On Sat, May 30, 2015 at 10:54:58AM -0700, Mike Linksvayer wrote:
> I'm all for simplification and probably agree both shares and logarithms make
> system harder to understand, but for clarity could you spell out exactly what
> the new formula would be?

Besides Aaron's transcript of his convo with David, I can add.. more
words.

Mike, to answer your question,

Patron Alice pledges 0.5¢ per patron. Thus, if there are 40 patrons,
Alice pledges 40*0.5 = 20¢.

Similarly, every other patron pledges some amount multiplied by the
number of patrons.

The base pledge is 0.1¢ per patron, but pledging more is possible.

The takeaway is that "you pledge some amount X for each patron". No
ifs or buts.

As for why we agree to take out the logarithm and extra matching for
now, I think it comes down to one thing: we haven't figured out how to
talk about it yet. It's confusing.

The complexity in the discussion is due in part to compounding the
messages we want to send.

Aaron mentioned two things he found most important for the message. I
forget what those things were. :) Here are some different ones: The
mindset a patron should have is, "If you join me, I will match your
contribution!" They should also think, "If I pledge, all these other
people will contribute more!" It's two sides to the same coin: we all
match each other!

You can keep that message, but you lose the short and incredibly sweet
"You pledge X for each patron." You have to add an "if" or a "but".
Otherwise, a newbie will come in, look and the numbers, and think,
"Wait, there are 45 patrons... why is it saying that I would be paying
35¢ if I pledge 0.5¢ per patron?"

So now we have to add a caveat. "Ok, we told a white lie. You don't
just pledge some amount X for each patron. Some patrons .. uh.. count
as extra patrons? Or wait... hang on, I got this..."

If anyone can finish that explanation in a way as quick and impacting
as "We all match each other," then it will be time to bring that extra
matching back. In the meanwhile, Aaron and I are advocating that we
start with what we CAN say well, which is "You pledge X for each
patron."
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