We are trained to seek victory right from the childhood.
To many of us, success means winning against the others.
Individual performance too is often measured comparing with the performance of the other people.
In short, to many of us, life's purpose is to ensure that the others do not outperform or outmaneuver us so that we stand out as better and more efficient in the eyes of those around us.
That probably is the way we were conditioned from the beginning.
Confrontation often became a tool for proving own greatness and the consequent feeling of success, victory, empowerment et al.
The world started perceiving those who could confront in situations well as great leaders (like in wars and battles) and those who could confront the opponent individuals well (like in a game or in an argument) as efficient.
Consider this hypothetical scenario - X and Y are in physical confrontation and Z is watching it as a neutral third person.
X charges onto Y and breaks his finger.
Y retaliates and breaks the arm of X.
For Z as a spectator, it will appear that Y has won! But the actual cost of the confrontation is a broken finger and arm, the work they would have done had they been intact, the pain both X and Y are suffering, the agony the people close to both of them will be undergoing etc.
Confrontation costs - much more than what is obvious like in the cases of the broken finger and arm.
Confrontations at the levels of nations, religions, politics, ideologies etc.
have drained the world of peace and joy.
At the center of this situation is the urge in the people taking confrontational positions and actions to prove and establish their personal superiority overtly or covertly.
When the objective is to establish personal superiority (physical, social, economic, ideological etc.
) the game of confrontation becomes destructive.
Collaboration is a positive life-strategy.
It is partnership in progress, prosperity and joy.
It synergises and produces hugely constructive results.
Collaborations generate further collaborations and the resultant feeling of goodwill and trust among all those involved in them.
But the difficulty here is in bringing about a collaborative mindset among people, especially the influential ones like the leaders.
Globally, human communication has become easier and effective, thanks to the rapid developments in technology.
On the other hand, Psychology as the science dealing with human behaviour remains to be a branch of specialised study.
Humans as intellectually developed beings are capable of understanding the finer aspects of people's behaviour.
With this, simplified Psychology could have become a vehicle for carrying collaborative spirit among common people.
The transition from confrontational attitude to that of collaboration would have been possible in societies had the awareness been thus spread into the minds of people.
This would have dramatically brought down conflicts and improved living conditions world over.
The cost it is capable of saving could have been used for further human development and improvements in the lives of people globally.
Signs of change in confrontational mindset of people are not much visible in global arena.
Many nations and world leaders are too busy in their games of outsmarting one another, knowingly or unknowingly.
But the world is opening up thanks to technologies like the Internet, mobile phones and televisions.
With these, it will not be out of place for anyone to be optimistic about confrontational mindset becoming a thing of the past.
When that actually happens, it will be mutual care and peace ahead for mankind, - always!