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I'm reading this book about leadership. It's really not that great, but there was a segment that reminded me of a thought I've had before.

Back when we were a bit more primitive, humans really had to cooperate to survive. It wasn't really possible to make it in the wilderness by yourself. The people who were better at working together were more likely to survive, so most of us ended up being hard wired to want to cooperate. This ended up being one of the traits that helped us thrive over all the other species.

Some family units today still work this way. Everyone in the family works together to help each other out. Children are expected to help out once they're old enough. My family didn't really work this way, so strong familial bonds aren't something that I know first-hand, but I've met some tight families. You know, the type that make you wish you were born into their family.

Somehow or another, modern American culture doesn't emphasize cooperation in a lot of ways. Look at sports and competitions. They're really highlighted in our culture. They're one of the primary hobbies that people have, and one of the largest sectors of entertainment. We glorify the winners and feel bad for the losers.

In school, we're encouraged to get good grades, and achievement is measured based on who did better. People at the top of their class get recognition and awards and the best scholarships. It ended up feeling pretty competitive to me, and I remember feeling jealous over kids who did better than me.

A lot of the advice I would hear about applying for jobs is all about trying to look like the "best" candidate. Your resume has to have something "extra" that helps it stand out from the rest. There's hundreds of other candidates out there, how are you different? What makes you better than everyone else?

And then once you're in a job, what makes you a top performer? What do you need to do to get promoted or to receive a raise?

At times, it can feel very dog-eat-dog.

I ended up fighting these sorts of feelings when I was younger. For some people, it's probably very difficult to fight off. And it's probably much harder when you performance is middle of the road, or you can't seem to find the motivation to really push yourself, or you can't seem to remember things as well as others, or you can't think as critically as others.

It's really too bad. We weren't really wired to live this way and it probably causes way more stress than we need.