And Im smart

I was thinking about competition today. Friendly competition between two people like in a game of Chess or Martial Arts or something. Like why people choose to be competitive over certain things more than others and why we're still competitive at all. I don't mean competitive over obvious things like money, food, control, etc. I mean like competitiveness where it doesn't really matter.

I could probably look this all up in wikipedia and find numerous studies to inform me on the roots of competitiveness and why we're like this, but I'm too lazy. So instead I'm gonna type my thoughts really fast.

I think as humans, part of our enjoyment comes from knowing and seeing that we grow. Knowing that we progress inch by inch, day by day, in whatever aspect we choose or unconsciously choose. We like to feel the sense of building ourselves from bottom to top and knowing we have control over what parts we want to build.

That's part of friendly competition I think, in sports and games. It's why people go into competitions knowing full well that one of you will lose and the other will win; where the only outcome is not material posession or fame, but knowing which one of you is the better man. One of you will be inferior to the other. But, acknowledging your mistakes when you lose, or acknowledging what you could've done better when you win, that's the enjoyment of friendly competition. Figuring out how you will improve or how you can improve.

Well the fun comes from that and playing the game itself...

Here's the funny thing though: The person who doesn't want to grow or improve, will ultimately feel angry or sad or frustrated when he/she loses. They want the winner to stoop down to their level in order for a "fair" fight. Those people only get their enjoyment from winning, which means that they don't do the competition to grow. They do it for fame, which I think is missing the entire point of a competition and life itself.

However, I think it takes a bit of extrovertedness to enjoy competition. There are those that just find it stupid to compete for whatever reason. They prefer growing through their own trials and tribulations competing only against themselves. Which is absolutely fine.


tl;dr
I like to think that I think about deep things every once in awhile. I'm insecure about my intelligence and I can't organize my thoughts very well.