Black Lives Don’t Matter In Sport
By: Dr. Conor Hogan Ph.D.
Tags: Sport Psychology, Empathy, Black Lives Mater, Brain Body, Empathy In Sport

Black Lives Don’t Matter In Sport

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Black lives matter. There is no doubt about that. Black lives are as important as white ones. The empathy showed by those in the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement has been wonderful, but we must understand empathy before we can make it a central part of playing elite sport.

To answer this we need to look deeper into humans. So, what about what’s inside both black and white people? because this real question prompts us to the answer so, let’s discover it.

What is the Matter?:

Our human brain is made up of neurons. Neurons are the brain cells that receive the information from the senses outside the body and in turn, send messages to areas of our bodies such as our muscles. From this, our muscles can move.

How many neurons are there?:

Well, it’s impossible to know until we look inside your brain. And of course, everyone is different. Still, there are likely over 80 to 100 billion neurons in your head and many of them are getting more active as you read. If, you are wondering how active? then, when it’s dark outside just peak upwards at the night sky and notice the multitude of stars and imagine that each one you see represents a million neurons in your head.

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Your brain is far more complex than you think. And when you think your brain can alter into an even more complex state.

Although there are many different areas of the brain some of the main differences are that it has both a left and a right hemisphere. Other parts of note are the temporal, occipital, parietal, and frontal lobes of the brain. These areas represent how your brain can be recognized in its variety of various ways. However, another way of seeing the different parts of your brain is in its color. In many ways, two colors dominate your brain’s landscape. These are the brain’s gray and white matter.

The gray and white matter is part of our central nervous system.

What is Gray Brain Matter?:

Gray matter allows information to be processed in your brain. It is made up of neuronal cell bodies that do not have a sheath or cover (unmyelinated axons). Without a sheath, the color appears differently. The axons carry messages and signals between the bodies. The tissues direct motor sensory to nerve cells. Here, a reaction of stimuli occurs. Within the gray mater, energy and nutrients are transported to the neuron of the brain. This defines how healthily the neurons communicate and function overall.

As the gray matter is unmyelinated it has a color that is of a grayish hue and so it is called gray matter.

What is White Brain Matter?:

On the other hand (or part of the brain!) there is white brain matter. These are myelinated (meaning they have a sheath or cover). They communicate with the gray matter. This sheath is a protective covering for the matter.

If you think of a pipe in a house that is covered with a rubber or plastic covering you`ll begin to understand how this sheath can benefit the heating of the house through the transmission of the temperature when it is insulated. Similarly, the myelinated axons are protected and coated and this improves the communication transmitted to the neuronal signals.

Because it has a lagging jacket on it is known to be whitish.

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Differences between Gray and White Matter:

Other than the color differences, the white mater is located in the brain’s cortex. Gray matter is located on the brain’s surface. In general, the cerebrum is the part of the brain that looks after trickier brain functions. In large animals who have a spine (or vertebrates) and humans, gray matter is more complicated.

Gray matter-heavy regions involve sensory activity and control muscular areas of the brain.

The cerebellum is an important part of the brain that distinguishes the difference between both matters. The white matter contains small blood vessels and nerve fibers. But, it does not contain neuronal cell bodies.

The cerebellum is the part of the brain that mainly looks after movement. Your control of movement, overall coordination, and how you exact your use of movement is, is looked after in this part of the brain.

The Movement of Sport:

No matter what way you look at it, sport involves movement.

When you think about it, although there many different sports in the world, movement may be the one common factor that all sports have. Games such as snooker and darts are great examples. They have often caused arguments in the public houses where they are played simply because people wonder as to whether or not they are categorized as a sport or a game. Still, both involve some form of movement of their respective players.

To be good at sport you need to be able to control your movement as precisely as you initially intended that movement to be communicated via the message from your brain.

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If your brain is healthy then you are giving yourself the best chance of moving with your best ability. Of course, everyone has a different range of abilities but if developed correctly, the brain has a huge ability to transform the body.

By maximizing the development of your brain, you allow yourself to maximize your ability to perform well in sports.

Why Empathy Makes Us Compete Better:

Although your sporting brain likes movement so too does the emotional part of your brain.

When we read a sad story or watch an uplifting movie we often describe the sensation as being emotionally ‘moving’ for us.

Being moved can scientifically be defined as experiencing a kama muta.

The term Kama muta is sanskrit for being ‘moved by love. Essentially, when we experience an emotional trigger it plays on our deep human feelings and this can then cause us to change. This experience may make us cry, laugh, or a myriad of other feelings. Simply put though, it can ‘move’ us.

This is where empathy plays its part.

Empathy allows us to take action on our feelings. When we feel like humans we are moved into action. When we move, we are acting like our brains want us to act. After all, this is what great sports people do, they move.

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But when we feel something so profound that it demands us to react and we do not, we are using control. If the emotion is perceived by us to be stronger than we can manage then we will act out this emotion in some way in the future.

Empathy is acknowledging that we understand the feeling of others, but it is also acknowledging that you understand your feelings. By understanding your feelings you are benefiting those around your sports team, and even actively acknowledging your coach’s wishes within an individual sport.

If you want to improve at sport allow yourself to be moved and then show empathy.