Competition is often thought of as the way by which one earns a prize. However, in truth, it is solely the act of striving to be better than your opponent. The trophy is simply the representation of the outcome. While winning the trophy is fun, society is unfortunately in an age where standard participation and mediocrity are the only criteria for which one receives recognition, and the true purpose and benefit of competition has been lost. Although, it can be argued that going for the gold, so to speak, can negatively impact one’s psyche, competition does indeed offer benefits far beyond the trophy. Much like life, competition provides highs, lows, gains, losses, adversity, and a continued opportunity for growth and success. With all …show more content…
An article in the Creativity Research journal, written by Jacob Eisenberg and William Forde Thompson, suggests that when improvisors were to be judged by musical experts, their creativity was increased, stating “Findings indicate that improvisations were judged as more creative under competitive than non-competitive conditions” (1). When thought to be judged by a superior one tends to become more creative in a competitive role, desiring the recognition and accolades from their superior. Additionally, competition also exploits one’s strengths and makes them work harder, which improves creativity so as to not be outdone by another. In the essay We Can Work It Out: The Beatles’ Creative Competition, the author, Bruce Glassman, talks about Paul McCartney’s song writing sparking John Lennon’s competitive nature. Glassman states, “It was, more than anything, creativity based on competition. Neither writer wanted to be outdone by the other.” (201) Often, people will become more focused and innovative during competition because they want to be considered better than their opponent. Likewise, competition improves creativity by creating the desire to improve oneself. Author, Bruce Glassman writes, “It seemed that, the more John wrote, the more Paul was inspired. And the better Paul’s songs got, the more John was driven to improve his writing.” (201) Generally, people don’t think outside of what is known or has become normal. Ultimately, competition spawns creativity because it causes one to desire change and forces them to think beyond the known and become better, whether it’s to outdo someone else, improve themselves, or to receive
There are people who are not as motivated, they are often referred to as the underachievers. However, once they have someone to compete with, they are more likely to become motivated to improve and excel. This is where competition serves as a healthy motivator. There is a friend who was exhausted of being constantly compared to his overachieving older brother. This caused him to start studying and working harder in order to become just as good as his brother. The situation showed how he did not need to bring down his older brother in order to be just as successful. Competition serves its purpose, when one finds themselves competing with themselves instead of their competitor. When one is competing with themselves, they are allowing themselves to grow and improve to become a better person. They do not have to compete with someone else, nor degrade others success in order to make their achievements seem exceptional.
By universal definition, "sport" is listed as "an activity involving physical exertion and skill that is governed by a set of rules or customs and often undertaken competitively." Football, basketball, baseball, soccer and other primary activities have always been concretely defined as sports in society. However, one of the most physically demanding activities is constantly forgotten when it comes to the realm of sports- dance. Dance requires a tremendous amount of training and creates an aura of competition in which people compete to be the best, win, and take home the trophy- just like in traditionally accepted sports. These sports, however, do not possess an element of psychological health threats that some competitive dancers unfortunately must account for due to the emphasis placed on physical appearance.
If we did not fail or lose how could we learn to value or appreciate success/winning? What would we work towards, strive for or struggle with if we won all the time? What would motivate or drive us to do better or want better for ourselves if there was no concept of competition? If we are only recognized for attendance or participation because there is nothing beyond what’s actually handed to us, then all of society would come to a screeching halt. It goes beyond childhood, we are shaping the society for the future
Some argue that participation trophies are going to be the downfall of society and human life in general. That is not the case but, there are many downsides of these awards, in this essay a few of these will be brought to attention. Participation trophies do not teach children valuable lessons.
Two best friends are torn apart. A man meticulously plots revenge on the person who got the job he was dying for. A nation is full of rage and fear because another country beat them in the race to walk on the moon. Sadly, all of these situations were caused by one thing, competition. In Alfie Kohn’s essay, “Competition Is Destructive”, he describes competition as having a “toxic effect on our relationships”(11). Although competition has many positive effects in this world, when talking specifically about relationships, whether it be between best friends, two strangers, or even entire nations, it fuels negative feelings and attitudes that transform people into monsters.
“Man masters nature not by force but by understanding. This is why science has succeeded where magic failed: because it has looked for no spell to cast over nature”. From the beginning of time man and nature has been in conflict with one another because, as a whole, there is no cooperating. Each one tirelessly wants its way. The Man is fighting for dominance and nature w never yielding its authority. In American Literature, many authors illustrate this theme in their writing. Specifically the writers Jack London in The Law Of Life, Stephen Crane The Open Boat and Mark Twain’s Huckleberry Fin. Each explores the relationship between humans and nature but with slightly different methods. Mark Twain uses nature in a realistic way, Jack London in a naturalistic way and Stephen Crane constitutes a combination of both.
Every day, more and more attempts of banning books and taking away the rights of our First Amendment get violated. The challenging of a book is the attempt to remove or restrict materials, and the banning is the removal of these materials. I believe that books should not be banned for these reasons.
There comes a time in someone’s life when they must get a job to support themselves or their family. For those who don’t have a college degree, a minimum wage job is the way to go. A federal minimum wage is the lowest hourly, daily or monthly compensation that employers may legally pay to workers. However if minimum wage is so low that someone can barely make an income, to support themselves or a family. Minimum wage is based on federal decisions. Some states minimum wage is more than the next. For example Florida’s is $7. 79 while Connecticut’s is $8.25 per hour. Georgia has the lowest minimum wage which is $5.15. The federal minimum wage is $7.25 per hour. Minimum wage should be increased because poverty will be reduced, it will be good for economic recovery, and provide more for families. However minimum wage raises are opposed by those who believe it will create more unemployment.
“If everyone is special, no one is. If everyone gets a trophy, trophies become meaningless.” This was a quote said by David McCullough Jr. in his famous You’re Not Special speech. This quote is very true about the great participation trophy debate. This debate has been going on for a long time and has still not been settled. While participation trophies help boost the confidence of non-winners, participation trophies are useless because no one will be motivated to get better of everyone has trophies and trophies cost a lot of money to make.
Competition even in school can help drive the mediocre to good and the good to great when it comes to trying to be the best. Whether it is to become valedictorian or even pass math class we each strive using competition to push people in America to want to become someone important. Competition drives people to want to become innovators in their field of work;for example, Henry Ford used competition to drive his company forward and develop things like the assembly line. Given these points competition is the sole driving force behind innovators and America’s ability to learn
Are high school sports beneficial or not for students? I personally believe if a student is in a high school sport they’re forced to prioritize between school and their sport, and at a young age I believe the student would decide to use his time to improve in his sport instead of school. Which in the long run would affect his academics, unless they decide to stay up late and work on their homework to keep up with both school and their sport. But, even like that in time the lack of sleep would catch up to them, and cause them to do even worse in both academics, and sports. High school sports are like the lotto in my opinion, many play but only a few get rewarded for their work. Therefore, high school sports cause more negativity than positivity.
middle of paper ... ... Thus, competition leads people to envy the winners, to dismiss losers and to be suspicious of just about everyone. Competition makes it difficult to regard others as potential friends or collaborators; even if one is not a rival today, one could be tomorrow. The first step to achieving happiness and health is recognizing the value of competition built on myths.
There is a misconception that competition is bad, if a child can experience the thrill of winning and the disappointment of losing, they will be well equipped for the reality of life. Competition provides stimulation to achieve a goal; to have determination, to overcome challenges, to understand that hard work and commitment leads to a greater chance of success. Life is full of situations where there are winners and losers; getting a job; a sports game; not getting into a desired college. People need to learn how to cope with disappointment and then to look forward to the next opportunity to try again. Competition also teaches us to dig deep and find abilities we never knew we had. The pressure to win or succeed can often inspire more imaginative thinking and inspire us to develop additional
competition it makes people strive harder to do the best they can. But it can
Social media refers to interaction among people in which they create, share and exchange information and ideas within virtual communities and networks. The internet has provided our world with a different means of communication and it is available to anyone at any time at the touch of our fingertips. Today's technology has created easier accessibility through all mobile phones, no longer needing a computer to access social networking sites as well as the disintegration of face to face communication. Furthermore, these privileges may offer an individual a sense of self and acceptance within themselves and peers. Although the use of social media can negatively impact a students education but it can also help shape individual identity as well as their own growth of ideas from the creation of blogs, podcasts, videos and gaming sites. In most areas of education, digital social media has been seen as degrading the critical thinking and listening skills of students.