I'm not sure how much of it is North American culture because in any competitive environment it comes down to the same issues. The culture in Asian countries is probably worse in terms of winning in academia.

But love your point on history. In general in science class they teach you the mechanics, the end result. But there is one difference. When they try to teach you the atomic model. They know it isn't accessible, it's something that can't just be told. And so instead of teaching you the outcome they talk you through the history with the experience of each of the scientists that helped create the Atomic Model. The gold film experiments of Rutherford, Millikan's oil drop, Faraday's experiments. It's sad how in general we ognore the history and the thoguht processes behind codifying laws of nature.