The idiot jab is a joke from back in my construction days, I was always the one willing to work up high and took all the jobs up there. In the beginning there was some exhilaration but soon became normal and comfortable. We’re in a small town with only 4-5 college buildings tall enough to stretch the ladder truck all the way out. I don’t get that high very often anymore so some of the normal feelings are gone and the older I get some nervousness does set in. Careful movement and safety belts are becoming normal now, the younger me scoffed at the idea. Somehow I lived through those days.
As far as super human nerves I think most of us do things we’re comfortable doing that scares others to death, motorcycles for one. I’ve watched linemen climb power poles in a storm to get power back on, not for me. I talked to a woodland firefighter once and told him no way in hell I’d do what he did, his response was you structure fire guys are nuts. It all boils down to what we’re trained to do and can be comfortable doing it.