On Wed, 17 Jan 1996, Duncan Frissell wrote:
The book suggests that small differences in perceived quality (or even 'luck') result in a big difference in marketplace results (whether for product or labor). The title is a bit misleading. It should be "The Winner-Take-Lots Society" since it does not say that non-winners are left with nothing (that thesis is promoted in other recent works of fiction.)
While I've not read the book, what you describe fits with the concept of "sensitivity to initial conditions" that chaos theory discusses. In this context, what Tim describes is a "sharpening" effect--i.e., the differences in initial conditions necessary to distinguish between the two eventual outcomes described is becoming smaller. A neat way to visualize this is to picture what happens when you crank up the contrast on a black and white TV. Eric Hughes made an interesting comment, something to the effect that this process only seems to be occurring in occupations that have something in common, like easy transfer of job skill from one worker to another, I don't quite remember. Anyone remember specifically? -- Johnathan M. Corgan jcorgan@aeinet.com http://www.aeinet.com/jcorgan.htm