2 ms·

> Jevons paradox Nobody knew what it was yesterday and now everyone is using it as if they came up with the idea themselves https://trends.google.com/trends/e

> Jevons paradox Nobody knew what it was yesterday and now everyone is using it as if they came up with the idea themselves https://trends.google.com/trends/explore?date=today%205-y&q=Jevons%20paradox&hl=en https://trends.google.com/trends/explore?date=today%205-y&q=...

glenstein 2y ago
I certainly didn't know about it. Was there any high visibility use of it over social media in the past few days?
- lm28469 2y ago
  Satya Nadella on twatter
skwee357 2y ago
Welcome to the internet. Astrologers proclaimed the week of DeepSeek, the number of Jevons paradox experts quadrupled.
SilasX 2y ago
What are you talking about? I see two pages, just of submissions on HN, before early last year: https://hn.algolia.com/?dateEnd=1706400000&dateRange=custom&dateStart=1200873600&page=0&prefix=false&query=Jevons%20Paradox&sort=byPopularity&type=story https://hn.algolia.com/?dateEnd=1706400000&dateRange=custom&... I see over 900 results just for comments: https://hn.algolia.com/?dateEnd=1706400000&dateRange=custom&dateStart=1200873600&page=0&prefix=false&query=Jevons%20Paradox&sort=byDate&type=comment https://hn.algolia.com/?dateEnd=1706400000&dateRange=custom&... I personally have brought it up when it's relevant, like when people think energy efficiency improvements always make total use go down: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14764845 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14764845 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19543772 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19543772 And when a more efficient website showed more load on the server (because it widened usage to a broader audience): https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13602792 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13602792 How about the more charitable hypothesis: It's a relevant dynamic because this is a situation where the paradox most strongly applies: efficiency improvement in use of an input whose output has insatiable demand. And so people bring it up, even if they just recently learned it from another comment. It's okay to say something true ... even if someone else already said it elsewhere.
- lm28469 2y ago
  According to google search ~1/3rd of all hits for "Jevons paradox" appeared since January 25 2025 It's the fancy big word of the day if you want to appear smart on social media.
  - SilasX 2y ago
    Yes, and again, that doesn't make it wrong or irrelevant. Believe it or not, the popular wisdom can still be correct!
    - lm28469 2y ago
      I never said it was wrong, I'm just saying a lot of people became instant experts on topics they had no idea even existed 24 hours ago, including people with grand techno prophecies and people giving financial advices
      - SilasX 2y ago
        If someone says something correct that they just learned, they don't deserve ridicule just because they learned it recently and others are saying it too.

glenstein 2y ago

I certainly didn't know about it. Was there any high visibility use of it over social media in the past few days?

lm28469 2y ago
Satya Nadella on twatter

skwee357 2y ago

Welcome to the internet. Astrologers proclaimed the week of DeepSeek, the number of Jevons paradox experts quadrupled.

SilasX 2y ago

What are you talking about? I see two pages, just of submissions on HN, before early last year: https://hn.algolia.com/?dateEnd=1706400000&dateRange=custom&dateStart=1200873600&page=0&prefix=false&query=Jevons%20Paradox&sort=byPopularity&type=story https://hn.algolia.com/?dateEnd=1706400000&dateRange=custom&... I see over 900 results just for comments: https://hn.algolia.com/?dateEnd=1706400000&dateRange=custom&dateStart=1200873600&page=0&prefix=false&query=Jevons%20Paradox&sort=byDate&type=comment https://hn.algolia.com/?dateEnd=1706400000&dateRange=custom&... I personally have brought it up when it's relevant, like when people think energy efficiency improvements always make total use go down: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14764845 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14764845 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19543772 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19543772 And when a more efficient website showed more load on the server (because it widened usage to a broader audience): https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13602792 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13602792 How about the more charitable hypothesis: It's a relevant dynamic because this is a situation where the paradox most strongly applies: efficiency improvement in use of an input whose output has insatiable demand. And so people bring it up, even if they just recently learned it from another comment. It's okay to say something true ... even if someone else already said it elsewhere.

lm28469 2y ago
According to google search ~1/3rd of all hits for "Jevons paradox" appeared since January 25 2025 It's the fancy big word of the day if you want to appear smart on social media.
- SilasX 2y ago
  Yes, and again, that doesn't make it wrong or irrelevant. Believe it or not, the popular wisdom can still be correct!
  - lm28469 2y ago
    I never said it was wrong, I'm just saying a lot of people became instant experts on topics they had no idea even existed 24 hours ago, including people with grand techno prophecies and people giving financial advices
    - SilasX 2y ago
      If someone says something correct that they just learned, they don't deserve ridicule just because they learned it recently and others are saying it too.