Who is the smartest?

Academia suffers from superiority wars, despite the denial. This is not news for humanity, since we've been at each other's throats for physical domination and more recently the richness, thanks to capitalism. 

Academics want to be "better" than each other by being more smart, having more publications, better positions with prize decorated walls, and many more ways one can make himself or herself distinctively superior.

Why can't we just be down to earth, caring about each other and not laugh to another when we see them fall/fail or just misspell?