You might not think this is a minor thing, but I would say Professional Sports.
The amount of passion and rage that is generated by players running around, throwing, kicking, or hitting a ball is mind-boggling. The shear amount of money that is spent is staggering. People take it waaaay too seriously.
Funny, I was just reading up on this yesterday, being surprised by my emotional reaction to the coach of the New York Giants (the NFL team I've followed all my life) stepping down after 12 years. I found this article about the various psychological factors in play particularly interesting, though it often describes a more extreme kind of fandom than I identify with. I also remembered and found an old NPR piece from a few years ago that speaks more to the way I "do" being a Giants (and Mets) fan, especially the parts about living vicariously and seeing patterns.
The takeaway, for those who don't want to read the articles, is that we're all kind of wired to take sports pretty seriously as fans, but cultural and individual factors contribute a lot to whether or not we choose to be sports fans in the first place.
You might not think this is a minor thing, but I would say Professional Sports.
The amount of passion and rage that is generated by players running around, throwing, kicking, or hitting a ball is mind-boggling. The shear amount of money that is spent is staggering. People take it waaaay too seriously.
Funny, I was just reading up on this yesterday, being surprised by my emotional reaction to the coach of the New York Giants (the NFL team I've followed all my life) stepping down after 12 years. I found this article about the various psychological factors in play particularly interesting, though it often describes a more extreme kind of fandom than I identify with. I also remembered and found an old NPR piece from a few years ago that speaks more to the way I "do" being a Giants (and Mets) fan, especially the parts about living vicariously and seeing patterns.
The takeaway, for those who don't want to read the articles, is that we're all kind of wired to take sports pretty seriously as fans, but cultural and individual factors contribute a lot to whether or not we choose to be sports fans in the first place.