What is the Learning Curve?

What is the Learning Curve?

The term "the learning curve" has a popular, well-known meaning in American culture.

However, as these things sometimes go, when you start to examine the way that term is used, you find out that the popular meaning of the term really doesn't make any sense.

If the curve is drawn on a chart which tracks resulting knowledge against time spent learning, it might look like the Tetris graph here to the right.

As you can see, the chart is steepest at the beginning, when a person first starts learning how to play Tetris. The beginner gains knowledge quickly, learning the game in just a few minutes. There is more to learn, but the player will never learn as quickly as she did at the beginning of her lesson.

Here is another example.

In conversation, I would never say that leaf blowing has a steep learning curve, but here it is, steep as hell.

I don't care how dull you are, it only takes about two minutes to get up and running blowing leaves. Additional knowledge milestones await you after you've invested more time, such as "flushing corners", "minimizing blowback", and "blinding the cyclists".

On the charts I've made here, the knowledge milestones are made up and arbitrary, but I wasn't sure how else to lable the vertical axis.

Learning can be a series of successes, but it can also be a slow refinement of technique.

It isn't really accurate to say that I learned how to dribble a basketball in 14 minutes when Mike Bibby is still learning how after 10 years in the NBA.

Here is an expanded timeline on the basketball learning curve. Many of the knowledge milestones on this chart can't really be learned in an hour. You could learn that they exist, but not be able to actually perform them for another year.

This quest for understanding was spurned by my desire to identify activities which have a shallow learning curve. If steep learning curves are grueling, then shallow ones must be enjoyable, right?

Here is a graph for the learning curve of World of Warcraft. It is definitely enjoyable.

Maybe the vast number of things to learn makes it so compelling, or the timed-release of new experiences.

Speed of learning is not probably not the best way to determine whether or not something is fun.

Another example. Learning to drive stickshift.

Learning to drive stick is difficult because it requires a certain level of knowledge and skill before it can be done at all.

The payoff, and true measure of success, is learning it well enough to dare to venture out into real traffic on your own.

Making this graph, I realized that in many examples of learning, there is only one real milestone to be reached.

This final graph compares the learning of two different students, and it is the only chart where the idea of a "steep learning curve" actually makes sense.

The lower (green) section of the graph represents the state of being unable to perform a certain task. The upper section represents the state of being able to perform it.

The orange line student can be said to have a steep learning curve. She crossed the threshold into "able" after one day of learning.

The red line student had a shallow learning curve. She needed four days to become able.

If you want to say that a desired skill has a "steep learning curve", this can only be true if the time-to-learn is restricted.

Time-Restricted Learning

Learning to make fire on Castaway Island
Learning to stay safe in prison
Learning to use Dreamweaver before they fire you.

Comments:

I love the Leaf-blowing curve!

Rhode Island
Monday 21st of April 2008 2:05 am

I believe "not dropping transmission" goes somewhere between "cursing" and "selecting appropreate gear" on your learning to drive standard curve.

Ohio
Monday 21st of April 2008 2:36 am

I've always wondered what "steep learning curve" actually meant, and I'm sad to say I was completely wrong in my half-baked assumptions. Excellent read, sir. Oh, and while I'm glad to see "Raiding" and its associated skills are off the chart in the WoW diagram, I would swear that "Identifying real women" would be much, MUCH higher on the curve.

Minnesota
Monday 21st of April 2008 2:39 am

huh?

Illinois
Monday 21st of April 2008 4:37 am

Or, just put time on the vertical axis instead and then hey, hard things have a steep learning curve! ;-)

New York
Monday 21st of April 2008 6:47 am

So this is what 5 years of college in the Education Field is supposed to be teaching me. ...huh!

Kansas
Monday 21st of April 2008 6:53 am

I would like to see a curve for learning how to properly consume Oreos, with stages such as twisting apart or making quadruply stuffed cookies.

Maine
Monday 21st of April 2008 7:16 am

Hovercraft

Hawaii
Monday 21st of April 2008 7:32 am

Go Wisconsin!

Wisconsin
Monday 21st of April 2008 7:32 am

You know what they say... "Everything is bigger in Texas" - Big Jap from Texas

Texas
Monday 21st of April 2008 7:38 am

Hey, love the website. Just wanted to see what Georgia's puzzle piece looks like.

Georgia
Monday 21st of April 2008 7:45 am

Virtually everyone here in the UK drives manual (aka 'stick shift') cars. I didn't realise it was such a big deal!

Rhode Island
Monday 21st of April 2008 8:07 am

I agree with what Rhode Island says... Learning to drive manual transmission has the same curve as "learning to drive". Because, lets face it, if you drive an automatic, you're not really driving...

New York
Monday 21st of April 2008 8:17 am

I don't get it. My curve must look like this: __________

Louisiana
Monday 21st of April 2008 9:01 am

I really dig the Tetris learning curve. Nice

Pennsylvania
Monday 21st of April 2008 9:07 am

Ooh, let's see what the California puzzle piece has on it. Bet it's the Golden Gate Bridge. Stupid Bay Area gets all that attention. They oughta split the state, I say. We in SoCal sure don't need NoCal. On topic--"steep learning curve" may or may not make actual sense, but I wonder if it would be possible to take it out of common parlance now. I doubt it. I'll probably still use it.

California
Monday 21st of April 2008 9:13 am

Ha, I told you it would be that bridge. And a darned redwood? What about Hollywood?

California
Monday 21st of April 2008 9:13 am

Like NY, I think the whole endeavor makes much more sense with time on the vertical axis. That's how I've always thought of learning curves, and it also follows convention by putting the controlled variable on the horizontal axis.

Florida
Monday 21st of April 2008 9:26 am

Hollywood, like the area where tourists go, is a hole. Biggest waste of time. Hollywood the industry is cool. And to be truly smartassy, I believe it's a Sequoia tree. Bay Area rules! Neener neener neener.

California
Monday 21st of April 2008 9:28 am

Some of the things in the basketball learning curve seem to be out of place--I never learned to avoid a steal without also learning how to steal.

Indiana
Monday 21st of April 2008 9:32 am

Wait a second, what the hell is this on the Indiana puzzle piece? A BEAVER?

Indiana
Monday 21st of April 2008 9:32 am

I'd like to learn Beyonce's curves.

Kansas
Monday 21st of April 2008 9:41 am

The learning curve of an activity is not relative to the person learning it. An activity with a strict learning curve is one in which there is objectively much to learn before becoming capable.

Massachusetts
Monday 21st of April 2008 10:10 am

So what's the learning curve for understanding charts of learning curves?

Illinois
Monday 21st of April 2008 10:18 am

Illinois, you took my joke. You're corny.

South Carolina
Monday 21st of April 2008 10:37 am

I prefer a learning swerve.

Nebraska
Monday 21st of April 2008 11:00 am

I am an IPHONE!

Indiana
Monday 21st of April 2008 11:15 am

Where would "Stalling in the middle of the intersection" be on the stick-shift chart? Or should that be "how to gracefully re-start your car in the middle of an intersection"?

Arkansas
Monday 21st of April 2008 11:32 am

Well, there are two usable definitions of "learning curve". The original, which you've used here, concerns the speed of learning. The other is a reference to the difficulty of learning the basic skills required to complete a task successfully. A graph of this second concept might have the total elapsed time on the vertical axis, representing the time each task takes to learn.

Washington
Monday 21st of April 2008 11:36 am

I'm having difficulty visualizing one of these "time on the vertical" charts. Is there one online I can check?

California
Monday 21st of April 2008 11:48 am

My sister has a curve.

West Virginia
Monday 21st of April 2008 11:58 am

10 bucks says Michigan's puzzle piece will have a car on it.

Michigan
Monday 21st of April 2008 12:18 pm

Guess I owe you 10 bucks. Cherries! Didn't see that one coming.

Michigan
Monday 21st of April 2008 12:19 pm

Shouldn't cursing go before letting the clutch out of first gear? Just wanted to represent for MD.

Maryland
Monday 21st of April 2008 12:26 pm

I'm commenting simply so I can see the New Jersey puzzle piece.

New Jersey
Monday 21st of April 2008 12:47 pm

In soviet Russia curve learns you. Thats right the soviets are hiding in Idaho.

Idaho
Monday 21st of April 2008 12:56 pm

Sorry, have to agree that the problem with your analysis is that you put time on the wrong axis. Make time the vertical axis and it would all make much more sense.

California
Monday 21st of April 2008 1:00 pm

I smell funny.

New Jersey
Monday 21st of April 2008 1:13 pm

My learning curve for driving a stick shift is very steep. I am still trying to figure out how to get my feet to work at the same time so I can even START the car.lol

Tennessee
Monday 21st of April 2008 1:18 pm

The suggestion to put time on the vertical axis just to make the idea of the learning curve makes sense is stupid. Sorry. California itself is still lovely. "If you want to say that a desired skill has a "steep learning curve", this can only be true if the time-to-learn is restricted." Yes, that's exactly it.

Colorado
Monday 21st of April 2008 1:25 pm

Colorado can't talk to California like that! Bros before CO

Nevada
Monday 21st of April 2008 1:32 pm

Lemme guess...the Arizona puzzle piece has a cactus on it!

Arizona
Monday 21st of April 2008 1:36 pm

Yup...and not just one, 2 biggies and some leetle ones...

Arizona
Monday 21st of April 2008 1:37 pm

exactly colorado! Something has a steep learning curve because there is much to learn in a very short amount of time. So, for example if you are brought in to a new job without any training and a report due next week you've got a steep learning curve - because you'd better get your shit together if you want to keep that job.

Maryland
Monday 21st of April 2008 1:38 pm

Wait, whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat?

Oklahoma
Monday 21st of April 2008 1:41 pm

What's the learning curve for people laughing at you as you stall out, trying to learn stick shift?

Maryland
Monday 21st of April 2008 1:42 pm

Hi!

Iowa
Monday 21st of April 2008 1:43 pm

No comment, just want to represent New Mexico!

New Mexico
Monday 21st of April 2008 1:43 pm

We were the first state...don't we deserve a better puzzle piece?

Delaware
Monday 21st of April 2008 1:53 pm

True dat, bro.

Texas
Monday 21st of April 2008 1:53 pm

Giant Sequoias are a species of redwood.

California
Monday 21st of April 2008 2:01 pm

Hey Rob--Hate to disagree with you, but doesn't a "Learning Curve" more commonly refer to the relationship between what is to be learned and the time PERMITTED to learn it? Hence, something with a "steep" learning curve is typically more difficult, because it involves learning complex steps in a relatively short period of time. Check out the wikipedia article on "Learning Curve."

Ohio
Monday 21st of April 2008 2:12 pm

That's what she said!

Illinois
Monday 21st of April 2008 2:17 pm

Why do we have to share our puzzle piece with Massachusetts and Connecticut? Sucks to be the smallest state!

Rhode Island
Monday 21st of April 2008 2:39 pm

That Wikipedia article doesn't have any graphs. I want my money back!

Alaska
Monday 21st of April 2008 3:04 pm

"Dropping the long ones along the edge" - you mean to say you can put them somewhere else?!

Virginia
Monday 21st of April 2008 4:18 pm

Illinois has lots of corn, as this puzzle piece displays. So is most of the Midwest. You know that the Earth is much like Crispix cereal. Corn on one side, Rice on the other.

Illinois
Monday 21st of April 2008 4:57 pm

Mahalo Rob!

Hawaii
Monday 21st of April 2008 5:04 pm

Isn't is "Missoura"?

Missouri
Monday 21st of April 2008 5:05 pm

How about a learning curve for playing craps?

Nevada
Monday 21st of April 2008 5:05 pm

Loinin' Coive!

New York
Monday 21st of April 2008 5:08 pm

Lurrrnin' Currrv!

Alabama
Monday 21st of April 2008 5:10 pm

the only time i've heard it in conversation it seemed to refer to a positively *accelerating* curve. the thing being learned was an intellectual subject, and i thought the idea was that once you knew what the words meant and stuff, learning "takes off", it gets *faster*

Ohio
Monday 21st of April 2008 6:27 pm

I'll bet Pennsylvania Has a dang Amish buggy on it. Why not a Philly cheesesteak or a Steeler Hypocycloid? Spelling hypocycloid has a learning curve I'm sure!

Pennsylvania
Monday 21st of April 2008 6:58 pm

Kentucy? That's definitely a lernin' cerf

Kentucy
Monday 21st of April 2008 7:36 pm

I didn't realize there was so much to learn blowing leaves.

Michigan
Monday 21st of April 2008 8:06 pm

Dude, you need to pump up your entertainment curve....... zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

California
Monday 21st of April 2008 8:11 pm

I think "Your father screams, 'Shift goddamn it!' at the intersection where the hot guy is watching you" should definitely be on the stick chart. Despite this, I still only drive manual transmission cars...

Massachusetts
Monday 21st of April 2008 8:15 pm

Time should always be represented (as the input of the graph) on the X axis of a chart. To those of you who advocate placing time on the Y axis, I say "Fie on thee! Get ye to an algebra or statistics class!"

Colorado
Monday 21st of April 2008 8:25 pm

How about the "Why roundabouts are better than intersections" learning curve?

Alaska
Monday 21st of April 2008 9:20 pm

Because colorado always seems to be right and i'd hate to spoil the trend, i'll just say this: right or wrong, that was some decent entertainment rob. Keep it coming.

Colorado
Monday 21st of April 2008 9:44 pm

I understand that the First State is small and has a unique shape, but this puzzle piece just looks like a weird squiggle... A "learning squiggle" perhaps.

Delaware
Monday 21st of April 2008 9:46 pm

Oh God, it all makes sense now!

Minnesota
Monday 21st of April 2008 9:50 pm

What about things that take a rather long time to start out, then get easier? I would think that, with learning a language such as Russian, it takes a long time to make initial progress - learning Cyrillic and basic rules, etc. Then you could theoretically learn the rest very quickly before leveling off. So it'd be sort of a 1/(1+exp(-x)) graph.

Texas
Monday 21st of April 2008 9:59 pm

I like ice cream.

Wisconsin
Monday 21st of April 2008 11:13 pm

I so had this puzzle when I was a kid. States rock!

North Carolina
Monday 21st of April 2008 11:17 pm

Love me

Texas
Monday 21st of April 2008 11:53 pm

Texas Sucks... you should do a learning curve on their ability to read and write... well it would actually be more like a flat line!

Georgia
Tuesday 22nd of April 2008 12:17 am

I think a "steep" learning curve just means that each next step is much harder than the previous one. the vertical axis would be "difficulty" and the horizontal axis would be "number of things learned". Not the way you had it. (the way you had it is fine, but I think my way shows the steep learning curve idea better).

Oregon
Tuesday 22nd of April 2008 1:03 am

Why does Ohio have a car on it?? Shouldn't that be Michagan? Ohio should have a polluted river that's been haphazardly lit on fire on it.

Ohio
Tuesday 22nd of April 2008 1:55 am

All eyes on me today! Watch a bunch of people you wouldn't trust to wash your dog decide the fate of the entire free world.. Muahahahahahaha!

Pennsylvania
Tuesday 22nd of April 2008 8:09 am

"Thats right the soviets are hiding in Idaho." Moscow, Idaho, perhaps? Figured nobody would use SD, baby!

South Dakota
Tuesday 22nd of April 2008 9:02 am

reppin' my state, fo sho.

North Carolina
Tuesday 22nd of April 2008 10:14 am

MICHIGAN rules! (so i want to believe)

Michigan
Tuesday 22nd of April 2008 1:04 pm

Rob, I've seen another presentation of learning curves that I think you might find interesting. It slightly modifies the quantities depicted, substituting skill for time and difficulty for number of things learned. In this alternate presentation, curves that are steep represent things that get too hard too fast while curves that are steep represent things that are so easy they are

Alabama
Tuesday 22nd of April 2008 1:36 pm

boring. Ideally, learners stay in a nice middle zone where the difficulty of the task stays in proportion to the learner's increasing skill. Part of the success of World of Warcraft is, I think, due to the fact that the game continually throws new and small challenges at you. These keep you in the Goldilocks zone.

Alabama
Tuesday 22nd of April 2008 1:39 pm

Big Sky Country here. Just wanted to say that as much fun as it was to read the piece on learning curves, the comments section has been kicking my ass. Good times! Thanks Robs, and all ;)

Montana
Tuesday 22nd of April 2008 3:00 pm

We don't learn anything in Maine. We just survive.

Maine
Tuesday 22nd of April 2008 3:17 pm

I think there should be a learning curve for mastering public transport.. especially in foreign countries :)

Wisconsin
Tuesday 22nd of April 2008 5:16 pm

I'd like to see a dating learning curve, or a making out learning curve. How long does it take the average guy to figure out how to remove a bra with one hand? I'm scared that this state might have a picture of West Virginia's sister on it...

Alabama
Tuesday 22nd of April 2008 6:16 pm

i think i'm even more confused than before. i'm not from alaska. but alaska needs more coverage. i was there once. ahhh the joy of 7th grade.

Alaska
Tuesday 22nd of April 2008 7:21 pm

It took me 30 seconds to get through the first part of the comments, looking for someone else from Missouri. Once I found that person, I figured out that Missouri's piece is yellow and it took me only 5 more seconds to reach the end of the comments. I don't care what people in other states have to say.

Missouri
Tuesday 22nd of April 2008 7:41 pm

what is the learning curve for repeatitive motion acts... like sex?

Pennsylvania
Tuesday 22nd of April 2008 7:42 pm

I loved the tetris. go red sox

New Hampshire
Tuesday 22nd of April 2008 8:38 pm

You don't have any learning curves which start with slow learning and get faster. Also you spelt Kentucky incorrectly. xxx

New Mexico
Tuesday 22nd of April 2008 9:04 pm

I think the wow curve is pretty accurate, except soul stone rules and identifying women. Sleep needed to function is appropriatly placed as well. The following states all blow: Indiana (you peckers have all pot holes and no street lights), Iowa (Boring), Kansas (Gay) and Louisiana (if i wanna go scuba diving ill go to Hawaii...)

Illinois
Tuesday 22nd of April 2008 9:25 pm

So did we actually get credit for our peaches on this puzzle? Georgia didnt try to claim peaches as their claim to fame?

South Carolina
Tuesday 22nd of April 2008 9:26 pm

i just assumed my state would have a toothless banjo player on the puzzle piece. Cotton--go figure.

Alabama
Tuesday 22nd of April 2008 10:37 pm

I've always used the term "steep learning curve" in reference to something that is learned quickly and easily. Apparently my correct usage has likely led to a number of misapprehensions. Who knew I was so smart?

Utah
Wednesday 23rd of April 2008 12:09 am

So a learning curve, on "learning" would be a circle, right?

Georgia
Wednesday 23rd of April 2008 12:36 am

I'm a god damn perfectly rectangular state.

Wyoming
Wednesday 23rd of April 2008 12:54 am

Me too wyoming, we should start a club.

Colorado
Wednesday 23rd of April 2008 1:13 am

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Learning_curve

California
Wednesday 23rd of April 2008 1:25 am

Man we got dem der peanuts over here... Georgia peaches aint somethin that grows on trees if ya know whats i mean

Georgia
Wednesday 23rd of April 2008 1:27 am

I have hardly any curves. :(

Kansas
Wednesday 23rd of April 2008 4:03 am

bork

Alabama
Wednesday 23rd of April 2008 11:51 am

I love curves.

North Dakota
Wednesday 23rd of April 2008 2:58 pm

Peanuts don't grow on trees, either.

Georgia
Wednesday 23rd of April 2008 3:15 pm

I read up there that "learning a language such as Russian, it takes a long time to make initial progress" But I have to disagree. I've learned Japanese and French simultaneously and it's actually easier, for me, to learn the little stuff fist. You never start out with things like grammar rules. You learn vocabulary first. And for Japanese, you learn the alaphabets, one at a time.

Wisconsin
Wednesday 23rd of April 2008 3:42 pm

Hi Rob-- Fun lesson, thanks! There are 7 tetriminoes, though: I, J, L, N, S, T, Z. Two shapes are mirrors of each other (J/L and S/Z), but in 2D Tetris at least, they cannot be placed in identical positions. Add a little more time to that curve, maybe? Hawaii--home of Tetris!

Hawaii
Wednesday 23rd of April 2008 3:45 pm

Hi! I'm California's hat!

Oregon
Wednesday 23rd of April 2008 3:53 pm

What about Canada? No Canada? But we're your neighbors! I guess our piece size would simply dwawf all of the US ones though...

Alabama
Wednesday 23rd of April 2008 5:15 pm

Tennessee pwns you.

Tennessee
Wednesday 23rd of April 2008 5:41 pm

Nobody lives in my state!

Wyoming
Wednesday 23rd of April 2008 5:42 pm

what happen to idaho??

Idaho
Wednesday 23rd of April 2008 6:09 pm

What happened to Mexico? Or, for that matter, any country outside of the US? This chart has a hard learning curve.

Colorado
Wednesday 23rd of April 2008 9:16 pm

Why do I have to share a picture with Rhode Island and Massachusetts? I am clearly superior.

Connecticut
Wednesday 23rd of April 2008 11:04 pm

Managed to figure out a stick shift in two weeks. Still can't do basic addition and subtraction, most of the time. Oh well. At least Oklahoma is pink, woo hoo!

Oklahoma
Wednesday 23rd of April 2008 11:05 pm

Hey Connecticut... Look at me! And at least you have electoral votes!

Washington DC
Wednesday 23rd of April 2008 11:06 pm

I'd like to see the learning curve for the poor kid that needs to learn actual geography from that budget map that makes Mass, CT, and RI look like a couple of post-it notes on a red sock. Same for the VT/NH mess. Have to say, though, that the New Jersey, Maryland, DC, Delaware mess is pretty spot on for what it represents. Off to find me a pile of those sweet Georgia spuds...

Connecticut
Thursday 24th of April 2008 3:50 am

Check out Wired's article...it's not so much a learning curve as it is a forgetting curve. http://www.wired.com/medtech/health/magazine/16-05/ff_wozniak?currentPage=all

Washington
Thursday 24th of April 2008 12:28 pm

Learning curve to Watching TV...

Maine
Thursday 24th of April 2008 1:11 pm

Cram it, Illinois.

Indiana
Thursday 24th of April 2008 2:21 pm

I'm Canada!

Alabama
Thursday 24th of April 2008 3:52 pm

So SoCal doesn't need NorCal, huh? Y'all would be like Vegas without the Hoover Dam if we cut off all that precious water you can't survive without.

California
Thursday 24th of April 2008 4:55 pm

I'm kinda like the mirror of that cotton state Alabama...no one had picked me yet. Probably because they can't read or write there....or they don't have internet access. Please direct all your angry pro-Mississippi responses to Rob :)

Mississippi
Thursday 24th of April 2008 6:02 pm

I learned how to lei your sister

Hawaii
Thursday 24th of April 2008 6:15 pm

Why is there a banana on the Illinois puzzle piece? And what's with the barber pole on Maine? Are people from Maine all about getting a haircut? But Georgia confuses me the most, with that cluster of maggots. Gross.

Illinois
Thursday 24th of April 2008 7:27 pm

Wikipedia sucks and cannot be trusted. Only idiots believe what wikipedia has to say. ps. where the hell is guam? Iowa sucks. Stop hogging all the election attention, Iowa. No one cares about you. Same with you, Ohio.

Alaska
Thursday 24th of April 2008 9:01 pm

Kansas is not gay. You are the one that is gay. Your freakin corn fuel sucks Illinois, so look in the GD mirror.

Kansas
Thursday 24th of April 2008 9:04 pm

No, no, no... Don't you remember your high school algebra? Graphs are supposed to be in the form of y = f(x), not x = f(y). The function f() determines how much time is required to gain a certain amount of knowledge, which is what we're interested in since we want to know how difficult something is to learn, which is measured by how long it takes. In your graphs, the f() function tells us how much can be learned in a certain amount of time, and so naturally the easier things have greater slopes because you learn more in the same amount of time. However, in any case, comparison of the steepness of the learning curves isn't going to work unless you use the same scale on each graph. Otherwise all you'll ever see is this curve which indicates that more detailed aspects of things take longer to learn, which has nothing to do with the steepness of the curve anyway. A "steep learning curve" refers to the slope of the line, not it's derivative (change in slope over the x axis).

Ohio
Thursday 24th of April 2008 11:11 pm

Come on, New Jersey isn't even shaped like this.

New Jersey
Friday 25th of April 2008 12:30 pm

To me a steep learning curve is when you have to learn a lot in a short amount of time, and therefore your charts make sense. I've recently had to learn all about the DNA testing process to be scientifically accurate for a film I'm working on. I called that a steep curve. By the way, where are the provinces!

Washington
Friday 25th of April 2008 1:51 pm

Hmmm. I don't understand the beaver...or several of the other state pictures. That is a seriously demented puzzle. Inquiring minds want to know...how old is that thing and where was it made?

Indiana
Friday 25th of April 2008 2:12 pm

Get the heck off my back Indiana!

Kentucy
Friday 25th of April 2008 6:33 pm

Isn't there a learning curve for putting on underwear?

Alabama
Friday 25th of April 2008 8:13 pm

we are underrepresented!

New Jersey
Saturday 26th of April 2008 9:15 am

Have you made a curve to represent time spent learning about learning curves?

Texas
Saturday 26th of April 2008 9:48 am

whatever.

New Jersey
Saturday 26th of April 2008 12:45 pm

I am twice the size of Texas, dammit! Also, as a maths teacher, I am linking to this fine article from my website, so my sneakier HS students (who are not supposed to know my web address, but do) will be subjected to its fine and funny analysis. Semper Gaucho!

Alaska
Saturday 26th of April 2008 2:07 pm

We might not have the highest IQs or the most teeth, but we have PEACHES, by God, the finest peaches ever grown by chemical fertilizers and a hatred of Yankees.

South Carolina
Monday 28th of April 2008 11:52 am

it's all about scale.

Alaska
Monday 28th of April 2008 6:21 pm

Rob! I think you have a wrong idea about learning curves. I always thought that a steep learning curve means that at the beginning, you invest a lot of time and learn little, but after a while, your learning speeds up. The curve I imagine curves towards vertical, not towards the horizontal.

Alaska
Tuesday 29th of April 2008 1:45 am

You steer an automatic. You DRIVE a stick. 'nuff said.

Ohio
Tuesday 29th of April 2008 6:33 am

I had always thought that a steep learning curve represented slower learning (i.e. a more difficult subject). If that were the case then your axis' would be reversed.

Massachusetts
Tuesday 29th of April 2008 10:18 am

I quickly learned that I needed only to read bits and pieces of each graph and paragraph in order to get max amusement for less effort. Yes, we are surrounded by water and cabana boys here.

Rhode Island
Tuesday 29th of April 2008 4:38 pm

I'd like to learn what the heezy is wrong with Steve from thesneeze. Can you tell him to come back? Is he ill? Last thing he posted was a bump for you ... knowing full well that your readers are his and vice-versa. Lame, Steve. Bet he ran off with his new toilet.

Michigan
Tuesday 29th of April 2008 4:41 pm

April 21, 2008

Photographic Height/Weight Chart

The Weight of Clothing