“Many hands make light work”

As a young child I interpreted this as acknowledging all of the people involved in:

• Mining and transporting coal
• Running the powerplant
• Installing and maintaining the powerlines
• Wiring the house
• Manufacturing the lightswitch, light socket, light bulb, etc

All so I can flick a switch and turn on a light in my house. It really shows that all the small things we take for granted rely on a well functioning society.

Then when I was around 10 or so someone used it in a context where it’s usual interpretation was the only one that made sense.

Meh.

It’s doubling each step.

If course it’s at 1/(2^n) of the final volume at n steps before the final step.

• At half of its final volume one step before the end
• a quarter of its final volume two steps before the end
• an eighth of its final volume three steps before the end
• a sixteenth of it’s final volume four steps before the end