Are we getting soft or smarter?

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Leisher
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Are we getting soft or smarter?

Post by Leisher »

University of Hawaii players speaking out about their coach.

I've been thinking about this story all morning.

My coaches used to chew our asses out constantly and don't get me started about the military. Despite that, nobody bitched or whined. It wasn't personal.

However, it seems like the new generations can't handle it. Not sure if it's the name calling or the yelling, but they aren't dealing with it well.

So were we idiots for taking the abuse or are the newer generations soft?

Part of me likes that they're sticking up for themselves, although they're are going a roundabout way to get there. Another part of me thinks if they ever face real adversity they're fucked.
“Every record been destroyed or falsified, books rewritten, pictures repainted, statues, street building renamed, every date altered. The process is continuing day by day. History stops. Nothing exists except endless present in which the Party is right.”
TheCatt
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Are we getting soft or smarter?

Post by TheCatt »

In my experience, people don't like being yelled at. And it tends to hurt their morale more than help. And it doesn't really help with getting better either. Some people think it does, but typically it's just mean reversion (someone has a worse than normal game, they get yelled at, then do better. That's quite likely to be coincidence, not cause + effect).

My high school basketball coach's favorite coach was Bobby Knight. I played for a couple of years, but quit for Jr + Sr team to swim instead. It's not like I was going to be a scholarship athlete (though I did get some low-level (D2/D3) interest in swimming), so why put up with shitty treatment if I was just there to play with friends and have fun? Once, he made me run so many wind sprints that I had an asthma attack and collapsed. He never did that to me again. :) (My asthma was undiagnosed, so it was a surprise to everyone. It really only happens in cold/dry weather - what they used to call exercise-induced asthma).

On the one hand, I think people should be able to survive being yelled at without breaking down or having PTSD, but it's really just not an effective way to run anything.
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Leisher
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Are we getting soft or smarter?

Post by Leisher »

TheCatt wrote: Tue Dec 07, 2021 10:21 am On the one hand, I think people should be able to survive being yelled at without breaking down or having PTSD, but it's really just not an effective way to run anything.
I agree with both of these things as well. That's what has me so divided here.

I don't think a coach should punch a kid, but grabbing him by his shoulder pads to chew him out is fine.

Don't call him/her a "worthless pile of shit", but maybe telling them to "put on their big girl panties" isn't that bad?

I want my military trainers getting up in my face when I fuck up. I want them to teach me there are very negative consequences when I make a mistake. However, I don't want coaches acting exactly the same. But I do think they should be able to chew your ass out.
“Every record been destroyed or falsified, books rewritten, pictures repainted, statues, street building renamed, every date altered. The process is continuing day by day. History stops. Nothing exists except endless present in which the Party is right.”
GORDON
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Are we getting soft or smarter?

Post by GORDON »

When I'm doing some physical thing, and reaching my limits, someone screaming at me "Push harder, pussy!" is likely to give me a little extra squirt of adrenaline, and I'm going to push it out. This is purely mental.... I enjoy being challenged.

More and more younger people, however, have the mindset of "I am brittle and that wounds me," and they wilt under pressure. This is not a survival trait. This does not mean they are going to perform better under pressure when shit is real and lives are at stake.... whether on the battlefield, or on the side of the road where they just watched their kid get hit by a car. Being smarter and softer isn't going to help you when the bully pops you in the nose.

I've been contemplating the fact that, in the last decade, everyone under the age of 30 seems to have a mental illness. I wonder at it.

This younger generation is indeed much different than even the one that came before, not to mention how they rate to thick-skinned Gen-X. I've been saying at least 20 years we are heading for a fundamental shift in society, brought on by the "everyone gets a trophy," social-media, "my feelings are the most important things in the world" mentality. God help you if you speak against it, nazi.
"Be bold, and mighty forces will come to your aid."
TheCatt
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Are we getting soft or smarter?

Post by TheCatt »

Leisher wrote: Tue Dec 07, 2021 10:43 am However, I don't want coaches acting exactly the same. But I do think they should be able to chew your ass out.
At the end of the day, I guess it comes to patterns of behavior. An occasional ass-chewing should be fine. But it should be reserved for big fuckups, not regular behavior.
GORDON wrote: Tue Dec 07, 2021 10:58 am When I'm doing some physical thing, and reaching my limits, someone screaming at me "Push harder, pussy!" is likely to give me a little extra squirt of adrenaline, and I'm going to push it out. This is purely mental.... I enjoy being challenged.
I don't think that's what we're talking about. That's basically enoucragement.
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GORDON
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Are we getting soft or smarter?

Post by GORDON »

I've found younger people get offended by that type of encouragement.
"Be bold, and mighty forces will come to your aid."
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