This is in response to Richard Millman's comment on the Daily Squash Report published on 10/29/2013. Richard and I agree on many things and we value his many contributions to Squash! But perhaps it should be noted that the authors Professors Jason Stanley and John W. Krakauer of the NYT article 'Are 'Dumb Jocks' really nerds?' are not really disagreeing with him. They are merely applying experimental work to dispel many dated assumptions and stereotypes.
Neuroscientists have always maintained, but are now substantiating in molecular and cellular detail, that various Human activities, (by definition including Squash), are not a zero sumgame of either a 'thinking' (conscious) or 'feeling' (subconscious) process. Rather they are some continuum of the two with the former of course having some influence over the latter! And some of what Richard says, not surprisingly, applies to all fields, not just Squash, as they are regulated by the Motor skills and Sensory perceptions of the Brain. So e.g. a 4 year old Mozart's compositions were considered Musically perfect and the Indian Mathematician Ramanujan's Derivations preceded that of top University Departments by about 100 years and yet he only had a High School Education! Although both activities emerged from some inner recess of the Brain/Mind that neither the Musician nor the Mathematician nor Modern day Neuroscientists could possibly know, let alone understand, the Compositions and Derivations for all their improvisation did fit into the structural framework of their respective disciplines (that were consciously thought out). The same applies to 'thinking' versus 'feeling' your way out of trouble on the Squash Court - the two cannot be separated. The top Players improvise within certain spatial constraints, e.g. mechanics of Strokework, footwork, court sense and probabilities.
We had posted an article where this subject is treated in greater detail - 'Are scientists missing a rich resource in the 'Closed Loops of Clutch Games' and do such things exist?' on our site, some months ago. The link is listed in this link in our comment to the NYT article by Professors Jason Stanley and John W. Krakauer. It supports much of Richard's position while clarifying terms and going beyond them to suggest that Sports and Squash provide as much for understanding the Brain/Mind and Feelings as e.g. Music - High Culture notwithstanding!
http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/10/27/is-the-dumb-jock-really-a-nerd/?comments#permid=10384187
Best regards,
Ferez
Ferez S. Nallaseth, Ph.D.
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