Omni-Competition

The speed of change is forcing humans to adapt and become more competitive. Our world is characterized by ubiquitous competition – omni-competition. We are competing to improve ourselves, beat others, enhance our credentials, meet expectations and land the best jobs – and, in many cases, to simply survive. According to some, the focus in recent years has been on “girl’s issues,” which has resulted in neglect of boys and their issues such as an increase in illiteracy, lower grades and higher drop-out rates, higher suicide rates and other troubled behavior. Competition among adults has become more of a science – quantifiable and aided by emerging technologies like AI, and many are being forced to compete harder than before because of economic realities. The traditional idea of retirement is no longer a practical reality, often due to financial stress. Aging adults are now forced to compete longer and harder than ever before. Many middle-aged people are trying to start over, only to accrue new student debt. Even mindfulness is now competitive – type-A people are tweaking meditation to suit their hard-charging needs. It may be that we are hardwired to compete at some level and are creating a self-fulfilling prophecy by engineering today’s corresponding technologies.