Why does exponential growth seem so surprising in its outcome to ...

[lidoalex]

Why does exponential growth seem so surprising in its outcome to most people?
 
  What will be an ideal response?

Question 2

Magazine paper is shiny because it is coated with clay. Why would it be wise to separate magazines from newspapers?
 
  What will be an ideal response?

[joanwhite]

Answer to Question 1

People are used to stability in their daily lives and change is often viewed as bad.
Most changes encountered are small ones, and because they are considered over the short
run, seen as linear changes (it's as if we humans were programmed to attend to linear
changes). Exponential growth catches us by surprise because it is so different, and because
the pace of the change seems so out of kilter to our usual perceptions.
Suppose that a certain region has experienced doubling over a decade, going from one
eighth to one-quarter filled. The idea that a valley that's only one-quarter filled with people
now, and which took many decades to reach that level, could double and redouble and be
filled in as few years from now as twenty seems incongruous, if not impossible.

Answer to Question 2

Clearly, different treatment would be necessary for clay-coated paper than for
paper not coated. Separation will be necessary at some stage in the processing.