18 votes

Who can name the bigger number?

9 comments

  1. [2]
    nic
    Link
    TIL I can no longer correctly spell googolplex... thanks Google.

    TIL I can no longer correctly spell googolplex... thanks Google.

    5 votes
    1. balooga
      Link Parent
      I think it was Milton Sirotta who spelled it wrong.

      I think it was Milton Sirotta who spelled it wrong.

      2 votes
  2. Apos
    Link
    Found this article by mistake a while ago while coding my infinite canvas drawing application. It's not exactly what I was looking for but it brought me to a place that I'd never have expected....

    Found this article by mistake a while ago while coding my infinite canvas drawing application. It's not exactly what I was looking for but it brought me to a place that I'd never have expected.

    The question is simple but I think it quickly takes a philosophical turn.

    3 votes
  3. Bwerf
    Link
    Thank you for that. I knew vaguely about busy beavers in the context of big numbers, but I had no idea of why they were so big. And it all being written in a very digestible way. It was also...

    Thank you for that. I knew vaguely about busy beavers in the context of big numbers, but I had no idea of why they were so big. And it all being written in a very digestible way. It was also interesting to see this ending up being about growth of sequences. It would've been interesting to know more about some of the larger numbers/sequences and how they compare and relate.

    3 votes
  4. TonesTones
    Link
    This Numberphile video about subcubic graphic numbers gets to big numbers using (in my opinion) a much more interesting method than just continuing to recursively repeat operations. I like the...

    This Numberphile video about subcubic graphic numbers gets to big numbers using (in my opinion) a much more interesting method than just continuing to recursively repeat operations.

    I like the notion of ideas that we can define yet also defy the scale of numbers we can write down.

    1 vote
  5. Flapmeat
    Link
    This reminds me of a recent little Joel video.

    This reminds me of a recent little Joel video.

    1 vote
  6. [3]
    zipf_slaw
    Link
    Aleph^(aleph^(aleph^.....))etc. Pretty sure I win.

    Aleph^(aleph^(aleph^.....))etc.

    Pretty sure I win.

    1. [2]
      Crespyl
      Link Parent
      The article excludes infinities when laying out the rules of the game, though my mind also went to Aleph at first.

      The article excludes infinities when laying out the rules of the game, though my mind also went to Aleph at first.

      1 vote