The Power of Dualism: Mental Intelligence Over Physical State - Essay Sample

Introduction

Dualism looks into aspects of the mind. It views that human beings have two substances which are separate, and they are mind and body and spirit and physical. These are separated, but they work in different ways. Although they work together, dualism perceives that mental intelligence is stronger and more important than one’s physical state (Arnold, 1992). In this accord, it is believed that proper performance is activities such as sports are as a result of apt mental intelligence. Dualism views that it is the mental intelligence that controls psychomotor skills, and therefore proper performance in sports should be attributed to the mental intelligence.

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On the other hand, holism believes that the body has to be understood as a whole instead of breaking it into its constituent parts. In this regard, for proper performance in anything, the body has to be understood as a whole. To relate this to sports, the physical body and the mind must work together to ensure that a person succeeds or participates in sports. Without the mind, the physical body is not enough, and the vice versa is true. Both have to be understood together.

Deception and Sport as Spectacle

The messaging in sports can deceive the sports fans to a great extent, especially if they do not take time to scrutinize the message passed on to them. The messaging brands the sportspeople as infallible heroes who have powers that are beyond ordinary human beings. To achieve this, the messaging targets the areas where such a person has excelled greatly but fails to highlight the areas that they performed poorly. When one is presented with such instances, they tend to brand such sports personalities superheroes forgetting that they are ordinary people who are also prone to mistakes. Sportspeople are used to endorse certain products, some of which they have never used themselves (Smart, 2018). The viewers get deceived and end up buying the products based on the endorsement.

There is also deception that happens in the field of play. For example, in a game of soccer, the penalty shooter intends to deceive the goalkeeper that he or she intends to shoot the ball towards a certain direction and then ends up shooting it on the opposite side. If the goalkeeper gets deceived, the shooter scores.Motivation, Ethos, and Rules

The society has a great influence on sports. One of the influences has been on the concept of winning, the ethos of sports, and rule changes. The society has instilled into the sport, the act of sportsmanship. In this manner, sport is supposed to be enjoyed by both the winner and the loser. The winner celebrates, and the loser does not hate the winner or the sport for being defeated. The loser should show courtesy towards another in the sport. However, this is determined by the rules applied. The rules are supposed to apply equally to all, and no team should be favored. This is what the society teaches by imploring upon equal application of the law.

The society does not condemn those who do not make it to achieve certain aspects but encourages them to do more to realize their dreams. The same is also felt in sports where those who do not win are encouraged to accept defeat in courtesy and grace and do more next time. Besides, in sports, there has to be a winner and a loser, and every party should be prepared to take either position without grunting or complaining as long as the rules of play have been applied as they are supposed to be.

References

Arnold, P. J. (December 01, 1992). Sport as a valued human practice: a basis for the consideration of some moral issues in sport. Journal of Philosophy of Education, 26, 2, 237-255.

Smart, B. (May 01, 2018). Consuming olympism: Consumer culture, sport star sponsorship and the commercialisation of the Olympics. Journal of Consumer Culture, 18, 2, 241-260.