[giantrobothead]

When I was a little kid, I used to lay in my bed, in the dark, and think about the size of the room around me. Then I'd think of the size of my house, then the size of my hometown, then the size of my home state, then the size of the United States, then the size of the planet, and so on until I couldn't conceive of the scale of what I was trying to envision.

It was at once exciting and absolutely terrifying. This doesn't quite capture that feeling, but it's still pretty neat.

[thearn4]

I used to do the same. Even now, thinking about the scale of very large things can be unsettling:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u1Yi58jtNdY

[jmsduran]

Fascinating! Since childhood to this day, I use that same technique to ease myself into falling asleep. Personally, I see it as more relaxing than terrifying.

[giantrobothead]

For me, terrifying can be read as a synonym for thrilling. It didn't scare me so much as fill me with awe, and delight, and any number of contradictory feelings.

Unfortunately, nowadays, I fall asleep much too quickly to contemplate the nature of universal size like I used to be able.

[fideloper]

It is terrifying, which is interesting to analyze. Why should it be? Must be something deeply ingrained in us humans.

[jurjenh]

I wonder if it is an instinctive reaction:

a large new space has a lot of unknowns -> some of these unknowns could be dangerous -> a very large new space has a lot more unknowns -> very large spaces are to be feared.

This is based on nothing more than my imagination, but seems like a sensible evolutionary precaution.

[giantrobothead]

I tend to think that it is instinctual, probably related to the vastness of the thing, and the fact that it is simply beyond our ability to grasp completely.