📄 69 — Power Laws
Definition
A distribution where a small number of items account for a large share of the effect (e.g., 1% of nodes hold 50% of connections).
When to Use
• Market analysis • Network behavior • Social systems • Risk assessment • Growth strategy
How It Improves Reasoning
It helps you understand systems where extremes dominate averages.
Steps
- Identify whether the distribution is power‑law.
- Focus on the high‑impact tail.
- Avoid relying on averages.
- Plan for extreme events.
Example
A few influencers drive most social media engagement.
Prompts
• “Analyze whether this distribution follows a power law.” • “Identify the high‑impact tail.”