The idea of the west is pushing forward and progressing past the known boundaries. This is greatly expressed nowadays through varies sports, and the type of athletes playing that sport.
Athletes who participate in "extreme sports" are known as adrenaline junkies. Because they like to push themselves and the laws of physics to its boundaries. They try to overcome, before thought of as impossible, obstacles, like scaling Mt.Everest or racing a plane at 265 mph, just to gain an exhilarating experience. Pretty much the higher the danger, the greater the rush for the athlete. The types of sports tend to differ from what we considered normal sports, because usually they are done solitary, which is not that different, but they are very dangerous and most have fatal consequence if the athlete fails to produce whats expected. Also most sports, you compete against another opponent, but usually you are competing against mother nature and the weather, and even yourself and self-motivation ..
But while those athletes like to push the limits of mother nature, some, including professionals, like to push themselves to the limits by using PED's to increasing their performance levels. Giving them which inhuman like advantages over other athletes. Some PEDs include steroids or HGH, which allow the body to build muscle much faster than normal.
Citations-"Extreme Sports." Http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extreme_sport. N.p., n.d. Web. 28 Oct. 2014.
"Steriods in America." Normal.http://www.si.com/more-sports/2008/03/11/steroids1. N.p., n.d. Web. 28 Oct. 2014.
But are Americans more extreme than people from other countries? You mention Mt. Everest, and while lots of Americans have climbed Mt. Everest, we can't definitely don't dominate the mountain! Check out this cool graphic!
ReplyDeleteTrue and while many other non-american have climbed Mt.Everest, Americans are pioneers in the sense that they explore new sports that are increasingly dangerous for the "adrenaline rush."
ReplyDeleteI concur with the idea that the adrenaline rush is the main motivator, but could it also be that they feel a sense of individuality by being able to do something that most people can not do? I read an interesting article about this Home
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