Response

I recently got two responses to my post entitled "Broke", and I want to share both their feedback and my new thoughts on the subject.

The first response talked about intrinsic motivation and how it can create a better environment if people are doing things because they want to do them. The second response reminded me that if people are being benevolent, then they should be willing to either repay you for your service or help you if you have insufficient funds. It also brought up that my quote "without competition there is no motivation" in the context of money is incorrect.

I agree with both of them (to an extent). I was being narrow-minded in my original post, completely forgetting about intrinsic motivation. It's true that people should be motivated to do things because they want to do things, which makes a happier existence for everyone. In this way, we could greatly benefit from the practice of benevolence. I also accidentally assumed in "Broke" that nobody else would be willing to repay you for your service or lend you money, but if everyone is practicing benevolence, than this should be custom for everyone.

But I still stand by the fact that competition does motivate people to succeed. I think what makes being recognized (whether by a teacher, a college, a state, a country, or the entire world) so satisfying is that one had to achieve lengths greater than everyone else involved to be successful. For example, if you were auditioning for a role in the play, it wouldn't be nearly as exciting to get the role if nobody else had tried out for it. Also, if nobody else had tried out, there would be no reason to impress the casting director because you know you're going to get the part anyways. I believe we thrive off of competition because it makes us want to be better and do better, which inevitably makes us grow.