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Sports

Mp202020 December 03, 2021 at 05:42 1950 views 7 comments
Is an interest in sports reserved for those of lower acumen with regards to interest in the nature of reality? (My tongue and cheek way of suggesting those who might be interested in topics such as philosophy or science very likely have no interest in something like football). I’m not being too serious, although part of me does think there’s something to that.

Comments (7)

Jamal December 03, 2021 at 07:16 #627235
Among American intellectuals, baseball seems to be popular. Stephen Jay Gould, who was pretty philosophical, wrote a book called Full House (Life's Grandeur in the UK) that extensively uses baseball in the argument. Something about batting averages and probability, I can't really remember.

And I think there have been several American writers of literary fiction, intellectual types, who've been into baseball.

Maybe when people are young they split into nerds and jocks (to use the American parlance). Those who like computers and books maybe don't play sports much. But later, when the nerds have gotten over their teenage traumas, they feel free to take an interest in sport.
Pinprick December 03, 2021 at 20:47 #627434
Reply to Mp202020

I doubt it. I played football, basketball, baseball, and soccer growing up nearly every year. I’m also interested in philosophy, and social sciences in general. There’s actually a lot of strategy involved in game planning, schematics, etc. in football at the professional level. It isn’t uncommon for coaches to have somewhat of a background in logic or analytics.
john27 December 21, 2021 at 22:44 #633701
Reply to Mp202020

Do martial arts count as a sport?
Leghorn December 28, 2021 at 01:35 #635964
@Mp202020

Actually, there is much relevance of sports to philosophy. Right now as I speak there is a debate going in American football about the “fake slide”: when a quarterback, instead of passing or handing off, runs the ball himself, and, during the run, when he sees he is about to be tackled, instead of sliding to a halt and being down, fakes the slide, fools the defender, and runs around him...

...Now, I don’t know how much you know about American football, but when the quarterback slides you’re not supposed to hit him—it’s one of those modern rules to protect a vulnerable player’s head. So he’s supposed to slide, and you’re supposed to respect that...

...but what if he takes advantage of your respect and disrespects it by a fake and then runs around you for a touchdown?...

...lotsa ethical considerations here!
Primperan January 06, 2022 at 18:19 #639505
Reply to Mp202020
Sports and Kardashian's ass are good ways to resolve social conflicts. It is unlikely that a person attached to her television will take to the streets to demand rights or justice.
Mp202020 January 08, 2022 at 02:56 #640037
Reply to Leghorn that’s a great point! Although that seems more in the realm of strategy (chess etc) rather than contemplation of reality.
Mp202020 January 08, 2022 at 03:00 #640039
Reply to john27 not really to me, the art of combat seems fundamentally different than the art of something like soccer. One is to be the symbolic force of your will (I’m better at putting the ball in the goal than you) and the other is a more “real” or objective representation of will (I do anything I can to overcome your will physically, you the same).