Tragedy Of Commons Analysis

The essay is started off by the discussion about questions of moral decisions and how can we control and make better choices with morality. Greene says morality is really a problem of cooperation. To demonstrate he brings up the idea of the “tragedy of commons” and the story of the shepherds in their shared fields. The parable explains the thoughts going through a shepherd's head when trying to decide whether to get another animal or not. If the shepherd is to get another animal they would be able to get more money at the markets. On the other hand the animal would mean the need for more resources to take care of it. The dilemma comes because the resources of the field are shared between all of the shepherds. So, the new animal would be at …show more content…
The next discussion is on moral problems and what happens when groups with different moral standards come together, how they decide what to believe in and what not to believe in. Greene compares the human brain to a camera with two settings: point-and-shoot where it’s quick reactions with little questions, and the manual mode where you can adjust everything to get it just right. With the point-and-shoot setting it’s quick with little questions like the emotional responses from the brain. The manual setting is when we are able to stop and question our reasoning and really think things …show more content…
Every team wants to win the big championship game. The only way to get there is by working together and assisting each other in the climb. In some cases, one of the players has the thought of the championship being out of reach for the team. Why must they keep trying for the team if they can just win a personal award like the most points or the best goal. Then, because of their desire for personal gain. you get a “ball hog” whose selfishness causes the team to lose the ball more and suffer as a