Preface: All human action stems from the desire to increase our supply of accessible energy reserves. Humans act to transform energy from inaccessible to accessible. We seek to acquire energy reserves to provide security for an unpredictable future. The more energy reserves we have access to the higher the likelihood we are able to survive periods of stress or hardship.
If our main goal is increasing energy reserves then this can be the lens through which we view all human action. Knowing the end game provides clarity on the value of every action.
The simple question that needs to be asked before any action is the following:
If we commit “X” amount of energy to producing “Y” result, will we have access to more energy in the future or less?
The more energy output for the less energy input, the higher the value of an action to the individual and to the group.
With that basic understanding we can now direct our attention to professional sports and the question of why they exist in the first place.
Why Do Professional Sports Exist?
What is the baseline utility that professional sports provide to society at large?
Phrased another way: How do we increase our accessible energy reserves through the existence of professional sports?
It sounds simple enough at first but as always there is more to it than meets the eye.
The most common response you’ll hear if you ask the general public is that sports are entertainment (often criticized by intellectuals as the “circus” element of the Roman poet Juvenal’s now-famous ”bread and circuses” observation).
Let’s unpack that idea to get a better understanding of exactly what that idea is alluding to:
Entertainment,
