Serialised book (with a progressively updated >>dashboard/ToC<< page). Part II: Philosophy of the Life Instinct

Book: Philosophy of Life Instinct: Chapter 18: Sports and Games

Valuable enjoyment

Many animals and birds indulge in physically energetic activities that appear to be purely for fun and entertainment. We say they are playing.

It is common among mammals and birds, but we may also see it in fish, octopuses, turtles, and insects.

We mainly associate playing with babies, children and juveniles. After birth, we have a lot to learn and practice before we become independent and capable adults. Playing is a form of self-learning. It is a natural development of the Life Instinct to help us grow, become strong and stay robust (Chapter 4).

Playing is natural schooling. To make sure we play evolution has made it enjoyable. The reward centres of our brain create a pleasurable sensation when we play, so we play. Children fill their unoccupied periods with it.

As adults, it also helps to maintain our mental, physical and emotional faculties throughout our lives. No wonder playing has developed in many life forms.

The type and amount of play we see in different species are related to their abilities. We don’t see mice playing chess or our children amusing themselves by biting each other like tiger cubs. Foals prance, baby mice twist and leap, joeys shadow-box, dolphins leap about, birds fiddle with sticks and stones. The more advanced brain of humans explains why our children enjoy letter and picture blocks, puzzles, and other elaborate pastimes. (See bibliography.)

When playing becomes structured, it is a game. Games that are physical and competitive are sports.

Physical activity and the brain

Vigorous physical activity in games and sports strengthens our body and brain. During this, the brain is simultaneously used and moulded. It changes and grows as we stress our bodies in exercise. But this is good stress.

Chapter 13 (Emotional Wisdom) and chapter 14 (Love and Friendship) saw how brain areas, glands, neurotransmitters, and hormones work together to manage our emotions and actions. Let us have a look at this in the case of exercise.

Genes — The activity of two genes — ‘brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) gene and ‘Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) gene — increases in our brain with exercise. They secrete eponymous growth factors (proteins). BDNF promotes new brain neurons and associated cells; VEGF increases blood capillaries for the increased matter.

Brain Areas — Physical activity strengthens all areas of the brain, especially the motor areas, such as the cerebellum and motor cortex, and specific regions within the hippocampus involved in learning, memory, and navigation. There’s an increase in grey and white matter, blood capillaries, neurons and neural signalling cells.

Neurotransmitters

• Glutamate and gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) are responsible for chemical messaging within the brain. Their levels increase with vigorous exercise and improve neural signalling.
• Dopamine levels increase during aerobic exercise in the striatum, hypothalamus, midbrain, and brainstem. Its secretion makes exercising feel good.
• Norepinephrine is required for the brain's executive functions, and physical activity boosts its level ( it also acts as a hormone in the blood).

Hormones

• Norepinephrine helps us wake up, be alert, focus on a task, and store things in memory. Exercise increases its levels (it also acts as a neurotransmitter in the brain).
• Serotonin boosts our mood and sense of wellness. Regular exercise positively affects and manages its level in our brain.

Blood supply

Physical activity makes the heart and lungs speed up and increase blood flow to the brain to provide more oxygen and nutrition. It boosts the action of the growth factors and enables positive neural changes while the cardiovascular system becomes more robust.

Overview

Our brain is complex, and a lot happens behind the glimpse above. For example, the levels of some hormones and neurotransmitters need to be decreased in different brain areas at various times during and after exercise, not just increased. The references in the bibliography chapter describe these processes for the interested reader.

Once we have passed the learning phase and building strength in our youth, playing keeps us in good health as adults if we make it a part of life.

The benefits of structured playing

Like marriage and education, standardised games and sports are considered inventions of humanity. We observed our instinct to enjoy playing and found that those who play more are more intelligent and robust. We also see a natural pattern in the games and physically enjoyable recreations. Making them consistent and predictable in form would make it easier for more children and adults to enjoy them. There would be less dissonance and acrimony about how to play, and we could focus on the pleasurable exercise of mind and body.

As expected from our relatively complex intellect, we have made playing into a world in itself. There are hundreds of major sports and games and thousands of variations on them. Local, national and international sports bodies and calendars of events employ millions of people. Advertisement, television, web and magazine ecosystems keep the energy flowing through sports lovers around the year. Sports is a trillion-dollar industry globally and growing steadily.

There are suitable games, sports and exercises for every stage of life, from birth to old age. If we choose this recreation well for children and ourselves, we add fun to each phase and prepare for the next.

Let’s have a close but brief look at the eight key benefits of games and sports.

1. Intellect

Playing games and sports increases our intelligence in the following ways.

• Cognition — mental processes involved in gaining knowledge and comprehension improve, including thinking, knowing, remembering, judging, and problem-solving. We use these advanced brain functions in daily life for language, imagination, perception, and planning.
• Memory — playing games exercises and enhances our ability to hold information about several objects simultaneously in our mind, for example, the position of a ball, teammates, opponents, the score, game time remaining, etc. It enhances short term memory considerably, which is helpful for most activities of life.
• Focus — sports enhances our ability to focus on a task or activity and ignore other things around us, vital for productivity and high-quality work.
• Visual selection and tracking — ancient humans interacted with their habitat for hunting, gathering, detecting danger, fleeing, fighting, and other activities that needed the ability to compute objects' shape, size, location, and movement. Visually locking on an object and predicting its path is an essential feature of many games and sports, for example, soccer, hockey, badminton, basketball, baseball and cricket. Even if we use less of this ability now, the playing it motivates ensures other benefits.

2. Fitness and strength

With energetic activity:

• Lung and heart functions are boosted.
• Muscles, bones, ligaments, tendons, and the nervous system become stronger.
• We are physically better coordinated and balanced.
• Our sleeping patterns improve.
• We have more energy.
• Our bad stress reduces, and our mood lifts.
• We have a reduced risk of obesity, diabetes and blood pressure problems.
• We can prevent memory-related illnesses such as dementia and Alzheimer’s.
• We reduce our risk of developing cancers.

3. Reproductive health

The quality of sperms improves with exercise due to increased RNA (Ribonucleic acid) associated with memory and learning. The offspring of more active men (and women) may have higher intelligence.

As we get fit in many ways with sports and age less quickly, sexual activity can remain more frequent and vigorous, contributing to our species' well-being.

4. Social bonds

We are a social species, and sports and games are a great way to strengthen our networks and bonds.

• We become good at teamwork, which is an essential feature for a successful life.
• We learn to give back to others and the community.
• We build strong friendships with teammates, coaches, opponents, and friends who share our passion for the game or sport.

5. Emotional intelligence

We saw the importance of emotional intelligence in Chapter 13 (Emotional Wisdom). Here are some ways sports, especially team sports, enhance our emotional intelligence, which is about understanding and working well with ourselves and those around us. We develop the following traits of emotional intelligence when we play.

• Patience — while learning, training, teaching, and as every game develops.
• Self-control — by being patient while learning a game, focusing again when we are behind in a match, and coming back from injuries.
• Co-operation — almost every game needs us to work with someone, even if we only agree on the time and place to play, what is fair, etc. A significant benefit of team sports is the skill of co-operation.
• Empathy — from the mistakes we make in learning and losses, we put ourselves in the place of our opponents and fellow players, know what they are going through, and develop empathy.
• Accepting setbacks — anyone who plays long enough becomes adept at expecting defeats and errors, learning from them, and being sanguine.
• Tenacity — we develop perseverance as we overcome our initial clumsiness, lack of stamina, balance and strength; while we bide our time in a match; when we come from behind and win; and learn not to give up till the last minute.
• Discipline — we learn this vital skill for a good life in playing as we put in hours of learning, scheduling, time management, practice and match play. We begin sticking to things through our fatigue, pain, and disappointment.
• Mindfulness — games and sports force us to put aside the past and future and focus on the moment. It is the way to win. We may plan an entire game make changes as it develops, but once we have done that, we come back to the present as it takes all our mind and body to be in the moment to do better than the opposition.
• A healthy outlet for our fight instinct — Life Instinct has given us the ability to get angry, aggressive and fight when needed. Unfortunately, for many of us, this can happen for the wrong reason, at the wrong time, for the wrong person or thing. Sports provides a safe way to let this animal instinct out, so we can restrict it to the playing field and be gentle outside it. As it also makes us more robust, and strength gives us self-confidence, we anger less easily.

6. Character

We develop a well-rounded personality if sports or exercise is a significant component of our lives. Here is a brief overview of some of the character traits we develop.

• Good habits — timeliness, regularity and cleanliness.
• Staying out of trouble — time spent in preparation and play means we have less to indulge in smoking, drinking, gossiping, hating, etc.
• Better academic and professional achievement — sports' focus, mental improvement, and physical vitality makes us better students and workers.
• Self-confidence — The sharper mind and better body make us feel better about ourselves and more helpful to others.
• Happiness — Those who play regularly and vigorously are happier.
• Leadership — When we are more confident, controlled, and fit, we naturally attract those who respect and want to emulate us. We acquire the essential skills to lead others in sports or other fields of activity.
• Role models — If we maintain our emotional, moral and ethical balance as successful athletes or players, we can be role models and inspire others towards better lives.

7. Spectator benefits

People will turn up to watch even chess tournaments. What is it about going to a soccer or cricket match that gets us excited and turns out to be a few hours of pure fun (in most cases irrespective of the result)?

It provides the benefits the Life Instinct has made us capable of deriving that we saw in Chapters 14 (Love and Friendship) and 15 (Marriage and Family). Here are a few of these drivers for spectators.

• Identity, meaning and belonging — through association with our team and country.
• Companionship — by attending or watching sports together, conversing about it, sharing emotional highs, lows and good times.
• Social bonding — through the shared world and networks formed with those who love the sport.
• Inspiration — to start playing a game or get better at it.

8. Employment

The sports industry employs over a hundred million people globally. Clubs, sports halls, racetracks, sports centres, large events, sports travel, sporting goods, apparel, media, advertising, physiotherapy and sports medicine industries are examples of the variety of job sources created by organised games and sports.

What to avoid in games and sports

Whatever we humans create reflect our best and worst aspects. The world of sports and games mirrors our imperfections and excesses. Here are a few.

Injuries

Some of us overdo sporting activities or take up something that does not suit our bodies. When we don’t listen to our body and relieve it, we end up with pulled or swollen muscles, sprains, dislocations, stress fractures, hernias, knee or elbow inflammations, rotator cuff injuries, etc. The causes are overload or overuse. The latter is called Repetitive Strain Injuries (RSI). Severe cases can derail a career or affect our life considerably, leading to mental strains too.

Obsession and addiction

Players and sportspersons can lose sight of the fun and recreational nature of their activity. What they play or practice becomes a part of their identity and psyche. If we are like this but don’t have the personality and emotional intelligence for perspective and a measure of detachment, our obsession harms us, our family and our social life. We may not give sufficient mental and physical time to care for them. If we are so obsessive, we may also bully fellow players or those we coach.

Some of us can also become fanatics about our country’s team or a professional team to which we are loyal. It can turn into disdain and hatred for other teams, accompanied by abuse, aggression, and violence in extreme cases.

The excesses of fame

Top sportspersons can become demigods for fans. They can also earn an enormous amount of money. The fame, adulation, and wealth make it difficult for many to stay in touch with simplicity, balance, and everyday life. Once they have experienced the heady mix of admiration, envy, power and all sorts of people throwing themselves at them, it is almost impossible to leave that world. Doping, cheating, sex scandals, lying about age, destroying the career of opponents, bribery, etc., have occurred with unsurprising regularity in the world of sports.

Gambling

The thrill of gambling has developed in humans for some reason. (We will investigate its origins in Chapter 26, Imperfections of the Life Instinct.) Many of us are willing to bet on anything chancy, and sports is a big field for gambling. By itself, gambling can become a personal problem, but it also creates many associated issues. Bribing players to fix outcomes, or ‘match-fixing,' is an ugly seam of many sports. Illegal international money movement in gambling is another issue.

As spectators, it is okay to bet once in a while on a game or sports result. Sometimes it becomes an addiction that drains our money, time and relationships. When sportspersons become inveterate gamblers, their problem usually becomes serious, affecting their game, integrity, and life.

Bigotry

The flip side of healthy identification and loyalty for our team and country is jingoism and insularity. We have seen the depredations of supporters during matches and when they travel abroad to support their teams.

Racism in sports has long been a reality. Examples are the 1936 Berlin Olympics with overt anti-Semitism and anti-black atmosphere and the racist taunts of modern-day soccer and cricket matches.

There is sexism in lower prize money and worse facilities for women in several sports. Discrimination based on the state or religion of players is not uncommon.

Corruption

As is our wont, we take something natural and nice like playing and make it so commercial that many interests become invested in it. It naturally becomes a conduit for our greed, love of power, and oneupmanship. Bribes are paid to host major national and international tournaments. Doping, an abominable form of cheating, is rife in sports. Politics affects sports bodies everywhere.

Environmental damage

As with anything that grows too big (and many things do with our species), sports in their largest forms harm the environment. Consider the habitat loss and greenhouse gas emissions involved in the construction and running of large stadia, golf courses, manufacture of sporting goods, travel for sporting events, and pollution and waste from them. It all adds up.

World sporting federations need to make sports healthy for the planet and deliver well being for all of us in the long term.

Structured exercise vs sports and games

In games and sports, we get engrossed in winning the next point, outdoing our opponent, or impressing spectators and ignore our strain and pain while our bodies and brains get exercised nicely. But for many reasons, we can’t always play. The next best thing is exercise. Deliberate exercise provides many of the benefits we saw of natural play. We can include martial arts and yoga in this category.

Structured and planned exercise is a great alternative to stay fit, given how our work has become sedentary and time has reduced for sports, games, dancing and other physical activities.

There are four aspects of exercise:

1. Aerobic — To improve cardiovascular fitness for stamina and overall health. Examples of aerobic exercise are running, walking, dancing, and swimming.
2. Strength —To strengthen locomotor and pull-push-lift-strike functions. E.g., weight training, body-weight exercises, functional training, and using resistance bands.
3. Flexibility — For a full range of motion, resilience and healthy body functions. Examples are yoga, gymnastics, callisthenics, and dancing.
4. Balance — For focus, steadiness in movement, and mindfulness. E.g., martial arts, Tai chi, Yoga, gymnastics, and dancing.

The main differences and disadvantages of pure exercise compared to sports are listed below.

• It is less interactive (although instructors and group sessions can be a part of it).
• It is not holistic, as most forms of exercise involve fewer parts of the brain and body simultaneously.
• It is repetitive, lacks variety, and can become tedious and difficult to keep up for a long time.
• We can overwork our muscles, tendons, nerves and bones, etc. and get Repetitive Strain Injury (RSI).
• It is less fun, although it can still be enjoyable and addictive.

We have developed most exercises into sports, such as track and field, swimming competitions, bodybuilding competitions, gymnastics, etc.

If we can play a physical sport or two, they will do more for us, at any level of intensity. On its own or alongside sports, regular exercise should be a part of life.

Conclusions

Playing adds joy to life and makes it better. It is universal in appeal and simplicity. (The nearest thing to it for giving us pleasure while improving us is Art. We study it in chapter 21. But it is subjective and limited in its impact.)

We invented schooling and added physical exercise to it for our complete growth. But neither can be called fun. Life Instinct has gifted us with games and sports as a delightful temptation to become fit for our world. Why wouldn’t we make full use of this serendipity? Let’s play!

© 2020 Shashidhar Sastry. All rights reserved.

(As each chapter of the book is published, its link is updated in the ToC below.)

Table of Contents

Part I Metaphysics of The Life Instinct

Part II Philosophy of The Life Instinct

Part III The Life Instinct and The Future

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