Large numbers are abstract. I experimented with different ways to more closely feel these scales and discovered a personally effective approach using division and per-second counting.
Counting by 31s disrupts the familiar rhythm of adding single digits. Disruptive āMississippi countingā works for more per-second quotients than just 31.
The full effect comes from simultaneously holding the count, what each increment represents, and the full timespan in mind.
Iām interested in learning what techniques others use to feel large numbers.
Large numbers are abstract. I experimented with different ways to more closely feel these scales and discovered a personally effective approach using division and per-second counting.
The Against Malaria Foundation has protected 611,336,286 people with insecticide-treated nets.
Divide by seconds in a week (604,800), giving approximately 1,000 people per second
Count aloud: ā1 one thousand, 2 one thousand, 3 one thousand...ā
Imagine doing it every second for a week
Letās try a larger number: Toby Ord calculates our āaffectable universeā as having at least 10Ā²Ā¹ stars.
Divide by Earthās projected peak population (10 billion), yielding 100 billion stars per person
Divide by seconds in a century (3.16 billion), giving approximately 31 stars per person per second
Count aloud: ā31 Mississippi, 62 Mississippi, 93 Mississippi...ā
Imagine doing it every second for a century
Counting by 31s disrupts the familiar rhythm of adding single digits. Disruptive āMississippi countingā works for more per-second quotients than just 31.
The full effect comes from simultaneously holding the count, what each increment represents, and the full timespan in mind.
Iām interested in learning what techniques others use to feel large numbers.