Under exceptional stress-inducing circumstances the neural circuits responsible for our “fight or flight” response work to override our conscious feelings and thoughts leading us to act in ways in which we have no sensible control.
With that in mind, this wonderful account of Luis Suárez’ biting behaviour by Prof. Ian Robertson is well worth the short read. The post provides a greatly accessible, tremendously interesting insight into the workings of a brain wired to win and how such a brain might be the cause of aberrant, even abhorrent behaviour.
It is also a reminder that while the brain does allow us to do everything, it cannot itself do everything at the same time.
Thus, at the end of the day, as the post concludes, it is important to remember that Suárez is a human being with a human mind, playing at the top of his game. “To unleash his genius” as Prof. Robertson put it, “Suárez has to enter a mental zone of relative mindlessness”. It just so happens that in his case Suárez’s unconscious mind sees biting as the way in which to, quite literally, reach his goal.
Only our own unconsciousness knows what you or I might have done under the very same conditions…
Why did Luis Suarez sink his teeth into Giorgio Chiellini’s shoulder? – Is he a victim of child-like impulsivity or could he be a vampire? Neither of these is the case, so let me review four possible reasons for his extraordinary behaviour.
- The Internal Robot
Anyone who watched Suarez seize the moment to score when England’s Steven Gerrard headed a long goal kick back towards his own goal, was amazed by the speed-of-light response of Suarez to an unpredicted – nay, unpredictable – event. Here was near-instantaneous judging of an unfamiliar situation and the execution of a brilliant, complex set of bodily responses to it. Here was a sort of genius at work.
To engage in this sort of cognition at lightning speed, you must rely on parts of the brain which function far too fast to be consciously monitored. This includes regions called the cerebellum and striatum, where…
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All In Our Head 