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To: sodpoodle

Our brains are just not wired to truly understand large numbers. I had a college prof once who did a demo once, and almost nobody was able to do it correctly.

Draw a line 10 inches long. Let that line be a number line with1 trillion being the right endpoint (zero being the left). Now mark points on that line where you think 1 billion and 1 million should go. Sounds simple, but most people can’t do it correctly. Most people would put 1 billion somewhere a bit to the left of the midpoint, and a million somewhere left of that. Stop reading now if you want to try it before reading the right answer.

Right answer: 1 billion would be the point 0.01 inches from the left endpoint. 1 million would be 0.00001 inches from the left endpoint - you’d need a microscope to distinguish it from zero (and probably a magnifying glass for 1 billion). Marking both 1 billion and 1 million at the left end of the line is much closer to being correct than anything most people would do.


7 posted on 02/10/2021 5:22:52 AM PST by stremba
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To: stremba

1 inch would be 100 billion.


8 posted on 02/10/2021 5:27:00 AM PST by Lurkina.n.Learnin (Beware the media industrial complex )
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