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  • Stealing Fire

  • How Silicon Valley, the Navy SEALs, and Maverick Scientists Are Revolutionizing the Way We Live and Work
  • Written by: Steven Kotler, Jamie Wheal
  • Narrated by: Fred Sanders
  • Length: 8 hrs and 24 mins
  • 4.6 out of 5 stars (347 ratings)

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Stealing Fire cover art

Stealing Fire

Written by: Steven Kotler, Jamie Wheal
Narrated by: Fred Sanders
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Publisher's Summary

The authors of the best-selling Bold and The Rise of Superman explore altered states of consciousness and how they can ignite passion, fuel creativity, and accelerate problem solving, in this groundbreaking book in the vein of Daniel Pink's Drive and Charles Duhigg's Smarter Faster Better.

Why has generating "flow" and getting "into the zone" become the goal of the world's most elite organizations? Why are business moguls attending Burning Man? Why has meditation become a billion-dollar industry? Why are technology gurus turning to psychedelic drugs to unlock creativity?

All of these people are seeking to shift their state of mind as a way of unlocking their true potential. Altered states, the authors reveal, sharpen our decision-making capabilities, unleash creativity, fuel cooperation, and let us tap in to levels of inspiration and innovation unavailable at all other times. Stealing Fire combines cutting-edge research and firsthand reporting to explore a revolution in human performance - a movement millions of people strong to harness and utilize some of the most misunderstood and controversial experiences in history.

Building a bridge between the extreme and the mainstream, this groundbreaking and provocative book examines how the world's top performers - the Navy SEALS, Googlers, Fortune 100 CEOs - are using altered states to radically accelerate performance and massively improve their lives, and how we can, too.

Ultimately, Stealing Fire is a book about profound possibility - about what is actually possible for ourselves and our species when we unlock the full potential of the human mind.

©2017 Steven Kotler and Jamie Wheal (P)2017 HarperCollins Publishers

What listeners say about Stealing Fire

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    5 out of 5 stars

This is by far the best non-fiction book I have read to date

This book is extremely eye-opening and very well rounded. It touched on a lot of subjects I have been curious about lately And explored some taboo topics that should be spread to the masses. All-around amazing book

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3 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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Great way to explore new ideas

This book contains a lot of incredible psychological insight, and discusses the ways in which people are affected by various states and substances. While this book hasn’t changed my personal lack of desire to try substances, it’s a thought provoking listen, and it does contain various other techniques and ideas that I look forward to implementing in my life.

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Extremely important

Take a journey with immense amounts of interesting detail and absorbing knowledge that is given in such a refined and "flowing" manner. You can pause every 5 minutes to Google fact check but it won't wipe the smug grin off your face. I need to listen to this a couple more times at least. Contemporary ideas are juxtaposed with enlightening historic accounts of ancient patterns of subversion and breakthroughs, the authors are certainly not afraid to draw connections and push boundaries in search for the truth.

Don't look any further if you want to learn more about the human condition of performance, creativity, innovation, consciousness, the psychology of "Flow", "Peak Experience", "The Zone", " (meditation, psychedelics, extreme sports).

Do yourself a favor and listen.

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Absolutely incredible!

I felt that I could really relate to the desire to access states of flow. This book has changed the way that I think about my meditation practice and other daily activities.

#Audible1

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    5 out of 5 stars
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Level 9000

Loved it! Next level! Amazing! Couldn't stop listening and now I'm obsessed with flow state and magic is happening in my life!

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    4 out of 5 stars
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Entertaining and enjoyable

I enjoyed the listen. I was expecting a bit more how to and not so much story but I am not disappointed

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1 person found this helpful

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Ecstatic technologies for the modern world

A fascinating look at the contemporary world of csratic technologies from art and religion to extreme sports and psychodelics. With advice and cautions.

The most interesting elements are the questions of how to use communitas to tackle the world's most complex problems.

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listen a few times

you're gonna want to listen to it a couple times and really get the details.

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Exquisite literacy

Open your mind and know that all is good.

A great dive in the understanding of humans and their pursuit to “Happiness”

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mind bloom

let me start by saying this is definitely not the type of book I would normally read on paper, but being able to listen to it kept me engaged.
this book is the history of the eternal struggle to escape ourselves and break mental boundaries in order to push further.
This book is not so much of a how to, but more of a here is what has been done up to now and what people are doing to push it further.

very interesting book. I recommend giving it a shot.

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