I remember sleeping as a log when i was a kid. They could shout all they want but i would either not wake up or fall back asleep. All it took was one drop of water and id wake up.
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At its core, the brain is designed to notice sensory difference. This is helpful, because usually when your sensory situation (the sum of all your sensory input) changes, it usually means Big Shit. A violent splash of cold water sends your whole body into attention for this reason.
You can test this by plunging your whole body into a cold bath or an icy river! Notice how much more of this effect you get
Evolved response. Humans and other animals have become wired to react to danger – because the ones that did were more likely to survive than those that ignored possible danger.
Historically, having your face suddenly wet with cold water means you’ve fallen into a river or lake. This is an immediately life-threatening situation. Your fight-or-flight system kicks in with a shot of adrenaline to give you the alertness and strength you need to GET OUT NOW.
It’s the same “jolt” feeling as when someone sneaks up and scares you, because it’s the same system kicking in – the deep old part of your lizard-brain reacting reflexively to something it sees as a threat.
The other people have described it, but the phenomenon is known as the **mammalian diving reflex**.
[Here is the wiki page if you’d like to read more. ](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diving_reflex)
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