On natural equilibrium

Microsoft DevOps has a 60 Mb file size limit. That’s a very strange number. It’s not 50, Not 64. It’s 60 🤔.

Game theory teaches us that these numbers don’t have to be arbitrary. We can use equilibrium points instead. Here’s an oversimplification:

If two companies try to price two products in direct competition, competition in a free market is likely to lead to an equilibrium. One company might sell 100 units at $50 and the other would sell 200 at $45. The first company are dumb. They lower their price to take back the market share. The second company does the same. A cycle is created that leads to what’s called a Nash equilibrium (Russel crow in A Beautiful mind).

But there are also natural equilibriums that don't require market forces. If two countries are fighting for territory, a river, a ridge, a mountain, or any distinct land feature is a natural equilibrium point. It doesn’t have to make sense. It just feels right.

Natural equilibrium points for numbers like an upload file size limit would be 1, 2, 3, 5, 10, 12, 20, 32, 50, 64 etc…. 17 is not a natural equilibrium point because it looks strange, so does 33, and so does 60.

On a different note, I posit that a natural equilibrium point for the number of times you’re allowed to say: “I’m happy to announce that I now occupy the position of Senior-widget-maker at WidgetMaking incorporated is zero. If people cared, they’d visit your profile. If they didn’t care, they will write a post about file size limits ❤️.

Microsoft DevOps has a 60mb upload limit. That’s a very strange number. It’s not 50, Not 64,. It’s 60 🤔.

Game theory teaches us that these numbers don’t have to be arbitrary. We can use equilibrium points instead. Here’s an oversimplification:

If two companies try to price two products in direct competition, this system (the competition) is likely to lead to an equilibrium. One company might sell 100 units at $50 and the other would sell 200 at $45. The first company can see that and lower its price to take back the market share. A cycle is created that leads to what’s called a Nash equilibrium (Russel crow in A Beautiful mind).

But there are also natural equilibriums. If two countries are fighting for territory, a river, a ridge, a mountain, or any distinct feature is a natural equilibrium point. It doesn’t have to make sense. It just feels right.

Natural equilibrium points for numbers like an upload file size limit would be 1, 2, 3, 5, 10, 12, 20, 32, 50, 64 etc…. 17 is not a natural equilibrium point because it looks strange, so does 33, so does 60.

On a different note, I posit that a natural equilibrium point for the number of times you’re allowed to say: “I’m happy to announce that I now occupy the position of widget maker at WidgetMaking incorporated” is zero. If people cared, they’d visit your profile. If they didn’t care, they don’t want to see it. Equilibrium ❤️.