Quote:

Originally Posted by Buddha Let me give you an example. You enjoy long drives. You grab your spouse and go on a long drive.

For having a long drive fun, one needs to have a car & for buying a car, one needs to earn better. Here competition starts.


As human beings we all want to be happy and free from misery but competition is no way an impediment in pursuit of happiness as long as it is fair one.

Regards,

Competition is an inherent feature of human nature which is very much clear from the history of mankind. The competitive nature of mankind has been depicted by Plato, Hobbes, Machiavelli et al. Even what the Prophet of Islam taught was all about to suppress this competitiveness among muslims while competing with the other adversarial forces. I mean, nature itself teach competitiveness. In pre-historic age, human beings were even more competitive than they're today. They killed each others for the sake of food, property and ego and that's the reason that the phrase "Old Adam" came into being to depict the cruel nature of human beings. Human beings possess a great deal of bestiality but they do it in somewhat a civilised way, the reason why they don't stop one another from appearing in a competitive exam is one example of it. Even their civility comes because they can't afford to be subjected to the law of the land. I mean, their civility comes from the fear of punishment. In terms of 124 prophets, even today, you can't alter what is written in Quran which goes against your argument of the goodness of human beings. If we would have been good by nature, there would have been no need of following 1400 years old text. The people of the USA consider themselves as the most civilised people but when it comes to their interests, they don't spare a single opportunity of killing and maiming their fellow beings. Is this the human nature which is loaded with kindness, cooperation and goodness??

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"Success is not final, failure is not fatal; it is the courage to continue that counts" (Winston Churchill)

For creative people its the process which counts while for others its the end point.....it depends upon the definition of success which one wants to adopt.....things inside you matter more than what others think and how success appears to them....we succumb to others' interpretation of success and forget ours and that is the point where we find competition, struggle and suffering.

I'm assuming a competition-less society in the first place.

I think you're assuming too much of the bestial nature of human beings. People don't commit crimes just because they fear law and sanction. They don't do it because they find it disgusting and not right, that is where training comes. Training that comes from socialization and that is what a society does. That was my point about making a society that trains its members not to be competitive but co-operative.
The Holy Prophet (PBUH) taught to suppress the competitiveness among the Muslims, what if everyone of us becomes a Muslim, there wouldn't be a need for competition then?

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He that increaseth knowledge increaseth sorrow (Ecclesiastes 1:18)

It may not be in many cases but still it is there an eternal triangle may be given an example. This thing has been depicted by Rousseau in a very beautiful way in his classic "The Origin of Inequality". Even if one person dance well, others develop envy. Dancing well by one person doesn't hurt anyone but due to presence of competitiveness in the very nature of human beings, it develops jealousy which denies happiness to the spectators even it is meant for their amusement.

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"Success is not final, failure is not fatal; it is the courage to continue that counts" (Winston Churchill)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Buddha I'm assuming a competition-less society in the first place.

You are assuming that billions of people have all the luxuries of the life without working?

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When you try, you risk failure. When you don’t try, you ensure it.

Right! If we all become creative, we as a society can eliminate the projection of success as some kind of achieving an end, rather we can think of it as enjoying the process

Without working, No. Without competing, Yes. That is where science and technology comes in. We have all the resources, even we can make more cars than there are people on Earth but their effective distribution is missing. That is what I'm assuming, their effective distribution.

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He that increaseth knowledge increaseth sorrow (Ecclesiastes 1:18)

This is not an assumption respected member! Instead, it is what history tells us. Why Qabeel killed his brother Habeel? Why Socrates was executed? Why Jesus Christ was persecuted? Why people are being killed in Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan, Sudan, Ukraine, and you name it. Even a human being can't become a perfect muslim. Just have a look at the muslim sectarianism. How many sects are there? Many! And the sole reason behind this state of affairs is human ego which gives rise to competition.

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"Success is not final, failure is not fatal; it is the courage to continue that counts" (Winston Churchill)

That's what he is saying...in order to reduce suffering we should move towards a welfare society where there is less competition

And which is a practical impossibilty.

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"Success is not final, failure is not fatal; it is the courage to continue that counts" (Winston Churchill)