Gotta go with David on this.  Sure, there are people who can find a way to compete on almost anything, but I'll stick with the non-competitive way of enjoying:

>Eating

>Reading

>Travel

>Appreciating/collecting art

>Goofing around with the kids and grandkids

>Xes

>And, yes, skiing and mountain biking

Of course, I can see how some things might be more enjoyable to some people, if they include an element of competion.  But saying that it's a genetic flaw to enjoy it without the competitive element is, in addition to being a factual stretch, perhaps a form of competitive posting, I suppose.

--David Merfeld

Matt posited, and David Guertin replied--

Matt's claim

I believe that if you truly dislike competition, then you have a genetic flaw.  Competition is one of the essences of life--no competition, no evolution.

Furthermore, competition makes things more fun.  Case in point: sailing a boat in <5 knots wind=not so fun; racing a boat in <5 wind=fun.

--Matt K.

And David Guertin replied:

Having said all that, there are certain competitions that make little sense to me, and where I don't see the benefit but do see harm. Musical competitions are one -- I think they miss most of what music is about, and worse, often produce lifeless music. Fishing competitions are another -- some pastimes are just not competitive by nature.

 

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - SkiVt-L is brought to you by the University of Vermont.

To unsubscribe, visit http://list.uvm.edu/archives/skivt-l.html