Kohn’s claim about the nature of competition is true to the extent that being better than someone will never be enough and it is destructive to base one’s success on another person’s failure. However, competition could potentially serve as a drive to push someone to their fullest potential, Kohn claims that one will never be able to truly be satisfied with being better than someone else, because there will always be someone who is even better. From personal experience, I have realized that when I accomplish an achievement that another person did not, it is easy to feel superior. However, I will then come to realize that there is someone else with an even higher achievement than I have. When it comes to competing, one will never be completely …show more content…
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. The nature of competition could have a positive or negative impact on the personalities and habits of people. Kohn’s claim is relevant in the sense that competing with someone else will never end and it has the tendency to make people become destructive towards themselves and others. Competition could serve its purpose if it is used in a positive and healthy
In Theodore Isaac Rubin’s essay, “Competition and Happiness”, he summits about how in today’s society its always the battle eat or be eaten. Therefore our parents always tried to get us involved at an early age to help with our self-development, well being, and health. Since our culture has made us believe that competition brings out the best of us. Yet, it simultaneously brings out a stressful, isolating, and paranoid ambiance at a very young age. I agree with Rubin’s notion since the use of our time and energy is determined by competition and limits our happiness because it weakens our sense of identity.
In the story “Harrison Bergeron” a live broadcast is interrupted by Harrison Bergeron [George’s son] himself, freeing the people listening of their society and dancing away with a talented ballerina: “And then, in an explosion of joy and grace, into the air they sprang! Not only were the laws of the land abandoned, but the laws of gravity and the laws of motion as well.” (Vonnegut 4). Once the government’s boundaries of full equality were taken away for a quick moment Harrison and a ballerina were able to excel, be free, and cross boundaries of science. Because these people were no longer held from showing their talent they were able to improve their skill after years of no improvement. Without being able to show talents to the people around one there is no competition, but without that competition one can not improve or express joy from what they are doing. For example, in today’s society if computer brands stopped competing to have the best and newest product our technology would not advance at all, nor would the computer engineer’s mind and skill. Competition creates many forms of external motivation and with that taken away
Kesey demonstrates in his novel “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” that all individuals will “get (their) visions through whatever gate (they’re) granted” (pg 281) but only few will go against the system in order to attain personal ambitions that have the power to leave a legacy for others to
Competition between peers makes people strive to try and be better than their opponents, and can be healthy or unhealthy depending on the competitors and their responses to the competition. Sometimes people see competition and face it head on like Gene when he is trying to become the “head of the class” (Knowles 24). It gets people to strive to be the best that they can be and whether they are successful or not they are better off than before. Even though Phineas was maimed it looked like he was going to end up getting a better educat...
Since the beginning of mankind, it has been the need to attain a specific goal, which has driven humans to work hard. Without any ambition, humans would not be inspired to overcome adversities and challenge themselves to become increasingly adaptable. When one is motivated by certain factors in their environment, the probability of them being satisfied with the results of their deeds depends on the moral value of their inspiration. If the individual is aware of the fact that their deed is immoral, then no matter how dire their circumstances which forced them to perform the actions, they will not be content. The irony establishes itself in the fact that those characters who are motivated by a cause bigger than themselves, tend to be happier,
In order to comprehend this article, one must have a concept of self-esteem. Self- esteem is the personal evaluation of one’s worth as a person. Most individuals subject self-esteem as the “feeling that one is ‘good enough.” Also, individuals believe those with high self- esteem tend to believe they are superior to others, which is not necessarily true. Another inaccurate assumption on self- esteem interprets that talents and abilities are influential on self-esteem. Also, self- esteem is not
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.
Competition is a good thing. Success is determined by one’s desire to become better, and if that desire is taken away then so is the motivation to improve. Imposing “handicaps” on people to level out the playing field is in no way healthy or ethical. According to the UN’s Universal Declaration of Human Rights, everyone has the freedom of thought (Art. 18). However, George Bergeron was not free to think what he wanted to due to his great intelligence. This is why the theme of the story should be kept in mind; equality is possible up to a certain point, at which it just becomes an absurd contradiction.
Take, for instance, the competition between two juggernauts of the phone industry. Apple and Samsung, both proven giants of their field, have been incessantly competing for many years, which has caused persistence from both sides, driving them to rise above the other, sparking a certain ambition and, in turn, pushing their technology above what was formerly deemed possible. For example, directly after Apple’s introduction of their fingerprint sensor on the iPhone 5S, Samsung released a similar product, this one paired with an iris scanner to place it a cut above of its competitor. As numerous other examples of this oscillation of advancement are apparent, the motivation attributed to adversity also becomes more apparent. This motivation and subsequent achievement can theoretically be applied to any situation, driving parties involved to simply outdo the other(s), naturally producing a better product compared to one made without the presence of the driving force of adversity in competition. When forced to play against others, standards and talent levels are raised to another level, as it is the desire to be preeminent that pushes forward, a motivation apparent in the shattering of records and the expanding of
Through the work of psychology, we have learned how the human mind thinks. nAnd psychologist have found out why there is comparison over all. In the article, “ The Psychology of Competition” , the author states “ We propose a new model that distinguishes between individual and situational factors that increase social comparison and thus lead to a range of competitive attitudes and behavior. “
To compete, as defined by the New Century Dictionary, is “To contend with another for some prize or advantage” (“compete”[Volume 1][Page 294]). The question of what competition is has been settled for centuries, but the debate over what the point of competition is continues to this day. Thoughts on this topic usually fall into one of two categories. There are those who would agree with Henry Russell Sanders’s famous statement that, “Winning isn’t everything, it’s the only thing.” and there are those who would agree with Vince Lombardi, who stated, “Winning isn’t everything, but the desire to win is.” The attitude Vince Lombardi epitomizes is by far the healthier mindset to take regarding competition.
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.
We can consider competition as bad news, but really it’s how people overdue or misapplied it to be considered on the bad side. The actual problem lies within competition itself. The best amount of competition for the children is none at all, and the very phrase "healthy competition" is actually a contradiction in terms. The first fact holds that the more we allow the children and ourselves to be in rivalry, the better it is. Factors show that competition builds character and produces excellence.
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
Yes, it is to a certain extent. Competition is good for us as it challenges each individual. Without competition, there would be no standards and we would not know how to improve on areas we lack. In addition, we may not know where we stand, be it mentally, physically and academically. Different kinds of competition challenge us in different aspects and helps us to progress and move with times.