"The best way for a society to prepare its young people for leadership in government, industry, or other fields is by instilling in them a sense of cooperation, not competition." - Write a response in which you discuss the extent to which you agree or dis

Should people fight it out amongst themselves to find out whose the best in any field, or should they work together to ensure that the society benefits as a result of their actions as a whole? This is the question that the issue presented here, tries to answer, and I'd like to begin by agreeing with the argument mentioned here that cooperation, not competition is the best way forward for any institution or society to grow.

Firstly, considering both the phenomena of cooperation and competition in a basic sense, without thinking too deeply about the underlying implications in each case, it is easy to realize that cooperation is a much more healthy activity than competition. Instead of turning competitors against each other, and encouraging them to harbour negative feelings against one another, cooperation teaches them to respect each other's unique talents. Better yet, it teaches them how to utilize each of those unique talents in equally unique situations, thus providing them with a greater chance of success in their collective endeavours than if they would've been trying to overcome an obstacle on their own.

Secondly, compared to competition, cooperation is a much more efficient activity in that it enables participants to completely focus their energies and talents on the task at hand. In any highly competitive environment, it is obvious that participants, even if they themselves do not realize it or do so in an unconscious manner, will be spending some of their time and focus assessing and trying to find ways to surpass each others' abilities. Instead of this extraneous and totally unnecessary activity, if they could work together, it would ensure their complete dedication to the task as well as creating a healthy environment.

Thirdly, man is a gragarious animal - he was not and is not meant to survive by himself. If our ancestors had constantly tried to up one another, trying to find the biggest prey to hunt for themselves instead of working together to survive and predominate over other organisms, we would not be here today. The essence of a truly successful person, be it a leader or a regular person. is how well he communicates and works in tandem with other people. If this was not true, then autocracies would be flourishing throughout the world and one-man, dictator-like individuals would be successful in all walks of life.

A very common example of how cooperation is more valued than competition when it comes to a real-life scenario is the fact that teamwork is more valued than talent in almost all of today's corporate world. Companies realize that a single person, no matter how talented and competitive he is, is nothing if he isn't able to work well with his co-workers, ensuring that the requirements of the task are being met instead of just his ambition.

Granted, a level of competition in any field is always healthy due to the fact that it helps weed out the underperformers and those with a questionable level of dedication. But concentrating too much on competitiveness and sacrificing other desirable traits as a result risks damaging the overall purpose of the institution.

Thus in conclusion, a level of competition is healthy but only when applied secondary to cooperation. Emphasizing on cooperation ensures greater productivity and efficiency, while at the same time improving the work atmosphere and dispensing with negative feelings of ill-will.