After reading Amini's blog about persistence (and competitiveness), it made me think about a term that's very often mentioned in sports - GRIT. Although this term is not clearly defined, it is often used to describe teams and players (most often in contact sports) who go beyond regular physical play - think of players who hit hard, are not afraid of contact, and have this "instinct" to perform the best when others might back off - almost defying rational decisions. Just to set an example, the prime example of Grit to me occurred in the 2013 NHL Eastern Conference Finals, when Gregory Campbell, a Boston Bruins forward blocked a shot during a penalty kill, which subsequently broke his ankle. Instead of doing the rational thing - subbing off and seeking medical attention - he stayed on the ice and managed even to disrupt some plays of the opponent before the penalty kill was over and he was able to sub off safely for his team. It is a very interesting phenomenon - Grit is not something that's easily defined, let alone acquired - it is difficult to learn, and even more difficult to teach - but I believe it transcends the world of sports and applies to all the things we do. 

I think that a lot of humans are very competitive in their nature - sometimes even taking the best of us - and is a thing that is very human. I find it very interesting that when thinking of competitiveness, it's almost always accompanied with a presence of peers and comparison - being better than the athlete in the opposing team, beating your friends in a shooter game or seeking for better grades and more accolades than your classmates - there's an omnipresence of other (mostly) humans and statistics that serve as a benchmark "to beat" - but what if we took out this element? Where is our true "competitive" will without the presence of peers? It makes me think of more "solo" oriented activities - going to the gym, puzzle solving, or even making pottery - without presence of peers or competitive goals, it might be more difficult, but also more enjoyable, to get "better". 

To tie back the discussion about grit and competitiveness with peers, I'd like to pose the question of learning grit for the sake of self-improvement. I see potential in applying the philosophy of "going beyond, even if it's irrational for some" to things we find passions in. In the form of a robot, I think there could be application in an "artificial benchmark" - someone who's learning something with you, and adjusts to your pace - whilst bringing out the competitive spirit and pushing you to not stay complacent. To prevent it from being just "another" AI trainer/coach/influencer/live-your-life-teacher/etc. concept, I'd propose to have a more philosophical approach to what "getting better" means and push more the users for their own definitions of what good is, rather than settling into simpler predetermined brackets, ranks or performance groups.