Competition, Amilla, Competition: A play on words or a deep philosophical analysis?
We often use the words "competition," "rivalry," and "competition" without being sure of their true meaning. Dr. Alexandros Alemis, in his new article, attempts to demystify these concepts and help us understand their place in our everyday lives.
Is competition always negative? Is it true that rivalry is a more "civilized" form of competition? And what role does the team play in our effort to achieve our goals?
The author challenges us to think deeply about the answers to these questions and to wonder if life is ultimately a game, a war, or a perpetual struggle for survival.
Readers ask
Many of my readers have asked me from time to time to clarify what I mean by the word competitionSome suggest that I use the word instead competition, and others the word emulation. So I thought it would be a good idea to look up all three of these words in the dictionary again. I chose Greek Dictionary, Tegopoulos-Fitrakis, and the Dictionary of the ancient Greek language, of Stamatakos. As I did this, I understood why there is confusion regarding these concepts and I considered it necessary to clear it up.
Definitions from dictionaries
The definitions that follow are from Greek Dictionary, Tegopoulos-Fitrakis:
competition: struggle against, to be someone's opponent.
competitive: one who neutralizes the influence of another.
emulation: competition for primacy, for dominance.
emulate: I strive for primacy, for dominance; I am equal, equal.
compete: I struggle with another or others for dominance.
competition: rivalry, struggle for dominance.
Competition and rivalry: What's the confusion?
Both dictionaries clearly define it competition as the struggle against, to be someone's opponent.
This is the definition I have in mind when I use the word competition, that is, I compete against someone else to win.
However, both dictionaries define the words competition and emulation somewhat like synonyms for competition, and this, of course, creates a lot of confusion.
To clarify my position, I do not believe that these words are in any way synonymous, on the contrary I believe that their definition is completely different.
Competitor, for me, is someone who competes in the same field or sport as me. It can be antagonist, that is, it could belong to another group, or it could be from my own group, that is, playmate.
Ο antagonist He may be good or bad, smart or stupid, but he is still a competitor. What he does when he gets the upper hand is up to him, not me. I keep that clear in mind when I compete.
The cause of the confusion
Why this confusion? I believe that here our learned ancestors had created a confusion about something very important and crucial for survival. That is, instead of facing competition for what it is, they embellished it. And this confuses us because life is not like that.
Observing life, I see the following:
1) that life is a game. I didn't make the game, I just write what I observe.
2) The game is played in teams. The best team wins.
3) The game has opponents who compete to see who will win.
4) When someone gets the upper hand, they do what they think is right or wrong.
5) No god has come, as far as I know, to set rules. Look at history. Look at the Europeans and the Indians in America.
6) Play and competition never stop, not even by command of God or gods.
Amilla, competition and war: Their relationship
Let's also look at the word emulation.
The word emulation means: fair competition, competition, yes, but with rules, laws and ethics. I am in favor of competition, but I am not naive to believe that this happens at the behest of some god. It happens because we agree. But competition exists in life, it is the game of life, of survival or defeat.
The only word I can think of as a synonym for competition is the word war. War usually means competition with weapons. But there is also war without weapons, such as economic war, psychological war, etc.
Main cause of war? Unprotected goods, or at least the belief that they are unprotected.
Based on the above, confrontation or competition or war will never end.
Why? Because without the chances of losing and winning there is no game. Therefore, there is no life. Anyone who tells you that there will be world peace is kidding you, consciously or not.
My suggestion
Tell me, what do you propose? You have two choices: either you will lose and adapt to the winner's team and play by their rules and follow their customs and traditions, if they accept you, or you will become the winner.
To win, however, you need to have the best team. Without a team, you won't go far.
Competition in itself is not good or bad or moral, it is simply a confrontation, and it will exist in eternity. The winner does whatever he wants. So, try not to lose.
Therefore, if we believe that competition exists in the game of life, it is an oxymoron to celebrate the Revolution of 1821 and have the country as an unfettered vineyard.
You will tell me, now the times are different or that the world has fallen into apathy anyway. I believe that there are no times, the human spirit is timeless, and also the apathy of a living spirit is non-existent. You will tell me again: “Yes, but I see my fellow human beings have fallen into apathy.” If this is so, then this is because the opponent/opponents, that is, our competitors, have thrown us into apathy for their own benefit. (See the article “Apathy Kills” (https://alexalemis.gr/h_apatheia_skotonei/) on my blog.)
One of the opponent's goals is to convince you that you don't need a team and that in this day and age your team is the people the media tells you − and makes you − to trust, and that everything will be fine, especially if you get a bonus of 500 euros. You forget to ask, of course, where these 500 euros come from and whether they will be available, and how, in the future.
How do we live a free life? With the best possible system of government.
In the meantime
The best framework for groups and freedom is free enterprise and responsible democracy. (See my books Political Systems and Their Relationship to the Economy and Freedom and What's Wrong with Democracy and How to Fix It. My goal is to contribute with my work to creating that critical mass of citizens that will lead to this framework and thus begin an upward march for our country. I wish you all the best!
photo Ben_Kerckx, https://pixabay.com
