Comments on: Without Limits http://www.nazg.com/iqrai/index.php/2008/08/09/without-limits/ Sliding down the banisters of the ivory tower. Thu, 29 Jul 2010 15:04:18 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6.1 By: Iqra’i: While we devotin’ full time to floatin’ http://www.nazg.com/iqrai/index.php/2008/08/09/without-limits/#comment-960 Iqra’i: While we devotin’ full time to floatin’ Wed, 13 Aug 2008 16:24:18 +0000 http://www.nazg.com/iqrai/?p=181#comment-960 [...] still buzzing from Andrew Sullivan citing my Transhumanist post in the Daily Dish. Of course, my favourite bit of the Simon Barnes piece I’d originally [...] [...] still buzzing from Andrew Sullivan citing my Transhumanist post in the Daily Dish. Of course, my favourite bit of the Simon Barnes piece I’d originally [...]

]]> By: Kate Maltby http://www.nazg.com/iqrai/index.php/2008/08/09/without-limits/#comment-947 Kate Maltby Mon, 11 Aug 2008 20:13:47 +0000 http://www.nazg.com/iqrai/?p=181#comment-947 Absolutely, indeed sports can teach children about the value of all kinds of great life skills, but my point is that we don't often realize how much we're really learning until we've been playing for a while. No child actually decides to play basketball because it will teach him teamwork - he starts it up because it gets endorphins pumping and makes him look cool to his peers and parents. Intellectual pursuits often involve a more self-conscious sense that one is educating oneself in the meaning of life. Sure, that sounds self-righteous and intellectually snobbish, but I was really trying to make the point that I was a self-righteous and intellectually snobbish child. (No comments on whether I've changed). I think it can be more interesting to observe non-sporty personalities defending sports than see the college football team articulate the same position. I certainly spent most of my school years convinced that a world that rewarded sporting prowess was a world conspiring to make me feel terrible about myself. So yes, it was a deliberately subjective comment, that I knew would draw disagreement, but serves to point out how deeply dependent on our own skill sets our respect for different disciplines can be. Which is why it's important for artists and sportsmen to recognise that it is possible to posit a joint defence for all of us - that a civilised society values the cultivation of skills, artistic or sporting, for their own sake alone. Absolutely, indeed sports can teach children about the value of all kinds of great life skills, but my point is that we don’t often realize how much we’re really learning until we’ve been playing for a while. No child actually decides to play basketball because it will teach him teamwork - he starts it up because it gets endorphins pumping and makes him look cool to his peers and parents. Intellectual pursuits often involve a more self-conscious sense that one is educating oneself in the meaning of life.
Sure, that sounds self-righteous and intellectually snobbish, but I was really trying to make the point that I was a self-righteous and intellectually snobbish child. (No comments on whether I’ve changed). I think it can be more interesting to observe non-sporty personalities defending sports than see the college football team articulate the same position. I certainly spent most of my school years convinced that a world that rewarded sporting prowess was a world conspiring to make me feel terrible about myself. So yes, it was a deliberately subjective comment, that I knew would draw disagreement, but serves to point out how deeply dependent on our own skill sets our respect for different disciplines can be. Which is why it’s important for artists and sportsmen to recognise that it is possible to posit a joint defence for all of us - that a civilised society values the cultivation of skills, artistic or sporting, for their own sake alone.

]]> By: Ian Ragsdale http://www.nazg.com/iqrai/index.php/2008/08/09/without-limits/#comment-945 Ian Ragsdale Mon, 11 Aug 2008 16:06:11 +0000 http://www.nazg.com/iqrai/?p=181#comment-945 Re: "I watched the sporty girls with a mixture of disdain and envy, asking myself why anyone could take pride in success on the netball field when reading Milton was evidently of far more practical value, because it was a real tool for understanding the world and living the examined life." I have to take exception with this - I don't think it's self-evident at all that reading Milton is of more practical value. I'm not saying that it isn't: I don't know. I'm just saying I don't think it's evident. Sure, being great at throwing a basketball through a hoop is of little practical value outside the sport, but learning the value of the hard work, practice and perseverance required to be really good at it is quite useful. Ask any successful entrepreneur what made him successful, and I'll guarantee that hard work & perseverance was part of the equation, and sports can educate children about the value of that. Re: “I watched the sporty girls with a mixture of disdain and envy, asking myself why anyone could take pride in success on the netball field when reading Milton was evidently of far more practical value, because it was a real tool for understanding the world and living the examined life.”

I have to take exception with this - I don’t think it’s self-evident at all that reading Milton is of more practical value. I’m not saying that it isn’t: I don’t know. I’m just saying I don’t think it’s evident. Sure, being great at throwing a basketball through a hoop is of little practical value outside the sport, but learning the value of the hard work, practice and perseverance required to be really good at it is quite useful.

Ask any successful entrepreneur what made him successful, and I’ll guarantee that hard work & perseverance was part of the equation, and sports can educate children about the value of that.

]]> By: MB http://www.nazg.com/iqrai/index.php/2008/08/09/without-limits/#comment-944 MB Mon, 11 Aug 2008 15:12:53 +0000 http://www.nazg.com/iqrai/?p=181#comment-944 Absolutely right, Scott. Ooh, and put sharks on either side of the track. With frickin' LASERS. Absolutely right, Scott. Ooh, and put sharks on either side of the track. With frickin’ LASERS.

]]> By: cougian http://www.nazg.com/iqrai/index.php/2008/08/09/without-limits/#comment-943 cougian Mon, 11 Aug 2008 14:53:39 +0000 http://www.nazg.com/iqrai/?p=181#comment-943 perhaps two sets of games will eventually be required. One for those who willingly take steroids to push the envelope of human development, and a traditional games for clean atheletes. perhaps two sets of games will eventually be required. One for those who willingly take steroids to push the envelope of human development, and a traditional games for clean atheletes.

]]> By: Scott P. http://www.nazg.com/iqrai/index.php/2008/08/09/without-limits/#comment-941 Scott P. Mon, 11 Aug 2008 14:19:26 +0000 http://www.nazg.com/iqrai/?p=181#comment-941 And while we're at it, what's with the stupid rules about sprinters staying within their lanes? They should be allowed to trip and tackle their opponents while running down their track. Then we can sit back and 'watch the sheer spectacle.' And while we’re at it, what’s with the stupid rules about sprinters staying within their lanes? They should be allowed to trip and tackle their opponents while running down their track. Then we can sit back and ‘watch the sheer spectacle.’

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