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Are you describing what is also known as "Tragedy of the commons"? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tragedy_of_the_commons https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tragedy_of

by Lex-2008 5y ago

Are you describing what is also known as "Tragedy of the commons"? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tragedy_of_the_commons https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tragedy_of_the_commons

stackbutterflow 5y ago
More like the prisoner's dilemma, no?
protoman3000 5y ago
The "Tragedy of the commons" is a situation where choices based on self-interest converge to a negative outcome. I would not characterize our situation on global level like that. The difference is that in our world people do express desire to cooperate, also on a global scale, but reaching consensus seems like an intractable or practically unsolvable problem. Everybody knows that cooperating lies in their own self interest, but what does it effectively mean to cooperate? It begins at different levels. For example, before we even begin to see disagreement on how to do the the things we want, we already have no consensus on what to do in the first place.
- PeterisP 5y ago
  Arguably it is exactly like the tragedy of commons - the original analogy is common pastures getting overexploited as noone wants to limit their cows so that the pasture isn't overcrowded; and in this analogy noone wants to limit their satellites so that the space isn't overcrowded..
  - guerrilla 5y ago
    "A resource arrangement that works in practice can work in theory." - Elinor Ostrom Good thing that old thought experiment isn't based on empirical evidence from the real world as the first woman to win a Nobel Prize in economics showed us [1]. In both cases, it's in all participants interest as the GP said but there are some further conditions that Ostram outlined. It turns out in the real world, those conditions are met more often than not and can clearly met in this case. 1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elinor_Ostrom#Research https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elinor_Ostrom#Research
  - tdeck 5y ago
    It would be better to describe this as the "tragedy of the unregulated commons". In reality societies that practiced commons-based agriculture were able to collaborate effectively and limit overgrazing through laws and community norms.

Are you describing what is also known as "Tragedy of the commons"? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tragedy_of_the_commons https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tragedy_of_the_commons

stackbutterflow 5y ago

More like the prisoner's dilemma, no?

protoman3000 5y ago

The "Tragedy of the commons" is a situation where choices based on self-interest converge to a negative outcome. I would not characterize our situation on global level like that. The difference is that in our world people do express desire to cooperate, also on a global scale, but reaching consensus seems like an intractable or practically unsolvable problem. Everybody knows that cooperating lies in their own self interest, but what does it effectively mean to cooperate? It begins at different levels. For example, before we even begin to see disagreement on how to do the the things we want, we already have no consensus on what to do in the first place.

PeterisP 5y ago
Arguably it is exactly like the tragedy of commons - the original analogy is common pastures getting overexploited as noone wants to limit their cows so that the pasture isn't overcrowded; and in this analogy noone wants to limit their satellites so that the space isn't overcrowded..
- guerrilla 5y ago
  "A resource arrangement that works in practice can work in theory." - Elinor Ostrom Good thing that old thought experiment isn't based on empirical evidence from the real world as the first woman to win a Nobel Prize in economics showed us [1]. In both cases, it's in all participants interest as the GP said but there are some further conditions that Ostram outlined. It turns out in the real world, those conditions are met more often than not and can clearly met in this case. 1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elinor_Ostrom#Research https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elinor_Ostrom#Research
- tdeck 5y ago
  It would be better to describe this as the "tragedy of the unregulated commons". In reality societies that practiced commons-based agriculture were able to collaborate effectively and limit overgrazing through laws and community norms.