Bullshit stories from the world of training

Hagen im Bremischen/Berlin | Presence training thrives on impressive and astounding stories that underpin the coach’s message. But many are simply wrong. This is demonstrated by the psychologist Axel Ebert and business economist Christoph Wirl in their book “Bullshit Busters. Errors and myths from lectures, TV and books”.

For example, they respond to the myth that humans typically use only 10% of their brains. The authors Ebert and Wirl counter that magnetic resonance imaging shows that the human brain is fully activated in its complex structure even in simple activities. For example, when sitting still, the brain areas that humans need to exercise are also active. The nerve cells of a healthy person would never come to rest. Trainers would use this myth particularly brazenly to activate the remaining 90% of human brain activity, in a way, by means of their own miracle method. Brain researchers consider this to be humbug.

Also, the assumption of existing types of learners such as the auditory, visual and kinesthetic and trainer-side integration of tips such as “Address the auditory type with terms that concern hearing” is only of limited use despite its high popularity in the education sector. The business psychologist Uwe-Peter Kanning had evaluated 327 publications on this topic in an international research database and at best had come across minor empirical correlations, which, however, could not be replicated. It is therefore of no use if a learner who describes himself as a visual type of learner receives more visual material for learning. Rather, scientific research has shown that people learn best with a mixture of text and graphics.

And even the fairy tale of the supernatural fire runner, who would run over glowing coals and thus prove that the impossible is possible thanks to an elaborate ritual, turns out to be wrong. As early as 1981, the evolutionary biologist had summarized in a comprehensive article that, despite short-term peak temperatures of 200° Celsius, it was possible to cross without damage and without any preparatory ceremony, since charcoal and human skin had poor thermal conductivity when walking quickly over fire. According to this, it is simply nonsense that the spirit is above the body.

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