[Paper Review] Complex Systems As Fundamental Theory Of Sports Coaching?

Gottfried Mayer‐Kress|ArXiv.org|Nov 2, 2001

Complex Systems and Time Series Analysis3 citations

TL;DR

The paper proposes that complex adaptive systems (CAS) theory, underpinned by biological quantum computation in the brain, offers a foundational framework for understanding sports coaching. It suggests that quantum-level processing enables rapid decision-making and motor coordination in high-dimensional action spaces, with coaching potentially enhancing quantum entanglement-like coordination in athletes.

ABSTRACT

We argue that traditional Western science cannot adequately describe sports and other types of human behavior. Then we make an argument why a complex adaptive systems approach has the potential to provide the foundation for such a theory. We claim that a special role will be played by biological quantum computation in the human brain that should have emerged through biological evolution. Biological quantum computation could have provided evolutionary advantages in the area of decision-making and fast motor responses, when a number of potential actions -represented as a set of points in a high dimensional state-space- are available to the agent. While for animals and early humans these rapid, coordinated motor activities had direct survival value, today they are mostly manifested in competitive sports events. We suggest that entanglement can be facilitated by systematic sports coaching.

Motivation & Objective

• To address the limitations of traditional Western science in explaining human behavior, particularly in sports.
• To propose that complex adaptive systems (CAS) offer a more suitable theoretical framework for understanding sports coaching.
• To argue that biological quantum computation in the brain evolved as an adaptive mechanism for fast, coordinated decision-making under complexity.
• To explore how systematic sports coaching might facilitate quantum-like entanglement in motor and cognitive coordination.
• To position sports coaching as a domain where emergent, high-dimensional coordination can be systematically cultivated.

Proposed method

• Adopt a complex adaptive systems (CAS) framework to model sports performance as a dynamic, multi-agent system with non-linear interactions.
• Introduce biological quantum computation as a proposed mechanism in the human brain for processing high-dimensional action spaces efficiently.
• Model potential actions as points in a high-dimensional state-space, where quantum computation enables rapid evaluation and selection.
• Hypothesize that coaching practices can systematically enhance coordination analogous to quantum entanglement, improving response speed and accuracy.
• Use evolutionary biology to justify the emergence of quantum computation in the brain as an adaptation for survival-critical motor decisions.

Experimental results

Research questions

• RQ1 Can complex adaptive systems theory provide a more comprehensive foundation for sports coaching than traditional Western science?
• RQ2 What role might biological quantum computation play in enabling rapid decision-making and motor coordination in high-dimensional action spaces?
• RQ3 How could evolutionary advantages of quantum computation in the brain have emerged in early human and animal behavior?
• RQ4 In what ways might systematic sports coaching facilitate coordination analogous to quantum entanglement?
• RQ5 To what extent can sports coaching be viewed as a mechanism for cultivating emergent, high-dimensional coordination in athletes?

Key findings

• Traditional Western science is insufficient for describing the complexity of sports and human behavior due to its linear and reductionist assumptions.
• Biological quantum computation in the brain is proposed as an evolutionary adaptation that enables fast, coordinated responses in high-dimensional action spaces.
• Rapid motor responses and decision-making in animals and early humans were likely enhanced by quantum-level processing, providing survival advantages.
• Modern sports events are seen as modern manifestations of these ancient, evolutionarily advantageous coordination mechanisms.
• Systematic sports coaching may enhance coordination through mechanisms analogous to quantum entanglement, suggesting a new theoretical role for coaching in cultivating emergent performance states.