Post 2 - Bertrand Russell: Over Working
How does competition affect happiness? Every day many people leave their residences and head off to a place of work. Some of these places have part time jobs, full time jobs, or a combination of the two. Within these jobs there is a spectrum of manual to non-manual, easy and difficult, skilled and unskilled. Some of these people consider their jobs to be careers. At all of these places there is an air of competition. While some people are happy where they are within the structure of their organization others wish to get higher and possibly ascend to the top.
While ascending to the top this competition directly affects happiness. Some people start to worry that they will not make an their happiness may be lowered. For those that get passed up on a promotion there is either a sadness/anger emotion, or something like unrelenting determination try harder. For those that ascend higher there is a moment of elation. Some people who are promoted realize that they are not actually qualified to do their duties and start to worry for their jobs which may lower their happiness until they rally and learn to do the job. Sometime workers are cut due to the economy, laziness, or they are actually unskilled. Some of these people are sad because they lost their job, while others are happy because they hated their job in the first place.
Competition affects the families of workers as well. Some workers are at work more than they are at home. They rarely see their family and this can cause divisions in the family leading to sadness. While some people want to see their families others want to stay away from their families and use work as a way to get away. Russell says they are bored and thinking about golfing or work when they are with their families. With families that work together in a family business it is important to know that the family is more important than the business. If this is not kept in mind then the business will start tear the family apart and then there will be unhappiness. We have all seen episodes of Kitchen Nightmare.
All of us who enjoy competitive sports, either as participants or spectators, but who also recognize the corrosive effects of competition more generally, have a challenge to strike the right balance and tone between competing, cooperating, and accepting the results of our best efforts. I think one important step towards a healthier approach to competition is to see it as a way of marking one's own progress towards better versions of oneself, rather than an invitation to crush others. As I've mentioned, Matthieu Ricard's new book on altruism offers a sharp perspective on this.
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