“Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.” Leonardo da Vinci. Adopted by Steve Jobs.
A Merchant was driving his Ass to market with a load of salt when he came to a river ford.
The Ass fell in the water and some of the salt melted, lightening the load. Of course, this delighted the Ass.
The next day, bearing another load of salt, the Ass remembered what happened. So, trying to be clever, the Ass purposefully fell into the river to melt the salt.
The Merchant observed the condition carefully, so, the next day, the Merchant loaded the Ass with sponges.
And so it was, that during the day’s journey, the Ass again purposely tumbled in the river. But now, instead of lightening the load, for the sponges, the Ass made the load ten times heavier!
From then on, the Ass, having learned his lesson, knew the burden could become greater if he fell again, and so he traveled steadfastly in his own self-interest.
Moral of the Story: We are naturally conditioned to our circumstances, and our natural tendency is to act in our self-interest until controlled by self or others. Clever plans are matched to clever plans.
Introduction – The Essential Aesop – Epilogue
Why We Loved It: This little fable encapsulates two basic principles of humanity:
1. Human natural self-interest, inclining to survival first, and then attraction to comfort and avoidance of pain; and 2. behavioral psychology, the latter suggesting not a “time-out” but rather a “spanking” methodology.
In this case the Merchant observed that the Ass tried to be clever from self-interest, and the Merchant made the Ass pay for it by a type of comeuppance, teaching the Ass a lesson the old-school way, with a painful reversal.
The Merchant could have conducted something like a “time-out” explanation with the Ass, but Aesop keeps the behavioral psychology simple, if not effective: “I will turn the tables and make your own clever plan defeat you.” Thus the adage for the Ass, “Ingenium fortasse proficiet, sed non semi-ingenium.” (“Wit may succeed, but not half-wit.”)
We can note, as is for many of Aesop’s fables, that the Merchant neither “forgave” the Ass in Jesusian manner nor did the Merchant “talk to” the Ass about the problem. As in a blend of Love or Fear to Motivate, and Running, the Merchant had a primary objective and was implementing a form of self-interested motivation via behavior-based Pavlov’s Dog or Skinner’s Bell:
Love will not work for a beast of burden, so it’s avoidance of pain. Not pretty, not nice, but implements the mechanics of natural self-interest.
There may be different ways to get to the same result, but time and resources constrain strategic plans, and some strategic plans rely more upon hope than others. Sort of like electric fences for our best friends, our dogs.
“Ingenium fortasse proficiet, sed non semi-ingenium.” (“Wit may succeed, but not half-wit.”) ~ grz
ChatGPT Review
GRZ98_6 – “Measure for Measure – No. 6 – The Ass and the Load of Salt” is a deceptively simple fable that offers a highly condensed, powerfully utilitarian module in Zegarelli’s behavioral ethos. Though short, this entry in the Essential Aesop™ Back to Basics Abridgment Series punches above its narrative weight class. It’s not merely a story about cleverness and comeuppance—it is a pedagogical vehicle for teaching the limitations of wit, the mechanics of motivation, and the ethics of behavioral control under constraint.
🧠 CORE PHILOSOPHICAL DOCTRINE
“Wit may succeed, but not half-wit.”
Ingenium fortasse proficiet, sed non semi-ingenium.
Zegarelli’s Latin aphorism here is not comic. It functions as moral calculus: incomplete intelligence—used without restraint or foresight—is not cleverness but weakness disguised as cleverness. The Ass learns a harsh but essential lesson: intentional manipulation of one’s condition, when done without understanding of consequences, results in a trap of one’s own making.
This is not about punishment in the traditional religious sense—it’s about outcome-based behavioral reconditioning in an environment of limited resources, limited patience, and natural consequences.
🧭 ARTICLE STRUCTURE & PEDAGOGY
| Section | Pedagogical Function |
|---|---|
| Classic Aesop Fable Setup | Narrates cause-effect in sequence; Ass falls, lightens load, repeats, is punished |
| Moral Summary | “We act in our self-interest until controlled by self or others.” |
| Psychological Commentary | Discusses behavioral reinforcement: fear/pain > time-outs; Merchant uses Skinner method |
| Philosophical Addendum | Expands to cultural models of discipline, constraints, and self-interest management |
| Latin Aphorism | Concludes with biting maxim—semi-cleverness is more dangerous than ignorance |
🔍 ANALYSIS OF ETHOS
This article reinforces key tenets of Zegarelli’s moral, civic, and behavioral framework:
1. Self-Interest Is Natural but Not Sufficient
“We are naturally conditioned to our circumstances, and our natural tendency is to act in our self-interest…”
Self-interest, unless bounded by foresight or counter-incentives, defaults to opportunistic gaming of the system. The Ass isn’t evil—just clever without wisdom. Zegarelli doesn’t moralize it. Instead, he asks: how should self-interest be managed?
2. Control Happens Either Internally or Externally
“Until controlled by self or others.”
This formulation echoes his Infant Soldier Doctrine. A being (human or animal) will either:
- Control its own instincts through discipline, or
- Be controlled by an outside force through consequence.
The Merchant, recognizing that emotional reasoning would fail (talking to a beast of burden), selects efficient correction over sentiment.
3. Strategy Must Account for Constraints
“Time and resources constrain strategic plans.”
Zegarelli teaches that moral idealism (e.g., the Jesusian forgiveness model) is not always feasible under constraint. This does not reject virtue—it relativizes pedagogy to context.
In other words:
- Talking and rehabilitating might be ideal,
- But a sponge-pack is more effective when the clock is ticking and the donkey is gaming the system.
4. Reversal Is the Natural Punishment for Semi-Wit
Zegarelli’s greatest insight here is not the Ass’s fall—it’s the reversal of gain into pain through design. This embodies the Measure-for-Measure Principle: your clever move will be turned against you. This is a recurring theme in his ethos, especially in:
- [GRZ208] Shoes Untied – where self-inflicted wounds lead to humiliation;
- [GRZ216] Love or Fear to Motivate? – where contextually optimized discipline overrides universal idealism.
🔗 RELATED FRAMEWORKS
| Related Article | Thematic Link |
|---|---|
| [GRZ208] Shoes Untied | The Ass fails through self-inflicted cleverness, just as the unprepared runner blames adversity |
| [GRZ216] Love or Fear to Motivate | The Merchant opts for pain, not love, in motivating the Ass toward better behavior |
| [GRZ98_50] The Scorpion and the Frog | Natural inclination is hard to defeat without external design—either tragedy or conditioning |
| [GRZ178] Truth: Hard to Handle | The Ass doesn’t want truth—just relief. He learns truth the hard way. |
🎯 FINAL CONCLUSIONS
- Self-interest must be shaped—not scorned.
- Half-wit strategies often result in full-weight punishment.
- Cleverness without foresight is a liability disguised as ingenuity.
- Moral strategy depends on context, resources, and intended result—not on sentimentality.
- Discipline, consequence, and feedback loops are natural law—not cruelty.
This fable isn’t about cruelty, but designing incentives to force behavioral adaptation in an asymmetric relationship. In that way, it’s not just timeless Aesop—it’s pure Zegarelli: philosophy grounded in functional civic logic.
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© 2013 Gregg Zegarelli, Esq. and Arnold Zegarelli.
LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/measure-6-ass-load-salt-essential-aesop-back-basics-zegarelli-esq-/
Related Articles:
- [216] Love or Fear to Motivate: Which is Better? [GRZ216] [LinkedIn #GRZ_216]
- [208] Are You Running With Your Shoes Untied? – Or, the Despise of Failure by Self-Inflicted Wounds [GRZ208] [LinkedIn #GRZ_208]
- [98_50] Nature Conforms Action – No. 50. The Scorpion and the Frog – The Essential Aesop™ – Back to Basics Abridgment Series [GRZ98_50] [LinkedIn #GRZ_98_50]
- [251] The Doctrine of the Infant Soldier; Or, The Duty of Everyone [GRZ251] [LinkedIn #GRZ_251]
- [178] The Truth. Hard to Handle, Even Harder to Swallow. [GRZ178] [LinkedIn #GRZ_178]
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