The 1,2,4 Rule - Advanced

This is the advanced version of the Basic 1,2,4 rule .

This post tells more about this rule. The rule can very well be extended to 0.5, 1, 2, 4, 16 rule. See the exponential distribution. Also see that the average is still 2 like before. Lets go in some detail.

The 1,2,4 rule is about usual situations which we face most of the time. We want to go somewhere but miss the bus so we take two buses. One eye is enough to see but we have two. Same with legs, hands, ears etc. If you look at it deeply you can find that in nature there is more than twice what we need though of lesser quality. We can get along with one hand but we have two, the story don't end there however, we also have two legs. If we want to take the work of hands by legs, think about writing, eating, holding etc, even with practise we can still at maximum get half of what we need. So we can say that the two legs are like one hand, so we have like 3 hands. One eye would be enough but we have two, we also have two ears but they can give only half "sight" than eyes, so its like having 3 eyes. If you are wondering why just one nose, one face, one head etc then wait till the post "Centralization and Controlling".

If everything go fine, which usually not in real world, you get the best amount of rain, no pests attack, you worked hard etc then you may get 4 times the average crop. Please note that this is a very rarely occuring exception so don't make this your target, you would be disappointed. Its nice to make high targets for motivation and moral purposes but still the targets should be reasonable, like getting twice the average, not four times.

You may have one son to replace you, two is nice and having four is very nice. You can have one woman, that is need. If you are lucky you can have two to have a substitute and variety. If you are very lucky you can even have four.

In my opinion getting twice than what you need is pretty much more than enough and one should not fall in the net of greed. If you go for more and more then all your life would be spend in gathering stuff that you would never have time to relax and enjoy.

In terms of house space in my opinion a 200 sq meters or 240 sq yards house including the lawn, garage etc should be the average for a single family. Single family means one married couple with growing children and possibly one elderly. In case of a join family the house should be doubled.

The rule of 1,2,4 is so important that it even apply to housing. Only half of the plot must be used in making the house, rest half would have a stable/garage/store, front lawn and backyard. Inside the building (that is made on half of the plot), half of the space must be used in common areas like sehan, terrace, corridors, kitchen and stairs. Inside the bedrooms half of the space must be occupied by furniture at maximum, one quarter is better, rest should be kept empty to have space for walking. The roof of the house must be atleast twice than the average height, that is 12 ft, to accomodate a tall person plus ceiling fan. Its nice to have even taller roofs, 24 ft tall would have a typical prestige. The minimum, to have at store rooms, shelters, prisons etc should be atleast 6 ft. For ventilation its nice to have the building of house made at center of the plot but its also very expensive. The middle approach of having a front and back is enough for cross ventilation and still leaves some juice in life.

In career too a person should have expertise in atleast two different fields. That would smooth out the booms and busts. Pursuing 3 or 4 careers would be fatal to one's mental stability and grip on work. 2 careers however provide an escape, a change and a balance.