Friday, September 17, 2010

Insurance: The Richter Scale Goes to Eleven and "Here Comes Another Bubble"

I know, the Richter scale was superseded by ...something.
Ask me about hurricanes.
"In theory, a quake can actually measure 11, or even higher. The formula for the Richter scale has no upper limit."
Number 10 on Mental Floss' 13 Essential Talking Points for the Earthquake Enthusiast.
Nigel Tufnel: The numbers all go to eleven. Look, right across the board, eleven, eleven, eleven and... 
Marty Di Bergi: Oh, I see. And most amps go up to ten?  
Nigel Tufnel: Exactly.  
Marty DiBergi: Does that mean it's louder? Is it any louder?  
Nigel Tufnel: Well, it's one louder, isn't it? It's not ten. You see, most blokes, you know, will be playing at ten. You're on ten here, all the way up, all the way up, all the way up, you're on ten on your guitar. Where can you go from there? Where? 
Marty DiBergi: I don't know. 
Nigel Tufnel: Nowhere. Exactly. What we do is, if we need that extra push over the cliff, you know what we do? 
Marty DiBergi: Put it up to eleven. 
Nigel Tufnel: Eleven. Exactly. One louder. 
Marty DiBergi: Why don't you just make ten louder and make ten be the top number and make that a little louder? 
Nigel Tufnel: [pause] These go to eleven. 
Ladies and Gentlemen, The Richter Scales!!