When Success Becomes the New Normal — Are We Competing on Everything?

This is NOT an online meeting but an in-person meeting.
Meeting in English.
Reading the book is not required.

During the book discussion the leader of the discussion presents the most interesting parts of the book. The great emphasis is placed on discussion.

Book Description

Why does everything seem to be turning into a competition — our careers, education, social status, and even our personal lives? Is competition really the best way to motivate people and identify the most capable, or are we overlooking its hidden costs?

In When Success Becomes the New Normal: The Competitive Society and its Symptoms, philosopher Yvette Drissen challenges the assumption that competition is inherently desirable. Even when the rules are fair, competition can distort the activities it is supposed to improve, impose psychological and emotional costs, waste people's time and opportunities, and turn potential collaborators into rivals.

Drawing on moral philosophy, economics and empirical research, Drissen examines competition in areas such as the labour market, education, healthcare and academia. Rather than arguing that all competition should be abolished, she develops a framework for evaluating when it is justified, what harms it creates, and how institutions might be designed to reduce those harms.

Together, we will explore a fundamental question: What happens to a society when success stops being an occasional achievement and becomes a permanent expectation?

Discussion Topics

• Is competition always a good thing? Why do we so often assume that competition produces better outcomes than cooperation?
• The hidden costs of winning: What do people sacrifice — time, opportunities, relationships or well-being — in the pursuit of success?
• Winners and losers: How does competition affect our self-worth when we constantly compare ourselves with others?
• The competition trap: Why might people feel compelled to compete even when the overall outcome leaves almost everyone worse off?
• When competition corrupts the activity: Can competition undermine the very goals it is meant to serve — for example, learning in education, care in healthcare, or knowledge production in academia?
• Fairness versus harm: If everyone has an equal chance to win, does that make a competition morally acceptable?
• Competition versus cooperation: Which social problems are best solved through competition, and which require cooperation? Can the two coexist?
• Designing a less competitive society: If competition has predictable costs, how should we redesign workplaces, schools and other institutions to preserve its benefits while reducing its harms?