Clearing out the cobwebs

The world record for the men's 200 meter dash has only
improved by 3.01 seconds in over one hundred years. When that record is cut in half in one fell swoop, and soon after that, is cut in half again, then we have ourselves a revolution in the development of the human being. When the 19.19 record is broken with a 9.59, and the very next breaking is with a 4.79, then that's a revolution. Right?

I like thinking about that, because it clears certain obstacles to my thinking, by showing them as obstacles, rather than features of my personality, or laws of the physical universe. Yet, at the same time, I see that humans have developed so profoundly. We don't realize it, maybe, because that branch of the species still exists and lives right alongside the rest of us. They are called professional athletes.

My best personal time running a mile, that I have any evidence for, is about 7:30. The world record is 3:43. There's your 'cut in half' right there.

So here's this race of human beings, that can perform at physical levels twice what the rest of us mortals can. I thought to use the term 'order of magnitude', but learned that this means 10 times greater. My time is only twice what the world record is. 34:00 would be an order of magnitude greater (slower) than the record.

Or: for the record to be improved by an order of magnitude, it would have to be run in 22 seconds.

There's something to clear obstacles to your thinking.