Cultivated Disinterest in Professional Sports • Hacker News Board

Re: Cultivated Disinterest in Professional Sports

#51

Post by wutbrodo » Fri, Jan 30, 2015, 8:01 PM UTC

ska wrote: post #43

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…

To be fair, disinterest and contempt are very different things. Saying "I'm not interested in X" has very different connotations from "I can't see why anybody is interested in X".

Even the latter isn't contempt. I feel like I don't understand why anyone is interested in watching sports (as opposed to playing), but I certainly don't look down on them for it. At the very least, I know enough people that I respect that are into pro sports that it would be inconsistent to think something like "people who are into pro sports have nothing better to occupy their time and their minds".

Re: Cultivated Disinterest in Professional Sports

#52

Post by msluyter » Fri, Jan 30, 2015, 8:01 PM UTC

I've felt for a while that not knowing much about sports has been a huge liability. As in, sitting at lunch with co-workers locked out of the conversation because I didn't know anything.

So, a couple of years ago, I had a sports-fanatic friend of mine sit with me through a few football games and explain everything that was happening. This unlocked my ability to relate to others (well, men). It was nothing short of revelatory.

After a while though, my natural indifference reasserted itself and I never bothered to do what's necessary -- like subscribe to cable -- to stay abreast of things.

As for the article, I would suggest that the cause of sports disinterest might not always be a form of cultural signaling (though I find that plausible.) In my case, it goes back to childhood, where I was terrible at all sports. After a while of getting made fun of, being picked last for teams, etc... I learned that sports were simply not for me.

Re: Cultivated Disinterest in Professional Sports

#53

Post by GigabyteCoin » Fri, Jan 30, 2015, 8:02 PM UTC

martythemaniak wrote: post #21

I don't like the message of this post. I do understand (and see) the cultivated disinterest he's talking about, but I would never suggest you try and make yourself like something for the sole purpose of fitting in, ie cultivating disinterest is bad, but so is cultivating this interest. If you keep and open mind and follow your passions, you'll eventually stumble on something you share enough with others. My disintere…

>so is cultivating this interest.

How so? Taking part in the things most inherent in your culture is arguably a good thing.

It helps you keep in touch with the rest of the world. It helps you carry on and start up conversations with your peers. It's easier to "break the ice".

It makes you feel more connected to society, which is something that I'm sure most of us sitting behind a computer screen 24/7 certainly could use more of.

Re: Cultivated Disinterest in Professional Sports

#54

Post by nickbauman » Fri, Jan 30, 2015, 8:03 PM UTC

If you're learning about sports to "connect" with people using "small talk", assert your motivation is elitist anyway. "Working class people" are very capable of talking about things other than sports. Yet one of the reasons pro sports is so popular with "working class people" is that thinking about the issues that really affect them (rationally) is depressing. That thing about bread and circuses is real. So I deliberately make small talk with people about things that could actually matter to them, like, where their tax money is being spent.

(Oh, and since when is a STEM job not working class?)

Re: Cultivated Disinterest in Professional Sports

#55

Post by [deleted] » Fri, Jan 30, 2015, 8:03 PM UTC

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…

[deleted]

Re: Cultivated Disinterest in Professional Sports

#56

Post by scott_s » Fri, Jan 30, 2015, 8:03 PM UTC

zo1 wrote: post #34

scott_s wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's not so much saying you should like something to fit in. It's asking you if you dislike it to not fit in. And if that's the case, then that's elitist.

Snob, elitist, etc... I see a lot of names being thrown around to describe/explain/put down this idea of sports-disdain. Not saying you are, just pointing out that these words are coming up a lot. At the end of the day, people will like what they want. They will dislike what they want, too. Whether that is because of a valid reason, or whatever silly notion of not wanting to fit in, or anything else is irrelevant.

In this context, I am using elitist as a description, not an insult. It's up to you to decide if that bothers you.

The point of the post is that motivation is relevant. Some people don't want to be elitist; it bothers me. If they apply some introspection to their motivations, they may discover this behavior describes them, and they may want to change. What people "want" is not some inherent immutable trait of their humanity. Sometimes what people "want" is a result of cultural expectations.

Re: Cultivated Disinterest in Professional Sports

#57

Post by belorn » Fri, Jan 30, 2015, 8:04 PM UTC

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.

Re: Cultivated Disinterest in Professional Sports

#58

Post by graeme » Fri, Jan 30, 2015, 8:04 PM UTC

I played sports in school, and have no problem understanding them. But watching sports doesn't interest me.

This doesn't seem to cause me problems. I can talk to working class people about other topics easily. I also have no reason to go around bashing sports, so this helps I'm sure.

One thing I've noticed is that it does block me from being close friends with certain men. Because their favorite leisure activity is watching a lot of sports with friends. That's far too high a commitment for me since I truly dislike watching sports on TV.

Re: Cultivated Disinterest in Professional Sports

#59

Post by aaron-lebo » Fri, Jan 30, 2015, 8:04 PM UTC

golemotron wrote: post #46

I won't deny that there's a cultural aspect but I've never been into team sports for the same reason I'm not into religion. When I was a kid I realized that thinking your home team is better than everyone else's is something that happens just because of where you are. It's the reason why people believe that Jesus is better than Buddha or Mohammed also, or any other ordering of those three. Teams sports amplify and di…

The other side of that coin is to realize that who you are, where you came from, what you believe often (but not always especially in the last case) is something you have no control over.

Sports is the perfect example of this in that you can and should take great pride and joy in everything that makes you, you, but also realize that there's someone on the other side of the TV screen that has the same reasons for taking pride and loving who they are.

If you can both do that and appreciate the other for that, and not hate them because of it, then you've got it right.

Re: Cultivated Disinterest in Professional Sports

#60

Post by samspot » Fri, Jan 30, 2015, 8:05 PM UTC

I used to have the attitude he mentioned, and when my eyes opened, I rejected it. Then I forced myself to watch American Football for a season. I actually had a good time. But I just couldn't really get into it. Problem is that when I have free time, I typically prefer to spend it doing other things. Not having cable doesn't help matters either.

Maybe I'll give it another shot. It seems worth it to be able to connect to more people.