Equilibrium and competition

Equilibrium, by definition is a state of affairs in which things are balanced. However, things can be balanced in a state which is nice for everyone or bad for everyone.

Unfortunately, in life the state which we all end up balanced in is often an unfavorable one. And we settle in that state via competition. For example, it would be good for everyone if there were no nuclear missiles in the world. But it would be even better for a specific nation if they had nuclear missiles but no one else had - everyone would have to kow-tow to that country. So one country starts building nukes and everyone else must follow suit or bow down.

Another example closer to home is high heels. Girls tell me that wearing high heels are pretty tiring and require more care when walking, and I can see that for myself. So if no girl in the world wore high heels, the net effect would be fresher feet and more carefree walking for women, obviously a good thing. But the first girl to wear high heels would enjoy a halo effect "wow her legs are so long and sexy!". So everyone has to follow suit.

The common effect we observe here is that there is a state in which things are better for everyone, but the first person/entity (or first few) to break that state will enjoy a significant benefit over others, leading everyone else to have to imitate or lose in the competition. Once everyone is doing it then there is no net benefit anymore, only burden.

In my humble opinion the only way to stop this terrible scenario is for all humanity to merge into a single entity mentally... but that is a topic for another day.