#third man factor

Ooh! This is really interesting! I've never heard of this before, so thanks for teaching me about this! 😁

I would have to learn more about specific experiences.

There are a lot of types of hallucinations that I don't think necessarily rise to the level of plurality, in my opinion, because they lack sentience. So how sentient or aware are these Third Men?

My guess is it probably varies a lot where some are actually sentient but others not.

"Who is the third who walks always beside you? When I count, there are only you and I together But when I look ahead up the white road There is always another one walking beside you"  -- The Waste Land by T. S. ELIOT

Description:

A strange occurrence often happens to people engaged in an adventurous activity or who fall victim to an unfortunate circumstance. They find themselves with a companion whose presence would typically be impossible. Usually, the person is at a critical moment in a life-or-death situation in an extreme and unusual environment. When they are weakened and dying from exposure, suffering privation of sustenance, lost and alone, when they are about to lose all hope and accept their demise, that’s when this otherworldly friend suddenly appears to render aid and encouragement, giving them a superhuman will or strength to survive. Psychologists label this a “sensed presence experience” but are at a loss for a simple explanation. These presences may be seen, heard, and sometimes even touched. They appear in dire situations to people from all walks of life. They may materialize as a known friend, a deceased relative, a religious figure, or an indeterminate benefactor. Still, whatever their form, there is no doubt to the one in danger that this being is real and there with them. Although this sensed presence appears most often to mountain climbers, sailors, divers, and polar explorers, it can also happen to astronauts, prisoners of war, and disaster survivors. One of the most intriguing aspects of the sensed presence experience is that the ethereal saviors aren’t just there to provide comforting words; they actually help with knowledgable advice or guidance or can even seemingly take over the actions of the afflicted – whatever is necessary to increase the odds of survival. Join us as we explore a phenomenon more common than you might think, a syndrome also known as the “Third Man.”

Reference Links:

“The Sensed Presence as a Coping Resource in Extreme Environments”

by Peter Suedfeld & John Geiger. From Miracles: God, Science, and Psychology in the Paranormal on Omnilogos.com

“The Sensed Presence as A Coping Resource in Extreme Environments” on the Julian Jaynes Society website

“How does our understanding of the sensed presence phenomenon in extreme settings change the way we talk about so-called mental ‘illnesses’ in daily life?” by Blaise Cottingham on Medium.com

Angels of Mons on Wikipedia

Vincent Lam

“Extreme environment” on Wikipedia

King Nebuchadnezzar from Daniel 3:24-5 on BibleGateway.com

The Savage Curtain episode of the original Star Trek series

“Charles Lindbergh and the Third Man Factor” on Theresa's Haunted History of the Tri-State blog

Poet, memoirist, and songwriter Mary Karr

“The Liars’ Club” by Mary Karr

Kanchenjunga, the world’s third highest mountain, on Britannica.com

“Wilson,” the volleyball from the motion picture Castaway

“Ernest Shackleton's Crew of the Endurance – Imperial Trans Antarctica Expedition 1914 -17” on CoolAntarctica.com

Husvik, the former whaling station on the north-central coast of South Georgia Island, Antarctica

Elephant Island, Antarctica

“Excerpt: The Voyage of the James Caird by Ernest Shackleton” from the American Museum of Natural History website

Alfred Lansing

Caedmon, widely considered to be the world’s first audiobook and launch of the spoken word industry

“The Waste Land” by T. S. Eliot on Project Gutenberg

Stromness, South Georgia

Sir Ernest Shackleton and T S Eliot’s ‘third man’ from the Royal Scottish Geographical Society

The Waste Land Part I – The Burial of the Dead from the Poetry Archive

The Waste Land from The Poetry Foundation

“T. S. ELIOT SAW ALL THIS COMING” from The Atlantic

The Waste Land on Wikipedia

Jane S. P. Mocellin and Peter Suedfeld’s research on behavior in extreme environments from ResearchGate.net

“Shackleton's whisky returned to Antarctic hut” on CBC.ca

“Spirits of the South Pole” from The New York Times Magazine

“Wild Survival Story About 1983 Rockies Alpine Avalanche” – the story of Jim Sevigny and Richard Whitmire

Distance Line for cave diving

“UK scientist has her lab in underwater caves” – Stephanie Schwabe article from the Lexington Herald-Leader

Kendal Mint Cake on Wikipedia

Romney’s Kendal Mint Cake on Amazon

Reinhold Messner

“The Unauthorized Biography of Reinhold Messner” music album by the band Ben Folds Five

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Hey, y’all, it’s Weird Wednesday! Where on some Wednesdays, I blog about weird stuff and give writing prompts.

Today: The Third Man Phenomenon: It’s dangerous to go alone

​​Who is the third who walks always beside you?

When I count, there are only you and I together

But when I look ahead up the white road

There is always another one walking beside you

–TS. Eliot, The Waste Land, written about Ernest Shackleton’s 1916 third man experience.

The “third man,” named for the poem above, is the phenomenon where people in life-threatening or highly stressful situations sense another person (of whatever gender) with them. The third man is usually a benevolent presence, giving comfort and hope of survival. 

Check out the blog post for the whole story and some companionable writing prompts! Such as:

The little man who wasn’t there. If the third man is a scientifically explainable brain phenomenon, you could have a plot where people try to induce it on purpose. Maybe a company sells a headband with an electric pulse that brings out a companion for lonely people, or perhaps it’s part of training for soldiers, a way to keep themselves calm in stressful situations. A horror plot could have a person uncertain whether a third man experience is an expected hallucination…or if someone is actually there.

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