The tragedy of the commons is the all too common outcome of individuals making use of a shared resource and one of the true challenges of our times. The original scenario referred to commons land that soon becomes overgrazed as each individual tries to maximise their value from the share resource. The tragedy is that the overgrazed land is then ruined for all.

We see the effect, perhaps most perniciously, with invisible or hidden shared resources such as taking water from underground aquifers for irrigation, or overfishing of fish stocks in the sea. The same effect is at work with problems such as littering, or washing plastics into the sea, or polluting the atmosphere — while it’s easier for any individual to take another fish, leave their litter on the ground, let pollution run into a river or the sea, or not worry about air pollution, the tragedy is it can have the effect of ruining them for all of us.

When shared resources are moderated or governed fish stocks can be managed to recover, water supplies to replenish or pollution to be naturally treated.

For more, check out this 5 min video on the tragedy of the commons by TED-Ed.

The tragedy of the commons

Named after the brilliant Clay Shirky his principle broadly states that:

Institutions will try to preserve the problem to which they are the solution.

Sometimes this may manifest itself as blindness towards new or different ways of doing things, other times it’s the challenge of and innate resistance to making oneself obsolete. Examples include there being more money in life-long illnesses than cures, traditional newspapers’ resistance to alternative online news forms, planned obsolescence of products, committees requiring the presence of committees, or resistance to self-checkouts at a supermarket.

Some exceptions include Vitality health insurance in the UK that  rewards a healthy lifestyle, and the lightbulb industry, in its move towards ultra long-lasting and efficient LED lights, boldly eliminating the need to replace most of its products for a lifetime. I’m still waiting for a breakdown service to reward people for taking care of their cars rather than focusing on fixing the breakdowns.

The Shirky Principle

How do you know which is a Bactrian or a Dromedary camel? Which camel has 1 hump and which camel has two? And how can you remember it?

After sharing my original camel identification sketch a reader shared with me a foolproof way to tell whether you're looking at a Bactrian camel or a Dromedary camel.

The Bactrian camel has 2 humps, just like a B on its side

The Dromedary camel has one hump just like a D on its side

The Bactrian camel is found in central Asia, for instance in the Gobi desert.

The Dromedary camel is generally found in the Middle East and Northern Africa.

You may also like: stalactites or stalagmites, tortoise or turtle, crocodile or alligator, dolphin or porpoise, how to tell a centipede from a millipede

More "what's the difference between" sketches for things that are easily confused.

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Bactrian or dromedary camel? Never be confused again