I was asked a similar question a while ago:

why are we so afraid of being wrong in this dog gone society?

Hmm, I think its because we place a lot of importance on being the best and being perfect and just winning in general. There is a lot of embarrassment and shame attatched to being wrong and not being the best. There is a lot of anger behind the word ‘loser.’ 

I think we (my generation mainly) are starting to become a society that is striving for second place and ‘good enough’ instead, but critics are saying we are becoming used to things being given to us, rather than us earning them.