non-linear effects and negative convexity can be described and explained using different methods. Depending on the method used, a different level of understanding is attained.

for nerds: conceptual understanding

This method utilizes the cartesian plane, as follows: the function of x is plotted as a curve, not a straight line.

non-linear functions: the effect is a curve, not a straight line

for the common folk: intuition

From Antifragile, Chapter 18: On The Difference Between a Large Stone and a Thousand Pebbles.

A story present in the rabbinical literature (Midrash Tehillim), probably originating from earlier Near Eastern lore, says the following. A king, angry at his son, swore that he would crush him with a large stone. After he calmed down, he realized he was in trouble, as a king who breaks his oath is unfit to rule. His sage advisor came up with a solution. Have the stone cut into very small pebbles, and have the mischievous son pelted with them.

The difference between a thousand pebbles and a large stone of equivalent weight is a potent illustration of how fragility stems from nonlinear effects. Nonlinear? Once again, “nonlinear” means that the response is not straightforward and not a straight line, so if you double, say, the dose, you get a lot more or a lot less than double the effect— if I throw at someone’s head a ten-pound stone, it will cause more than twice the harm of a five-pound stone, more than five times the harm of a one-pound stone, etc.

for the practitioner: blood, toil, tears, and sweat

My kids are only 16 months apart in age. Currently, they are 3.5 and 2 years old. Of the 86,400 seconds in a day, 64,800 (give or take) are lived in the outer ends of the exhilaration-rage spectrum.

It's been like this for about two years.

When talking to people who either have only one child, or have waited 3+ years in between kids, I often ask them if 64,800 seconds rings true to them.

Not even close. They don't even know such number could be calculated.