The Engine of Rivalry

Rivalry is both generative and destructive. The key is knowing the difference—and the pivot point.

“Rivalry exists at the very heart of human social relations.” —René Girard

The great social theorist René Girard realized that people are naturally inclined to desire what their neighbors possess—or even what their neighbors simply desire. And he realized what this meant: that there is a principle of rivalry governing nearly all human relationships.

There is something curious about this. Apart from sports, politics, and business, rivalry is not something most people openly acknowledge in the broader context of everyday life. And even in those major spheres where it is, it seems to be treated relatively superficially.

Michael Jordan famously used his rivals to motivate himself to perform. He even imagined his rivals saying or doing nasty stuff that they did not say or do—just to fire ‘himself’ up. (Notice how that is not really even possible: in order to fire ourselves up, we always need a model. All the self-talk in the world is no match for the right model.)

I was fascinated by the docu…