[Ansil849]

> The answer to this is sports. War is competition through violence.

Absolutely not. Sports is competition through violence, as well. Watch a game of American football, or ice hockey, or basketball for that matter and be able to say otherwise with a straight face.

The answer is cooperative, not competitive, activities.

[anigbrowl]

There's no 'answer', violent competition is always going to exist because at some point the aggregate costs are lower than other forms of competition. A world completely dominated by war is bad, but so is a world completely dominated by productivity, which just creates and infantilized society.

[alar44]

Calling football or hockey "violence" dilutes the meaning of the word. May as well call a high five violence.

[hirvi74]

I think intentions should be considered when describing something as violence in a sport.

I assume you are unfamiliar with "head hunting?" If so, it's where a team or player intentionally tries to injury the better player(s) on the opposing team in order to secure a competitive advantage.

Here are some examples of what I would consider "violence" in hockey, some of which, could be argued to be head hunting:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PHPktgmbdbA

[Ansil849]

Comparing American football and hockey and other brutal sports to a high five is what dilutes the meaning of the word. These are sports where men aggressively assault each other. They are institutionalized violence.

[spywaregorilla]

I've seen plenty of people rejoice at the injuries of another team's players

[hirvi74]

I assume the OP is completely unaware of "head hunting" in professional sports. An awful practice still subtly used today.

Story Time:

I play beer league/pick-up hockey as an adult, and we once had a suspected thief that was stealing from others in the locker rooms during pick-up games. It was believed said thief would get dressed with everyone, and would then "accidentally forget something" before his shift was up, and he would then return to the locker rooms when the rooms were unattended and proceed to shift through people's belongings.

After some time and some mob mentality, people managed to figure out who the thief was. I heard numerous instances of all the various plots and methods other players were working on to ensure this guy would never be able to play again due to an unfortunate accident (i.e. premeditated and intentional permanent or long-term injuries).

Thankfully, the police got ahold of the thief before any of the psychopaths managed to ruin the life of the thief and their own lives. I am also thankful that I was a goalie, so that I was never encouraged to participate in such barbarianism. I value the safety of another person more than a wallet full of replaceable items.

Still, there have been instances where police have been called due to unruly players and/or unruly parents of children players, refs being assaulted by players/parents, etc..

[failTide]

I've never seen that although I'm sure it happens. What I have seen a lot is the entire crowd cheering when a visiting player is able to walk off after being knocked down with a possible injury.

[BurningFrog]

Team sports are the best cooperative activities around, AFAIK.

Primarily within your team.

But also, by both teams playing within the rules, cooperating with the other team in creating a meaningful game.

I know team sports isn't for everyone, but it's a great thing for those suited to it.

[recyclelater]

Then how do you satisfy the real need for an outlet for aggression? I personally did this with motorcycle racing, which is competitive but mostly non violent. Cooperative activities are great and I really enjoy them, but don’t scratch the same itch.

[ClumsyPilot]

> Absolutely not. Sports is competition through violence, as well. Watch a game of American football, or ice hockey

And golf, the worst one of them all!

Also horse riding, Javalin throwing, etc. Mixed bag

[chriscappuccio]

For people wired for competition, that's no answer.

[germinalphrase]

Aldous Huxley’s perspective was that competition is driven by the desire to dominate. We can play games - like wrestling or war - that cause us to dominate other people. Or, we can play games - like rock climbing - that cause us to dominate ourselves.