The plastic person: A response to Fry

Abstract

What makes a good coach? How should insights garnered in neuroscience affect coaching, if at all? Does the neuroethics of coaching have purchase? In a book chapter for Robert Simon's anthology “The Ethics of Coaching Sports”, Jeff Fry (2013) argues that, “we stand at the threshold of another scientific revolution” (p. 151). This new revolution is born of our ever-growing understanding of the human brain. According to Fry, it is clear, to those with eyes to see, or should I say those with neurons that fire, that neuroscience deeply impacts our daily lives, including the world of sport. In this paper I take issue with Fry's assertions. In fact, there is no reason to posit that the brain is the person. Brains are a part of the person not the whole person. Changes in the brain always occur in the context of a human life. These changes are personal not merely cerebral. As such, coaches need to be experts in people, not brains.