Sorry, didn't read because of the paywall, but the reckless use of this term has bothered me for years, and some things to keep in mind when deciding what is e

Sorry, didn't read because of the paywall, but the reckless use of this term has bothered me for years, and some things to keep in mind when deciding what is exponential: (1) When something is increasing exponentially, the rate of increase increases in direct proportion to how much of it there is. So unless there is some plausible explanation of growth driven by size, 'exponential' is unlikely to be apt. (2) A true exponential curve increasing over time started infinitely long ago with an infinitesimal magnitude, has grown by the same constant percentage each millennium since, and will continue thus growing forever to eventually exceed every finite limit. (3) The actual rapid growth of anything significant we observe will apparently coincide with such a curve for only a much shorter time. Thus, if you call attention to rapid exponential growth of anything, you are almost certainly and most importantly describing a process that must reach some limit sooner or later, stabilize or crash.