It’s mainly because it’s a pun on ‘ratio’. But I agree, it’s not a great name (despite much brainstorming) - more of a placeholder. Any better suggestions very welcome—see my more detailed comment just posted.
They’re accurate, but rather long and dry/mathematical. An ideal name (if it exists) would be lighter/snappier, to be more memorable and approachable to the general public.
I’ve devised quite a few names for things in my life, and this is the hardest one!
The 1:3 ratio is similar to the summer break that most modern school systems have, and also similar to the 2:5 ratio that the standard week has between work days and weekends. Maybe there’s an analogy to be made there?
Indeed, I noticed that myself; also not far off the sleep/wake cycle (around 7:17 hours). And (modern) retirement vs pre-retirement (say 20:60 years), at a pinch. I didn’t pursue the thought when I realized that the annual job vacation:work is a very different ratio, so it doesn’t seem to work at all timescales. But nonetheless there might be something going on—needs more thought.
It’s not even a pun, “rational numbers” are also called that because they can be written as ratios. A lot of people seem to be wanting to change the name, but I think that’s a funny rationalist bias with the word. I work with maths quite a bit and I picked it up instantly. Then again, that could be a maths bias, but I think the average person has heard “rational numbers” more often than “Rationalism” (meaning LessWrong Rationalism). I think rational breaks is actually one of the best names you can give them, along with “fractional”.
It’s mainly because it’s a pun on ‘ratio’. But I agree, it’s not a great name (despite much brainstorming) - more of a placeholder. Any better suggestions very welcome—see my more detailed comment just posted.
Lol, gotcha. The ratio-pun is a much better excuse than usual, although I wouldn’t have gotten it without you explaining.
I came here to say the same thing as Raemon about rational vs optimal. I’d give up on the pun and just call it “optimal” breaks.
“Optimal breaks” has a similar low-information problem, where the name is just a smart-sounding synonym for “good breaks”.
“Fractional breaks” or “proportional breaks”, perhaps?
They’re accurate, but rather long and dry/mathematical. An ideal name (if it exists) would be lighter/snappier, to be more memorable and approachable to the general public.
I’ve devised quite a few names for things in my life, and this is the hardest one!
I mean, ’Ratio Breaks’ seems like it’s just lying there.
Agree. And I think that name allows for the implication that the ratio need not be fixed for all people or across all tasks.
The 1:3 ratio is similar to the summer break that most modern school systems have, and also similar to the 2:5 ratio that the standard week has between work days and weekends. Maybe there’s an analogy to be made there?
Indeed, I noticed that myself; also not far off the sleep/wake cycle (around 7:17 hours). And (modern) retirement vs pre-retirement (say 20:60 years), at a pinch. I didn’t pursue the thought when I realized that the annual job vacation:work is a very different ratio, so it doesn’t seem to work at all timescales. But nonetheless there might be something going on—needs more thought.
Maybe “Earned Breaks”? I did like the ‘ratio’ pun though.
It’s not even a pun, “rational numbers” are also called that because they can be written as ratios. A lot of people seem to be wanting to change the name, but I think that’s a funny rationalist bias with the word. I work with maths quite a bit and I picked it up instantly. Then again, that could be a maths bias, but I think the average person has heard “rational numbers” more often than “Rationalism” (meaning LessWrong Rationalism). I think rational breaks is actually one of the best names you can give them, along with “fractional”.