Is it because he has some obvious physical talent? Probably not, since he was drafted so low. Is it because he’s a much smarter player than other quarterbacks? If so, the Wonderlic tests that college players are given before the draft would show some kind of correlation between high scores and good careers.
But they don’t. Solving complicated equations and throwing a football under pressure seem to involve two completely different parts of the brain. If a quarterback were to rationally think about the pros and cons of every possible decision he’s faced with while he’s on the field, he’d be a walking, talking tackling dummy. There’s just no time for all that thinking.
Sometimes it isn't worth the trouble to calculate what the best decision is. Instead, we should go with our impulse, which is tied to the unconscious knowledge of a lifetime of experiences. In this long but interesting video he tells the story (in the first 5 minutes) of a man who lost the ability to feel emotion after getting a tumor removed from his brain. But instead of becoming a perfectly rational actor, instead it took him painstakingly long to make pretty regular decisions. When the calculations are too large we can and should use our gut. This works great in deciding what to order at a restaurant, how to dodge ninja stars, or how to react in an improv scene. However, for the weightier decisions, we should try our best to restrain our impulses with our rationality and hope that the longer we live life (or play on stage), the more we can trust our subconscience to make the decision we would have made if we had done the calculations.
If you'd like to know more from the Jonah Lehrer, here's a free online copy of his book.
Thought you might. I've been thinking about the relationship between emotion and reason since our conversation a while back.
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