A key to long-term success: The practical application of scientific findings
- neuro11
- Principles
The US space agency NASA developed the well-known “memory foam” as early as 1966 [1]. It can now be found in almost every household (e.g. in pillows or mattresses) and serves as an ideal example of how a scientifically based invention can change our world forever. But what if some chemist in some laboratory on the edge of the world had discovered this material and never realized its potential for practical application? Some would say that the discovery would have been rather useless without its practical application.
Research results are published in peer-reviewed scientific journals.
Often, practitioners accuse scientific studies of not answering the important questions of daily life. And they are often quite right: scientific questions are often very abstract and cannot directly help with daily challenges. For many practitioners, it is therefore incomprehensible why the state and economy are investing more and more into research and development. In 2017, for example, a total of 99.6 billion euros was spent in Germany alone. At first glance, some of this basic research leads to uninteresting results. Additionally, business-driven research is often used only for a competitive advantage. However, many important research results are published in international scientific journals such as Science [2] or Nature [3]. These articles are subject to a so-called “peer-review” procedure [4]: They are anonymously read, evaluated and corrected by other highly educated scientists. Only then are they published by reputable publishers. Currently, there is no better way for humanity to get closer to an objective answer to a question than through this often lengthy and complicated system.
Use scientific results to your advantage.
However, instead of only seeing the negative aspects, practitioners should recognize and use the scientific literature to their advantage. An example: Since the scientific approach evaluates methods critically and statistically, it can improve the accuracy of risk assessments as to whether a method should be included in the daily training procedure or not. In order to make these assessments as accurate as possible, one must have completed years of scientific training, while additionally having a practical way of thinking and exchanging ideas with practitioners. It is precisely this combination that can ultimately lead to success, because one can profitably apply the latest scientific results in practice.
An example in the neuroscientific literature is a publication from 2018 on the training potential of cognitive training devices [5]. The study critically assessed the transfer of these cognitive training methods into competition. The authors concluded that such a transfer is unfortunately rather unrealistic for many cognitive training devices. Their main argument was that many training methods are not directly applicable on the pitch. It is precisely these studies that motivate us at neuro11 to carry out our training not in the laboratory but directly on the pitch. Through this practical way of thinking and application we increase the chance of transfer from training to competition. This is because we believe in training the athlete where he ultimately needs it most: Directly on the pitch.
Our advice: Do a simple online search to find out which scientific discoveries have already changed our daily life. Be it the discovery of penicillin by Alexander Fleming [6] or the invention of the telephone by Alexander Graham Bell [7], such examples illustrate the immense potential of the combination of science and a practical approach.
#trainyourbrain
If this article sparked your interest and you would like to know more about this or other topics, please do not hesitate to contact us via info@neuro11.de. We look forward to hearing from you.
