In ecology, the 10% rule states that that only 10% of the energy at any given trophic level of an ecosystem can move to the next trophic level. In social media, the principle seems to work a little differently.
Somewhere in the arcane documents governing internet-based dialogue, there must be a clause that states users have to break their years into 10% segments. Then, they have to publicly lament or celebrate the loss of each randomly grouped collection of days.
As a result, via Twitter I recently received the cheery news that 2020 is 10% over. I know, I know-Twitter always hits you with the truth when you least expect it, right? (See vaguely related post regarding my Twitter obsession here.)
Several things about this statistic intrigued me.
What is it about 10%?
As a species, we love to use this 10% thing as a benchmark. For ages, people adored reciting the misconception that we only use 10% of our brains. Financial planners encourage you to save 10% of your income for retirement. A large array of authors and podcasts hosts scramble to assure you that you can be 10% happier. Drivers don’t generally hesitate to travel 10% above the speed limit. Even Urban Dictionary gets in on the action.
The important thing to remember in all these scenarios?
10% is not very much.
In ecology, the rule of 10% limits most ecosystems to 4 trophic levels.
We stopped using the figure as a tipping guideline in the 60’s. If you’re hungry for lunch, 10% of a pizza will get you nowhere. Want to get fired? Go to work 10% of the time.
According to the current dogma, 10% of a year is 36.5 days.
Okay, okay. It sounds a little intimidating.
But remember, we have that amount of days nine more times before 2021. In the United States we will have eight federal holidays and one presidential election. (Note: in most countries holidays and election days would not need to be separated. But I digress).
Internationally, we will elect six Nobel prize winners. There will be a Summer Olympic Games and two more tennis majors. (Probably there are other sporting events happening also? Unclear.)
There is a rover headed to Mars this summer. Also, a remake of ‘The Devil Wears Prada’ coming out as a musical. ‘The Hunger Games’ prequel novel is being released.
The point is, there’s still a lot to look forward to. Yes, I freak out sometimes about not having planned my year carefully enough. (See related post here.) But then I remember: there’s still a lot of time.
Thanks to Fritz Benning for the banner picture.