I don't dispute the competitiveness part. It's just that in a physical sport like hockey, you're putting your long-term well-being on the line with a high risk of permanent damage. If you are in a competitive environment in business where the outcome is that you risk losing your job, you can always find another. The consequences are usually not as dire.
Never did I presuppose that competitiveness is not an element that you find in other areas. I've worked in fields with individuals having higher education all of my life. I've been in the board rooms of international corporations, know what it's like to face angry shareholders and see high performance individuals lose their jobs. I think I know a thing or two about how they handle themselves.
In any case, back to Wilde. It was an easy prediction for him to make and that's all it is.
I wasn't arguing against your general point, I fully agree with it. I wanted to comment on the link between education and the culture you were describing and how it actually seems theres a deleterious effect to it, rather than protective.
My own experience is that the higher the demands to get to and maintain a position, the more you see this culture, regadless of education level. Instead of players risking their physical health, you'll see people sacrificing family, marriage or their mental health. I've seen everything from coming to work the day after cancer treatments to after a death in the immediate family, all with similar motivations and pats on the back you see in sports.
That is to say it's a problem on a rather large scale, that's even perpetuated by the layman (just look at comments when Prices chronic fatigue came out, or when Kovalev got slashed in the PO). Its easy for people who feel they have high responsibilities to introject that they do have to sacrifice and carry on, in spite of what's good for them.
