Life on the long tail

(photo without permission from http://home.pacbell.net/shstacns/)

The other day G. was telling me about how in some cases the "long tail" of certain events should not be underestimated. In the particular example, he was referring to sales in a specific market. He said that although the initial bulk of income was produced by the more "hot" goods that sold immediately, considerable (perhaps the predominant) income came from products that only attracted the attention of particular niches of consumers, but that would keep selling for a long period of time, even after the hot products became unfashionable and stop selling altogether.

Starting from that thought, I observed that in our lives there are a multitude of events that behave in a similar "asymptotic manner". Things that do not have a specific "hard" ending, but softly vanish as time passes. A highschool crash with a girl that goes to College abroad, the shock from an awful scene on our way to work, the irritation from a strong verbal argument, the excitement generated by an idea that could change our life, if we were to follow it, new years resolutions gone stale etc. etc.

Well, if it is true what G. said, and the same applies, this means that we are constantly living our lives affected by the "long tails" of things seamingly past, which continue to affect our state of mind, feelings, decisions, and ultimately our lives. Could it be that we are still slightly in love with that girl from college (ή με τη Μαργαρίτα από την 1η δημοτικού, Δυστροπ :-), slightly mad at our boss from our previous job, slightly sorry for our pet that passed away 6 months ago, slightly shocked by the sight of the blind woman lost in the snowy street last month, slightly stressed by the suicide bombing on TV the night before... ?

I wonder. Of course as any mathematician will tell you, the tail quickly converges towards α, but the question is, how quickly? And also, what if α>0?

And, to be honest, all of the above would explain a large number of the weird decisions and turns that I have taken in my life thus far.

Having said all this, these combined, entrenched tails, many of which seem to be bound to follow us to our graves, are, in the end, the essense our own being. So I guess we should treat them with respect and, in some cases, gratefulness!