Continuous production processes under acceleration yield exponential growth

Evidence

Now to understand the relationship between technical acceleration and acceleration of the pace of life it is of decisive importance to get the exact connection between quantitative growth and acceleration into view. If it is a matter of processes of continuous (i.e., uninterruptedly advancing) “production,” then acceleration results in exponential growth (cf. figure 2.2). A paradigm example of this kind of growth curve is, for instance, the increase in world population during the last three hundred years. Similar acceleration curves are found in, say, the rampant growth of cancer cells and also in the increase in the diffusion of commodities or technological innovations: for example in the amount of scientific publications or the number of Internet connections or e-mails sent per year. — Hartmut Rosa, Social Acceleration, 231

Categorization

• DEFINE: Sets up the crucial distinction Rosa then exploits: continuous processes exponentially grow under acceleration while noncontinuous ones gain free time instead.
• XREF: connects to: Time scarcity arises only when growth outpaces acceleration — Hartmut Rosa, Social Acceleration: A New Theory of…, 237; Automated production grounds a value theory beyond measurable labor time — Herbert Marcuse, One-Dimensional Man: Studies in the…, 198; Theoretical progress is non-linear and gains are always reversible — Hall, Stuart, Essential Essays, Volume 1, 270 (+1 more)

Broader Connections

• Automated production grounds a value theory beyond measurable labor time #expands (0.80) — Herbert Marcuse, One-Dimensional Man, 198
• Time scarcity arises only when growth outpaces acceleration #qualifies (0.75) — Hartmut Rosa, Social Acceleration, 237
• Flexible production bypassed Fordist rigidity to serve quick-changing markets #exemplifies (0.75) — David Harvey, The Condition of Postmodernity, 936
• Theoretical progress is non-linear and gains are always reversible #corroborates (0.70) — Hall, Stuart, Essential Essays, Volume 1, 270