I hate competition in the world of guitarists.

[marnold***]

Compete with yourself to accomplish individual musical goals. Competing with others is pointless, unless you're literally competing with someone for a gig.

Competition does not have to be a bad thing. You can compete without having to be an a-hole. Iron sharpens iron, after all. Often seeing a very talented guitarist or bassist play spurs me on to want to be better myself. The goal is not so that one day I can say, "[Fill in the guitarist's name here] sucks! Look how much better I am!" Rather it is that other person driving/encouraging/motivating me to greater heights.

I think of a football team. The rookies' youthful enthusiasm can rub off on the grizzled veterans and remind them of why they got into this in the first place. The veterans' leadership and experience can help focus the rookies' energy. To use a personal example, hearing a well-written and well-delivered sermon inspires me to give my best when I'm writing one. If one of my brother pastors is becoming lazy or giving less than his all, I can give him a gentle (or not-so-gentle) nudge to get back to work.

The problem is with the "second place is the first loser" mentality in our society. We wear shirts with slogans like that and then have the gall to wonder why no one seems to be able to act like a civilized human being.

[R_of_G]

Competition does not have to be a bad thing. You can compete without having to be an a-hole. Iron sharpens iron, after all. Often seeing a very talented guitarist or bassist play spurs me on to want to be better myself. The goal is not so that one day I can say, "[Fill in the guitarist's name here] sucks! Look how much better I am!" Rather it is that other person driving/encouraging/motivating me to greater heights.

No doubt that's healthy, but is it competition, particularly when the other player isn't even aware of the effect they've had on you?

I'd contend that's inspiration and then using that inspiration to challenge yourself.

It's pretty strong in our American culture to compete and it's continually being nurtured by game companies, sports, and largely the media. Listen carefully to the words they use. Many descriptions of events, interactions and communications between people are often described in competitive terms even if there is no competition.

The language of our culture is full of misused superlatives and military metaphors.

[marnold***]

No doubt that's healthy, but is it competition, particularly when the other player isn't even aware of the effect they've had on you?

I'd contend that's inspiration and then using that inspiration to challenge yourself.

Read it in the context of the rest of what I wrote. "Seeing him" may be someone like George Lynch (whom I have met, although calling him a "friend" would be beyond a stretch) or people I do know personally who are quite good at what they do.

Having said that, being a competitive a-hole isn't limited to lead guitarists by any stretch of the imagination. Anybody who is good at what they do (or aspires to be good, or thinks that they are good) can fall prey to that. It doesn't really matter if it is something important (e.g. being the best brain surgeon) or something worthless (e.g. someone who can drink the most shots without barfing/passing out/dying).

[R_of_G]

Read it in the context of the rest of what I wrote. "Seeing him" may be someone like George Lynch (whom I have met, although calling him a "friend" would be beyond a stretch) or people I do know personally who are quite good at what they do.

I get that part, it's the part where it's competitive that I'm still missing. Regardless, I get your point whether or not we agree on what word to call it, I agree that what you're saying is a positive thing.