Competition vs. Cooperation

Competition brings out the finest of outcomes and more often than necessary, the worst in people. It reminds me of an indelible line from a famous which movie goes, “Life is a race, if you don’t run fast, you’ll get trampled.” Cooperation on the other hand is not viewed as antithetical to competition, rather, it is viewed as an intrinsic component of competition. This concept is rather confusing and complicated, but we are to learn.

Peter Kropotkin once said, “Competition is the law of the jungle, but cooperation is the law of civilization.” If we are to concatenate this to the ways of the world and what people deem acceptable in the society, it wouldn’t be a shock to finally acknowledge that most of the greatest things in the world aren’t created only by one brilliant mind or crafty hand, but by multitudinous empowered individuals. Life is a never ending conquest. Since the beginning, our ancient ancestors have learned the rules of the world in the most harsh environment so they lived their life in savage ways. Back then there was only one rule-- COMPETE or DIE-- where in the only thing important is survival. But come to think of it, what they’re doing isn’t really living, its just not dying, there is a difference.

As time passes by, we’ve learned to evolve. But still, the competition is present, there is only one good thing added-- we’ve learned how to cooperate and coordinate with others. The new era of civilization has formed tribes, packs, groups up to what we call in this generation as a community. We’ve established a bond and acquired roles in the newly formed society. Each and everyone of us play a certain part, which means our very existence is no doubt important. Humans are relational beings, we live not only for ourselves, but through and with others. So if a man shall declare that he accomplish things alone, of course he can. But he can do so much more and succeed if he helps and gets help from others.

Competition and cooperation are both identified to as core natures of human existence and relations. Sharing an uncanny relationship where one exists inside the other and can be healthy or destructive. There is so much more to life than meaningless triumphs and passing fancies. We need genuine connection to gain something more than just the joys of winning.