But once the dynamics
changed, some of the developments that the Industrial Revolution
made necessary became obsolete. An example is national isolation.
Literacy is an instrument of national distinction. By their
nature, sports experiences are, or should be, above and beyond
artificial national boundaries. Still, as past experiences show
(the 1936 Olympics in Berlin was only the climax) and current
experiences confirm (national obsession with medals in more
recent Olympics), sports in the civilization of literacy, like
many other practical experiences, is tainted by nationalism.
Competition often degenerates into an adversarial relation and
conflict. In the physical exercises of ancient Greece, China, or
India, performance was not measured. The patterns were those of
physical harmony, not of comparison; of aesthetics, not of
functionality. In England, sports became an institution, and
performance entered into the record books. Indeed, in England,
the history of competitions was written to justify why sports
were for the upper, educated classes, and should be kept for
amateurs willing to enjoy victory as a reward.
Some games were invented in the environment of the civilization
of literacy and meant to accomplish functions similar to those
fulfilled by literacy. They changed as the conditions of the
practice of literacy changed, and became more and more an
expression of the new civilization of more languages of a limited
domain.
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