CHENNAI: Most of us have become so conditioned that we believe that competition brings out the best in us and it is the competition and not cooperation, which is the key to success. The truth however is that intensely competitive structures cause high stress and moral corruption which damage physical, mental and social health. Besides, they foster dehumanising mentality causing distrust, rivalry and unfriendliness. A comparative study of competitive and cooperative effort situations made by experts has shown that cooperation works far better then competition. How ?
It’s simple. Competition tends to drive wedges between human beings whereas cooperation builds bridges and fosters unity thereby promoting harmony and teamwork. Co-operation stimulates communication and finding of mutually satisfying solutions to problems. Thus relationships and endeavors based on cooperation are more successful and lasting.
Today we see people getting united in groups, big or small, but only to protect, strengthen or improve their position vis-a-vis other groups or the society at large.This is mainly because the entire approach to cooperation has been of ‘giving’ with an eye on ‘taking’ rather, ‘taking’ more. It has been forgotten that there is another philosophy of life which is ‘giving’ rather than ‘taking’. If we give more to the community than we take from it, we shall always have a ‘plus’ balance to draw upon.
Even one’s long term self-interest is best served by working for the maximum common good of all. This is because in the Universe, there is so much of inter-dependence. Whatever a person does is bound to recoil or bounce-back on him, sooner or later. So why not practice the art of “giving” like our ancestors.