Day 894
World peace through superior firepower
The predicament where what everyone does that's rational for them leaves everyone worse off when everyone does it. There are lots of situations in which tragedies of the commons confront us.
Should I duck in to the Crime, Cocktails & Coffee lounge on Sunday evening for some quick gulps of Prosecco or not?
A deterministic pure strategy is guaranteed to fail because it suggests the dive will be empty, everyone will go, and thus it will be crowded. On the other hand, if everyone in the neighbourhood asks themselves the same question, there exists the possibility no one will go.
Rationality is itself another tragedy of the commons. That’s when there are are two groups of people who are rational collectively but not jointly.
The irrational pink blob above we wrote about way back in April continues to expand1. Fall-back defensive positions, alas, are still nowhere to be found.
Yuriy explains why Russian forces continue to advance.
Z’s daily pep talk was positive, dedicated to the arrival of six F-16s2.
Fulfilled ambitions, maybe, but a total a lack air superiority for the forseeable future.
And, finally, I read this article, titled War Shatters Dating Scene for Women in Ukraine. While the pursuit of love might seem secondary to dealing with the horrors and privations of the war, many Ukrainians say they need romantic relationships to help them cope, appearing in The New York Times.
I had been unaware of speed-dating and the Bumble dating app.
First F-16 fighter jets have arrived in Ukraine, Zelensky confirms. The planes are unlikely to fly near the front lines, officials said, as there are too few of them — and too many Russian defense systems that can shoot them down (The Washington Post, August 4, 2024)
Nice poster. Ukraine should be selling those as a fundraiser. I'd buy one.