5 ms·

do you have a problem with competition?

acuozzo 13y ago
I do. I loathe competition; always have, always will. I hate watching others compete amongst themselves (e.g., sports) and I hate participating in all forms of competition, academics or otherwise. It just doesn't turn me on. Rather, it makes me feel uncomfortable. With that being said, I graduated near the top of my CS class and now make over six figures per year, so I guess one can "succeed" (whatever the fuck that means) even when one finds all forms of competition reprehensible. I did what I did to start and support a family. I didn't do what I did for the high one gets when one feels superior to everyone else on something that, in the end, is totally unimportant (pale-blue-dot, remember?). It's all bullshit.
- MaysonL 13y ago
  An interesting quote from Dijkstra on that: "I have never competed with Peter Naur. (I was raised somewhat puritanically: we had to try our hardest and give the most, but we were not allowed to compete. I am still grateful to my parents for this education.)"
- moogleii 13y ago
  I loathe competition as you describe it, yet I can be very competitive. I hate being acknowledged for my accomplishments; it makes me very uncomfortable. But I relish the accomplishments and achievements themselves.
superuser2 13y ago
I have a problem with setting the expectation that in order to be a valuable person or good student, one must be better than everyone else. The bottom quartile of Stanford is still pretty damn smart. We can't expect to be in the top 1% of achievers, because by definition everyone can't. So you end up with 99% of the population that has failed to live up to expectations and deal with the economic and psychological consequences of that. Always, with no exceptions ever, as a matter of statistical fact. That's just stupid and unhealthy. People should be encouraged to go above and beyond, but making it an expectation of all students is just stupid. If all students could do it, it wouldn't be above and beyond. We should be looking at absolute measures of competency instead. This eliminates the problem of the A student who didn't actually learn the material, as well as the C student who is perfectly qualified. I would love to see schools raise the standards for "Pass" to a useful level of competency, then grade everything pass-fail. The very best students could still shine on the basis of the quality of their research.
- yuliyp 13y ago
  We can't all be in the top 1% of achievers, but that doesn't mean we all shouldn't try. Far more than 1% of people are capable of being above the threshold for "top 1% of achievers" as judged by today. Similarly, striving to be the best doesn't mean you're trying to put others down, it means you're trying to improve yourself. That unless others do likewise you'll improve on a relative basis is not the important thing, rather that you'll improve compared to your old self. tl;dr Compete with yourself.
eruditely 13y ago
Not at all. Just life is greater than competition.

I do. I loathe competition; always have, always will. I hate watching others compete amongst themselves (e.g., sports) and I hate participating in all forms of competition, academics or otherwise. It just doesn't turn me on. Rather, it makes me feel uncomfortable. With that being said, I graduated near the top of my CS class and now make over six figures per year, so I guess one can "succeed" (whatever the fuck that means) even when one finds all forms of competition reprehensible. I did what I did to start and support a family. I didn't do what I did for the high one gets when one feels superior to everyone else on something that, in the end, is totally unimportant (pale-blue-dot, remember?). It's all bullshit.

MaysonL 13y ago
An interesting quote from Dijkstra on that: "I have never competed with Peter Naur. (I was raised somewhat puritanically: we had to try our hardest and give the most, but we were not allowed to compete. I am still grateful to my parents for this education.)"
moogleii 13y ago
I loathe competition as you describe it, yet I can be very competitive. I hate being acknowledged for my accomplishments; it makes me very uncomfortable. But I relish the accomplishments and achievements themselves.

superuser2 13y ago

I have a problem with setting the expectation that in order to be a valuable person or good student, one must be better than everyone else. The bottom quartile of Stanford is still pretty damn smart. We can't expect to be in the top 1% of achievers, because by definition everyone can't. So you end up with 99% of the population that has failed to live up to expectations and deal with the economic and psychological consequences of that. Always, with no exceptions ever, as a matter of statistical fact. That's just stupid and unhealthy. People should be encouraged to go above and beyond, but making it an expectation of all students is just stupid. If all students could do it, it wouldn't be above and beyond. We should be looking at absolute measures of competency instead. This eliminates the problem of the A student who didn't actually learn the material, as well as the C student who is perfectly qualified. I would love to see schools raise the standards for "Pass" to a useful level of competency, then grade everything pass-fail. The very best students could still shine on the basis of the quality of their research.

yuliyp 13y ago
We can't all be in the top 1% of achievers, but that doesn't mean we all shouldn't try. Far more than 1% of people are capable of being above the threshold for "top 1% of achievers" as judged by today. Similarly, striving to be the best doesn't mean you're trying to put others down, it means you're trying to improve yourself. That unless others do likewise you'll improve on a relative basis is not the important thing, rather that you'll improve compared to your old self. tl;dr Compete with yourself.

eruditely 13y ago

Not at all. Just life is greater than competition.