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May 4, 2007

Strange But True!

Q. Dire things could befall you, they say, if you break a chain letter. On the other hand, imagine what might happen if nobody EVER broke the chain?

A. The letter's request is usually quite simple, “Make 5 copies and mail them to 5 friends.” Sounds harmless enough so you send out the 5 letters, then these 5 people send to 25, and these to 125, then 625, 3,125, 15,625, 78,125, etc. The number would snowball until after just 15 cycles of the chain, the total would be 6,103,515,625! Soon the number would top the population of the world (ignoring the actual myriad duplications and overlaps), meaning everyone on the planet would receive countless never-ending letters in an astronomical, mind-boggling spiral, says Don Voorhees in “The Book of Totally Useless Information.” The world's postal system would collapse, leading to the end of civilization and eventually humankind. “So the next time you get one of these letters, toss it in the garbage. You may suffer some personal misfortune, but it will be a small price to pay to save civilization.”


 
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