Hormesis
A dose-response phenomenon where low doses of a stressor that is harmful at high doses actually produces beneficial effects. The inverted U-shaped dose-response curve.
Used in the Books
This term appears in 2 chapters:
"We'll examine the biological machinery of sensing (receptors, signal transduction, feedback loops), explore why some stress makes systems stronger (hormesis), and see how organisms adapt within their lifetime without changing their DNA (phenotypic plasticity). Then we'll watch this play out in business: ..."
"...t learn when to suppress mTOR deliberately. But there's a critical nuance: How much restriction is beneficial, and when does it become harmful? Hormesis: Stress Makes You Stronger Caloric restriction is a form of hormesis - the biological principle that mild stress triggers beneficial adaptations..."
Biological Context
Low doses of radiation stimulate DNA repair enzymes; moderate exercise damages muscles that rebuild stronger; brief fasting activates cellular maintenance pathways. The key is dose: too little has no effect, optimal dose triggers adaptation, too much causes damage. Hormesis explains why some stress is beneficial.
Business Application
Business hormesis: companies that used crises to get stronger. Airbnb and Amazon emerged stronger from 2008 because moderate stress triggered adaptation. The key is controlled stress—enough to trigger improvement, not enough to cause damage.