by kfc, Technology Review
In the early 19th century, the German physiologist Ernst Weber gave a blindfolded man a mass to hold and gradually increased its weight, asking the subject to indicate when he first became aware of the change. Weber discovered that the smallest increase in weight a human can perceive is proportional to the initial mass. This is now known as the Weber-Fichner law and shows that the relationship between the stimulus and perception is logarithmic. This way of thinking about stimulus and perception clearly indicates that the Weber-Fichner law ought to have a profound effect on the rate at which we absorb information. Today, Claudius Gros and a couple of pals at Goethe University Frankfurt in Germany look for signs of the Weber-Fichner law in the size distribution of files on the internet. And they say they’ve found them.
http://www.technologyreview.com/blog/arxiv/27379/?p1=blogs
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