Cooperation and competition are often considered at odds with one another. A persons desire to cooperate with others may hinder the drive to compete, and vice versa. There are also matters of context and scale: perhaps when the stakes are low, a friendly competitive streak emerges in someone who would usually aim to get along with others. As long as intentions are true, both approaches have merit. After all, competition is considered an important-perhaps the most important-driver of innovation. Conversely, when it comes to getting big things accomplished, cooperation has afforded humanity great success. Topical debates about markets and social justice aside, I urge you to consider current proportions of competition and cooperation in our world. On a global level, I see relentless competition for everyone's emotion, time, money, energy, votes, and more. Cooperation is rarely modelled, and hardly encouraged. Unbridled competition may be driving us apart. Where is the balance? I do not mean to present a false dichotomy. As is often the case, in reality there are shades of grey, pros and cons, and perspective is paramount. In an editorial elsewhere in this issue, Bresee tackles the interpretation of p values in research (Can J Hosp Pharm. 2019;72[5]:339-40). We're reminded that/values continue to be used to create dichotomies for consumers of scientific literature-ut simply, "yes, an intervention is beneficial", or not.
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