The Off Topic Topic

[Admiral Yi]

Yes. That's the point.  Why would you think it would change how much they have?
What sounds more to an innumerate person.
1 billion or a thousand million. Clearly spelling out how many millions it is puts it in perspective, a million is basically 0% of a billion and all that.

I do not think it would change how much they have.  That's why I wrote "the wealth of current billionaires will not change."

Squeeze old boy you're not making a lick of sense.

[HVC]

He thinks the masses will rise up against the rich once they have a better understanding of their wealth. I think that view is flawed. Those who care already know, and those that don't care (most) will continue not to care.

[Josquius]

Yes. That's the point.  Why would you think it would change how much they have?
What sounds more to an innumerate person.
1 billion or a thousand million. Clearly spelling out how many millions it is puts it in perspective, a million is basically 0% of a billion and all that.

I do not think it would change how much they have.  That's why I wrote "the wealth of current billionaires will not change."

Squeeze old boy you're not making a lick of sense.

Language matters.
Lots of research out there that people have trouble with large numbers and quite how much they are.
Seems a pretty decent theory that breaking down a billion into more down to earth chunks of what we are comparing it to would help cognition.

[crazy canuck]

He thinks the masses will rise up against the rich once they have a better understanding of their wealth. I think that view is flawed. Those who care already know, and those that don't care (most) will continue not to care.

The premise is that lack of care is due to a lack of understanding, and if the language is changed, the understanding will increase

[Admiral Yi]

Language matters.
Lots of research out there that people have trouble with large numbers and quite how much they are.
Seems a pretty decent theory that breaking down a billion into more down to earth chunks of what we are comparing it to would help cognition.

That part makes sense.  The part that doesn't make sense is your proposal, as I understand it, is not to break it down into chunks, but rather take the word we already have--billion0--and move the decimal up one place.  That would reduce the number of people in the world you hate.  That's not what you want.

[Savonarola]

Language matters.
Lots of research out there that people have trouble with large numbers and quite how much they are.
Seems a pretty decent theory that breaking down a billion into more down to earth chunks of what we are comparing it to would help cognition.

That part makes sense.  The part that doesn't make sense is your proposal, as I understand it, is not to break it down into chunks, but rather take the word we already have--billion0--and move the decimal up one place.  That would reduce the number of people in the world you hate.  That's not what you want.

There wouldn't be any billionaires if we were to change the definition of billion to what Josq is proposing, since there are not trillionaires today.

As near as I can understand what Josq is saying is that the common person will understand how large "One thousand million" is better than they understand how large "One billion" is, even though they are both 1,000,000,000.

[Admiral Yi]

A billion is not 1000 million but a million million.

Hillary or Sav, tell me what this means.  I thought he wanted to change the meaning of "billion" from 1,000,000,000 to 10,000,000,000.

[Duque de Bragança]

A proposal - the English language should switch back to traditional long form billions.
A billion is not 1000 million but a million million.

As in French.   
Milliard replaced billion long ago.

[Syt]

In German you go:

Million 1 000 000
Milliarde 1 000 000 000
Billion 1 000 000 000 000
Billiarde 1 000 000 000 000 000
etc.

[Maladict]

In German you go:

Million 1 000 000
Milliarde 1 000 000 000
Billion 1 000 000 000 000
Billiarde 1 000 000 000 000 000
etc.

It makes a lot more sense numerically.

A billion is 2 times the powers of ten compared to a million (^12 to ^6). A trillion 3 times, quadrillion 4 times etc.

[Sheilbh]

I don't think it matters

I think in terms of regular comprehension once you're past a million or so there's a challenge. "A billion here, a billion there, pretty soon you're talking about real money."

[Savonarola]

A billion is not 1000 million but a million million.

Hillary or Sav, tell me what this means.  I thought he wanted to change the meaning of "billion" from 1,000,000,000 to 10,000,000,000.

Ah, okay, I see where the confusion is.  Josquius wants to change the definition of "Billion" from a thousand million (1,000,000,000) to a million million (1,000,000,000,000).  In English we call a million million a trillion, so in essence he's replacing the English definition of "Trillion" with "Billion."

[DGuller]

I don't think it matters

I think in terms of regular comprehension once you're past a million or so there's a challenge. "A billion here, a billion there, pretty soon you're talking about real money."

Yeah, most perceptions are logarithmic in nature, it's really hard to comprehend the scale of very large numbers no matter what words you use.

[grumbler]

A billion is not 1000 million but a million million.

Hillary or Sav, tell me what this means.  I thought he wanted to change the meaning of "billion" from 1,000,000,000 to 10,000,000,000.

Traditionally, and for longer in the UK, a million was a though thousand, a billion a million millions, a trillion a billion billions, etc.  That led to some very awkwardly long numbers, though, so the French, and later the US, adopted the power of three system where everything above a thousand was a multiple of a thousand.  That only became the international norm post-WW2.

[grumbler]

Ah, okay, I see where the confusion is.  Josquius wants to change the definition of "Billion" from a thousand million (1,000,000,000) to a million million (1,000,000,000,000).  In English we call a million million a trillion, so in essence he's replacing the English definition of "Trillion" with "Billion."

To be fair, Josq just wants to return to the standard that existed (in the UK) before 1948.