Yeah, agreed about the distracting phrasing. I find it's a useful way for me to think about it, as it brings into sharp relief the associated obligations for mutual support, which I otherwise tend to obfuscate, but talking about it that way tends to evoke social resistance.

Agreed that there are many other scenarios in addition to the three I cite, and the specifics vary; transient alliances in a multi-agent system can get complicated.

Also, if you have an articulable model of how you make those judgments I'd be interested, especially if it uses more socially acceptable language than mine does.

Edit: Also, I'm really curious as to the reasoning of whoever downvoted that. I commit to preserving that person's anonymity if they PM me about their reasoning.