In the video above, LeBron James throws down a vicious slam against a capable squad of fellow NBA players defending the play. How does he do it?
What if the difference between LeBron and most other NBA players is the frequency of his ability to, at least momentarily, forget what he isn't humanly supposed to do? He forgets to fail. He forgets his limitations.
In other words, in a flash, LeBron's brain actually and suddenly malfunctions. Rather than his brain's cortex filling his head with logical, reasonable reasons why he can't possibly beat his defender and the rest of the defending team to the basket, his cortex sends no message at all. It short-circuits. His ability to perform remarkable play after play is that his brain receives nothing to suggest possible (or certain) failure. What if his brain's failure is the key to his success? What if, at the moment of truth, LeBron and any other player in the NBA literally forgets what isn't or shouldn't be possible?
By the same token, the opponents that failed to defend on the play allowed their individual cortex to work and their collective thinking functioned perfectly. Their experience with LeBron suggested that they wouldn't be able to stop him. They were right, and, they failed.
What if mental conditioning is all about teaching your brain's cortex to malfunction? What if LeBron James has learned how to conveniently forget what he can't or shouldn't be able to do? Maybe what he is the best at is successfully shutting down his brain.
Never mind, that's ludicrous. I can tell people that. That idea will never really take hold. I wish I could make that thought go away. I need to return to my senses. I had better forget why mental conditioning works. Wait a minute, what? Now, I'm confused. More on this later.
Never mind, that's ludicrous. I can tell people that. That idea will never really take hold. I wish I could make that thought go away. I need to return to my senses. I had better forget why mental conditioning works. Wait a minute, what? Now, I'm confused. More on this later.
For more examples of possible brain malfunctions, watch this NBA.com Top Ten Plays Video from last night:
