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Cultivated Disinterest in Professional Sports

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Re: Cultivated Disinterest in Professional Sports

#431

Post by tbirdz »

dap wrote: post #269

When people say they don't care about sports, it sounds to me as ludicrous as if they said they don't care to watch movies or read fiction. On some level, those are all reasonable choices. But they all involve summarily rejecting an important medium for the telling of interesting and valuable human stories. In the field of music, theater, films, literature, and sports, I don't think sports is really that different fr…

As someone who doesn't care about sports, care to watch movies, or read fiction, you must find me quite ludicrous :)

Re: Cultivated Disinterest in Professional Sports

#433

Post by j-kidd »

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…

Chomsky and Superbowl Party: http://www.thebrushback.com/Archives/noamchomsky_full.htm

Perfect article for those on HN who follow pro sports ;)

Re: Cultivated Disinterest in Professional Sports

#434

Post by Dylan16807 »

bglazer wrote: post #301
wcummings wrote: post #255

Earlier quoted context omitted.

An impressive robot is just so much more novel and interesting than a feat of human strength. Not to say sports aren't impressive, or that professional athletes aren't incredibly dedicated and talented, but someone hitting a baseball isn't very interesting .

A biological computer estimates the position of an object that's moving much faster than the refresh rate of its visual system using years of training data. Simultaneously it triggers a cascade of actuators, twisting its body so that its hands reach maximum velocity at the same time the object reaches the bat it's holding. It loses sight of the ball, which is following a curved trajectory, while doing this. It then t…

But they're all the same with no progression over time.

Not fascinating to me in the long term.

Re: Cultivated Disinterest in Professional Sports

#435

Post by Dylan16807 »

znconrad5 wrote: post #381
canvia wrote: post #314

There are several reasons why I dislike sports. Professional sports are expensive and inefficient forms of entertainment. What is your cost (and opportunity cost) per hour for sports? Compared to films, books, video games, or board games you are burning money/time on a completely passive experience. When was the last time you learned something about yourself or others while watching a sporting event? Do they cause yo…

What eSport are you watching where it is NOT "us VS them"? Starcraft is a 1v1 game. LoL is a 5v5 game. Not sure what other eSports there are, but the major ones are always pitting humans against eachother...

us. them. plural words. the viewer and player being part of the same group.

You're badly misinterpreting that line. It's about the fans, not whether the players compete (obviously the players compete). "us vs them" is when you hear a fan say a phrase like "we won".

It's certainly possible to get wrapped up in a fandom in eSports, but from my limited perspective it's much less common.

Re: Cultivated Disinterest in Professional Sports

#436

Post by nitrogen »

Retra wrote: post #173
nitrogen wrote: post #105

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Disdain for sports is pointless social signalling that is ultimately divisive. So is participation in sports. People don't dislike sports because they were born that way; they dislike them because they didn't like the effect they had on e.g. their high school or college.

Some people want to cheer for academic bookish stuffiness and boo the low-brow jockiness of field games. If that isn't what sports is all about, then what is it about?

This whole idea of "us versus them" is an integral part of a lot of sports culture. That creation of artificial false dichotomies is exactly what sports is about, and exactly what society needs to avoid.

The question isn't academics versus athletes, it's inclusiveness versus divisiveness (or, worst case, the question of maximum long-term benefit to society). Both academics and athletes are capable of either, but at least in schools, one side is much more prominently divisive than the other.

Re: Cultivated Disinterest in Professional Sports

#437

Post by Glyptodon »

Glyptodon wrote: post #188
rinon wrote: post #126

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.…

I'd say sports as an activity are good, but sports as a culture are often bad, it's just the most people don't draw a distinction. Just look at tailgating -- at any university you can witness loads of adults setting a great example for their children by getting dead drunk en mass in front of them at every Saturday home game.

I'm surprised at the vote swings on this one. Do people think there's nothing wrong with getting drunk in front of 5 to 11 year old children multiple weekends a year? Because I have witnessed this in my city each fall and find it troubling.

It's also a weird double standard when a lot of college campuses don't allow booze except for football tailgating.

Re: Cultivated Disinterest in Professional Sports

#439

Post by Glyptodon »

Implicated wrote: post #268
Glyptodon wrote: post #172

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I love playing sports and always have. But I have major issues with categorizing everyone who has issues with them as elitist. Some of us dislike them because they're destructive to society. I'm sure I'm not the only one who went to a high school where athletics were more important than academics, and not going to the football game was worth a couple nitpicked points off on your chemistry quiz or some teacher who bec…

> I feel like sports culture deprives lots of regular public high school students of an education, and I don't think it's elitist at all to dislike professional sports for their contribution to this mess. While I respect your position I feel that you really don't understand the perspective of sports from the athletes side. You're completely glossing over the positives that sports bring to the lives of people involved…

I loved playing basketball, too. But then in high school I could choose between taking advanced math classes or basketball PE, which was required to play on the basketball team. That kind of choice shouldn't be the kind of choice a high school student should have to make.

There were many more example of trade offs like this, almost all of which undermined any ostensible focus on education.

These kinds of things have nothing to do with whether playing sports (on a team or not) can be a positive experience or is good for people.

Re: Cultivated Disinterest in Professional Sports

#440

Post by psykotic »

JoshMilo wrote: post #267
rational-future wrote: post #218

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Professional sports are for the dumb - a modern version of the Roman circus to keep the unwashed masses occupied and away from the important things in life - politics, finance, economics.

You must have forgotten that Niels Bohr was an olympic athlete as well as a nobel prize winner in physics.

You're confusing the physicist Niels with his mathematician brother Harald. Niels did play soccer but never on the national team.
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