Closing Remarks

Advice on understanding compounding
Tonight I shall venture gently into the world of high school mathematics and offer some practical
advice on the need to understand the power of compounding. Compounding is the process which
occurs when, for example, the interest on a capital asset or debt itself accrues interest and this is
added to the capital asset or debt. Year on year the sum increases as interest is accrued on the
interest. Allegedly Einstein called this one of the most powerful forces in the universe and the
eighth wonder of the world (the evidence is not overwhelming that he was the author although it is
oft quoted). It is summed up as:
He who understands it, earns it ... he who doesn't ... pays it.”
― Albert Einstein
However a more extreme example is the story of the mathematician who taught a king to play chess.
The king was so impressed he told the mathematician he would gift him anything he desired.
The mathematician requested that the king put one grain of wheat on the first square of the chess
board, two grains on the second and thereafter double the amount on each successive square. The
king thought this request was trivial and readily agreed. The total number of grains is 2 to the power
64 -1 which is more grain than has been harvested on earth by humans since history began. One
version of the legend suggests the king had him executed for making the monarch look stupid so
there are two bits of advice tonight: never underestimate the power of compounding and be careful
who you make fun of.
Advice on Re-cycling
I am a big fan of recycling. Anyone who drives down the M9 to Edinburgh will be horrified at the
smell from the landfill site when the wind is poised to arrange a stinky attack on the car occupants.
We need to reduce landfill and preserve our resources of raw materials.
This advice concerns the bin recycling system. I have managed for years by putting my bins down the
drive as late as possible and relying on nearby old people who have read the instructions carefully,
perhaps visited the council website and know exactly which bins should be hauled down to the
street. This has been an 80m journey for me so I do like to get it right.
However the new multi coloured 5 bin system has caused disruption to my strategy. The programme
is a complex multi week system and was delivered in a flier tucked into the grey bin, which was not
waterproof got wet and fell apart. Incidentally the new bins arrived two weeks after they started
collecting them on Glen Road so and they did not empty the redundant old ones.
However the new problem is I can no longer rely on checking what everyone else puts out and doing
the same. I cannot even fathom which way the new bins should face. The reason for this is that, in
my area at least, no two houses do the same thing. Perhaps this will improve once people have
committed to memory the multi week cycle and worked out how the new bins are lifted.
So my advice this week is: If you live in an area where you cannot rely on your neighbors to copy
their bin cycle, move to a smarter area. Jan and I have upped sticks to Bridge of Allan for a few
months until Glen Road, Dunblane gets its act together.