Thank you for such a thoughtful and insightful response!

I put this story in my native language in https://golos.io/ico and got some interesting responses as well.

One of them stated that people who compete under these circumstances display nothing more than the dominance reflex governed by the limbic system. Basically, they say “I’ll show you who is in control of this pool.”
The other answer was that these responses are completely environmental and it’s our society (or those elements who control it) promote this stiff competition mentality. Then this opinion was rebuked stating that basically some natural predisposition still plays a big role in this.

It is my feeling that, as a result of historical evolution, homo sapiens do have some genetic predisposition to a competition (and as you pointed out some might have greater than others)
I also think that if the human society will make strides toward abundance and this will be enshrined in several generations, this type of behavior would subside.

In the meanwhile, I would still have to brace myself for those silent challenges from young bucks and keep my own limbic reflex under control, constantly reminding myself that my goal is blood pressure reduction. LOL