Sport as Socio-Cultural Homeostasis: Motivation, Degeneration and the Continuity of the Human Species

Abstract

Modern sport, as a prominent social event in contemporary society capable of mobilizing millions of people across the planet, appears to the researcher as a relevant object of study. This is because, not only is it a central activity in contemporary societies, but it is one of the most widespread phenomena of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. This work intends to seek and obtain some answers to the central role that modern sport seems to have, through the ideas of sociocultural homeostasis of neurobiologist António Damásio. We will argue that modern sport is a socio-cultural manifestation of biological homeostasis which, in the form of feelings such as fear and motivation, embodies new ways of strengthening the body and new ways of achieving greater well-being. That is, modern sport is the result of unconscious biological mechanisms that, mediated by consciousness through emotions and feelings (like fear and motivation), act in the sociocultural space in order to create devices of homeostatic balance. As we will demonstrate, during the twentieth and twenty-first century, several studies proved the benefits of modern sport in health, which helped to strengthen the effectiveness of modern sport in combating, preventing and treat physical and mental illnesses. In sum, we will argue that modern sport is a sociocultural way of regulate the body homeostasis.