Two Peaches Kill Three Warriors
Updated 2026-08-10
INTRODUCTION
English translation pending.
CORE DEFINITION
Two Peaches Kill Three Warriors is a story recorded in the Yanzi Chunqiu, in which the minister Yan Ying gives two peaches to three meritorious warriors and asks them to claim one by comparing their deeds. Its core proposition is that an indivisible scarce honor, inserted into a proud group, converts an external threat into internal rivalry. The key qualifier is the target's pride: the mechanism works only where participants value status enough to compete, and it carries heavy ethical cost.
SCAFFOLDING EFFECT
Reduce cognitive load
- Scarcity design: shape an allocation so a proud group divides itself over the prize. - Reverse check: verify whether rivals could aim the same scarcity back at you. - Alternative design: replace destructive rivalry with a reward that every member can hold.
Anchor fast decisions
An award that cannot be split forces a comparison of worth among peers. Because each participant must justify deserving it, the group shifts from facing outward to ranking inward. Ranking produces grievance, and grievance among proud equals escalates without any external push, so the instigator spends nothing beyond the object itself.
MINIMUM ACTION
In progress 0/1Practice this model in one real situation:
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Source support: Explicit
- zh.wikipedia.orghttps://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E4%BA%8C%E6%A1%83%E6%AE%BA%E4%B8%89%E5%A3%ABverified
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