Why do humans consistently underestimate the power of exponential change? The shortest answer is perhaps the best. Most processes we go through – ageing from one to two to three years old; moving incrementally along a metro line – follow a linear scale. And there are good evolutionary benefits behind this linear mentality. Our minds developed for a world that, in general, hadn’t yet discovered the power of rapid change. The rhythms of the hunter-gatherer routine were slow: we adapted for a life that was largely seasonal, based on repeated patterns throughout the year. And this slow pace
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