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The supply chain situation is much worse because individual actors are trying to optimize for themselves for an advantage at the cost of everybody else.
by the_mitsuhiko 5y ago
The supply chain situation is much worse because individual actors are trying to optimize for themselves for an advantage at the cost of everybody else.
- JoBrad 5y agoTragedy of the Supply Chain?
- whatshisface 5y agoIn contrast to the selflessness and charity of rush hour commuters?
- the_mitsuhiko 5y agoI don’t know how self aware rush hour commuters are about their situation. Also the animation linked does not involve decision making. Right now a lot of companies are aware of supply chain issues and counter acting them for instance by greater stockpiling which in turn worsens the situation for others.
- whatshisface 5y agoIf you're against stockpiling, then you're in favor of the zero inventory cost cutting practice that got us in to this mess to begin with.
- bfdm 5y agoYup, turned out that inventory isn't pure capital waste after all. It's an insurance policy, an investment in stability. Bring back inventory.
- mschuster91 5y agoAnd in ten years, when the pandemic has passed, the MBA beancounters and/or "activist investors" will ask the question "do we need stockpiles of inventory???" again. And then history will repeat itself - many years of profit, followed by a crisis of some kind and then we will have another "delivery crisis".
- alfiedotwtf 5y ago> It's an insurance policy That's a really good way of putting it.
- Dylan16807 5y agoStockpiling as a general concept doesn't worsen things. Rapidly increasing your stockpile size as a response to shortages is what worsens things.
- the_mitsuhiko 5y agoThere is a balance to everything.
- deleted 5y ago[deleted]
- LordDragonfang 5y agoThe video that the above animation is from [1] is about how bad (or alternatively, "selfish") driving behaviors where individuals inch up as close to the car in front of them as quickly as possible (only to have to slam on their brakes) actually lead to worse and slower traffic than if everyone just left a buffer of space in front of them and drove at a moderate pace. So it's actually a lot more analogous than you'd think. [1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iHzzSao6ypE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iHzzSao6ypE
- dataflow 5y agoWhile I do love that video, it has some massive oversights: - Safety margins requires distance to increase with velocity. i.e. if the light turns green and everyone accelerates together, then you end up with a bunch of cars going at high speeds bumper-to-bumper. This would be clearly undesirable even if everyone could press the gas pedal at the same time. Meaning you'd still want to insert a delay between cars regardless of people's ability to press the gas pedal at the same time. Heck, even with self-driving cars, you'd still want comparable safety margins in case something goes wrong; it's not like self-driving cars result in a perfectly predictable world. - "Stay the same distance apart from the car behind you and in front of you" ignores the fact that the car behind you might be quite far behind you (if there at all). In reality you probably want to maintain a minimum distance both in front of and behind you, not an identical distance. - It also fails to show that decongesting a traffic jam by deliberately slowing down (which is what you'd have to do to increase your distance from the car in front of you) will actually result in you getting to your destination more quickly. It's certainly not intuitive for that to be the case. While I'm not claiming the conclusions would be necessarily wrong if you take these into account, for a viewer that hasn't already done research in this area, it sure doesn't convince them that the conclusions are correct once these are accounted for either.
- Retric 5y agoMany rush hour commuters do bike, car pool, or use public transportation at least in part to cut down on congestion.
- gruez 5y agoBut are they doing that selflessly and out of charity, or are they biking for the exercise, car pooling/public transport to save money? In other words, doing those measures out of selfish reasons.
- Retric 5y agoClearly some are doing so for 100% selfish reasons, but many aren’t.
- micromacrofoot 5y agoboth
- hiptobecubic 5y agoWho cares?
- nobody9999 5y ago>But are they doing that selflessly and out of charity, or are they biking for the exercise, car pooling/public transport to save money? In other words, doing those measures out of selfish reasons. Many behaviors considered positive for society are encouraged by appealing to self interest. Various tax credits (EV tax rebates come to mind), appeals to health and cost reduction (bicycling, walking, car pooling/public transport, etc.) and many other areas where a change in behavior is considered a "public good" are encouraged by benefits (or punishment -- tickets for not wearing a seat belt, drunk driving, etc.) that appeal to an individual's selfish interests. As such, why does it matter if societally net-positive things are being done for selfish or altruistic reasons, as long as people do them?
- narag 5y agoAs such, why does it matter if societally net-positive things are being done for selfish or altruistic reasons, as long as people do them? You are responding in the context of a thread without considering the reason the thread developed: someone stated that the effect worsens because selfish behaviour.
- dariusj18 5y agoI just recently had to drive in Atlanta on I75 and merge across three lanes of traffic towing a trailer; the least helpful people I have ever experienced on the road. The only solution was to start going and force them to yield or get hit.
- d0gsg0w00f 5y agoYeah, I used to drive a box truck around Atlanta for work. Learned by the second day that you just have to start moving into the lane you want. They'll get out of the way.
- chasd00 5y agoi think that's SOP for large vehicles. Sometimes you'll find a trucker or heavy equipment op in a car and they'll flash their lights, make space, and sort of escort you through the lanes. Most of the time, you just change lanes and let the other, more nimble, cars react to it.
- themitigating 5y agoTurning yourself into the problem
- theduder99 5y agoyes there are a few difficult areas like that around atl. sometimes I'll just get off an exit early or late if I think what I'm about to do is too dangerous for myself or others.
- evv555 5y agoI believe there's map software that avoids left turns when possible for situations like this
- dariusj18 5y agoUnfortunately this was a situation where they decided to close all but the right most lane of I75 shortly after the 75/85 split, so I had no choice but to attempt this maneuver in stop and go traffic with very little warning.
- refurb 5y agoHow is that different than always? And if their own actions make the system worse doesn’t that hurt them as well?
- PixyMisa 5y agoThat's not the cause. That's the solution.
- davedx 5y agoClassic tragedy of the commons example.