This Is Your Brain on Sports: Summary Review
This is a summary review of This Is Your Brain on Sports containing key details about This Is Your Brain on Sports.
What is This Is Your Brain on Sports About?
"This Is Your Brain on Sports" is a book that explores the role that the brain plays in our experiences with sports.
This Is Your Brain on Sports is the book for sports fans searching for a deeper understanding of the games they watch and the people who play them. The authors take readers on a wild ride into the inner world of sports. Through the prism of behavioral economics, neuroscience, and psychology, they reveal the hidden influences and surprising cues that inspire and derail us—on the field and in the stands—and by extension, in corporate boardrooms, office settings, and our daily lives.
Summary Points & Takeaways from This Is Your Brain on Sports
Some key summary points and takeaways from the book include:
* Emotions play a crucial role in sports. The adrenaline rush, the high stakes, and the competitive atmosphere can all trigger strong emotional responses in athletes and fans alike.
* Our perception of fairness is closely tied to our sense of justice. This is why athletes and fans can become so upset when they feel that a call has been made unjustly.
* Our brains are wired to seek patterns and predict outcomes. This is why fans and commentators alike are always trying to find patterns and make predictions about the outcome of a game.
* The physical and emotional intensity of sports can have a lasting impact on our brains. For example, repetitive head trauma in contact sports has been linked to brain injury and degeneration.
* The social aspects of sports can also have a profound impact on our brains. Team sports, for example, can help foster a sense of belonging and community.
* Overall, "This Is Your Brain on Sports" offers a fascinating look at how our brains influence and are influenced by our experiences with sports.
Who is the author of This Is Your Brain on Sports?
L. Jon Wertheim is the executive editor of Sports Illustrated. A sports journalist with a passion for psychology and economics, he is the author of such New York Times bestsellers as Scorecasting (written with Toby Moskowitz) and You Can’t Make This Up (written with Al Michaels).
Sam Sommers is an experimental psychologist at Tufts University who studies the psychology of everyday life. He is the author of the critically acclaimed book Situations Matter.
Book details
- Print length: 288 pages
- Genre: Sports, Nonfiction, Science
What are the chapters in This Is Your Brain on Sports?
Chapter 1 Why the T-Shirt Cannon Has Something to Teach Us About Human Nature
Chapter 2 Why Tom Brady and Al1 Those Other Quarterbacks Are So Damned Good-Looking (or Are They?)
Chapter 3 Why We Channel Our Inner May weather and Secretly Crave Disrespect
Chapter 4 Why We Are All Dog Lovers at Heart (but Not Deep in Our Hearts)
Chapter 5 Why Hockey Goons Would Rather Fight at Home
Chapter 6 The Curse of the Expert: Why the Best Players Make the Worst Coaches
Chapter 7 Acting on Impulse: Why We Aren't So Different from the Sports Hothead (L-O-B, Crabtree!)
Chapter 8 Why Athletes Don't Need an Empty Bed Before Competition
Chapter 9 Why the Coach's Seat Is Always Hot
Chapter 10 Why So Many Successful Ultra-Endurance Athletes Are Also Successful Recovering Addicts
Chapter 11 Why Giving Every Little League Kid a Trophy Is Such a Lousy Idea
Chapter 12 Why Rooting for the Mets Is Like Building That IKEA Desk
Chapter 13 Why We Need Rivals
Chapter 14 Why We Want Gronk at Our Backyard Barbecue-and Why He Wants to Be There
Chapter 15 Tribal Warfare: Why the Agony of the Other Team's Defeat Feels Just as Good as the Thrill of Our Team's Victory
Chapter 16 Why We Are All Comeback Kids
Chapter 17 Why Running on a Treadmill Is Like Running a Business
Chapter 18 Why the World Cup Doesn't Lead to World Peace (Even If J. Lo and Pitbull Claim Otherwise)
Chapter 19 Why Our Moral Compass Is More Flexible Than an Olympic Gymnast
Chapter 20 Why Unlocking the Mystery of Human Consciousness Is-Like So Much Else in Life-All About Sports
What do critics say?
Here's what one of the prominent reviewers had to say about the book: “Wertheim and Sommers wield serious research to diagnose the myriad symptoms of the human brain on sports, and what they find is, by turns, hilarious, slightly frightening, and always illuminating.” — David Epstein, author The Sports Gene: Inside the Science of Extraordinary Athletic Performance
* The editor of this summary review made every effort to maintain information accuracy, including any published quotes, chapters, or takeaways. If you're interested in enhancing your personal growth, I suggest checking out my list of favorite self-development books. These books have been instrumental in my own personal development and I'm confident they can help you too.
Chief Editor
Tal Gur is an author, founder, and impact-driven entrepreneur at heart. After trading his daily grind for a life of his own daring design, he spent a decade pursuing 100 major life goals around the globe. His journey and most recent book, The Art of Fully Living, has led him to found Elevate Society.
