Sox Nation and the gambler's mind
I READ Jonah Lehrer's article "Your brain on gambling" (Ideas, Aug. 19), about how gambling hijacks the brain's pleasure centers. The gambler's brain remembers and desperately seeks a repeat of unexpected and unlikely pleasure events, such as winning a slot machine jackpot. I was struck by how the description of such an addictive obsession fit the brain of the typically hopeless Red Sox fan. We remember the thrill of "Impossible Dream" victories and extra-inning World Series heroics from decades past, and we got a huge fix with the 2004 World Series championship.
Fenway Park, the great green slot machine, will be hosting desperate Sox fans well into the future as we maniacally pull the lever, year after year, looking for that October jackpot.
I can feel it this time, this is the year!
CHRISTOPHER VROUNTAS
Andover 