WEBVTT - CLASSIC: Real Life Super Powers Part II 0:00:00.120 --> 0:00:03.800 Welcome to the show, fellow conspiracy realist. This evening, we're 0:00:03.840 --> 0:00:08.360 returning to you with a very oh gosh, oh Matt, 0:00:08.400 --> 0:00:12.920 I'm always just so fascinated by this one. Real life superpowers. 0:00:13.320 --> 0:00:17.040 Yeah, we've all dreamt about it. We've been thinking about 0:00:17.079 --> 0:00:19.760 it since we picked up that first comic book. What 0:00:19.840 --> 0:00:22.520 if any of this could really be true? It? Could 0:00:22.520 --> 0:00:23.079 I do it? 0:00:23.640 --> 0:00:26.680 Literally? Any of it like a picture? You know, some 0:00:27.560 --> 0:00:31.320 not all X Men have the same level of powers 0:00:31.360 --> 0:00:34.440 in the Marvel universe. There are Omega level mutants, and 0:00:34.560 --> 0:00:38.640 there's everybody else. But even like the nerdiest X Man 0:00:39.159 --> 0:00:43.160 like Cipher, who just knows every language, even that's really 0:00:43.200 --> 0:00:47.040 cool power. So for quite some time you and I 0:00:47.120 --> 0:00:52.920 were were just compelled to look through all the reports 0:00:53.040 --> 0:00:57.440 of extraordinary abilities across the real world and determine whether 0:00:57.520 --> 0:00:58.880 or not any of them are true. 0:00:59.600 --> 0:01:02.800 Yeah, could there be a real life night Crawler? And 0:01:02.840 --> 0:01:03.560 could he be me? 0:01:04.840 --> 0:01:08.680 And does he BAMF? Does he BAF? Is the question? 0:01:08.880 --> 0:01:09.640 What does the band? 0:01:10.000 --> 0:01:10.560 Does that mean? 0:01:10.800 --> 0:01:15.119 BAMF is the automotive pya, it's the it's the sound 0:01:15.120 --> 0:01:19.280 effect when night Crawler teleports, it's BAF BAMF. 0:01:20.000 --> 0:01:23.120 So unfamiliar with with all these like terms you know 0:01:23.280 --> 0:01:24.800 that are used. I thought I really thought it was 0:01:24.840 --> 0:01:26.600 just some kind of slang term. I didn't understand it. 0:01:26.480 --> 0:01:30.959 It was just a weird Twitter acronym. Well, at this point, 0:01:31.040 --> 0:01:34.120 this is coming to us from twenty eighteen as the 0:01:34.200 --> 0:01:37.080 humans reckon the calendar. So tune in, let us know 0:01:37.120 --> 0:01:39.600 what you think, and then let us know what sound 0:01:39.640 --> 0:01:43.960 effect your superpower would have. From UFOs to psychic powers 0:01:44.000 --> 0:01:48.680 and government conspiracies, history is riddled with unexplained events. You 0:01:48.760 --> 0:01:52.000 can turn back now or learn this stuff they don't 0:01:52.040 --> 0:01:52.800 want you to know. 0:02:05.880 --> 0:02:07.920 Hello, welcome back to the show. My name is Matt, 0:02:08.000 --> 0:02:08.880 my name is Noman. 0:02:09.040 --> 0:02:11.160 They call me Ben. We are joined with our super 0:02:11.200 --> 0:02:15.480 producer Paul Deckett. Most importantly, you are here, and that 0:02:15.560 --> 0:02:18.520 makes this stuff they don't want you to know. A 0:02:18.639 --> 0:02:23.000 sequel episode to an episode that I think we all 0:02:23.080 --> 0:02:26.440 enjoyed much earlier when we did it for the first time. 0:02:26.720 --> 0:02:27.800 How long ago was that. 0:02:27.720 --> 0:02:28.960 I was gonna ask the same thing? A couple of. 0:02:29.000 --> 0:02:33.720 Years, It seems like it was a while back. Yeah, 0:02:33.760 --> 0:02:38.040 it was our episode on real life Superpowers. Now, as 0:02:38.080 --> 0:02:42.600 we live in the age of superhero movies, the comic 0:02:42.600 --> 0:02:46.640 book movie renaissance, you could call it. We know that 0:02:47.520 --> 0:02:50.840 more and more people are familiar with the concept of 0:02:50.880 --> 0:02:54.400 the extraordinary abilities that we call superpowers, and there are 0:02:54.400 --> 0:02:57.040 a few that even if you hate Marvel and DC 0:02:57.240 --> 0:02:59.600 movies and comic books in general, there are a few 0:02:59.680 --> 0:03:03.240 of these abilities that are totally familiar to everyone, like 0:03:03.320 --> 0:03:06.000 flying without the need of a plane, a helicopter, a 0:03:06.000 --> 0:03:08.560 glider or so on. Right, that's that's one of the 0:03:08.600 --> 0:03:12.560 oldest ones, right, absolute even in ancient myths, gods can fly. 0:03:12.720 --> 0:03:14.280 You know, I've never thought about this until now, but 0:03:14.720 --> 0:03:17.720 since most of the superheroes that fly don't have any 0:03:17.840 --> 0:03:21.800 kind of wing structure support, I conjecture that it is 0:03:21.840 --> 0:03:24.799 a psychic based ability. It is almost like a telekinetic 0:03:24.840 --> 0:03:26.920 ability control themselves. 0:03:27.000 --> 0:03:27.120 Right. 0:03:27.560 --> 0:03:31.160 Yeah, that's absolutely right, because I went through a phase 0:03:31.320 --> 0:03:34.280 a while back when I would ask people what three 0:03:34.440 --> 0:03:36.960 superpowers they could have, and I think we've all had 0:03:36.960 --> 0:03:38.280 this conversation off air. 0:03:38.360 --> 0:03:40.000 I think we did in the last Superpowers episode. 0:03:40.400 --> 0:03:43.840 We probably did. Yeah, And that's flying is one that 0:03:43.880 --> 0:03:46.720 people don't think through all the way because flying sounds 0:03:46.720 --> 0:03:50.760 cool unless it's a physical thing like swimming. Because if 0:03:50.760 --> 0:03:53.000 you can just because you can swim doesn't mean you 0:03:53.040 --> 0:03:56.520 can swim across town. It would have to be something 0:03:56.560 --> 0:03:58.320 that doesn't exert muscle energy. 0:03:58.480 --> 0:03:58.880 That's true. 0:03:58.920 --> 0:04:01.840 But I think that tele kinesis now would fold a 0:04:01.840 --> 0:04:05.280 lot of things into itself. Right, tell kinesis you could 0:04:05.320 --> 0:04:07.280 make yourself fly and then you have that one checked 0:04:07.280 --> 0:04:09.760 off the list, and you could also, you know, throw 0:04:10.080 --> 0:04:11.520 knives at people in the air. 0:04:11.600 --> 0:04:13.720 Yeah, I disagree on both counts. Guys. All you have 0:04:13.760 --> 0:04:16.839 to do is master the matrix, and once you've got 0:04:16.880 --> 0:04:18.440 that down, you can do anything. 0:04:18.560 --> 0:04:19.839 Well, that's just bending the code. 0:04:19.880 --> 0:04:21.480 Did you take the red pillar? The blue pill? 0:04:21.640 --> 0:04:22.479 The red pill? Dude? 0:04:23.440 --> 0:04:26.880 You know that's like a weird like neo Nazi thing 0:04:27.000 --> 0:04:28.159 getting red pilled. 0:04:28.240 --> 0:04:29.360 It gets a massage. Yeah. 0:04:29.400 --> 0:04:30.880 It stands for a lot of things now. 0:04:30.880 --> 0:04:32.839 Yeah, but specifically I heard that it was sort of 0:04:32.880 --> 0:04:36.440 like a way the alt right are able to explain 0:04:36.600 --> 0:04:39.279 the way they started believing that the Jewish people controlled 0:04:39.440 --> 0:04:40.040 the universe. 0:04:40.160 --> 0:04:44.160 It also stands for the in cell stuff, the involuntarily 0:04:44.240 --> 0:04:45.120 celibate movement. 0:04:45.320 --> 0:04:47.200 Well, I take the red pill for other reasons, all 0:04:47.240 --> 0:04:48.919 you groups out there, and it has to do with 0:04:49.000 --> 0:04:49.479 the matrix. 0:04:49.520 --> 0:04:53.360 The original reason. Yeah, talk about being misused, but the 0:04:53.400 --> 0:04:56.640 writers of the Matrix are pissed about that. One. Another 0:04:57.520 --> 0:05:00.440 skill that people are familiar with would be the idea 0:05:00.520 --> 0:05:03.839 of extraordinary strength. As we explained in the last episode 0:05:03.880 --> 0:05:08.240 on real life superpowers, these come in these strength. Powers 0:05:08.560 --> 0:05:12.799 come in two real life variations. The first is hysterical strength, 0:05:13.040 --> 0:05:15.839 which is a real thing. A parent sees their child 0:05:16.440 --> 0:05:18.640 run over by a car with a heavy weight on them, 0:05:19.040 --> 0:05:21.719 and they are able to in a way that does 0:05:21.800 --> 0:05:25.480 damage them. They are able to temporarily lift much more 0:05:26.000 --> 0:05:29.640 weight than they could normally. The second, and perhaps more 0:05:30.160 --> 0:05:34.159 disturbing one is a genetic mutation that's been found in 0:05:35.080 --> 0:05:40.800 to date one cow and one boy in Europe, and 0:05:40.839 --> 0:05:44.480 it's a mutation that removes the limits on their ability 0:05:44.520 --> 0:05:47.320 to build muscle mass. And these are just a few 0:05:47.360 --> 0:05:52.120 of the powers we covered in our previous episode. Each 0:05:52.240 --> 0:05:56.000 each case in that episode and in this one, each 0:05:56.000 --> 0:05:59.599 of these cases have been scientifically verified. And while no 0:05:59.640 --> 0:06:03.960 one can fly unaided yet, our species is capable of 0:06:04.000 --> 0:06:07.560 some pretty amazing things, and so many in fact, that 0:06:07.640 --> 0:06:11.120 we decided to do this long awaited sequel because we 0:06:11.200 --> 0:06:14.360 found powers that didn't make it into the first episode. 0:06:14.440 --> 0:06:18.560 If you have not checked out Real Life Superpowers Part one. 0:06:19.080 --> 0:06:21.720 Please go ahead and do so now because you will 0:06:21.800 --> 0:06:24.800 want the context to this, and honestly, you won't want 0:06:24.800 --> 0:06:27.720 to miss the first powers we discovered in that one, 0:06:29.000 --> 0:06:31.599 because these other powers are a little different. So go 0:06:31.640 --> 0:06:34.200 ahead and pause this now, give that one a listen 0:06:34.240 --> 0:06:35.360 and come back. We'll wait. 0:06:37.400 --> 0:06:41.159 Okay, you're done listening to the Avengers episode. Cool? 0:06:41.680 --> 0:06:43.320 Good The Avengers. 0:06:43.400 --> 0:06:46.359 Yeah, that's that. Last episode is basically the Avengers. 0:06:46.520 --> 0:06:49.960 Right, We've got a supersite, super strength. 0:06:49.920 --> 0:06:51.279 Temperature, and regulation. 0:06:51.680 --> 0:06:55.480 Yeah, that's always my fair massive endurance. So those are 0:06:55.520 --> 0:06:59.159 the Avenger level powers. This one is maybe for fans 0:06:59.200 --> 0:07:01.440 of comic books out there, and please write to us 0:07:01.480 --> 0:07:03.280 and let me know if you get this reference. This 0:07:03.360 --> 0:07:07.120 is more the Great Lakes Avengers episode to deep cut. 0:07:07.240 --> 0:07:09.520 You can also google Great Lakes Avengers if you want 0:07:09.560 --> 0:07:09.960 to chuckle. 0:07:10.040 --> 0:07:11.800 I can kind of put it together in my head. 0:07:12.120 --> 0:07:15.520 Is it sort of just like the workaday Joe Avengers 0:07:15.600 --> 0:07:17.400 kind of like doing their stuff out words? 0:07:17.440 --> 0:07:20.600 No, No, this is a this is a superhero team. 0:07:20.720 --> 0:07:21.400 It's their job. 0:07:21.480 --> 0:07:23.080 But they're out in the Great Lakes, so I'm picture 0:07:23.120 --> 0:07:25.080 of them being like good old Salt of the Earth 0:07:25.120 --> 0:07:30.680 types you know, perhaps. 0:07:30.680 --> 0:07:33.320 I like where's at but you gotta you gotta check those. 0:07:34.000 --> 0:07:36.640 I think you will enjoy reading about Great Lakes. 0:07:36.640 --> 0:07:38.920 I look forward to it. Not too many spoilers, but 0:07:39.040 --> 0:07:42.040 definitely search the thing that Ben told me to search, 0:07:42.080 --> 0:07:44.640 which is doormn one one word door man. 0:07:46.000 --> 0:07:47.920 Is he literally a door man like an hotel? 0:07:48.040 --> 0:07:50.240 Well, I don't. I don't want to spoil it for 0:07:50.280 --> 0:07:52.520 the listeners, so I'm not going to say it on air, 0:07:53.160 --> 0:07:56.360 but I think everybody writes in will will enjoy the 0:07:56.400 --> 0:07:57.080 Google search. 0:07:57.200 --> 0:07:58.600 How have I not heard of this? Is this like 0:07:58.640 --> 0:08:01.440 a parody? No, it's a real thing. 0:08:01.480 --> 0:08:04.000 But I get I'm not going to I'm looking at 0:08:04.000 --> 0:08:06.920 it right now and it's yeah, please, we'll check this out. Yeah, 0:08:06.960 --> 0:08:10.720 let's see if it Let's see if it's a correct comparison. 0:08:10.840 --> 0:08:14.520 So here are the facts. Most of those extraordinary abilities 0:08:14.640 --> 0:08:18.880 that we discussed today fall into a few distinct categories. 0:08:19.160 --> 0:08:21.240 Yeah, first, you got the kind of what we spoke 0:08:21.280 --> 0:08:24.520 about before, some kind of genetic mutation that allows the 0:08:24.600 --> 0:08:28.040 human body, for one reason or another, from some small 0:08:28.160 --> 0:08:32.240 change at the genetic level to allow just a tiny, 0:08:32.760 --> 0:08:35.640 a minuscule amount of human beings on the planet to 0:08:35.679 --> 0:08:39.840 do something greater than we usually could. We're talking about 0:08:39.840 --> 0:08:44.439 what people who can see colors. Most people can't see 0:08:44.559 --> 0:08:45.959 tetrachromats exactly. 0:08:46.000 --> 0:08:48.360 That one the kind of the opposite of being colored 0:08:48.360 --> 0:08:51.480 efficient or color blind. They're all women due to the 0:08:51.480 --> 0:08:56.600 way the genetic expression works, and they can see way 0:08:56.640 --> 0:08:59.280 more colors than we will ever ever get to see. 0:08:59.480 --> 0:09:02.320 Yeah, can't even fathom them. Even if you're looking at 0:09:02.320 --> 0:09:05.640 one of those massive color wheels, it's not on there. 0:09:06.400 --> 0:09:10.640 They can also determine imperfections in colors that we would 0:09:11.040 --> 0:09:13.920 otherwise think are the same. So, if anything, it's kind 0:09:13.920 --> 0:09:17.359 of an irritating superpowerful. Can you imagine being a tetrachromat 0:09:17.400 --> 0:09:18.480 and trying to paint your house? 0:09:18.720 --> 0:09:20.800 Ooh yeah, that'd be crazy. 0:09:21.000 --> 0:09:23.680 And so Second, and this is good news for a 0:09:23.679 --> 0:09:28.040 lot of us listening here. Second, there are learned superpowers, 0:09:28.080 --> 0:09:32.280 such as people with blindness who have learned to practice echolocation. 0:09:32.440 --> 0:09:34.360 We all know what echolocation is, right, It's like how 0:09:34.400 --> 0:09:38.120 a lot of bats get around, or dolphins, dolphins more particularly, right. 0:09:38.440 --> 0:09:40.599 I think dolphin would be the more correct use of it, 0:09:40.640 --> 0:09:41.080 wouldn't it. 0:09:41.440 --> 0:09:43.120 I know bats are right up in there. 0:09:43.960 --> 0:09:46.800 And so are a couple of people who have gone 0:09:46.920 --> 0:09:50.360 full on daredevil in. And then there are people like 0:09:50.440 --> 0:09:53.000 you mentioned in the beginning, Matt, people who have learned 0:09:53.040 --> 0:09:58.040 to control otherwise involuntary bodily functions through meditation. 0:09:59.240 --> 0:10:01.360 That's pretty awesome. It's kind of like the matrix. 0:10:01.760 --> 0:10:03.400 It is kind of like the matrix. 0:10:03.440 --> 0:10:03.760 It is. 0:10:04.120 --> 0:10:06.360 And there's one there's a thing that I thought would 0:10:06.360 --> 0:10:09.960 interest you particularly, knowl There's a fascinating audio file that 0:10:10.000 --> 0:10:13.720 we will get to later in today's show. It's it's weird. 0:10:14.360 --> 0:10:14.920 I can't wait. 0:10:15.240 --> 0:10:17.400 I don't even know if it's useful, but I think 0:10:17.400 --> 0:10:19.440 it's cool. I think I think we'll all like it. 0:10:19.520 --> 0:10:23.240 Not fil e as in an audio file at Phil right. 0:10:23.320 --> 0:10:26.839 Yes, yes, he can make audio files with his head, 0:10:26.880 --> 0:10:29.280 which would actually be incredibly useful for us. 0:10:29.360 --> 0:10:31.400 He's got like a little USB drive right at his 0:10:31.440 --> 0:10:33.959 temple and he just pops in a stick and then hands. 0:10:33.679 --> 0:10:35.280 It to you. Forty eight K waves whatever. 0:10:35.520 --> 0:10:39.640 Yeah, uh nerds. But third, there are there are people 0:10:39.640 --> 0:10:43.720 who have already acquired certain extraordinary abilities through kind of 0:10:43.720 --> 0:10:47.760 the Iron Man Batman route. They've used technology, or what's 0:10:47.760 --> 0:10:51.720 known as wetwear biohacking, to give themselves a couple of 0:10:51.760 --> 0:10:54.760 extra things that you would not ordinarily have as a 0:10:54.760 --> 0:10:57.800 member of this species. And this is interesting, this third one, 0:10:57.880 --> 0:11:04.200 because this technology and biohacking, coupled with genetic research, forms 0:11:04.240 --> 0:11:08.640 the basis of current superpower research. And without spoiling things 0:11:08.880 --> 0:11:11.600 just yet, we're going to end by looking at the 0:11:11.640 --> 0:11:14.960 future in this episode, So stay tuned because we want 0:11:15.000 --> 0:11:17.360 to hear what you think about some of the strange 0:11:17.679 --> 0:11:21.800 and I think earlier we described as potentially huge, but 0:11:21.840 --> 0:11:25.880 I'll just I'll say what it is, potentially catastrophic changes. Yeah, 0:11:25.920 --> 0:11:28.600 there's just a couple of decades out from now. So 0:11:29.559 --> 0:11:32.679 enough preface, right, let's get to the powers. That's why 0:11:32.720 --> 0:11:35.800 we're all here. We'll briefly describe them and we'll follow 0:11:35.880 --> 0:11:39.440 up with some speculation on their usefulness. 0:11:39.520 --> 0:11:41.560 Yeah, some of them are more usable than others. So 0:11:41.600 --> 0:11:42.719 what's first, Ben. 0:11:43.080 --> 0:11:44.840 Here's where it gets crazy. 0:11:44.920 --> 0:11:46.920 Oh, oh, that should always be first. 0:11:47.000 --> 0:11:49.160 Well, it's a little I think it's weird because it's 0:11:49.160 --> 0:11:51.960 a little early in the episode. Right, So super throws, 0:11:52.320 --> 0:11:54.200 super throwing. We've all thrown stuff. 0:11:54.559 --> 0:11:57.800 Yeah, most of us. You can huck a I don't know, 0:11:57.800 --> 0:12:01.040 a cantalope fairly far, which is difficult to do because 0:12:01.880 --> 0:12:03.960 my hand isn't big enough to palm a cantelope. But 0:12:04.000 --> 0:12:05.960 it's fun to attempt to throw in really far after 0:12:06.000 --> 0:12:06.559 it's gone bad. 0:12:06.640 --> 0:12:10.439 You've got above average sized hands, I would say, Man, really, yeah, 0:12:10.480 --> 0:12:11.840 oh thanks dude, and a problem. 0:12:11.840 --> 0:12:13.840 Man, Can I be your lawyer? 0:12:17.240 --> 0:12:20.640 That's worth it? That's worth it. God, that character is 0:12:20.640 --> 0:12:22.320 so creepy, but I love them, I know. 0:12:22.800 --> 0:12:24.960 So who are you talking about. 0:12:25.040 --> 0:12:29.840 We're talking about Charlie's uncle in Always Sunny. Yes, yes, yes, 0:12:29.880 --> 0:12:32.920 it's very worried about the size of his hands and 0:12:33.280 --> 0:12:38.800 what qualifies as art. Oh boy, So this super throwing 0:12:39.160 --> 0:12:41.560 maybe a thing. Some people will tell you it is. 0:12:41.840 --> 0:12:46.000 And it all goes back to polydactly, which is the 0:12:46.120 --> 0:12:50.520 fancy word for being born with extra digits or one 0:12:50.559 --> 0:12:53.520 extra digit on your hand or. 0:12:53.360 --> 0:12:55.520 On your feet, fingers and or toes. 0:12:55.559 --> 0:12:58.040 Fingers and toes. Yeah, not like a little baby hand 0:12:58.200 --> 0:13:02.920 growing out of your regular hand. And so it's the 0:13:02.960 --> 0:13:07.840 second most common congenital hand disorder. And what we're talking 0:13:07.880 --> 0:13:12.320 about specifically is something called radial polydactyle. So, for everyone 0:13:12.360 --> 0:13:16.640 who's seen our new logo, what you're gonna tell people 0:13:17.480 --> 0:13:20.120 do it? No, we shouldn't spoil the beans. No, it's 0:13:20.160 --> 0:13:23.120 too late. We've said too much. Spoil the beans. Spoil 0:13:23.200 --> 0:13:26.600 the beans, spoil the beans. I like it. So this 0:13:26.600 --> 0:13:30.839 this radial polydactyle stuff one in every three thousand live berths. 0:13:30.880 --> 0:13:34.080 And when this occurs, you'll see something where it looks 0:13:34.080 --> 0:13:38.880 like someone has an extra pinky maybe or even more 0:13:39.120 --> 0:13:42.880 extra digits, And. 0:13:41.720 --> 0:13:43.480 So it goes off that side of the hand, not 0:13:43.480 --> 0:13:45.079 not on the side of the thumb, off the. 0:13:45.400 --> 0:13:48.760 It can go okay either way. But but the thing 0:13:48.800 --> 0:13:52.760 that's crazy about it is that many, many more people 0:13:53.400 --> 0:13:56.520 have been born with this condition than you might imagine. 0:13:56.720 --> 0:14:00.800 Often people when they're when they're born with extra tiny 0:14:00.840 --> 0:14:03.520 fingers or something, there's no way for the doctors to 0:14:03.520 --> 0:14:05.720 tell whether those are going to be functional later in 0:14:05.760 --> 0:14:07.960 life or just awkward looking, so you kind of have 0:14:08.000 --> 0:14:10.439 to just wait. So well, often they get cut off 0:14:10.440 --> 0:14:14.800 at birth. Oh so it's quite possible that you know, 0:14:15.160 --> 0:14:17.679 some of us listening may have been born with that 0:14:17.720 --> 0:14:21.520 condition and the doctor just snipped off that extra thumb jeez, 0:14:21.680 --> 0:14:23.040 because they didn't know if it was going to be 0:14:23.120 --> 0:14:23.840 just hanging around. 0:14:23.880 --> 0:14:27.400 You wouldn't leave a mark, though, some kind of telltale sign, right. 0:14:27.360 --> 0:14:30.120 Good question. Look, would it leave a line of a 0:14:30.160 --> 0:14:34.400 scar right here along the base of your hands under 0:14:34.400 --> 0:14:37.400 your pinky. The thing is it would have that cut 0:14:37.440 --> 0:14:41.240 would have occurred so early that the scar would become imperceptible. 0:14:41.360 --> 0:14:43.000 You know, it's kind of cool. There's a lot of 0:14:43.040 --> 0:14:48.000 stuff in folklore and various cultures from around the world 0:14:48.320 --> 0:14:52.000 about how extra digits and toes are actually a sign 0:14:52.080 --> 0:14:57.320 of some kind of providence. I suppose, like, like you know, 0:14:57.640 --> 0:15:00.320 they're have a red places saying that Atam, you know 0:15:00.400 --> 0:15:03.480 of Adam and Eve fame who possibly had six fingers, 0:15:03.920 --> 0:15:08.680 And in the Chaco Canyon area of New Mexico, the 0:15:08.720 --> 0:15:12.480 ancient Pueblo culture have all kinds of cave paintings of 0:15:12.680 --> 0:15:16.160 six fingers and six toad sandals and things like that. 0:15:16.520 --> 0:15:22.080 And it's this polydactyle has been considered to be revered 0:15:22.320 --> 0:15:24.760 as some kind of great prophet or some kind of 0:15:24.760 --> 0:15:27.480 great warrior, or some kind of imbued with some kind 0:15:27.480 --> 0:15:27.920 of power. 0:15:28.440 --> 0:15:31.880 Yeah, it's considered auspicious. The highest rate of occurrence is 0:15:32.240 --> 0:15:35.640 in the Indian subcontinent, But if you think about it, 0:15:35.760 --> 0:15:40.600 one out of three thousand people is pretty common as 0:15:40.640 --> 0:15:44.120 far as these sorts of conditions go. And this means 0:15:44.200 --> 0:15:48.680 that most cultures through antiquity would have been familiar with it. 0:15:48.720 --> 0:15:51.560 In some cultures it was seen as a sign of 0:15:51.600 --> 0:15:56.880 the devil or demonic origin, but in other cultures it 0:15:56.920 --> 0:15:59.560 was seen as a very very auspicious thing. In the 0:15:59.640 --> 0:16:03.320 case of Antonio Alfonseca, it was a weird piece of 0:16:03.320 --> 0:16:06.520 trivia that always got included with descriptions of his career 0:16:06.560 --> 0:16:10.080 as a baseball pitcher. You see, Antonio was born with 0:16:10.600 --> 0:16:13.680 six fingers on each hand and six toes on each foot. 0:16:14.360 --> 0:16:17.960 He had a great sinker, the type of pitch who 0:16:18.000 --> 0:16:21.200 was known for his teammates called him el Bulpo or 0:16:22.480 --> 0:16:27.080 the polpo, the octopus, and he was he was uh. 0:16:27.360 --> 0:16:31.320 It was called this because of his six fingers on 0:16:31.360 --> 0:16:35.200 each hand. And yes, we know that's not technically correct, 0:16:35.280 --> 0:16:38.840 that's twelve digits. But he did not have these removed 0:16:38.880 --> 0:16:41.520 at birth, unlike a lot of other people. And so 0:16:41.680 --> 0:16:46.360 when he was pitching, people began to credit his pitching 0:16:46.400 --> 0:16:51.520 ability to some sort of perceived better grip on the ball. 0:16:51.880 --> 0:16:56.920 Interesting and certainly be different than the standard, sure, sure. 0:16:56.880 --> 0:16:58.800 But then also we could say the same thing about 0:16:58.840 --> 0:17:02.840 someone who sit friends since had fused fingers and only 0:17:02.880 --> 0:17:06.240 had three fingers, right, they would have a different grip 0:17:06.280 --> 0:17:10.159 as well. But the problem is that his extra digit 0:17:10.720 --> 0:17:12.360 was if you look at it, it's kind of an 0:17:12.400 --> 0:17:16.040 extra pinky and it didn't seem to at least from 0:17:16.080 --> 0:17:19.000 what he said, it didn't seem to come into contact 0:17:19.040 --> 0:17:23.080 with the ball when he's actually holding it. So usefulness, 0:17:23.760 --> 0:17:26.720 I don't know. We'll have to wait for a polydactyl 0:17:26.760 --> 0:17:30.040 person to maybe take up piano or some other instrument 0:17:30.200 --> 0:17:32.919 like maybe a sitar or a harp, something with a 0:17:32.920 --> 0:17:36.679 lot of strings. And additionally, for it to be a 0:17:36.720 --> 0:17:41.080 benefit to them, they'd need extra digits to work independently 0:17:41.200 --> 0:17:45.600 like their other fingers, and that's not as common as 0:17:45.760 --> 0:17:50.320 just straight up polydactyl cases. So there you go. 0:17:51.080 --> 0:17:53.280 There you go a little bit more on alfon Seca. 0:17:53.320 --> 0:17:55.399 He played for the Braves for I think one or 0:17:55.440 --> 0:17:59.480 two seasons. I definitely remember seeing his name floating around 0:17:59.480 --> 0:18:02.399 in the Braves roster for a while. Oh wait it 0:18:02.400 --> 0:18:03.840 was yeah, it was two thousand and four. Okay, so 0:18:03.880 --> 0:18:06.199 it was a single season, two thousand and four. But 0:18:06.280 --> 0:18:09.280 you probably remember him if you do, if it is 0:18:09.359 --> 0:18:13.080 ringing your head from his years with the Florida Marlins. 0:18:13.119 --> 0:18:17.120 That's right. Look, I have a very limited baseball memory, 0:18:17.200 --> 0:18:20.080 but I actually do. I looked up his name and 0:18:20.080 --> 0:18:21.280 I saw his face. I was like, oh, yeah, I 0:18:21.280 --> 0:18:26.320 do remember this. Yeah, I don't remember that part. Yeah, 0:18:26.359 --> 0:18:29.760 that's really interesting. I don't remember him being like amazing though. 0:18:30.040 --> 0:18:33.320 No. No, he was just a competent pitcher. Yeah, that's 0:18:33.359 --> 0:18:36.600 the thing. It's not. It's not as if he were 0:18:36.960 --> 0:18:39.919 like the Lebron James of pitching or something, you know, 0:18:40.600 --> 0:18:42.119 but it was just a I think it was a 0:18:42.160 --> 0:18:44.679 good story for slow news days often. 0:18:44.800 --> 0:18:45.359 Absolutely. 0:18:45.520 --> 0:18:46.480 Yeah. 0:18:46.520 --> 0:18:52.400 Are there any more impressive examples of super throwing of 0:18:52.480 --> 0:18:53.480 super throwing? 0:18:54.040 --> 0:18:58.879 No, but there are examples of There are examples of 0:18:58.920 --> 0:19:01.120 things that you could call super catching. 0:19:01.280 --> 0:19:03.120 A little line interesting. 0:19:03.320 --> 0:19:08.159 Yeah, so we've we've shown one that's we're kind of 0:19:08.200 --> 0:19:11.879 debunking that one. It's possible, for instance, that you know, 0:19:11.920 --> 0:19:14.960 we're all familiar with the film Gadiga. It's possible that 0:19:15.000 --> 0:19:18.440 there could be in the future a polydactyl person who 0:19:18.480 --> 0:19:22.560 is just an amazing piano player. Oh, I imagine is 0:19:22.560 --> 0:19:25.160 that one scene in Gadigo where you see that they've 0:19:25.160 --> 0:19:26.760 grown people to have extra fingers? 0:19:26.800 --> 0:19:28.600 I mean surely they don't have the same amount of 0:19:28.600 --> 0:19:32.280 dexterity in their extra digits as they do in there. 0:19:32.320 --> 0:19:33.520 I mean you know what I mean, like not in 0:19:33.560 --> 0:19:36.960 most cases. This is just saying yeah, not in most cases. 0:19:37.359 --> 0:19:41.000 Most cases, it's kind of it's kind of just hanging there. 0:19:41.320 --> 0:19:44.080 It's not a it's not an again, it's not a 0:19:44.080 --> 0:19:47.119 digit that could move independently. You know, and even for 0:19:47.200 --> 0:19:50.719 most people, if you've ever tried it, most people cannot 0:19:50.880 --> 0:19:54.359 raise their ring finger by itself. Have you Have you 0:19:54.400 --> 0:19:55.320 ever tried to do that? 0:19:55.520 --> 0:19:56.400 I cannot do that. 0:19:56.520 --> 0:19:58.480 It's like a it's a learned skill. 0:19:58.640 --> 0:20:00.919 Yeah, you have to just practice a muscles and this 0:20:01.000 --> 0:20:01.800 is the best I give you. 0:20:01.800 --> 0:20:03.560 It's like, whoa, that's really good, Matt. 0:20:03.840 --> 0:20:09.640 No, it's not good. Actually that's yeah. 0:20:09.720 --> 0:20:11.520 Let us know if you could do that, send send 0:20:11.560 --> 0:20:15.120 proof because I don't want to be too cynical, but. 0:20:15.560 --> 0:20:17.440 I won't let hands physically. 0:20:17.720 --> 0:20:19.439 I don't know anyone who can do it. You know. 0:20:20.720 --> 0:20:24.639 Here's here's something that's a little bit more useful, but 0:20:24.760 --> 0:20:28.480 it takes us to a really dark time in human history. 0:20:29.080 --> 0:20:33.040 The Black Plague, right fun, Yeah, one of the uh, 0:20:33.520 --> 0:20:37.520 one of the greatest hits in the stories of pandemics, 0:20:37.720 --> 0:20:42.040 you know, so waves of disease. The Black Plague is 0:20:42.880 --> 0:20:47.000 an umbrella term for several distinct waves of disease that 0:20:47.160 --> 0:20:49.520 completely Paul, you might have to edit me here, that 0:20:49.680 --> 0:20:56.240 completely fkp Europe in ways that still echo today. That's 0:20:56.359 --> 0:21:02.320 one of the disasters that, when portrayed in film, is 0:21:02.400 --> 0:21:07.240 actually not exaggerated, is maybe softened a little bit because 0:21:07.240 --> 0:21:10.240 they have to have their main characters in the fictional 0:21:10.320 --> 0:21:13.000 story lived to the end of the story or live 0:21:13.080 --> 0:21:16.040 through part of it, and most people didn't. It was terrible. 0:21:16.280 --> 0:21:19.320 It was so bad. It fundamentally changed the course of 0:21:19.400 --> 0:21:22.720