The Knecht Effect describes the statistical certainty that, if one has many possessions, at least one will always be in a state of disrepair. In other words -- something always needs fixing. The underlying math is simple, being based on expansion of the binomial (a + b)^n, where "a" represents the probability of something being in good working order, "b" is the probability of it needing to be fixed (note that a + b = 1.0), and "n" is the number of possessions one owns.
(named after the research psychologist, William R. Knecht (pronounced like "connect"), who first noted the phenomenon)
(named after the research psychologist, William R. Knecht (pronounced like "connect"), who first noted the phenomenon)
As I got older, I became a victim of the Knecht Effect. I owned so much stuff that at least one thing was always broken, and I was spending half my life getting stuff fixed.
by Two Hep Cats April 22, 2022