I don't mean that your kid swimming at the local pool is perceived to have a broader benefit (though often sports teams - here at least - are very involved in their local communities), rather I mean that the ultimate out come of investing in sporting talent is something that can be enjoyed by lots of people (the Super Bowl doesn't get the massive advertising spending is does because no one is watching and enjoying it).
I am not saying I feel sport benefits a broader group of people than intelligence does. I find people's interest in competitive sport completely baffling. What I am saying is that people can get enjoyment from and participate in sport as a result of other people's effort without expending any effort of their own (through watching it, through the social interaction and camaraderie that comes with supporting a team etc). I'm not even saying that people think about sport being of greater benefit - just the in the community's mind sport = good.
Society's benefit from smart people is often much less tangible (sure, as an example, some smart person created vaccines that are capable of wiping major diseases in the world, but when I'm getting my kid vaccinated all I'm thinking about is that she's in pain and I'll have to keep an eye out for reactions. As a result my kid doesn't get an illness, but the illness no longer exists in my part of the world anyway -sure, because of vaccines, but I don't think about that - so there is no obvious result to me from this wonderful piece of science). Society likes smart people when they do something heroic (which sports people are perceived to do all the time), like save lives. But otherwise most people don't have much direct experience of smart people in a way that embraces and celebrates their talent, becuase so much of 'being smart' is done behind closed doors and the results become part of our everyday experience without us realizing it.
I am not saying sport is more valuable - just why I think there is a difference between people's perceptions of accademic vs sporting achievement.
(typed on my phone - apologies if there are random made up words dotted throughout...)
Last edited by Giftodd; 02/10/12 05:00 PM.
