There are many things that any human can do with ease.
But if you’re like the vast majority of people, then no matter how hard you try, most
likely you won't be able to do what we're about to show you now.
Even if you tried your utmost best to copy these impressive tricks, you probably wouldn’t
get close to pulling them off because our bodies are made in a way that makes certain
feats almost impossible.
Here’s 10 things most humans can’t do - but we might teach you a few tricks along
the way so you can impress your friends at parties.
Ready to take a look?
Let’s get it on!
If you think raising one eyebrow is easy while your friend struggles in vain to work out
how to do it, you were probably born with the ability.
It’s a great talent if you want to enhance a joke or tell someone you know they’re
a liar without saying it out loud - so it’s not that useful really, but it is fun.
Only 30 to 40% of people can raise either their right or left brow, and being able to
do it with both is even more rare.
How do they do it?
Well, 24% of people are born with that talent, but you’ll have noticed that that’s a
much lower percentage than the number of people who can do it, so it is something you can
learn!
Just stand in front of the mirror and hold one eyebrow up and the other down with your
hands - that will teach your face muscles how to do it and eventually you’ll be able
to do it without your hands!
One talent that always seems to impress people is if you can prove how long your tongue is.
Very few people on earth have this ability to touch the tip of their nose with their
tongue - only about 10% of people can do it.
It’s quite shocking and will probably get you a round of applause if you can do it,
but it might not be such a good thing.
It’s sometimes called the Gorlin sign and it’s used by doctors to identify a syndrome.
That’s because, while it’s a rare ability for most people, 50% of the people with Ehlers–Danlos
syndrome can do it.
The syndrome isn’t too severe luckily - it’s a group of rare genetic connective tissue
disorders.
Don’t worry if you’re one of the people who can touch their nose with their tongue
though, you’re probably fine unless you have super stretchy skin as well - on the
bright side, that’s quite a big collection of impressive party tricks.
Everyone knows eggs are fragile, home bakers will know you spend most of your baking time
making sure you don’t accidentally break an egg outside of the mixing bowl.
But they’re also surprisingly strong.
So strong in fact, that it’s almost impossible to break one by squeezing it.
This has led to a huge collection of videos of men with big biceps being embarrassed because
they can’t break a little egg.
As funny as it is, there’s a reason these strongmen are being beaten by eggs.
Even though eggs are easily cracked when you hit them on the edge of a bowl, they’re
designed to withstand pressure.
If you squeeze it from both sides, like in your hand or between your giant arm muscles,
the pressure is evenly distributed over the whole egg, making it very difficult to break.
And actually, the stronger you are, the harder it is.
.
Of all the abilities people wish they had, being super flexible is probably the one everyone
would put at the top of their list.
This ability is called Hypermobility in medical circles.
It’s pretty rare and only about 20% of people have it, and it lets you do all kinds of amazing
things that other people could never dream of, from little things like being able to
touch your thumb to your forearm, to bigger things like being able to put your head between
your feet in a backbend.
Scientists have discovered that the ability is probably genetic and it comes with other
rare variations in your body that aren’t as easy to see as your bendy abilities - unfortunately,
not all of these things are as desirable.
Hyper-mobile people have an increased risk of asthma for example, and they also have
a larger amygdala than most people - that the area of your brain that processes some
of your emotions, so they have a higher risk of anxiety and an overactive fight-or-flight
response.
So maybe stop wishing you were that flexible, just do some stretching.
Popping out your eyes isn’t something most people would even dream of doing.
Even the few people who’ve tried it can’t do it easily or they’ll just end up hurting
themselves, so it’s a very rare skill.
It’s so rare in fact, that some sources say opthamologists only encounter it once
in their career - and it was usually an accident.
So while this weird ability may look disturbing, it’s actually quite a talent to be able
to do on command.
And just in case you’re thinking that’s a loose definition of the word talent, this
eye popping rapper actually took his skill on America’s Got Talent and made it all
the way to the semi-finals with his act, so if it’s called a talent by the very people
who judge talents for a living, then who are we to argue.
That doesn’t mean you should start trying it for yourself though - just accept it’s
not something you can do before you injure yourself.
Rubik's cubes are a classic game for a reason - they’ve survived the test of time because
everyone thinks they can do it easily until they actually pick one up and discover how
hard it actually is.
It’s hard for a reason - there are 43 quintillion possible combinations on a Rubik’s cube,
so how will you ever get the right one out of so many?
A few special people actually can do it.
But only 5.8% of the world’s population.
Still, as impossible as it seems to solve such a difficult puzzle, some people can do
it, so surely anyone can, right?
Of course, you’ll never be able to compete with the world record holders or that guy
who did it in 3.47 seconds, but it is possible to learn how.
Solvers use memorised sequences of turns to solve a cube which is scrambled a certain
way and you can learn those.
There are tutorials that teach you all kinds of tips and techniques, so good luck!
You might think that balancing is pretty basic, but not everyone has a good sense of balance.
You probably aren’t even as good at it as you think you are - have you ever tried standing
on one leg with your eyes closed?
Yeah, not as easy as you thought.
Your ability to balance comes from your vestibular system, which needs multiple inputs from different
parts of your body all working together to keep you upright - from the balance organs
in your inner ear, to your muscles and joints in your legs and spine, and even the things
you can see with your eyes, which is why it’s harder to balance with your eyes closed.
Luckily, you can teach yourself to have better balance unless you have a medical condition
that interferes with a part of the system.
Dancers who can balance on their toes aren’t actually better than you, they just practice
for hours every day to be able to do that, and so can you.
The vast majority of people on earth can only hold their breath for 30 seconds to 2 minutes.
Test yourself and you’ll almost certainly find yourself in that time frame.
Some people can hold their breath for much longer though - and we know this because the
world record is 24 minutes and 3 seconds!
He had help though, by filling his lungs with pure oxygen first.
Still, it’s absolutely possible to hold your breath for more than 2 minutes, so how
do you do it?
There are lots of different breathing techniques you can use, like diaphragmatic breathing,
vagal maneuvers to slow your heart rate, or increase your lung capacity with practice.
According to researchers, a lot of it is psychological, so training your brain not to panic helps
too.
You’ll be showing off in no time!
If an argument about multitasking starts up, pretty much everyone will defend their amazing
abilities to multitask.
Pretty much all of them are wrong though.
Actually, studies have shown that only 2% of people are effective multitaskers, making
it a very rare ability.
For us normal people, trying to multitask actually makes us less productive.
Our work lives are pretty fast-paced these days and you always think you can do more
if you’re already doing a lot.
You might think technology helps, but if you work on a computer, you’re likely to be
distracted about every 10 minutes and those distractions lower your IQ by a shocking 10
points every time.
Worse, if you have a desk job, you’re probably losing more than 2 hours a day just being
distracted by useless things.
So what’s the best way to get better at it?
Well, you can’t.
Most researchers just suggest getting better at avoiding multitasking completely - luckily,
there are plenty of resources that teach you how to do that and stop being distracted by
everything.
If you’ve ever been walking out in the snow without your favourite coat, you’ll know
just how hard it is to control how cold you are.
But as it turns out, some people can actually change their body temperature with their mind
alone.
Scientists went out to Tibet to study the few rare monasteries who study g-tummo meditation
techniques and they were amazed at what they discovered.
Nuns in these monasteries could sit outside in below-0 temperatures and somehow still
manage to not only avoid getting colder, but actually increase their core body temperature
up to 101 degrees fahrenheit just by meditating!
This is one you can do too, kind of...
If you’re taught some of the techniques you can learn to increase your own body temperature,
but not as much as the Tibetan nuns can, and I guess that’s only fair since they’ve
been studying how to do that all their lives.
But it just goes to show that you can do anything if you put your mind to it.