Re: Job Offer

On Thu, 20 Mar 2025 13:48:08 +0700, John B. <slocombjb@gmail.com>
wrote:

On Wed, 19 Mar 2025 22:08:56 -0700, Jeff Liebermann <jeffl@cruzio.com>
wrote:
>

On Thu, 20 Mar 2025 09:37:40 +0700, John B. <slocombjb@gmail.com>
wrote:
>

On Wed, 19 Mar 2025 11:36:03 -0700, Jeff Liebermann <jeffl@cruzio.com>
wrote:
>

On Wed, 19 Mar 2025 09:15:20 -0400, Catrike Ryder
<Soloman@old.bikers.org> wrote:
>

I never understood why some people like to watch people they don't
know play with their balls.... or ride their bicycles.

>
Sports are battle simulations much like the gladiatorial contests of
ancient Rome.  The only difference is that the participants of today's
sports contests are more likely to survive.  Bicycle races are similar
except the participants sometimes engage in limited combat.
<https://www.google.com/search?q=bicycle%20jousting&udm=2>

>

I think you over simplify.

>
I agree.  I was in a hurry to leave for lunch with some friends and
did not have sufficient time to embellish my comments with details and
references.  So, I just provided my main talking point and ran away.
>

I well remember tree climbing contests when
I was in grade school and the girls had rope skipping contests.
And the Olympic "games" that dated back to something like 770 BCE were
initially a religious affair.
>
I believe it is more accurate to say that mankind has an inborn desire
to be first. In whatever activity, not solely war.

>
I agree.  However, the form that this competition takes seem to
parallel similar forms found in warfare.  For example, the early
Olympic competition featured athletic games that would all have been
useful in warfare.  (Javelin, discus, long jump and hammer).  I'm not
sure what you mean by "religious affair". 

>
The ancient Olympic Games (Ancient Greek: t? ???µp?a, ta Olympia[1]),
or the ancient Olympics, were a series of athletic competitions among
representatives of city-states and one of the Panhellenic Games of
ancient Greece. They were held at the Panhellenic religious sanctuary
of Olympia, in honor of Zeus, and the Greeks gave them a mythological
origin.
>
Note the term Panhellenic Games.
"Panhellenic Games is the collective term for four separate religious
festivals held in ancient Greece that became especially well known for
the athletic competitions they included."
>

Games and battles have
always included ceremonial requests that the gods provide the
participants with victory or survival.
>

I don't recall any reference to the Olympics being held to ensure
victory although I did see
>
"During the celebration of the games, the Olympic truce (ekecheiría)
was announced so that athletes and religious pilgrims could travel
from their cities to the games in safety. The prizes for the victors
were olive leaf wreaths or crowns. The games became a political tool
used by city-states to assert dominance over their rival city states.
Politicians would announce political alliances at the games, and in
times of war, priests would offer sacrifices to the gods for victory.
>

Thje Olimopocs were [receded by
"Day Three: Sacrifices (Hecatomb) and feast"
<https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/the-ancient-olympics-bridging-past-and-present/content-section-7>
We no longer sacrifice 100 bulls at the Olympic Games.  Emptying the
treasury of the host city or country is a tolerable substitute.

It's interesting that there are many prayers available on the
interknot for cyclists to offer before a bicycle race.  4 example:
<https://www.google.com/search?q=prayer%20before%20bicycle%20race>
I might go so far as to suggest that ALL religions have some form of
prayer to their respective divinity for a favorable (athletic)
outcome.

While the motivation for holding the Olympic games will vary depending
on the readers point of view, I point out again that the original
games involved weapons of war (javelin, discus, long jump and hammer).
In the relatively recent past (1897), the bicycle was considered
suitable for military transportation.  While not a race, but more an
endurance ride to demonstrate the effectiveness of bicycle transport,
the event was basically a military exercise.  Whether they prayed
before starting their 1900 mile (3058 km) ride is unknown.
<https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/the-black-buffalo-soldiers-who-biked-across-the-american-west-180980246/>


--
Jeff Liebermann                 jeffl@cruzio.com
PO Box 272      http://www.LearnByDestroying.com
Ben Lomond CA 95005-0272
Skype: JeffLiebermann      AE6KS    831-336-2558