comedy of the commons

A play on the phrase tragedy of the commons. In the tragedy of the commons, each person tries to maximize their own benefit, and the end result is that everyone loses because of overutilization of limited resources. In the comedy of the commons, each person, while getting something for themselves, also (directly or indirectly) contributes back to the common good at the same time.

BitTorrent makes use of the comedy of the commons, since the more people who participate, the better the service gets.

by One Luther Blissett December 1, 2006

comedy of the commons

slapstick, three-stooges stuff

That there on the TV is some comedy of the commons.

by doodooface September 6, 2003

comedy of the commons

a joke that everybody copies and changes a little to seem like they made it up

That joke was comedy of the commons

by Jason September 5, 2003

comedy of the commons

I would assume this would be some cheap late night show like Letterman, on channel 5 possibly.

by SeungTae September 19, 2003

comedy of the commons

because the irony of the "Tragedy of the commons" is that humans (and our mental economics) are HUGELY stupid. sobig stupid.

by jek September 9, 2003