The rebuttal to the invisible hand
in population control can be found in
a scenario first sketched in a littleknown
pamphlet6
in 1833 by a
mathematical amateur named
William Forster Lloyd (1794-1852).
We may well call it “the tragedy of
the commons,” using the word
“tragedy” as the philosopher
Whitehead used it 7
: “The essence
of dramatic tragedy is not
unhappiness. It resides in the
solemnity of the remorseless
working of things.” He then goes
on to say, “This inevitableness of
destiny can only be illustrated in
terms of human life by incidents
which in fact involve unhappiness.
For it is only by them that the futility
of escape can be made evident in
the drama.”