Science & TechMental model
Why doubling is so hard to picture.
In 1965 Gordon Moore noticed that the number of transistors on a chip doubled at a regular pace, roughly every two years. The rule of thumb held for decades. The catch with doubling: 30 steps don't give you 30 times more, but about a billion times more. Intuition is linear, technology often exponential.
Useful: For any growth curve, ask first: is this doubling, or is the same amount added each year?
Source: en.wikipedia.org