Competitiveness

[booyalab]

What if I say that I think it's unethical and irresponsible of you that you are always winning at Solitaire because I want to win, and when I don't it is detrimental to my natural urge to have a healthy self-esteem, which winning at Solitaire helps to build. Just sayin...

That attitude pretty much sums up the philosophy of the modern education system. It also sums up the philosophy of 3 year olds, or anyone old enough to understand the concept of a game but too immature to accept defeat.

 

[Leysing]

I guess it has something to do with most men being "hunters" by their nature. But, in that case women should be nurturers. I believe that while feminism made progress by having women think themselves equal, it partially failed by making women act like men (which is requirement for success in a male dominated world). This makes women more competitive also, and twists them into something they are not supposed to be.

Actually, nothing is supposed to be anything in a biological sense. Everything depends on the environment and its challenges. If things go on the way they are now, I suppose that female competitiveness will increase, as it starts to be a common, if not even favored characteristic especially in the western countries. This can be seen as lowering birth rates, for example. Women have "better things to do". And why couldn't personal development be a better thing to do? Selfish, maybe, but isn't the whole thing called evolution a very selfish process? My genes, my genes, my genes!

Many other animal species have competitive females. Cows fight, mares fight. Elephants, horses, cattle etc etc have the alpha-female as the herd/flock leader, and the alpha-male acts only as the Reproducer.

Many primates, however, are different because of the leading male. We are primates. (But, if we think in an evolutionary sense, things must always change, even the process itself.)

And - can I tell you a secret? I don't believe in evolution. I only believe in the adaptation of species, which does have its limits.

 

[Magic Poriferan]

Many primates, however, are different because of the leading male. We are primates. (But, if we think in an evolutionary sense, things must always change, even the process itself.)

However, bonobos are matriarchal and gibbons are a-societal pair bonders with equal relationships. Even our list of nearest relatives don't help us much in understand ourselves, since their habits are so inconsistent.

 

[sciski]

I like grinding people's faces into the dust when the outcome doesn't matter!

As long as it's not actually making anyone feel (seriously) bad to lose, I love to win.

 

[nolla]

Actually, nothing is supposed to be anything in a biological sense. Everything depends on the environment and its challenges. If things go on the way they are now, I suppose that female competitiveness will increase, as it starts to be a common, if not even favored characteristic especially in the western countries. This can be seen as lowering birth rates, for example. Women have "better things to do". And why couldn't personal development be a better thing to do? Selfish, maybe, but isn't the whole thing called evolution a very selfish process? My genes, my genes, my genes!

We are supposed to walk on two feet. I mean, we really are supposed to be what we would have been when we were "only animals". Culture just doesn't pay attention to it. I'm not saying that I would like to go back there, but Im sure that many of todays problems are caused by the loss of our animal heritage and meaning. The sexes are different, but that doesn't mean that one of them is weaker. I think that the culture should change so that women got the same money and respect by doing work that feels natural to them. Everyone should be able to do what they want, but now a girl has to turn into a man to get any respect as a leader, for example. Its wrong.

But, if we think in an evolutionary sense, things must always change, even the process itself.

Well, ok, if we talk about long enough time, then no, we are not supposed to be like we were on stone age, but evolution is really such a long process that you can't say that genes would have changed a lot since then.

 

[01011010]

Edahn is probably correct on why. I personally am not competitive with others. Only myself. I always want to improve my work, even if it's already great. Unless, there is a time line.

 

[Maverick]

The recent addition of the Most Awesome Arcade here has prompted me to ponder the concept of competitiveness. What makes people so competitive with each other? What is the root cause of it? What do you gain? And do you think men and women enjoy competing against each other, or do they prefer to compete with their same gender? Are you competitive?

a) Competition has the potential to enhance the overall "fitness" of a group. By competing, group members make an effort to become stronger and competition enables a hierarchy in the group based on ability, which is beneficial to members.

b) By competing, you gain strength and an idea of where you are in a social hierarchy compared to other people.

c) I think male competition is stereotypically more task focused (i.e. sports, video games, etc.) while female competition is stereotypically more socially focused (i.e. who is the most popular, who is the most succesful in life, etc.). I think women may enjoy competing against men more than men may enjoy competing against women due to prevailing prejudices about a so called "superiority" of males in some areas related to competence. This prejudice would drive women to "correct" the existing bias due to the perception of how gender relates to competence.

d) I am not competitive socially, but am sometimes in a given task. When it comes to the social realm, I do not compare myself to other people to assess how well I'm doing in society or life in general. There will always be someone better or worse than me, and my relative position is not as important as my overall happiness irrespective of my social rank. When it comes to a task, I try to be the best I can be and compete with my past performances by trying to better them (i.e. trying to beat my last timing when I run a given distance). Sometimes, though, I enjoy competing with other people in a task (i.e. playing poker to win).

 

[EffEmDoubleyou]

I'm very competitive, bordering on unhealthily competitive. Especially when the competition revolves around an area I consider myself an expert at. For example, I'm ruthless at bar trivia. I also find it a big turn-on to compete against a woman when the competition is very close. Games and contests are my favorite form of flirting.