Abstract
Experiencing totality is an overwhelming of the senses—you identify that something very unnatural is about to occur, and your innate response is to pay attention and be alert and ready for action. Observers are also experiencing a range of emotions and physical sensations over a relatively short period of time. People who experience a total eclipse often describe it as one of the most moving or significant positive events of their lives, and are often surprised by the intensity of that experience. Often immediately after an eclipse, particularly a first eclipse, people are left speechless. After reflection, however, most people are able to name the range of emotions that they felt.
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Notes
- 1.
Growing up in the wet tropics of North Queensland, many girls experience this fear due to the abundance of frogs. We have had repeated situations of panic, such as having them placed down the back of our shirt by the boys at school, having them jump on us in the middle of the night, or too many frog-in-the-toilet encounters.
- 2.
The amygdala is a structure within the limbic system of the brain responsible for the processing of emotions.
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© 2012 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg
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Russo, K. (2012). The Experience of Totality. In: Total Addiction. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-30481-1_6
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-30481-1_6
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Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg
Print ISBN: 978-3-642-30480-4
Online ISBN: 978-3-642-30481-1
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