> Do we really think that the pain of losing is so
> terrible and so unbearable that it cancels all the
> benefits we get by not giving everyone a gold star?
No--but it's still pretty awful, and will endure so long as we take competitive endeavors seriously. (And if we don't take competitive endeavors seriously, they won't bear fruit: would Jordan have been great if he didn't _really_ want to be the best? As a former scholar, I know you're not naive enough to think that the desire to be relatively good isn't a great source of inspiration in academic and creative contexts, as well.)
-- Luke