Here’s a scary but cool story I found recently called The Hope Experiment… 👇👇👇
*****
During an extremely inhumane study at Harvard in the 1950s, Dr. Curt Richter placed rats in a pool of water to test how long they could tread water. 🐀
On average the rats would give up and sink after ~15 minutes.
But right before they gave up due to exhaustion, the researchers would pluck them out, dry them off, let them rest for a few minutes – and put them back in for a second round.
In this second try – how long do you think they lasted? 🤔
Remember – they had just swam until failure only a few short minutes ago…
How long do you think?
Another 15 minutes?
10 minutes?
5 minutes?
Nope…
They lasted ~60 hours! 😳
Yep, 60 hours of swimming!
The conclusion drawn was that since the rats BELIEVED that they would eventually be rescued, they could push their bodies way past what they previously thought impossible.
*****
HOPE is a remarkable thing.
It’s more powerful than fear, and it will get you through life’s roughest patches.
Today: Have hope. Keep swimming! You are capable of way more than you think you are.
Happy Monday!
– Joel
PS. Looks like some of Dr. Richter’s original experiment notes can be found here: On the Phenomenon of Sudden Death
in Animals and Man (warning, it’s not for the faint of heart. It really is disgusting how they treat animals 😤)
Feature photo by Taton Moïse