Because “compete” requires comparison, which requires enough similarity for the quantitative comparison to make sense in the first place. Because we live in a standardized world—since machines require standardization in order for them to be modular—humans too become replaceable parts in a broader social machine, and as such are reduced into lists of bullet points which can be assessed, and even measured, against one another, which leads to for instance the culture of resumes in companies.
People who are truly unique on the other hand couldn't care less about the games of the machine-world, because it is directly antithetical to how they want to live their life, 1 and do not particularly care about impressing strangers, and as such they do not compete.
They do not even compete with themselves, as some sections of society such as self-help circles and whatnot want to make people believe is healthy, because competing with yourself largely comes from a place of shame, a sense that there is something fundamentally messed up about you that you need to “fix” and “redeem” to belong to the great “normal” world that surrounds us. Once again, unique people couldn't care less about such a world, so they do not feel the need to compete with themselves, which doesn't mean that they don't examine their problems and do something about them. It simply means that the reason for doing so isn't an internalized shame.
1 Society is about creating automatons that will become useful to it. Someone who is in touch with what they want out of life is unlikely to be interested in the cookie cutter paths such as careerism.
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2024-10-27