Splash No. 141 - Competition
Competition
I’ve never been a very competitive person. I think about my two or three years of playing squash, and my fondest memory isn’t about winning a match or competing. It’s just the times I spent hitting by myself in the court, listening to Yeezus by Kanye West over and over again. I never really had the drive to try and beat my competition, instead just seeking the satisfaction of a good shot here and there.
I went to a high-achieving high school in Georgia, where it was commonplace to compare grades after tests, and class rank was restricted to only seniors to avoid students from becoming too competitive. The entire time, I never really understood it; would a college really care if I got a better grade than Joe? And, was I really in direct competition with everyone else who was applying to the same schools as me?
There’s a cognitive bias called zero-sum thinking, in which people have a tendency to see scenarios in their lives as zero-sum games, situations where one person’s gains or losses are balanced by another’s gains or losses. Essentially, this bias makes someone more likely to operate competitively or non-cooperatively, since they think that someone else’s success will result in their own failure. Despite this bias, most situations aren’t zero-sum — life in general isn’t zero-sum.
Once I got to college, the competitive spirit from high school seemed to fade — suddenly the people I was surrounded by weren’t running the same race as me, and competition no longer made sense. When I changed my major to one where everyone had different goals and dreams, the energy shifted even more. We found things to learn from each other and could revel in the beauty of each other’s creative pursuits. I didn’t want to make video games, but I could be inspired by and cheer on my classmates who did. My friend who wanted to make films may not have known much about design, but he could appreciate the effort I put into it.
In college and beyond, I’ve continuously noticed a divide: the most creative communities are the ones that don’t seem to care much about competition. Instead, they focus on collaboration and pushing each other to grow in their own ways. The basis of these communities is support, looking to help everyone involved, rather than each person looking prevail at the expense of others. This model is the complete opposite of the way of zero-sum thinking and often offers the best result for the most people possible.
And sure, competition can be a way to grow as well, but no one competes by themselves. Even in something similar to a zero-sum game, individual sports, a competitor works with a team of coaches, training partners, and trainers. I think about the time that Serena Williams beat her older sister Venus in the 2017 Australian Open final. Afterwards, Venus told her sister, “Your win has always been my win. I think you know that.”
I want to challenge the idea that competition always needs to be the way we think about the scenarios in our lives and I want to look for opportunities to collaborate instead. We can do it together.
Drops of the Week
PLAYLIST - The Greatest Generation by The Wonder Years - a great work of early 10s pop-punk that I've been jamming to
ARTICLE - "A World of Black Intimacy at the Card Table" by Hanif Abdurraqib - my favorite writer in an essay about cards, and more.
FILM - I Care a Lot - not amazing, but decently fun
The president may not be a white supremacist, but there's still work to be done. With each day, we move closer to a more equitable world. Reminders:
Ways you can help Mutual Aid Networks
Anti-racism resources
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Collaboratively,
Nikhil