We have found that for electric fields larger than about half of the break down field (E > 1E B D ) the measured resistivity varies as the square root of the electric field, ρ E 1 . The resistivity calculated for the field-driven movement of the mobile charge carries in the normal state of a superconductor is found to vary as the square of the electric field, ρ E 2 . Thus, the mechanism of the field-driven movement of charge carriers is not in agreement with the experimental measurements of the normal state resistivity of Bi 2 Sr 2 CaCu 2 O 8 + x . We predict that the resistivity of a system with conduction electrons localised along a one-dimensional chain varies as the square root of the applied electric field. The mechanism of the field-induced changes in the density of states of the mobile charge carriers along a one-dimensional chain is in agreement with the experimental measurements.