Why do people feel it necessary to "one up" each other?

People feel they need to be better than others. And some people may not notice but almost everything in life is a competition to who is best. When your in elementary school you see who has the best grades. When you get to high school its all about sports, who has the best basketball team, baseball team, football team, etc. High schools  don't let kids participate in these sporting events because the school has a small chance of winning. Those kids who didn't make it lost in the sporting competition.  There's also the academic side of high school. Kids will work for hours on end to have a better grade then another student, just so they can get into a better college than that kid. College staff on the admission board only chose kids that would make there school the best so it can be ranked higher. Most colleges reject at least 50% of  people that apply. Those 50% of people who don't get in lost in the academic competition. The kids who did make it into a top school they have a lot of choices on what they could do when they graduate so they pick a major and study that so they can be the best, which will allow for them to get a good job and gain a lot of money and power. People go to college so they can get even better at what they want to do for a living and get a job. For those who don't get a job they lost in the job competition. For those who are left they strive to gain higher position in that job, in order to do that they have to beat people. We have all been in competitions in our life and it is inevitable and impossible to avoid it. But some people seek it out such as probational athletes and Olympic competitors.