There’s a great fable by Aesop that is as true today as when it was written
The Scorpion and the Frog
A scorpion and a frog meet on the bank of a stream and the scorpion asks the frog to carry him across on its back. The frog asks, “How do I know you won’t sting me?” The scorpion says, “Because if I do, I will die too.”
The frog is satisfied, and they set out, but in midstream, the scorpion stings the frog. The frog feels the onset of paralysis and starts to sink, knowing they both will drown, but has just enough time to gasp “Why?”
Replies the scorpion: “Its my nature…”
In my other job as “the other Nick” for over many decades I have worked with exploring and teaching aspects of human behaviour. Inevitably after thousands of hours of seeing clients and running trainings in the UK, USA, Europe and Asia, it’s amazing how certain patterns appear time and time again across all demographics and areas of life. The Aesop fable highlights that some people can’t help themselves when it comes to behaviour. Of course on planet earth we all have our own individual subjective views or what Robert Anton Wilson would call “reality tunnels”
Here are some examples of different types of behavior that form very specific reality tunnels and subsequent behaviors
The Attention/status seekers
These individuals tend to endlessly seek to be the centre of attention and tend to be obsessed with personal imagined status. In the world of music there is of course a pecking order, which is to an extent understandable, However often this attention seeking becomes so self serving that it often results in poor manners and ultimately such individuals tend to be quite isolated as people become increasingly alienated by this kind of behavior. The attention seeker will endlessly seek reassurance and free advice, without much if any consideration for others.
The Bully/victim folks
These individuals tend to try and strong arm everyone to their own point of view. The bullying behavior can be overt or covert. If they don’t succeed with the head to head approach, they usually back down and “play the victim” often with verbose explanations and apologies about how its not their fault! Those who work in management will recognize this kind of behavior whereas others may not spot what is going on.
The Connectors
The connectors tend to be the polar opposite of the attention seekers. These individuals are always working in the service of others and by nature “connect with others” The danger they have personally is that they can be greatly affected by others ill considered actions. The connectors think the best of people and tend to be selfless in their actions and can if they are not careful be manipulated by others. they are classically the folks “who can’t say no” and often suffer for this
These are just three examples of behavior, but are surprisingly common in both the music world and other areas of life. Ultimately of course everyone has their own “reality tunnel” and as one of my lyrics states
“No one of us is smarter than all of us”