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Hey, have you been to the student lounge lately, Lily? |
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Yeah, it's a bit of a mess, Jason, isn't it? I mean, who leaves their stuff everywhere like that? |
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Totally! It's like no one cares about keeping it clean. I can never find a quiet spot to study without distractions. |
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It's a classic example of the tragedy of the commons, you know? |
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Tragedy of the what now? |
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The tragedy of the commons. It's this concept where a shared resource, like the students' lounge, gets over-exploited because everyone acts in their own interest without considering the common good. |
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Oh, I get it. So, because no one has a personal incentive to keep it clean, it just becomes a messy free-for-all. |
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Exactly! The concept was initially introduced by William Forster Lloyd. He illustrated an example of a village commons where everyone acted in their own interests and ended up losing their common resources. |
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I see. So, the tragedy of the commons is basically about people prioritizing their individual gain over the well-being of the shared resource. |
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And if everyone does that, the resource can be over-exploited, and everyone ends up worse off than if it had been maintained. |
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That's right. Like what is happening in students lounge now! If we all just thought about the community and resource, everyone is made worse off than if it had been maintained. |
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Yeah, and it's not just about physical spaces; it can apply to natural resources, environmental issues, and even larger societal problems. We should all be more mindful of our shared resources. |
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Absolutely, Maybe we can start a small initiative to keep the student lounge cleaner - a step towards avoiding our own tragedy of the commons. |
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