
The tragedy of the commons in evolutionary biology (2007) [pdf] - lainon
http://www.kokkonuts.org/wp-content/uploads/Rankin_ToC.pdf
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git_rancher
There’s a tragedy of commons problem in engineering. The engineering orgs
collective ability to handle complexity is the community resource. Without
safeguards in place this resource is squandered by engineers because the easy
solution to a problem often paradoxically leads to higher complexity in the
code base. Why? Because it’s easier to make ad-hoc new connections between
things than to abide by a larger plan. And connections are the complexity.

One thing I’ve noticed that sometimes leads to this idea is using a “survival
of the fittest” approach to percolating ideas.

Interesting parallel to this article perhaps.

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JoeAltmaier
I saw this in action. Parking under a tree with some sort of cherry every day,
I saw the day the flock arrived. It was about 1 or 2 days before the fruit
ripened. The flock's members proceeded to pluck each fruit from the tree, test
it with their beak, and 9 times out of 10 drop it on the ground as too green.
Stripped the tree in a minute.

If the flock had waited a day, of course, each bird would have had 10X the
fruit. But any member of the flock that waited that day would have found a
stripped tree. Hard to see how the genetics of the bird flock could ever
escape this tragedy.

