10. Fight for Dominance and Desire for Victory (Competitiveness)

The meaning of ‘fight for dominance and desire for victory’ is straightforward. It is the mentality, desire and action to gain advantage and to win.

The essence of ‘fight for dominance and desire for victory’ is competition. In other words, it is through the mechanism of competition that one demonstrates one’s prowess and gains dominance or wins. In this sense, we can also call this pattern the ‘pattern of competitiveness’.

Competition is the attempt to outdo others. It is the desire to excel in all kinds of social activities. In a way, we can say excelling through competition is an instinct. Even young children manifest this desire. For example, a young child will feel very happy and proud if his blocks are piled higher than other children’s. Most people are more or less competitive and it shows when comparing oneself with others.

1) The Evolution and Development of the Human Species

To an extent, we can say the history of human survival and development can be summed up as the competition between humans and nature, and the competition between humans and humans. Darwinism states that a species develops through natural selection – if a trait variation is useful, it is preserved. In other words, development occurs through a kind of competition to survive. This applies to the human species too.

Competition puts people in a very complex and special state. It can activate a very strong motivational and driving force. A person will be motivated to do all he can to outshine, with a strong aversion to falling behind. It can mobilize intelligence and sharpen awareness and senses. It can improve concentration, thinking and enhance the performance of mental faculties. It can also facilitate the manifestation of imagination and creativity. All of these can increase one’s competitive edge and hence the chance to survive. Competition mentality has been passed down through generations and has almost become an instinct.

2) Human Nature Factor

In the Theory of Shen and Yi of Ren Xue, the first four basic qualities of human nature are directly related to the instinct of competition. In addition, the instinct to ‘seek benefit (interest) and avoid harm; seek simplicity (easy solution) and avoid complexity (extra work)’ provides the driving force for humans to develop the competition mentality and instinct.

Note: The first four qualities are: natural instinct, survival instinct, social nature and needs beyond the physical level.

3) Social and Cultural Factor

Competition has been part of human society and culture from the very beginning; we can say that through competition society has become what it is today. Competition can still be found everywhere in our society.

The instinct on the human nature level can manifest in many different ways. For example, the aspiration for the better can be ‘internally oriented’ (improving life through self-cultivation) or ‘externally oriented’ (improving life through pursuing external goals). An external orientation will usually lead a person to pursue widely accepted social values, such as gaining wealth and power, in order to be successful or to win respect and recognition. The internal orientation is not likely to lead to a competition mentality or pattern but the external orientation is very likely to. With a competition mentality, the first thing people consider when deciding what to do is ‘how is this helping me gain advantage or increasing my chances of winning’. In reality, the distribution of many resources in society is determined through competition. Such a social and cultural environment has created a strong, institutionalized force that promotes and creates competition.

Today our society and mainstream culture place a high value on competition. It is encouraged in every area of life. The champion is greatly rewarded and hailed as a hero, and the winner receives the biggest applause. Everyone wants to stand out and become the object of envy. As a result, victory is a goal that people will do almost anything they can to achieve.

4) Family Environment

If parents are competitive, their children are likely to be competitive. Children can develop this mentality from a very young age, for example fighting for more or better food or toys. Sometimes competition for parents’ love and attention can be fierce among siblings. Competition can also be seen among peers.

Many parents encourage their children to compete in all kinds of arenas. They expect their children to show their abilities and excel and aim straight for the top. Even hobbies and personal interests can become competitions and children are encouraged to use them to develop their ability to compete.

In many cases, parents are really excellent teachers/models when it comes to competitiveness!

5) Education

Education and educational institutes play a very active role in equipping people with the knowledge and skills they need to be competitive. In whatever way education is delivered, it encourages students to compete against one another. It emphasizes the importance of excelling in order to prepare for the competition they will later face in society. We can say that many educational institutes, to an extent, are cradles for competitiveness.

6) Personal Factor

Personal factors always play a vital role in the formation and development of patterns. The place of competition in one’s value system plays a significant role in the formation of this pattern. Other patterns, including greediness, fear of being taken advantage of, and approval seeking can also contribute to the formation of this particular pattern.

Competition is an extremely complex mental and behavioural phenomenon characterized by an attempt to achieve a specific goal or objective. We can roughly classify competition into two categories: relatively healthy and relatively unhealthy.

The relatively healthy competition is characterized by the participant knowing how to choose an appropriate arena (e.g. electing a president may not be a sound choice for a 10-year-old child; marathon running may not be suitable for a person who has difficulty walking), being in a positive and healthy emotional and mental state, manifesting the spirit of peace, fairness and respect, having the ability to tackle difficulties and take loss in a healthy way.

The relatively unhealthy competition is the opposite of the above. In addition, other characteristics could include, unsound motivation, not playing by the rules and unconstructive or even damaging processes or outcomes.

The pattern of competitiveness can manifest in all kinds of ways in life. For example, comparing oneself with another person or his house, car, income, job, the list goes on. People don’t want to be outdone. Parents compare their children with other children, from academic performance, appearance, hobbies, and game playing, to sports. Old people compare themselves with young people, not wanting to be physically outperformed. Even on the road, people can turn normal car travel into a race or a driving feat, which sometimes leads to dangerous road rage. Many people don’t seem to mind investing a large amount of their Qi, Xin and Shen in competing with others.

Let’s look more specifically into the manifestations of the pattern of competitiveness and their possible causes.

1) Lack of Clarity on How to Realize Values of Life

A person’s value system determines what he sees as important and what he wants for life, so it plays a crucial role in the direction of life. Most people see health, happiness, a strong sense of wellbeing, growth and helping other people as of great value for life. Indeed these are some of the common goals many people want to achieve. However, for various reasons, many people see gaining external wealth, power, resources and status as the way to achieve these goals. When there are too many people wanting limited external resources, they will compete with one another to get them. So is this external approach an efficient way to realize these valuable goals of life? We humans have tried this approach for thousands of years and it does not look like it is either efficient or sustainable. Individuals, society and nature are damaged in this long process of fighting over resources. It has not gotten us closer to health, happiness, a strong sense of wellbeing and growth. That is to say, as we fight so hard to gain success through various forms of competition, we are also paying the price for it. What we gain in the end is not real success, as we have lost what is actually most valuable.

2) Too Much Emphasis on ‘Self-Worth’

Whether parents are comparing their children to other children or old people are comparing themselves to young people, comparison takes place in order to affirm that one is on the ‘winning’ side. This could be due to a need to prove one’s worth and defend one’s ‘dignity’ and to constantly reinforce a sense of superiority. In fact it is a natural ability of Shen and consciousness to prove one’s existence and worth through comparing. It is a way of gaining a sense of certainty and security. However, when this need has grown too large, there can be all kinds of negative effects. For example, one can be compulsively comparing all the time – to everyone and everything. When one is not the ‘winner’, he could get emotionally upset and feel jealous or resentful. Or, one can resort to acting or pretending, as well-illustrated by a Chinese saying: ‘Slap one’s own face until it’s swollen in order to pretend to be chubby.’ When a person is over-competitive, he can also lose respect for others and look down on them. He can become snobbish. This of course would incite others to be competitive and defensive. A vicious cycle could form this way.

3) Perfectionism

Perfectionism explained in a simple way is the mind set and behaviour of setting extremely or even unrealistically high standards, accompanied by the strong expectation that they will be met. It is a manifestation of over-idealization. A perfectionist often determines the value or meaning of his life by evaluating performance and outcome. However, because the standards are often too high to reach, he often does not feel the satisfaction of success and meaningfulness he seeks. Continually setting higher goals and pushing limits to outperform himself and others becomes the norm. He may not want to be competitive, but his mindset and behaviour are competitive.

4) Personality

Some people are born with the personality traits of ambition and a strong drive to pioneer. This type of person enjoys competition and has high expectations for achievement. This personality type will have a good chance of succeeding, but they can also be prone to emotional instability such as depression, anxiety and restlessness. Although such personality traits can play a big role in a person’s consciousness, including the formation of patterns, personality traits can be changed.

Some people use the peacock, or to be more precise the fanning of the peacock’s tail, to describe the tendency toward competitiveness. It goes without saying that the fanning of a peacock’s tail is a display of utter beauty and magnificence. However, it also can appear somewhat haughty, competitive and imposing. ‘Peacock mentality’ is a manifestation of inflated vanity and a lack of security. It is using a glorified appearance to make up for the feeling of inadequacy, in order to win attention or recognition. Vanity is common and can be found to some degree in almost everyone. However, if it is excessive, it can have problematic consequences on all levels of life.

Competition seems to be able to motivate people and give them hope. It gives people driving force and helps overcome laziness. It keeps a person’s fighting spirit high and gives one the courage to keep overcoming obstacles and challenges and the determination to beat competitors.

Competition can also motivate a person to do better without falling behind. It can enhance the performance of the senses and mental faculties – so thinking can be more astute and concentration can be improved. It can even help manifest potential abilities such as imagination and creativity.

It is human nature to aspire to the better. As put in a Chinese saying: ‘People move upwards; water flows downwards.’ However, if the moving up is done by unhealthy competition, over time it could bring all kinds of negative consequences to life. For example, it will be difficult for life to be in a relaxed, calm and natural state. There can be ongoing overuse of the body, Qi and Shen. Besides, unhealthy emotional and mental states such as pressure, stress, anxiety and fear can often be part of the competitive way of being, not to mention the frustration, disappointment and sense of failure and hopelessness one can experience when losing. All these can take a toll on one’s health and life.

Being competitive can also affect one’s relationships, making them more prone to friction or conflict. It can create tension and distance between people.

Research shows:

• People who are too competitive have a higher chance of getting cardiac disease, which can shorten the life span.
• People who are too competitive often have varying degrees of relationship issues. It is difficult for them to have close friends and intimate relationships.
• Unhealthy competition leads to long-term anxiety, which results in psychological and emotional imbalances and symptoms such as fatigue. When people are not able to deal with failure properly, it can cause depression and other mental disorders.

Competition can be found in every area of society, not just between individuals, for example, between different products, organisations, religions, cultures, political groups, races and nations. Fight for dominance and self-interest in a competitive way can be seen everywhere.

Unhealthy competition has been the way society has operated for a long time. It has caused so many problems, including inequality, polarization of wealth distribution, clash of classes and religious conflict. Human health and wellbeing are seriously affected by it, especially the loss of balance on the Jingshen (spiritual, mental and emotional) level. Currently humanity is unclear about its direction for the future. Ongoing terrorist attacks, conflicts of all sorts, wars, dramatic climate change, deterioration of the ecological environment – all of these and more have something to do with unhealthy competition. Up until now, real solutions have not taken shape.

Is competition the only way for humanity to survive and thrive? Is there a better way?

The mentality and pattern of competitiveness is part of our natural instinct so it seems to have become something we all have to live with. On the other hand, we should also recognize that we humans have the ability to grow and, more importantly, every person has the potential for realization and wisdom, which is something unique to the human species. While we should acknowledge the role competition has played in the development of human civilization, especially its contribution to the development of material advancement, we should also pay attention to the huge negative impact it has brought to humanity and nature.

So the question is: should we humans continue to rely on competition to ensure the continual development of individuals and society as a whole? Is this a sustainable path? Where is it taking us if we keep going this way? Who can give us the answer?

Society is made up of many individuals. In every human being, there is a heart with the aspiration for a better future. Health, happiness, sense of wellbeing, growth and making a contribution to society are our common goals. But where is the path that can lead us to them? It has become clearer than ever that the existing path is not the one. The truth is: many people are no longer willing to continue on this path.

Is healthy competition the way out? Although healthy competition does not cause as much damage as unhealthy competition, it is still competition and therefore can still have a comprehensive negative impact in the long run. Is it possible to do away with the mentality of competition? The answer is ‘yes’.

We propose the path of ‘Six Stepping Stones for Uplifting Life’: normality, health, freedom, self-control, self-awareness, autonomy (see Theory of Shen and Yi, Chapter 5 for detailed explanations). These six stepping stones can be used to pave a new path. They can be set as goals and provide the driving force for developing higher realization and wisdom. The progress we make in them also leads to the development of our ability to both uplift our own lives and help others and society to make progress. As an individual, each person can rely on these six ‘stepping stones’ to create a new path. Through cultivating and growing these potential abilities, we humans will be able to grow, enjoy a good life, help others and contribute to the development of society without competition. We humans will gradually become beings of higher realization and wisdom and we will not cause any harm to the totality.

When more and more people are walking on this path, the culture of competition will gradually be weakened. In its place, the culture of working together in harmony will gradually develop, marking the development of true civilization. True civilization is driven by self-cultivation, realization and wisdom.

It cannot be emphasized enough that:

The most valuable assets and resources cannot be found outside of life.

The real competitors and rivals are not outside. What we need to overcome is all the unhealthy patterns inside, including the pattern of competitiveness. This is how we become strong and powerful and true winners.

If you really have to compete, how about trying to compete with yourself! See if you can make today better than yesterday, this hour better than the previous hour.

We are part of the totality that is made up of all human beings, all lives and the whole universe. All of us share the same future and destiny. It only makes sense to love and support one another and live in harmony with one another. The law of the jungle means some will have to die for others to survive. For humans this is not the way for the future. There is a way for all of us to not only survive but to thrive as a true civilization. It is time for all of humanity to contemplate what is next.