Why is almost everything either overwhelming or nonexistent? Topics are discussed either constantly or never. You bike 200 miles per week or never. You are probably cancer free or dead from cancer. Your old stocks and coins are either worthless or worth a fortune. Stuff from my old popular science magazines is either in the palm of my hand or nonexistent. I can't step outside without stepping on a pigeon, but I haven't seen a cardinal in years.

The answer is what you would expect. Memes and bike clubs and cancer and companies and technology and pigeons all tend to grow/improve/multiply at a rate proportional to their current size/capabilities/population. If you've forgotten precalc, that's the definition of exponential growth.

There is some resistance force against all things, but even an exponential resistance (eg by the immune system) rounds to zero eventually if it grows even slightly slower [...]

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First published:
January 21st, 2025

Source:
https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/qLe4PPginLZxZg5dP/almost-all-growth-is-exponential-growth

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“Almost all growth is exponential growth” by lemonhope 02:18 Share

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“Almost all growth is exponential growth” by lemonhope