Teamwork can defeat even the cleverest lone trickster
Evidence
When the race began, Kancil dashed ahead and then, sure of victory, called back mockingly, ‘Snail! Where are you?’ To his shock, a snail answered from just ahead of him: ‘Here I am, in front of you!’ — for it was a different snail, waiting at that spot. Kancil ran harder, called again, and again a snail answered from ahead. No matter how fast he ran, every time he called, a snail replied from further on. At last Kancil, exhausted and bewildered, collapsed in defeat, certain the impossible snail had beaten him. The snails had won not by speed but by working together and outthinking the boaster — proving that even the cleverest one can be beaten by teamwork, and that pride goes before a fall. — , A Year of World Stories, 12836
Categorization
- XREF: connects to: In coordination, neither player can outsmart the other without outsmarting himself — Thomas C. Schelling, The Strategy of Conflict, 235