The Shirky Principle: Institutions Try to Preserve the Problem to Which They Are the SolutionThe Shirky Principle: Institutions Try to Preserve the Problem to Which They Are the Solution
The Shirky principle is the adage that “institutions will try to preserve the problem to which they are the solution”. More broadly, it can also be characterized as the adage that “every entity tends to prolong the problem it is solving”.
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For example, the Shirky principle means that a government agency that’s meant to address a certain societal issue may hinder attempts by others to address the issue, in order to ensure that the agency remains relevant. Alternatively, the agency may become so focused on the current way in which it addresses the issue that it will fail to adopt better new solutions as they become available, thus prolonging the issue.
An example of the Shirky principle are tax-filing companies who lobby the government to prevent it from offering a free and easy way to file taxes, to ensure that the companies can continue to make a profit. A similar example of this are private prison companies who lobby the government to support policies that increase the number of incarcerated people and the duration of their incarceration.
The Shirky principle is described in “Cognitive Surplus”, a book by Clay Shirky that contained one of the first discussions of this principle.
One real-world example of the Shirky effect in this context is the cobra effect. It describes a case where British colonial officials in Delhi (India), set a bounty on dead cobras, in order to reduce the cobra population. However, this led citizens to breed the cobras for profit, and eventually to release them when the bounty was canceled.
This is essentially the same concept behind the film The Man in the White Suit (imdb)
A chemist works to perfect the perfect fabric that wont tear or get dirty. Both the workers and the management unite to end this perfect fiber as it would leave them all jobless.
Truly a wonderful film about planned obsolescence.
thanks for the rec. put it on for movie night. gonna watch it today.
Ooo thanks for sharing that reference, FreQniK. Gotta check it out. Insane irony, yet also completely logical from another lens.
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IMO also the Shirky principle ^^
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I like applying the Lindy effect to food and medicine. If it hasn't been around for a long time, I'm not open to considering it unless it confers a disproportionate benefit compared to the risk (both potential and disclosed).
Maybe we seed a "Save the Fed" think tank/interest group. In the long run, it will promote popular support for ending the Fed.
I think this summarizes a lot of business in general, which is why they work so hard to protect their trade secrets because if everyone knew well... they might do it their own way, have competitors, and essentially lose business. It can also make things highly more competitive > looking at China as an example where things are open-source to the sense there is little to no IP/patents enforcement or atleast that it is considered normal for people to "steal" and in the end, you get a lot more innovation (and cheap knockoffs), plus it's also much cheaper to execute over there where the factories are (rapid acceleration and execution). Point being, it seems in the West so much of this is protected as it's viewed as the company's longevity. Anyone dominating an industry or specific sector will do just about anything to maintain that power, largely following the principle or idea you shared here "Shirky".
Sometimes it is ironic how things work out in the end, like the cobra example above.
Aweee man I thought all my rabbit holes were full for the day.
I clearly need to understand this all as it is something I'm familiar with but now you've set the motherfucking trap...hehe