Risking Brain Damage and death for Fame and Money?

       

     Is it worth risking brain damage for the chance of maybe acquiring fame and money? Well, the answer might seem obvious. No it isn't. However,  there are people who feel that it is. The most notorious example of such people are boxers. Why boxers? Well, because of the nature of the sport which requires that the athlete sustain repeated blows to the head. You know, the head? The place where the human brain is located? Yep! Blows to that area of human anatomy. Persons who engage in professional boxing choose to disregard this danger.  all for the sake of a dream of being a world champ or at the minimum, at least attaining a monetary compensation which will ultimately make the effort worth while. Unfortunately, the vast majority will remain at the category of opponent level and never rise above it.  Meanwhile the punches will continue to staccato their skulls and the damage will continue to accumulate.

     Now, please consider that when a punch slams against the side of the head, the force s immediately transmitted to this soft organ and winds up crashing the cerebral material against he other side of the skull. If the blow is powerful enough, consciousnesses is lost temporarily. If it is powerful enough, consciousness might be lost permanently as was the case with Benny Kid Paret who fought Emil Griffin who unmercifully pummeled him as he lay limply on the ropes. In his case it led to death. In other cases it leads to swerve pugilistic dementia where the speech is slurred and other body function suffer deterioration. In fact, a permanent disability can ensue where the formerly healthy athlete becomes incapacitated to the point of needing constant help with basic thin such as hygiene and nourishment.

     True, some might spend their whole lives getting hit on the head in that way and reach old age. But the majority do not get the fame and money they were seeking and have to suffer the health consequences. Some who get the fame and money pay for it later when the accumulation of damage makes itself more severely felt. Mohammed Ali comes to mind. A once very eloquent and witty personality, was gradually reduced to a barely audible mumbling and a body barely able to stop shaking from damage-induced Parkinson's. In a very real sense, such a lamentable debacle is equivalent to a living death, since the former person has been obliterated and been replaced by a caricature or a pitiful vestige of his or her former self.

     Is is really worth the risk? I personally don't believe so. After all, there are plenty of other very profitable  ways to make a living that doesn't involve such a serious health risk. True, the money and fame might not be there-but a normal life where the person retains his true personality and ability to care for himself is far more valuable than any of those  those things. IMHO