I'd say it's only beneficial if it leads to improving yourself (in the case where you are comparing yourself to someone who is "better" - for whatever metric) - or if it leads to improving the life of someone else (in the case where you are comparing yourself to someone who is "worse" - again, for whatever metric).<p>Of course, in the latter case, you should consult with the person to make sure whether they want their life improved or not (maybe they are content with where they are at, or they want to achieve better results on their own without someone's help)...<p>It would only be detrimental if the outcome of the comparison was doing nothing but complaining, without taking any action or research to understand or figure out how to better oneself (or to merely sit around and congratulate oneself on how much better you are than others - conceit or arrogance isn't all that great for a person to indulge in, but that is merely my opinion).<p>As for why we do this - well, this has already been answered by others, I think.
> Why do we compare ourselves to others?<p>This condition is called 'Keeping Up With the Joneses', or a more modern term is 'Status Anxiety'. We compare ourselves to others because of the Status differences and societal hierarchy that has come to exist in modern civilization.<p>> Is this beneficial?<p>Not at all. Comparing yourself to others is said to make you depressed, sick even.<p>> Peasant communities have far lower levels of depression than urban societies. There are many possible explanations but one key factor may be that farming communities are far less interested in status striving. Subsistence farmers did not try to impress each other with limousines and caviar. Status differences were minor.<p>Source: <a href="https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-human-beast/201304/keeping-the-joneses-makes-us-sad-and-sick" rel="nofollow">https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-human-beast/201304/...</a><p>Being on Facebook or Instagram and watching your friends living a "great exciting life" (which is usually an embellishment of their real life) is also said to cause anxiety and depression.<p>> Why would heavy social media usage cause depression? The exposure to “highly idealized representations of peers on social media elicits feelings of envy and the distorted belief that others lead happier, more successful lives".<p>Source: Research Links Heavy Facebook And Social Media Usage To Depression => <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/amitchowdhry/2016/04/30/study-links-heavy-facebook-and-social-media-usage-to-depression/#5b79de424b53" rel="nofollow">https://www.forbes.com/sites/amitchowdhry/2016/04/30/study-l...</a>