The Tragedy of the Commons, Social Sanction, and the Reprogramming of Cults
The Tragedy of the Commons
We are on an isolated island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. The year is 1200 AD, only that we don’t call it that because we have no idea (yet) what an annus domini might be. We live a peaceful life of fishing and harvesting, and our big preoccupation is typhoons. Aside from that, life is sweet.
To build our fishing canoes, we need hollowed out palm trees. Palm trees are useful, in general: we eat the fruit, we build houses with the trunks and fronds, we make fibers for clothing, etc. Sadly, the palm trees grow only in one section of the island.
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