One of the mistakes mankind keeps making century after century, according to the Roman philosopher Marcus Tullius Cicero, is believing that personal gain is made by crushing others.
The hardest part is to see people around you with that mentality. The idea of competing at any cost instead of collaborating is still very prevalent in the western world. I have only compassion for these people, who are truly suffering in what they believe to be a "dog-eat-dog" world.
In my personal journey, I came across some people like that. They haven't understood yet that Darwin's Theory of Evolution is not only about the strongest always winning. Not many people know but the second and biggest part of the theory was that nature collaborates more than compete.
We usually hear that strongest of the species that survives. The phrase is actually not from Darwin. Supposedly from Origin of Species, this one is all over the web (and even on a stone floor) but is from a management studies text. (from https://www.darwinproject.ac.uk/…/six-things-darwin-never-s…)
Darwin's biggest legacy was maybe the observation of cooperation and collaboration in nature - and humankind.
Being raised in a big family, surrounded by cousins and friends all the time, made me (and for sure other who I connected) more collaborative. I learned at an early age to share toys, play together, borrow and lend things and thoughts. It gave me a sense of community.
It wasn't until I moved from Brazil that I realized that not everybody learned the same thing. Maybe it was a "Brazilian thing", something from our culture, but no. Unfortunately, I met Brazilians and people from different cultures competing and crushing others for their personal gains.
I want to believe that they are the minority, but media keep telling us that people are naturally like that.
Again, I send my compassion to them and refuse the idea. For me, they are just not awakened yet.
The secret is to keep doing good, despite what other people are doing. Eventually, they will learn and hopefully change their way of being. I look forward to collaborating with you.
Rodrigo Baena
