Competing actors are each forced to abandon a shared value to avoid being outcompeted, so all end up worse off with no one defecting.
Alexander's 2014 essay names it Moloch. Arms races, agricultural runoff and platform engagement optimisation are the same structure: each actor's defection is individually forced and collectively ruinous.
In practice
- Each publisher shortens its articles to hold attention, no publisher wants shorter articles, and none can lengthen alone.
- Each firm in a sector extends its working hours to compete, none wanted to, and the first to stop loses.
- Standing
- The generalised form of the arms race, the commons tragedy, and the regulatory race to the bottom.
- Subject
- Games & Strategic Interaction
- Essay
- The recurring shapes of conflict and cooperation