petrushka.googol Posted June 20, 2014 Share Posted June 20, 2014 Is sport a sign of evolutionary specialization? Sport is a sign of - a) civility as opposed to savageness of early man b) mental focus as opposed to mental disorientation in early man c) co-ordination among a team as opposed to dog-eat-dog scenarios of early man Sport is actually very cerebral. It involves precision and skill. It is something early man could not have conceived. I could hardly visualize early man competing in a tree-swinging contest. Is sport then a concomitant of superior neuronal intelligence? Your views will be appreciated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phi for All Posted June 20, 2014 Share Posted June 20, 2014 I do see sports as an evolutionary specialization. Our intelligence gave rise to farming and animal husbandry, which gave us a lot more time that was previously spent hunting and gathering. Put a bunch of budding creative humans in a setting where they have nothing much to do and they're going to figure out all kinds of things. I think soccer was probably invented much farther back in our history. The only question I have for you is about the "mental disorientation" you mention in part b) of what sports are a sign of. Do you really believe early man was mentally disoriented, or just not as focused as when they started playing sports? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roamer Posted June 20, 2014 Share Posted June 20, 2014 All animals(and so also early men) play, sport is a bit more formalized, but it's not realy different. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
petrushka.googol Posted June 20, 2014 Author Share Posted June 20, 2014 The only question I have for you is about the "mental disorientation" you mention in part b) of what sports are a sign of. Do you really believe early man was mentally disoriented, or just not as focused as when they started playing sports? I reflected on this for a while and arrived at the following thought process. Early man must have been more broad pupiled. Preposterous as this might seem, we all know that a broad eye pupil is like a camera with a larger aperture that captures more photons (to enable greater threat perception) and this must have characterized early man. This makes him perceptibly less focused. Modern man is more narrow pupiled. - with less immediate threat perception reflecting his transition from a role of a hunter to a "thinker". All animals(and so also early men) play, sport is a bit more formalized, but it's not realy different. Animals play games - but i doubt whether either the passion or the competitive flavor that characterizes it is incorporated in the former. In that sense it is not sport,but just good natured banter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phi for All Posted June 20, 2014 Share Posted June 20, 2014 All animals(and so also early men) play, sport is a bit more formalized, but it's not realy different. Much of this play is preparation and training for hunting skills, at least for predators. Do we see examples of play in animals that have no other purpose than enjoyment? Come to think of it, is that why we developed sports, for enjoyment, or was it for some other reason? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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