Garrett Hardin
Ecologist, author of "The Tragedy of the Commons" (1915 to 2003); American ecologist and microbiologist who focused his career on human overpopulation; the paper appeared in Science in 1968.
Garrett Hardin did not write this page. ppll compiled it from their own words, each linked to the source. Is this you? · Report a mistake
What they believe
-
The more population exceeds the environment's carrying capacity, the more freedoms must be given up
Its message is, I think, still true today. Individualism is cherished because it produces freedom, but the gift is conditional: The more the population exceeds the carrying capacity of the environment, the more freedoms must be given up.
garretthardinsociety.orgSaid c. 1998This on korrents
-
The population problem cannot be solved in a technical way
The population problem cannot be solved in a technical way, any more than can the problem of winning the game of tick-tack-toe.
garretthardinsociety.orgSaid 13 Dec 1968This on korrents
The bold line is korrents’ wording; the quote is theirs. These 2: what they wrote before what they said aloud, one per source, newest first.
Beliefs
Korrents What they believe 8 beliefs — each backed by an exact quote.
Each is a — compiled by korrents.com, not by them: the one-line wordings are korrents', the quotes are theirs.
Recent
The more population exceeds the environment's carrying capacity, the more freedoms must be given up
Its message is, I think, still true today. Individualism is cherished because it produces freedom, but the gift is conditional: The more the population exceeds the carrying capacity of the environment, the more freedoms must be given up.
Extension of The Tragedy of the Commons (Science, 1998) Said c. 1998
The weightiest mistake in the tragedy of the commons paper was leaving out the word unmanaged
To judge from the critical literature, the weightiest mistake in my synthesizing paper was the omission of the modifying adjective "unmanaged."
Extension of The Tragedy of the Commons (Science, 1998) Said c. 1998
The population problem cannot be solved in a technical way
The population problem cannot be solved in a technical way, any more than can the problem of winning the game of tick-tack-toe.
The Tragedy of the Commons (Science, 1968) Said 13 Dec 1968
Show 5 more
A finite world can support only a finite population, so population growth must eventually reach zero
A finite world can support only a finite population; therefore, population growth must eventually equal zero.
The Tragedy of the Commons (Science, 1968) Said 13 Dec 1968
Freedom in a commons brings ruin to all
Ruin is the destination toward which all men rush, each pursuing his own best interest in a society that believes in the freedom of the commons. Freedom in a commons brings ruin to all.
The Tragedy of the Commons (Science, 1968) Said 13 Dec 1968
Appeals to conscience cannot control human breeding in the long run
It is a mistake to think that we can control the breeding of mankind in the long run by an appeal to conscience.
The Tragedy of the Commons (Science, 1968) Said 13 Dec 1968
The only coercion worth recommending is mutual coercion agreed upon by the majority of those affected
The only kind of coercion I recommend is mutual coercion, mutually agreed upon by the majority of the people affected.
The Tragedy of the Commons (Science, 1968) Said 13 Dec 1968
Other, more precious freedoms can be preserved only by giving up the freedom to breed, and soon
The only way we can preserve and nurture other and more precious freedoms is by relinquishing the freedom to breed, and that very soon.
The Tragedy of the Commons (Science, 1968) Said 13 Dec 1968
What is a korrent?
A korrent is a belief a person has stated in their own words: one sentence stating the claim, backed by a quote and a source, kept at korrents.com.
Under a name here, the quoted block is what they actually said. The korrent beneath it is the claim those words support, in korrents' wording — tap it to see the record, its source, and who else holds it.
Nobody here wrote their own korrents. They are compiled from public statements, and a person can change their mind, which is recorded too.
About the English under a post
Some people here publish in a language other than English. Where they do, this site shows a machine translation beneath the post, in this typeface — the site's own, not theirs.
The post itself is never changed, moved or hidden: what is set in the serif above is exactly what the person published, and it is what to quote them on. A translation can be wrong in ways that matter, especially about tone.
Only the post's own words are translated. A quoted post, a linked article and a belief on korrents.com are left in their original language.