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What does it mean to say that fossil fuel plants killed exponentially more people? Isn’t this just the triviality that any two points (with different y values)
by dan-robertson 6y ago
What does it mean to say that fossil fuel plants killed exponentially more people?
Isn’t this just the triviality that any two points (with different y values) are exponentially related?
- umanwizard 6y agoIt’s the common colloquial usage of “exponential” to mean “a lot”, rather than its technical meaning.
- gautamcgoel 6y agoYeah, usage of the phrase "exponentially more" is widespread and always almost meaningless. It drives me crazy, especially as a CS theory person, where this phrase has a precise meaning.
- yissp 6y agoIt's gone the way of "literally"
- ComputerGuru 6y agoI believe the intended meaning is “orders of magnitude more.”
- spfzero 6y agoLet’s just say it means many, many, many more deaths.
- archgoon 6y agoIt basically is used in the same way "only a fraction of the populace supports the measure" just in the opposite direction of meaning. Both expressions have technical shortcomings; but are idiomatically understood.