Status
Available
Call number
Collection
Publication
Hachette Books (2010), Edition: Reprint, 316 pages
Description
Explores the human capacity to survive extreme conditions, noting a phenomenon in which people in life-endangering circumstances often sense an unseen presence who offers encouragement and guidance.
Media reviews
Ultimately, he rejects neurological explanations just as he does theological ones. He prefers the line taken by the poet and Everest mountaineer Wilfred Noyce, who argued that the third man is a kind of internal SOS system; not an angel but an “angel switch”, a “secret and astonishing
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capacity of mind” that offers “a real power for survival”. Show Less
Geiger isn't a bad writer by any means – he's won awards, in fact, and has been publicly bigged up by none other than William S Burroughs – but sadly the structure he's chosen for this book means he's constantly fighting a losing battle. After all, even Burroughs himself would struggle to tell
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the same story a hundred times over and keep it sounding fresh. Show Less
User reviews
LibraryThing member madcurrin
The most interesting book I've read for a long time. First and foremost, it's filled with amazing accounts of people surviving in extreme situations. On that basis alone it's a great read - and it makes me never want to take up serious mountain climbing. Or get stuck on a raft surrounded by sharks.
The ''unseen presence' factor in each story adds another fascinating layer to the book. I'm impressed with the sheer number of accounts that the author has gathered.
It's not a heavy read at all, which works in its favour, but the downside is that it can be a bit light on the science just when Geiger's analysis is getting interesting. Having said that, while the focus is mostly on twentieth century and contemporary accounts, he does allude to a wider range of other examples, from children's imaginary friends to indian spirit guides. He points out in the chapter about the effects of high altitude that most religions feature revelations or enlightenment on mountains.
To his credit, rather than deconstruct the experience of 'the third man', he ends up celebrating it. I found it to be a thrilling book and I finished it with a sense of amazement at what the human brain is capable of.
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The things people have endured! How happy I am with my couch, my bed and my computer!The ''unseen presence' factor in each story adds another fascinating layer to the book. I'm impressed with the sheer number of accounts that the author has gathered.
It's not a heavy read at all, which works in its favour, but the downside is that it can be a bit light on the science just when Geiger's analysis is getting interesting. Having said that, while the focus is mostly on twentieth century and contemporary accounts, he does allude to a wider range of other examples, from children's imaginary friends to indian spirit guides. He points out in the chapter about the effects of high altitude that most religions feature revelations or enlightenment on mountains.
To his credit, rather than deconstruct the experience of 'the third man', he ends up celebrating it. I found it to be a thrilling book and I finished it with a sense of amazement at what the human brain is capable of.
Show Less
LibraryThing member Scrabblenut
The book tells true stories of survival in monotonous environments. The mind sometimes conjures up a presence (this sensation can also be invoked by brain stimulation) which feels like a "guardian angel" or imagined person who remains just out of sight and gives good advice and disappears when no
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longer needed. Geiger talks about accounts through the ages and in modern times: polar explorers, pilots, divers, mountain climbers, etc. He explains the phenomenon in biological rather than mystical terms. The bood was fascinating but the accounts are all somewhat the same, so you can skip to the end of the book for a plausible explanation. Show Less
LibraryThing member riverwillow
Fascinating account of survival in extreme conditions where an additional presence giving advice and comfort has been sensed - giving rise to stories of Guardian Angels. Some of the stories are traumatic, the story of the horrors endured by the second world war sailors stuck on a life raft is
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particularly grim. The book also explores possible scientific, as well as mystical and religious, explanations for the phenomenon. What is great about this book is that Geiger presents the evidence, but does not draw definitive conclusions, allowing the reader to make up their own mind. Show Less
LibraryThing member Arten60
British research Anthony Peake wrote a book called The Daemon a guide to your extraordinary secret self. That book is based on science, quantum physics and neurology. Peake shows using the research of Roger Sperry that we consist of two selves which he dubbed the Eidolon and the Daemon. The eidolon
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is your everyday self the Daemon is your higher self. Peake uses the analogy of a video game the avatar is your eidolon and the game player is the Daemon. The Daemon knows the future because you have lived the same life many times before. Geiger's book gives up real-life examples of Peake's Daemon in action. Check out the split-brain research of Dr Robert Sperry it corroborates the information in both books: Show Less
Awards
Language
Original language
English
Physical description
8.25 inches
ISBN
1602861293 / 9781602861299
Local notes
More stories at www.thirdmanfactor.com
1. the pathology of boredom - monotony
2. the principle of multiple triggers - a burden of stresses
3. the widow effect - a deceased loved one
4. the muse factor - receptivity to new events
5. the power of the saviour - faith in ultimate survival
1. the pathology of boredom - monotony
2. the principle of multiple triggers - a burden of stresses
3. the widow effect - a deceased loved one
4. the muse factor - receptivity to new events
5. the power of the saviour - faith in ultimate survival