in the 80s japan was supposedly ahead in everything and it'd win and humilliate the west very soon because of their "work ethic". 40 years forward, they're poorer than most western countries. south korea is a smaller-scale example of the same thing. overworking, overstudying, and in the end, they don't stand out. china is going the same way. you can't force humans to be robots and high-achievers for their whole life, that only works for a very small % of people.
Spain