[blagie]

I don't think so. In my experience, most people are pretty decent and honest.

There's something which extreme competition does which breaks that, both by whom it selects, and by how it changes culture. MIT a quarter-century ago was much more honest than MIT today. Peer institutions -- one stop down -- are also still much more honest, although I suspect that will change in a decade or two.

The same change happened in several of MIT's peer schools.