Game Theory and Overfishing
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After learning about Game Theory in class, I am now seeing how many real world instances and interactions can be viewed as examples of Game Theory. An example I found interesitng is the problem that is overfishing. The link above starts off by talking about “the tragedy of the commons” or what they describe to be “A situation where a shared resource is overused by the people using it, even though they know that if they all overuse it then it will run out.” Every fisherman knows that if they continue to fish at high rates, eventually the population pool of fish they are catching will run out. Even if a cap is put on the quantity each fisherman can catch a day, one will always start overfishing, thinking they individually will not make a difference and feel the need to get ahead of the competition. However, once one begins to do so, the others feel they need to do the same in order to keep up, and that now it makes logical sense to do so. The fish population is being depleted at an increasing rate until there are no more fish to catch.
This situation is very similar to the prisoners’ dilemma, however, in this case they are able to communicate with each other. Despite the fact that this communication is possible, however they still end up in a situation where everyone loses in the end due to the fish population being depleted. The whole premise behind game theory is that there are settings in which a group of people must choose how to act, knowing that the outcome will depend on the joint decisions made by them collectively. This is why overfishing is a perfect example of game theory. All of the fisherman are aware that they must choose how to act and handle the situation. The decision made by one or a few to start overfishing then affects the group as a whole and in turn causes them to feel the need to follow.