The Neuroscience Behind Nate Shelley’s Character Arc
It does not take the investigative capabilities of Independent reporter Trent Crimm to identify the changes in Nathan Shelley’s character over the course of Ted Lasso. After his game-winning proposal that AFC Richmond must “park the bus” (play defensively) to win their quarter-final game, Shelley is crowned the “Wonder Kid” by the media: a stark change from the meek comedic foil who commanded as much respect as Senator Lindsey Graham. As expected, the fame seems to immediately go to Shelley’s head, turning him into the arrogant “antagonist” of Season 2. While Nick Mohammed, the actor who plays Nathan Shelley, confirmed in an interview that his character’s evolution over the series has already been charted out well into the future, this progression does provide an interesting lens through which the impacts of power on the brain — and therefore the individual — can be discussed.
To begin with, consider Shelley’s treatment of the new “kit-boy,” who occupied the post after Shelley’s promotion to assistant coach at the end of Season 1. Being a former “kit-boy,” one might assume that Shelley is sympathetic to the struggles of his successor: working an intensive job given little import by everyone else. However, Shelley not only derides the new “kit-boy” behind his back, but threatens him over the tongue-in-cheek gift of a jersey emblazoned “Wonder Kid” (referencing Shelley’s mispronunciation of wunderkind). The lack of empathy in the situations above is not only remarkably apparent, but a widely observed phenomenon in powerful individuals.
Dr. Dacher Keltner’s work, for instance, indicates that individuals given a measure of power tend to present changes in certain regions of their frontal lobes: regions that relate to empathy. These changes, furthermore, are similar to those observed in brain trauma patients who gained sociopathic tendencies. These findings have been corroborated by Dr. Sukhvinder Obhi of McMaster University, who noted that “high-power individuals” tend to demonstrate low “motor resonance:” reduced activity in the motor cortex, indicative of a relative lack of empathy. Put simply, individuals with power seem to be less capable of empathy: a scientific validation of the ubiquitous characterization of those in power.
Furthermore, these findings seem to support the existence of “hubris syndrome:” a proposed explanation for the seemingly impulse-driven and ill-advised decisions made by certain powerful figures. After all, hubris is often co-morbid with a lack of empathy. In fact, proposed explanations for the lack of empathy in “high-power individuals” often take this into account. One particularly prevalent theory holds that those in power do not necessarily require social capital to maintain that power, hence the need to connect with other individuals is minimized. In a modern context, it could be seen with — as Andrew Yang noted in a Politico article on his presidential run — a presidential candidate. After all, it requires a great deal of resources to even get on the ballot, thereby making the candidate powerful already. The actual campaign itself will require hundreds of people operating around the schedule, needs, and wants of the presidential candidate, which means they do not “need” to empathize with their staff to maintain their power. Considering further that the presidential race in 2020 technically ran on for more than three years (1194 days, as per Business Insider), it would be a long-enough period of time to noticeably impact their capacity for empathy.
While Nathan Shelley, the original subject of this article, has not held the position of “Wonder Kid” for quite long, it is arguable that the underlying neuroscientific principles are the same. Shelley no longer needs the approval of the team to keep his position and power, hence his more reprehensible actions like deriding AFC Richmond’s new kit boy and leaking the real reason behind Ted Lasso’s early departure from their quarter-final game.
EDIT: After watching the season finale of Ted Lasso, it would appear that the reason for the perceived change in Nathan Shelley’s behavior is due to him feeling ignored by Ted Lasso, which is in turn indicative of the fact that the show had to pull an antagonist out of a hat to set up a third season.
