Coopertition
Four years ago during the World Cup final the Spanish National team earned the championship trophy after enduring and surmounting a vicious and brutal team from the Netherlands. Ostensibly the 22 men were playing the beautiful game but that was only true in name only. The overt physicality of challenges by the men in orange who were playing out of position, led to dangerous plays that not only threatened, but inflicted injury upon their opponents. When the Spaniards proved triumphant their fans felt that sense of universal justice fulfilled. It doesn't always happen that way but when it does those ebullient yet sublime emotions of ultimate equity simultaneously energize and calm the soul.
When right prevails in such an obvious way on such a global scale it's easy to jump to the conclusion that others will see the rewards from fair play and conform their behavior and adopt a just approach to competition. The problem with that conclusion flows from the perceived reality of the other team. They often feel like their team was unfairly penalized for play that was allowed within the rules and they justify the players' actions as proof that their team was truly playing to win. When they reach the opposite conclusion that the contest demonstrated the imbalance within the universe it becomes easy to see why conflicts and dangerous play continue to occur.
As long as people believe that they can gain an advantage without having to pay a penalty greater than the advantage they gain they will often push the limits beyond what they know to be fair. This selfish action probably makes sense under any economic theory of efficiency that evaluates success as a zero sum game. I have grown up incorporating a competitive philosophy as part of my general ethos and find myself less than satisfied with moral victories, near wins, and inadequate progress. I like games that determine winners and losers and I prefer to play the games when I come out the winner.
Even my basic understanding of biology and development tells me that competition is necessary for growth. Without opposition we cannot understand the richness of life the good times are never as good as when they follow the hard ones. I'm not sure why, at my core, I feel a tremendous desire to discover and promote cooperative games where everyone wins.
So yesterday while I was in the Grand Canyon, I met another traveler from the Netherlands. We exchanged pleasantries and quickly got around to the two opportunities that his country has had in the last World Cup tournaments. I apologized if it might start an argument, but I let him know that his team had lost even though they had played a very underhanded and dangerous game against Spain and I was ready with examples. I admit my competitive spirit took a hard blow when this stranger simply agreed and admitted his team had played unfairly. He had managed to see a truth beyond what he wanted.
When right prevails in such an obvious way on such a global scale it's easy to jump to the conclusion that others will see the rewards from fair play and conform their behavior and adopt a just approach to competition. The problem with that conclusion flows from the perceived reality of the other team. They often feel like their team was unfairly penalized for play that was allowed within the rules and they justify the players' actions as proof that their team was truly playing to win. When they reach the opposite conclusion that the contest demonstrated the imbalance within the universe it becomes easy to see why conflicts and dangerous play continue to occur.
As long as people believe that they can gain an advantage without having to pay a penalty greater than the advantage they gain they will often push the limits beyond what they know to be fair. This selfish action probably makes sense under any economic theory of efficiency that evaluates success as a zero sum game. I have grown up incorporating a competitive philosophy as part of my general ethos and find myself less than satisfied with moral victories, near wins, and inadequate progress. I like games that determine winners and losers and I prefer to play the games when I come out the winner.
Even my basic understanding of biology and development tells me that competition is necessary for growth. Without opposition we cannot understand the richness of life the good times are never as good as when they follow the hard ones. I'm not sure why, at my core, I feel a tremendous desire to discover and promote cooperative games where everyone wins.
So yesterday while I was in the Grand Canyon, I met another traveler from the Netherlands. We exchanged pleasantries and quickly got around to the two opportunities that his country has had in the last World Cup tournaments. I apologized if it might start an argument, but I let him know that his team had lost even though they had played a very underhanded and dangerous game against Spain and I was ready with examples. I admit my competitive spirit took a hard blow when this stranger simply agreed and admitted his team had played unfairly. He had managed to see a truth beyond what he wanted.
Comments
Post a Comment
Thank you for keeping your comments positive and helpful..