On 9/21/2011 8:08 AM, Stephen wrote:
> violence in the workplace. The last two was when I was working offshore
> and they had nothing to do with competitiveness. The first was when I
> was messing someone about when we were playing cards (penny anti stuff)
> and he pulled me across the table. Now he was someone who did not know
> how to lose. I had almost forgotten about that incident as it was over
> forty years ago.
> Personally, I am not competitive but I can be combative. ;-)

Ditto. I was in an office with a couple colleagues discussing something, 
what it was isn't relevant. I was sitting in a chair at a desk, and the 
guy who usually sits at that desk told me to get out of his chair. I 
chose to be a smartass and just sort of grinned at him and told him he 
didn't down the chair. He then proceeded to slam me back against the 
desk and was about ready to beat the crap out of me, except for the fact 
that everyone else in the room had grabbed him and pulled him away.

Nothing about competition there. I chose to mess with someone I thought 
could handle a bit of teasing, but turned out he couldn't.


-- 
~Mike

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On Wed, 21 Sep 2011 07:50:05 -0500, Mike Raiford wrote:

> On 9/20/2011 10:58 PM, Jim Henderson wrote:
>>
>> I think competitiveness is part of human nature.  Competition to find
>> the 'best' mate, for example - something that drives the race to
>> continue.
>>
>>
> I would argue that it goes far beyond human nature....

I wouldn't debate that.

Jim

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On Wed, 21 Sep 2011 09:21:05 +0100, Invisible wrote:

> On 21/09/2011 04:58 AM, Jim Henderson wrote:
> 
>> I think competitiveness is part of human nature.
> 
> It is.
> 
> So is cooperation.
> 
> The trick is to find the correct balance between the two, IMHO.

On that, we agree. :)

Jim

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On Wed, 21 Sep 2011 09:20:24 +0100, Invisible wrote:

> Employers
> aren't interested in whether you're better than your classmates or not.

In many industries, though, they are - "top of your class" means 
something depending on the school.

Jim

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On Wed, 21 Sep 2011 14:08:07 +0100, Stephen wrote:

> I agree with Mike R
> 
> On 20/09/2011 6:24 PM, Jim Henderson wrote:
> 
>> I think that is something that contributes to workplace violence as
>> well.
>>
>>
> I’ve worked in some pretty rough and stressful environments and in more
> than forty years have only seen or heard about three incidences of
> violence in the workplace. The last two was when I was working offshore
> and they had nothing to do with competitiveness. The first was when I
> was messing someone about when we were playing cards (penny anti stuff)
> and he pulled me across the table. Now he was someone who did not know
> how to lose. I had almost forgotten about that incident as it was over
> forty years ago.

I'm thinking about the incidents that make it to the news - the person 
who gets fired/laid off, goes home, comes back and shoots the office up.

> Personally, I am not competitive but I can be combative. ;-)

:)

Jim

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On Wed, 21 Sep 2011 08:27:01 -0500, Mike Raiford wrote:

> Nothing about competition there.

Sure, I didn't say it was the only cause, I said it was a contributing 
factor in some cases.

Jim

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On 21/09/2011 5:53 PM, Jim Henderson wrote:
> I'm thinking about the incidents that make it to the news - the person
> who gets fired/laid off, goes home, comes back and shoots the office up.

http://tinyurl.com/3tdfdhy  :-P

-- 
Regards
     Stephen

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On Wed, 21 Sep 2011 19:03:03 +0100, Stephen wrote:

> On 21/09/2011 5:53 PM, Jim Henderson wrote:
>> I'm thinking about the incidents that make it to the news - the person
>> who gets fired/laid off, goes home, comes back and shoots the office
>> up.
> 
> http://tinyurl.com/3tdfdhy  :-P

:P indeed. ;)

When are you back out this way again? ;)

Jim

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On 21/09/2011 7:54 PM, Jim Henderson wrote:
>> http://tinyurl.com/3tdfdhy   :-P
> :P indeed.;)
>
> When are you back out this way again?;)

I don't know.
I've finished at Urenco/NEF. "My work there is done, Robin."
I had a job set up in London with First Group/Greyhound Buses. But that 
fell through after the contract was signed. I've just had an interview 
with Tate & Lyle (also in London but the wrong side) that went well.
I'm not inclined to wait for two hours at "Homeland 
Security"/Immigration for a while. Never can tell though.

-- 
Regards
     Stephen

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On 21-9-2011 5:58, Jim Henderson wrote:
> On Wed, 21 Sep 2011 00:27:48 +0200, andrel wrote:
>
>> Just a quick note: competitiveness is partly cultural. In some countries
>> students compete with every other student and the percentage of students
>> that pass is fixed. In other countries you pass if you meet a certain
>> level.
>
> I think competitiveness is part of human nature.  Competition to find the
> 'best' mate, for example - something that drives the race to continue.

I do not remember to have competed with any other person for a mate.
I mean, sure it is a competition, but an abstract one.
Finding a mate is entering a multidimensional competition where you 
don't know on what quality you will be scored and the rules change 
unpredictably during the competition. And the same silliness applies to 
that mate. (I think we might be the only species where we have 
simultaneous sexual selection on both genders, though no doubt Gilles 
will know a counterexample).

Defending a system where your scores are compared to your fellow 
students (including your friends) and only a certain percentage pass, by 
referring to this sort of abstract competition is plain silly.

I think Andy said it better than me. The balance between encouraging 
competition or cooperation differs between countries and cultures.


-- 
Apparently you can afford your own dictator for less than 10 cents per 
citizen per day.

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