Theli

A very short sighted argument to say the least. It clearly centers on your ideals and tries to put forward a case to make your ideals more important than others.
Now, I'm no sports fan. I haven't watched a game of any sport for several years. But I do recognize selfserving arguments, even when they are targeted against something I don't personally promote.

Here are some key statements:
1. "they take extremely physically capable people out of the work force"
Meaning in your ideal world people should work work and only work.

2. "and those people get highly highly overpaid to HAVE FUN professionally"
And another one, should people not be allowed to make money and have fun at the same time?

3. "and the people watching are not only tuning out the real world to concentrate entirely on a game"
What excacly is the real world? When does something existing in the world stop being real? I quote the great Spock: "nothing unreal exists".

4. "they could be just as passionate about something more important"
And here's the money shot. The word "important". Obviously what you consider important is more important than what other people consider important. And straying from your ideals is apperantly immoral. Suddenly importance became an axiom, huh?

Plognark

quote:
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Originally posted by Godot
i've come to the conclusion that posting on internet message boards is immoral. they take extremely mentally capable people away from their paid work, and those people get highly highly overpaid to WASTE TIME professionally. and the people watching are not only tuning out the real world to concentrate entirely on a thread, and getting fat sitting there reading, they are puting a lot of emotion into supporting an argument when they could be just as passionate about something more important. plus all the money that goes into supporting the message board, the internet, etc., that's a lot going to waste

what are your thoughts on this?
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SHIT! boss is coming can't chat now!

neo_mp5

i realise that. but what good is watching someone else have fun?

Karalora

It can be fun in and of itself. Vicarious participation. You might as well ask what good it is to watch movies or plays.

neo_mp5

you're sounding like one of those [deleted] from almostsmart.com who always read things wrong.


"A very short sighted argument to say the least. It clearly centers on your ideals"

who else's ideals am i supposed to concentrate on? i've only got mine

"and tries to put forward a case to make your ideals more important than others."

where do you get that from?

"Now, I'm no sports fan. I haven't watched a game of any sport for several years. But I do recognize selfserving arguments, even when they are targeted against something I don't personally promote."

what other kind of argumennt is there?

"Meaning in your ideal world people should work work and only work."

no. athletes are being wasted on sports when they could be doing something productive

"And another one, should people not be allowed to make money and have fun at the same time?"

i will disregard that, as it has nothing to do with anything

"What excacly is the real world? When does something existing in the world stop being real? I quote the great Spock: "nothing unreal exists"."

thank you for avoiding the issue.

"And here's the money shot. The word "important". Obviously what you consider important is more important than what other people consider important. And straying from your ideals is apperantly immoral. Suddenly importance became an axiom, huh?"

by important i mean important to society. political, scientific and philosophical issus like the ones discussed on this site are tuned out by average people, because to them it's not as important as a stupid hyped-up game

neo_mp5

but those draw you in intellectally. there is nothing to draw you into a sport unless you know a player

BDS

Give me a break. You don't have the slightest idea whether sports are "important to society" or not. In fact, it's quite evident that you haven't even thought about it. Surely you don't think "philosophical issues" are more important to society than football, do you?

Actually, they're both just for fun.

Godot

You sir, happen to have a rather narrow idea of the contribution of sport to society. [minor derial] We recently had a discussion on the matter over in MD entitled Correlation between bible thumping and love of football (and most american sports). I think a case for the "importance" of sport relative to other endeavours has been made in that thread. [/minor derail]

neo_mp5

yes, by far. what team wins or loses has absolutely zero impact on society.

Godot

While not dependant on the outcome of a single game, I'd suspect that the Rocket Richard Riots had a slight impact on society.

In a fictional account, perhaps I could direct you to Casey at the Bat.

Or perhaps you might want to take a look at this:



How about Apartheid and the athletic boycott of South Africa?

If you like cricket, what about Trevor Chappell's underarm bowl?


If that isn't enough to demolish your pathetic contention, you might consider the '72 Summit Series, or the Canada Cup's of the '80's. Or even the riots that occurred in L.A. after the Lakers won the NBA championship.


Nope, no impact on society there. Not at all.