The Olympic rituals and the obvious.

[SilentFeathers]

I’ve read through several threads, blogs, etc., pertaining to Olympic related blood sacrifice, ET connections/disclosure, and symbolism/rituals, and no one thus far that I have come across mentions the most obvious, which is; that almost every single aspect of the Olympics’ pertains to, COMPETITION, from the beginning to end.

The whole opening ceremony in my opinion was a ritual all about competition, and the Olympic games themselves are nothing but a competition, there was not a single aspect about the cooperation of humanity in any way what so ever.

The opening ceremony was all about corporate, economic, social, cultural, medical, health, warfare, etc., COMPETITION!!!!… and how the people (ELITE and powerful) of the world got to where we are now today…..THROUGH COMPETITION. The strong survive and the weak are wiped out or made slaves, hence the death like and controlling like aspect rituals in the opening ceremony. Even the sick children in beds was symbolic of Governments and pharmaceutical company’s competing for the best way for the children of today to have the best chance of survival in today’s world. The British Empire clearly showed their health care system and ones like it are the answer to the worlds health problems etc….the only way to go!

Not one thing about cooperation between anything! This is the human mistake, it is unrealistic and against nature that competition is the rule of the day for survival, for prosperity, etc., The British Empire made a great “ritual” about competition in the opening ceremony at the Olympics!

Humanity will soon learn that competition is a false perception when it comes to survival and the way things are supposed to be…..humanity will soon learn the opposite of competition is what it will take for the survival of our species and all species on this planet, which is, cooperation…..

In my opinion, the opening ceremony was nothing more than a ritual showing the world that competition in all aspects of life, and on every level, is the right way to go in order to succeed, to gain power, to RULE THE DAY AND THE WORLD!!!!!! It's the Elites way of thinking......

[Maia Gabrial]

I agree with you, SilentFeathers. IMO competition is the root of all evil. It always has a winner and a loser. I've never been big on competition, even though I've had my share of it. It never felt right. I believe that if there is to be competition of any kind, it should be within ourselves; to strive to outdo our personal bests.... This will ensure we are the best that we can be.
Thanks for this thread!

[Cjay]

Agreed. Competition is so "me, me, me". Co-operation is "we". With competition, there is only one winner. With co-operation, everyone wins.

I used to enjoy the Olympics but I'm over it.

[niki]

yeah,..but try to tell that to the 'mainstream' worldly people out there,
and they will tell you that Competition (ie: "survival for the fittest") has always been in our human's nature,
and that it's also necessary for growth, and motivation, for most people anyway.

just saying.

[seantimberwolf]

I'm sorry but i think "competition" is just natural.
Its nature at work, its in our blood to want to compete in any sense at all,
I would guarantee that everyone of us competes somehow each day.
When you want a parking space that someone else has, thats competition, or when you want the job more than the other guy, thats competition.
whats wrong with healthy competition, it does not always lead to negative things, look how its bought england together and made us proud!

[SilentFeathers]

Many species of plants and animals (and even some peoples) thrive and survive in balance and harmony through cooperation, not through competition.

Darwin was wrong on many levels and the mainstream has duped and brainwashed most of us in to believing competition is natural and the only way. Competition (especially how humans perform it) is a choice and or behavior in my opinion.....and a destructive one at that.

[Dorjezigzag]

When someone wins an Olympic medal it seems as if there is only one person, unless it is a team event and then we have an obvious example of cooperation happening.

Even when it is an individual sport cooperation still needs to take place there are coaches, dieticians, psychologists, managers and many other member of a team that cooperates to achieve the desired objective. Few will reach the pinnacle but they learn so much about themselves trying and most will have a lesson in being humbled.

So you don't want competition how are we going to prevent this natural urge occurring. The competition police? and introduce even more ridiculous laws to prevent people being natural.

Nature competes for territory, food and mates and man often tries to mess with this.

An example is when they saw that crocodiles ate fish and as man wanted more fish they thought in order to get more fish they should move the crocodiles. Actually they got less fish because the crocodiles actually ate the diseased and weaker fish, hence when crocodiles were no longer in certain areas the fish population decreased because more died of disease.

Nature may seem harsh and cruel sometimes but it evolved for a purpose.

Better Olympics than gladiatal arenas or war. I think it can be a healthy channelling of the human nature to compete and cooperate.

[Ultima Thule]

I´ve been in my time into as far as World championships and missed the olympics just ever so little. And sorry but no, no it is not about competition and survival of the fittest in the sense portrayed in this thread. Never have I anywhere found such companionship and humble co-operation and support than between the competitors. They understand the nature of competing and they very seldom view the competition as being against anyone personally - winning by someone else losing. You can achieve great results and IT IS NOT by the expense of others. This includes events where out of two competitors the other one looses and the winner goes forwards, do consider that the one loosing the match has also gained a lot - he/she may not know it right away, but eventually the lost game might prove to be essentially important. Some day you win the competition, some day the others win, but each and everybody can succeed every day at the same time, never mind the position. Talk to an experienced top class athlete and you will be surprised to hear how spiritual their view of the sport is - they´ll go all Zen on you - and many times without reading even the first book, just out of their own experience and that is quite something imo.

You cannot survive for very long in a competitive sport if you only view the sport and winning as the main issue - if on the other hand you view the sport as means to developing yourself to enjoy the sport without fear - out of love even - in the competition while performing well and therefore develope your ability to maintain the necessary focus to do so will carry you in your life long after the sport is over.

I hear what you are saying about the possible symbolic meaning of the opening ceremony, but there is much more to sports and athletes than is portrayed in the opening statement here.


UT

[Mandala]

It reminded me of the "Hunger Games".

[Mark (Star Mariner)]

Yes I do believe it's possible to read too much into the nature of competition in a sporting sense. It is a normal and healthy human instinct to push to the very limits of personal ability and endurance. Is that not after all the very core principle of spiritual evolution: test, ordeal, challenge? The person who finishes last in a race, or, using the aforementioned analogy, does not flower spiritually as a quickly as others, need not feel ashamed, we all cross the finish line eventually.

So perhaps any fault to be found with the Olympics (or any sport) is not the nature of competition, but the overblown glory associated with finishing first. That, in my opinion, is where the moral ethos of the games falls short.

[SilentFeathers]

I think my OP may be a little bit misunderstood by a few on some level....but all the comments thus far are very interesting and valuable regardless, thanks :)

[Maia Gabrial]

So you don't want competition how are we going to prevent this natural urge occurring. The competition police? and introduce even more ridiculous laws to prevent people being natural.

We were trained to believe it. We can be untrained.... Afterall, we're an evolved species.

[GarethBKK]

I think my OP may be a little bit misunderstood by a few on some level...

That humanity working towards a collective consciousness of love and harmony is the only way to save ourselves and that competition in sport is contrary to this goal? If I have understood correctly, I would encourage you to search and read the quotes from athletes who talk endlessly of their personal goal of being the best that they can be on the day through determination and dedication, and if that best is not good enough to win, then so be it. I see what's best of humanity coming from these athletes. I would agree that the competition between the leaders of nation states and their flag-waving sheeples in the Olympic medal tables is unsatisfactory, but I do not see the individual athletes talking of this. From the movie Cool Running: "... a gold medal is is a wonderful thing. But if you're not enough without one, you'll never be enough *with* one."

[SilentFeathers]

I think my OP may be a little bit misunderstood by a few on some level...

That humanity working towards a collective consciousness of love and harmony is the only way to save ourselves and that competition in sport is contrary to this goal? If I have understood correctly, I would encourage you to search and read the quotes from athletes who talk endlessly of their personal goal of being the best that they can be on the day through determination and dedication, and if that best is not good enough to win, then so be it. I see what's best of humanity coming from these athletes. I would agree that the competition between the leaders of nation states and their flag-waving sheeples in the Olympic medal tables is unsatisfactory, but I do not see the individual athletes talking of this. From the movie Cool Running: "... a gold medal is is a wonderful thing. But if you're not enough without one, you'll never be enough *with* one."

I was referring to competition more on a collective level when it comes to the status of the world today and the aspects pertaining to it in the Olympic opening ceremony ritual in my original post. I understand the qualities of competition on a lower level such as peaceful games that create smiles and pride etc.

It's the darker side of it (Competition) in which I was basing my original post and perspective on, perhaps I could of wrote it better.....

[araucaria]

These Olympics seem to have demonstrated the power of collective thought and willpower, the reason for Britain’s extraordinary haul of medals being partly due to the focus of the nation. This should be of interest and recognizable to members of Avalon, who are seeking a similar effect on a different level from winning athletics competitions.

To quantify this effect, the men’s tennis final between Andy Murray and Roger Federer is probably the best place to start, being the most individual of sports, and as we have the benchmark of the Wimbledon final just a month ago to compare with. In July Federer won comfortably in the end, this time he was soundly beaten, which almost never happens. The difference to Murray’s game was produced by the combined effects of a united tennis squad operating as part of Team GB building on its own momentum, then a hugely partisan crowd as a representative portion of the nation at large. No wonder he played the match of his life.

Federer, who would normally be sick at losing, was happy to serve as sparring partner in this, not as a foreign threat to be destroyed, but as fully a part of these proceedings. Wimbledon is his back yard after all and his motto is worth quoting too: “it’s nice to be important, but most of all it’s important to be nice”.

[Marsila]

there is nothing wrong with a little healthy, honest competition.

the problems started when someone decided to use deceit, lies and a lack of ethics just to 'win'...this is the state of the world today, those at the top aren't those who were most competitive, but those who used every single low level ethic and behaivor to reach there.

This scandalous olympic incident in fencing comes to mind about what i'm saying....there was nothing dignified at all about the German winning, as she actually did not, yet such the South Korean fencing federation isn't half as powerful as that of Germany, cheating here was okay...in proper competition the German fencer herself would have refused this outcome...instead she went on to justify herself in 'win' in interviews. winner okay....healthy competitor, not at all.
Here is what happened
http://www.buzzfeed.com/ktlincoln/an-olympic-fencer-refuses-to-leave-the-floor-after

and this is how good the 'winner' thinks she is...i kept this as it is behaviors like these after such incidents, that cause people to say they hate 'competition' (unsurprisingly she lost to the Ukranian lady she played next)......and it gets better, the S.Korean lady was offered a 'compensation medal' by the Olympic committee....which she naturally refused. So yes what kind of 'competition' is it that we have in today's world, that integrity does not matter any more?
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[Swan]

I'm sorry but i think "competition" is just natural.
Its nature at work, its in our blood to want to compete in any sense at all,
I would guarantee that everyone of us competes somehow each day.
When you want a parking space that someone else has, thats competition, or when you want the job more than the other guy, thats competition.
whats wrong with healthy competition, it does not always lead to negative things, look how its bought england together and made us proud!

Yes, I agree most of us compete every day. Most of us feel envy every day. Most of us are greedy every day. That does not mean competition is a desirable trait.

And since I have found reason to seriously doubt Darwin, I would disagree that competion is a "natural" trait.

And " making England proud"...? I honestly do not get how watching somebody win a race, or football game, can make THE WATCHER proud? Just because you live in the same country?
I´m sorry, but IMHO that seems very strange.

Personally I feel proud of myself when I find myself competing against someone, and stop.

But, I might have got this wrong. I am utterly devoid of any interest for sports what so ever.

[Unified Serenity]

I think there is a huge difference in the spirit some have regarding competition where you see the ugly side of others who take it to an inappropriate level, like the examples we see of some little league parents over involved in the sport their child plays, and healthy contests where sportsmanship is exalted. This idea that there are no winners or losers encourages mediocrity. People strive for excellence for the reward of the recognition, if there is no difference in respecting the child who practiced their sport for 4 hours a day for 10 years and the child who showed up for games then they stop trying. It's the same in education, if we are going to give everyone a passing grade why study to really excel? I mean why would a kid put in hours and hours of time to write a great paper when I can throw one together in an hour and get the same grade?

Altruistic attitudes don't seem to imbue a spirit of excellence due to the fact it takes time to mature and that's what having a good spiritual teacher is about. My Taekwondo instructor would spend time on the spiritual as well as the physical to help the children particularly understand the art was not just about being able to beat the crap out of an assailant. It was about life.

These girls obviously learned that lesson... it always makes me cry

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[Dorjezigzag]

Also some people who needed to have cooperated and be part of the team were the parents. Taking them to training as kids when they would normaly have had to have started.

Here is a hilarious video where we see just how much these parents care, maybe a little to much;) Scary
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[donk]

A system generally tends toward a balance. An individual within that system can choose to compete--to try to dominate (ie consume resources/space) at the expense of others. Do you prefer this "natural" tendancy some are claiming is in our blood?

I believe Darwin's observations were carefully twisted into the biggest lie: that we somehow need to struggle like those at the bottom of Maslow's pyramid. True, there are billions of humans literally there, but I believe that's because a handful of those at the top knew to hide the idea that we (as a species/planet) have transcended the need for comeptition, to "win" at the expense of someone (anyone/anything) else. That competition's only real use now is to keep those in power in their seats (out of view) at the top. And they do this by injecting into the programming how natural and human "competition" is.

As long as we believe we need to "be better", "deserve something more", or "see ourselves different" from anyone else, well, for the folks that have convinced the masses that the olympics are of enough importance to spend all that time, energy, and resources on--while billions starve without a home or basic needs, they are"....DUH, WINNING" (to quote a Warlock).

[donk]

I guess a simpler way of saying it is: What is "competition"?

Isn't it the opposite of "sharing"?

Taking something from someone else?

And we call that "winning"?

To all who get defensive or take offense because they like sports or believe competition "brings out the best"...isn't the saying (the lie) we tell our kids: It's not whether you win or lose, it's how you play the game?

Couldn't we bring out the best in each other like was already mentioned--the only competition should be with yourself? And doesn't that make it NOT COMPETITION? doesn't that make it a CHALLENGE?

I feel the paradigm has to be programmed in, that there would not be "winners" and "losers" in a sane society. By sane, I mean reasonable enough to see and live a reality that is sustainable for that society. We are communal creatures, right? Wouldn't competition (which is basically a choice toward individualism--when taken to the extreme the survival of the VERY fittest) be ANTI-HUMAN?

[Unified Serenity]

I guess a simpler way of saying it is: What is "competition"?

Isn't it the opposite of "sharing"?

Taking something from someone else?


Maybe I misunderstand you here, but I don't agree with this premise of my achieving my best takes something away from another striving for their best. Someone is always going to be better than another in the area they are striving to achieve something. How was my being the number 1 tennis player in my conference taking away from any other athlete? I practiced day after day from 3 pm until 6 pm Monday through Thursday and from 8 am to 9pm on Saturday and from 8am to 5 pm on Sundays all while maintaining a high GPA in school. My serve was the best in the conference, and it didn't impact my opponents ability to serve. My net game was the best because I practiced, how did this take something away from my opponents who were too afraid to come to the net? Tennis was my sport, but I also ran cross country, played basketball, and volleyball. I did my best, but was not the best in every sport. I was too short to really excel in Volleyball, but my serve was always great, and I could bump and set with the best of them. My point is my gamesmanship had nothing to do with how another performed, but if at the end of the day there is no recognition then most won't strive to greatness. Some might, but many would just do some work, play at it instead of striving to win.

Part of me feels like this whole psychology of "your taking from me by winning" is something a loser would say because they don't believe in themselves. It's a way to demotivate children and we see the results in so many areas of the past couple of generations who have been dealing with this sort of programming. This is a really slippery slope, and guess what, the rest of the world is trying and succeeding at out performing many in my country now. We have slipped academically and athletically to some degree. Competition is innate, and even if the parents, coaches and league officials are not declaring a winner, I guarantee you that each kid in the league knows who won and who lost or we could say who performed the best and who did not.

It's not like we are talking about hunting and gathering and some special double portion to the one who got the biggest deer or most berries. You hunt and gather and split it equally among the group. Most don't live in that society anymore, and we are much more efficient in the basic areas of survival. Would we have ever invented some of the things we have if there was not reward for striving and being recognized as one is laying the foundations of education? I think we are being programmed to just be cogs in wheels and we are all the same, so why try to be the best you can be, just be a nice little cog.

[STATIC]

There are many different angles that you can view this from, but if you look at it from a purely scientific perspective the results are pretty clear.
Perpetuating competition as the main building block of our society has been a mistake, because it is far less successful than anything built around cooperation.
IMO this has been done for a reason as others have alluded to. I agree fully with the OP. A brighter future has to lie in a move towards a much more cooperative existence.
Competition in sport is one thing. Competition in everything is another.

"from lcsc.edu

Competition and Cooperation

Competition

-a social process that occurs when rewards are given to people on the basis of how their performances compare with the performances of others doing the same task or participating on the same event.

Cooperation

a social process through which performance is evaluated and rewarded in terms of the collective achievements of a groups of people working together to reach a particular goal.

Competition is a process that is experienced differently by different individuals.

Competitive Orientations

Competitiveness

an enjoyment of competition and desire to strive for success in competitive sport settings. A competitive person simply loves to compete and actively seeks competitive situations.

Competitive Orientations

Win Orientation

focus on interpersonal comparison and winning in competition. It is more important to beat other competitors that to improve on personal standards.

Competitive Orientations

Goal Orientation

focus on personal performance standards. The goal is to improve one's own performance, not to win the competition.

Stages of the competitive process

Stage 1--Objective competitive situation

includes a standard for comparison and at least one other person.

The standard can be a past performance, an idealized performance or another individual's performance.

The primary thing that distinguishes a competitive situation from other comparison situations is that the criteria for comparison are known by at least one person in a position to evaluate the performance.

Stages of the Competitive Process

Stage 2--Subjective Competitive Situation

involves how the person perceives, accepts and appraises the objective competitive situation. The individual's unique background become important (perceived ability, motivation, ...).

Competitive orientation will affect this.

Stages of the Competitive Process

Stage 3--Response

after appraise of the situation the individual decides to either approach or avoid it. If the decision is to NOT compete then it stops there. A response to compete can occur at the behavioral, physiological, psychological or all three levels.

Stages of the Competitive Process

Stage 4--Consequences

results from comparing the athlete's response with the standard of comparison. Usually seen as positive or negative (win/loss).

Research Studies

Triplett's Cyclists (1898)

Triplett noted that racers showed varying performances when they raced alone, with a pacer, or in competition with another racer.

First time face-to-face competition was shown to potential enhance performance.

Research Studies

Deutch's Puzzles (1949)

College students were required to solve puzzle problems during a 5-week span, using both competitive and cooperative instructions.

Students in the competitive were told that a reward (grade) would be given to the person with the group with the best average number of puzzles solved.

Students in the cooperative group were told that they would be evaluated by their group's ranking in relation to the other four groups and they would receive a reward as a team.

Results revealed that the students in the competitive group were self-centered, directed their efforts at beating others, exhibited group conflicts and mistrust. IN the cooperative group student openly communicated, shared ideas and solved more puzzles.

COMMON GOALS

Research Studies

122 studies comparing competition and cooperation

65 showed that cooperation produced higher achievement and performance than competition.

Only 8 showed this in competition.

Competition & Aggression

It is is not the competition that produces aggressive behavior. Rather, the feelings and behavior stem from a focus on doing whatever it takes to win, even when this means unfair play or injuring an opponent.

Competitive versus Cooperative Environment

Does Sport Competition Transfer to Life Skills and Achievement

Academic Achievement

Varsity athletes have higher GPA’s and higher educational aspirations.

Usually due to support from family, friends, others…

Does Sport Competition Transfer to Life Skills and Achievement

Social or Occupational Mobility

former athletes have no more and no less career success than others from comparable backgrounds.

No mobility advantage over their peers for jobs.

Individual motivation or personality differences rather than sport experience seem to be better predictors.

Does Sport Competition Transfer to Life Skills and Achievement

Diviant Behavior

Does it keep them "off the streets" and out of trouble.

Does not show a higher rate of diviance among athletes

Diviance

Can be argued that sport can reduce diviant behavior if the sports connections has

1. Philosophy of nonviolence

2. Respect for others and self

3. Importance of fitness and self

4. Confidence in physical skills

5. Sense of responsibility

Competition: Boys vs. Girls

Research shows that boys and girls experience competition differently

boys play competitive games more frequently

girls will play in boy groups more than boys in girl

when with friends, boys will play in larger groups than girls

girl’s games are more spontaneous, imaginative and free of structure

boys see themselves as more skilled than girls see themselves (even though gender differences do not necessarily exist)

boys games are more aggressive, higher risks and reward individual achievement

boys games are more complex, have more rules, greater positions (roles), and more interdependence (teamwork)"

[Unified Serenity]

I think studies can be misleading depending on the parameters set. I wonder in the whole group cooperating if the pay scale is even across the board or does the clerk filing the paperwork make as much as the scientist discovering the secret to that genome make more money? Does the head of the Department overseeing the project and managing 100 people make the same as the clerk filing the paperwork or the janitor cleaning their area so they can work? You see, people push themselves because they like something and there is a reward to pursuing it. It's been proven over and over that when there is no benefit then people don't strive. In business management studies it's called the hygiene factor in discussing what is a true motivator.

Did you know it's proven to be a bigger motivator to give your best salesman a trophy or plaque than a raise? Money is a hygiene factor whereas recognition for greatness is a motivator.


Herzberg's Motivation-Hygiene Theory
(Two Factor Theory)


To better understand employee attitudes and motivation, Frederick Herzberg performed studies to determine which factors in an employee's work environment caused satisfaction or dissatisfaction. He published his findings in the 1959 book The Motivation to Work.
The studies included interviews in which employees where asked what pleased and displeased them about their work. Herzberg found that the factors causing job satisfaction (and presumably motivation) were different from those causing job dissatisfaction. He developed the motivation-hygiene theory to explain these results. He called the satisfiers motivators and the dissatisfiers hygiene factors, using the term "hygiene" in the sense that they are considered maintenance factors that are necessary to avoid dissatisfaction but that by themselves do not provide satisfaction.
The following table presents the top six factors causing dissatisfaction and the top six factors causing satisfaction, listed in the order of higher to lower importance.

Factors Affecting Job Attitudes

Leading to Dissatisfaction
Company policy

Supervision
Relationship w/Boss
Work conditions
Salary
Relationship w/Peers

Leading to Satisfaction


Achievement
Recognition
Work itself
Responsibility
Advancement
Growth


Herzberg reasoned that because the factors causing satisfaction are different from those causing dissatisfaction, the two feelings cannot simply be treated as opposites of one another. The opposite of satisfaction is not dissatisfaction, but rather, no satisfaction. Similarly, the opposite of dissatisfaction is no dissatisfaction.
While at first glance this distinction between the two opposites may sound like a play on words, Herzberg argued that there are two distinct human needs portrayed. First, there are physiological needs that can be fulfilled by money, for example, to purchase food and shelter. Second, there is the psychological need to achieve and grow, and this need is fulfilled by activities that cause one to grow. Read here (http://www.netmba.com/mgmt/ob/motivation/herzberg/) to get the rest of the story.



[edit: for those interested in hearing from Herzberg himself:]

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[SilentFeathers]

It is actually the system of currency which makes the majority of competition in the world today so ugly....and I'm not talking about two sports teams competing with each other in a stadium somewhere.

[STATIC]

US I am a little confused... :) can you elaborate. Can positive things or rewards not be given in a cooperative environment?

[Unified Serenity]

Hey Static,

Yes, of course they can;however, there is a pervasive attitude that we should not recognize achievement by singling anyone out, so all get a trophy. So, all get a plaque, and what then? I think Herzberg's theory of motivation vs. Hygiene factors is an excellent method. I have worked in so many environments and watched uneducated managers do all the wrong things, and then wonder why they can't get employees to cooperate or excel. A lot goes into working with people, but if you really dig into this issue of recognizing and rewarding people as they do excel, you will find why some people love working for company A verses company B despite the fact that company B might have better benefits or pays a little more. Recognition and reward often has a payout of higher returns on investments and thus you can pay your people more, but just meeting hygiene factors alone does not motivate. I think my issue is with this issue of recognition and declaring winners and it's now discouraged to do so from the earliest childhood education including sporting events.

I was floored when I found out that when I was killing myself to get A's in advanced theory of Marketing Analysis and Senior Management Strategy and Policies at my University, that students at Stanford or was it Yale, can't remember, it was one of the ivy league schools simply graduated with "pass" on their transcripts. It's sort of like understanding that a girl graduating with a 3.0 from my boarding school was a 4.0 at the average public high school, and yet if a college is not aware of the academic rigor at my school and simply went by scores, then they have no idea what's required to graduate from my school. Heck, we couldn't even graduate if we did not score an 80% or better on composition II. How this plays in ultimately, is that if grades are just given out for self esteem, meaning a c student gets a b+ for mediocre work, then why would they work as hard as another who actually has to do B+ work to get the same grade? Then, extrapolate that to the issue of how can an employer make a valid choice when the playing field is completely different. There is a real issue in competing in a global market and actually having people doing excellent work. Just investigate the issue of the engineering profession and what's really going on globally.

This whole issue of competition is much deeper than most want to go, and I will just stop here. This thread is about the Olympics and competition which to me means sports, but it affects other areas of our lives which many never even consider despite the more dire impact it is having on us.

[Peace of Mind]

Every few years this competitive ritual reinforces that wedge in society….and for what…Recognition? It’s a farce that will boost the egos of Olympians or shatter it. It doesn’t seem like winning demonstrates anything momentous, just bragging rights. And the most prized processing is the gold medal…which is actually a gold plated silver medal, Smh. And to see the winners biting down on the medals, symbolizing their authenticity is just another clear example of our commitment to being deluded.

Peace

[donk]

Did you know it's proven to be a bigger motivator to give your best salesman a trophy or plaque than a raise? Money is a hygiene factor whereas recognition for greatness is a motivator.

There's that "big lie" I was talking about. Any true (IMO) spiritual teaching will tell you that you shouldn't need recognition.

I got this from my girlfirend's daily random inspirational quote email, thought it quite apropros/synchronistic:

"Don't rely on someone else for your happiness and self-worth.
Only you can be responsible for that. If you can't love and
respect yourself -- no one else will be able to make that
happen. Accept who you are -- completely; the good and the bad
-- and make changes as you see fit, not because you think
someone else wants you to be different."

-- Stacey Charter


This whole issue of competition is much deeper than most want to go, and I will just stop here. ... I think my issue is with this issue of recognition and declaring winners and it's now discouraged to do so from the earliest childhood education including sporting events.


With all due respect, I don't think you are going "deep enough"...just because competition in the "domination" sense is harmful (according to my ideas of competition), it does not necessitate that the "everyone wins/equal footing/anti-socialism" argument is valid. They are mutually exclusive, im my opinion.



I think we are being programmed to just be cogs in wheels and we are all the same, so why try to be the best you can be, just be a nice little cog.

And I think we are ALSO being programmed to believe that competition "is innate" and is "necessary for progress" as well. I don't disagree with some of your thinking, but I believe the "lies" were inserted into "both sides of the coin"....and also, turning it into a black/white right/wrong polarity is the best mechanism for the "big lie programming".

I believe this ALL has to do with the olympics, that it is the ultimate manifestation of every angle of competition you could imagine--as illustrated on this thread...as above, so below--all the way up and down, an infinite fractal...or at least Multi-layered beast...

[STATIC]

Thanks US i get what you meant. I guess i just don't care or identify much with the business mentality or world view. It feels shallow and meaningless to me. Competing for money. Seeking recognition and status.
This is a prime example of cooperation at work in nature
http://www.sbschools.org/schools/xrds/units/delta_unit/images/geese.gif

there is less resistance when we operate as one... we are anyway:)

[SilentFeathers]

This is an interesting article relating.......


COMPETITION VS. COOPERATION
By Perry W. Buffington, Ph.D.

Which works better, competition or cooperation? The answer, without equivocation, is cooperation. Although most people are
surprised by this, scientists have repeatedly verified it in hundreds of studies since the late 1800s. Yet big business, the
educational system, the health-care community, and most parents continue to encourage competition, almost totally neglecting the
power of cooperation. None of these groups realizes that unabated competition may be costing billions of dollars in sales
and overall decreases in human achievement. Furthermore, researchers have shown that too much competition may cause poor
health. Yet we continue to hold the cherished belief that competition (not cooperation), to paraphrase Sigmund Freud, "is
the royal road to success."
MORE: http://www.charleswarner.us/articles/competit.htm

[noprophet]

Competition is of great interest to people who develop "social-systems" because the competition acts as a battery.

I will make you believe the only way to your highest symbolic goal is victory over all opposition and then design a system around it for harvesting that egoic-drive (fear of failure) into production.

The victory will be like a drug, the participant getting a high for a bit and then having to jump back in for more.

It will also promote tribalism which will become a natural reinforcement.

The only goal you need is the constant reinforcement that this idea is foundational and not to be questioned as the only way to progress.

As long as you control the environment, its your game. They worry about winning, you sell them the means.

This is why they always show you only one eye. Study what the eye of horus is vs the eye of isis. Its not just an eye they're using, it's a specific eye.

[araucaria]

I think you’ll find that most real competitors are merely competing with their other selves.

Take the final of the 3000m steeplechase. The Kenyan winner jumped into the arms of the French runner-up. They swapped their named shirts and the one celebrated his gold medal under the other’s identity, i.e. as if he had come second, and the other as if he had come first.

You have to have experienced this sort of situation yourself, if only at the lowliest level, to understand that it is not at all about defeating an other, but about getting both the best out of oneself and the best out of that other.

There is so much positive going on at the Olympics, let’s not see just the negative aspects.

[Spartacus]

Higher civilisations, in my view, observing our grand experiment unfold, may possibly decide that the Olympic Games is the greatest human invention ever.

[Anchor]

I think you’ll find that most real competitors are merely competing with their other selves.

Take the final of the 3000m steeplechase. The Kenyan winner jumped into the arms of the French runner-up. They swapped their named shirts and the one celebrated his gold medal under the other’s identity, i.e. as if he had come second, and the other as if he had come first.

You have to have experienced this sort of situation yourself, if only at the lowliest level, to understand that it is not at all about defeating an other, but about getting both the best out of oneself and the best out of that other.

There is so much positive going on at the Olympics, let’s not see just the negative aspects.

Is there not a risk that seeing this as pure "dog eat dog" competition is really overly polarised?

What about team sports where co-operation is vital to success and the team is what matters, a team working for eachother?

What about the acknowledgement for the coach and support teams behind the athletes on the podium collecting thier medals?

The olympics is far from a last man standing bloodbath :)

I just wanted to try cast a light on some of the positive aspects and I think there are many more if you look.

I saw a story of someone who was winning because someone in front of her fell in a race, stopped, and assisted them to the finish. That may not have been the actual Olympics, and now I cant find the reference, it may have been a qualification race; however the point is it was awesome. Even though there is perhaps some ever present motives to control, structure and pull people away from looking in side, the elite must know that unless they can maintain very tight control of the media portrayal, people are going to see the light shining in the humans competing - it is inevitable. They are failing IMHO. The truth is leaking more and more. It cannot be contained.

[SilentFeathers]

There's a big difference in fun/clean competition and nasty/dirty competition.

The Olympic games for the most part are good, fun, and clean events of competition, the athletes involved are having a blast! ......but the symbolism of the opening ceremony took on a completely different perspective of "competition". IMO (hence; what I was basically referring to in my op).

Then there's the Tonya Harding bashing the knees of her opponent extreme. You also have many in the corporate and political world that "compete" to succeed in some of the most extreme and sinister ways imaginable.....some going even to the extreme of genocide to corner the market or gain power politically.....in many of these situations I'm sure if all would cooperate together, most would profit and or succeed just fine, and many wouldn't have to be harmed or killed in the process. IMO

I'm having a hard time to explain the intention of my OP and put my thoughts in words about this, as many are focusing on the fun and clean aspects of "clean" competition only.....

Basically my OP was based on what I noticed and felt about the opening ceremony symbolism of "competition", which in my mind had nothing to do with a good clean game of volleyball etc between two people or two teams. The opening ceremony was a ritual of mostly sinister competition IMO

[SilentFeathers]

Charlie Sheen is a perfect example of what "winning" can do to a person!

LOL! sorry, couldn't resist that one!

[noprophet]

Just know your modus produces mechanism that continues beyond your involvement.

Read Carmody's post (projectavalon.net/forum4/showthread.php?46038-Are-you-a-sports-fan&p=501326&viewfull=1#post501326) on Tulpas.

The management of the social world its the management of thought forms. Anything lots of people participate in contributes to this.

[wynderer]

i think the ritual was quite effective -- i've been following the threads about the Olympics , esp Jacksovek's -- it seemed that national pride was whipped right up in most UK/GB posters

as Matt Delooze says, 'Emotional respect = spiritual energy' [there for the harvesting for those who know what they are doing]

i've always thoughts that Humans would be much happier & healthier if they played sports instead of watching them --

that Angel of Death thing was scary, & folks were responding to that w/comments re how proud y'all were of your NIH

still truly puzzled by this,
wyn