by Randy Browne

Created on: January 07, 2008

Ancient China has a number of sayings about competition. To name just a few (from memory; not claimed to be direct quotes) ....

(1) "Seeking great honor often results in no honor at all".

(2) "The sage seeks only to satisfy the cravings of his belly, and not the insatiable longing of his eyes".

(3) "The wise warrior knows that every victory parade is also a funeral", which can be seen as a metaphor with multiple meanings, including concerns over what military victory (or any form of competition) sets into motion.

It's one thing to teach youngsters that competition is a fact of Nature; it's quite another matter to teach youth to revel and delight in competition, and to seek competition for its own sake. Many adults who encourage competition among youngsters often argue the former to justify the latter, but the latter cannot be justified by the former.

There's nothing wrong with the idea that competition is a part of Nature. The common mistake is in thinking competition is the very essence of Nature; yet, there's far more to Nature than mere competition.

In the wild, two tigers might fight fiercely over food, prey, territory, and whatnot. That's competition, but even in the "animal world", that's not the whole picture. Clearly, there is cooperation within societies of non-humans, ranging from ants, bees, wolves, some large cat species, and even elephants. There is also mutual cooperation for survival between species; bees and flowers are perhaps the most well-known example.

Furthermore, look at the biosystem inside an individual mammal; even mammals like tigers, which have a less clear social structure in comparison with, say, lions and wolves. Blood cells in a tiger carry oxygen to the tiger's brain. The blood cells are not in competition with a (healthy) tiger's brain cells for oxygen; quite the opposite, the blood cells actually give up oxygen "in service" to brain cells and various other parts of the tiger's body. Similarly, the tiger's immune system works mainly by cooperation, not (internal) competition.

Outside the tiger, in the air and open oceans, many single-celled animals compete directly for food; yet the cells inside a tiger's body thrive mainly on cooperation. The fact that the cells in a tiger's body, or even a human body, might not be conscious of their cooperative roles, isn't the issue. When certain cells in a higher life form begin to engage in self-serving, independent growth; a form of competition with other body cells, then a serious biological

• 1
• 2
• 3
• 4
• Next Page >>