Submitted by GaryGagliardi on
Question:
Gary's Answer:
Competition means comparison. Nothing more, nothing less. When any things are compared, they are in competition with one another. They are rated, ranked, and judged against each another.
Competition, that is, the comparison of things is especially critical when making a decision. When you have to choose among alternatives, those alternatives are in competition with one another. Every choice we make is in competition with every other choice we could make.
Not believing in competition means that you don’t believe that people, products, and everything else in the world are compared. But things are compared by everyone all the time. Your job, spouse, and everything you have every purchased was the result of a decision where the alternatives were compared and you choose the winners of that competition. I don’t think you really believe that. I just don’t think you have thought about what competition is.
Or, perhaps, you think that things shouldn’t be compared. So you think all products, people, and so on are equally good for everyone? I suspect you don’t.
The problem may be that you think that competition is the opposite of cooperation. It isn’t. The opposite of competition is no choice. We cannot compare alternatives if we have no choice.