Eight Edits, One Starting List
Every single change that can be made to a list, measured against the same starting shape. The multipliers run from about three eighths to about two and a third.
Reference
One edit
What one change is worth
Eight single edits, measured against the same starting list.
Part four
8 notes in this part
Moving One Item Up, Which Costs The Most
Promoting one optional item to compulsory multiplies the intake by eight twenty-firsts. The largest single narrowing available, and it changes no words.
Analysis
Moving One Item Down, Which Gains The Most
Demoting one compulsory item to optional multiplies the intake by thirty-three fourteenths. The largest single widening, and it removes nothing.
Analysis
The Same Item Either Way: A Factor Of Six
One item, moved up or moved down, spans a factor of ninety-nine sixteenths — a little over six. No other single decision in this record carries as much.
Reference
Moving The Threshold Instead
Raising the threshold by one multiplies the intake by eleven twenty-firsts; lowering it, by nineteen fourteenths. Both are reversible; the others are not.
Analysis
Adding An Optional Item Makes The List Wider
Adding an optional item without moving the threshold multiplies the intake by thirty-three twenty-eighths. The list got longer and the filter got looser.
Analysis
The Cheapest Useful Change
Ranking the eight edits not by size but by what they cost the document and the people arguing about it. The best move is rarely the biggest one.
Analysis
Two Edits Are Not The Sum Of Two Edits
Edits multiply rather than add. Three uncontroversial tightenings, each defended on its own merits, can narrow a list by a factor of a hundred and sixty-eight.
Reference