Source: www.prospectmagazine.co.uk - Friday, August 12, 2016 US swimmer Michael Phelps wins the Men’s 200m Individual Medley final on day six of the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Thursday, August 11th, 2016 ©LUKAS COCH/AAP/PA Images Everyone knows someone, or perhaps several people, who gets upset while losing a supposedly friendly game of Monopoly. In fact, most games of Monopoly, or Scrabble, or Pictionary involve objections and complaints from players who fall behind, and smugness from the winners. Cue unfriendly accusations, raised voices and door-slamming. Games designed to be fun make people genuinely angry. Why? It boils down to an essential element of humanity: competitiveness. Recognised as an essential and healthy part of society, competition surrounds us. We might not want to admit it, but everyone possesses an urge to be special: to be the one who gets that university place, who gets that job offer, the one who [itals] wins [itals]. Success is a form of self-affirmation: our achievements make us the upwardly mobile individuals society teaches us to be. Two thousand years ago, Olympic athletes in Ancient Greece ran, jumped and wrestled their way to sporting glory. Today in Rio de Janeiro at the current Olympics, athletes compete with the same goals: to be the best, to earn a legacy. The dominant narrative of competition as necessary as well as beneficial is true in many cases: winning and losing are an essential part of living. Competitive sports are often used a All Related
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