Interesting point. I suppose in general the future is simplified because it’s just too complex to show it all. Just like the past is often boiled down to some chosen events or people, when in reality lots of stuff was going on everywhere.
It would be fun to read sci-fi, or other speculative fiction, which tells smaller and more intimate stories. Becky Chambers is good at this (and the fleet in the book record of a space born few does have water ball championships). It would be cool to see a sport story set in the future.
When it comes to the positive impact of large sporting events I’m a little uncertain though. In my city there’s a huge societal cost to the larger tournaments since so much police is required to guard the public spaces. And many people seem to go to the games simply for the tribal feeling rather than that they enjoy the technical feats of the players. Maybe this tribal feeling is something that can’t be escaped and needs an outlet which sport is suitable for. I’m not sure.
I think you are definitely right about the oversimplification of the future, but I guess the point here is that we oversimplify in a somewhat predictable way.
I know one sports story set in the future, available online check it out.
17776 (also known as What Football Will Look Like in the Future) is a serialized speculative fiction multimedia narrative by Jon Bois, published online through SB Nation. Set in the distant future in which all humans have become immortal and infertile, the series follows three sentientspace probes that watch humanity play an evolved form of American football in which games can be played for millennia over distances of thousands of miles.
There are definitely aspects of modern sports which are not great, but I am of the opinion that they are basically inescapable and on balance are a good thing. I would argue that any specific short-term costs (like allocation of police) is offset by economic, health, and social benefits, some of which may not be very easy to quantify (e.g. father-son bonding over a favorite team). The modern incarnation of sport is still incredibly young; there is probably considerable room for us to optimize their effect on society. As I point out, the problem is that people who think about the future are biased towards thinking of grand projects with very high-minded goals and not things like sports.
Interesting point. I suppose in general the future is simplified because it’s just too complex to show it all. Just like the past is often boiled down to some chosen events or people, when in reality lots of stuff was going on everywhere.
It would be fun to read sci-fi, or other speculative fiction, which tells smaller and more intimate stories. Becky Chambers is good at this (and the fleet in the book record of a space born few does have water ball championships). It would be cool to see a sport story set in the future.
When it comes to the positive impact of large sporting events I’m a little uncertain though. In my city there’s a huge societal cost to the larger tournaments since so much police is required to guard the public spaces. And many people seem to go to the games simply for the tribal feeling rather than that they enjoy the technical feats of the players. Maybe this tribal feeling is something that can’t be escaped and needs an outlet which sport is suitable for. I’m not sure.
I think you are definitely right about the oversimplification of the future, but I guess the point here is that we oversimplify in a somewhat predictable way.
I know one sports story set in the future, available online check it out.
17776 (also known as What Football Will Look Like in the Future) is a serialized speculative fiction multimedia narrative by Jon Bois, published online through SB Nation. Set in the distant future in which all humans have become immortal and infertile, the series follows three sentient space probes that watch humanity play an evolved form of American football in which games can be played for millennia over distances of thousands of miles.
There are definitely aspects of modern sports which are not great, but I am of the opinion that they are basically inescapable and on balance are a good thing. I would argue that any specific short-term costs (like allocation of police) is offset by economic, health, and social benefits, some of which may not be very easy to quantify (e.g. father-son bonding over a favorite team). The modern incarnation of sport is still incredibly young; there is probably considerable room for us to optimize their effect on society. As I point out, the problem is that people who think about the future are biased towards thinking of grand projects with very high-minded goals and not things like sports.