The Pareto principle is one of those eerie observations that helps economists and scientists find parallels in unexpected places. The principle states that, “for many events, roughly 80% of the effects come from 20% of the causes.”

The article goes on, “Business management thinker Joseph M. Juran suggested the principle and named it after Italian economist Vilfredo Pareto, who observed in 1906 that 80% of the land in Italy was owned by 20% of the population; he developed the principle by observing that 20% of the pea pods in his garden contained 80% of the peas.”

I did some quick math and found out that, sure enough, about 20% of visitors to ArtPrize register to vote on the art. We’d very much like that ratio to shift in favor of more voters, but now I’m wondering… Have we hit some invisible ceiling imposed by the universe?