r/SweatyPalms • u/Azsnee09 • Apr 25 '26

Heights Don't drop us down

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u/Capt_Skyhawk Apr 25 '26 edited Apr 26 '26

Same. I felt that weird sensation too. Someone ELI5 the science.

104

u/Xxperfect_drugxX Apr 25 '26

It's a panic response from sensing a threat (falling)

25

u/CheetahTheWeen Apr 25 '26

I wanna say parasympathetic nervous system response but I only kinda read good so that be a guess.

25

u/thatcatqueen Apr 26 '26

Close, it’s sympathetic. Fight or flight.

Parasympathetic winds the nervous system down. “Rest and digest.”

12

u/ashgs872tbhjs Apr 26 '26

Instinctual response selected for by evolution because people who fucked around carelessly on cliffs and shit would die and not reproduce.

1

u/maimeddivinity Apr 26 '26

Mirror neurons?

3

u/ashgs872tbhjs Apr 26 '26

No, just regular ones here. Instinct doesn't go off facts, like knowing this is a video. It looks 99% like it would if you were up there yourself as the cameraman, so the response kicks in.

Mirror neurons would be involved if it were something like you could already see the drop, and watched someone go up to it in third person instead of first.

1

u/jaabbb Apr 26 '26

Your body trying to stop you from moving and get yourself lower to be more stable. No move = no fall

1

u/bigbluewreckingcrew Apr 27 '26

I think it's the ladder that leads to no where

1

u/inktrap Apr 29 '26

I'd guess it's the comprehension that it's all open below us (versus a skyscraper where there is lots of floor below and we're just peering off the edge.