TITLE: A Non-Linear Truth about Wealth and Happiness AUTHOR: Eugene Wallingford DATE: December 01, 2015 4:38 PM DESC: ----- BODY: This tweet has been making the rounds again the last few days. It pokes good fun at the modern propensity to overuse the phrase 'exponential growth', especially in situations that aren't exponential at all. This usage has even invaded the everyday speech of many of my scientist friends, and I'm probably guilty more than I'd like to admit. In The Day I Became a Millionaire, David Heinemeier Hansson avoids this error when commenting on something he's learned about wealth and happiness:
The best things in life are free. The second best things are very, very expensive. -- Coco Chanel
While the quote above rings true, I'd add that the difference between the best things and the second best things is far, far greater than the difference between the second best things and the twentieth best things. It's not a linear scale.
I started to title this post "A Power Law of Wealth and Happiness" before realizing that I was falling into a similar trap common among computer scientists and software developers these days: calling every function with a steep end and a long tail "a power law". DHH does not claim that the relationship between cost and value is exponential, let alone that it follows a power law. I reined in my hyperbole just in time. "A Non-Linear Truth ..." may not have quite the same weight of power law academic-speak, but it sounds just fine. By the way, I agree with DHH's sentiment. I'm not a millionaire, but most of the things that contribute to my happiness would scarcely be improved by another zero or two in my bank account. A little luck at birth afforded me almost all of what I need in life, as it has many other people. The rest is an expectations game that is hard to win by accumulating more. -----