Tragedy of the Commons
https://www.washingtonpost.com/posteverything/wp/2015/07/20/why-i-give-my-students-a-tragedy-of-the-commons-extra-credit-challenge/
In this article, a professor at the University of Maryland poses a challenge to his class. He offers an “extra credit” bonus of either 2 or 6 points. Everyone has to choose either of the two options, and they receive a boost on their grade correlated to what they chose. However, there is a twist. If too many pick the 6 point option, then nobody gets extra points. So far, only one class was able to successfully complete the challenge.
The purpose of this experiment was to demonstrate a phenomenon called the “Tragedy of the Commons.” It is similar to the prisoner’s dilemma in that everyone has a choice, but they can either make a selfish choice (benefiting themselves and, if successful, giving them a greater reward), or they can make the choice for the greater good (and thus reducing the risk of losing all payoff). However, in most cases, people tend to pick the selfish choice, causing a decline in social welfare.
This becomes a bigger issue outside of the classroom, when we start discussing things like resources necessarily for survival. People tend to selfishly use things like water, food, and land without thinking about the future and the welfare of those around them. Thus, we end up with situations like global warming, droughts (like in California), and food shortages.
However, the author also goes on the certify that making a selfish decision is not necessarily a bad thing. After all, if you think about it, making the selfish choice is the rational decision. People are made to be selfish. You take a little risk (and could lose everything), but it’s better than taking the nice path and still losing everything. It feels like you’re being taken advantage if you take the non-selfish route because your then your payoffs become either less than everyone else’s, or zero.
So how do we stop the “Tragedy of the Commons” from occurring. Sometimes, you have to use reinforcement to make people take the harder path. In California, now there is a fine if you go over a certain limit of water usage (that way, people will think twice about wasting water). Also, if you educate people (and let them know the possible risk that comes with the selfish choice), then they will probably make the right decision. Shame is also another key factor in stopping the “Tragedy of the Commons.” Making people’s decisions public will make them think twice about what they choose to do, because public humiliation is a lot worse than a slightly lower payoff.
All in all, people are rationally selfish. But there are ways to fix that in order to better the social welfare. It is important to keep these things in mind when having to choose between a selfish decision and a decision that is better for society as a whole.