Posted by Ancient Thief on August 2, 2000 at 18:42:51:
In Reply to: Now how many really know the reference "The Tragedy of the Commons" - I am so proud of my edjeykashun (thanks for reminding me some folks in CF play other roles than those possessing poor language skills - no snobbery intended) - nt posted by Lochlannach on August 2, 2000 at 15:11:50:
The tragedy of the commons refers to a public good that has negative externalities and results in a suboptimal outcome.
Everyone practicing their skills to perfection could also be seen as an application of game theory, but it's not an example of a public good. It's more a prisoners' dilemma, where each player has a dominant strategy (in this case, practice skills to perfection) that results in a better result than if they had not done so, but also makes them lose out compared to if neither "player" pursued the dominant strategy.
And if anyone actually bothered to read this obscure thread down at the bottom of the page...I hope it was interesting. Apologies if it's incomprehensible rambling.