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Might I introduce you to the concept of sports in general? We build giant coliseums costing hundreds of millions of dollars devoted to keeping ice cold in the

Might I introduce you to the concept of sports in general? We build giant coliseums costing hundreds of millions of dollars devoted to keeping ice cold in the middle of summer just so people can answer the question of who is best at stick puck.

bluefirebrand 2y ago
Sports serve a social purpose, and contribute positively to society's overall fitness since most people playing sports aren't pro athletes A 100m sprint, as fast as humanly possible is super impressive, but the person you're replying to does have a point: this is an extremely specific and narrow activity with no purpose other than competition. You don't socialize with sprinting, and most people wouldn't use 100m sprinting as an activity to improve their fitness At best, it's designed to test fitness, but it even fails at that really
- tatersolid 2y ago
  I’d wager that sprinting races, like most sport, have their origins in warfare. Being able to move from point of cover A to point B as quickly as possible is very useful in avoiding projectile weapons.
  - SketchySeaBeast 2y ago
    That seems too complicated. Racing from one point to the other it's really one of the simplest things two people can do and it's one of those purest expressions of athletic ability. Even animals do it.
- SketchySeaBeast 2y ago
  I don't think your second paragraph follows your first. Just because you're doing an activity like sprinting solo doesn't mean there aren't social elements. The Olympics this summer will prove that hundreds of million if not billions of people can come together around sprinting, and several dozen other extremely specific and narrow activities, if only for a brief time.
  - bluefirebrand 2y ago
    This doesn't reflect reality as far as I've ever seen Hundreds of millions if not billions of people may watch sprinting, or diving or any number of niche solo sports, but do they really care further than "I hope our guy wins"? Do they care about the technical aspects of running or discus or whatever else? Not a chance It's not even remotely close to how passionate people get about team sports. Millions of people will celebrate in the streets if their soccer team wins a medal. People will argue endlessly about the technical little details of a soccer match, the calls refs make, etc Solo sports aren't really comparable to team sports in the social aspect, either for society or for the players on the teams
    - jiceo 2y ago
      I agree with you. Of course it doesn't get remotely close to how passionate people get about team sports. The audience and money involved in these won't be beat anytime soon, simplify due to traditions. But your comment is short-sighted because you don't seem interested in sprinting or track and field sports and haven't been following recent events coming out of that space. Just as an example, have you seen what Marcell Jacobs did for his country, being the first Italian sprinter to ever win a world championship, not just once but a couple of times, defying the Jamaican and American hegemony against all odds? He became an overnight sensation, was on the cover of a bunch of magazines, and inspired millions in his country. Nowadays he's under a lot of criticism because he couldn't keep his position exactly because sprinting requires the utmost physical and mental toughness. > At best, it's designed to test fitness, but it even fails at that really > You don't socialize with sprinting, and most people wouldn't use 100m sprinting as an activity to improve their fitness FAILS to test fitness? Really? Have you ever read anything about sports science and psychology? First, athlets don't compete singularly in the 100m sprinting event, a lot of them compete in different modalities, like the 100m, 200m, relays, etc. Sprinting 100m and specially the 400m are considered the hardest races for humans. It tests endurance, lactic acid build-up, pacing, mental toughness, strategy at the rawest level, and not to mention the mental preparation you have to have to deal with the pressure and criticism of the media, when you're on the track being viewed by millions and you have just a few seconds to prove yourself. How is that not testing someone's fitness well? You just can't isolate 100m sprinting especially as an activity. Sprinting up to your 100% max heart rate is excellent for fitness, muscle growth, and longevity. There's a lot of research on this coming out with concrete data about the benefits of sprinting vs other kinds of sports.
- Nashooo 2y ago
  Just because it is not a team sport does not make it not social?
drdaeman 2y ago
Can someone help me to understand this concept? In particular, why so many people watch it - what drives them them do so? I'll try to explain my own vision, why I think I don't care - which, of course, is entirely subjective thing, so despite it may read as such it's not exactly meant to say "[some] pro sports are nonsense" but rather more of "[some] pro sports don't make sense for me". Say, Olympic games. I can watch the opening ceremony (it can be visually or aesthetically impressive), but I don't care about the actual event. Yea, some folks do some impressive things, that... utterly fail to impress me. I'll try to explain why, and I wonder how others are different in this regard. I can understand watching sports that have a significant strategy component to them. I would've probably watched Go or chess if I would be able to understand what's going on there (I don't), but I occasionally watch e-sports and those can impress me with how people think outside of the box, doing things that no one thought of - but that are so obvious in the hindsight. For those kind of sports, when I understand the game mechanics and when those feel interesting to me, I can relate and feel engaged. I have a suspicion that a number of people watch it (among other reasons) for the "this is our athlete(s) doing it" vibe. This is something that doesn't click with me. Never really did when I was a kid (the country I was born in doesn't exist - and good riddance), and since then I've immigrated a few times, so - long story short - save for obligatory subconscious biases, I don't care about other folks' flags and passports. But even though this is not commonplace (I guess), this doesn't feel like a reason why I have no feelings for the Olympics. Back to the e-sports example, I watch international events, and people from different bubbles bringing their different strategies and play styles makes watching fun, as the games are more diverse. So, when someone's running, jumping, lifting, throwing, shooting, spinning, or alike... I honestly don't get what impresses so many viewers so much everyone and their dog seem to be glued to the screens. Please don't get me wrong, I don't want to diminish athletes' personal (or team) achievements. What they're doing is objectively impressive, but subjectively it's in some... detached, unrelated way. Also, as someone raised on sci-fi I can't shake off the feeling of it being sort of unimportant or meaningless on a global scale - I suppose I'm gonna give post-/trans-human Olympics a try, if I'll live to the day, maybe I'll find something to cheer for. Not sure. Either way, in the modern day, personally, I don't feel any engagement as I fail to relate with the athlete, leading to the total lack of the entertainment value for me. Best I can do is "uh, that looks fast/heavy/far/...", but 9s, 9.5s, or 12s are all the same for me - just "fast" - nothing in my brain fires off, as I don't have any experience of such speeds/levels of exertion anyway. So I wonder, does it for others, do they subconsciously tighten their muscles watching, do they feel connected or something? Maybe not, because people also watch races and I suppose they don't associate with horses? As you can see, with all this blabbering and guessing (sorry!) - I'm really confused here. I realize that even if someone explains it to me, I still won't feel that way, but what I'm missing is the idea - I only have guesses, and I have no clue how accurate they are. And I'm curious to understand others, even if a tiniest bit better. ====> tl;dr: If y'all watch the professional sports (esp. if aren't an athlete yourself), what makes you engaged and entertained watching it? Thanks!

bluefirebrand 2y ago

Sports serve a social purpose, and contribute positively to society's overall fitness since most people playing sports aren't pro athletes A 100m sprint, as fast as humanly possible is super impressive, but the person you're replying to does have a point: this is an extremely specific and narrow activity with no purpose other than competition. You don't socialize with sprinting, and most people wouldn't use 100m sprinting as an activity to improve their fitness At best, it's designed to test fitness, but it even fails at that really

tatersolid 2y ago
I’d wager that sprinting races, like most sport, have their origins in warfare. Being able to move from point of cover A to point B as quickly as possible is very useful in avoiding projectile weapons.
- SketchySeaBeast 2y ago
  That seems too complicated. Racing from one point to the other it's really one of the simplest things two people can do and it's one of those purest expressions of athletic ability. Even animals do it.
SketchySeaBeast 2y ago
I don't think your second paragraph follows your first. Just because you're doing an activity like sprinting solo doesn't mean there aren't social elements. The Olympics this summer will prove that hundreds of million if not billions of people can come together around sprinting, and several dozen other extremely specific and narrow activities, if only for a brief time.
- bluefirebrand 2y ago
  This doesn't reflect reality as far as I've ever seen Hundreds of millions if not billions of people may watch sprinting, or diving or any number of niche solo sports, but do they really care further than "I hope our guy wins"? Do they care about the technical aspects of running or discus or whatever else? Not a chance It's not even remotely close to how passionate people get about team sports. Millions of people will celebrate in the streets if their soccer team wins a medal. People will argue endlessly about the technical little details of a soccer match, the calls refs make, etc Solo sports aren't really comparable to team sports in the social aspect, either for society or for the players on the teams
  - jiceo 2y ago
    I agree with you. Of course it doesn't get remotely close to how passionate people get about team sports. The audience and money involved in these won't be beat anytime soon, simplify due to traditions. But your comment is short-sighted because you don't seem interested in sprinting or track and field sports and haven't been following recent events coming out of that space. Just as an example, have you seen what Marcell Jacobs did for his country, being the first Italian sprinter to ever win a world championship, not just once but a couple of times, defying the Jamaican and American hegemony against all odds? He became an overnight sensation, was on the cover of a bunch of magazines, and inspired millions in his country. Nowadays he's under a lot of criticism because he couldn't keep his position exactly because sprinting requires the utmost physical and mental toughness. > At best, it's designed to test fitness, but it even fails at that really > You don't socialize with sprinting, and most people wouldn't use 100m sprinting as an activity to improve their fitness FAILS to test fitness? Really? Have you ever read anything about sports science and psychology? First, athlets don't compete singularly in the 100m sprinting event, a lot of them compete in different modalities, like the 100m, 200m, relays, etc. Sprinting 100m and specially the 400m are considered the hardest races for humans. It tests endurance, lactic acid build-up, pacing, mental toughness, strategy at the rawest level, and not to mention the mental preparation you have to have to deal with the pressure and criticism of the media, when you're on the track being viewed by millions and you have just a few seconds to prove yourself. How is that not testing someone's fitness well? You just can't isolate 100m sprinting especially as an activity. Sprinting up to your 100% max heart rate is excellent for fitness, muscle growth, and longevity. There's a lot of research on this coming out with concrete data about the benefits of sprinting vs other kinds of sports.
Nashooo 2y ago
Just because it is not a team sport does not make it not social?

drdaeman 2y ago

Can someone help me to understand this concept? In particular, why so many people watch it - what drives them them do so? I'll try to explain my own vision, why I think I don't care - which, of course, is entirely subjective thing, so despite it may read as such it's not exactly meant to say "[some] pro sports are nonsense" but rather more of "[some] pro sports don't make sense for me". Say, Olympic games. I can watch the opening ceremony (it can be visually or aesthetically impressive), but I don't care about the actual event. Yea, some folks do some impressive things, that... utterly fail to impress me. I'll try to explain why, and I wonder how others are different in this regard. I can understand watching sports that have a significant strategy component to them. I would've probably watched Go or chess if I would be able to understand what's going on there (I don't), but I occasionally watch e-sports and those can impress me with how people think outside of the box, doing things that no one thought of - but that are so obvious in the hindsight. For those kind of sports, when I understand the game mechanics and when those feel interesting to me, I can relate and feel engaged. I have a suspicion that a number of people watch it (among other reasons) for the "this is our athlete(s) doing it" vibe. This is something that doesn't click with me. Never really did when I was a kid (the country I was born in doesn't exist - and good riddance), and since then I've immigrated a few times, so - long story short - save for obligatory subconscious biases, I don't care about other folks' flags and passports. But even though this is not commonplace (I guess), this doesn't feel like a reason why I have no feelings for the Olympics. Back to the e-sports example, I watch international events, and people from different bubbles bringing their different strategies and play styles makes watching fun, as the games are more diverse. So, when someone's running, jumping, lifting, throwing, shooting, spinning, or alike... I honestly don't get what impresses so many viewers so much everyone and their dog seem to be glued to the screens. Please don't get me wrong, I don't want to diminish athletes' personal (or team) achievements. What they're doing is objectively impressive, but subjectively it's in some... detached, unrelated way. Also, as someone raised on sci-fi I can't shake off the feeling of it being sort of unimportant or meaningless on a global scale - I suppose I'm gonna give post-/trans-human Olympics a try, if I'll live to the day, maybe I'll find something to cheer for. Not sure. Either way, in the modern day, personally, I don't feel any engagement as I fail to relate with the athlete, leading to the total lack of the entertainment value for me. Best I can do is "uh, that looks fast/heavy/far/...", but 9s, 9.5s, or 12s are all the same for me - just "fast" - nothing in my brain fires off, as I don't have any experience of such speeds/levels of exertion anyway. So I wonder, does it for others, do they subconsciously tighten their muscles watching, do they feel connected or something? Maybe not, because people also watch races and I suppose they don't associate with horses? As you can see, with all this blabbering and guessing (sorry!) - I'm really confused here. I realize that even if someone explains it to me, I still won't feel that way, but what I'm missing is the idea - I only have guesses, and I have no clue how accurate they are. And I'm curious to understand others, even if a tiniest bit better. ====> tl;dr: If y'all watch the professional sports (esp. if aren't an athlete yourself), what makes you engaged and entertained watching it? Thanks!