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Unless you've checked the number enough to have realized a pattern (in this case a growth rate).

People don't grasp exponential growth[1]. That pattern will be useful for a very short time, and then you are wrong again.

And then, when you finally accept that you don't grasp it and start calculating with a formal growth rate, the growth rate suddenly changes.

[1] Nobody does. Some people know they don't, some are completely naive, the others lie to themselves. The first group have a chance of dealing correctly with it.

wait, did you just cite yourself?

I think that's just meant to be a footnote.

Population growth isn't exponential. The rate of population growth has been steadily declining since the 1960's, and I believe the world population is expected to level out around 9 billion people in a few decades.

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