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Sport, in general, is about the quest for excellence. It's a tradition that dates back millennia, across nearly all cultures, which suggests it is a deeply-root

Sport, in general, is about the quest for excellence. It's a tradition that dates back millennia, across nearly all cultures, which suggests it is a deeply-rooted and possibly evolutionary trait in humans. Racing in general, and specifically the 100m dash, the crown jewel of track and field, might be considered one of the purest expressions of athletic excellence.

YeGoblynQueenne 2y ago
>> Sport, in general, is about the quest for excellence. Is it, really? It feels like it's a business and a spectacle, a form of entertainment not fundamentally different than cinema or theater, except that it lays claim to being "about the quest for excellence". A claim that unfortunately is hard to support in view of how common is doping, for instance, or how common is violence around football matches. Today's sport is very different than e.g. the ancient Greeks' Olympic games which were an event held in honour of a god (Apollo) that very few people still worship today. The Olympic were also a sex- and race-segregated event (only Greek free men could take part) so even for that period, maybe sport was about "excellence", maybe it was about something else. The Nazis were certainly quite ready to embrace the Olympics. A certain totalitarian, eugenicist ideology is never very far from sport. Sports and games, and "noble competition" seems to have been a universal, though. I'm thinking for example of the Afghan national sport, Buzkashi: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buzkashi https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buzkashi
boringg 2y ago
I understand the sentiment - and yes tradition is important in human culture. That said its like we've trained so acutely for the test but the test doesn't really answer any good questions. Historically running had a very important part of humanity. You needed to run from animals for hunting, if you were a warrior you needed to fight and run, etc. It feels like this is one of those races that was historically important as a human metric but no longer has the heft of value except for nostalgia.
- SketchySeaBeast 2y ago
  What are physical tests that are actually important to a modern day human? I don't think there's anything that can be taken to an extreme that is a good measure of an activity that is valuable to modern society.
  - boringg 2y ago
    Long distances sports actually have excellent returns on emotional regulation, health and well being. Very important to modern day humans.
    - SketchySeaBeast 2y ago
      Well, if you want to view it in that broad of light, pretty much all physical activity has excellent returns on emotional regulation, health, and well being, including sprinting.
- LargeWu 2y ago
  I mean, you could say the same thing about art. What value does art provide? We don't need it for survival. Art and sport are things that make the human experience the human experience. That is their value. They exist and are important for their own sake.

YeGoblynQueenne 2y ago

>> Sport, in general, is about the quest for excellence. Is it, really? It feels like it's a business and a spectacle, a form of entertainment not fundamentally different than cinema or theater, except that it lays claim to being "about the quest for excellence". A claim that unfortunately is hard to support in view of how common is doping, for instance, or how common is violence around football matches. Today's sport is very different than e.g. the ancient Greeks' Olympic games which were an event held in honour of a god (Apollo) that very few people still worship today. The Olympic were also a sex- and race-segregated event (only Greek free men could take part) so even for that period, maybe sport was about "excellence", maybe it was about something else. The Nazis were certainly quite ready to embrace the Olympics. A certain totalitarian, eugenicist ideology is never very far from sport. Sports and games, and "noble competition" seems to have been a universal, though. I'm thinking for example of the Afghan national sport, Buzkashi: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buzkashi https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buzkashi

boringg 2y ago

I understand the sentiment - and yes tradition is important in human culture. That said its like we've trained so acutely for the test but the test doesn't really answer any good questions. Historically running had a very important part of humanity. You needed to run from animals for hunting, if you were a warrior you needed to fight and run, etc. It feels like this is one of those races that was historically important as a human metric but no longer has the heft of value except for nostalgia.

SketchySeaBeast 2y ago
What are physical tests that are actually important to a modern day human? I don't think there's anything that can be taken to an extreme that is a good measure of an activity that is valuable to modern society.
- boringg 2y ago
  Long distances sports actually have excellent returns on emotional regulation, health and well being. Very important to modern day humans.
  - SketchySeaBeast 2y ago
    Well, if you want to view it in that broad of light, pretty much all physical activity has excellent returns on emotional regulation, health, and well being, including sprinting.
LargeWu 2y ago
I mean, you could say the same thing about art. What value does art provide? We don't need it for survival. Art and sport are things that make the human experience the human experience. That is their value. They exist and are important for their own sake.