The Wedge: Evolution, Consciousness, Stress, and the Key to Human Resilience

I am very grateful to Scott Carney for sharing his latest adventures in The Wedge, and to his publisher(s) for (presumably) funding his field research. The reader is treated to detailed point-of-view descriptions of amazing and hard-to-come-by experiences: 1. Managing panic caused by diving gear problems while surrounded by great white sharks 40 miles off the coast of Mexico 2. Learning how to play catch with a kettle bell expert 3. Overdoing the Wim Hof Method with 'DMT breathing' until you turn purple and your yoga instructor panics 4. Hearing Brian Mckenzie's strategies for short high-intensity workouts with nasal breathing, and limitations of the Wim Hof Method for building athleticism 5. Meditation in sensory deprivation tanks, and how your mood can affect the result 6. Eating nothing but potatoes for several days 7. Extreme heat therapy in a Latvian sauna sweat lodge 8. Counselor-supervised marriage counseling under the influence of extasy (MDMA, self-tested for pureness) 9. Multiple psychoactive "trips" in the Peruvian Amazon using ayahuasca, including behind-the-scenes with the shaman who can hear what plants sayObviously, the costs, risks, and logistics of such adventures prevent most people and myself from attempting such wild behavior. A first-hand account of what to expect is nearly priceless to me.That said, if I may play devil's advocate, I usually don't agree with Scott's interpretations of his experiences, and do not follow his lifestyle routines. But, that's OK...to each his own. I still learn much from his adventuring, and he explains his reasoning well enough that the reader can choose a more conservative path when necessary. And, his attempts to translate his adventures into practical and reproducible tools for happiness and health, as well as his attempts to connect his experiences to scientific evidence, appear to be quite sincere and well-meaning.On the harsh side, at least a couple of reviewers report that The Wedge is 'a cash-in follow up', vacuous, repetitive and self-absorbed, and never develops to an actual point. One eloquent reviewer called it 'a patchwork of hastily assembled vignettes...shoehorned...into an ill-defined, meandering theme of "The Wedge"'. (You gotta love a good jab like that, even if you adore the book!)Nonetheless, my five-star rating stands. Although I did pick and choose my way through the less-pertinent narratives, the meaty parts are nearly priceless. I eagerly look forward to Scott's next book.

History is full of stories of people seeking spiritual experiences with the help of a change in environment. The human is built for amazingly harsh conditions that the average person can’t imagine, let alone experience. Scott is really good at telling a story. Several times while reading I was sucked into the omnipotent observer and away from being simply a reader. Performance athletes and Special Operations people have developed a way to get their conscious mind in the middle of the loop between stimulus and response. Scott calls this “ The Wedge.” I encourage other to read this book. Step out of yourself for an hour or two in this book, and maybe find yourself forever.

Backed by science where possible and sel f (and wife) experimentation when no science. Looking forward to exploring these "hacks" further. Only negative is the overly simplistic view of appetite and body weight regulation which is as controlled by neurohormonal mechanisms as breathing and temperature regulation just on a slower time frame (seconds for breathing, minutes for temperature, hours for salt/water and days for weight.

As I organize my thoughts about "The Wedge," I get a tiny sense of the vast size of Scott Carney's project in this new guide to human potential. I am starting to do breath work, but I have mostly been too engrossed min the many stories and scientific concepts here to take serious time to use it for my own benefit, and I hope that writing a review will help me begin that serious work.This book touches my heart and mind with visionary answers to questions that have long lingered around the edges of my mind, from ideas like "using your peripheral vision activates your parasympathetic nervous system" to how the role of carbon dioxide in the body can make you want to breathe better, because you now understand so much about how your nervous system works.Every chapter is organized around a story of how Scott found the information which backgrounds each new piece of the resiliency strategies that make up the Wedge, and help him to define this new term in fascinating ways. Along the way, I began to see and share the excitement of Scott's role, now growing beyond the anthropologist/investigative reporter/adventurer labels he has used. The areas he researches are so specific that he is always an outsider to the science, but he is wielding his status with great finesse; he can now connect many branches of human experience, and you see his confidence growing as he understands his understanding of the Wedge.This is a fascinating read, even though it is full of densely powerful information. It inspires so much hope of being a more resilient, more able-to-enjoy-life person. If you have read his previous works, be prepared for how far it ventures into new territory, with a shift in scope. I trust that many others will love and utilize this book as much as I intend to. I highly recommend it!

I love the way Scott writes. He weaves story into experience and investigation of topics nobody else visits. Well worth reading.

I bought "The wedge" out of an impulse buy after watching so many scott carney's videos and lectures. I already have order his book, "What doesn't kill us" but it is yet to arrive. But, now after reading "The Wedge" in one shot, over the night, I cannot wait for the other book to arrive. Scott is a wonderful wordsmith. He kept me hooked on words, as if i'm reading a Stephen King's thriller book by just talking about humans and potential within humans. There are so many quotes in this book, i would share with others. It makes sense, and this sensibility makes the book work. If it was just facts after facts, i would have felt easily bored. But, he instead tries to give you a clear picture. From first page, you can feel he is trying to be honest to you and not saying bullshit. Being a fiction writer, i felt he had found a splendid way to make non-fiction as much fun as a fiction. Keep writing and keep me inspired.

long winded with little point. little actionable suggestions with too much repitition and telling us how awesome he is. Boring story after boring story that never develops to an actual point

Sorry, gave this book away

Scott Carley writes very wellGives understanding to Wim Hof’s method