Lead:

Through the phenomenon of the AA system, we can clearly feel that when there are few people, it is easier to observe and restrain each other. Once there are many people, the importance of the individual decreases, and the sense of responsibility is also reduced, and the final situation is often scattered.

A group of friends make an appointment to eat together, and everyone shares the bill equally, which is the AA system. When ordering, Xiao Wang thought to himself: 50 yuan for a small steak, 70 yuan for a large steak, if I eat a large steak alone, then I need to spend 20 yuan more, and now 5 people eat together, I only need to spend 4 yuan more, well, it's a good deal, so Dawei ordered a large steak. Xiao Guo, Xiao Zhang, Xiao Chen, and Xiao Li also quickly calculated in their hearts, and after thinking about it, they also ordered their favorite food.

After he was full of wine and food, he called the waiter to pay the bill. After taking the bill, Xiao Wang was dumbfounded, the total consumption of this meal was 500 yuan, and it was 100 yuan to be distributed to everyone.

Everyone walked out of the hotel dejectedly, muttering to themselves: What the hell is going on? How can the AA system be implemented, and in the end, the amount of money shared is much more than if you usually pay the bill alone?

What the hell is going on? From the point of view of economics, you will know it.

The main reason is that everyone wants to get more bang for their buck than if they were paying the bills individually. Also take Xiao Wang's example: 5 people eat together, and agree in advance to implement the AA system to pay the bill. When Xiao Wang usually eats alone, he usually only chooses a small steak of 50 yuan, and if he chooses a large steak of 70 yuan, then he will have to pay an additional 20 yuan more than usual.

If the satisfaction he can get through the 20 yuan is worth 10 yuan, and the 20 yuan expenditure is exchanged for 10 yuan in return, of course, no one will be stupid enough to make such a choice. But now it's different, 5 people dine together, because of the implementation of the AA system, then, Xiao Wang's additional 20 yuan is divided into 5 parts, Xiao Wang actually spent only 4 yuan of additional expenses, with 4 yuan of expenditure for 10 yuan of return, which is quite cost-effective. If that's a good deal, why not order a large pizza?

Since everyone implements the AA system, of course, Xiao Wang is not the only one who has such thoughts, and others will also "calculate" in this way. As a result, it seems that the individual shares less of the individual costs and the additional benefits they receive, but the total amount they pay is increasing. When it comes time to split the bill at the end, everyone actually spends more than they used to.

Such an approach, in economics, is actually an invalid decision. Because for an individual, you only need to pay 4 yuan more to get an additional benefit of 10 yuan, which is equivalent to a net income of 6 yuan, but the rest of the group will have to pay for your 16 yuan, that is, the total amount of the group has increased by 16 yuan. Here, the total income of the individual is 6 yuan, and the collective loss is 16 yuan, and the total income of the individual is less than the loss of the collective.

Through the phenomenon of the AA system, we can clearly feel that when there are few people, it is easier to observe and restrain each other. Once there are many people, the importance of the individual decreases, and the sense of responsibility is also reduced, and the final situation is often scattered. For example: traffic jams during rush hour, no one wants to stop on the side of the road to rest, let others go first, a pool of stagnant water in the community fish pond, no one wants to help clean up the fish pond, anyway, their own aquarium is full of vitality......

While uncomfortable, these phenomena are not confusing - they are a natural economic phenomenon when there are many people. In response to these phenomena, it is useless to merely feel that "people's hearts are not ancient and the world is declining", or to "revive culture and carry forward traditions". What we should really do is use our knowledge of economics, understand the reasons behind things, and then think about adjusting and changing with the resources we have. For example, if you encounter a large number of people at a dinner party, you can completely limit the individual's behavior by agreeing on the spending limit for each person, so that there will not be a problem of spending more when there are more people.

In short, there is a solution to any problem, and there is more than one, depending on whether you can think in an economic way.