As readers of this blog know, I’m a huge fan of exponential growth. In fact, it is the underlying premise behind the notion of “jumping the curve.” As I point out in my book, however, it is important to understand that exponential growth has its limits. To this end, and because it is Halloween today, I’d like to consider the case of vampires.
Distressingly, a large segment of the American public still believes in vampires. Luckily, vampires existence can be quickly disproved by exponential growth. Let’s assume, for the sake of argument, that the world’s first vampire came into existence on January 1, 2004 and it bit one victim on February 1, 2004. If this scenario continued—such that the two vampires then bit two more victims each full moon—by March of 2008 all of the world’s 6 billion-plus residents would be vampires. They would now need to either begin sucking the blood of other animals or begin exploring space in search of new victims.
If you don’t believe me, do the math. Happy Halloween!
Interested in another interesting example of exponential growth? Check out this old article:
