Major League Baseball’s Automated Ball-Strike System (ABS) promises near-perfect accuracy and reduced controversy — but players, coaches, and philosophers question whether eliminating human judgment from the strike zone removes something essential from the game itself.

Neuroscientific research reveals that stress triggers a neural switch that makes us hyper-vigilant to bad news — but this evolutionary mechanism, once vital for survival, now spreads rapidly through social media and can distort our perception of real-world risks.