David Goldenberg

The Origin of the Wonderlic Test (and Which Manning Scored Higher)

© David Bergman/Corbis If book smarts translated to field sense, NFL coaches would be desperately recruiting mathletes. But a soaring SAT score is the last thing you need to excel on the gridiron. According to Jonah Lehrer, author of the 2009 bestseller How We Decide, “The velocity of the game makes thought impossible.” Instead of thinking, athletes rely on fast-twitch intuition, gained from countless hours of training. They need to build instincts. Yet, every year, rookies in the NFL take... READ ON

The Incredible Food Pyramid of Michel Lotito

You don’t get the nickname Monsieur Mangetout (“Mr. Eat Everything”) without earning it. Over the course of 40 years, Frenchman Michel Lotito ate an estimated 9 tons of metal. In his youth, Lotito suffered from pica, a mental disorder in which people compulsively eat non-food items such as dirt and plastic. (Lotito’s condition was first diagnosed around age 9, when he started munching on parts of the family TV set.) But once he started experimenting with more dangerous items like nails and... READ ON

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