The commons is a dining hall at Texas A&M University, with some of the worst food in the country. The commons diet refers to the struggle First Semester Freshmen have to face while dining the trash that some people think is food for the first week. At first, people think that a large meal plan is worth, but after sticking the commons diet, patients tend to try and leave it as soon as possible by telling the Dining Staff that they are of a certain dietary restriction in order to limit their intake at the commons. Some Commons Diet patients even resort to going to Sbisa, another dining hall that serves even worse food, because of the destruction the Commons Diet does to a person's internals.
The Commons Diet at Texas A&M causes freshmen to lose 15 pounds instead of gain it at other universities.
The term has its origins in the sharing of grazing land in a given community, called "the commons", in Britain. An individualfarmer could increase his or her profits by using more of the commons than others. The other farmers would then follow suite, leading to the overexploitation and destruction of that land.
In its modern usage, the phrase is used as a metaphor to the above, referring to the exploitation of a common resource. In game theory it is used as an example of how, in a given situation, every individual can choose to do what is best for their own interests and still produce the worst sum result for the whole. See also: prisoner's dilemna.
The most common and effective way to negotiate this problem is private ownership. Another way is heavy regulation and the imposition of sanctions on violators.
usage: When big companies pollute the air, it's just anotherexample of the tragedy 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.
When a finite resource is exploited by one and all, with the rationale that if I don't exploit it my brother will. The end result is the exhaustion of that resource. i.e. hoarding.
The massacre of the buffalo in America by early settlers for sheer sport, was a completely unneccessary tragedy of the commons.