Paul Graham：Superlinear Returns, Excerpt 3

You're learning; you don't know for sure yet what's going to be valuable, and if you're too strict you'll lop off the outliers. What about step functions? Are there also useful heuristics of the form "seek thresholds" or "seek competition?" Here the situation is trickier. The existence of a threshold doesn't guarantee the game will be worth playing. If you play a round of Russian roulette, you'll be in a situation with a threshold, certainly, but in the best case you're no better off. "Seek competition" is similarly useless; what if the prize isn't worth competing for?

Source： https://paulgraham.com/superlinear.html
Locator：Essay, additional excerpt 3 · Verified：2026-10-19 · Verification：Short excerpt

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