this post was submitted on 29 Jan 2025
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[–] [email protected] 23 points 4 weeks ago (5 children)

It's not the number that makes something big, it's what it's counting. 67,502 atoms isn't very impressive, but 1 universe is!

[–] [email protected] 23 points 4 weeks ago (1 children)

8 is a big number of gunshot wounds.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 4 weeks ago

50 is that you?

[–] [email protected] 5 points 4 weeks ago (2 children)

That's a pretty unimpressive number of universes, though.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 4 weeks ago

it's the amount we are 100% certain of that they exist

[–] [email protected] 1 points 4 weeks ago

It's the most that's ever existed

[–] [email protected] 4 points 4 weeks ago

Not really, though. Big numbers are a separate branch of mathematics. A googolplex, for instance is more than the number of atoms in the observable universe, but it's way smaller than grahams number.

What it counts is not exactly the point is more of a definition exercise of what the upper bound is of what we can imagine it put in words. Sometimes it has functionality, such as the largest Mersenne prime.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 4 weeks ago (1 children)

Its more impressive to count 67502 atoms than to count 1 universe

[–] [email protected] 6 points 4 weeks ago (1 children)

"67,502! 67,502 atoms, ah, ah, ah!"

thunder and lightning

[–] [email protected] 2 points 4 weeks ago (1 children)

thunder and lightning

Very, very frightning me

[–] [email protected] 2 points 4 weeks ago

Five! Five Galileos, ah, ah, ah!