Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg tore his ACL while training for a competitive MMA fight | Hacker News Reader

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg tore his ACL while training for a competitive MMA fight

nbcnews.com

6 pointscdme13 comments

I was surprised to learn Zuckerberg was into fighting when the supposed Musk/Zuckerberg challenge happened. Why? Because for all that I think Facebook has been terrible for the world, I’d liked to think of Zuckerberg as civilised.

Now, this is heavily personal opinion, and I’ll overstate it slightly for the purpose of the comment. But: physical fights as sport, whether MMA or boxing, are not civilised. They are brutal, bloody, descents that represent the devaluation of peace in interaction. Fights are animalistic. They are the triumph of the desire for violence, however much legitimised under rules and for entertainment. They are something the species needs to move past in the same way we moved past gladiatorial fights and need to move past war.

(Martial arts as self-defence are not, though I wish were not necessary. Martial — note the root of the word, military, warlike — for sport is. The comment is about a “sport” of legitimised violence. As you can tell from this comment I detest violence. For what it’s worth I detest non-physical actions that can be called violent too. We should (but aren’t, obviously) but should be better.)

If the participants both agree to it what does it matter? Zuck can hurt himself playing action hero as much as he wants for all I care so long as whoever he is fighting also is there voluntarily.

That said, ACL tear as a tech exec is gonna be rough for him for the next six months.

Because it’s not whether or not both consent to violence. It’s that violence is seen as something entertaining or valuable in any form.

Perhaps also that someone as powerful as him sees personal value in an expression of violence, and what that means.

why would it be rough? boardrooms are pretty accessible, and surely his PT will come to him.

There is no way to practice martial arts for self defense without testing them against resisting opponents. Many martial arts of the last century turned out to be useless once they were tested in the MMA ring.

Isn’t there a difference between sparring in a dojo and sparring as sport and entertainment?

> Because for all that I think Facebook has been terrible for the world, I’d liked to think of Zuckerberg as civilised.

His position that he no longer needs to be wildly wealthy and his being able to afford PR implies he is a miracle if he is not absolutely corrupt and projecting a lie.

I hadn’t heard this positioning. Would you mind sharing what he’s saying (or where so I can look it up), please?

I'm referring to the fact that he answers to absolutely no one when it comes to running meta:

https://www.businessinsider.com/why-mark-zuckerberg-cant-be-...

In every possible place where he could get feedback, he is above feedback. He can even pretend to be stupid over and over in the common media and act like he has no recourse to expensive advice or analysis that could ELI5 what technology, history or politics are.

Friend, nature is uncivilized. War, violence, and fighting aren't things to be moved past as you say. They are things to understand, master, and apply appropriately. Hoping to move past war is as naive as hoping to move past hate. Marc taking up MMA is a pleasant character development for him, fighting requires much virtue.

Thanks for the reply. I agree nature is uncivilised. That's why I think they _are_ things to be moved past: we are not unthinking slaves to nature, but creatures who, through cognition and growth, can rise above base instincts.

I won't argue it's naive to think we'd move past war or hate - I agree with your assessment of myself there :) But I can believe that we should, and further that we have the capacity to, even it may be unlikely that we will.

>physical fights as sport, whether MMA or boxing, are not civilised. They are brutal, bloody, descents that represent the devaluation of peace in interaction. Fights are animalistic.

Where do you draw the line? Do we also discourage judo? Wrestling? Fencing? Boxing?

Sports like the NFL while not directly fighting also cause debilitating health issues to some players after retirement (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Concussions_in_American_footba...).

> > They are brutal, bloody, descents that represent the devaluation of peace in interaction

Tyson and Holyfield are friends today, and countless guys will tell you that their best friend in the present now used to be somebody they'd often engage in physical confrontations and even fights . For example fights break out among friends and groups of friends after bad fouls in the soccer cage or the public basketball playground, that doesn't mean that 1 hour later the people involved in the fight aren't best buddies once again.

Peace in interaction through the whole entirety of a human relationship equals flatline, that's something you don't want to have. It also means not caring enough about the other person to try and win their respect or to try and show them one's abilities or to try and measure up against their own abilities.

An interesting life and interesting relationships are made of huge up and down swings, what snowflakes today call 'toxic' but it's better than the alternative.

You'll find no toxic interpersonal relationships in a nursing home but if you have ever been in one and saw the depressing scenario all around you'd switch to trade and have them toxic physical fights at the playground in a heartbeat and so would those who are spending their last years there.

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