Competition against other people makes a lot of things which are 'not fun' into 'fun'. Sports are a great example. I find just running boring, and running around hitting a little yellow ball is boring too, even when there are lines and targets. But put an opponent of similar skill on the other side of the net, and tennis can entertain me for as long as my muscles hold out (and, indeed, stretching that limit is part of the fun).
It seems like competing against another person is qualitatively different than solving a given problem.
What about competition?
Competition against other people makes a lot of things which are 'not fun' into 'fun'. Sports are a great example. I find just running boring, and running around hitting a little yellow ball is boring too, even when there are lines and targets. But put an opponent of similar skill on the other side of the net, and tennis can entertain me for as long as my muscles hold out (and, indeed, stretching that limit is part of the fun).
It seems like competing against another person is qualitatively different than solving a given problem.