Theory of Life (Part 1) - Competition
Not long ago, I was asking everybody (as I usually do) a question - What is excellence? And if there exists anything like it, how do you measure it? And believe me, I never expected so much variance in the answer - ranging from that it’s a crap concept to fool people to its comparison with GOD (excellence personified).
I guess I was not very keen at a concrete answer. It was a deeper fight which manifests itself in different forms time and again - What should I do in life? (I know it’s a rather heavy question to ask at this tender age ;), but can't help it). Should I compete for the material wealth (resources, as my friend puts it) or seek spirituality? Inspire people? Become a lonesome standing on a hill observing the valley of world? Or just be another "person"? (Btw, they are all very interesting things to do).
If I assume free will and control, all the above would lie on the same indifference curve for me. But when I relax this constraint, things fall apart because I believe all the above require inputs apart from my will and deeds. The uncertainity inherent due to external factors make things hard.
The problem I face is of externalities (again I love Eco). You are always affected by and in turn affect others. In thinking and in action. Let me explain it algebraically:
y - c = F(x)
where
F is the function of life,
x is your cumulative input,
y is the output of life,
c is the externality ( - sign as it deviates you from the desired output of life).
I guess I was not very keen at a concrete answer. It was a deeper fight which manifests itself in different forms time and again - What should I do in life? (I know it’s a rather heavy question to ask at this tender age ;), but can't help it). Should I compete for the material wealth (resources, as my friend puts it) or seek spirituality? Inspire people? Become a lonesome standing on a hill observing the valley of world? Or just be another "person"? (Btw, they are all very interesting things to do).
If I assume free will and control, all the above would lie on the same indifference curve for me. But when I relax this constraint, things fall apart because I believe all the above require inputs apart from my will and deeds. The uncertainity inherent due to external factors make things hard.
The problem I face is of externalities (again I love Eco). You are always affected by and in turn affect others. In thinking and in action. Let me explain it algebraically:
y - c = F(x)
where
F is the function of life,
x is your cumulative input,
y is the output of life,
c is the externality ( - sign as it deviates you from the desired output of life).
That y depends or is a function of x should be trivial to understand. I would rather like to elaborate on c. I propose that c is a function of F i.e. c = Q (F). The type of life (F) you choose directly affects the amount of externality you have in life and hence more/less deviation from the desired output of life.
So, as a risk-averse person (which I am), what kind of life (or F) should I choose to limit my variation in desired output? Its a long and tough question. And lets solve it by parts (which means different post :D). But let me try to explain one of the characteristics of it.
Competition - This is definitely one of the determinants of life function. At any point of time, you are competing (even if you feel or are pegged as the 'coolest' guy in the world, believe me you are). So, how can you define competition in your life to minimize the effects of the outside world? Simple - start competing with yourself. The only assumption I am making is that I would know myself. I would then know my strengths perfectly and can devise to beat myself again and again (did you not see weakness in the above phase? Well, I have none). I wouldn't have to worry about how my competitor got additional advantage or spend time trying to analyze and know 'him'. I will live, breath and know 'him' every moment. Such a perfect knowledge of competitor!!! Man, I would definitely going to enjoy this.
PS: - The above presented ideas are not truly mine. I have just tried to put thoughts on paper (here MS Word) of folks around me. So, if you don’t like it please do not blame me J.
So, as a risk-averse person (which I am), what kind of life (or F) should I choose to limit my variation in desired output? Its a long and tough question. And lets solve it by parts (which means different post :D). But let me try to explain one of the characteristics of it.
Competition - This is definitely one of the determinants of life function. At any point of time, you are competing (even if you feel or are pegged as the 'coolest' guy in the world, believe me you are). So, how can you define competition in your life to minimize the effects of the outside world? Simple - start competing with yourself. The only assumption I am making is that I would know myself. I would then know my strengths perfectly and can devise to beat myself again and again (did you not see weakness in the above phase? Well, I have none). I wouldn't have to worry about how my competitor got additional advantage or spend time trying to analyze and know 'him'. I will live, breath and know 'him' every moment. Such a perfect knowledge of competitor!!! Man, I would definitely going to enjoy this.
PS: - The above presented ideas are not truly mine. I have just tried to put thoughts on paper (here MS Word) of folks around me. So, if you don’t like it please do not blame me J.
Comments
Competition - i think you limited yourself to scenarios where there is no direct interference by the competing externalities which provides you the bandwidth to just focus on yourself. In that case, given, you are sure of behaviour of F you can safely concentrate 100% on x.