I saw some threads about free time and desire for community on my feed earlier and I found that slightly relatable.

Commenters in the latter thread were quick to point out that openly identifying oneself is not a good idea which means community must be formed by other means.

So what I’ve been doing is being friendly with everyone and asking for their opinions on things and trying to discern people’s political orientation in casual normal conversation. It’s a pretty painful process because most people have awful takes and it’s hard to convince people without being preachy.

The goal isn’t even to convince people, after all, the goal is to connect with people with similar views. And this strategy only works if you can find tons of willing people whose opinions you can discreetly interrogate.

Just by observation I find the best way to meet random people is to play sports, e.g. there’s always people playing basketball at the park.

Also I’m awful at sports. No one cares what you have to say if you can’t play their game. It turns out staying home and reading is not a good way to make friends. After this realization I’ve been working out and exercising more. So with this awareness I think it makes sense to say that playing playing sports and exercising are revolutionary activities. I could have the most eloquent arguments and the most beautiful speeches but those conversations are imaginary if I can’t get people’s attention. And because the society we live in doesn’t value studying as much as sports that’s just the game we have to play.

So what sports do you play? What are the best sports to play in this context?