It's a strange calling, beating people up

For another example of rocket science, we note this item from New Scientist, which tells us that amateur boxers, as well as professional ones, get their brains damaged by boxing.

Well, yes. You don't have to be the brightest bulb on the porch to figure that having someone pummel you about the head, whether for pay or for “recreation” (huh?), is bad for your head, as well as for what is (or ought to be) inside it.

“There is probably no safe dose of blows to the head,” says Vivienne Nathanson, head of science and ethics at the British Medical Association, which is campaigning for a total ban on boxing.

I have a general problem with telling people what to do, and if some people choose to stand in a roped-off area and beat each other senseless, well, what right does the state have to say they mayn't? On the other hand, I would fully agree with a rule that says they have to pay for their own health care — the rest of us should not be footing the bill for that.