I think what you’re reaching for are the Weber-Fechner laws, which point out that human perception seems to operate on a log scale. The Wikipedia article on the topic illustrates.
However, my read on the Richter scale is that even if you’re right that people routinely think a 1-point jump on the RS feels like a less-than-10x jump in perception of shaking, that this is an effect, not a cause, of the choice of scale. But I don’t concede that—as I say, I think it’s likely to be more complex.
I think what you’re reaching for are the Weber-Fechner laws, which point out that human perception seems to operate on a log scale. The Wikipedia article on the topic illustrates.
However, my read on the Richter scale is that even if you’re right that people routinely think a 1-point jump on the RS feels like a less-than-10x jump in perception of shaking, that this is an effect, not a cause, of the choice of scale. But I don’t concede that—as I say, I think it’s likely to be more complex.