[jacknews]

I don't mean to be rude, but this is a bullshit perspective and a direct result of the very American imperative of "winner takes all", or "second best is nowhere", etc.

Dump the computer and travel outside the USA for a few months to a year, and you might catch a glimpse of life as it really is.

Life (in general, including professional life, BTW) is all about the connections you make with other people, not your kaggle/topcoder/etc ranking.