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RobinHanson's avatar

Total war is rare in history; most cultures had limits on acceptable war behavior.

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handleym's avatar

The emphasis on "sportsmanship" and the rules+umpire and suchlike. The British sports are substantially dialed back relative to other versions of the same sort of activities, but they are the ones that became universal. I think the selection now (and since maybe ~early 1800s) has been for spectacle, not war training.

In earlier societies, sure, what you say sounds reasonable. But I assumed your context was the role of sport in today's societies.

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