Cultivated Disinterest in Professional Sports • Hacker News Board

Re: Cultivated Disinterest in Professional Sports

#131

Post by toolz » Fri, Jan 30, 2015, 9:12 PM UTC

rinon wrote: post #126

timr wrote: post #94

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"When you show overt contempt for sports you are showing contempt for most everybody and that is problem with your social skills." That's nice. What other corporate products must I consume in order to be a validated member of your social caste? How about this: "when you show overt contempt for fast food, you are showing contempt for most everybody, and that is a problem with your social skills." If I don't eat at McD…

Having a valid reason why some activity is intrinsically bad (e.g. fast food) is very different from disliking such activities because they are "beneath" you. Sports are widely loved and not intrinsically bad. (I'd even argue that fast food itself is not intrinsically bad, but that's a different discussion) However, even expressing contempt for intrinsically bad activities can be interpreted as offensive and hostile.…

Sports are not intrinsically bad? Let's pretend a world without sports for a second. What do you see? I see a world where scientists and philanthropists are common household names. Where kids hero's are astronauts and firemen. I see a world where when someone makes a couple hundred million a year, they don't go immediately bankrupt after retiring because their industry wasn't intrinsically broken. That healthy panhandler who refuses to contribute to society gets no credit and recognition. Why should I recognize an athlete that take illicit drugs to perform well and teaches our youth that to be recognized you need to do something completely arbitrary and useless to society.

Re: Cultivated Disinterest in Professional Sports

#132

Post by muaddirac » Fri, Jan 30, 2015, 9:12 PM UTC

rinon wrote: post #126

timr wrote: post #94

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"When you show overt contempt for sports you are showing contempt for most everybody and that is problem with your social skills." That's nice. What other corporate products must I consume in order to be a validated member of your social caste? How about this: "when you show overt contempt for fast food, you are showing contempt for most everybody, and that is a problem with your social skills." If I don't eat at McD…

Having a valid reason why some activity is intrinsically bad (e.g. fast food) is very different from disliking such activities because they are "beneath" you. Sports are widely loved and not intrinsically bad. (I'd even argue that fast food itself is not intrinsically bad, but that's a different discussion) However, even expressing contempt for intrinsically bad activities can be interpreted as offensive and hostile.…

Is the damage American Football causes to its players a valid reason for disliking the activity?

Re: Cultivated Disinterest in Professional Sports

#133

Post by [deleted] » Fri, Jan 30, 2015, 9:13 PM UTC

rinon wrote: post #126

timr wrote: post #94

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"When you show overt contempt for sports you are showing contempt for most everybody and that is problem with your social skills." That's nice. What other corporate products must I consume in order to be a validated member of your social caste? How about this: "when you show overt contempt for fast food, you are showing contempt for most everybody, and that is a problem with your social skills." If I don't eat at McD…

Having a valid reason why some activity is intrinsically bad (e.g. fast food) is very different from disliking such activities because they are "beneath" you. Sports are widely loved and not intrinsically bad. (I'd even argue that fast food itself is not intrinsically bad, but that's a different discussion) However, even expressing contempt for intrinsically bad activities can be interpreted as offensive and hostile.…

[deleted]

Re: Cultivated Disinterest in Professional Sports

#134

Post by genericuser » Fri, Jan 30, 2015, 9:13 PM UTC

serve_yay wrote: post #128

solson wrote: post #20

When you show overt contempt for sports you are showing contempt for most everybody and that is problem with your social skills. It's called being a snob. The disdain for working class culture among academics was part of the reason I choose not to pursue a formal higher education. I suspect this overt snootiness keeps many gifted working class kids from participating in higher education. I grew up working class and w…

It seems to me that rooting out and shaming "snobs" is becoming something of a cultural pastime. It really bothers people when you don't like what they like. So it must be because you're an asshole snob, not because you just don't like it. It's related to all the anti-"hipster" crap that has popped up in recent years. It's fun because skewering "hipsters" is puncturing pretensions, you're taking cultural snobs down a…

It isn't about not liking what other people like, it's about being a jerk about it.

I for instance don't care for sports. And that is how I phrase it when asked. If there is a sports related conversation taking place I am generally more upset at the snobs demanding to be a part of the conversation just so they can shit all over sports in general, than the people that are spending an hour talking about a specific player, game, or statistic.

It very much is a social thing where you need to know how to politely excuse yourself from conversations and situations you do not want to be a part of rather than trying to evangelize your view that they suck.

Re: Cultivated Disinterest in Professional Sports

#135

Post by rinon » Fri, Jan 30, 2015, 9:14 PM UTC

toolz wrote: post #117

timr wrote: post #94

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"When you show overt contempt for sports you are showing contempt for most everybody and that is problem with your social skills." That's nice. What other corporate products must I consume in order to be a validated member of your social caste? How about this: "when you show overt contempt for fast food, you are showing contempt for most everybody, and that is a problem with your social skills." If I don't eat at McD…

Exactly. Sports aren't a healthy part of society. They are games mean to occupy the less curious people of our culture so they don't get bored and dissatisfied with their existence. There is nothing healthy about sports culture. The socialization is entirely tribal and the impact on humanities future is non-existent. Imagine if we game all our attention and praise to teachers and all of our money to successful charit…

Why are sports unhealthy? They are in fact extremely healthy, in the physical sense. Professional sports are simply an outgrowth of more "natural" sporting activities. Sports, even the professional variety, are not carefully engineered social prisons, but an evolution of natural human activities: physical activity and training combined with competition and the desire to observe others who are better than one's self.

We can imagine such an idealistic world, but this is completely unrealistic and crazy. People legitimately ENJOY watching and participating in sporting activities. You cannot (practically speaking) dictate what people should or should not enjoy. Suggesting better alternatives, fine, but insisting that others follow YOUR vision for a perfect world is self-centered and conceited.

I would argue that you do have a moral obligation to respect other humans which includes not purposefully hurting people's feelings for no reason. If you don't like sports, fine, but that's no reason to put down people who do.

Re: Cultivated Disinterest in Professional Sports

#136

Post by serve_yay » Fri, Jan 30, 2015, 9:15 PM UTC

mundizzle wrote: post #129

i always found Chomsky's take on sports to be quite interesting... "Take, say, sports -- that's another crucial example of the indoctrination system, in my view. For one thing because it -- you know, it offers people something to pay attention to that's of no importance. [audience laughs] That keeps them from worrying about -- [applause] keeps them from worrying about things that matter to their lives that they might…

I think the situation is worse -- people want to look away, they want to be distracted. It's not foisted on them. (I include myself here, for what it's worth)

Re: Cultivated Disinterest in Professional Sports

#137

Post by rinon » Fri, Jan 30, 2015, 9:15 PM UTC

belorn wrote: post #57

solson wrote: post #20

When you show overt contempt for sports you are showing contempt for most everybody and that is problem with your social skills. It's called being a snob. The disdain for working class culture among academics was part of the reason I choose not to pursue a formal higher education. I suspect this overt snootiness keeps many gifted working class kids from participating in higher education. I grew up working class and w…

> It's called being a snob I kind of disagree with that label, as it imply that its only is a problem with higher education. The working class show the same overt contempt at people who watch e-sports, snooker, and other sports which isn't directly associated with the working class culture.

Anyone can be a snob. Unfortunately it's not a problem confined to academia.

Re: Cultivated Disinterest in Professional Sports

#138

Post by civilian » Fri, Jan 30, 2015, 9:16 PM UTC

rinon wrote: post #126

timr wrote: post #94

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"When you show overt contempt for sports you are showing contempt for most everybody and that is problem with your social skills." That's nice. What other corporate products must I consume in order to be a validated member of your social caste? How about this: "when you show overt contempt for fast food, you are showing contempt for most everybody, and that is a problem with your social skills." If I don't eat at McD…

Having a valid reason why some activity is intrinsically bad (e.g. fast food) is very different from disliking such activities because they are "beneath" you. Sports are widely loved and not intrinsically bad. (I'd even argue that fast food itself is not intrinsically bad, but that's a different discussion) However, even expressing contempt for intrinsically bad activities can be interpreted as offensive and hostile.…

The amount of commercials required to watch a game of football is intrinsically bad. The tax exempt status of the NFL is intrinsically bad.

Re: Cultivated Disinterest in Professional Sports

#139

Post by [deleted] » Fri, Jan 30, 2015, 9:16 PM UTC

rinon wrote: post #126

timr wrote: post #94

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"When you show overt contempt for sports you are showing contempt for most everybody and that is problem with your social skills." That's nice. What other corporate products must I consume in order to be a validated member of your social caste? How about this: "when you show overt contempt for fast food, you are showing contempt for most everybody, and that is a problem with your social skills." If I don't eat at McD…

Having a valid reason why some activity is intrinsically bad (e.g. fast food) is very different from disliking such activities because they are "beneath" you. Sports are widely loved and not intrinsically bad. (I'd even argue that fast food itself is not intrinsically bad, but that's a different discussion) However, even expressing contempt for intrinsically bad activities can be interpreted as offensive and hostile.…

[deleted]

Re: Cultivated Disinterest in Professional Sports

#140

Post by taternuts » Fri, Jan 30, 2015, 9:16 PM UTC

TeMPOraL wrote: post #97

ssalazar wrote: post #42

People tend to view football as a bunch of dumb lugs pushing each other around, but theres crazy amounts of raw physical strength, finesse, and smarts involved. Each play might involve linemen pushing defenders one way or another to mislead them just long enough to let the ball carrier run through. Watching a great run play unfold is truly amazing, especially at the professional level where the players are basically…

I think you might be onto something. I still find sport boring, though I recall my interest in soccer increasing when I was learning things about game strategies. Maybe simply some of us derive pleasure from the aspects that are non-obvious first time you watch a match on TV.

I find that unless you've played football, it's one of those sports where it can be kind of hard to recognize great play at the line and other positions that aren't featured as heavily as the QB/RB/WR's. The truth is though that at that level there is always 100x more stuff going on than you could possibly imagine; how far someone is leaning forward, if their right foot is slightly ahead of their left, where their center of gravity is relative to their normal stance, what moves were tried in previous situations and how will that affect what they try now given what I think I/we am/are showing? When I played sports at a high level, I always regarded my ability to think quickly and break down situations further than my competition in the moment as to what made me effective. There's a fair amount of slower freak athletes in the NFL that don't need to win the mental battles as much because they are just so much better physically and nothing can counter-act that, but there's also a ton of really smart guys studying their ass off for that slight edge and beating the bigger, stronger, faster with it.

Then there's guys who do both like JJ Watt