system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
ELI5: Why do humans strive to be better than one another (achieve higher education, become celebrities, masters of a certain skill, etc) while animals such as ants are fine acting as a single unit for a larger whole (never choosing to change their status among their peers)?
gpt
It is difficult to answer the question when you juxtaposition it as humans vs animals "such as ants".

A key reason most animals (including humans) strive to be better than one another has to do with the aspect of evolutionary theory known as sexual selection. Most animals will seek a mate that improves the likelihood of their offspring being successful. Part of that is seeking the genetic makeup that improves the offspring. Another part is selecting a mate that will be the best parent.

In some species the sexual selection is mainly done by one sex, which results in competition in the other sex. One example is birds of paradise. Other species the selection is done by both sexes, which leads to competition in both sexes. Humans fall into this category.

Ants is an entirely different story, because their genetics is based on haplodiploidy. The entire colony are the offspring of the queen, so there is no genetic variation. When she mates she mates with ants that carry only her dna, so there is no evolutionary benefit in mating with x, y or z.