[pieterbreed]

> That is more than 10^77, pretty close to the estimated number of atoms in the observable universe, 10^80

Ugh. My pedant-bone is itching... That's not "pretty close" at all. There's a universe of distance between 10^77 and 10^80.

[cylon13]

They are close enough that the relationship between them is graspable to the human mind, if the numbers themselves are not. Take the unimaginable 10^77, put it in a box. Now imagine a thousand boxes. That's 10^80. Of course a thousand times an unimaginable number is astronomically bigger on a linear scale, but if you just look at the relationship between the two numbers it's imaginable.

[pieterbreed]

lol yeah - before posting I was trying to convince myself not to post, and what yous dais was exactly my counter "narrative".

But still; Between 10^3 and 10^77, that 77 OWNS

[dboreham]

in logarithmic closeness