Is competition a good thing?

[Deus_Ex_Lemur]

It's about the way you look at it, the intentions, and the level of competition and it's effect. Competition for control over resources may not be good. Friendly competition in sports at it's best or for scientific endeavors raises human spirit and interaction... imo... can bring out the best. And yes, the WORST. It's not black or white there's a yin and yang to competition.

On an macro level we need to work together more than against eachother, which competition on that level is usually. Intentions is key too. Anyways, good thread indeedly doodly!

 

[Honda]

Humanity is not perfect... Heck communism was utopia on paper... In reality it was a collection of one f**k up over the other and it collapsed badly...

 

[MrJones]

Humanity is not perfect... Heck communism was utopia on paper... In reality it was a collection of one f**k up over the other and it collapsed badly...

True, but capitalism is collapsing too.

 

[Lea]

thanks for the replies everyone

I'm beginning to think that competition is actually a bad thing. Imagine a perfect world, and imagine that you are in charge of the entire planet and that you have absolute control. Wouldn't it be best to share all the planets resources evenly between all people? And if all people had all their basic survival needs met, would competition still be neccessary?

I wonder whether, when humans use competition to push each other to their limits, they're just making the best of a bad thing. i.e. they're using the instinct to beat their opponent, to motivate themselves, despite the fact that the desire to beat your opponent is not a very nice desire.

If you mean unrestricted competition in capitalism then this is a bad thing IMO.

 

[worrywort]

If you mean unrestricted competition in capitalism then this is a bad thing IMO.

yea I guess so. I'm still trying to figure it all out. I just feel like competition is all around me everywhere I look, people competing with other people for status, power, influence, etc. People trying to outsmart each other, earn more money or have more success, girls trying to look more attractive, boys trying to act more macho, all of us wanting to be respected, admired, loved. But the whole struggle just seems futile, like a giant pyramid scheme, there's only ever going to be room for a tiny minority at the top, while the majority are destined to be defeated.

But I think what you said about people's intentions being important, I wonder whether this could be the true heart of the matter, because I can feel two instincts pulling inside of me. One part of me really loves competition and how it can spur people on to achieve their potential. I see some people with more gifts than others and I think, 'that's fine, we're all different, there's no reason to be envious'. But then another part of me feels like my ego and pride gets in the way too much. Sometimes I wonder whether my desires to be the best that I can be are really driven by honest, sincere motivations or whether, in actual fact, I just want to beat everybody else so that I can feel superior and get more love and attention for myself.

So maybe competition itself is not inherently a bad thing, but rather it's the motivations and intentions in the heart of the competitor which turns a competition bad or good. hmm....

 

[Kiwong]

Doesn't seem like much of a solution to me. What if two guys like the same girl, they gonna share? What if money were divided evenly, where one person spends wisely and the other wastes it? True equality doesn't exist because it doesn't work and competition is an essential element of society by way of practical necessity, happily co-existing with altruism.

Nope, greed and competition rules, it is not a good thing. People by nature are not altruistic, there should be a lot more of it.

 

[N0D]

i have sort of stopped competing. like any sort of thing that involves competition i just stopped doing. in the society i live in this is extremely difficult and basically leads to doing nothing at all. i guess its sort of a passive aggressive rebellion against a society that i have nothing but contempt for...but it's hard to imagine that anyone in society is like "oh man n0d stopped playing our demented game, let's play a different game that he'll play with us." perhaps i see myself as a martyr of spitting in the face of capitalism. but like i said, i know that it is completely ineffective but in spite of that i keep doing it. maybe i'm just dumb, if that's the case then in my opinion i deserve it.

 

[Lea]

yea I guess so. I'm still trying to figure it all out. I just feel like competition is all around me everywhere I look, people competing with other people for status, power, influence, etc. People trying to outsmart each other, earn more money or have more success, girls trying to look more attractive, boys trying to act more macho, all of us wanting to be respected, admired, loved. But the whole struggle just seems futile, like a giant pyramid scheme, there's only ever going to be room for a tiny minority at the top, while the majority are destined to be defeated. /QUOTE]

That´s because you live in England .

 

[hippiechild]

It gets ish done... whether that's righteous or frighteous

inferiority feelings are necessary for future generativity

 

[coyote]

i usually win at bananagrams

 

[worrywort]

That´s because you live in England .

haha! yea probably!

i have sort of stopped competing. like any sort of thing that involves competition i just stopped doing. in the society i live in this is extremely difficult and basically leads to doing nothing at all. i guess its sort of a passive aggressive rebellion against a society that i have nothing but contempt for...but it's hard to imagine that anyone in society is like "oh man n0d stopped playing our demented game, let's play a different game that he'll play with us." perhaps i see myself as a martyr of spitting in the face of capitalism. but like i said, i know that it is completely ineffective but in spite of that i keep doing it. maybe i'm just dumb, if that's the case then in my opinion i deserve it.

I relate to this a LOT!!!

 

[JustAGuy]

I think psycologically, a person with SA will of course be against be against competition simply due to the fact that they are not very competitive against society. Losing does not feel fun, so it leads to resentment. I wonder if someone sucessful (a winner) and on the top rungs of an organization/society would see competition in the same way that a SA person would see it? Our human nature and behavior even today are byproducts of evolution and the fact that being competitive is a requirement for survival.

Whether competition is a good thing, I suppose it depends on perspective. Someone with SA would see it as a bad thing, but to a certain extent, leadership is something that is a requirement for development and progress to be made in society. Leadership is often a byproduct of competition.

Sometimes I would love to just abandon this competitive game, but I feel trapped in societal norms such as having a job and etc. Besides, other than following the societal norm Im not sure what other options there are other than homelessness.