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36 votes
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Problems of scale: How to get a better grasp on numbers?
Inspired by the post about "petty reform" platforms, I noticed a trend, that matched with my own brain musings. People have an inherent problem with number conceptualization(Poor natural magnitude...
Inspired by the post about "petty reform" platforms, I noticed a trend, that matched with my own brain musings.
People have an inherent problem with number conceptualization(Poor natural magnitude conception?).
I recall this being a problem as old as time. Things that have helped me grapple with this are things like Fermi Problems and someone who used a grain of rice to represent the scale of wealth discrepancy in the world, using Bill Gates or Elon Musk as an example (can't find the original video, all the derivatives have been turned into TikTok-esque drivel).
I ask the people of Tildes, what types of scale descriptors, demonstrations, etc. have you found moving in your life? Really putting something into perspective. I will give bonus points for "positive" examples, not just doom and gloom, but welcome anything that tickles your fancy.
13 votes -
Airlines are running out of flight numbers, and they don’t know what to do about it
18 votes -
The Minecraft boat-drop mystery
7 votes -
The oldest unsolved problem in math. Do odd perfect numbers exist?
11 votes -
What are some significant numbers or juxtapositions of numbers and quantities you often notices?
You may find it delightful to encounter sequences composed of prime numbers, or numbers who are divisors of each other. Maybe they're components of your first phone number, your first car license,...
You may find it delightful to encounter sequences composed of prime numbers, or numbers who are divisors of each other. Maybe they're components of your first phone number, your first car license, your kid's birthday, the day a relative died, or the release of Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan. What numbers and combinations of numbers you see everywhere that you find curious, amusing, or meaningful?
19 votes -
Friction, emissions, accident prevention and statistical arguments
5 votes -
Seximal: a better way to count
24 votes -
History of transcendental numbers
7 votes -
The story behind the Packing Chromatic paper
5 votes -
We are in four base-36 digits!
https://tild.es/1000 Posted on 2022-01-12 22:01:43 UTC
14 votes -
I need cool facts about huge numbers
So, my 5-year-old nephew is obsessed with huge numbers, especially named numbers such as googol, duodecillion, and centillion. The other day I spent some time reciting these numbers to him, and...
So, my 5-year-old nephew is obsessed with huge numbers, especially named numbers such as googol, duodecillion, and centillion. The other day I spent some time reciting these numbers to him, and trying (and failing) to describe them. What I need are some cool facts about these numbers, such as "there are 1 quadrillion cat hairs in the world", or "there are not enough stars in the universe to fill one googol".
Besides math, his main interests are super-heroes and, apparently, cars.
I'm not a math or physics guy, so hopefully you guys can help me cheat :P
12 votes -
Squaring primes: Why all prime numbers >3 squared are one off a multiple of 24
10 votes -
The simplest math problem no one can solve
10 votes -
Imaginary numbers may be essential for describing reality
5 votes -
A picture of Graham's Number
6 votes -
The forgotten number system of the Cistercians
9 votes -
The mysterious case of man who can read letters—but not numbers—exposes roots of consciousness
15 votes -
Why do prime numbers make these spirals?
12 votes -
Even after thirty-one trillion digits, we’re still no closer to the end of pi
18 votes -
All the numbers
7 votes -
Heesch numbers and tiling
7 votes -
Almost all polynomials are irreducible
13 votes -
Math bee: Honeybees seem to understand the notion of zero
7 votes