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A problem shared is a problem halved …
By RickMeasham | March 25, 2011
A friend recently asked on Facebook:
If a problem shared is a problem halved, then is experience shared half the experience?
A good question, worthy of some analysis.
Given that an experience is negative or positive, then a single experience has a value of -1 or +1.
Given that the more people that share the problem, the more the nett effect is dissipated, we can assume that:
nett effect = 2 ^ ( experience * ( people - 1 ) )
Which means that a negative experience shared by two people we have:
nett effect = 2 ^ ( -1 * ( 2 - 1 ) ) = 2 ^ ( -1 * 1 ) = 2 ^ -1 = 0.5
In other words, a problem shared is a problem halved.
But for a positive experience:
nett effect = 2 ^ ( 1 * ( 2 - 1 ) ) = 2 ^ ( 1 * 1 ) = 2 ^ 1 = 2
In other words, a thrill shared is a thrill doubled.
So no, an experience shared is not half the experience. An experience (of any nature) shared is 2 to the power of that experience multiplied by the number of other people experiencing it.
Want to know the nett effect of an experience? Here’s a handy calculator:
| Experience: | |
| Number of people: | including yourself | Nett effect of experience: | - |
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