While I agree with this, the consequences of a largely sedentary lifestyle on cognitive performance are also pretty significant, and human motivation is fickle. I am not sure how the calculus turns out, but if you find that the only thing that makes you exercise is playing soccer, then I would probably recommend that you keep playing soccer (while also trying to minimize your use of heading in your soccer strategy).
The scenario you describe is not, of course, literally impossible. However, it seems to me that the number of people for whom the only feasible choices are either “play soccer” or “be a couch potato” must be so small that even considering this point as a meaningful concern is epistemically unwise. (There are, after all, so many ways in which to avoid a “largely sedentary lifestyle”, starting with “get up, go outside, and walk around the block a few times” and going all the way to “play other team sports, selected specially for their unusually low incidence of head injuries”, with many stops along the way at places like “go swimming”, “go hiking”, “go to a gym”, “purchase and use basic exercise equipment”, etc., etc., etc.)
I think the situation where you are currently playing soccer, because it’s a common sport, and if you would stop doing that you would revert to a sedentary lifestyle, isn’t that rare. I’ve multiple times had the experience that most of my exercise was coming from some kind of hobby, or a constraint of my work-environment (such as being able to walk to work), and that I’ve reverted to being almost fully sedentary when that hobby or constraint went away, despite attempts at doing plain-exercise or picking up different hobbies.
I do agree, that on the macro-scale, over the course of multiple years, one should be able to find a stable source of exercise that doesn’t come with potential head injuries. My comment was more directed at avoiding negative short-term changes in people’s lifestyles.
While I agree with this, the consequences of a largely sedentary lifestyle on cognitive performance are also pretty significant, and human motivation is fickle. I am not sure how the calculus turns out, but if you find that the only thing that makes you exercise is playing soccer, then I would probably recommend that you keep playing soccer (while also trying to minimize your use of heading in your soccer strategy).
The scenario you describe is not, of course, literally impossible. However, it seems to me that the number of people for whom the only feasible choices are either “play soccer” or “be a couch potato” must be so small that even considering this point as a meaningful concern is epistemically unwise. (There are, after all, so many ways in which to avoid a “largely sedentary lifestyle”, starting with “get up, go outside, and walk around the block a few times” and going all the way to “play other team sports, selected specially for their unusually low incidence of head injuries”, with many stops along the way at places like “go swimming”, “go hiking”, “go to a gym”, “purchase and use basic exercise equipment”, etc., etc., etc.)
I think the situation where you are currently playing soccer, because it’s a common sport, and if you would stop doing that you would revert to a sedentary lifestyle, isn’t that rare. I’ve multiple times had the experience that most of my exercise was coming from some kind of hobby, or a constraint of my work-environment (such as being able to walk to work), and that I’ve reverted to being almost fully sedentary when that hobby or constraint went away, despite attempts at doing plain-exercise or picking up different hobbies.
I do agree, that on the macro-scale, over the course of multiple years, one should be able to find a stable source of exercise that doesn’t come with potential head injuries. My comment was more directed at avoiding negative short-term changes in people’s lifestyles.
Agreed, this is good advice.