What Does 0.001 HP Have in Common with a Grain of Rice?

In general, new Hivers start with 0.001 HP. That doesn't sound like much, but there it is. For Hivers who earn Hive and HP solely from blogging and engaging, it can take a while to see decent gains in earnings. So here's a point to consider: What does 0.001 HP have in common with a grain of rice?

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(This post is exclusive to Centblog.org.)

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(It may be different for Hivers playing games like Splinterlands or Axie Infinity, or for Hivers earning in NFT Showroom, so I'm not including those situations.)

So it sounds like a dream come true to earn, say, 62,500 HP a day every day for 31 days. Who wouldn't want that stream of income? And if most of us are offered that option or the option of earning 0.001 HP and doubling that on Day 2 and doubling that on Day 3, etc., until reaching Day 31, it's understandable to stick with the 62,500 HP a day every day for 31 days.

0.001 HP can be compared to one grain of rice, and one grain of rice isn't enough for a piece of sushi (never mind a plate of rice with chicken). Even after some days, it doesn't seem like much rice (or HP)

But what happens to the HP as Day 31 approaches?

Just Look at the Math

Column 1 of the table below is there for reference. It's the same fixed rate earnings for each day.

Column 2 shows a running total of earnings through each day.

Column 3 shows the numbr of days. Normally this would be column 1, but it would have made rading each line of the table more difficult. I could have made 2 simpler tables (one for fixed rate earnings, one for 0.001 HP doubling each day for 31 days), but that could have been too much work both in Markdown and in HTML.

Columns 4 & 5 are similar to Columns 1 & 2, only they are for 0.001 HP doubling each day for 31 days.

Below is the table:

Earnings (Fixed Rate)	Total for Day	Day	Earnings (2xYesterday)	Total for Day
62,500	62,500	1	0.001	0.001
62,500	125,000	2	0.002	0.003
62,500	187,500	3	0.004	0.007
62,500	250,000	4	0.008	0.015
62,500	312,500	5	0.016	0.031
62,500	375,000	6	0.032	0.063
62,500	437,500	7	0.064	0.127
62,500	500,000	8	0.128	0.255
62,500	562,500	9	0.256	0.511
62,500	625,000	10	0.512	1.023
62,500	687,500	11	1.024	2.047
62,500	750,000	12	2.048	4.095
62,500	812,500	13	4.096	8.191
62,500	875,000	14	8.192	16.383
62,500	937,500	15	16.384	32.767
62,500	1,000,000	16	32.768	65.535
62,500	1,062,500	17	65.536	131.071
62,500	1,125,000	18	131.072	262.143
62,500	1,187,500	19	262.144	524.287
62,500	1,250,000	20	524.288	1,048.575
62,500	1,312,500	21	1,048.576	2,097.151
62,500	1,375,000	22	2,097.152	4,194.303
62,500	1,437,500	23	4,194.304	8,388.607
62,500	1,500,000	24	8,388.608	16,777.215
62,500	1,562,500	25	16,777.216	33,554.431
62,500	1,625,000	26	33,554.432	67,108.863
62,500	1,687,500	27	67,108.864	134,217.727
62,500	1,750,000	28	134,217.728	268,435.455
62,500	1,812,500	29	268,435.456	536,870.911
62,500	1,875,000	30	536,870.912	1,073,741.823
62,500	1,937,500	31	1,073,741.824	2,147,483.647

• It's after Day 16 when there's enough rice for a piece of sushi, and by Day 19 there's enough rice for a plate of rice and chicken. In terms of HP, it's at a point where you're amazed a how it accumulated.

• After Day 19, enough HP had been gained that you could branch off into other Hive activities such as DeFi, community creation, NFT auctions, upscaling your blog by using Engrave, and other activities I don't even know about.

• By the end of Day 31, you'll have enough HP to cash out to buy 12 BTC or live of the earnings for years.

Conclusions

What does 0.001 HP have in common with a grain of rice? Both benefit from th power of exponentiation. Both benefit from the daily doubling of the previous's day's amount.

The situation I described above is just an exercise in math to show the difference between a fixed rate with a high value and an exponential increase starting with a trivial value.

It's also an example showing that sometimes we overlook some options at our peril.

Even if earnings only increase by a few percentage points each time period (rather than doubling each time period), it's just a matter of time before the math overpowers any concerns we have about not seeing gains for weeks after we begin that plan.

Even if the math doesn't show that initial 0.001 HP goes to the moon using daily doubling of HP earnings, it will still be enough to put you into Earth orbit or even achieve escape velocity.

I'm not saying don't take the high value fixed rate daily earnings. If you can get them, get them!!

However, I am saying to think through the implications of the plan where you start at 0.001HP. For 2 weeks it will feel miserable, and in week 3 you see the good stuff. By the end of Day 31, you'll be the one handing out 62,500 HP each day for 34 days to 1 Hiver, or for 1 day to 34 fellow Hivers.