The importance of sports in the life of any philosopher.

[bzalinski]

Hello everyone,

 

Many of you have probably heard the old Latin phrase "Mens sana in corpore sano", which translates as "a sound mind in a sound body".

 

I made this topic to point out the truthfulness of this phrase, because it will be very important in your journey to virtue and self knowledge. 

 

I have to point out that when I mention sports, I refer to it's most noble and purest form: a disciplined physical exertion whose single purpose is to respect, sharpen and maintain the beautiful machine that is the human body. This human body is what nurtures our mind. It is the vessel that carries out the great ideas imagined by our brains. Therefore, if you value your mind, you should also value your body. 

 

The words above might sound very obvious, but I felt like mentioning them because sports carries allot of negative bias. It is often associated with corruption ( Big sports as a state-funded institute ), entertainment ( passive sport-watching ) and a form of compensation ( big muscles, no brain ).

 

I also find ( but I might be biased ) that intensive body-exertion tends to be shunned among more intellectually oriented people. 

 

You can also see that people with unhealthy minds tend to neglect their body. A lack of self-esteem, for example,causes people to either neglect the body or to over perform. Some people grow incredibly large muscles because that's a way to reassert themselves, to gain body-confidence where mental confidence was lacking. Others don't exercise at all because the lack of value they have for themselves. One might even hate himself to the point of destroying his own body through drugs and other forms of abuse. 

 

This neglect of the body can, in my opinion, be a serious hurdle on your philosophical journey. This is why I want to point out the importance of sports.

 

There is obviously a certain balance that has to be achieved but, most of all, our reasons for physical exertion have to be virtuous. 

 

To me, sports is a way of having integrity toward ourselves. It is a display of self-love and self-value, which is very important in order to love others around us.

 

Furthermore, there are allot of other advantages related to sports:

 

1) It clears the mind and enabled you to sharpen your mind. The hormones released during exercise ( like dopamine, endorphin's and testosterone ) will grant you willpower, resilience and motivation. It creates a state of mind that turns you into an achiever, which is key to being a human being who takes matter in own hands.

 

2) Group-sport is a good way to connect with other people, form strategies and teamwork. Relationships developed there might sometimes be limited, but it is a great way to be involved in social interactions and work on your social skills if required. 

 

3) Exercise teaches you to push you limits further. It teaches you to accept defeat, learn from mistakes and adapt. Hard work will eventually pay off. Just like being an entrepreneur takes allot of failure, sports takes allot of frustration before you get any good at it. 

 

4) It reasserts a positive image of yourself. Healthy bodies can breed more healthy minds. Both attributes are also considered as attractive to the other gender. 

 

 

All the positive effects of sports can be felt quiet quickly, without investing too much time in it. I'm not advocating that everyone should be a professional athlete, but consistent exercise is definitely something I would recommend to any philosopher around. Between half and hour and 1 hour a day should be enough. It can be as simple as walking, which can even be combined with a good audio book.  

 

Don't forget that a healthy body cannot be a substitute for virtue, but it is certainly complementary to the goals of a philosopher. 

 

 

Do you have any thoughts, addition or criticism to make ? Please, do share what is on your mind ! 

 

PS: I also recommend the channel of Eliot Hulse, who's been on Stephan's show months ago. 

 

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCLrI-dOLyDbRnPyUeWadsOg

[Rachelle]

Hello everyone,

 

Many of you have probably heard the old Latin phrase "Mens sana in corpore sano", which translates as "a sound mind in a sound body".

 

I made this topic to point out the truthfulness of this phrase, because it will be very important in your journey to virtue and self knowledge. 

 

I have to point out that when I mention sports, I refer to it's most noble and purest form: a disciplined physical exertion whose single purpose is to respect, sharpen and maintain the beautiful machine that is the human body. This human body is what nurtures our mind. It is the vessel that carries out the great ideas imagined by our brains. Therefore, if you value your mind, you should also value your body. 

 

The words above might sound very obvious, but I felt like mentioning them because sports carries allot of negative bias. It is often associated with corruption ( Big sports as a state-funded institute ), entertainment ( passive sport-watching ) and a form of compensation ( big muscles, no brain ).

 

I also find ( but I might be biased ) that intensive body-exertion tends to be shunned among more intellectually oriented people. 

 

You can also see that people with unhealthy minds tend to neglect their body. A lack of self-esteem, for example,causes people to either neglect the body or to over perform. Some people grow incredibly large muscles because that's a way to reassert themselves, to gain body-confidence where mental confidence was lacking. Others don't exercise at all because the lack of value they have for themselves. One might even hate himself to the point of destroying his own body through drugs and other forms of abuse. 

 

This neglect of the body can, in my opinion, be a serious hurdle on your philosophical journey. This is why I want to point out the importance of sports.

 

There is obviously a certain balance that has to be achieved but, most of all, our reasons for physical exertion have to be virtuous. 

 

To me, sports is a way of having integrity toward ourselves. It is a display of self-love and self-value, which is very important in order to love others around us.

 

Furthermore, there are allot of other advantages related to sports:

 

1) It clears the mind and enabled you to sharpen your mind. The hormones released during exercise ( like dopamine, endorphin's and testosterone ) will grant you willpower, resilience and motivation. It creates a state of mind that turns you into an achiever, which is key to being a human being who takes matter in own hands.

 

2) Group-sport is a good way to connect with other people, form strategies and teamwork. Relationships developed there might sometimes be limited, but it is a great way to be involved in social interactions and work on your social skills if required. 

 

3) Exercise teaches you to push you limits further. It teaches you to accept defeat, learn from mistakes and adapt. Hard work will eventually pay off. Just like being an entrepreneur takes allot of failure, sports takes allot of frustration before you get any good at it. 

 

4) It reasserts a positive image of yourself. Healthy bodies can breed more healthy minds. Both attributes are also considered as attractive to the other gender. 

 

 

All the positive effects of sports can be felt quiet quickly, without investing too much time in it. I'm not advocating that everyone should be a professional athlete, but consistent exercise is definitely something I would recommend to any philosopher around. Between half and hour and 1 hour a day should be enough. It can be as simple as walking, which can even be combined with a good audio book.  

 

Don't forget that a healthy body cannot be a substitute for virtue, but it is certainly complementary to the goals of a philosopher. 

 

 

Do you have any thoughts, addition or criticism to make ? Please, do share what is on your mind ! 

 

PS: I also recommend the channel of Eliot Hulse, who's been on Stephan's show months ago. 

 

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCLrI-dOLyDbRnPyUeWadsOg

 

I honestly don't know much about sports. It's hard for me to imagine sports as having the single purpose you mentioned, because I believe the purpose you have given is admirable and beautiful, but it is not one I have often heard given as a reason for sports. I've heard something similar more often when people pursue such things as martial arts and it's something I've always found attractive.

 

I don't know if you're biased or not. You've probably had multiple experiences where intellectuals do indeed shun physical activity. It's likely that those intellectuals have quite a few of  their own experiences with those who pursue physical activity and mock or disregard intellectual pursuits. So bad experiences coupled with being insecure with one's weakness is one area may make it difficult for people to see the value in both. People tend to play to their strengths, probably because in some ways it's safer, but far less fulfilling in my opinion.

 

The first thing that pops into my mind when I think of people who are into sports is a person with very tribal loyalties with very little intellectual thought behind their choice of tribe(team) and their actions (defensive behavior). The people that I've met also seem to have very little self-knowledge and don't really have much of an idea of why they do what they do, and they also don't seem to care to know. That of course isn't limited to people who enjoy sports as most people I meet are like that, but that is initially what goes through my mind based on my experiences. However, I do think there is value in sports.

 

I definitely agree with your first point on the advantages of sports. Although I think the same can be achieved through any physical activity. Your second reason is one of the values I see in sports/games and that's teamwork and the closeness you can achieve by working together not just mentally but physically. There can be moments of this and when it happens I think there's an incredible feeling of strength and companionship, like a brotherhood of sorts. I think it does satisfy a tribal need. Honestly outside of sports I think there's a very serious lack of physical contact among people whether it be friends or family or even greeting strangers. I think a lot of us are not valuing physical contact with other human beings nearly enough. I also agree with the other reasons you've given but I think just like the first point you could achieve those through exercise of any kind, whether it be on your own or with others.

 

I see at the end you're suggesting that even walking would work, so I'm guessing you're not just advocating for sports but just physical exercise as well?

 

[Drew.]

Hello everyone,

 

Many of you have probably heard the old Latin phrase "Mens sana in corpore sano", which translates as "a sound mind in a sound body".

 

I made this topic to point out the truthfulness of this phrase, because it will be very important in your journey to virtue and self knowledge. 

 

I have to point out that when I mention sports, I refer to it's most noble and purest form: a disciplined physical exertion whose single purpose is to respect, sharpen and maintain the beautiful machine that is the human body. This human body is what nurtures our mind. It is the vessel that carries out the great ideas imagined by our brains. Therefore, if you value your mind, you should also value your body. 

 

The words above might sound very obvious, but I felt like mentioning them because sports carries allot of negative bias. It is often associated with corruption ( Big sports as a state-funded institute ), entertainment ( passive sport-watching ) and a form of compensation ( big muscles, no brain ).

 

I also find ( but I might be biased ) that intensive body-exertion tends to be shunned among more intellectually oriented people. 

 

You can also see that people with unhealthy minds tend to neglect their body. A lack of self-esteem, for example,causes people to either neglect the body or to over perform. Some people grow incredibly large muscles because that's a way to reassert themselves, to gain body-confidence where mental confidence was lacking. Others don't exercise at all because the lack of value they have for themselves. One might even hate himself to the point of destroying his own body through drugs and other forms of abuse. 

 

This neglect of the body can, in my opinion, be a serious hurdle on your philosophical journey. This is why I want to point out the importance of sports.

 

There is obviously a certain balance that has to be achieved but, most of all, our reasons for physical exertion have to be virtuous. 

 

To me, sports is a way of having integrity toward ourselves. It is a display of self-love and self-value, which is very important in order to love others around us.

 

Furthermore, there are allot of other advantages related to sports:

 

1) It clears the mind and enabled you to sharpen your mind. The hormones released during exercise ( like dopamine, endorphin's and testosterone ) will grant you willpower, resilience and motivation. It creates a state of mind that turns you into an achiever, which is key to being a human being who takes matter in own hands.

 

2) Group-sport is a good way to connect with other people, form strategies and teamwork. Relationships developed there might sometimes be limited, but it is a great way to be involved in social interactions and work on your social skills if required. 

 

3) Exercise teaches you to push you limits further. It teaches you to accept defeat, learn from mistakes and adapt. Hard work will eventually pay off. Just like being an entrepreneur takes allot of failure, sports takes allot of frustration before you get any good at it. 

 

4) It reasserts a positive image of yourself. Healthy bodies can breed more healthy minds. Both attributes are also considered as attractive to the other gender. 

 

 

All the positive effects of sports can be felt quiet quickly, without investing too much time in it. I'm not advocating that everyone should be a professional athlete, but consistent exercise is definitely something I would recommend to any philosopher around. Between half and hour and 1 hour a day should be enough. It can be as simple as walking, which can even be combined with a good audio book.  

 

Don't forget that a healthy body cannot be a substitute for virtue, but it is certainly complementary to the goals of a philosopher. 

 

 

Do you have any thoughts, addition or criticism to make ? Please, do share what is on your mind ! 

 

PS: I also recommend the channel of Eliot Hulse, who's been on Stephan's show months ago. 

 

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCLrI-dOLyDbRnPyUeWadsOg

 

I have never heard that latin phrase. Therefore all of your arguments are invalid =]

 

I definitely agree with you that people who unhealthy minds have unhealthy bodies. There is a false dichotomy between the mind and the body. I have an idea that exercise helps us feel more confident for two main reasons: the first is that we sculpt a body that we are more proud of, and the second is that we better know our limitations, and just fundamentally having a stronger body puts ourselves at ease, and we either release less stress hormones or their influence is reduced.

 

Looking solely at philosophy, I do not think that exercise is necessary. Looking at having a happy, healthy, virtuous life--which I think everyone is trying to achieve through philosophy--exercise is totally and completely necessary for that. What is the point of working hard when your life is going to be shortened by 20 or 30 years, and the quality of life will be drastically reduced during the time that you are alive?

 

Exercise is definitely an act of self-care and self-love. Everyone can benefit from it. It increases bodily efficiency, which should mean that thinking will become more efficient too.

 

I exercise six days a week, three lifting and three sprints. Every day, I do mobility, coordination, and stretching exercises. I have been feeling so good. When I have to do some kind of work, everything is far simpler than it would be if I wasn't exercising. My stamina and strength have increased tremendously. Exercising has helped me clear my mind at times to dismiss old, harden perspectives and adopt new ones, to arrive at new, improved conclusions.

[Mister Mister]

I agree with this 100%.  I've been into basketball for years, which is great cardio, but I keep spraining my ankles, and as I get older it doesn't heal like it used to, so I'm looking for something less intense.  I also think there is great benefit to some of the Asian disciplines such as yoga and tai chi, really fine tunes the mind-body relations.

[mgggb]

 

Many of you have probably heard the old Latin phrase "Mens sana in corpore sano", which translates as "a sound mind in a sound body".

 

 

This is something that is sorely missing from western philosophy. It speaks to how most people view the self--as a ghost piloting a 200 pound flesh machine. But the flaw is thinking of our body as a list of parts instead of a single unit. Lets say that your foot represents 5% of you in terms of parts. If you lose a foot to diabetes does your quality of life drop only 5%? I'd be shocked if it dropped any less than 75%. Even though it is a small amount by the pound, your mobility is cut drastically, something simple like going up a flight of stairs will become strenuous, which will make you want to exercise even less leading to obesity, depression, etc.

 

I can all but guarantee that no one will take you seriously about philosophy if you are unhealthy. Why would anyone buy a diet book written by a 400 lb person? I had a similar problem with a coworker a while back. I would praise something like the gold standard, explicate its utility, and the next time the topic came up it I would have to start all over again. This bothered me for a while until I realized that it was not a flaw in my logic, but how I presented myself as I presented it. My shoulders were hunched, my face had a scowl, and my voice was monotone. I might as well have been saying "Come, join me on misery island".

 

People don't want to right, they want to be happy. If a virtuous life looks like a repressive puritan village, most will take a different path because they get that there is no point in being miserable if joy is also an option.

[bzalinski]

 

 

This is something that is sorely missing from western philosophy. It speaks to how most people view the self--as a ghost piloting a 200 pound flesh machine. But the flaw is thinking of our body as a list of parts instead of a single unit. Lets say that your foot represents 5% of you in terms of parts. If you lose a foot to diabetes does your quality of life drop only 5%? I'd be shocked if it dropped any less than 75%. Even though it is a small amount by the pound, your mobility is cut drastically, something simple like going up a flight of stairs will become strenuous, which will make you want to exercise even less leading to obesity, depression, etc.

 

I can all but guarantee that no one will take you seriously about philosophy if you are unhealthy. Why would anyone buy a diet book written by a 400 lb person? I had a similar problem with a coworker a while back. I would praise something like the gold standard, explicate its utility, and the next time the topic came up it I would have to start all over again. This bothered me for a while until I realized that it was not a flaw in my logic, but how I presented myself as I presented it. My shoulders were hunched, my face had a scowl, and my voice was monotone. I might as well have been saying "Come, join me on misery island".

 

People don't want to right, they want to be happy. If a virtuous life looks like a repressive puritan village, most will take a different path because they get that there is no point in being miserable if joy is also an option.

 

 

Exactly ! Your office story was really interesting. I believe that I've experienced the same thing. I would talk to people about subjects that I considered as important but no one seemed interested. I would blame other's for their ignorance, rather than take a look at myself. I was dealing with the same issues: weak and non-convincing voice, stuttering, hunched body, lack of eye-contact, nervous body language. 

 

Over the years, as I started working on my body, I tried to be more self-aware about these things: walking straight, more eye contact, better articulation, speaking with fervor and conviction. Of course, these things have to be genuine and not faked. But I truly believe that a healthy body leads to more admiration for oneself, as an appreciation for your own dedication and hard work. 

 

The effect of this is incredibly: were would run away from me in the past, they now have sparks in their eyes when I speak with confidence. It's also the philosophy of Stephan that helped me to clear my mind of allot of trash, and be more clear about the mission I have in life.