We fear that we will lose if we outshine the others. Yet the objective measurable outcomes show collaborative efforts to consistently produce higher results. Competition is Human Nature - the Darwinian approach of survival of the fittest. Competition motivates us to do our best. True for the winners and false for the losers.
Competition is fun.
Competition builds character. Strip away all the assumptions about what competition is supposed to do, all the claims in its behalf that we accept and repear reflexively. One peson succeeds only if another does not. We cannot become what we want to be by remaining what we are. We develop a structural incentive to see other people lose.