The Scorpion and the Frog

 

Together

Through thick and through thin,
All out or all in.
And whether it's win, place or show.
With you for me and me for you,
We'll muddle through whatever we do.
Together, wherever we go.

The group is stronger than the individual.

"A scorpion asks a frog to carry him over a river. The frog is afraid of being stung, but the scorpion argues that if it did so, both would sink, and the scorpion would drown. The frog then agrees, but midway across the river the scorpion does indeed sting the frog, dooming them both. When asked why, the scorpion points out that this is its nature."

This is a favorite cautionary story on why you should not trust others.  Those admiring the tale think that they are superior to both the stinging scorpion and the naïve frog.  However the people who admire this tale have a lot more in common with the scorpion than the frog.  The frog assumed that since he would not do anything to kill himself, the scorpion would do the same.  The frog is unlikely to approach the scorpion on land because that would be dangerous.  However the frog assumed that no one would be foolish enough to kill himself. It is told as a lesson to point out how foolish that frog was being.

This is a simple game where the scorpion has a goal to cross the river.  On each move the scorpion can sting or not sting and on that same move the frog can carry or not carry.  If the scorpion stings but the frog does not carry, the scorpion does not cross the river.  If the scorpion does not sting and the frog does not carry, the scorpion also does not cross the river.  If the scorpion stings and the frog carries, then the scorpion does not cross the river.  Only if the frog carries and the scorpion does not sting can the scorpion cross the river.

After the game play in the story, neither the frog nor the scorpion can ever play again. This is then by definition a game of only two.  But if the scorpion is playing for other scorpions and the frog is playing for other frogs, then stinging is NOT the best strategy.  The winning strategy in games with more than two players is the subject of an older blog post of mine.  https://dbeagan.blogspot.com/2021/05/tough-but-fair-beats-always-being-nasty.html.  Or to borrow phrase,  the winning strategy is "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you".  Don’t ever walk alone.