This is your brain on sports
Subtitle: the science of underdogs, the value of rivalry, and what we can learn from the T-shirt cannon
By: L. Jon Wertheim and Sam Sommers
Contributors: Sommers, Sam, author
Edition: First edition.
Publisher: Crown Archetype
Published: 2016
Language: eng
Number of pages: 279
ISBN-13: 9780553447408
Subjects: Miscellanea; Sports; Psychological aspects
Description: THE book for sports fans searching for a deeper understanding of the games they watch and the people who play them. Bestselling author L. Jon Wertheim teams up with Tufts psychologist Sam Sommers to 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 board rooms, office settings, and our daily lives.--Adapted from book jacket.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (pages 253-270) and index.
Table of contents: title: Introduction: your brain on sports; title: Why the t-shirt cannon has something to teach us about human nature; title: Why Tom Brady and all those other quarterbacks are so damned good-looking (or are they?); title: Why we channel our inner Mayweather and secretly crave disrespect; title: Why we are all dog lovers at heart (but not deep in our hearts); title: Why hockey goons would rather fight at home; title: The curse of the expert: why the best players make the worst coaches; title: Acting on impluse: why we aren't so different from the sports hothead (L-O-B, Crabtree!); title: Why athletes don't need an empty bed before competition; title: Why the coach's seat is always hot; title: Why so many successful ultra-endurance athletes area also successful recovering addicts; title: Why giving every little league kid a trophy is such a lousy idea; title: Why rooting for the Mets is like building that IKEA desk; title: Why we need rivals; title: Why we want Gronk at our backyard barbecue, and why he wants to be there; title: Tribal warfare: why the agony of the other team's defeat feels just as good as the thrill of our team's victory; title: Why we are all comeback kids; title: Why running on a treadmill is like running a business; title: Why the World Cup doesn't lead to world peace (even if J. Lo and Pitbull claim otherwise); title: Why our moral compass is more flexible than an Olympic gymnast; title: Why unlocking the mystery of human consciousness is, like so much else in life, all about sports.