4 ms·

Obligatory: https://www.scottaaronson.com/writings/bignumbers.html https://www.scottaaronson.com/writings/bignumbers.html (Yes, I know this gets posted every t

Obligatory: https://www.scottaaronson.com/writings/bignumbers.html https://www.scottaaronson.com/writings/bignumbers.html (Yes, I know this gets posted every time one of these topics comes up, but there's always someone new who hasn't read it yet.)

AndrewOMartin 9y ago
I assumed your link was going to be this one about a "graspable" description of the number 52! (factorial). https://czep.net/weblog/52cards.html https://czep.net/weblog/52cards.html Start a timer that will count down the number of seconds from 52! to 0. Then walk around the world along the equator, at the very leisurely pace of one step every billion years. The equatorial circumference of the Earth is 40,075,017 meters. After you complete your round the world trip, remove one drop of water from the Pacific Ocean. Now do the same thing again: walk around the world at one billion years per step, removing one drop of water from the Pacific Ocean each time you circle the globe. The Pacific Ocean contains 707.6 million cubic kilometers of water. Continue until the ocean is empty. When it is, take one sheet of paper and place it flat on the ground. Now, fill the ocean back up and start the entire process all over again, adding a sheet of paper to the stack each time you’ve emptied the ocean. Do this until the stack of paper reaches from the Earth to the Sun. Take a glance at the timer, you will see that the three left-most digits haven’t even changed.
- Nursie 9y ago
  Just to snark a little - that model assumes a constant earth. After a billion years (the first step) there will be no water left in the pacific anyway. If there's even a pacific ocean by then due to plate tectonics... Sorry.
  - deleted 9y ago
    [deleted]
  - skj 9y ago
    Where do people think they're going to put the water when it's not in the ocean, anyway? In space? It would get the paper stack wet so this is clearly nonsense.
  - cokernel 9y ago
    The page being quoted points that out: > Of course, in reality none of this could ever happen. Sorry to break it to you. The truth is, the Pacific Ocean will boil off as the Sun becomes a red giant before you could even take your fifth step in your first trek around the world. Somewhat more of an obstacle, however, is the fact that all the stars in the universe will eventually burn out leaving space a dark, ever-expanding void inhabited by a few scattered elementary particles drifting a tiny fraction of a degree above absolute zero. The exact details are still a bit fuzzy, but according to some reckonings of The Reckoning, all this could happen before you would've had a chance to reduce the vast Pacific by the amount of a few backyard swimming pools.
    - Nursie 9y ago
      Well in which case I apologise :)
- teekert 9y ago
  This text. It's really very good in allowing one to "feel" such a large number, thanx for sharing.
- liberte82 9y ago
  Old-school Buddhism uses lots of really color metaphors like this to describe the length of time people spend in some of the Hell realms. :)
  - clort 9y ago
    'A Bunch of Rocks' deserves a mention here I think
- ulucs 9y ago
  this reminds me of the Built to Spill song "Randy described Eternity": >Every thousand years This metal sphere Ten times the size of Jupiter Floats just a few yards past the earth You climb on your roof And take a swipe at it With a single feather Hit it once every thousand years 'Til you've worn it down To the size of a pea Yeah, I'd say that's a long time But it's only half a blink In the place you're gonna be
alberto_ol 9y ago
there is un update https://www.scottaaronson.com/blog/?p=3445 https://www.scottaaronson.com/blog/?p=3445
lisper 9y ago
The ultimate guide to big numbers: https://mrob.com/pub/math/largenum.html https://mrob.com/pub/math/largenum.html
FrozenTuna 9y ago
I'm someone new who hadn't read it yet. I absolutely loved it. Thanks for sharing!
scott_s 9y ago
[leans against light post, flicks cigarette] "Sure, Graham's Number is okay. ... If you like your big numbers computable."
0xfeba 9y ago
(9^9^9^9)/(0.1^9^9^9^9)
hyperpape 9y ago
There was a big number contest at MIT: http://web.mit.edu/arayo/www/bignums.html http://web.mit.edu/arayo/www/bignums.html
BrandoElFollito 9y ago
I did not know it, thanks for sharing. This is a very interesting read. "And in Go, which has a 19-by-19 board and over 10150 possible positions, even an amateur human can still rout the world’s top-ranked computer programs." -- that needs to be updated, though. Completely aside, I do not when this article is from but the update I mention above shows how we have changed in the way we approach some problems (brute force vs. ML)

AndrewOMartin 9y ago

I assumed your link was going to be this one about a "graspable" description of the number 52! (factorial). https://czep.net/weblog/52cards.html https://czep.net/weblog/52cards.html Start a timer that will count down the number of seconds from 52! to 0. Then walk around the world along the equator, at the very leisurely pace of one step every billion years. The equatorial circumference of the Earth is 40,075,017 meters. After you complete your round the world trip, remove one drop of water from the Pacific Ocean. Now do the same thing again: walk around the world at one billion years per step, removing one drop of water from the Pacific Ocean each time you circle the globe. The Pacific Ocean contains 707.6 million cubic kilometers of water. Continue until the ocean is empty. When it is, take one sheet of paper and place it flat on the ground. Now, fill the ocean back up and start the entire process all over again, adding a sheet of paper to the stack each time you’ve emptied the ocean. Do this until the stack of paper reaches from the Earth to the Sun. Take a glance at the timer, you will see that the three left-most digits haven’t even changed.

Nursie 9y ago
Just to snark a little - that model assumes a constant earth. After a billion years (the first step) there will be no water left in the pacific anyway. If there's even a pacific ocean by then due to plate tectonics... Sorry.
- deleted 9y ago
  [deleted]
- skj 9y ago
  Where do people think they're going to put the water when it's not in the ocean, anyway? In space? It would get the paper stack wet so this is clearly nonsense.
- cokernel 9y ago
  The page being quoted points that out: > Of course, in reality none of this could ever happen. Sorry to break it to you. The truth is, the Pacific Ocean will boil off as the Sun becomes a red giant before you could even take your fifth step in your first trek around the world. Somewhat more of an obstacle, however, is the fact that all the stars in the universe will eventually burn out leaving space a dark, ever-expanding void inhabited by a few scattered elementary particles drifting a tiny fraction of a degree above absolute zero. The exact details are still a bit fuzzy, but according to some reckonings of The Reckoning, all this could happen before you would've had a chance to reduce the vast Pacific by the amount of a few backyard swimming pools.
  - Nursie 9y ago
    Well in which case I apologise :)
teekert 9y ago
This text. It's really very good in allowing one to "feel" such a large number, thanx for sharing.
liberte82 9y ago
Old-school Buddhism uses lots of really color metaphors like this to describe the length of time people spend in some of the Hell realms. :)
- clort 9y ago
  'A Bunch of Rocks' deserves a mention here I think
ulucs 9y ago
this reminds me of the Built to Spill song "Randy described Eternity": >Every thousand years This metal sphere Ten times the size of Jupiter Floats just a few yards past the earth You climb on your roof And take a swipe at it With a single feather Hit it once every thousand years 'Til you've worn it down To the size of a pea Yeah, I'd say that's a long time But it's only half a blink In the place you're gonna be

alberto_ol 9y ago

there is un update https://www.scottaaronson.com/blog/?p=3445 https://www.scottaaronson.com/blog/?p=3445

lisper 9y ago

The ultimate guide to big numbers: https://mrob.com/pub/math/largenum.html https://mrob.com/pub/math/largenum.html

FrozenTuna 9y ago

I'm someone new who hadn't read it yet. I absolutely loved it. Thanks for sharing!

scott_s 9y ago

[leans against light post, flicks cigarette] "Sure, Graham's Number is okay. ... If you like your big numbers computable."

0xfeba 9y ago

(9^9^9^9)/(0.1^9^9^9^9)

hyperpape 9y ago

There was a big number contest at MIT: http://web.mit.edu/arayo/www/bignums.html http://web.mit.edu/arayo/www/bignums.html

BrandoElFollito 9y ago

I did not know it, thanks for sharing. This is a very interesting read. "And in Go, which has a 19-by-19 board and over 10150 possible positions, even an amateur human can still rout the world’s top-ranked computer programs." -- that needs to be updated, though. Completely aside, I do not when this article is from but the update I mention above shows how we have changed in the way we approach some problems (brute force vs. ML)