Proof Positive - Less is more

I've been studying game theory for a new course I'm offering this fall. I ran across something so interesting. It is called Braess's paradox. Suppose you have 100 cars going from point A to point D along the roads shown above. The time to travel from A to B depends on the number of cars (x). So if 50 cars take the route from A to B to D, it would take 3.5 hours. The same is true of A to C to D. Because both routes are equally good, the cars tend to distribute themselves equally. In fact, if more choose one route than the other, cars will be motivated to change until the routes become equal again. (It's called a Nash equilibrium.) BUT, if we add a free road between B and C, everyone will take A to B to C to D and it will take 4 hours.

There you have it. Proof positive that less is more.

I have definitely known individuals for whom this is true. I remember talking to one of my rich cousins (one of the Dame's of Woodgrain Windows). He said something to the effect that having a lot of money is a big drain - you have to invest it wisely, make sure you aren't being cheated, plan for it, protect it, provide for others who depend on you. Who knew the rest of us are so lucky NOT to have such big worries?