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Cultural Technology and Sporting Value: a Philosophical Investigation

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Cultural Technology and Sporting Value: a Philosophical Investigation View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by University of Gloucestershire Research Repository Cultural Technology and Sporting Value: A Philosophical Investigation By Carl Roderick Thomen (s0809228) A thesis submitted to the University of Gloucestershire in accordance with the requirements of the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the faculty of Applied Sciences. May 2012 Abstract Few people would dispute that today’s world is highly technological. But what do we mean when we talk of ‘technology’, and is it possible to quantify its effect on human beings? This thesis considers the relationship between technology and humanity as being one of symbiosis - we shape our tools and in turn, our tools shape us. The nature of this relationship is described by ‘essentialist’ critics of technology as narrowing the focus of human endeavour towards a technological value-set dominated by efficiency, to the detriment of other values important to the human animal. Sport provides an excellent framework for examining the impact of technology defined in this way, as it is a ubiquitous and highly technological arena. If it can be plausibly argued that an increasingly technological and performance-centred approach to sport is detrimental to an holistic understanding of sport’s potential to benefit both the individual and society as a whole, it may be the case that sport provides accessible and irrefutable evidence for the truth of the essentialists’ claims regarding the impact on society of technology writ large. This thesis presents such an argument. Furthermore, if we grant the essentialist critics their contention and admit the impossibility of returning to an ‘untechnological’ world, we have to find some way of restoring and maintaining an holistic existence in the face of the restricted value-set imposed by our technology and our interactions with it. To this end, the latter part of this thesis promotes ‘metaphysical’ sporting values (freedom, self-affirmation and beautiful, harmonious action) as a way to counter-balance the impact of technology in sport and suggest ways to solve the ‘technological problem’ more generally. Declaration I declare that the work in this thesis was carried out in accordance with the regulations of the University of Gloucestershire and is original except where indicated by specific reference in the text. No part of the thesis has been submitted as part of any other academic award. The thesis has not been presented to any other education institution in the United Kingdom or overseas. Any views expressed in the thesis are those of the author and in no way represent those of the University. Signed: Date: 22/5/2012 Acknowledgements First, I would like to gratefully acknowledge the University of Gloucestershire for providing me with the funds and opportunity to write this thesis, and the assistance of all the people who made my stay there as enjoyable as it was. Second, to Dr Malcolm Maclean and Dr Nic Matthews, thank you for your patience and your comments. Finally, and most importantly, I would like to thank Dr Emily Ryall for allowing me the room I needed to explore not only the ideas contained herein, but the manner in which they are presented. Even though the process has been fraught at times, I will be forever grateful to her for her unconditional help and support. It is not easy to deal with an opinionated and stubborn student at the best of times, and doubly hard when he is on the other side of the world. Thank you so much Emily. 1 Contents: Chapter 1 Introduction pg. 2 Chapter 2: What is Technology pg. 15 Questions concerning technology: an historical overview pg. 15 Towards a definition of technology pg. 25 Considering technological symbiosis pg. 29 Cultural bodies and cultural technology pg. 33 Introduction to the essentialist critique pg. 38 Ellul and technique pg. 45 Technique and sport pg. 49 The consequences of technique pg. 50 Critiquing the essentialist position pg. 53 A more helpful critique: Feenberg and meaningful intervention pg. 55 Concluding remarks pg. 62 Chapter Three: Contemporary Sport and the Essentialist Critique pg. 63 Setting a sleepwalking record on the way to the bank: technology, performance and profit pg. 65 Self-inflicted wounds: doping and genetic technology pg. 80 The spaceman and the cyborg: towards a techno-metaphysical solution pg. 100 Concluding remarks pg. 106 Chapter Four: Sport and Freedom pg. 108 Metaphysical sporting value and existential movement meaning pg. 108 Sport and freedom pg. 115 Vizinczey, Steiner and freedom as an act of love pg. 119 Sport and freedom: Mestre Russo and the free roda de Caxias pg. 129 Sport and freedom: Bill Briggs and Andrew McLean pg. 133 Sport, freedom and existentialism pg. 138 Chapter Five: Sport and Self-Affirmation pg. 145 An introduction to self-affirmation pg. 145 Nietzsche and the necessity of action pg. 150 Self-affirmation in Sport pg. 156 Chapter Six: Sport and Beautiful Harmonious Action pg. 167 Beauty, harmony and human movement pg. 168 Surfing and kinetic melody pg. 171 Other ‘right actions’ in sport pg. 177 A life less ordinary, or Kelly Slater’s karma pg. 182 Chapter Seven: Final Remarks pg. 190 Appendix: Narrative Conclusion pg. 194 Bibliography pg. 196 2 Chapter One: Introduction It seems clear that even the most humble sports have been technologically revolutionised. Consider javelin and pole-vault, which have been a part of the Olympic furniture for as long as anyone cares to remember. Both disciplines arose from everyday use of spears and poles: the javelin had been used for centuries as an offensive weapon in warfare, while inhabitants of low-lying areas such as Friesland in the Netherlands and the Fens in Cambridgeshire, Lincolnshire and Norfolk used poles to get across the interlocking canals that drained their land without getting their feet wet. These sports have changed little in appearance since their inception, but have seen many changes to their record distances. In 1896 the world record in the pole-vault was 3.3m, which is just over half the current record of 6.14m. In 1908 throwing a javelin more than 54m would win Olympic gold; nowadays, one would have to throw further than 90m. These distances tell a tale of improved performance, but they omit the story of the evolution of the poles and javelins themselves. Both sports operate under specific International Association of Athletics Federation’s (IAAF) rules that govern what types of materials may be used in each sport, although pole-makers seem to have more leeway for invention than javelin-makers: “The pole may be of any material or combination of materials and of any length or diameter,” but “the surface of the shaft [of the javelin] shall have no dimples or pimples, grooves or ridges, 1 holes or roughness, and the finish shall be smooth and uniform throughout.” This is not 1 IAAF, Handbook, division IV: Technical Rules. Monaco: IAAF, 2011 <http://www.iaaf.org/competitions/technical/regulations/index.html> [accessed 20th May 2011]. 3 technological favouritism; the increasing distances the javelin was being thrown meant that “it was becoming increasingly difficult to identify when a javelin had landed tip first”2 as required by the rules. The IAAF therefore changed the specifications for the javelin and the centre of mass was moved forward 4cm so that “pitching movements would reduce the angle of attack and make the javelin land tip first.”3 If increased distances were becoming a problem, innovations that supported throwing further, such as drilling holes in the tail of the javelin and roughing-up its surface were also to be banned. Unlike the javelin, the ‘anything goes’ attitude towards the pole used in pole-vault has meant pole-vaulters have demanded a greater understanding of the forces at work on their equipment. In 1942 Cornelius Warmerdam of the USA claimed the pole-vault world record of 4.77m using a bamboo pole. Subsequent investigations of density and failure stress led to the emergence of poles made first of aluminium and later of steel; by 1961 George Davies had set a world record of 4.83m using a glass fibre pole. Today, carbon fibre is used alongside glass fibre and performance in the pole-vault has leveled-off. As Haake observes, “poles are about as efficient as they can be physically, [and therefore] any extra energy has to come from the athlete.”4 Whether one sees the innovations detailed above as overly technological or not, the increase in distances and heights achieved certainly points to some sort of progress, even though the sports themselves retained their original ‘look and feel’: who can use this pole to jump higher, and who can throw this javelin further. Consider, on the other hand, the sports of field hockey and cricket, and our idea of just what constitutes a technological 2 Haake, S. J. “The impact of technology on sporting performance in Olympic sports”, Journal of Sports Sciences, vol. 27, no. 13, 2009, pg. 1426 3 Haake, S. J. “The impact of technology on sporting performance in Olympic sports”, pg. 1426 4 Ibid, pg. 1428 4 revolution seems to change. We may concede that it is debatable whether performance in a linear record sport such as pole-vault is comparable to performance in a complex invasion or contest sport, but what is uncontestable is that although teams do not score more goals or runs than they did in the past, technology has changed the two games. It is undeniable that both hockey and cricket have embraced technology, and that technology has changed the ‘look and feel’ of these sports on a fundamental level. Field hockey is now played on artificial, grass-like surfaces by players with geometrically curved graphite and carbon-fibre sticks, with goalkeepers wearing condensed foam padding.
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