Why do we watch sports?

I guess it's the old living vicariously through others syndrome.
Having said that, I have easily dispensed with sports in favor of other activities. I love seafood but I won't eat spoiled seafood.

Tribalism.

We attach our cultural identity to a particular team and when the team wins, we share in the feeling of victory.

Having played football, I can say that there is not that much difference between the feeling of winning as a player and the feeling of winning as a fan. Sure, the work involved and the gratitude may be different; however, the sense of joy is about the same.

quote:

---

Why do we watch sports?

---

I'm guessing it has something to do with growing up and playing a lot of them or just the competitive nature.


Is it bad that my mood during football season is dictacted by how 18-22 year olds play football?

But even singing was basically an evolved competition for a fair-maiden's attention, as the Troubadour's did, in medieval 11th century.

I enjoy seeing excellence in competition (sports, arts/music, etc.) but I don't know why I do.

quote:

---

I will watch less of it

---

I'm steering this way as well, which is making me dissect why I devoted so much time to it in the first place.

quote:

---

I watch it for a lot of reasons.

---

What are those factors that compel you to watch?

quote:

---

But even singing was basically an evolved competition for a fair-maiden's attention, as the Troubadour's did, in medieval 11th century.

---

You’re overthinking this. People were singing thousands of years before that.

It’s not primarily about fricking. I do think sports teaches you useful skills that help later on: commitment, teamwork, perseverance. So I could see that a community that valued sports would be more successful and might have an evolutionary advantage.

Sports is about watching men trying overcome obstacles. That’s something that men can innately relate to. But there’s nothing admirable about athletes and leagues have selling out for money and social attention, sending a dumb wrong message. And I refuse to watch. Sure I’m just one person and won’t impact much, but I’m not going to let these frickers have power over me.

The trade off in sports used to be time and money for entertainment and fun. Now, all you get is bland game and lecturing on how to behave and think about social issues.

quote:

---

It's not primarily about fricking

---

Agreed, as I said in the OP, it's not only sex but also about power, money, land/resources and whatever ever the battle was over.

quote:

---

sport teaches you useful skills

---

But I'm not talking about the participants who benefit, just the voyeuers.

quote:

---

a community that valued sports

---

Yeah, I'm leaning towards tribalism as the best answer, too.

quote:

---

an evolutionary advantage

---

..for sex, power, money, land, resources.

quote:

---

Why do we watch sports?

---

Because we have enough financial, social, psychological, and physical security to allow ourselves to be entertained.

quote:

---

But what is the evolutionary reason we watch sports?

---

I don't think there's one reason we watch sports.

Some spectators are focused on the moment to study and learn strategy in an identified setting, which increases our problem-solving abilities.

Some watch for pure enjoyment and to forget about their problems outside the event (plowing fields, tending to livestock, "making money").

Some watch for financial gain (bettors may not care at all about the athletes or the competition but rather about the outcome and opportunity for personal success).

Some watch for the opportunity to find the fittest biological partner for procreation purposes.

There's probably more reasons but I think the ones I've laid out are connected to the evolution of humans.

quote:

---

to find the fittest biological partner

---

Might be the best "evolutionary "answer. Maybe it's a subconscious ranking of the competition, learning who sets the bar and how high or low it is.

By being innately compelled to watch others, we learn who is the strongest, fastest, smartest, prettiest, funniest, most-talented, etc and we subconsciously learn what is needed to compete for another's attention.