Shenk concludes that competition is what drives mankind to excel.
As Nietzsche wrote “Every natural gift must develop itself by contests” (146).As
Shenk further elaborates, “It cannot […] simply be left ogenes, vitamins, and
parents to foster greatness; spurring individual achievement also must be the
duty of society. Every culture must strive to foster values that bring out the
best in its people” (146). Also consider Ericsson’s statement: “frequent
intense engagement in certain types of practice activities is shown to induce
physical strain which causes biochemical changes that stimulate growth and
transformation of cells” (67). Given the previous, do you agree with this
belief that greatness or success only comes with competition? Support your
response with research, real life examples, or biological evidence pertaining
to topics such as Gene Expression and Adaptation/Evolution.
Bowen Jin (bowenjin2004@yahoo.com)
I do believe that competition leads to greatness and success. Throughout the book, Shenk uses the model GxE to explain why organisms are who they are. The environment that an organism lives in affects the genes that are expressed. This regulation of gene expression is mostly brought on by competition. In life, there is the competition to succeed in life. Some see the IQ test as a way to determine if one will succeed or not in their life. In the book, Shenk explains a test that was done to see the success rate of those who have scored over 150 on the IQ test. But, unlike what was expected, these students did not become the super-geniuses everyone thought they would become. Instead, they were average people who had a well-to-do job. However, two students who were rejected from the study because their IQ scores were too low went on to win a Nobel Peace Prize (Shenk 91). One of the reasons this occurred was because the Nobel winning students were placed into a competitive environment. When they were rejected from the study, they left with a growth mindset. This growth mindset gave them the competitiveness to want to succeed in life. They saw the challenges as learning experiences, and they see the effort needed to succeed as a path to success (http://michaelgr.com/2007/04/15/fixed-mindset-vs-growth-mindset-which-one-are-you/). With the competitive edge, these two people were able to expand their knowledge and win a Nobel.
ReplyDeleteTaxi drivers are also in a very competitive environment. A cab driver must figure out the right rate to charge for his service. Then he must try to pick up as many customers in a day as he can. In London, the key to being a successful taxi driver is knowing the city. It is said that there is “some twenty-five thousand streets [that] connect and bisect at every possible angle” in just a six-mile radius (Shenk 35). To be a successful taxi driver, one must know these streets inside and out. But the competition makes it much more than that. To be a great and successful taxi driver, one must know the streets, and all short cuts. But in a more biological example, species of insects have adapted to avoid predation. Success in life to an insect can be as simple as living. For some insects, this success is cut short when there is competition for food or when they are eaten by other animals. But through evolution, the insects have adapted. The katydid from Costa Rica is an insect that models the use of adaptations. This insect has adapted to its environment by making its exterior look like a leaf (http://evolution.berkeley.edu/evosite/evo101/IIIE5Adaptation.shtml). This then allows the katydid to blend into its surroundings, and allows it to live a successful life. The competition for food is still present, but my limiting one of the factors of success, the katydid still has the genetic possibility to adapt once again to eliminate the competition. But with the presence of competition still there, the katydid will still have the opportunity to improve and adapt. (Keep in mind, when I say that the katydid adapted, I am not implying choice. I am saying that natural selection has stimulated an adaptation of the katydid.)
Shenk quotes that competition is what creates greatness and success. I believe that this is true, and the examples such as IQ tests, taxi drivers, and katydids prove this.
(Alexis Bauer, abauer9182@gmail.com)
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteI would disagree that greatness and success can ONLY result from competition. I would agree that based on the evidence Shenk presents, competition can be one of different factors that foster improvement and success as it exerts environmental stress on individuals and does encourage refinement in behavior in order to gain advantage in access to resources or societal standing.
ReplyDeleteSuch behavioral refinement may take the form of Ericsson's "deliberate practice" in which the "mind and body [are forced] into the kind of change necessary to improve" and "reach beyond one's current level" (Shenk 66). I believe, however, that the desire for constant achievement can result from other sources than competition. Particularly for humans as we have the mental capabilities to make the choice not to compete while animals such as the katydid mentioned by Alexis are able to do nothing in the face of competition but die, or survive to reproduce others more adept to compete. For example, individuals that partake in activities and are self-motivated; visual artists more often than not belong to such a group of people, as different art pieces can be so completely unique it is a challenge to compare them on any level that might inspire competition. Self-motivators constantly seek to improve as perhaps a means to more accurately express themselves or capture one idea or another or simply to feel the satisfaction of performing at the best of their abilities. These individuals demonstrate the passion that Shenk also considers crucial to achieving greatness in any field. In our society, it would seem an emphasis has been placed on the virtues of competition no doubt stemming from our devotion to competition based economic values in addition to the material rewards given for competition. Self-motivation is also called intrinsic motivation because the reward comes from the self and not an external source(extrinsic motivation) and "research shows that having extrinsic rewards for something that would naturally be intrinsically motivated, decreases intrinsic motivation" (http://www.psychologycampus.com/sports-psychology/intrinsic-motivation.html). By turning activities into competitions rather than allowing individuals to find self-motivation, society actually can harm their drive to do it. In this way competition hurts our society's development. In addition, I believe that as in nature, there are other forms of interaction that can derive outstanding benefits for all involved without a winner and a loser: symbiotic relationships. In the symbiotic relationship of mutualism, is an interaction that benefits both parties in the process (Campbell 1203). I believe this form of interaction can be instituted to foster greatness through collaboration rather than adversity.
In addition to self-motivation, I would argue that key to the idea of greatness and success is possessing a growth mindset in which the individual believes as Shenk does that "intelligence is a process, not a thing" (34). The growth mindset causes the pursuit of challenges and improvement stemming simply from the knowledge that the brain can be trained without limitations (http://michaelgr.com/2007/04/15/fixed-mindset-vs-growth-mindset-which-one-are-you/). This relates to Shenk's GxE model because it concurs with Shenk's belief that "no individual is truly stuck in her own ranking" based on her genetics (44).
All these factors work on the individual to create a drive for success and greatness without the implementation of competition, hence, although competition is indeed a factor that can stimulate greatness, it is absolutely not the only factor that can be or is involved in the process.
Kate White (kw2020@gmail.com)