When considering what structure is, there is no better material than modern sports.
The elements that form modern sports can be listed as follows: First, there is the field. Second, there are the players. Third, there are the rules. Fourth, there are the judges. Fifth, everything is reduced to numbers.
Sports are competitions. They are games. They consist of multiple players. Sports can be broadly divided into three types: first, dueling type; second, competitive type; and third, team or group competition type. Furthermore, from the perspective of equipment, they can be classified into ball games or non-ball games. From the perspective of structure, the type that most clearly represents the nature of structure is the team or group competition type, and within that, ball games. However, the five elements that characterize modern sports, as mentioned earlier, fundamentally remain unchanged.
Regarding the first element, the field. The field is an artificially created space-time with a certain boundary, a domain. What is important here is that the field is an artificially created space-time. In other words, it is a space defined by humans, and it has the dual nature of being both a temporal and a physical space. This is also an element that characterizes the modern era. It is an artificial, contractual space, clearly different in nature from a physical space. Moreover, the space has both a physical and a temporal axis. And then there are the rules. These rules only apply within the field. In other words, the field is an extraordinary, artificial place.
Rules Rules are artificial laws or regulations. Therefore, rules inevitably have a contractual nature. There is no freedom in a lawless space.
Domain Modern sports have a certain range set. The rules of the sport are only valid within the space created within that range. The range is both spatial and temporal. The temporal range can refer to time (such as periods) or certain conditions being met (such as three outs or set counts). This gives a certain implication to the concept of time. The space is defined by some kind of boundary. Within the boundary, the rules of the sport are valid.
A match begins with a declaration and ends with a declaration. Sports have a beginning and an end. The beginning and end are made by calls or declarations. The field is a space defined by these calls of beginning and end.
Players, Teams, Teamwork Sports always involve multiple players competing based on rules. Furthermore, in team sports, the competition is between a predetermined equal number of players. In other words, it is different from activities like yoga or meditation, which are done alone. And the position, movement, and relationship of each player are important elements that determine the rules.
Judges Also, fair judgment is entrusted to referees other than the players. They make decisions independently and responsibly according to predetermined rules. Moreover, referees maintain an independent position, and they themselves have an autonomous function and structure.
Score All standards, evaluations, and judgments are reduced to numbers. The criteria for determining the outcome of a sport are predetermined and reduced to numbers.
A team consisting of players, coaches, and substitute players forms a unit. And leagues consisting of multiple competing teams form a higher organization and structure.
Outside the field, there are coaches and managers within the team, a front office responsible for management, owners who are sponsors, and commissioners responsible for rule changes, all fulfilling their respective functions to form the whole.
Institutions are created not logically but historically.
This way of sports represents one way of modern society.
Japanese people, especially post-war Japanese, tend to assume that laws and rules are universal, self-evident, and given. However, laws are decided through discussion, and scientific laws are merely hypotheses. Trying to decide the rules after the game has started will not settle anything. If it does settle, it will be through force, political power, or economic power. Therefore, agreements on rules must be made before the game or meeting starts. However, Japanese people do not understand this principle. They mistakenly think that what needs to be decided before a meeting is the content of the meeting, not the rules. Yet, they are under the illusion that the rules of the meeting are predetermined. Therefore, Japanese people cannot exert their power in international meetings. They remain silent when it comes to deciding the rules and end up just repeating what was predetermined during the meeting. A meeting is a place where discussions are held according to rules, and decisions are made based on those rules. Therefore, it is necessary to decide and confirm the rules of discussion, how to draw conclusions, and how to make decisions before the discussion starts.
This is also true for sports. When deciding the rules of sports, saying nothing and later claiming unfairness is proof of not understanding democracy.