On the competitive aspect of things

This is bound to get a little confusing, and complex because this is part of life, how I view life, and no matter how much you try to compartmentalize it, box it, label it, life always finds a way, to destroy the boxes, the boundaries, and to flow.

We were taught, and raised in a certain fashion. We were supposed to be good at everything, excellence was coincidental. The law of averages, if you will.

One by-product of it all was the competitive nature ingrained into us. We compete with every member of our group, species, even when it is quite obvious that the conditions prevalent around all of us are hardly the same.

There is no time, hence, becomes a common complaint.

Why? Because Mark created Facebook at some age, and I, at the same age, am still trying to figure what I want to do with my life!

It was during one of my walks that I started thinking about this. It all started with thinking where I was, professionally, compared to the rest of my friends, our gang of six… err.. five (looking at you Sharma!)

Well I’m not satisfied, to put it, bluntly, and simply. That led to this question:

Why do we compete?

We are all unique. Each person in my six membered friend subset, is different. We were born, and brought up in different environments, we all have different aspirations, and hence, we are all following different paths. Yes, money is important. Yes, I realize that if my survival was on the line, I would not really be thinking of this; but, it’s not. So, I can, and hence, I am.

How can we compete, really, logically, when what we want are different things?

Is it fair? To ourselves? To our friends? To our families? To humanity?

This unneeded competition, brings worries, and drives happiness away. We become zombies. What differentiates us from zombies is our brains! I’m not sure if we are using them as much as we should. Schedules, and processes, are everywhere. You are to do one thing, in a specific function, in a pre-specified time frame. We are cogs. Which is also one of the reasons why most of our jobs are on the risk of annihilation. We will have something else to do in the future, I hope, but what we are doing is mechanical.

We are cogs.

Okay, I feel that I grazed a little too far away there.

Why do we compete then? And should we compete?

Won’t it be easier if we did not?

Try to imagine it.

Competition brings nothing but unhappiness. You don’t care about anything but beating the guy. The best coder in your vicinity, the best table tennis player, the best chef.. It goes on, and on, and on, and on. There is no end to it.

Day in, and out, you tire yourself out, trying to beat that guy. There is no concept of self in it. What you know? How you are growing? If you are growing?

You just want to beat that guy!

There should be no competition with anyone else, but yourself. You should not worry about beating the guy, but improving yourself, your knowledge. You should grow. And if that is not the aim of life, I don’t know what is!

Any thoughts?