# word for longevity of objects based on current age **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 5, 2017, 4:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/word-for-longevity-of-objects-based-on-current-age/779046 "2017-02-05T04:26:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![SantaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/da6949/32.png) [@SantaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SantaMan)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2017, 4:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/word-for-longevity-of-objects-based-on-current-age/779046/1 "2017-02-05T04:26:30Z")
At some point I heard of a word/concept/law about the expected lifetime of inanimate objects. Something about how books that are on the charts for one week are expected to stay there for another week, but the ones that make it to two weeks are expected to make it to 4 weeks, etc (average) I think it was a power-law or possibly related to Zipf’s law… Does this ring a bell for anyone? My google-fu has proven woefully not up to the task. ---
**Author:** ![OldGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/3bc359/32.png) [@OldGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OldGuy)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2017, 4:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/word-for-longevity-of-objects-based-on-current-age/779046/2 "2017-02-05T04:53:57Z")
Gott’s rule. It’s a simple application of Bayes Law with a uniform prior. ---
**Author:** ![Schnitte](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/schnitte/32/9033_2.png) [@Schnitte](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Schnitte)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2017, 8:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/word-for-longevity-of-objects-based-on-current-age/779046/3 "2017-02-05T08:44:36Z")
To elaborate a little on that, it has been formulated by phycisist [J. Richard Gott](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J._Richard_Gott). He calls it the [Copernican principle](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copernican_principle). A less general form of it is the [Doomsday argument](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doomsday_argument). ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2017, 12:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/word-for-longevity-of-objects-based-on-current-age/779046/4 "2017-02-05T12:55:35Z")
Previous thread on the topic ["the older it is, the longer it will last" - Factual Questions - Straight Dope Message Board](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=752502) ---
**Author:** ![SantaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/da6949/32.png) [@SantaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SantaMan)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2017, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/word-for-longevity-of-objects-based-on-current-age/779046/5 "2017-02-05T13:53:57Z")
Wow. Color me embarrassed! Old age must really be getting to me. Asking the same question two times in a row. Perhaps this time it’ll stick. Thanks all! ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2017, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/word-for-longevity-of-objects-based-on-current-age/779046/6 "2017-02-05T14:52:19Z")
> [@SantaMan](#): > > Wow. Color me embarrassed! Old age must really be getting to me. > Asking the same question two times in a row. Perhaps this time it’ll stick. > Thanks all! There are other examples of people asking the same question twice ([Help me ID an old short story I read? - Cafe Society - Straight Dope Message Board](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=581903)).