalation, the diaphragm contracts and pulls downward while the muscles between the ribs contract and pull upward. During exhalation, the diaphragm relaxes, and the volume of the thoracic cavity decreases, while the pressure within it increases. As a result, the lungs contract and air forced out.
The Wim Hof's method and the Mackenzie's method.
Wim Hof breathing method plus push up exercise.
Sit in a comfortable place.
Take 30 quick, no pause, deep breaths, inhaling through the nose and exhaling through the mouth.
Then take a deep breath and hold.
Do push-up without breathing.
Source: Win Hof Method. Breathing Explained and Push Up Exercise
Brian Mackenzie's breathing technique.
Inhale for 6 seconds. Hold for 6 seconds. Exhale for 12 seconds. Pause for 6 seconds.
Repeat the above sequence for 2 minutes.
Begin quick inhales and exhales (2-second inhales followed by immediate 2-second exhales).
Continue quick inhales and exhales for 2 minutes.
Take one big deep breath and hold for 30 seconds to reset the body.
Start again at step one and repeat the entire six steps.
Source: Forge Valley Fitness. Learn To Breathe Effectively With Brian Mackenzie
The difference between the Wim Hof's method and the Mackenzie's method.
Wim Hof's method aims to reduce the level of CO2 and enrich the oxidization of the O2 in the body to build strength and power.
We blow off all the body's carbon dioxide to give a more energetic boost, a burst of energy. It is ideal for physical activities that need an explosion of force in the beginning. Wim Hor's hyperventilation breathing technique is suitable for sprint runners or swimmers. It does not translate well to endurance physical activities.
Brian Mackenzie's breathing exercise aims to build up the CO2 tolerance level in the body, so we breathe slowly and hold the breath longer. It works for physical endurance activities that require long-lasting energy.
Endurance exercise generates CO2, and the transcutaneous delivery of exogenous CO2 promotes muscle fiber-type switching to increase endurance power in skeletal muscles and increase muscle development during physical endurance activities. We gradually raise the CO2 tolerance level in the body during training with exercises. The body progressively adapts to a high level of CO2, and we can perform in a high CO2 environment.
Brian Mackenzie's breathing method is suitable for freediver, scuba diver, and long-distance runner, and swimmer. Our physical performance will increase when we switch to month-breathing by gradually training our bodies to cultivate a high CO2 tolerance level.
What are the benefits of inserting a wedge?
Happiness, sadness, fear, disgust, anger, and surprise are raw human emotions. Fear is an emotion similar to happiness that plays an essential role in human survival. When we face danger or experience uncomfortable situations, the brain typically chooses the fight or flight response. Our muscle gets tense, heart rate goes up, and breathing goes fast. Alerting the body is a normal response to ensure we protect ourselves in the unknown environment.
When we know, we can gradually widen the gap with a wedge between stimulus and response, and we can turn the emotion fear to happiness, relax the body, and calm the mind. The Wedge cultivates the mind and body from reactive to proactive. We take our automatic reflexive physiological responses and make them not intuitive and control our physiological responses.
The long-term benefits of applying a wedge to our lives are decreases depression, anxiety, fear, and increases self-assurance, self-confidence, and self-esteem.
Gain mastery of confidence in dangerous things.
We gain self-confidence when we apply a wedge. A wedge is a method. A wedge is uncomfortable and often dangerous, for example, ice-bath, freediving, or endurance sports. Once we start doing more dangerous things, we recognized we could achieve competence and proficiency in other life areas. We widen the space between the automatic human response. We suppress our urge to frustration and elevate our desire to calmness.
The cultivation of self-confidence overrules our anxiety and depression. We take more control of the present and less worry about the future. We focus on what we can control: how we respond to our sensation, our state of mind.
Focus rides the wave of flow state. Flow state is a sense of full immersion, full involvement, and full engagement in the activity. It is easy to be in a state of flow when we do dangerous work. When we do hazardous work, we need focus and concentration, and any less attention will have a terrible result. Dangerous jobs push our boundaries further, and as a result, we have more experience and more competence.
Cause and effect.
We gain mastery of things that are dangerous (a wedge).
We work on construction or installation projects.
We handle dangerous tools or machines.
We participate in dangerous activities or ventures.
We cultivate confidence and competence over fear and anxiety by doing dangerous things.
We have experience working on large development projects.
We are capable of handling dangerous machinery.
We become confident to participate in dangerous pursuits.
In the long-run, we feel confident in ourselves when we are in control of our lives. We become a competent person.
Final thoughts.
Our archaic ancestors lived in the savage frontier on rugged and harsh environments. Their lives were continually fighting predators, hunting animals, and struggling starvation.
Life in the stone age was simple with few choices, fight or flight, hunt or be hunted, or adapt or die. A mistake made in the jungle could be the end of life. Life demanded the highest level of primal survival instincts in physical and mental conditions to survive.
Life in the modern age is complicated with many choices. We are more protected from wild animals and more convenient to cook food to survive. A mistake made in the city could be the end of a job. There are no dangerous predators chase us down the street, no need to hunt wild animals for food, and plenty of supermarkets conveniently located in the neighborhood within driving distance. Life in the modern age does not need the highest level of physical and mental condition to survive.
However, humans still embedded their ancestors' DNA. The primal instinct of fight or flight response runs deep in the veins. There are fewer opportunities in the modern age to channel the aggressiveness, the adrenaline, and the cortisol in the body. When we confront external struggle, obstacle, or unfamiliar circumstances in the modern age, the internal automatic physiological response will trigger to protect us from harm. It is a normal response, but these red alert triggers often cause unnecessary stress, depression, and anxiety in modern lives.
A wedge to strengthen The Wedge.
The solution is creating a space between stimulus and response. The distance between the stimulus and the automatic human response is called The Wedge. The method to widen the distance is called a wedge.
We strengthen our mental and physical resilience by doing hard things. If we do what is easy, life will be hard. If we do what is hard, life will be easy.
We recognized that when we start exposing ourselves to extreme environments, the body finds a way to redirect anxiety, autoimmune illnesses and adapts to the elements. We release the automatic response and let our body becomes the environment, and our mind connects with the surrounding. We don't struggle, and we ride with the flow. We become one with the environment.
The Wedge is the way we choose to orient towards the sensation of stress. Stress, sensation, and mindset are the three frames that dictate how we experience the world. When we choose to alter our external conditions (stress), the way we feel those conditions (sensation), or the way we decide what those sensations mean (mindset), we can influence physiological reactions that we don't usually think we have access.
We cultivate resilience in the physical and mental health by intendedly place ourselves in uncomfortable or inconvenient situations. The more we train, the better we are. The body and mind gradually adapt, adjust, and evolve to the environments, and we become a more resilient person.
The Wedge aims to show us how to interact with the environment and apply the concepts to our lives in the modern age.
We don't need ice-river, skydiving, or other prominent forms of wedges. It takes an entry-level wedge in managed and controlled environments to start, such as cold shower, kettlebell tossing, fasting, marathon, hiking, and hot yoga. We take small steps. We expose ourselves to environmental variations to get in touch with human evolutionary power. Our bodies know what to do with external environmental stimuli. We just need to find ways to let our bodies get in touch with the environment.
When we do these practices, the most important thing is to be mindful and pay attention to our sensations and emotions combined with deepening the experience. It cultivates the connection and trust between the external environments and our internal sensations.
Now, let's go, get up, and find our wedges.
Interview Summary with Mr. Scott Carney
"Once you start doing some dangerous stuff, you realize that you can gain competence in other areas too. So there is that element, it's like you can find that you can take on more difficult challenges because you're not going to be overruled by your anxiety." - Mr. Scott Carney
We engage in the state of flow by performing dangerous tasks, and as a result, we are gradually venturing beyond our limits.
The essence in the kettlebell tossing is making a human connection and building trust with the partner while focusing on the task at hand.
The Wedge teaches how to interact with harsh environments to change fundamental biology and find ways to channel anxiety, depression, and aggression.
"That which what does not kill us makes us stronger." - Friedrich Nietzsche
The Wedge is the way we choose to orient towards the sensation of stress. Stress, sensation, and mindset are the frames that dictate how we experience the world. When we choose to alter our external conditions (stress), the way we feel those conditions (sensation), or the way we decide what those sensations mean (mindset), we can influence physiological reactions that we don't usually think we have access.
We are always experiencing something, and the neural symbols are decoding the world's experience into the body.
The past experience triggers present emotion. Fear is the anticipation of negative experience that happens in the future. Anxiety, panic, and phobias develop due to having a negative experience related to a specific object or situation. Almost all phobias can be successfully treated and cured. Through gradual exposure to the item or condition that causes fear and anxiety can treat simple phobias.
Another area to insert a wedge is doing a dangerous task. Doing a hazardous job needs one-hundred percent focus and concentration, or the outcome is disastrous. Flow appears when we intensely focused on dangerous tasks, and in return, we subsequently earn competency and mastery in other areas of life.
Breathing is a powerful tool to insert a wedge in physical performance. The breathing process through the mouth or nose, which 02 is inhaled into the lungs, and then exhaled CO2.
Wim Hof hyperventilation technique works well for athletes who demand short, intense, powerful outbursts of 02 energy, such as hundred-meters sprint runners or sprint swimmers. Hyperventilation breathing increases the amount of oxygen in the bloodstream, thereby reducing the dependence on energy sources.
Brian Mackenzie breathing exercise works well for endurance athletes requiring high CO2 tolerance levels in the body, such as long-distance runners or freedivers. Endurance athletes have a high tolerance, low sensitivity to CO2, and a lower concentration of 02 in the blood, athletes able to hold the breath for a long time.
We slowly become aware of our bodies and our minds when we float in suspension in a floatation tank. The floatation tank drowned out all external symbols, and we gradually get in touch with our breath, heartbeat, and thoughts.
[You can listen to this full interview at the "Art of Manliness." Link]
Further Read and Resources on Building Human Resilience
You can read a free chapter of "The Wedge" and Scott Carney's writing at his website at ScottCarney.com.
His other books are available on Amazon.
"What Doesn't Kill Us: How Freezing Water, Extreme Altitude, and Environmental Conditioning Will Renew Our Lost Evolutionary Strength"
"The Red Market: On the Trail of the World's Organ Brokers, Bone Thieves, Blood Farmers, and Child Traffickers"
"The Enlightenment Trap: Obsession, Madness and Death on Diamond Mountain"
Wim Hof Method. Known Benefits of Cold Showers. Link
Art of Breath: 4 practices for application. Cadence breathing, apnea breathing, and super ventilation breathing. Link
If you enjoy this interview, please visit the website the Art of Manliness for more in-depth interviews with authors and thinkers. The Art of Manliness podcast is available on Apple Podcasts, Google Android, Stitcher, Spotify, Overcast, Tunein, and most major podcast platforms.
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A Death on Diamond Mountain, Scott Carney (M, 40s, fair isle sweater, waxed cotton coat, texting with book open, NWK Path)
Pushing Your Body Over Its Limit – What Doesn’t Kill Us by Scott Carney
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