5 ms·

"Space is big. Really big. You just won't believe how vastly, hugely, mind-bogglingly big it is. I mean, you may think it's a long way down the road to the chem

"Space is big. Really big. You just won't believe how vastly, hugely, mind-bogglingly big it is. I mean, you may think it's a long way down the road to the chemist, but that's just peanuts to space." Wanted to be the first :-)

amelius 11y ago
What do you mean? Clearly our own personal reality is happening within 1 scrollbar-handle-height, and the whole of space is about 20 scrollbar-handle-heights, so space can't be that big...
- scrumper 11y ago
  It's Douglas Adams, from the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. I hope you haven't read it because it's a treat.
- imaginenore 11y ago
  On a log scale. 20 orders of magnitude is f*ing huge. It's way bigger than the difference between having one penny in you account and having all the money in the world.
  - zatkin 11y ago
    What about the difference between having one IPv6 address and having all IPv6 addresses?
    - mokus 11y ago
      Depends on definitions, but if you go with 10 as your base for "orders of magnitude" and 64-bit prefixes as "one IPv6 address" (which is the intended amount of address space for a single host), it's pretty close to precisely the same difference of scale. If you mean every possible 128-bit address of IPv6, then IPv6 wins by another 20 orders of magnitude. EDIT: of course, space wins either way if you count volume rather than distance - the "orders of magnitude" compound additively. and I also doubt that "one scrollbar unit" corresponds exactly to a power of 10, so it's still a weird comparison.
  - deleted 11y ago
    [deleted]
zem 11y ago
yeah, the title was practically a setup for that :)
- Roboprog 11y ago
  I mean, it's BBC, for cryin' out loud.
mattkevan 11y ago
I'm worried that as these 'space is really big' sites get better, someone will inadvertantly create a browser-based total perspective vortex and instantly annihilate the brain of anyone who visits.
- stcredzero 11y ago
  The median Silicon Valley techie ego surpassed 1000 millizaphods several years ago. Many of the Bay Area locals are already immune.
  - antimagic 11y ago
    I thought the reason he survived wasn't that he just had a huge ego, but because that universe really was just created for him. Or maybe I'm misremembering that part?
    - mattkevan 11y ago
      You're right - by crawling out of the wrecked building through the window he entered a pocket reality designed to help him discover the true ruler of the universe. Or something. I can't remember whether it happened that way in the radio series or the books as they're quite different (let's pretend the film never happened).
      - gph 11y ago
        It was in the books because that's how I remember it and I never listened to the radio series (I also try to forget the film exists).
    - stcredzero 11y ago
      I thought the reason he survived wasn't that he just had a huge ego, but because that universe really was just created for him. Apparently, it's just as good to think the universe is created just for you.
      - 11y ago

amelius 11y ago

What do you mean? Clearly our own personal reality is happening within 1 scrollbar-handle-height, and the whole of space is about 20 scrollbar-handle-heights, so space can't be that big...

scrumper 11y ago
It's Douglas Adams, from the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. I hope you haven't read it because it's a treat.
imaginenore 11y ago
On a log scale. 20 orders of magnitude is f*ing huge. It's way bigger than the difference between having one penny in you account and having all the money in the world.
- zatkin 11y ago
  What about the difference between having one IPv6 address and having all IPv6 addresses?
  - mokus 11y ago
    Depends on definitions, but if you go with 10 as your base for "orders of magnitude" and 64-bit prefixes as "one IPv6 address" (which is the intended amount of address space for a single host), it's pretty close to precisely the same difference of scale. If you mean every possible 128-bit address of IPv6, then IPv6 wins by another 20 orders of magnitude. EDIT: of course, space wins either way if you count volume rather than distance - the "orders of magnitude" compound additively. and I also doubt that "one scrollbar unit" corresponds exactly to a power of 10, so it's still a weird comparison.
- deleted 11y ago
  [deleted]

zem 11y ago

yeah, the title was practically a setup for that :)

Roboprog 11y ago
I mean, it's BBC, for cryin' out loud.

mattkevan 11y ago

I'm worried that as these 'space is really big' sites get better, someone will inadvertantly create a browser-based total perspective vortex and instantly annihilate the brain of anyone who visits.

stcredzero 11y ago
The median Silicon Valley techie ego surpassed 1000 millizaphods several years ago. Many of the Bay Area locals are already immune.
- antimagic 11y ago
  I thought the reason he survived wasn't that he just had a huge ego, but because that universe really was just created for him. Or maybe I'm misremembering that part?
  - mattkevan 11y ago
    You're right - by crawling out of the wrecked building through the window he entered a pocket reality designed to help him discover the true ruler of the universe. Or something. I can't remember whether it happened that way in the radio series or the books as they're quite different (let's pretend the film never happened).
    - gph 11y ago
      It was in the books because that's how I remember it and I never listened to the radio series (I also try to forget the film exists).
  - stcredzero 11y ago
    I thought the reason he survived wasn't that he just had a huge ego, but because that universe really was just created for him. Apparently, it's just as good to think the universe is created just for you.
    - 11y ago