Scientific Definition
People consume shared resources without contributing.
Plain-English Definition
People consume shared resources without contributing.
Feynman Explanation
Everyone wants the open-source library; nobody wants to maintain it.
Core Principle
People consume shared resources without contributing.
Mechanisms
Pending editorial review.
Pending editorial review.
Pending editorial review.
Pending editorial review.
Pending editorial review.
Pending editorial review.
Pending editorial review.
Inputs (Triggers)
Pending editorial review.
Outputs (Behaviors)
Pending editorial review.
Behavioral Signature
Everyone wants the open-source library; nobody wants to maintain it.
Examples
- Public Wi-Fi degrades as more users free-ride on the bandwidth.
- Shared services teams get blamed by the same teams that won't fund them.
Pending editorial review.
Famous Experiments
Pending editorial review.
Design Principles
- Make contribution visible; price exclusion into the design.
Measurement Approaches
Pending editorial review.
Evidence
Pending editorial review.
Pending editorial review.
The Perverse Incentive Lens™
How this behavior is exploited — and how to redesign around it.
- Make contribution visible; price exclusion into the design.
Pending editorial review.
Pending editorial review.
Interactive Mini Network
Click any neighbor to re-center the graph and follow the threads of connection.
Knowledge Graph Neighbors
Auto-linked to the rest of the Human Behavior Taxonomy by family, domain, dimension, and shared keywords.
Individually rational choices that produce a collectively bad outcome.
Outcomes depend on aligning choices, not on who 'wins.'
Coordination problem where cooperation pays more but defection is safer.
Clear ownership of outcomes, not just tasks.
Asymmetric information attracts the worst counterparties.
We defer to perceived expertise, rank, or uniform.
Vastness that exceeds existing schemas dissolves the self briefly.
Negative feedback returns a system toward a target.
Membership in a group is a baseline human need.
We seek tasks where we feel effective and improving.
Competing loyalties that compromise judgment.
Value is judged against whatever sits next to it.