I was thinking whether it will be possible for human beings to develop a social system where there is no competition, no goals, no end results rather they will only enjoy the process without giving a thought about the ends. There will be happiness and bliss rather than disappointment and sadness. Where everyone will be happy and content. There would be no dissatisfaction.

I became pretty sensitive to loss, expectations, competition after I started studying for CSS. Seen through my eyes serious CSS aspirants are the saddest people on earth-other than those who failed to make it to a gov medical college- especially those who have failed in an attempt. Every thing that is wrong about society is reflected in their sadness: competition, anxiety for the ends, waiting for the goal rather than enjoying the whole thing, failure, the desire for a better and more effective life which started from their discontentment with their present life. At the end only a few make it to the desired ends leaving the rest of the herd disappointed. It is the mini-version of the inequality that the society as a whole suffers from. Only a few are successful and happy and content, and the rest of the people lost, dejected and sad. When we were a hunter and gatherer society, were we all happy? There wasn't anything to be sad about! Everybody got food, attachment, love, recognition. Have we progressed from a happy society to a sad society? An equal society to an unequal one? Will we ever go back to that state again?

Please comment.

Dear Fellow, If you're talking about contentment? Then there is no such thing as contentment in human life, I mean long lasting contentment. she/He is contented at one moment and otherwise at the other. Human beings are, by nature, competitive, selfish, egoistic and ego-centeric. Rousseau, in his famous treatise: The Origin of Inequality, has developed a rosy picture of the State of Nature and the simplicity of life in it but he is wrong. Even the pious among us are not contented but they're posing to be so. I meantheirs is a sham contentment. Judd Harmon, in his famous book: "Political Thought: from Plato to Present", has said that every man is the product of his own society. So as there is no stability in our societal system, so one can't get contentment. With the passage of time, demands from the society increases and so does the desire of getting power after power. Going back to nature would render human society as a bestial society where there would be a war of all against all (Thomas Hobbes). Regards

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

It seems like a wonderful society but I am sorry to say that this will not be a human society. where there are humans, there will be competition and infact this competition is the driving force for human society. without it, we will still be hunter gatherers. so instead of running away, you should embrace this fact and try your best to stay on top.

Human beings are also co-operative, humane, loving and altruistic. Nature of human beings is how well they are prepared by society which makes us come back to my question: Is it possible to raise a society where there is no competition? As you yourself said man is a product of his society. And I didn't say that we would go back to the state of bestiality but to a new state where there are no pressures on human beings like there are in a competitive society!

The society I'm talking about will be a stable one. Power will have little place as there will be no ambition to lead.


I know competition is part and parcel of our present life. I'm just speculating whether it will be possible to make a society where everyone is happy. A society where there is no competition is bound to be the happiest.

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

Dear Fellow, I do agree with your contention that human beings are cooperative et al. But their is a great deal of selfishness and ego-centrism present in them. They are cooperative when their is no competition involved, I mean when there's no stake of them involved, and that's why it is said that "Banda Insan bhi hai aur Shetan bhi". Moreover, the society, which you're talking about, has been promised by the ideology of Communism but, as we know, that was the human factor which failed it. Human beings are corrupt by nature and The Almighty knew this thing as He is the Manufacturer of human beings, so He sent prophets and messengers to put human beings on the path of humanity, love and truth. Imagine! If human beings were not selfish and corrupt, there would have been no need for sending out 124k prophets. Only communism provides a solution to your problem but even that is not gonna get human beings out of competition. I still remember the words of an American president who said that "Communism can work only in two places: the Heaven, where they don't need it, and the Hell, where they already have it". So a competition-less society is a utopia which would remain so for ever because competition is something that humans are made for. Regards

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

124k prophets have come. But now they will not come! We're on our own now. I know that competition is a basic part of all animals. But can't we humans grow out of it? Isn't that what makes us human and not animals! We're not fully competitive. For example, when we are in a competition exam, everyone plays by the rules. Nobody will ever stop a person who is likable to pass from reaching examination hall. Rather many would offer him a lift even though his presence in exam hall will decrease their chances to pass. So it cannot be clearly established that competitiveness is an inherent feature of human beings. With the help of science and technology food and resources can not remain scarce, the need for competition to get hold of resources can simply be fizzled away!
Well the concept of utopia was even before communism, but this utopia would be quite an amazing place to live. I wonder what would be a place like where everyone is happy and contented! A heaven on Earth.

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

Man, are you stoned or something? :P

I beg to differ. Primitive humans had to deal with far more problems than us. Every place was unknown and predators were everywhere. Then there were natural disasters reasons of which were unknown, giving rise to more irrational fears. If anything, life seems better today than ever even if one is an average human with average amount of material possessions. The point us, the opinion that we have moved from a happier to sad society does not seem well founded.

Happiness seems relative, but I get your point which is something like a just society. During the CSS prep, I read Russell's interesting view which goes like this: "It is true that, as a result of social revolution, the division of classes is expected ultimately to disappear, giving way to political and economic harmony. But this is a distant ideal, like the Second Coming; in the meantime, there is war and dictatorship, and insistence upon ideological orthodoxy." Your post also reminds me to read more about his views on the future of human race and know the reason behind his optimism, considering that his style is usually no-nonsense and nothing but logic.

But I do think we are moving in that direction, albeit very slowly and haphazardly. Two main things elimination of which can be revolutionary are poverty and death. None of this seems impossible to overcome, and that too in not too distant future (that is, if we do not annihilate ourselves before that, chances of which are diminishing gradually as we move forward through our technological adolescence).

And then there are scientific possibilities of directing the human evolution to eliminate/overcome the deadly instincts and nurture the creative ones. Given the exponential growth of human intellectual/scientific achievements, the future seems to present endless possibilities. As for the competition, that again does not seem a very bad thing, particularly if it is free of malevolent instincts and is not a bare competition for survival.

But the point is, none of this is possible in our lifetime so we can only take refuge in speculations about the future of humanity (a pretty fascinating subject) and feel good or bad (depending on our view).

an ideal society is not possible. OK. but we keep working towards it, even if we can't achieve it in our lifetimes, we can at least lay the foundations for the future generations...

It's against human nature to stay incompetent.From the very beginning of the world,a never ending competition has started and it will be going on for good.Competition is the reason behind creation of the world.Satan tried to compete with the first human being and in this world the very first example of competition is the fight between Adam's sons.

Incompetency makes human life stagnant and monotonous.Struggle instills charm in society and progress is the product of competition.Happiness will lose its taste if there is no sadness.Satisfaction can't be defined if there is no disappointment.

If there is no anxiety,despondency and dissatisfaction,human beings will have shaken belief in God.The Almighty ensnares us in such situations so we may seek HIS mercy and fear the anticipated punishments.

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Love is my Shield,Truth is my Sword,Brain is my Crown,Smile is my Treasure and I'm a Queen;
Quitters never win and Winners never quit..!!!

Yeah! Close :P


I don't think we can equate fear with sadness. Primitive people might be fearful but that doesn't mean they were unhappy. They had solidarity and they shared food and shelter. There was no division among them and they used to face the predators and dangers together. Moreover, they had adventure in their life which wasn't about competitiveness and winning but about survival of their own society. Russel agreed that there wasn't boredom in their life which is a major source of our discontentment. I think we can only contemplate about them but that thing is sure that in their social setup there wasn't any stratification and resulting mobility which I think is the major cause of sadness.

But even if they were not happy and contented it does not mean we can never have a society in the future in which there is happiness for everyone.

Yes I do agree. That is why I will define happiness: Contentment, lack of pain and pleasure in abundance. Almost the same what Mills defined.

The elimination of death is really fascinating. If we eliminate death somehow and become immortals, I guess we will achieve a way to find an end to our problems simply through trial and error.

So you also agree that we can ultimately achieve that kind of society! But it would be a point to ponder are we really going in that direction as Russel said? You said it is also possible we could annihilate ourselves. The only thing that matters is now the direction.

Let me give you an example. You enjoy long drives. You grab your spouse and go on a long drive. You're enjoying the ride, the wind everything. Then there comes mountains and you try different routes seeing different scenes all the way. Meanwhile, you stay at different hotels and try different things. You read books in the evening or watch movies.

There is no competition in the whole thing. There is spontaneity and no monotony. There isn't even struggle to beat someone, you're just enjoying the whole thing. Is is necessary that you've to become sad to enjoy this whole thing or if you aren't sad in your life you won't enjoy this? You won't be satisfied with this? I don't think it is necessary to become sad to be happy

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