"...the idea that there is a point where adding more of something to a system simply isn’t worth the cost...."
Hollywood keeps fucking up perfectly good film and television franchises by making new versions or adding sequels to old ones. They need to tell their venture capital investors to fuck off and start making new material again.
My family has avoided buffets for a long time, thanks to being exposed to excesses of it during a U.S. visit. Generally, Canadians don't eat the same amount as Americans, though mainly because there are far less of us than there are of you.
The same goes for many fantastic TV series that end up outstanding their welcome. Lost, Dexter, Handmaid's Tale, etc. At some point, adding that extra season is more of a liability.
The advertising example makes me think of AMS ads on Amazon--except that there never is a diminishing return. The return sucks form the very beginning. And yesterday, Amazon told me that I really should spend $90 on ad (instead of $30) because it kept running out of budget and I might be missing out on $15 worth of sales. So I'm supposed to spend $60 to make $15? No, not even that--the $15 is the total from sales, not my royalty portion. Sigh!
On a happier note, I'm hoping that at some point, we'll get to see you goat avatar wrestling. Sooner or later, you'll touch on a topic for which that could be a good illustration.
Another related example in a slower time continuum: the first few years I had Pizza Hut, it was amazing. By the time I graduated high school, it was absolutely disgusting to me. I’m so glad they changed their recipe a few years back. It’s still not amazing again, but it’s tolerable.
It wasn't all that great, but it was free since I had already paid for the buffet. I might have gotten more sick eating that food than any other single food in my lifetime, but maybe it was also too much pizza. The amount of grease I consumed!!
Post-secondary education has diminishing marginal returns. You do a Bachelor's degree and your income doubles. Great, you think, so you do an MA. You get a comparatively smaller pay bump from the MA. Going to the next step, a PhD, at least in the arts and humanities, won't boost you much above the MA.
A PhD may even scare off some employers outside of academia, as they'll worry you're a bookish, impractical intellectual. Some unemployment coaches advising unemployed people with multiple degrees encourage them to leave off that PhD in film theory if they're applying to a company.
Excellent example. I might also suggest that deep-diving into a subject at the PhD level isn't for everyone... or even most folks! It generally pays better to be an inch deep and a mile wide than vice versa, so learning a bit about a variety of subjects is generally more within the capacity of folks, so the deep dive and pay correlation isn't altogether coincidental.
The Law of Diminishing returns reminds me of a macroeconomics class at Uni where I had a professor who was a transplanted German with such a heavy accent that I told him once that I would understand more if he taught the class in German. I was a Uni student, brash, and unfeeling but I was angry at him because I couldn't get the full grasp on macro- and mico economics. The husband of our queen at the time was German-born and had been mocked throughout my childhood it seemed, for his accent when speaking Dutch. So maybe it was a cultural habit that caused me to make the hurtful comment - I'm not sure. In any case, I said it and perhaps needless to say, I did not do well in the class. I suppose this is a confession more than an expression of life experience, but your article brought it out like dislodging a stubborn bone from a choking throat...
Confessions are useful! I had a similar experience my freshman year, but it was chemistry for me. I decided in that very Polish-accented moment that engineering was not for me.
Well tbh not much until I just read a review saying how great it was. Now i gotta see if it’s playing near me. Growing up in Hollywood I still romance the big theater experience. Saw ET in the Cinerama Dome. Star Wars at the Chinese. I loved the first Alien and a museum in LA had the full mother set which blew my little mind
I worked in a movie theater for like 3 years, so I might have gotten most of that out of my system then. That said, I really enjoyed Dune last summer, at least once we were actually in the theater sitting down and stuff.
Did you catch the Note I shared with the Alien universe timeline? I thought that was really helpful.
That would be quite a movie marathon. btw been watching the Green Knight the last couple days, maybe tonite we finish it. See, that would never happen in a movie theater
Ever eat those pastas they had? I don't know why I keep thinking about those. The little scooper you could use to pick the pasta up had like teeth on the sides.
I think there is a saying ‘experience is the best teacher’ and if there isn’t there should be. There is something abstract about listening or reading someone’s advice versus getting in there and doing it yourself. I’ve even seen people take advice and go against it just to see. Adult versions of don’t touch that it’s hot and the stupid kid touches it. On your advertising budget - that is a nice return; I really struggle advising my clients to run online ad campaigns because I’m not convinced of the ROI but maybe I just haven’t found the right business it works for yet
15 years ago, marketing on Facebook provided an awesome ROI. 10 years ago, Google did. Today, I really don't know, but I know there is a time to stop throwing more money at any campaign... and I agree, you sort of have to be a dummy and just burn yourself to learn some of these lessons. I wish it wasn't so for me!
The Stoics focused on the balance before the diminishing.
"...the idea that there is a point where adding more of something to a system simply isn’t worth the cost...."
Hollywood keeps fucking up perfectly good film and television franchises by making new versions or adding sequels to old ones. They need to tell their venture capital investors to fuck off and start making new material again.
My family has avoided buffets for a long time, thanks to being exposed to excesses of it during a U.S. visit. Generally, Canadians don't eat the same amount as Americans, though mainly because there are far less of us than there are of you.
The same goes for many fantastic TV series that end up outstanding their welcome. Lost, Dexter, Handmaid's Tale, etc. At some point, adding that extra season is more of a liability.
Game of Thrones seasons 7 and 8. Holy mackerel.
Oh yes, GoT is the perfect example.
Never go on a cruise
Oddly, this makes me want to go to Pizza Hut!
The advertising example makes me think of AMS ads on Amazon--except that there never is a diminishing return. The return sucks form the very beginning. And yesterday, Amazon told me that I really should spend $90 on ad (instead of $30) because it kept running out of budget and I might be missing out on $15 worth of sales. So I'm supposed to spend $60 to make $15? No, not even that--the $15 is the total from sales, not my royalty portion. Sigh!
On a happier note, I'm hoping that at some point, we'll get to see you goat avatar wrestling. Sooner or later, you'll touch on a topic for which that could be a good illustration.
Maybe I can use an AI tool to make a video of this.
Another related example in a slower time continuum: the first few years I had Pizza Hut, it was amazing. By the time I graduated high school, it was absolutely disgusting to me. I’m so glad they changed their recipe a few years back. It’s still not amazing again, but it’s tolerable.
Did you eat the dessert pizza too? I remember cinnamon and sugar and grease and contentment.
I don’t remember, but probably did, because… sugar.
It wasn't all that great, but it was free since I had already paid for the buffet. I might have gotten more sick eating that food than any other single food in my lifetime, but maybe it was also too much pizza. The amount of grease I consumed!!
Post-secondary education has diminishing marginal returns. You do a Bachelor's degree and your income doubles. Great, you think, so you do an MA. You get a comparatively smaller pay bump from the MA. Going to the next step, a PhD, at least in the arts and humanities, won't boost you much above the MA.
A PhD may even scare off some employers outside of academia, as they'll worry you're a bookish, impractical intellectual. Some unemployment coaches advising unemployed people with multiple degrees encourage them to leave off that PhD in film theory if they're applying to a company.
Excellent example. I might also suggest that deep-diving into a subject at the PhD level isn't for everyone... or even most folks! It generally pays better to be an inch deep and a mile wide than vice versa, so learning a bit about a variety of subjects is generally more within the capacity of folks, so the deep dive and pay correlation isn't altogether coincidental.
The Law of Diminishing returns reminds me of a macroeconomics class at Uni where I had a professor who was a transplanted German with such a heavy accent that I told him once that I would understand more if he taught the class in German. I was a Uni student, brash, and unfeeling but I was angry at him because I couldn't get the full grasp on macro- and mico economics. The husband of our queen at the time was German-born and had been mocked throughout my childhood it seemed, for his accent when speaking Dutch. So maybe it was a cultural habit that caused me to make the hurtful comment - I'm not sure. In any case, I said it and perhaps needless to say, I did not do well in the class. I suppose this is a confession more than an expression of life experience, but your article brought it out like dislodging a stubborn bone from a choking throat...
Confessions are useful! I had a similar experience my freshman year, but it was chemistry for me. I decided in that very Polish-accented moment that engineering was not for me.
Speaking of sequels, what do we think of the new Alien movie?
I'm pretty stoked to see it once it's free and at my home. What do you think?
Well tbh not much until I just read a review saying how great it was. Now i gotta see if it’s playing near me. Growing up in Hollywood I still romance the big theater experience. Saw ET in the Cinerama Dome. Star Wars at the Chinese. I loved the first Alien and a museum in LA had the full mother set which blew my little mind
I worked in a movie theater for like 3 years, so I might have gotten most of that out of my system then. That said, I really enjoyed Dune last summer, at least once we were actually in the theater sitting down and stuff.
Did you catch the Note I shared with the Alien universe timeline? I thought that was really helpful.
No I didn't and I have spent too much thinking about it after Prometheus and covenant
Oh cool - check out the image here: https://substack.com/@goatfury/note/c-65659679
That would be quite a movie marathon. btw been watching the Green Knight the last couple days, maybe tonite we finish it. See, that would never happen in a movie theater
I remember the Hut buffet fondly 🍕
Ever eat those pastas they had? I don't know why I keep thinking about those. The little scooper you could use to pick the pasta up had like teeth on the sides.
I think there is a saying ‘experience is the best teacher’ and if there isn’t there should be. There is something abstract about listening or reading someone’s advice versus getting in there and doing it yourself. I’ve even seen people take advice and go against it just to see. Adult versions of don’t touch that it’s hot and the stupid kid touches it. On your advertising budget - that is a nice return; I really struggle advising my clients to run online ad campaigns because I’m not convinced of the ROI but maybe I just haven’t found the right business it works for yet
15 years ago, marketing on Facebook provided an awesome ROI. 10 years ago, Google did. Today, I really don't know, but I know there is a time to stop throwing more money at any campaign... and I agree, you sort of have to be a dummy and just burn yourself to learn some of these lessons. I wish it wasn't so for me!
Delicious and edifying.
I didn't even get into that dessert pizza!