[emptytheory]

I guess the author agrees with me in another one of his articles (so maybe I just misinterpreted):

"There is no trace of evidence that you can get the best out of people at high-level tasks through pressure and competition. The opposite is true. Worried people get dumber. They may be faster at carrying rocks… but they do not get smarter.

Stressing out academics, students, engineers or any modern-day worker… makes them less effective. If we had any sense, we would minimize competition to optimize our performance."

http://lemire.me/blog/archives/2014/12/05/academia-as-an-anx...