Professor Lappin

Psychology 115A Section 13

September 15, 2000

On Knowledge, Imagination, and The West Coast Offense

How can we define human knowledge? Is it possible to constrain something so expansive and dynamic to a few words? And how do we possibly characterize the imaginations, collective or individual, of over six billion living souls? I believe it is impossible for humans to contemplate knowledge or imagination in their pure forms. As humans always do, we think of knowledge and imagination in terms of some closed, finite system that we can comprehend. Jacob Bronowski uses events and people from the fields of science, mathematics, and history to enable us to consider knowledge in ways that are relevant to most human beings.¹ I find it helpful to ponder the ancient questions of knowledge and imagination using a metaphor based in athletics.

The primary goal of all animal life can be expressed by one word: reproduction. All of their life processes such as food gathering, shelter building, and defense of their young are specifically designed to ensure the creation and survival of future generations of the species. Somewhere throughout the history of time, humans perfected their survival skills, and were left with time to pursue other fields of knowledge, like the arts, the sciences, and even recreation. Like the arts and sciences, recreation is abundant with specialized languages, symbols, and metaphors. Sports, through their very finite perspective, demonstrate the way our collective knowledge has increased, adapted, and improved over time.

Where science has e=mc² and , the world of sports has 6-4-3 and 80 counter trey. All systems use distinct language to express complex commands or information in a way that is easily understood. The signals in a baseball game, though they seem simple, are highly adapted and codified to express the proper instructions in the quickest and clearest way possible. A third base coach goes through an elaborate set of hand and body movements before each pitch in an attempt to both give a batter and runner the desired signal, and to confuse the opposing team in the process. When it becomes apparent that the opponent has deciphered the code, the coach notifies his team of subtle changes to the signals which, if successful, will catch the opponent off guard and lead to a victory. This concept of intentional adaptation illustrates how imagination drives the progress of knowledge. Humans, when forced by circumstances such as nature or society to adapt or perish, invariably combine all of their previous knowledge with their rich imaginations to develop new solutions, whether they be new cures for disease, new laws, or a new set of signals to use in the big game. And so knowledge and imagination are perpetually and inseparably linked: one cannot speak of knowledge without considering the impact of imagination, nor would imagination have a purpose without a concrete base of knowledge.

While intentional adaptations take place every day, some changes are more revolutionary and therefore occur less frequently. These monumental achievements or discoveries change the way we reason and affect the course of history. One such example from the world of sports is the introduction of the West Coast offense to the National Football League by Bill Walsh in the late 1970’s and 1980’s. In the 1960’s and 1970’s, most NFL teams employed an offense which centered around running the football and throwing relatively long passes to wide receivers. From 1966 to 1976, Walsh was an assistant coach with three NFL teams, and observed that many defenses were double-teaming wide receivers and forcing offenses to run the football, which is a slower and less productive way of scoring². In 1979, Walsh became head coach of the San Francisco 49er’s, who in 1978 had compiled a record of 2-14. Seeing that his team needed drastic offensive improvement, Walsh devised and implemented a scheme which called for frequent short passes to running backs and tight ends which produced relatively consistent and relatively small gains. The offense was also balanced, with a nearly even split between rushing and passing. His innovative plan caught many defenses unprepared, and the 49ers won three NFL championships in the 1980’s. This example illustrates how humans take their imperfect grasp of knowledge and use it to produce optimal results. Walsh knew his system wasn’t perfect. The 49er’s lost yardage on many plays, and lost games as well. But Walsh understood that absolute knowledge in any field is unattainable, so there must be a system which would confuse other teams and force them to pair their weaknesses with the 49er’s strengths, which in turn led to many San Francisco victories. As Jacob Bronowski more eloquently stated it, "We are always at the brink of the known; we always feel forward for what is to be hoped."³

Can we, as humans, ever elevate our knowledge to the level of a god, comprehending the universe in a way that is both consistent and complete? Bronowski and others have repeated proven that the answer to the question is a resounding no. Kurt Gödel postulated in his paper "Part I" that any system, whether it concerns physics, mathematics, football, or any other kind of knowledge, cannot be simultaneously consistent and all encompassing.⁴ If a system always proves some concept to be true or false, it cannot work for all concepts. If that same system attempts to make predictions for all possible concepts, then it will always run into instances in which it is incorrect. Bill Walsh knew that his West Coast offense, while far from complete, was unique and consistent enough to produce long-term gains. A defense which emphasized speed among defensive linemen and linebackers and which played tight zone defense could neutralize the running backs and tight ends featured in his offense. But at the time that he developed his grand theorem, most of the defenses in the NFL were geared towards power among the front seven players and speed in the secondary to guard the wide receivers. Walsh achieved success by understanding the limits of his system and improvising when he encountered an unexpected situation. All great scientific breakthroughs of the twentieth century have occurred in a similar fashion; men have faced unforeseen situations, and have overcome them through the use of a limited, though extremely flexible process.

Finally, there is the realization that all systems must be constrained by some sorts of laws, as that is the nature of human knowledge. We obviously have not been endowed with the ability to "play God" and alter the rules of nature or society as we see fit. But these constraints force us to rely on the inherent good in human nature to be honest and forthcoming in matters of importance. The game of football, for example, is governed by a clearly defined book of rules which outline the guidelines for legal and illegal methods of play. Similarly, any scientist will tell you that the basic laws of physics and thermodynamics are inescapable. Therefore, when a coach develops a set of plays or a scientist conducts an experiment, we expect them to follow established regulations. If the football coach ignores said rules, his team faces penalties when caught by the referees. The scientist’s penalties are more subjective, as there are no officials to verify that scientific data was collected and interpreted with integrity and honesty. But all humankind suffers when people let personal glory or fame overshadow truth and knowledge. When Bronowski delivered his Silliman lectures, he hoped to impart to his audience that knowledge is limited but constantly expanding, that our systems for collecting knowledge are flawed but purposeful, and that truth must always take precedent over money, power, glory, or fame.