The Law of Diminishing Returns

Of all the laws that govern human experience, the law of diminishing returns is, in my opinion, one of the most inescapable. We can see it at work in such expressions as "absence makes the heart grow fonder" and "you can have too much of a good thing". The Internet, which gives immediate access to the most recondite information, also illustrates the phenomenon very well. Brought up in an era of scarcity, we now have to contend with a world of instant gratification - and a fat lot of good it does us. Or to be more precise, the Internet would be a good servant if we didn't allow it to become our master.

Nowhere is the Law more implacable than in the case of music: no piece of music, no song, is so beautiful that you won't become heartily sick when exposed to it in industrial proportions. Indeed, after a while music of ANY kind loses its power to soothe, uplift or invigorate. The well runs dry and we must wait for a good long while before it regains its magic touch.