Best Soccer player in history was hypothyroid
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R9 Ronaldo Nazário is considered by many the best soccer player in history. His only limiter were many injuries and his extreme lack of discipline (he was also known to wear diapers during games to cope with laxative medication he was given).
But...
He was known for his amazing 1v1 skills, decision making, reaction speed, abilities, game intelligence, etc.
How is such stuff possible if we consider health, thyroid health, microbiome stability, and general crystallized knowledge (relating to the skill) as the main cause for exceptional abilities?
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@lobotomize-me maybe he woulda been even better/happier/more satisfied in personal life outside of soccer if he wasn't wearing diapers and hypo
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I think of it like this:
A person with a higher metabolism has more energy available for use than a person with a lower metabolism. With more energy, the various functions of the body and mind can be supported better; with less energy, worse. But the energy doesn't have to be distributed evenly. A person with a low metabolism could have most of their resources directed at specific things at the expense of others. Motivation can quite powerfully free up energy and move it in a specific direction.
Practice (repetition) also helps. With more practice, less energy will be needed to execute whatever actions the person practices. In other words, they become more efficient. Same thing for mental actions.
Edited to expand and clarify. Motivation isn't the only thing that directs energy, and some people can start off with better or worse efficiency for some processes. The main idea is that of energy allocation and efficiency.
"We must remember that the only instrument of investigation we possess is our mind . . . The quality and condition of the telescope govern the observation resulting from its use. If there is dust on our lens, we see dark spots in the heavens."
"みー、 にぱ～☆"
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Well, he did gain weight after his career was over. And he got diagnosed at 30, so we can’t say when it started.
You also have to realise that profesional athletes have elite genetics compared to regular folks, and at ages 17-28, even having some degree if hypothyroidism, he was at the top. -
@eduardo-crispino I am purely discussing his soccer abilities, compared to other healthier more disciplined players
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@NoeticJuice As I mentioned above in the post, he did have a huge lack of discipline, which led him to train a lot less than others
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@lobotomize-me what are the metrics you want to use for comparison here exactly and how exactly would you compare? I don't think it's possible to definitely answer this question...
A few things to speculate on though...there is probably a lot to be said for youth training/ intellectual ability for the task.
Ronaldo may have been undisciplined because he just had the gift of reading body language/the game when it came to the sport, he may not have been the quickest but instead may have just been able to see things before anyone else, giving him an advantage no one else had and therefore giving him less reason to train consistently.It's also worth noting that he played in one of the greatest national teams the sport has ever seen and football is very much a team game, Ronaldo isn't scoring shit without a solid midfield.
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Yeah Maradona was great no doubt, but did not appear hypo in any way
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Cortisol is a hell of a drug…
But seriously, cortisol and adrenaline can move and direct the human body in ways that are superhuman. If you run primarily on them, you have at least the potential to be a decent athlete.
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@lobotomize-me I edited my post above
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@16charactersitis I don’t want to speak ill of anyone, (especially the deceased). If you look at the Wikipedia pages for individual athletes, be sure to check out the “personal life” section. This section seems to be a good place to look for symptoms of hypothyroidism.
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@DKJoeAgain the team and coach matter alot
i play soccer well with a good coach who kept us motivated to attend practice and improve our skills
when he retired and another guy took over the entire team did bad in comparison and i didnt practice as much because practices seemed pointless to attend , in fact at one point the coach realized nobody was showing up anymore and practices cancelled, and the energy was bad, this was all house league
the good coach is professional coach the one after just did it because nobody else was there to do it
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@DKJoeAgain He was the best in almost every metric other than assisting (and he may even excel in that metric as well). Still, as humanity and as a community, isn't our goal to create a consistent way of mimicking this so-called "giftedness"?
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@NoeticJuice But as I said, he didn’t have the amount of practice we assume is required, so there must be some other factor that helped him beat and humiliate healthier and more disciplined competition
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@lobotomize-me said in Best Soccer player in history was hypothyroid:
he didn’t have the amount of practice we assume is required
I don't assume much practice is needed.
Total energy availability, energy allocation and efficiency are the more general terms. The details that are involved in these are things such as hormones and myelination. I don't know all the details involved.
As for what causes a specific configuration of those three, I don't know. But some things that are probably involved are genes, prenatal influences, life experiences, motivation, diet and the like.
I remember reading not long ago from The Master and His Emissary that people who are exceptionally good at what they do access more right brain functions when doing what they're good at compared to other people. I tried to search for the page to quote it here, but I couldn't find it. I did find this though:
- "In fact, recent research from Gazzaniga's own lab shows it to be the more reliable and insightful partner, and another recent study collating the areas of damage associated with a drop in IQ following a stroke showed them to be almost entirely in the right hemisphere of the brain." (new expanded edition, p. xiv)
The book Return to the Brain of Eden also looks into the right hemisphere's involvement in sports in the chapter Drugs, the Brain, and Peak Experiences in the section Superman and Superwoman.
It didn't occur to me to mention this earlier, but structure is also involved. For example, some people's brains can be structured in unusual ways, which can lead to unusual abilities, disabilities or both at the same time.
But if we include structure perhaps efficiency doesn't need to be mentioned separately. Afaik, it's the change in structure which leads to improved or decreased efficiency.
--> Total energy availability, energy allocation and structure
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I know genetic talk isn't super popular in the Ray Peat sphere, but Ronaldo was a unique player with strengths that you either cannot learn, learn in childhood or can improve - but not to a huge extent. His combination of strength, speed and ball control was pretty unique and he could easily have been the GOAT, if he would have had 80% of the work ethic, motivation and obsession of the other Ronaldo (Cristiano). He also had a great football IQ. Many athletes are dumb as an empty rain barrell in real life, but have very high football/basketball etc. IQ.
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@evan-hinkle every body gets corrupted, every body gets sick at some point. but in their prime very few excel to the point of raising the bar for the rest of us
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@16charactersitis I guess it’s just a matter of preference. I don’t see any positive contribution to society from sport personally, so for me there’s no greatness inspired. To each their own.
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@evan-hinkle how are sports not generally positive
are u one of those bread and circus is le bad niggas
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@eduardo-crispino i guess it’s just not for me. Doesn’t interest me, seems kinda destructive, but like whatever you like.
