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Big Big Numbers

Started by Viking, July 20, 2009, 06:05:29 PM

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Viking

July 20, 2009, 06:05:29 PM
I was watching this old video of James Randi at Princeton trashing homeopathy. He tried to explain what a 30C dilution was. He said that it was like putting one drop of active ingredient in a sphere of water with a circumference of the orbit of Pluto (yes I know it is elliptical) and then repeat the process 2 billion times. So I've been thinking about what big numbers mean. I'm thinking about being able to visualize, not using multiples.

10 - fingers
100 - number of jelly beans in a bag
1,000 - my books + cds + dvds
10,000 -  steps I take in a 3 hour walk..

but for 10,000 is just math I cant really keep all those steps in mind. So for me any number over 1,000 doesn't really mean anything. At the same time "multiples" don't really explain anything either. Saying the distance to the moon is ten times the circumference of the earth doesn't really mean anything when I can't really appreciate the circumference of the earth either. But then again saying something is ten times the number of books + cds + dvds I have doesn't really mean anything to me apart from me imagining ten piles of books and disks.

First Maxim - "There are only two amounts, too few and enough."
First Corollary - "You cannot have too many soldiers, only too few supplies."
Second Maxim - "Be willing to exchange a bad idea for a good one."
Second Corollary - "You can only be wrong or agree with me."

A terrorist which starts a slaughter quoting Locke, Burke and Mill has completely missed the point.
The fact remains that the only person or group to applaud the Norway massacre are random Islamists.

dps

#1
July 20, 2009, 06:08:02 PM
Uh, did you mean to put this in the gaming forum?

Viking

#2
July 20, 2009, 06:26:43 PM
No, It should go in "Of the Record"

I'm having Oliver Reed week .. so I'm drunk.. sorry... MODS PLZ MV MKAY KTHNXBYE
First Maxim - "There are only two amounts, too few and enough."
First Corollary - "You cannot have too many soldiers, only too few supplies."
Second Maxim - "Be willing to exchange a bad idea for a good one."
Second Corollary - "You can only be wrong or agree with me."

A terrorist which starts a slaughter quoting Locke, Burke and Mill has completely missed the point.
The fact remains that the only person or group to applaud the Norway massacre are random Islamists.

The Brain

#3
July 20, 2009, 07:08:31 PM
How do you fail? Let me count the ways.
Women want me. Men want to be with me.

CountDeMoney

#4
July 20, 2009, 07:09:54 PM
Thread should be filed under "D" for "Douchebag".
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