# The Spectacle of the Olympics By:: [[Brian Heath]] 2024-07-28 What's the point of the spectacle that is the Olympics? Some say it's the lessons that sports teach us, but few participate in sports meaningfully. Others say it's a way to unite countries, but why have them compete against each other, reward the winner, and play their national anthem while having the losers watch? It could be the stories it generates and the entertainment. My bet is on this last one. Humans love stories, and we generally have enough free time that entertainment is a luxury many look forward to. All of the meaningfulness of the sports and bringing together countries seems like a story many organizations tell themselves when the truth is much harder to swallow. Most organizations exist to make money. Nonprofits and the International Olympic Committee are no different. As a case in point, if no one watched and attended the events as a spectator, would the Olympics continue? No, they wouldn't. If it were about the lessons and bringing countries together, it would happen via some government or idealistic billionaire sponsorship. It's merely a spectacle that generates good stories connecting with our primal human desire to pursue something more. These spectacles entertain and provide some benefits as if we did it ourselves. So, we watch, and they collect the revenue. It may be about the lessons taught, but it's not the sports or sporting events. It's the stories. Sport is merely an entertaining story generator, and if they didn't generate money, they wouldn't exist. Without them, we'd have to return to living the stories. Luckily, the world has no shortage of spectacles. We'll always have plenty of nonsense to watch without living it ourselves. #### Related Items [[Sports]] [[Spectacle]] [[Storytelling]] [[The Human Condition]] [[Entertainment]] [[Competition]]