Why are we so keen on speed

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Why are we so keen on speed
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Why are we so keen on speed

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Why are we so keen on speed?

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Speed ​​is a kick – we all love it! But what is speed? Why are we so keen on it and what is our ego doing to us? High time to investigate the speed phenomenon.

Uwe Seitz

02/19/2014

Okay, you like speed. But have you ever wondered why? Is it about the sensory impression of “being quick” or do you like the risk factor? And what makes you different from people who hate speeding? What influence does speed have on our brain, what biochemical processes take place when we turn up the gas?

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Pretty sure you’re doing it for the kick – wherever that feeling comes from. When we storm down this piece of asphalt with our motorcycle, faster than ever before, we feel it and our body goes through an insane transformation. Our attention intensifies, our physical abilities increase and at the same time reduce the risk of injury in the event something goes wrong. Welcome to Adrenalin City: Our heart pounds, our mouths go dry, we feel the kick – you know this feeling well!

The bronchi dilate, the flow of saliva and mucus stop

So while we turn the right handle and crouch deep behind the panel, the body and brain need energy, which is why we produce hormones that convert fat and proteins into sugar. Our liver also releases an extra portion of sugar for the muscles. The metabolic ratio rises in anticipation of a tremendous wave of energy, as does the heartbeat, blood pressure and breathing rate. The muscles tense up and get a lot of blood flow. Unnecessary bodily functions like digestion stop working to save energy. “The bronchi widen, the flow of saliva and mucus stop in order to make the way to the lungs for the air supply as far as possible – hence the dry mouth,” explains specialist Dr. Uwe Naumann the typical body reactions.

All of this helps to function better and most appropriately in this situation, to be able to drive faster and more safely. At the same time, the body prepares for the worst, produces natural painkillers, the endorphins, constricts the blood vessels of the internal organs in order to minimize any bleeding, increases blood clotting while our bone marrow sends more white blood cells against impending infections, if we leave in a big way.

Psychologists call it “Flow”

All of this happens because we are in absolute stress, in a high risk phase. The stress center in our brain, the hypothalamus, turns on to control our “fight-or-run” instinct. That’s the adrenaline thing – the hypothalamus takes care of the “neuroendocrine system” with the adrenal gland and the so-called sympathetic nervous system, so that the hormones adrenaline and noradrenaline are produced, which trigger the body reactions mentioned.

All of this increases to the feeling that speed freaks know and love: a pounding heart, dry mouth and a state of utmost consciousness. Some racers perceive this state as an extreme form in which they plunge into an apparent “super-reality”. Psychologists call this “flow”, and the racers compare it to meditation or talk about diving into a fourth dimension, in which the world rushes past you at over 250 km / h, but they feel a zen-like inner peace.

“The faster you go, the more control you have”

As a racing driver I have experienced this a few times myself: You drive faster than ever before and the subconscious seems to take over, you drive without the intervention of the actual self. The world seems to change in slow motion, everything becomes calm, only your breathing rate is gigantic high and you are driving better than ever before, seeming to correct mistakes before you even make them. 500cc champion Mick Doohan knows it: “Driving fast is a matter of the subconscious – the faster you drive, the more control you have and the fewer mistakes you make – if you don’t have to constantly think about your actions.” greatest high a racing driver or speed freak can experience. There is something transcendental about it.

But it can also turn out quite differently. The brain can boil over when you’re too excited – too excited, too aggressive, or feeling too afraid. Instead of penetrating into hyperreality, you are just too cranky, the brain collects too much information. In the end, you think and react far too slowly. Then that’s the adrenaline overdose. So we have to learn to control our adrenaline levels. Some of you know it: You’d like to throw up at the pre-start.

A friend of mine even wet himself a few times in front of the starting lights. However, it is a myth that racing drivers have to consciously get excited before the start. It’s the other way around: you try to be as calm as possible. Triple world champion Kenny Roberts chilled with country & Western music before taking on Barry Sheene on the slopes. You should also look for something like that and never get on a motorcycle excitedly!

The dose of adrenaline that causes speeding can be as safe as a drug. It changes your consciousness like an illegal substance, and a lot of drivers hang on it like chain smokers – adrenaline junkies. “Driving fast is a huge thrill for many people,” says psychologist Dr. Richard Cox. “A lot of it comes from your own feeling of mastering the machine. There is also this special perception: if you concentrate on the periphery, the world scurries past incredibly quickly in the opposite direction, ”says Cox.

The risk is very attractive

“People learn to like speed. You don’t get on a motorcycle and drive 200 km / h. First comes 80 or 100 km / h, then it slowly goes up. Then the big thing comes. All of this is a journey into the unknown, humans are naturally curious beings. Some love things that they have never tried before, where they don’t know what’s going to happen, ”says the scientist.

In this speed kick, the risk aspect plays a major role for many. The theory is that we like to get close to death because it makes us feel life in a special way. The quality of a life in extremes is more important to some than its length. Ex-GP rider Niall MacKenzie admits that he even enjoyed falls because of it. “Today, risk is zero attractive to me, but I used to like the feeling of falling and cheating the devil in the process – on the road and on the racetrack.”

The feeling of being in control of risk

However, racers do not like to admit that they attract risk. They perceive it, but put it aside and like to convince themselves that there is no danger to them – “Nothing can happen to me.” But what they really like is the feeling of being able to control the risk by being breathtakingly fast drive, always on the knife edge, knowing that her incredible talent keeps her on track. At that moment, they feel they are holding their fate in their own hands, close to the abyss but the fine step far enough away from it.

Of course, not everyone experiences this exhilaration at high speeds. Most people seek pleasure, but at the same time fear pain. You might like to watch a motorcycle race on TV in comfort, but you definitely wouldn’t want to step on a thing like that and do over 280 things with it. Some crave high speeds more than others, just as other people enjoy skydiving, climbing skyscrapers, cracking cars, or throwing unfamiliar pills. There is a certain attraction to all of this, and there is a certain risk involved in all of this. Not all people are conscious “risk seekers”.

Crutchlow is afraid of the dark, Rainey is afraid of heights

Conversely, some of these supposedly fearless racers are afraid of things that seem perfectly normal to us. Ducati factory rider Cal Crutchlow is afraid of the dark, superbike hero Carl Fogarty is afraid of water, 500cc world champion Wayne Rainey suffers from a fear of heights and MacKenzie, who was once addicted to falling, is claustrophobic.

Which brings us to the question, why do some people like high speeds and it excites them and others not? Like so many other things, it has to do with nature on the one hand and upbringing on the other, the mixture of our genetic makeup and what our parents taught us. Many racing drivers, for example, come from families who are enthusiastic about racing and have been surrounded by motorcycles and speed throughout their lives. “Everyone has their own access to something like this,” says psychologist Richard Cox. “You may come to this speed thing because of what you experienced in your youth – the neighbor had a motorcycle, you saw a race on TV or was there live and learned to love the sound and the smell.”

The desire to win is stronger than the desire for speed

One aspect distinguishes Racer from the “normal” speed freak. Her love for high speeds, which was instilled in her cradle and nurtured, is now being masked by her desire to compete. Speed ​​alone is no longer the kick per se. It’s about beating others, being faster and crazier. “If you’ve driven really fast a few times, that’s no big deal,” says MacKenzie. “Going down the mountain on the bike was cool at first, but when it came time to leave your buddies behind, speed got really interesting.”

Racers don’t even notice the speed as such. Ask a MotoGP rider how it feels to go at the end of the start / finish at 330 km / h and he will simply shrug his shoulders. A racing driver is not interested in top speeds and straights. I asked Wayne Rainey what his absolute top speed was in the early 1990s. The answer: “323 km / h in Fukuroi (Yamaha’s Japanese test track – the editor).” And how does that feel? “As if you should translate a tooth shorter,” he grinned back.

The speed itself didn’t really mean anything to him, the gear ratio was important to Rainey in order to be able to use the performance optimally. “It doesn’t matter whether you can do 290 or 330 km / h,” explains the former world champion. “You don’t feel anything special.”

So is speed irrelevant, something that matters a lot less than we think? Just a cheap shot of adrenaline, the manifestation that humans cannot just leave things alone, proof that there always has to be more everywhere – faster, higher, further, louder? Or are that too many questions instead of just sitting up, opening the gas and diving deep behind the handlebars? Probably! There is nothing good, unless you do it.

Nervous systems need stimuli of different sizes

Then there is nature, the genetic makeup of our brain and its neural circuitry. The central nervous system is another part that plays a huge role in how much we can control our excitement. Studies show that some people’s nervous systems need greater stimuli than others. That makes the difference between so-called risk seekers and couch potatoes.

MacKenzie gives the perfect picture of the interplay between nature and upbringing: “I lived in the village up on the hill, and as a child there was nothing better for me than to drive down this hill as fast as possible. I got so many bloody noses there. My bonanza bike wasn’t designed for such speeds at all. I remember how the buddies kept pushing this thing home for me and I trotted after it, bleeding. Still, I’ve done it again and again. “

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