Why is athletic ability emphasized so much?

[Such Irony]

In high school, at least where I went, athletic ability was prized far more above academic ability, musical ability, or artistic ability. In college, much of the attention goes to the star athletes rather than the star actors in theatre productions, or other activities. If you pick up the daily newspaper, there is typically a whole section devoted to just sports. Do other activities take up a whole section? No. An average newspaper has, say, around 4-6 sections. So that could be up to 25% of the newspaper devoted just to sports.

So why the fascination with sports and athletic ability? Why does athletic ability prized to the degree it is compared to other abilities?

My hypothesis stems from back in prehistoric times in hunter gather societies where physical abilities such as strength, speed, or endurance could literally mean the difference between life and death. Nowadays, these skills aren't as crucial. Technology can often compensate for weaknesses in physical abilities. However, human evolution hasn't caught up with the times, so I think there is still this primal instinct in humans to prize physical prowess and athleticism. Thoughts?

 

[Rail Tracer]

Its entertainment. Much like why people watch sports like football and baseball in the first place. The football team screams louder, than say, the math club.

Unless you grew up in a prestigious high school known for its top notch grades or ability in something else, sports will probably be bigger than academic/artistic performance. Hell, I was even given half a page of the high school yearbook even though I was in a not-so-great sports team.

 

[Eckhart]

High school (or college? no idea) sports hype specifically is more a culture specific thing I would say. There is no such interest at all here about it.

Going a bit off of that, it is the same though as why you are looked down on as if you are a retard when you are not very athletic at school and cannot throw the shot as far as the other people because you are not as strong, but it is perfectly fine when you cannot understand the simplest things in mathematics etc.; society values some traits much higher than others, and that differs again per culture.

 

[Patches]

In high school it never seemed like that to me, but I came from a household that put academics above all else. So maybe I just ignored the sports kids.

In college, the obvious reason is... because sports brings in A LOT of money. If you can fill a football stadium, then your football team is your biggest cash crop. I had this conversation when looking at the average salaries of college professors vs college football coaches. Coaches made 3-5 times as much. And then someone made the point that it's because 'that football team is what pays for your microscopes, nerd. No one's going to fill a stadium to watch you dissect a frog.'

 

[FDG]

Because it's fun to watch -> people watch sports and pay money -> more money to sports. I strongly doubt that athletic ability can be considered as over-emphasized wrt intellectual ability: star athletes are the equivalent of nobel prizes, which seem to get quite a good share of attention. Being a smart cookie is similar to being an above-average soccer player: most people won't give a shit about it, except those closest to you and/or those you happen to play with.

Going a bit off of that, it is the same though as why you are looked down on as if you are a retard when you are not very athletic at school and cannot throw the shot as far as the other people because you are not as strong, but it is perfectly fine when you cannot understand the simplest things in mathematics etc.; society values some traits much higher than others, and that differs again per culture.

Are you really sure about that? In my experience, "dumb" people are made fun of as much as extremely uncoordinated gals, when you're past 15 years of age.

 

[onemoretime]

Athletic activity evokes a much more intense and immediate emotional response in observers than the other endeavors you mention. The other ones require you to think a while before you truly appreciate it.

 

[Octarine]

Music doesn't involve an immediate emotional response?

 

[onemoretime]

Music doesn't involve an immediate emotional response?

Not the type generally taught within the schools

 

[wolfy]

It is easy to measure.

 

[Athenian200]

Because there are too many SPs and not enough Intuitives and SJs?

SPs are the ones who enjoy sports and athletic stuff...

 

[Patches]

Because there are too many SPs and not enough Intuitives and SJs?

I saw that fast edit work you did. I'll let you off easy this time....

 

[William K]

I think it's because of the more obvious competitive nature of athletic endeavours. From the gladiators of old to the sports stars of today, it's about beating the other player/team. Do people watch American Idol for the singing or for the competition?

 

[Eckhart]

Are you really sure about that? In my experience, "dumb" people are made fun of as much as extremely uncoordinated gals, when you're past 15 years of age.

"Dumb" people are made fun of, yes, but in some areas you get away with not being as adept, which I meant, probably I didn't explain myself very well. That is for example mathematics and any kind of simpler computer stuff (I don't mean only the older people who didn't grow up with it and use it every day), because there it is considered normal that it is difficult and people have trouble with it. If at all you are a nerd because you are good at it.

 

[KDude]

My highschool was pretty serious about football at the expense of other programs. This was Texas (big football state), and they had groomed their teams into state championships multiple times. They had a huge stadium for highschool football (now, even more than ever.. last time I saw it. Big jumbotron type of screen and everything. It's crazy). I suppose this made a ton of money for them though.

I remember there were drama and art classes, for example, but I don't remember any actual productions ever happening (or even a stage to speak of). Not that I'm blaming anyone, but it probably would have done me good if there were more extracurricular activities. I played sports when I was younger, but I was bored with that and with school in general. I wanted to do something different. This mostly lead to getting in trouble. A lot of schools have this problem, I bet. Kids aren't occupied enough or staying after school for some club or group. There isn't a whole lot that's being catered or enriching in highschool.

As for any persecution.. at least there, it was odd that there was so much focus on sports, but there wasn't much "jock" elitism among the students themselves. People mostly looked up to preppy kids, good looking kids, or thugs. You were worse off for not being one of them.

 

[highlander]

I agree with most of what's said above. I think it's a combination of cultural anomaly and $.

 

[Litvyak]

Because there are too many SPs and not enough Intuitives and SJs?

SPs are the ones who enjoy sports and athletic stuff...

Edit: *facepalm*

To the OP: I disagree with your initial premises, but I do agree with your theory on evolution. That is propably the cause. Plus it's one of the few healthy ways of sublimating stress.

 

[Queen Kat]

Maybe because it's something that's almost unreachable. It takes years of intensive training to become really good. Besides, humans are a bunch of clumsy animals and good athletic abilities can turn one into a superhuman to some people. We just want things we can't easily reach.

I personally don't really like sports, I don't like doing sports (because I've always been bad at it and doing things I'm bad at is the easiest way to totally fuck up my self esteem) and I don't like watching them. However, I'm turning more interested in sports lately, but that's just because my cousin's boyfriend just got a two-year contract at a professional soccer team and I just can't stand how they never put him in the field to play.

 

[Randomnity]

Because there are too many SPs and not enough Intuitives and SJs?

SPs are the ones who enjoy sports and athletic stuff...

If you changed SP to "men" you'd be closer to the mark. Either way, it's irrelevant since the proportions of men and/or SPs are unlikely to change much. Besides colleges have far more Ns, in theory, than high schools, and sports are just as emphasized there if not more so.

I think it's pretty simple explanation, though. A large number of people find it entertaining to watch for whatever reasons (competition, school pride, etc) --> money to be made selling tickets, ads, etc --> money given to sports teams

And the large number of people watching it (i.e. it's popular) means that the stars are popular and that people will read about it in the paper (in theory) leading to a section devoted to it. And that's why superbowl commercials bring in so much money. It's purely the audience.

In other words, the skills aren't prized instrinsically so much as they're prized for the audience they will bring.

 

[Athenian200]

If you changed SP to "men" you'd be closer to the mark. Either way, it's irrelevant since the proportions of men and/or SPs are unlikely to change much. Besides colleges have far more Ns, in theory, than high schools, and sports are just as emphasized there if not more so.

I think it's pretty simple explanation, though. A large number of people find it entertaining to watch for whatever reasons (competition, school pride, etc) --> money to be made selling tickets, ads, etc --> money given to sports teams

And the large number of people watching it (i.e. it's popular) means that the stars are popular and that people will read about it in the paper (in theory) leading to a section devoted to it. And that's why superbowl commercials bring in so much money. It's purely the audience.

In other words, the skills aren't prized instrinsically so much as they're prized for the audience they will bring.

Well, you can see why I would assume SP, right? I mean, sports are very physical, they involve risk and competition... and that sounds kind of like what SPs do? Although, I guess that really only means that SPs are more likely to PLAY sports... not necessarily to WATCH sports. On top of that, Se is supposed be my inferior function, and I find sports especially contrived and boring, so I assumed there was a connection.

The thing I'm curious about, though... is why do men like sports? And why would this liking of sports transcend type?

 

[William K]

Evolutionary instincts? In the animal world, showing physical prowess is one of the best ways of attracting mates.

As for watching sports, I guess it's a male bonding thingy. Also betting and fantasy sports are playing a bigger part too.